#...and i was defending them in my head and twisting it to be my fault once again... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lovingmattysposts · 2 months

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You don't know me 26

P1 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P18 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24 P25 P27 P28 P29 P30 P31 P32

pairing: y/n and chris sturniolo

summary: you and chris came from two different sides of the spectrum when it came to the social scale. You had the perfect life, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect parents, but when you start to peal back that layers things got messy. Your life was set and stone, your future was set and stone. That was until he comes and changes everything.

warnings: mentions of family dramaaa

"Nate said that?" Chris mumbled as his hand played with my fingers. I just watched our hands together as I laid against him. "Yep" I sighed as he interlaced our fingers. Chris sighed as he dropped our hands.

"I don't blame him, he probably thinks I'm exactly like my mother" I sighed as I tilted my head to look up at him. He looked down at me. He shook his head. "It's not an excuse, you're two completely different people" Chris defended. I looked down, leaning my head back against his shoulder as we laid in his bed.

"I'm not trying to pin you against your best friend Chris"

"It's hard to not be against him"

"Chris"

"What?"

I closed my eyes feeling my stomach twist. "I didn't want this to happen" I mumbled. His hand disconnected from mine and his arms snaked around me. "We don't have to talk about it. I'm not trying to make you upset. I know today's been a lot for you" He whispered trying to ease the mood.

I rolled over causing his arms to shift as I laid on top of him. I smiled down at him, and pressed our noses together. He smiled.

"So are you just never gonna try and talk to James?"

I groaned and buried my face in his neck. I knew he was just curious, trying to push me forward. It wasn't his fault.

"It’s just not fair" He mumbled quickly, squeezing my sides. I hummed against him. I lifted my head and his eyes caught mine. "What about your dad? You don't talk to him" I said raising my eyebrows. His demeanor shifted and his hands released me and he looked away.

Struck a nerve. Shit.

"I just--If we're talking about child-parent relationships, you have a connection to your dad. Why don't-" I tried to recover poorly. "Don't go there, it's different" He mumbled shifting underneath me, but not pushing me off him.

"I just wanna make sure you're okay too" I whispered. "You're so worried about me, let me worry about you" I said trying to catch his eyes. He let out a breath.

"I'm moving back into their house, he'll have to like me somewhat. I'll be fine" He almost whispered. I looked away from him.

I still hadn't told him about my deal with my mom. If he had the option, I didn't even know if he would choose to stay. After all he was forced to move here, just because we were together doesn't necessarily mean that he wanted to stay.

"Have I told you that I loved you recently?" I whispered. He looked over at me before sighing. "I love you too" He whispered. I smiled and pressed my lips against his cheek softly and slowly before moving back to face him.

He glanced down.

"After they told me they were moving me into my grandpa’s house, I told them that I loved Rose more than I loved them" He stated. I just looked at him, feeling the shift of energy. I moved off of him, but kept my eyes on him. He moved and fear flashed across his eyes.

I reached over, connecting our hands. If we were going to have a serious conversation, I didn't want to be on top of him. I wanted him to know that I was listening, not that I was jealous from his words. I knew he loved Rose, I wasn't jealous of that anymore.

Once our fingers connected and a look of understanding crossed my eyes, he relaxed. "Did you mean it?" I asked softly as my thumb moved across the back of his hand. He leaned against the pillows looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't know" He mumbled. "I don't really know If I meant it, I just knew that it would hurt, so I said it" He said looking down at our hands. I studied his face. He was good at that, making words hurt. I knew that first hand, sadly.

"I'm not proud of it" He shook his head. "Yeah" I breathed. He looked over at me. "It's okay Chris, people do things out of hurt. It's a natural reaction, it's normal" I said. He shook his head. "Nothing about the way that I react is normal" He sighed closing his eyes. I swallowed.

"Do you wanna go back?" I hestiated. He looked over at me. "I don't wanna leave you" He whispered. I blinked at him. "That's not what I asked" I said softly. He just looked at me.

"I don't like making decisions, i'm not used to it. Every decision that has brought me to this point has been made for me." He said. I sighed closing my eyes. I shouldn't have opened this can of worms, because I was scared of what it entailed.

