#when everyone was getting new ‘better’ armor and in that MK run at least the writers were…well

[age-of-moonknight]

Variant cover for Immortal Thor (Vol. 1/2023), #4 by Leinil Francis Yu.

#Marvel #Marvel comics #Marvel 616 #Immortal Thor #Moon Knight comics #let’s get this other bread #Moon Knight #Marc Spector #Thor #Thor Odinson #Captain America #Steve Roger #Hwakeye #Clint Barton #Vision #Black Widow #Natasha Romanoff #ooooh this reminds me of the special cover they did for Marc Spector: Moon Knight no. 50 #when everyone was getting new ‘better’ armor and in that MK run at least the writers were…well #hellbent on trying to make the Hellbent a thing #what a time

[gorogorogorochansan]

CP2077 OC ask game *:･ﾟ✧⚔️🤖🔮 [x]

PERSONAL.

1. what is their full name? do they have any nicknames? what are they and why did they get them? His full name is Maximilian Noirceuil Roquentin Vandermeer. Vandermeer to others, Max to his family. His mother just loves French literature and culture.

2. how old are they? how long have they been living on their own? 33 as of 2077. He’s been living on his own for 15 years since he joined Arasaka.

3. what are their astrology signs? sun/moon/rising. He was born on May 2nd 2044, which makes him a sun Taurus, moon Cancer and ascendant Leo.

4. what tarot card from the major arcana would you associate with them? The Devil.

5. are they religious or spiritual in any way? Not at all. Max is rather materialistic and self-indulgent at times.

6. which of the four elements would you associate with them? Air for intellect and mental intention.

9. which of the nine alignments are they? (lawful good etc) Lawful neutral.

10. which of the myers-briggs personality types are they? ESTJ, the Executive.

11. do they have any cyberware? is it cosmetic or is it weaponry/armor? He’s not into combat much, he prefers doing his job quietly if he can. Better yet - a silver tongue coupled with unsettling look can achieve a lot more than a weapon. Hands: Smart Link; Ocular system: Kiroshi Optics; Nervous system: Kerenzikov; Cyberdeck: Stephenson Tech Mk.2; Integumentary system: Optical Camo;  Skeleton: Endoskeleton, Bionic Lungs; Legs: Lynx Paws.

12. what is their occupation? He likes to call himself a free artist but technically he’s a solo. Murder, sabotage, thievery, recovery, delivery - you name it and he’ll do it, quick & clean. A man of high standards he prefers to be silent, precise and effective about his work. Even during his Arasaka days he never shied away from hard or morally repulsive (to some) tasks. A job is a job and needs to be done.

13. if you were to choose a class for them, what would it be? The closest would probably be a Stealth Solo.

14. what is their weapon of choice? HJKE-11 Yukimura pistols & Electric Baton.

15. what is their preferred vehicle or transportation of choice? Black Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech.

16. how would you describe their style? Neomilitarism. Corpo chic through and through.

17. are they a early riser or a night owl? Normally he’s an early riser but not averse to adapt if work demands it.

18. share three songs you associate with them. Eisbrecher - Verrückt [translation] Dorothy - Wicked Ones Oomph! - Augen auf! [translation]

NIGHT CITY.

19. is your character from night city? if no, where were they born? what brought them to night city? if yes, what area of the city did they grow up? He is from Charter Hill, Night City. His maternal family is from North Oak but his parents moved to something more affordable before he was born. He worked his ass off to stay in Charter Hill on his own but after his boss Jenkins lost the power struggle in Arasaka, Vandermeer had to survive and look for a cheaper place.

20. where do they currently live? describe their home. Watson, Little China, near Sutter Street. He rents a small apartment that satisfies his needs, which turned out to be rather simple - a quiet (as much as possible), clean and efficient space that is suitable for living and working in.

21. do they have any favorite spots around NC? Lele Park in the evening and night. And Dark Matter club.

22. do they like to cook for themselves, or eat out? do they prefer restaurants or street food? and how do they feel about vending machine food? He can cook a few things thanks to his mom but generally prefers street food and restaurants. He finds vending machines repulsive.

23. do they prefer the city or the badlands? The city. He loves comfort, hygiene and availability of things only megalopolis can offer. 

24. what gang/faction/corporation do they align with, if any? He prefers to keep balance and mutually beneficial relationships with everyone strictly for business. He always looks for people reasonable enough to bargain with. 

25. which radio station(s) is their favorite? If it’s a car radio then it’s Vexelstrom most of the times. He likes hearing heavy rhythms in the background. When it comes to listening to music at home he has a variety of genres in his playlists from classics and jazz to heavy metal.

26. if they do merc work, do they have one dedicated fixer? if so, who? It’s Rachel Vogelman (another OC created by @bnbc). They used to be corporate rivals during their Arasaka days. To add fuel to the fire their colleagues believed them to be siblings because of certain visual similarities between the two. When Max lost his job Rachel was the only person he could ask for help. It wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t but they focus on the business side of things. Or at least try to.

27. have they ever had run ins with the badges? He doesn’t like to attract unnecessary attention. Nobody likes when you’re the star of TV news.

28. are they quick to help a stranger in need or do they prefer to stay out of other peoples business? He most likely won’t help unless it can benefit him in any way.

29. do they have any favorite celebrities that frequent or live in NC? how would they feel meeting them? He doesn’t give a shit about celebrities. But he knows Michiko Arasaka, and their first meeting face to face left him baffled to say the least.

RELATIONSHIPS.

30. is your friend a social butterfly or more of a loner? Something in between. He hates useless small talks and fake politeness but understands their necessity when required. 

31. who are their closest chooms in NC? He doesn’t have any. Never cared enough to rely on people and always expected a knife in the back. His most regular stable contact is probably Rachel Vogelman but  they’re not even close to being chooms.

32. do they have anyone they would consider family? His mom and his sister are the only family he needs.

33. what is/was their relationship like with their parents? He loves his mother Jessica who raised him to be a well-rounded personality that can always land on his feet. She’s an economist with a good sense of humor and interest in arts. But he doesn’t have much emotional connection with his father Mark, since the guy is always busy with his retail business.

34. do they have siblings? He has a sister named Brit who is 15 years younger.

35. how would you describe their relationship with their family? Max is close with his family, although they’re all often too busy to meet regularly but they keep in touch.

36. who is their biggest enemy? Detective Marc Sanderson? Hard to say for now because there’s no official lore information on him yet.

37. tell a short story about your character with their best choom. His rivalry with Rachel Vogelman was almost comic at times, which only worked against them as their colleagues called them siblings on purpose. But since the two have mutually beneficial relationships now he can admit Rachel is pretty good at what she does. He won’t tell it to her though to avoid giving her the pleasure. They have both grown up after losing their corporate jobs but some habits die hard.

38. do they have a love interest? if so, who? His current LI is Michiko Arasaka. Initially he'd met her as Ichigo (a Japanese name that means strawberry) in a cyber sex VR club while he still worked in Arasaka. It was a series of encounters they both enjoyed until he abruptly put an end to it during his unemployment. He suspects she started digging info on him because she reached out to him some time after he had made a small name for himself as a solo. 

39. are they in a committed relationship or do they date around? Given the social gap between the two and solely sexual nature of their affair it’s implied they’re in open relationship. Besides it’s unknown if Michiko is still married. However, despite loving sex Max can be picky because he’s slightly fixated on hygiene. Michiko also sparked genuine curiosity and creativity in him with her wild and magnetic personality.

40. has your character ever been in love? if so, with who? No, what is love? He won’t recognize it even if falls in it.

41. do they believe in soulmates? No, he believes in shared goals.

42. do they believe in love at first sight? A ridiculous notion.

43. describe their ideal date. Their idea of romantic evening is to hook up in clubs where it’s noisy and crowded enough to ignore them but also to tickle their nerves. Sometimes they have a follow-up in motels (Michiko knows all the right places) if they can afford it. I don’t mean financially of course. Currently such state of affairs suits both of them perfectly.

44. would your character ever get married? Theoretically he can but marriage is a serious commitment, and right now he’s not interested in making one. And when it comes to Michiko it’s a no-no for a variety of obvious reasons. 

45. what was your characters first impression of their partner(s)? Michiko Arasaka was not someone he expected to see when Ichigo asked for a real life meeting. She definitely enjoyed the effect she made while Max was trying to figure out in his mind if this was a setup. She was bold, straightforward and irresistable - not like anyone he has ever met before. The whole situation felt like getting into a sports car without breaks. Once in a lifetime opportunity, a one-way ticket. And he took it. He suspects he’s not the first and not the last such input for her but life is too short for missing out the fun.

46. are they open about their relationship or low key? how would other people feel about them together? Somewhat semi-open. Max’s mom knows and she’s worried for him, although she knows he can take care of himself. And Michiko doesn’t mind him telling about her to his family as he has no friends and isn’t the type to brag, and she doesn’t care if anyone recognizes her in public. Her social circle wouldn’t care about him, and those who might won’t be able to do a thing about it.