"I don't-" He paused.

"It's not that I don't want to go back, it's that I'm scared to go back" He whispered. I opened my eyes. He was looking at me. "That town holds memories that I don't want to remember. I felt like I was a different person there" He mumbled.

"A better person?"

"Y/n"

"If you had the choice, would you stay?"

He just looked at me, before turning. "Are you afraid that if you go back that remembering Rose would make you forget about me?" I asked disconnecting our fingers. His head snapped over to me.

"Y/n, No" He sat up looking down at me. "It's just--" He stopped closing his eyes. "Before I came to Michigan, I was never violent. I never started fights. Every emotion I felt didn't turn into anger. I was..." He swallowed.

"Happy" I finished for him. He glanced over at me. "I was just a different person" He breathed. I nodded sitting up.

"I love you"

"I know you do" I whispered. "I don't want to break up when I move" He swallowed. I looked over at him. "I'm serious" He grabbed my hand. I just watched him.

"If you had a choice. Would you stay?"

"Why are you acting like I have a choice?"

The door opened before Dan's eyes met mine. Chris turned his head to him. A smile crept onto Dan's face. I looked down at my lap. Just from Dan's face, reality crashed over Chris. I felt his eyes burn into mine.

I swallowed before removing my hand from his.

"I'll let you guys....." I breathed pushing off the bed and avoiding Chris's gaze. "Talk" I breathed before grabbing my shoes and moving past Dan's smiling face. I couldn't breathe as I walked down the hallway of his house.

I knew that life wasn't fair. I understood that and I was starting to except that. It wasn't fair for me to keep Chris here if it's not where he felt like he belonged. That being said, if Chris does leave.

I blinked up at the house, for the second time in two days.

I had to have someone.

I walked up the steps. I raised my fist to knock, but paused and turned and walked down the steps.

what if he doesn't like me?

what if he doesn't want me?

what if he looks at me and all he sees is my mom, like my mom does with him?

Doubt crept in. The thought of someone else not accepting me, make me sick to my stomach. He wanted to see me when I was a baby. What changed?

My feet hit the payment of the driveway before I heard a car door slam. I froze. If Nate saw me outside of his house again, I think he'd actually hit me. But a part of me knew it wasn't Nate this time.

I wasn't fully out of the driveway yet and I was frozen as I saw someone in my peripheral vision walking from a parked car on the street.

"Hello?" a voice rang. I felt my entire body shake. I forced my eyes up before I saw a man. The same color hair as Nate, tall, lean, scruff lining his face. He looked like Scott’s age.

He was holding something in his hands. A bag from a takeout place nearby. I don't remember the last time I had take-out food. I'd only really had prepared meals from our chef that stayed in our guest house.

I smelt the food as he got closer. Once we made eye contact, I looked down at my feet. "Uh, sorry I was just leaving" I mumbled quickly. I saw his feet pause in front of me. My whole body shook.

"Are you here for Nate? He just left to go play hockey with some guys at the old rink"

He didn't recongize me. I could get out of this.

"Yeah, I figured. I was just leaving" I said shaking my head. He tilted his head. I still hadn't look up.

"What's your name sweetheart?" His kind voice rang through me like a thousand bolts of electricity at the unthought aboutnickname. I felt a lump in my throat.

"Rose" I lied. The first name I thought of. I wasn't proud of it, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, Rose. I can give him a call, if you haven't already. He didn't tell me he was expecting-"

I looked up at him.

His smile dropped.

I bit my lip as he stared at me. We had the same eyes. Same round shape, same color. I swallowed. His face dropped in color as the realzation hit him.

"Y/n-" he barley got out before I moved on my feet.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come" I mumbled as tears filled my eyes. I heard the bag of food drop and steps come after me.

"Y/n, wait. Please"

I wiped my face as I stopped and turned to look at him. His mouth was parted as he search for words. I looked down feeling my chest clench.

"I shouldn't have come I-I'm sorry. I know you probably don't want to see me" I choked out as I tried to regain the feeling in my legs. "I've waited 18 years to see your face" he said making me look up at him.