47. share a headcanon about your character and their partner(s). Just one? I’ve already got plenty. • Michiko calls him Max and he calls her Ichigo or Ichi (one) because that’s how they’ve met and it's something of their inside joke, a secret; • Michiko keeps him at distance on purpose. She studied his profile long before they’ve met face to face and probably knows what he wants for breakfast before he even wakes up. So she knows Max has opportunistic tendencies like majority of mid-tier corpos. But another reason is that she also doesn’t want things to get serious and complicated between them because it can ruin the fun. She appreciates he doesn’t ask stupid questions or demands more attention than she can give him; • Michiko likes to подъебывать Max. I guess the closest English equivalent would be to tease - cracking suggestive jokes on him, giving him simple presents she finds hilarious, sending him nudes and demanding payment with his in the most inappropriate times. She is amused Max tolerates her shit so stoically - but she’s never malicious, disrespectful or obnoxious. In return Max knows it’s hard to impress someone who comes from the Arasaka bloodline & that it would be safer not to get on their bad side, so he focuses on making her feel good. And strangely it makes him feel good too.  • Max loves to touch her hair. Michiko always looks flawless when they meet and he adores her for it. • When Arasaka Tower was under attack Max called her until she finally picked up as he was genuinely concerned about her safety. He asked if she was alright and offered to take her home but she refused. She doesn’t know he was waiting outside.

48. share three songs you associate with your character and their partner(s). Garbage - Bad Boyfriend Eisbrecher - Exzess Express [translation] Eisbrecher - Rot wie die Liebe [translation] Bonus: Dinah Washington - Relax, Max - a song Michiko likes to tease him with.

NSFW.

49. name three of your characters biggest turn ons. Mature, confident women who know what they want and don’t waste anyone’s time.

50. name three of your characters biggest kinks. Touching Michiko in public - it’s the kink of kinks.

51. do they like having multiple partners or do they prefer monogamy? He doesn’t like being in relationships. The secret to his successful affair with Michiko is that both are totally free of any commitments and expectations from each other. Normally he prefers flings, BDs and cyber sex. But currently his mind is occupied with one specific woman with blue hair.

52. do they watch porn or braindances? Porn is ancient, BDs are far more superior.

53. would your character ever make an explicit braindance? He doesn’t have the right implant for that. He might though but not with Michiko - he’s not that stupid. 

54. do they have any cybernetic enhancements that serve sexual purposes? He’s no netrunner but he got himself a Stephenson cyberdeck that supposedly prolongs orgasms. Turns out the cyberdeck can be useful for other things as well, even moreso as now he doesn’t have a corpo protection and needs to be more careful.

55. do they have a preference for ‘ganic bodies or do they like modifications? He doesn’t like cheap implants. Other than that he doesn’t care.

56. name three of your characters biggest turn offs. Poor hygiene, naivete and girls who don’t know when to quit. 

57. what is their ultimate fantasy? or ““secret”“ kink? Michiko is his ultimate fantasy now. There’s something liberating and intoxicating about having her at the tips of your fingers moaning your name. He feels like he can try anything with her and she won’t say no, although he is aware it’s an illusory freedom.

58. would they ever use any substances like aphrodisiacs, alcohol or drugs during sex? Yes because why not? It’s not necessary but it can’t hurt.

59. what is their wildest sexual experience? A corpo group sex party. It was fun but he doesn’t like joytoys, even premium ones. Had to do a medical check-up afterwards.

60. are they more submissive or dominant? Dominant. But one time Michiko cuffed him to bed and he didn’t mind.

61. does your character need to have an intimate relationship with someone to have sex? or do they prefer being unattached? Unattached is best at the moment. Though he’s not fully aware he’s currently attached.

62. has your character ever participated in group sex? In the past, during his Arasaka days. 

63. do they like to sext or play over the holo? Why not both, depending on situation. 

64. has your character ever ghosted someone after a sexual encounter? Yes because he doesn’t like attachment. The reason he didn’t ghost Ichigo was that she was always creative during their virtual meetings.

65. how would they react if they were ghosted by someone they like after a sexual encounter? If Michiko ghosted him he’d be probably pissed and then upset. But he suspects she’d tell him first because there’s a certain amount of trust between them.

66. do they prefer kink oriented sex or spontaneous passionate sex? Usually the latter but the former is good too.

67. how do they get down on their own? quick and easy or do they have to romance themselves a little? It depends on a moment.

68. in what outfit do they feel sexiest? how do they dress to impress? Naked is the best. He dresses sharp because that’s how he was raised and also because it makes him feel good about himself. He mostly prefers clean black suits.

69. do they like having music on while they have sex? share three songs they’d play while getting down. He usually doesn’t care but Michiko likes to put on something energetic and loud when they’re in motels. This is just to give the idea of the mood: Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama Beastie Boys - Sabotage Mylène Farmer - Des larmes

#oc: vandermeer #Michiko Arasaka #OTP: Michigo #Rachel Vogelman #others' OCs

[raiseyourcups]

Cabur

Chapter Ten

Pairing: Din Djarin x Original Female Character (Aili Verdella) Warnings: cursing, Aili really doesn’t like Toro, canon-typical violence, Mando being respectful Word Count: 3k Also on AO3 (will be posted when I get home from work)

Masterlist

Summary: Mando, Aili, and Toro head out to find Fennec Shand in the middle of the Dune Sea. But deserts can make temperatures rise and fall as quickly as Tatooine’s twin suns.

Note: The alternate title I had for this was “Taking down Fennec Shand with two-halves of a whole idiot”

Mando slowed the bike he was sharing with Aili down to a stop and Toro did the same, tossing a look of confusion in their direction. "What's wrong?"

"Banthas up ahead," Aili said, nodding towards the animals in the distance. She knew that when you’re on the Dune Sea, that where there are Banthas…

"And? It's just a bunch of overgrown animals."

"Take a closer look," Mando said as he placed his feet down on the sand beneath them. Aili took the chance to get off the bike in order to stretch her legs. She might be short but her legs still hurt after sitting so far up in the seat for what felt like hours.Toro took out a fancy pair of binocs and Aili had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Of course he would spend credits on useless shit but not on better speeders. 

"Tusken raiders, I heard the locals talking about this filth." Toro finally said, still staring into the binocs.

“I only see one piece of filth here,” Aili mumbled to herself, almost too low for Mando to hear her. She started stretching, leaning over to place her hands around one ankle and holding the pose. She knew they’d have to be on the speeders for at least another hour or two and she really didn’t want to be sore when they had to take on Shand because she doubted the assassin would go down without a fight. 

Mando shook his head in amusement before averting his gaze as Aili stretched. It took more willpower than he’d like to admit to keep his gaze on the horizon. "Tuskens think they're the locals.” There, speaking to Toro was safe, would keep his mind off Aili and stretching. 

"Everyone else is just trespassing." Aili said as saw movement out of the corner of her eye and she smirked knowing that Toro wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at all.  She switched over to the other side, holding the pose again. Her hands were nowhere near her weapons so she didn’t come off as a threat at all at the moment. 

"If they know what's good for them, they'll stay away,” Toro said, every bit as cocky as Aili knew he would be. 

Aili couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her even as Mando spoke again. "Yeah? Why don't you tell them that yourself?"

Toro flinched and turned, finally seeing the Tuskens that had come up to them. Aili stood up, still keeping herself as non-threatening as possible as Mando went over to talk to them. She watched as he used their sign language, impressed that he even knew it though she supposed it made sense from a bounty hunter standpoint. She knew it too after all.

“What are you doing?” Toro asked, confused by Mando’s hand signs. 

“He’s negotiating,” Aili said, giving Toro an unimpressed look. He really needed to keep his mouth shut before he said something stupid. 

The Tusken in charge made a few signs back to Mando and Aili really hoped that he knew what he was doing. 

“What’s going on?”

“We need passage across their land,” Mando said before holding out a hand towards Toro. “Let me see the binocs.”

Aili couldn’t help the smirk when Toro did as Mando said before he started sputtering in shock as they were tossed over to the Tuskens. 

“Those were brand new!”

“Not anymore,” Aili said, getting back up on the speeder bike. This time when Mando sat behind her she didn’t move quite as far up, her legs still feeling a little cramped. He took off before Toro even had the chance to get back on his own bike. Aili was right about how long they’d be on the bikes again but then she finally saw something in the distance. Too close for her liking and she quickly tapped Mando on the knee. 

He must have seen what she saw because he gestured for Toro to stop his bike. “Get down,” he said, getting off the bike quickly to let Aili off as quick as she could as well. Toro let out a sound of confusion before following their lead and propping himself up against the dune before them. 

“What do you see?”

“Dewback, looks like the rider’s still attached. Is that the target?” Toro asked, looking over at Aili and Mando in confusion. 

Mando shook his head. “I don’t know, I’ll go. Cover me.”

“For sure,” Toro said, pulling out his blaster. 

“I meant her,” Mando said shortly. “You just stay down.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” Toro said, putting his blaster away again. Aili counted to ten quickly before she strangled him herself. She took out her blaster to give cover fire if Mando needed it. 

Aili watched the horizon as Mando made his way down to the dewback, she couldn’t see anything other than sand but that didn’t mean much. Not when their target was an assassin who wouldn’t have any problem finding the best place to hide out. She let her gaze drop back down once Mando was hidden by the dewback, watching as he flipped the body over. 

“Is it her? Is she dead?” Toro called out and it took everything in Aili to not tell him to shut up. If Fennec Shand was anywhere near them he was giving away their position. It would be even worse if the body was Shand, pretending to be dead just waiting for them to get close. All it would take was her hearing an idiot asking stupid questions to know they were easy marks. 

“It’s another bounty hunter,” Mando called back. Aili let out a quiet sigh of relief now that she knew it wasn’t Shand lying in wait. 

“Well I hope you don’t plan on keeping all that stuff! Can I at least have that blaster?”

Aili kept quiet as Mando reached for something on the dead hunter’s belt before his head snapped up and he stood, getting ready to rejoin them. “Get down!” was all he had the chance to say before he was shot from the distance. The force from the blast caused him to hit the ground but he was quick to get back to his feet. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Aili hissed out before shouting. “Mando, run! She’s too far out, I can’t cover you!” 

He had almost made it back when there was another shot and he went over the dune but at least he was on their side again. Hidden by the sand and away from Fennec’s view. Aili knew it didn’t matter, she had all the information she needed to know about at least Mando now. 

“What was that?”

“Sniper bolt.” Mando said. 

“I’d say an MK-modified rifle at that. You good by the way?” Aili asked, wishing that she had thought to bring her rifle. Stupid mistake on her part. Especially now that she knew Shand had a sniper rifle which she should have expected.

“Yeah,hit me in the beskar and at this range…”

“Beskar holds up.” Aili tilted her head in a side nod. That was the good thing about beskar, it deflected nearly everything. 

“Wait, you’re the only one with beskar.” Toro said, voice getting a little high pitched. 

“Sorry, kid, I have a beskar cuirass on.” Aili wondered if it was too late to just tell him to leave and they would handle this. 

“Oh, but then what do we do?”

“Did you see where the shots came from?” Mando questioned, looking at Toro and waiting to see if the kid had been paying attention.

“Yeah, from that ridge.” Toro said.

“I suggest we wait until nightfall, she’s got the high ground and it would take her less than ten seconds to drop us all,” Aili said, already lowering herself down so Fennec wouldn’t be able to aim for her. That was the only good thing about sand dunes, they were easy to hide behind. “She’ll know to aim for a weak point on Mando now that she knows he has beskar armor.”

“How do you know that she knows?”

“Because he didn’t go down, shots glanced off him like nothing. Kind of hard to mistake it especially if you’ve been around the galaxy.”

“But what if she escapes?”

“Like she said, she has the high ground. She’ll wait for us to make the first move.” Mando said, tapping Aili on the shoulder and nodding over towards the bikes. “We’re gonna rest, take the first watch.”

“And stay low,” Aili added just in case it hadn’t been obvious. She joined Mando at the bike they had been sharing and he gestured for her to sit on the bike seat while he sat on the ground to lean against it. She wasn’t about to turn down the chance to sit on something other than sand and she gave the Mandalorian a nod. 

Aili slept for maybe a couple of hours before she woke up as the suns were setting. She, once again, couldn't tell if Mando was awake or asleep so she stayed up on the bike just in case. She wasn't a complete asshole so she wouldn't purposely jostle the speeder. 

Once the suns were down, Toro turned to look back at the two of them and noticed that only Aili was awake. “Alright, Mando, time to ride. Suns are down. Look at him, asleep on the job like an old man.” Toro looked to Aili when Mando didn’t so much as move, “Come on, wake him up.”

“Do it yourself,” Aili said as she climbed off the bike and got her pack ready to go. She knew Mando was probably fucking with the kid by this point. It’s what she would do to an overeager wannabe bounty hunter if no one could see her face. 

“Aren’t you his wife?” Toro actually sounded like he believed that and Aili felt her eye twitch. She wasn’t sure what was giving Toro the idea that they were together, she had purposely sat so far away from Mando on the speeder bike that any farther and she would have fallen off. 

“You call me that one more time and you won’t have to worry about Fennec Shand shooting you from far away because I will from up close.” She smirked a little when Toro took a step back at the look on her face. 

“You two done?” Mando said, getting up as he spoke. 

“Yeah, yeah, just friendly teasing to get you up,” Toro stuttered. 

“Yeah, totally just teasing,” Aili said, still staring at Toro with a blank stare. 

“Get on your bike, ride as fast as you can to those rocks.” Mando said, pulling something out of his pack while Aili sat back down on the speeder. She caught sight of what he took out and chose to sit behind him this time planning to use him as a buffer.

Toro scoffed even as he listened to Mando’s instructions, “That’s the plan? She’ll shoot us right off the bikes.”

“No she won’t,” Aili said as Mando tossed one of the flash charges over to Toro. “She can’t shoot what she can’t see. We alternate the shots-”

“Combined with our speed and she doesn’t stand a chance,” Mando finished explaining. 

“You two sure you’re not…?” Toro trailed off, looking at them with a raised eyebrow. They finished each other’s thoughts a little too easily.

“I kriffin’ swear if I wasn’t on this bike right now,” Aili muttered to herself, her hands clenching around a handful of Mando’s cape since they were going to have to go fast. 

“Wait, what do you mean ‘a chance’?” 

“Hey, you wanted this. Get ready.” Mando took off at a faster speed than they had travelling before and Aili was so glad that she had pulled her hair up earlier. Toro was right behind them and Aili started to count down from five when they got closer to the rocks. By now Fennec had to be lining up a shot. Mando must have thought the same because he raised his flash charge and set it off. 

It would have been a great plan but there was a shot that landed between the two bikes not even two seconds later. Aili cursed behind Mando, figuring that Shand must have taken off her scope and was only using the one on her sniper rifle which wouldn’t be affected by the flash charges. 

“Now!” Mando shouted and Toro set off his own flash charge at the same time there was another sniper bolt that just missed them. They had almost made it to the rocks, Toro setting off his second charge when Fennec landed a shot on the bike Mando and Aili were on, sending them into the sand with their bike now out of commission. Mando propped himself up just enough to set off his second charge to give Toro the chance to make it up to the rocks. 

Aili didn’t wait to see if he made it before she took off for the rocks as fast as she could, ignoring Mando calling out for her to stop. She heard a sniper bolt hit beskar but knew Mando would be fine. It was beskar. She made it there just in time to see Fennec knock Toro down and when he didn’t get back up, groaning about his hand or something, Aili ran up and aimed a kick for Fennec’s back. 

Fennec dropped into a roll before springing back to her feet. She stared at Aili for a moment before throwing a kick out but Aili was quick to stop the other woman’s leg, pushing it down before tossing out her own kick. Fennec let it hit, bringing a fist up to punch Aili in the side but that just made her let out a grunt. Aili threw her own punch at Fennec, hitting the woman in the face once before having to dodge another kick. 

“Oh you’re amazing,” Fennec said, blocking another punch from Aili. “No way you’re just a bounty hunter.”

Fennec threw another punch that Aili slapped away before trying to toss an elbow to Fennec’s face but the older woman ducked under. Aili spun with the momentum of her swing and dropped into a roll to miss another punch. As soon as she was back up, Fennec went after her but Aili grabbed her around the neck and brought a knee up to hit Fennec in the stomach with as much force as she could. Fennec doubled over and Aili took the chance to end the fight. 

“You’re good too, just not good enough.” Aili said before using the hands she had around the back of Fennec’s neck to pull herself up to flip them both over and onto the ground. She quickly straddled the older woman's legs, grabbing her arms and pulling them towards her to incapacitate her. 

“Nice distraction.” Mando said from on top of a nearby rock. 

“Really, a distraction?” Aili asked, catching the stun cuffs that Mando tossed her way. She had definitely done more than simply distract Fennec Shand. She pulled Fennec into a sitting position, cuffing her with her hands in front of her. She wasn’t cruel enough to make Fennec spend potentially hours with her hands cuffed behind her. 

“I meant him.” Mando nodded towards Toro who was staring stupidly at Aili and Fennec. “Why don’t you go find your blaster, kid?”

Fennec looked from Aili to Mando with a smirk on her face. “A Mandalorian and a Dragon walk into a cantina...it’s been a long time since I’ve seen either of your kind.”

Mando tilted his helmet to the side. Now two people had referred to Aili as a dragon and something told him it was with a capital D. He didn’t know what it meant and he didn’t think Aili would be very forthcoming if he were to ask. 

Fennec’s smirk got wider when she saw Aili tense up from the corner of her eye. “Tell me, have you two ever been to Nevarro? Heard things didn’t go so well there but looks like you two got off easy.”

“Yeah well you won’t have to worry about making it to Nevarro, or anywhere else, once we turn you in,” Toro said, placing his blaster back into his holster. “But you know, I should thank you. You’re my big ticket into the Guild.”

“Am I?” Fennec asked, smirk still in place even as Mando led her away. They walked down the rocks in silence and Aili sighed when they got to the bottom. She had almost forgotten about the bike. “Uh-oh, there’s four of us and only one speeder. Guess two of us are gonna have to walk.” 

“I’m partial to dragging both you and Toro back,” Aili shrugged as she watched Mando drop Fennec down onto a rock. 

“What did I do? At least I got here with a speeder!” Toro exclaimed, throwing his hands out to the side. 

Aili stared at him with a harsh glare, “Oh you know what you did.” 

“Enough. I need you,” Mando pointed at Toro so he knew he was talking to him. “To go back to find that dewback we saw.” 

“And leave you two here with my bounty and my ride? I don’t think so,” Toro said, causing Mando to stare at him silently. Aili felt her eye twitch again and she contemplated knocking out both of the men and taking Fennec in herself. 

“Mando, just use your stupid HUD to find the stupid dewback and get back here so we can leave this Maker-forsaken planet,” Aili growled out. She was exhausted now, the earlier nap hadn’t been enough nor had it been very comfortable. And then she had to take down Fennec Shand in hand-to-hand combat so now her side was aching from the punches. 

“Fine. Don’t let her get near the bike and try not to kill either of them.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Aili muttered under her breath as Mando started to walk away. She missed the calculating look that Fennec gave all three of them as did Toro. Slowly a smirk crossed the assassin’s face as she started to come up with a plan.

#din djarin x reader #din djarin x original character #din djarin imagine #din djarin imagines #the mandalorian x reader #mandalorian x oc

[greatsagestonemonkey]

A Game of Cat and Monkey (Part 1)

So @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off, @neonross, and @purble-turble... this is mostly all your faults.