He shook his head.

"Can I--" His voice shook. "Can I hug you?" He breathed. I blinked at him before I slowly nodded. He stepped forward before his arms came around me and he pulled me into his chest. He wasn't overly tall, a little taller than Chris and Nate, but not over 6 foot.

"My little girl" He breathed. Almost like he was saying it to himself not to me. I stood frozen against him, but he held me like he never wanted to let go. I swallowed before I allowed myself to hug him back.

We stood there for a second. In the middle of the driveway, just a daughter hugging her father. It felt like the world stopped spinning.

He pulled back from me and I saw tears in his eyes.

"Please, come inside" He said placing his hands on my shoulders. I opened my mouth and looked back towards the road. "I-" I breathed before looking back at him. Pure hope and almost....regret? Filled his face as he looked down at me.

"Okay" I nodded. He smiled before placing his hand on my back. He picked up the food off the ground, that lucky hadn't spilled, as he walked me towards the front door.

I felt my heart pound against my chest so loudly, it was all I could hear. I was scared. I was scared of Nate coming home early. I was scared of my parents---well my mother and Scott, finding out I was here. I was scared that the man I've built up in my head the past 24 hours wasn't the man I dreamt of. Or worse, he was.

I've gone back and forth. Felt every emotion. Anger, happiness, fear, anxiety, hopefulness, depression, doubt, every single one. Towards the man I had just laid eyes on for the first time.

He pushed the door open and I noticed that his hands were shaky. I walked in before him and my eyes drifted over his home. Nicer than Chris's, definitely not as nice as mine, but my favorite house I've ever seen.

A decent sized living room, with up to date furniture. A flatscreen tv in front of the couch with a Michigan State jeresy hung in the living room. It's where both my parents went to college, and now I'm assuming he went too.

The only thing that made my heart turn were the pictures lining the hallway of Nate. None of me. No reminisce of me, anywhere. Not that their would be. But it still hurt, because if you walked into the house you would have no idea I'd even existed to him. And that's exactly how I felt.

"C-Can I get you something to drink? Are you thirsty? Do you like tea?" He fired questions at me once we entered the living room. I opened my mouth as I tore my eyes away from the home decor and looked at him.

"I-uh..yeah sure" I mumbled. He let out a breath and smiled softly before walking into the kitchen. I just watched him as he reached for the fridge. White walls, a kitchen island, a loaf of bread on the counter, and a sign that read:

In this house we EAT

I smiled softly, it went away fast, I barley even realized it happened. I let out a breath as I turned and looked around. One set of stairs that led to the second floor and a railing that overlooked the living room from upstairs. I let out a breath seeing pictures of Nate in hockey uniforms lining the walls. It felt like a knife in my throat.

"Shit"

I turned seeing he spilled some tea onto the counter. His hands shook against the bottle of tea. He closed his eyes and took in a breath before moving and grabbing a paper towel.

At least I wasn't the only one losing their shit right now. I looked down at my hands and clasped them together before I heard footsteps entering the living room.

"Here you go" He smiled handing me a cup of iced tea. I looked down at it and looked up at him. "Thank you" I breathed. He sighed and wiped his hands against his jeans, nodding.

"I normally don't have tea, but Nate-he likes-" He started to say. I bit my lip and looked down at the mention of Nate. His son. My brother. You know the one he didn't pretend didn't existed for 18 years?

"Do you want to sit?" He asked pausing his previous sentence, probably due to my reaction, and motioned towards the couch. I forced a small smiled and nodded before I froze bringing my cup over the carpet.

I wasn't allowed to have drinks or food in the living room at home. I remembered once I had orange juice in the living room and spilled in on the white carpet.....I wasn't allowed to drink orange juice ever again and was placed on a water-only diet until I was 12.

They were angry over it for 5 years.

He noticed my hestitation. I glanced at the carpet before kicked off my shoes and holding the cup close to my body as I walked slowly over the carpet before placing it in the middle of the table next to the couch. That way, if I moved my arm or my legs I wouldn't knock it over on the carpet.