I was taking a nap a few days ago while suffering from a bad migraine, and I had a dream about the Monkie Kid Pirate AU that’s been going on for awhile here that was a sort of crossover with my mainstream pirate OC and it was... honestly too epic to not write down and throw out there, so here it is! (the first part of it, anyway.)

It was supposed to be easy, not get complicated in a matter of five minutes or less. In and out. Not in, run around, then out with a spray of musket balls in his wake.

Wukong had sent him in the Monkey King get-up to fetch an astrolabe that was supposed to be magic, or enchanted, or something. Whatever. It did something special and he was supposed to get it. And it was supposed to be easy.

Breaking into the mansion of the collector was easy enough, most everyone had gone to bed and what guards there were seemed confident that no one would dare to try to break in that they were easy to slip past.

It wasn’t until MK reached the study, where the astrolabe was supposed to be, that the evening went hard about faster than a sloop catching a good wind.

He stopped dead in his tracks only seconds after closing the large doors behind him at the sight of a silhouette against the large, double-paned windows. He was half ready to relax after going tense at seeing it, expecting it to be a decorative suit of armor, or statue, or something, but that feeling never came as the glimmer of very real, deep, sea blue eyes glinted in surprise at his presence in the moonlight.

They tensed, crouched almost at seeing him as if hoping to shrink back into the shadows unnoticed, and MK reached for the rapier on his belt, drawing it out only maybe a quarter of an inch, just in case. His eyes traveled down the figure’s form, landing and locking onto the astrolabe clutched tightly in their fingers like the claws of an oriental dragon around a pearl. Even with his mask on, he gave his best, charming smile and raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that the figure could likely see his expression with the moonlight pouring into the room. 

“Don’t suppose I can just ask you to hand that over nicely, can I?” he asked.

WHOOSSSSHH-CRACK!

He barely--barely--had time to register that something long, fluid in its motion, and metal from the way it was glinting, was flying straight at his head; like a blue serpent gliding through the air at lightning speed. He leaned back instinctively to dodge, back and neck arching back at a practically impossible angle to spare him the blow. His breath caught in his throat as the long object snagged the fabric of his mask, hearing it tear very near to the arch his nose made beneath it. He whipped out his sword, using the blade to smack the object away as it continued to stretch outwards in his direction dangerously and rolled back to safety, free hand flying to his mask to check just how much of it had been torn; and sighed discreetly in relief at feeling only a slight rip in the material while his eyes followed the object as it flew back to its owner.

A whip. It was a whip! As if the sound of the crack ringing through his ears wasn’t telling enough he had to nearly get his nose snapped off by it!

“Hey!” he protested, louder than he had intended. Not that it mattered, since the sound of that whip alone was enough to wake the dead! He was still so stunned by the brazen act that he couldn’t even think of something witty and whip related to say! Nor would he have the time to after completely recovering, either.

The owner of the whip reared it back again, cracking it a second time; but not at him. At the window behind them. The odd, blue metal shattered the glass like a heavy and well aimed club swing, sending it showering over the room and the courtyard below. To anyone who hadn’t seen the action itself, it might have seemed like the window just exploded! MK held up an arm to cover himself as some of the glass showered a little too close, then watched in astonishment as the figure lept right through the now apparent gap in the window ledge. He let out a choked sound of surprise and darted to the edge to watch their fall, flinching as he heard the whip crack again, and was just able to catch sight of it catching on the limb of a tree in the courtyard below, allowing the owner to swing--with almost supernatural ease--up onto the outside wall of the mansion.

MK could only blink and continue to watch in awe as they briefly glanced back at him before disappearing over the wall and vanishing from sight. 

“Um… okay then…?” he murmured to himself, taking a moment to move his hat aside just enough to scratch his head in confusion.

He only had that moment though; the sound of running footfalls in the hall outside the room he was in snapped him back into reality and sent him out the window himself. Nice of that stranger to at least give him an escape route after stealing his mark right out from under him!

Now he just had to get back to the ship.

And explain everything to Wukong and the others.

Great…

~~~

Back at the Flowerfruit, MK couldn’t help but feel like a bug under a magnifying glass when he first climbed aboard, empty handed. It was only when he was taking off the Monkey King outfit that he was able to get enough of a word in as the crew bombarded him with questions on how it went, and all that. It stung having to explain when he didn’t know quite how to explain it himself, since he was still largely processing the situation, but he did his best.

“And they used a whip!” he exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the galley as the others sat and listened, watching him walk. “But it wasn’t like a cat o’ ninetails kind of whip, it was like a legit, long whip! Made of metal!”

“A metal whip?” Wukong asked, voice sounding skeptical as he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” MK snatched up his mask and held it out for the others to see. “Look what it did to my mask!”

Tang took the cloth from MK before Wukong could, adjusting his glasses and squinting at the tear with a great deal of scrutiny.

“Hm… He’s right. This is a clean cut. A rawhide whip would have left more jagged tearing,” he said, finally passing the cloth to Wukong. “It had to have been made of metal. Sharp metal.”

“Sharp and strong enough to shatter glass even…” Wukong mused, sighing as he put the mask aside and crossed his arms. “And they got the astrolabe…?”

MK frowned, gaze falling to the floor. “I’m sorry…” 

A weight on his shoulder made him look up at Wukong, who shrugged and was smiling at him.

“Relax, it’s not like we’ve lost it for good,” he said. “Chances are, whoever this character is, they’re still on the island somewhere. If it was me, I sure wouldn’t risk skipping port right away. I’d lay low, wait until the heat dies down and until the local constabulary isn’t searching everyone’s person for an astrolabe.”

“Yeah, something like that sticks out way too much to just pass off as usual luggage.” Mei said with a nod. “Like who even uses those anymore…?”

“Point is, we still have a chance of getting it back.” Wukong said, hand slipping off a now smiling MK’s shoulder. “We’ll sweep the town and ask around for a pirate who uses a whip. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Yeah!” MK nodded, fists pumping towards his chest excitedly.

“In the meantime, let’s get some shut eye. It’s only a few hours until sunrise, and we’ll start our search then.”

~~~

Morning couldn’t come soon enough. He was able to get a few winks at least, but he was itching to get back out there and find this mysterious whip wielding pirate.

It was kind of fun having a new player in the game; new blood to run up against, and he was eager to test his metal against them.

Even if the first time didn’t pan out so well… but that was only because he had been caught off guard! He could do better the next time around! He would do better.

They split up around the port, some of them on their own, some in pairs, to cover more ground. There wouldn’t be much need to go to the richer, or more high end districts in town, since it wasn’t very likely that the noblemen and their ilk would pay too much attention to a seaman wearing a whip. Or to a seaman in general. Taverns and boarding houses would be their best bet.

That didn’t mean it would be easy though. Wukong had been right; soldiers were searching the outgoing ships and any passengers on them. If they weren’t careful they’d likely be recognized, but thankfully their line of questioning wouldn’t likely tie in with the theft of the astrolabe. Even so, part of him was very tempted to just ask one of the soldiers what they knew at least to make this go faster…

He kept going over the previous night in his head. From the moment he entered the study to the moment he had to jump through the window to get away.

He tried to remember everything he could about the figure he encountered; not just the whip they held. Their stance, the way they tried to shrink into the shadows like that. They obviously knew how to sneak around, if they got into the mansion, so finding them might not be all that easy. But then there were the eyes. Blue eyes. Not all that common around these parts. At least not the shade he caught a brief glimpse of. Someone would have had to notice a blue eyes, whip-toting pirate around here at some point… or at least that’s what he would think.

MK snapped out of his thoughts long enough to look up and jog over to Pigsy as he saw him round a corner ahead of him.

“Anything?” he asked, somewhat hopeful sounding.

“Nada.” Pigsy shook his head, arms crossed over his chest. “Either they haven’t seen anything period or won’t say whether or not they have.”

MK sighed. “Maybe they really did skip port already,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. 

“Maybe…” Pigsy said with a shrug.

A sound pierced the air that made MK practically jump. Pierced… no, cracked.

The same sound he heard last night.

Followed by a loud crash and a shout.

MK and Pigsy both turned around to see what was causing the commotion, as did a small crowd that gathered outside what looked like the back entrance to an inn. From what they could see, a large, bulky pirate had been thrown hard into a few supply crates and barrels, their contents now scattered over and around him as he laid dazed in a pile of splinters; but what caught MK’s attention completely was the sight of a long, blue, metal whip-like cord being coiled back up into the hands of its owner, and from where he was he could just barely see the same glint of sea blue eyes from last night.

“Maybe that’ll teach ya t’ keep your hands to yourself,” the voice, thick with an Irish accent, and that of a woman’s. “Especially when you’ve already been told t’ do so once, ya scut!”

She turned on her heel and marched off, kicking a broken plank out of her path, and attaching the strange weapon back to a holster on her sash-like belt as she went. Pigsy let out a whistle, which in turn snapped MK out of his state of shock.

“She’s got some gumption!” Pigsy said with a chuckle, grunting loudly in shock as MK grabbed and turned him so they were facing each other.

“Pigsy, that’s them! Her! The whip! It’s the same one! I’d swear on it!” MK blurted out, head turning rapidly between Pigsy and the direction the woman was headed off in.

Pigsy tore MK’s hands off him. “Okay, okay, I get it! So now what?”

“Uh…” MK shook his head, scratching his head a few times before looking back at the other. “You get back to the others and tell them we found her, and I’ll follow her and find out where she’s going!”

MK took off without another word, despite protest from Pigsy. He had to push through the crowd a little bit in order to follow the woman down the same road without losing her, his fear of doing so almost making him miss a deep, red gash on the chest of the poor soul who had angered her earlier. He grimaced a bit, mind flashing back to the night before and how that could have been his face… not that he was afraid of a good scar, he already had a handful of them, but still… just… Ouch.

He shook it off and continued to follow her, making sure to keep enough distance between the two of them that he could. She didn’t seem to be too concerned about being followed though, and with that whip of hers he could definitely understand why at least in some respect. Still, he couldn’t believe how easy this was turning out; and if his luck held he might be able to get the astrolabe back himself and redeem himself for last night.

She was heading for the jungle that surrounded the port town. A bit odd. There was nothing out here except… well, jungle. Maybe she had a camp out here someplace? Or was planning to meet someone out here? It didn’t really matter, either way he’d have to make sure to leave a trail for the rest of the crew to follow if they came along to try and find him. He kept the distance between himself and the pirate woman, making sure to duck behind trees and bushes large enough to hide him from her sight, snapping a few small branches in the direction they were heading; and stopping only occasionally to use his knife to leave relevant markings on a tree or two.

MK ducked behind a tree, holding his breath as she came to a sudden stop and turned back. He stayed stock still, only breathing again once he was sure he could avoid gasping from the initial startle, and only dared to peek around the tree he hid behind when he heard the foliage ahead of them rustle. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that her moving on meant she didn’t see him, which meant he just had to keep following--

He froze at seeing that she had disappeared entirely. 

“What the…?” he looked around, even behind him, to see where she had gone. But there was no sign, nor trace, not even in the dirt where she’d been standing. The tracks just stopped! So where did she…?

Another crack that made him jump, the feeling of something tightening sharply around his ankle, followed by a sharp yank, one that sent him crashing to the ground before pulling him upwards into the air by that same ankle. He yelped aloud, unable to keep the sound from erupting from his mouth as he was hoisted into the air and left swinging like a pinata by one leg.

“Hey!” MK yelped arms flailing out around him before reaching up and attempting to free his leg from the whip coiled around it. 

“I wouldn’t, if I were you.” 

MK froze again temporarily when he felt cold steel stretch across his throat, letting himself fall backward enough to look at the woman; who stood, whip tight in one hand to hold him up and a blade in the other, glaring at him. MK glared back, unable to keep from making an aggravated, almost pouting sound at her.

“Seriously?! You use a metal whip and a knife?! Oh come on, that’s just cheating!” he whined.

“All’s fair when you’re a pirate, lad,” she said. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, we make our own rules, the code is more guidelines, all that stuff…” MK said with a roll of his eyes. 

She let out a sigh. “How about we skip past the banter and get to the point; who are you and why are you following me?”

Shoot. MK had to think fast. Typically he had at least one of three go-to answers to a question like this… they usually worked really well on Red, but this wasn’t Red. This was someone with a blade at his throat and a crazy looking blue, metal whip around his leg, hanging him from a tree. He would have to come up with something else to save his neck… literally.

“I, uh… I-It’s nothing, really! I saw the way you handled yourself in the town back there and I… well, it was really cool! I wanted to ask if you could… you know, teach me how you… did that thing you did!” MK said, putting on as genuine a smile as he could.

“Oh really? Which thing was that?” she asked, lowering the blade only so she could crouch down and look at him at the same level. MK began to sweat. “For someone who wanted to learn a simple wrist flick, you sure were intent on not being seen back there…”

“...Okay, okay!” MK sighed, letting himself sag in the hold of the whip. “It was my friend who was watching you, he thought you were cute, but he’s pants at talking to girls so he asked me to do it for him! Happy!?”

She choked down what was undoubtedly a laugh. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not, but he was willing to take what he got. 

“Can you let me down now? All my blood is rushing to my head!” he whined. Unbeknownst to her, he had one last trick up his sleeve, but it all relied on her letting him down, and hopefully she bought his second excuse so he could pull it.

After a pause, she spoke again, and he felt slack on his ankle. “Fine.”

“Thanks, I--” his expression of gratitude was cut off by a painful grunt as he fell to the ground beneath him with a hard thud. He rolled himself over and onto his knees as she stood back to full height, coiling up the whip again.

Go time.

“Ouch! Did you really have to just drop me!?” he asked, starting to stand, only to bite back a cry of pain and fall backwards again, this time clutching his leg where the whip had been coiled around it. “Oh come on!”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, an annoyed, but surprised tone in her voice.

MK grumbled to make it sound like he was swearing under his breath. “Your whip must have dislocated something…” he growled at her.

She sighed, rolling her eyes and reaching down to offer him a hand up, the same hand that should have been resting on her whip. 

Just what he was waiting for.

MK took her hand firmly, typical of someone preparing to hoist themselves up with another’s aid, but instead he pulled as hard as he could, prankly yanking on her arm while his “injured” leg shot out forward at hers, knocking her feet out from under her. She fell with a startled cry, MK using her initial shock from the fall to twist and roll the both of them so that she was pinned beneath him; arm above her head so that she couldn’t reach for her whip again. He reached behind him and pulled out the small dagger he kept with him, intending to put it to her throat only as a means to keep her still, but to his surprise it was met with her own before he could set it in place. He’d been so focused on the whip, and just keeping her from using it again that he forgot about the knife entirely. But with how they were locked together now, it wasn’t like it was that big of a problem.

“You little sneak…!” she hissed, accent flaring with the anger in her voice.

“Easy, I don’t want to hurt you! I just want the astrolabe you stole!” MK hissed back, arm straining to hold her down as she struggled. “Hand it over and I’ll let you alone!”

“Pirate’s honor?”

“Of course!”

“Then no deal!” she growled, giving one hard, last effort shove to push him off of her. But MK was ready for it; all his training with Wukong hadn’t been for naught, after all.

He leaned back, using his weight to drag her up and off balance, still keeping his grip on her wrist so she couldn’t go for the whip. He briefly tucked the knife he held into his teeth, using the sudden momentum from their roll to flip her up and over him in a way that he had complete control of her movement. With another twist of his arm, and making sure to sweep his legs the right way, he flipped her onto her stomach, with her arm twisted behind her and him now sitting on her back. He heard her swear in what he assumed was Irish Gaelic repeatedly as he took the knife out of his teeth again.

“Phew! Good thing Wukong’s training paid off,” he said to himself, before pressing the blade to her cheek to still her as she struggled. “Look, I really don’t want to hurt you! If I did, I would have by now, so just, let me have the astrolabe and we can both just walk away without any bad feelings, alright?”

He paused as she arched her head to look at him with a skeptical look, and he felt himself blush a bit sheepishly.

“...Okay, maybe some bad feelings, but hey, give me credit, I’m trying here!” he said.

She sighed heavily and with agitation lacing her voice, letting her head flop forward slightly into the dirt and grass beneath them. “I don’t have it.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t have it!” she snapped back at him. “Do you really think I’d be dense enough to have it one me with soldiers searching almost everyone in town?!”

“Well then what did you do with it?” MK asked, pulling the blade of the knife back just enough to avoid cutting into her cheek. She grumbled under her breath and he sighed, pressing it back to her cheek with just the slightest bit more pressure. “Come on, I meant it when I said I don’t want to hurt you…”

“There’s a mile long beach south of here that’s right littered with rocky crags and tidal pools. That’s where I stashed it.”

“Hm… that’s actually pretty smart.” MK said, though he couldn’t deny the annoyance he felt. “It just means I’m gonna have to have you lead me to it yourself, rather than letting you go right away like I was hoping to.”

“So it would seem,” the woman hissed up at him.

MK sighed, briefly looking over his shoulder, half hoping someone from the crew would show up by now, thanks to the trail he left, but he couldn’t count on Pigsy finding them right away and filling them all in. He was probably on his own for now. Not that he couldn’t handle it… just so long as he kept his wits about him with this one.

“Okay, I’m going to let you up, and you’re going to lead me to the astrolabe,” he said, sheathing the knife but keeping his grip on her arm and staying on top of her. “But!” he added, using his now free hand to detach the whip from the holster on her belt. “I’m going to be keeping this with me so you can’t use it!”

With that, he got up off of her, quickly, and stepped back to let her up. He kept his hands tightly around the whip, examining it carefully and briefly as she pulled herself up onto her feet again and brushed the dirt off her vest.

It was like nothing he’d ever seen before; a light metal that felt way less durable than it probably was, segmented to allow the whip itself to stretch when swung the right way, and probably allowing it to cut all the more cleanly too. But what struck him the most was the color of the metal. It was a deep, blue-green color, veined with lighter colors that almost glowed and flashed like the surface of water under direct sunlight. He couldn’t help but whistle at the unique object before turning his attention back to the woman as she faced him, a scowl plastered onto her face.

“Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll make sure that you get some sort of reward to compensate, alright?”

“Keep talking like that and people will think you’re too soft to be a real pirate, lad. Now are we gonna move on or do you intend to make me chat with you for the rest of the afternoon?” she asked.

“Fine.” MK said with a sigh, gesturing her forward with his free hand. “Let’s go.”

He followed her through the jungle, keeping a tight grip on the whip in hand, an eye on her, and another eye behind them as they walked. He was still making sure to leave a trail so his crew could find them, but the fact that they hadn’t yet was really making him nervous. He tried not to show it, though. He tried his best to make it look like he was doing his best to memorize their surroundings, or something, just in case she pulled any tricks.

He glanced down at the whip in his hand again curiously, then back at her, clearing his throat a bit.

“So… what crew are you from?” he asked, the extended, awkward silence making him even more nervous, so he decided to try and break it. She wasn’t cooperating though, remaining silent. “Or do you work alone? Solo pirate, or just the treasure hunter type?”