I lifted my hand from the cup calmly before sitting on the couch. He was already sitting my the time I did my ritual. He just looked at me. I couldn't read him. But I knew I saw a hint of confusion. I looked down and noticed he was wearing boots.

Dirty boots.

Like he had just gotten off a job sight. And his feet were placed against the carpet. His boots against the carpet. His dirt filled boots, against the wool.

I looked up at his eyes realizing how insane I must have looked taking off my shoes and making sure there was no possible way for me to harm his carpet with my feet or my drink.

I swallowed and looked down at my lap.

"Sorry" I whispered. He didn't say anything for a second and I heard him smack his lips before speaking.

"You're beautiful. You've grown up a beautiful girl, Y/n" He breathed. I could tell he was practically begging for me to look up at him, and I wanted to, but I couldn't.

It's not like you would have known. My mind rang at his words.

But I couldn't even find myself to be angry. I found myself to just be hurt, fighting back tears. "Thank you" I whispered. He took in a breath as his hands slid down his jeans.

"How-" He paused, licking his lips. "Did your mother tell you?" He asked softly. I blinked up at him. I noticed how he said mother instead of Clara. I wondered if it was as hard for him to say Clara, as it was for my mother to say James.

"No" I stated blankly. "But she knows I know" I said. He nodded and looked down. I pulled my legs up against my chest, like I did when I felt like I had nothing else to hold onto.

"Okay" He breathed. I turned and looked at him. He looked at me. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to do this. I wasn't prepared to-" He swallowed stopping himself. I closed my eyes.

"I know you're probably very angry and confused" He shook his head. "And feel like you've been lied to" He shook his head. Bingo James, nailed it right on the head.

“But I promise you when I say that not a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about you—“ He breathed shaking his head. I just watched him. He swallowed trying to contain his emotions.

“Why did you never try to see me?” I whispered. He took in a breath before looking at the ground. “When your mother…” He swallowed. Just like my mother, it looks like it pained him to speak about it,

“Decided for the both of us that she was going to say you were his-“ He didn’t have to clarify who ‘his’ was, because we both knew it was Scott.

“If I had tried to reach out to you, or be in your life, he wouldn’t have understood why” He stated shaking his head. I could feel the regret forming in his words.

“And I obliged to your mom’s wishes to just stay out of it” He breathed. I just watched him. “Because you loved her” I stated. He closed his eyes and looked at me.

“The moment I agreed to pretend that you weren’t mine—“ His face tightened and I saw tears line his eyes. “I’ve hated a part of myself ever since” He whispered, shaking his head. He looked down.

“I don’t expect you to believe anything I’m saying. My dad was never present. If he told me something like this I would probably tell him to piss off” He shook his head. I just watched him. It was something I should do, but I didn’t have anything else but to believe him.

“Don’t take this as creepy as it sounds, but..” He paused. “I know about your life. I know you were on the debate team. I know you were dating the Hasting’s son for a while. I know that when you were little, your hair was lighter than it is now, and I know that you favorite color is purple because you wear it so much. Luckily for me, Clara can’t kick me off social media. Even though I agreed to not see you, I still wanted to know how your life was going. If it was good. If you were happy” He finished hesitantly.

I just looked at him before hope sparked in me. There was no way of him knowing that without him actually meaning what he said, he kept up with my life. I looked down at my feet. That doesn’t fix the strain on my trust. Sadly my trust for people as dwindled deeply from what I’ve been through these past few months.

“I don’t know how to trust you” I breathed honestly. “I don’t expect you to trust me. You’ve been lied to your whole life, I’ve lied to you. Your mother has lied to you” He shook his head.

“I’m not expecting you to run into my arms or even call me dad” He sighed pausing softly after dad. I felt my heart ripple.

“But if you want a relationship with me-“ He shook his head. “There is nothing I’ve wanted more in my entire life and I will not take it for granted” He said meeting my eyes. I just looked at him.

He licked his lips.

“But if that’s not what you want, I can completely understand” he tilted his head, like it pained him to say it. “If you just came here to hear the truth, I can understand that too” He nodded softly.