He heard her sigh and could swear by the way her head tilted back slightly that she just rolled her eyes at him. He huffed in annoyance, rolling his own eyes for a moment before propping his arms behind his head casually.

“You’re from Ireland, right?” he asked, deciding to change tactics. “I can tell from your accent. From what part?”

“...My kin originally hailed from Louth, but my grandfather was born in Galway,” she finally replied, causing MK to perk up a little.

“Ah, I’ve heard of Galway, but not Louth… where’s that?”

“Further East. It was once known as Ulster...” she said, then clicked her tongue and looked back at him. “Is there a point to these questions of yours?”

MK shrugged. “Not really… just curious,” he replied. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re an odd fish, you know that?”

MK shrugged again, continuing to follow her. “And you’re not? I mean… don’t take it the wrong way but I’ve never heard of a pirate using a whip before,” he said, glancing at the whip in his hands again briefly. “And what the heck is it made of? I’ve never seen metal like this before...”

“That’s what makes it so advantageous,” she said, looking back at him with a proud smirk. “No one who knows as much as they think they do about pirates would ever see it coming.”

“Can’t really argue with that…” MK said quietly, mind flashing back to the previous night, when she first caught him off guard, then looking at her again. “But you didn’t answer my last question.”

“And I don’t intend to. It wouldn’t be professional if I gave away all my trade secrets,” she said, smirking at him again and tapping a finger to her nose.

“Fair enough… but if you won’t tell me what it’s made of, then will you at least tell me where you got it?” he asked.

She shrugged, stopping to turn and face him, eyes falling on the whip itself. “I stole it from another pirate on my first venture as one, a long, long time ago. It’s got plenty of sentimental value for me…”

MK squinted at her and clutched the whip tightly. “Oh no you don’t,” he said. “You’re not getting this back until I have the astrolabe!”

“Worth a try,” she said with a defeated sigh, starting to turn back around, when she stopped, looking beyond MK and scowling slightly.

“What?”

“Your friends found us at last, it seems,” she said.

MK tightened his grip on the whip, making sure she wouldn’t make a grab for it as he turned around to look and see for himself. It was about time that they caught up! He had this well in hand, but he sure could use the extra help if he needed it…

A shadow darted behind a tree, and another behind a large stone, a bit too slow for him to not notice them, and to not ascertain that they were not members of his crew.

But he unfortunately did know who they were.

“Down!” he whispered loudly, turning and tackling the woman to the ground as gently as he could, while still trying to keep the whip out of her reach.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re--?!” she almost snapped aloud, if not for MK slapping his free hand over her mouth.

“Sssh!” he whispered harshly, looking over his shoulder briefly before crawling off her enough to drag her behind a tree. “Those buccaneers are no friends of mine!” he whispered again, then looked at her, letting go of her mouth. “Unless they’re yours?”

She shook her head, a surprising look of alarm crossing her features. “But if they’re not yours, then whose are they?” she asked, voice hushed now.

“It’s a long story.” MK said, swallowing. “But basically their captain is… and old “friend” of my captain’s, and they…” he paused and sighed. “They know I’m important to him… so they’re likely here for me.”

“Well, if I’d known I was being held hostage by a celebrity I would have been more polite,” she actually joked, craning her neck to peer around the tree they were hidden behind.

MK bit his lip and chewed nervously, fist clenching around the whip in his hand, also craning his neck to look around the tree and watch as what looked like nearly a dozen different shapes and shadows seemed to be lurking just a cable’s length away. It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen if they caught up with them, and that was where his brain did that thing where he started to think up all the different scenarios that he didn’t like to think about…

Firstly, he wasn’t sure if he could trust this woman to fight by his side if they were caught. For all he knew, she was actually part of Macaque’s crew and was leading him into a trap all along… but then again she didn’t seem the type. And another thing that bothered him was that if she wasn’t part of Macaque’s crew, he would be convinced she was with him, and there would be absolutely no way he’d be able to convince Macaque to spare her or just let her go. And if she wasn’t really part of this then he didn’t want to get her involved… even if she was his only key to getting the astrolabe back.

Stupid conscience…

He shoved the whip back into her hands quietly, crouching in a way that prepared him to jump up and run in another second. He watched her eyes go wide in confusion at his action, looking at him in further confusion as he took this stance.

“What are you…?”

“Look, they’re after me, not you.” MK said, past bared teeth. “So I’ll draw them off, and you make a run for it.”

“Don’t be foolish there’s at least a dozen of them!” she whispered back, but made no move to stop him. MK shrugged with what--to her shock--appeared to be a genuine smile.

“Heh, being foolish is kind of one of my better qualities!” he said, taking off before she could protest on his behalf again.

He didn’t really think as to which direction he was running in, just so long as he was gaining as much distance as he could. He didn’t really have a plan at this point, but he knew the coast was nearby. If he could make it there he had a good chance of being able to double back towards town and either losing his pursuers in the crowds or getting the attention of his crewmates. But of course, he had to actually make it without getting caught first… Pigsy was right, he should have probably waited for the others, but there was no time to worry about that now; he had to keep moving!

A shot rang out and he heard a branch he ducked beneath snap as he ran. He bit back a yelp and changed direction, sliding down a ditch in his path before continuing to run. That was way too close for comfort! But he liked to imagine that Macaque wanted him alive for whatever reason and was now either scolding the pirate whose shot came too close or cutting him down in some way…

And then the thought of actually being taken alive by one of Wukong’s greatest enemies made his stomach lurch. As did the thought of whatever the outcome of being captured alive would eventually be! That thought alone spurred him onward, pumping him with adrenaline that gave him a burst of speed that was just enough for his pursuers to lose sight of him…

But at a cost that he realized only too late.

It wasn’t until he was tumbling off the edge of the cliff that he even realized that it was there. The fall itself wasn’t fatal, just by the distance, but he hit the rocky ground beneath hard. Hard enough for something in his bones to crack, painfully. He cried out loudly and abruptly in pain, though manage to strangle the remaining sound by slapping his hand over his mouth, body curling on itself as his free hand shot to his now--quite clearly broken--leg.

No. No, no, no, not like this!

With some difficulty and still strangling any pain filled screams that tried to escape his vocal cords, he managed to sit himself up and drag himself to the base of the cliff. Tears of agony and frustration stung the corners of his eyes as he pressed himself against the rock, looking up and praying to whatever god was listening that none of his pursuers saw or heard him fall. Especially now that he couldn’t run anymore. Not with a freshly busted leg!

He chanced a glance away from the top of the cliff above to look at the leg, grimacing a bit at seeing it twisted in a way it… really shouldn’t have been. He’d had broken bones before… but usually from stupid stuff. Stupid mistakes or antics on his part, things he could laugh about later with his friends, or even be scolded by them for, but this was different. Serious. His friends weren’t here to help him set this, or to help him limp to safety, he was on his own.

On his own with a least half a dozen pirates led by one who would probably use him to get to his friends now that he was an easy capture with this stupid, broken leg!

A shadow briefly graced the top of the cliff, vanishing before he could get a good look, or hide himself against the rock better, and he felt his heart stop.

They’d seen him.

They would be down here any second.

This was it…

MK hesitantly reached for the dagger he had with him, hands still shaking from the pain in his leg. He wasn’t going to possibly meet his maker and say he didn’t go down without a fight, even if it was going to be a brief one…

“That looks bad, lad.”

The way she had snuck up on him was so quiet he began to wonder if she wasn’t some sort of ghost. He gasped aloud, catching his breath so he didn’t scream from surprise, his own held silence further helped by her placing a hand gently over his mouth, two fingers over her own with a whisper of “shush”, to him. MK set down the dagger as she pulled her hand away, sniffling and choking back a pained sob as the woman with the whip knelt beside him.

“Wh-What… are you doing here…?” he asked, wincing as she--as tenderly as possible--examined his leg.

“Irish stubbornness,” she replied. “I wouldn’t be a good daughter of Eireann if I just let you face such odds on your own.”

MK couldn’t fight a smile and a single, happy sob that escaped him. “H-Heh… thanks…” he said.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, pulling one of his arms over her shoulders to help him up. “Now let’s get under some cover and take care of that leg…”

The way the high tides had beaten the shore in past years left the cliff face jagged, full of holes and crags, plenty of places to hide, if you could get to them easily. Which, without help, there was no way he could have. The woman managed to help him under a ledge that would be just enough to hide them both, laying him out flat carefully, so as not to agitate his leg further. Once he was set down as comfortably as possible, she left his side briefly to pick up some pieces of driftwood they had passed on their way there. After that, she returned to his side, sitting in front of him, hands hovering over his leg.

“I have to set this,” she said seriously. “Brace yourself.”

MK nodded, bracing himself as instructed, fists clenching at his sides and gritting his teeth together. She nodded back, carefully taking him by his injured leg, and twisting it abruptly with a “snap” that he felt shoot up his whole body. He didn’t scream, though. He didn’t make a peep. It wasn’t the first time he’d broken something, after all. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, of course. It hurt a lot! He had to squeeze his eyes shut to fight a few tears that threatened to leak out, but he kept quiet, fists finally unclenching as the pain subsided to a more bearable level.

“You’re a brave one,” the woman said, an impressed tone to her voice as she undid the sash around her waist, tearing some of it off, which she then wrapped around his leg.

“Thought I was foolish?” MK asked, voice a bit cracked, but still managing a smile.

“Aye, that too. Still, not bad.”

MK chuckled softly as he watched her use the pieces of driftwood she’d gathered, and the torn parts of her sash to make a sturdy splint for his leg. He felt a few twinges of pain as she tightened the knots, making sure they would hold, but he was grateful that the worst was over at least. She seemed to be too as she sighed and brushed her hands together.