I looked around the house before looking back at him. “Did you ever marry?” I asked suddenly. He looked up at me, blinking. Like he was shocked by the question.

“I—I didn’t see any pictures of a female on the walls. Only Nate. I didn’t know” I whispered shaking my head. He took in a breath raising his eyebrows before he shook his head.

“I never married” He answered my question. I nodded and looked down. "Nate's mother wasn’t....." He said looking in front of him. "someone I even wanted to be with, to put as bluntly as possible" He shook his head. A rebound. He meant to say.

"I think the greatest thing to come out of my past mistakes were you and Nate" He said glancing over at me. The corners of my mouth turned up before they fell back flat.

"I came here before today." I admitted. He just watched me. "I ran into Nate" I explained. James closed his eyes and sighed. "When did you tell him I was his sister?" I asked softly. He pursed his lips.

"He saw me looking through Clara's page--pictures of you-" He glanced at me. "Before he accuse me of something absurd, I explained to him everything." He glanced at me. I nodded. I realized how weird it would look to see him stalking a teenage girl online if you didn't know the circumstances.

"That was at the beginning of the summer, about 10 months ago" He breathed. I sighed. "I should have told him sooner. It had always been Nate and I since the beginning and....I just should have told him, but I didn't what to explain that his father willingly gave up his first child and barley tried to fight" He swallowed. Guilt lined his tired eyes.

"I read the letters, you fought" I said softly. He looked up at me, surprised by my statement. I didn't know if it was from the fact that I read the letters or that I told him that he did fight.

"I didn't know she kept the letters" He stated.

The fact that I read the letters.

"I'm not like my mother"

"You're very much like your mother" He nodded looking at me.

I looked up at him. He sighed. "The Clara that I knew, maybe not the one you know" He corrected himself. I bit my lip and looked down. "Not the one I know" I whispered shaking my head, he just watched me. I looked up at him.

"Can I ask you something?" I said. He nodded quickly. "Why does Nate hate me so much?" I whispered. He licked his lips and looked down. "When I have to go to Clara's page-" He shook his head.

"And I have to see picture of her, Scott, and you all together. As much as it makes me happy to see how you're doing....seeing you with Scott and Clara and not me, as adolescent as it is….It makes me angry.” He sighed.

“So when Nate questioned me, I was already on edge from seeing her page, that I said some things about your mother that I shouldn't have, out of anger." He stated.

"I didn't paint her in the best light, and Nate's so....." He looked up trying to find the right words.

"Mouthy?" I asked, letting a chuckle escape James's throat. "I was going to say intutative" He said glancing over at me. I smiled and looked down. "He must have thought, like mother like daughter" He said looking at me.

I sighed as the realization washed over me. Nate hearing what his father went through with Scott and Clara and her seeing them both, he must have thought I'd do the exact same thing with Chris and Max. No wonder he hated my guts.

"I see" I nodded. "Must be why he hated seeing me with Chris so much" I said looking up at James. His eyebrows rose. "Chris?" His face lightened. I couldn't help the smile that came to my lips.

"Yeah" I smiled running my finger over the fabric of the couch. James leaned back. "Chris has a good heart—bad temper, but a good heart" James smiled. I nodded in agreement.

"I was with Max and I started seeing Chris kind of in the middle of it and...." I shook my head. James just watched me. "Needless to say Nate didn't approve" I said meeting James's eyes. James nodded. "I see" He breathed.

"Are you still seeing Max?" He asked. I shook my head. "No, he had a bad temper and a bad heart" I explained. James pursed his lips. "I'm not proud of how I got to where I am with Chris. But I love him. So I guess...Like mother like daughter" I breathed looking up at James. He nodded.

"You're exactly how I imagined you'd be" He breathed looking at me. I smiled and shook my head. "What does that mean?" I asked softly. He smiled. "A little bit of Clara and a little bit of me" He smiled. I looked down and smiled.

"Is it bad that I feel like a cheater all over again talking to you without Nate's knowledge?" I asked softly. James sighed. "Let me worry about Nate, he's my son. He can't be mad at me" He said placing his hand on my knee.