“There, that’ll hold for a while,” she said matter of factly. 

“Thank you,” said MK, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m… sorry, about earlier. With the whole… taking you hostage, thing...”

She shrugged. “Eh, pirate’s life.” MK managed a chuckle.

“Fair enough,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But seriously, thank you for the help… um... I don’t think I caught your name?”

“Matilda,” she said, extending her hand to him. “But my friends call me Sea Cat.”

“Xiaotian.” MK replied as he took her hand and shook it. “But my friends just call me MK.”

“Cute.” Sea Cat said with a chuckle as they released hands. MK coughed down a blush he felt coming on. 

“So, um… now what? I won’t be able to run with his leg…”

“Best thing to do is to just lie low until it starts to get dark.” Sea Cat said, settling herself down opposite MK. “Easier to slip past them that way.”

“Not if they find us before then.” MK said.

“Who said anything about finding us?” Sea Cat asked with a shrug, making him tilt his head in confusion at her. “Once I’m done catching my breath, I’m headed back up the cliffs.”

“You’re just going to leave me here?” MK asked, a bit horrified.

“With that leg? Don’t insult my honor!” Sea Cat said, winking at him. “What I’m going to do is try to leave a false trail for them to follow so they don’t find this little hideaway. Once it’s clear again, I’ll come back for you and help you back into town.”

MK sighed a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he had been holding in. “Oh,” he said. 

“You’ll have to stay put until I get back though. And stay quiet.”

“Don’t worry, I will. But…” MK paused as she started to get up, crawling past him carefully so as to not accidentally jossle his leg. “What if your plan doesn’t work?”

She turned back to look at him. “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she said, giving him a smile and another wink before vanishing from sight simply by stepping round the bend. MK opened his mouth to shout after her in protest, but decided against it, instead sighing loudly and leaning against the side of the small alcove.

“Bloody Irish she-pirate…” he murmured to himself.

End of Part 1

#hope you enjoy #my writing #crossover story? #monkie kid pirate au #my OC #@purble-turble i got inspired by your design/backstory for macaque #hope that's ok #@ninja-knox-ur-sox-off #@neonross #more to come!

[yourvirtualgoddessforlife]

Criminal: Jäger

I’ve grown to love spending time in here. The humming of machinery and buzzing or power tools is actually rather peaceful when you get past how loud it is. I’ve been in here a lot recently just helping out here and there whenever I can. Since joining Rainbow Six I quickly took to the team, trying to gain as many positive relationships with my teammates as possible because well it’s always useful to have people who want you alive. Helping out in the workshops around machines is normally where I am now so I know who frequents these areas. Normally I just catch a glimpse of Echo as he wanders off to improve his Yokai or maybe I sometimes even see Mute who has a fascinating affinity with technology and electrical engineering. On an average day, I’m with Mira seeing as she’s busy and all being Director of Research and Development. She needs the help and she’s lovely to be around, sure she’s a bit loud but I enjoy her company. In fact, I was just running an errand for her. Elena needs to make sure everyone’s tech is perfect and that it is as good as it can be so she’s been asking people to write reports about their gadgets and well the only one I need to collect in now is Jäger’s report. Elena is going to love this, just because I know he’ll have gone off on a tangent.

From my time in the workshops and test labs I've managed to get quite close to Jäger or Marius as he’d rather me call him. He’s kinda like a puppy; he’s really hyperactive and energetic but he also loves everyone and wants everyone to get along and he’s cute (from a strictly professional standpoint please don’t think anything more of it). I’m still not used to him sending me news article links at three in the morning but I do enjoy the moments where we just take a break and watch whatever new documentary we can find. I actually find the fact he wants to learn endearing, the fact he loves finding out about the world around him and then trying to spread this knowledge. Other than that, I just know that he can’t quite catch on to social cues and he tends to make some rash decisions but after working with him for so long I think it’s sweet.

“Hey, Marius. Did you write that report Elena asked for?” I pipe up once I’m close to him and he just looks up from his ADS to give me an energetic grin. 

“Jä, it’s on that desk over there.” He finally stands up straight to look at me and I do have to admit he is good looking (from a professional standpoint, I swear) with that tremulous smile and suave accent. “I’ll fetch it for you, don’t worry”

“Can I proofread it? Don't want Elena to have a go at you for missing anything. Plus I’ve seen her responses to reading these so I know what she’s looking for.” I gently accept the file and in response to my question, he just nods and gives me that dorky smile. Flipping through the pages I let out a slight sigh because after just reading the first two paragraphs I know Elena is gonna get tense.  

Reads as follows; 

‘Device: ADS-MK IV "Magpie" Automated Defense System

Operator: Specialist Marius "Jäger" Streicher

Evaluation Lead: Specialist Marius "Jäger" Streicher 

Mira tasked me with the evaluation of my ADS0MKIV "Magpie." Spending hours in a test lab sounds like my type of vacation - no joke. I'm always on the look-out for where things can be improved. For reference, I have attached the field test data for comparison. Data-Data-Data!

Before we get to that, let’s explore the importance of studying defensive strategies alongside breaching techniques throughout history, as well as the evolution of tech -’

Mira is gonna have fun reading the rest of this. “Thank you for this Marius, I’ll pass it along to Mira immediately.” Since when was he standing that close, a look into his eyes and give him my best smile as I turn around towards the direction of the exit.

“Y/N would you mind helping me out now?” He shyly cast the question to me as he turned back to his ADS. I told him I would help him the second I gave Mira his device evaluation. So I danced along to Elena and bounced whilst handing her the report before skipping straight back to Jäger. It’s not like the idea of spending time with him makes me happy but… it’s important to form a professional relationship with your colleagues.

I spent the rest of that day helping Jäger make improvements to his gadget until we called it quits for the day and threw on a documentary on rainforest wildlife. Then we did it again, it happened a lot. Our friendly relaxation days lasted for a few months only interjected with missions or other duties on every other occasion but today was one of the rare days we were to be deployed on a mission together. The only reason I wasn’t thrilled was because it was to siege a warehouse so a small thing but, it was one of my warehouses. I really wanted nothing to do with the gang anymore because I was honored to have the chance to do good so a walk down memory lane won’t be well received. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it.

I helped with the planning of this and it reminded me of how much I missed organizing an operation. Contributing information and ideas, make people see me as vital. During the briefing, it was revealing a group seven would entering the building, clear the area and the four of us are to hold off reinforcements while the other three operatives move items of interest to an extraction point. Jäger was assigned to defense although that wasn’t surprising, I, however, get to pick up a more assault based role. I am going to be the first in the and also I get the pleasure of carrying stolen weapons to the extraction point. When we were deployed everything went to plan. Whilst Ash and Blitz checked our exit route was viable I helped Jäger, Frost, Kapkan, and Doc set up before picking up my first cache and running. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed and I just needed to carry one more package before I could help someone else although it was clear they were nearly finished as well. 

I was prowling along the corridor back to our defense point cautious of my surroundings. Somethings changed about this hallway since I was last here but I can’t place it, the atmosphere just seems heavier. At the very least it should be secure, Kapkan had trapped all its exits and entrances as well as Jäger lifting me up to place an ADS on the ceiling. As long as I keep my guard up I’ll be okay.

Entering the room of the firefight it was clear which side will come out victorious. I admired Marius’ skill as he landed a perfect shot on an attacker just barely peeking out from behind a crate. Those left in the room where hiding behind cover clearly hesitant to risk moving from their impenetrable cover. I know better than to disturb them so I grab a duffel bag and turn back to the hallway I just left. I got about two minutes down the corridor by the time I realized it, an opened window. I didn’t think anything of it in the past but upon inspection it's obvious that a Kapkan trap was torn from that window and the dusty footsteps, leading towards the defense room. 

I panicked and I ran. 

It was a good call, seeing as I now get to watch a man pull the pin of a grenade behind Doc and Jäger. How haven’t they heard him? Fuck if it matters. I grabbed him which was stupid but what was worse was my decision to spin us into the hallway and wrestle a live grenade of him. I threw it because originally yes I had an idea of what I was going to do before grabbing him and that was for Jäger’s ADS mounted on the ceiling to destroy it, what I wasn’t banking on was for the ADS to have been destroyed. 

I didn’t feel too much of the blast I’d managed to throw it away and if anything the guy in front of me is in worse shape. Actually is he still alive? Yeah, he is, okay, what do I do with him? The correct answer would have been to incapacitate him but I clearly didn’t think of that. I also didn’t think about the possibility of a knife getting involved and I just accepted the attack. I

So imagine this, you had to grapple a guy only for a grenade to go off meters away from you and then you get stabbed but when you expect the knife to get lodged in your heart it goes into your thigh instead. I’m not expecting anything at this point because I wasn't expecting Jäger to take the guy out but he did and now I have a stab wound and a lot of confusion.

Doc came to me a moment later and took to taking care of my leg whilst Marius covered us. During this time we got blessed with the information that we could now withdraw from the field. Jäger was even kind enough to carry me to spare me torturing my injured limb. Although it wasn’t until we were guarded in an armored vehicle he chose to speak to me. 

“I was worried.” It was that small sentence that tugged at my heart. I don’t want Marius to be afraid or worried so to hear him say that caused me concern but still I smiled and pulled him towards me in a cramped side hug. He settled in my embrace and relented that; “I was scared because you nearly died. You did it for me, right? I’m sorry my ADS wasn’t able to help. I even told you not to worry about grenades.”