"You think he'll except this?" I asked softly. James face lightened. "You mean you want to have a relationship with me?" He asked softly.

I have no one else left. Doubt filled my mind.

I haven't had an adult speak with me in such love before. Hope clouded the doubt.

I nodded softly. "If you're open to it" I breathed motioning to him. He smiled before sitting up and pulling his arms around me. I smiled and let his embrace consume me.

"You're my daughter. I'd sail across the world for you" He breathed against me. I smiled as I hugged him back.

#sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo smut #sturniolo x reader #sturniolo fanfic #christopher sturniolo #chris sturniolo

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writingsbychlo · 1 year

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false confessions | azriel

summary; you overhear azriel say something, and try to cooperate. word count; 4595 notes; based on this ask, that I got a little carried away with!

"I love her, I really do." Az sighed, your heart swelling a little as you listened from where you were perched within the library, Nesta at your side. When you'd heard the men come in, you'd been intent on going to see your mate, but they'd been talking, Cassian had been deep into a story about him and Nesta, and your friend had been adamant about hearing it out. So, you'd let her grab your wrist, sneaking the two of you deeper into the library, hiding away between the shelves where even Azriel's shadows had not bothered to slip away and investigate.

"But?" Rhysand prompted, your heart skipping a beat in your chest at the pause that followed, the silence seeming to drag on.

"But... she's so clingy sometimes." Azriel exhaled the words on a breath, and Cassian snickered a little in response. "I just- sometimes I want my peace and quiet, and it just feels like whenever we're together, she's right on top of me at home, we never just.. do our own thing."

Your stomach twisted, and Nesta's fingers tightened around your wrist as she was still gripping it. All playfulness was gone, though. She let go a second later, straightening up and brushing down her skirts primly, pausing only when you grasped her in response, shaking your head. You knew that your friend would defend you to the ends of the earth if you asked, but you didn't want her to. This wasn't her problem, or anyone else's, it was yours.

You were spinning, mind feeling like it was going a million miles an hour, the way it felt to fly home with Azriel when drunk after a night at Rita’s, while your stomach twisted the way it did the morning after said nights out. You weren’t sure where this problem had come from, up until now, you’d always thought Azriel liked the affectionate side of you, the part that just couldn't get enough of him. Clearly, that was not the case.

Your eyes tracked the movements of Azriel's shadows as they slithered out further, lazily, but inching ever closer to you and Nesta's position. Slowly, in an attempt not to get caught at all, you snuck backwards, taking her with you. Manoeuvring through the stacks, you stayed hidden, the two of you slipping out through the back exit and unseen, and in silence.

Only once their voices had entirely faded and you were slowing your pace between the twists and turns of the corridors did Nesta finally let a loud and obscene curse slip from her lips. "I'm gonna' kick ten tons of shit out of them all."

"No." The word was icy on your tongue, and her head snapped to you, You gave a soft wince in apology. "I'm not mad at him."

"What? Why not?"

"Because.. he's right. I am clingy, I just thought he liked that. I thought he liked when we were together, I never sensed anything otherwise down the bond, perhaps he's just good at hiding it. But, you heard him, he doesn't like it, so it's down to me to stop." You shrugged, but it didn't stop the stinging in your throat, and you slammed up walls at your end of the bond, hoping the hurt beginning to build hadn't yet leaked across to reach him.

"What I heard," Nesta muttered, ice on her own voice as her arms crossed angrily over her chest, "was my mate chuckling his smug little ass off at the comment. Jerk. He can sleep in another bed tonight." She was equally as angry, on your behalf, and you grinned a little at the affection she displayed for you.

"You don't have to do that."

"It's for me. He doesn't get to gossip about things like this behind my back. I wonder how many things I have done that irritate him that he's never told me, simply choosing to whine about it to those other bats." She hissed the word out like an insult, and you couldn't find fault in her logic. "I'd bet Feyre would agree."

"Would agree with what?" You both jumped, rather violently, approaching the dinner hall where said sister was sitting comfortably, a sketchbook and some charcoals out in front of herself, brows raised. Nesta didn't hesitate, stalking across the room and offering her daemati sister her hand. Brushing off charcoal on her skirt, she took it gently, gasping a second later after replaying the memory. "Those... those jerks!”

“That’s what I said!” Nesta burst, hands on her hips, and only the soft cooing of her nephew was enough to replace the scowl she wore with a slight smile. Your attention remained fixed on Feyre as she processed the covert conversation you’d secretly witnessed.

“No wonder Rhys locked me out, I didn't think much of it, boy talk, but this kind of boy talk?" She frowned, offering a sympathetic look your way, and the solidarity of your friends made you feel that much better. You rubbed your temples, swallowing again thickly, the weight of it all beginning to bring you down a little. "Fey, can you just take me home?"

"Of course, Nesta will watch Nyx for a moment, right?" His auntie was already leaning over his bassinet, tapping the tip of his nose teasingly as the baby babbled happily in return. With a hand in hers, Feyre took you home, a warm hug and a chastising word about their behaviour, her parting gift, before leaving you alone in the house belonging to you and your mate.

The house was quiet when you were alone, the middle of the day meaning you would be alone for quite a while yet, leaving you plenty of time to decide on your course of action. You glanced around, somehow feeling out of place within your own home. It all felt.. different, somehow.

Were you mad? No, only sad, and so retaliation didn't seem fair.

Sure, you were upset he'd talk to his friends about it rather than simply tell you, but Azriel had always struggled with 'talking about it', and had never wanted to hurt you. Emotionally inept at times, perhaps this was simply his way of trying to protect your feelings. A conversation you were never supposed to hear, a hurt you were never supposed to feel, because your mate was simply putting up with it to let you feel better.

You couldn’t have that. This relationship wasn’t supposed to be about secret sacrifices, it was supposed to be about trust and love and mutual respect. You’d sworn it when finding out you were mates, and sworn it again at the ceremony, and you tried to hold it up every day. Azriel wanted to spare your feelings, and now, you’d spare his, too.

It was hours before he returned, and you’d found yourself slipping back into your regular routine, making everything feel normal again by sticking to what you knew. You were unloading ingredients, cooking a comfort meal for yourself, when your mate returned home.

You first caught the tell-tale sign of feet hitting the ground outside from the sky, then steps got closer and closer up the pathway, before finally, the door opening and closing.

By the time you heard him taking off his boots and hanging up his coat, you'd found it within yourself to muster a reasonably convincing smile, and shake away any lingering thoughts about it. You are doing this for Azriel, to make him happy, to love him the way he’d loved you for years, without ever telling you. Your body twitched, aching to move to him like you always did, to greet him at the door with a kiss, with a hug, with something, and you firmly rooted your feet to the ground. After a pause, clearly anticipating what you now realised was an unwanted overload of affection, Azriel left the entry, stepping through the large open-arc into the kitchen.

"Hello, my love.." You only smiled, ignoring the curious tone in his voice, brushing your hands down the front of your apron. "What have you been up to today?"

"I saw Nesta."

"Oh?" He paused by your side, leaning down to press a kiss to your cheek, and you tipped your face to the side receiving it, but made no move for more the way you usually would.

"She gave me a couple of new books, and said she’d return the other ones." You only hoped he simply hadn't noticed that the book pile on the coffee table had not, in fact, changed at all. He didn't glance over, and you moved away, to the food laid out ready to be prepared for dinner.

"Are you alright, my love? You don't seem quite like yourself, tonight.”

You redirected your glance to the vegetables, only nodding in response, and taking a deep breath to force another smile. "I'm just fine, don't worry, just a little tired today."

He lingered for a second, before nodding himself, offering a smile in return, and a flush of reassuring love down the bond. You let it in, letting it warm you from the inside out. So, this is what he wanted, he had noticed and was already responding better. It was both relieving and painful. He rolled up his sleeves, taking another step closer to you. "What are we making? What can I do to help?"

"Not a thing, I've got it here, don't worry." His head shot up, brows furrowing once again, and your hand almost reached out, wishing to smooth that spot between on his face that had wrinkled with the frown. He noticed this time, the slight raise of your hand before you lowered it.