“Don’t feel sorry about it, there was an ADS but unfortunately our assailant took it out. If anything I should have found a better solution other than tackling the man with a live grenade. If anything I should have recognized the security breach before he approached the main room.” I let go of him purely so I can remove his helmet and glasses which he seemingly appreciates as he looks at me with pure eyes filled with care, it’s cute. “Listen, I’m normally trying to look at things from a professional standpoint but I believe things here between us could maybe more of an emotional thing, y’know?” 

You know the look a dog gives you when it’s confused, that's probably the best way to explain how he’s glancing at me. If I want him to understand this I just need to be blunt but that’s difficult. It’s a lot to demand, me being upfront about an emotional problem just doesn't feel right but it would definitely feel wrong if I didn’t say anything. No, I’ll do it another time and with this decision, I tilt my head away from his intense gaze. 

“Y/N, I don’t want you to get hurt again. I know it sounds strange but I feel sad when you aren’t with me when you’re sad or just even knowing you’re not okay.”

“Well from an unprofessional view I believe I feel the same way you might and I believe it;’s because I've fallen in love.” I can’t say it, it’s cheesy, cliche, just wrong. Oh, fuck it. “I love you, Marius.”

“I love you too, Mäuschen.”

#jäger x reader #rainbow six siege x reader

[the-faultofdaedalus]

My take on wingfic. Enjoy!

Tony stared at his reflection, avoiding the blue glow from the thing in his chest, muffled by his shirt and the cast pressing his arm to his front, at his wings, folded tightly behind him. 

Scratched, and scared, but largely unharmed.

Because they hadn't needed to harm them. 

He flexed them experimentally, trying to bring them up and out, and winced at how the movement pulled at his chest, at the flight muscles they’d cut out, the places where his sternum was no longer the anchor he needed it to be.

He looked and remembered flying, air in his face and sun on his back and laughing with Rhodey or Pepper or Happy.

They hadn't needed to clip his wings, mutilate them like Yinsen’s had been, to prevent them from flying away. 

The ruined muscles in his chest, his lungs and heart, did that for him.

He looked and remembered falling, a metal suit, arcing into the sky only to crash back down, unable to use his wings to brake for fear of the force tearing his chest apart.

He might not be able to fly under his own power ever again, but like hell that was going to stop him from trying.

He could fly.

He could fly, and it might not be the same as flying under his own power, not anywhere near it, but there was still something that felt larger than him, larger than almost everything, about shooting through the air on something he’d built, far faster than he’d ever gone before.

He’d almost died, he’d been so close, less than a foot away from pavement and even the most advanced armor in the world couldn't have saved him from that and he’d never felt so alive.

He’d outed himself as Iron Man, a superhero, and he held his wings up high despite the pain in his chest, the reactor carefully concealed beneath layers of shirts.

He’d nearly died, but instead of the exhilaration from his first flight, or driving too fast on winding roads, he just felt tired. 

That, more than anything, cemented his decision.

No one was going to know he couldn't fly. If they did, it would just be another weakness, another thing people could use to hurt him.

His wings drooped all the time now, the palladium exhausting him too much for him to keep up the ploy of strong, normal wings.

He knew Natalie wasn't who she said she was, seriously, a woman who claimed to have grown up in LA, and spend a good amount of time in Japan flinching at an earthquake, but able to take Happy down in half a second flat?

Whichever government organisation she belonged to probably suspected, or at least that the poisoning was making him too sick to fly, but as long they didn't know the truth, he could...

Well, live with it was probably a poor choice of words. 

At least the company and Iron Man were in good hands, and if those went to shit, his bots would always survive him.

The world would be just fine without him.

You know, it really didn't occur to him how much he didn't want to die now that not dying was a legitimate option. 

An option he was going to take. 

He didn't bother waiting for JARVIS to finish running tests on the new core before shoving it into his chest, it wasn't like it could be any more fatal than the old one, and the first thing he noticed was the energy. His wings straightened for the first time in months, and he grinned.

The second thing was the coconut.

That was a little weird. 

A god had thrown him out a window. 

Fantastic. Really, that was just great. He’d been meaning to test the Mk. 6 deployment system, and what better time to do that than falling to his death.

He hoped it wouldn't be to his death. Then everyone would know that he couldn't fly, Rogers with his sneer and cutting words, I know men worth 10 of you. Men who don’t need a fancy suit because they’re too lazy to fly, Pepper and Rhodey and Happy with their genuine care. Well, it was good to know that whatever report they’d given Rogers, they either hadn't figured it out, or left it out.

He kept his wings close behind him, but spread his arms and legs to stabilise himself as the armour locked onto his bracelets. “There’s one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil.” He said, letting his armor-covered wings stretch out to their full length, aiming a repulsor at Loki.

That asshole was going to pay.

They’d won. He’d gone to space and came back out and they’d won.

The Avengers, as they were apparently calling themselves, moved into the tower. He knew most of them didn't have a home to call their own, a roost, a nest, and he liked them. 

And so, they became an actual team.

Maybe, Tony thought, as he hung onto the metal bar next to the gaping hole in the jet, the suit long gone and as Steve, the only one left in the jet with him, urged him to jump, maybe keeping the whole flightlessness thing a secret hadn't been the best idea. 

Steve was still shouting at him, the words lost over the roar of wind, but Tony got the gist. Steve grabbed his arm and tugged, moving closer, and Tony shook his head, because he did not want to die impaled on a pine tree in the middle of nowhere. 

Steve furrowd his brow, and even though his head was right next to Tony’s, he still had to yell to make himself heard. “WE NEED TO JUMP.” He shouted, his eyes pleading.

“I CAN’T,” Tony replied. Steve frowned. “I CAN’T FLY. YOU GO.” He said, and emotions flashed over Steve’s face, confusion and anger and resignation, and Tony briefly rued the fact that the parachutes had been concealed in the piece of wall that was currently debris on a mountain somewhere west of them before Steve grabbed him around the middle, and hurled them both out of the plane.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” He yelled, trying to free himself because he could die, that was fine (well, not fine, but he was in denial), but he was not going to bring Steve down with him. Thanks to Steve’s stubbornness, super strength, and the fact that his arms were crushed against Steve’s chest, he didn't have much luck. 

Steve didn't respond, and Tony couldn't see anything, just navy uniform and gold hair and gold feathers, but he felt them slowing down, felt Steve’s chest heaving with the effort, and before he knew it, they had landed.

An actual landing, no blood or injury or broken trees, But Tony still stumbled when Steve finally let go of him.

Before either of them could say anything, there was a flash of red through the trees, an emergency flare arcing through the skies. Steve turned to him, expectant, and gestured to what he obviously thought was a trail, but was really, really not. “They’re not far. We can walk.” Steve said, like Tony had a choice.

So, they walked.

“So...” Steve started as he ducked under a pine branch. 

Tony sighed. Well, it wasn't as if he’d not know that Steve would try to talk about this eventually. “I can’t fly.” He said, mostly just wanting to get the conversation over with.

Steve turned, brow furrowed, but he didn't look upset or disappointed or anything that Tony had been expecting, just confused. His eyes flickered between Tony’s wings, and his face, and back, and it was like Tony could see the thought process going on in his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tony beat him to it, tapping the reactor. “This thing replaces a good portion of my sternum. Even if I could regrow all the flight muscles, there wouldn't be anything for them to anchor to. Even If I could take this out, replace the chunk of sternum, and regrow the muscle, my lungs and heart would still be too fucked up to get them enough oxygen.” He explained, honestly a little relieved to say it. “I’m just not strong enough.” He smiled, rueful and self-deprecating.

All Steve said was, “Oh,” And he turned back to continue walking. It seemed like the conversation was over, but Tony could tell that Steve wanted to say something, ask something.

“Just ask.” He snapped, annoyed.Steve’s head whirled back around, face flushed in embarrassment and eyes wide. 

“If-” Steve started, and cleared his throat. “Why didn't you have any parachutes? In the plane?” He asked, and he sounded so earnestly confused.

“That’s your question?” Tony blurted and waved his hands, trying to get Steve to ignore what he just said. “And, I did have parachutes. I’m sure you can guess which wall they were in.” He said, and Steve nodded, like that made perfect sense, before turning back to the trail Tony could still swear didn't actually exist. “That’s it? You’re not-”

“I’m not.” Steve agreed, not turning back around. “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re not a liability. It hasn't mattered until now, has it?” Steve asked, but didn't pause long enough to let Tony respond. “Thank you for telling me.” He said, and that was that.

Tony was sitting on the busted suitcase suit around a fire that Steve had made while the team waited for SHIELD to pick them up. The members of the Hydra cell that had been camped out here and that had shot them down were tied to a tree, no longer a threat.

He took a bite out of his piece of duck, chewed slowly, and swallowed. He cleared his throat, and it was so loud in the otherwise silient nighttime that everyone looked up at him. “I can’t fly. Just thought you guys should know.” He said, and waited on the reactions.

There was... surprising little. Thor just nodded sagely and held up Moljnir, his lack of wings a glaring hole behind him. “I thought as much,” Bruce said, at the same time Natasha spoke up.

“So it wasn't the palladium?” She asked, and tilted her head when he nodded. 

Clint... looked mildly constipated, face twisted like he was trying to solve a particularly hard math problem. “Wait, then why didn't-”

“Oh my god, there were parachutes on the jet, I am not an idiot, they were in the wall that got exploded!” Tony snapped, throwing his hands in the air, but grinning. Clint accepted that, and grinned back before trying to steal a piece of duck from Natasha. It didn't go well for him.

And, that was that. He’d told Pepper and Rhodey as well, who confessed that they’d known all along.

In the end, the only thing that changed was the varied location of the parachutes in the quinjet.

#rowanwhispers #Iron Man #The Avengers #MCU #wingfic #tree writes #My writing