"But, I thought you liked it when we cooked together? You said you like how I can tell you about my day, while we make dinner." It's true, you had said that, but that was just another one of the events you'd forced upon him, wasn't it? Another act where he wanted to do his own thing, but was instead beholden to your wishes.

"I do, but we don't have to cook together every night. I'm fine here, I was just in my thoughts, is all. You could tell me about your day while we eat?” A flash of hurt travelled across his face, as though you were rejecting him, and so it was your turn to send a pulse of love down the bond to him. He tugged in response, pulling a smile from you, a real one, the way it always did when he did that.

With a kiss placed on your forehead, he left in silence a moment later. Not long after, his footsteps were on the stairs, bath filling in the bathroom, and you let out a sigh at his absence.

He returned in time for dinner, one of his shadows had been left behind, not-so-subtly lingering near the chopping boards to monitor you, and so you'd been careful about making sure to seem positively chipper until he returned. He helped carry everything through to the table, commenting gently under his breath about how good it all looked, and you thanked him as you poured wine, letting him serve food for you both onto your respective plates.

Taking opposite seats, the lull lasted not a full second, before Azriel was diving right into a spirited recap of his day:

"Rhysand and Cassian are in the doghouse." You almost slipped with your wine glass as you took a nerve-soothing sip, and Azriel was smirking as he chopped his chicken up, lifting a piece on his fork to his lips, awaiting your response.

"Oh? And why is that?" You followed suit, hoping your tone didn't give it away, already knowing exactly why they were upset. All three of you had felt a little betrayed by their conversation behind your backs.

"Not a clue. All I know is that after we finished our discussion, Nesta and Feyre wanted nothing to do with either. Rhys was all 'Feyre, darling, I was thinking we could catch dinner on the Sidra tonight, I made a reservation'," Azriel mocked his best friend's voice, and genuine laughter spilt from you, his eyes glittering a little and the bond between you humming once again. "And then Feyre said 'I was thinking I'd rather spend the evening with anyone else, right now, actually'. He was speechless. As were Cass and I."

He was so excited to share the gossip, like it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened, and the thought that perhaps this wouldn't be so hard crossed your mind. The same Azriel, the same you, just with less.. togetherness. Less touching. Perhaps, it would even make the times together and the touches even more special than you'd always thought they were. "And Cassian?"

"Even worse. He was in the midst of laughing at Rhys' shocked face when Nesta all but removed his balls in front of us." He took a swig of his wine, and you placed a piece of chicken into your mouth, excited to hear just how she'd unleashed that anger she'd been holding when you'd last seen her. "She said, 'oh, laugh it up, bat boy. See how much you're laughing when you're laying in bed alone tonight, nothing but your right hand to keep you company'."

That made your jaw drop, Azriel's deep laughter permeating the air at your reaction, and you felt proud of your friend, even if you did feel a little bad for Cassian. That's what they get for complaining behind their mates' backs instead of being honest.

"So, Feyre then proceeded to thank Rhysand for the reservation, take both Nyx and Nesta and winnow away without another word. Presumably to said reservation for a lovely sisterly dinner." Az shrugged, turning back to his food, and you sipped at your wine. Good for them. "When I left, Rhys and Cass were grumbling at the dinner table, trying to work out what they'd done wrong."

That sent a pang of pain shooting back through your chest, but you quickly suppressed it, beginning to tell him all about your own day, and your suddenly-made plans to go shopping instead of sitting at home with him all day tomorrow. He didn't object, only encouraged you.

After dinner, with plates cleared away and wine glasses refilled, you'd both moved to the living room, a quiet night planned as he settled onto the couch, book in hand, opening his action-packed thriller to the page he'd left off at as you stoked the fire idly, stocking a few more logs on.

When there was nothing more you could do to it, you stood, brushing down your skirts and leaving the room, not missing the trail of his eyes after you, or the sweep of one of his shadows, trying to curl around your ankle as you hurried through the house and up the stairs. You had planned to simply settle into bed, let your mind spin and wander, but with his watchful little trick giving you it's full-attention, you were forced to move through your preparations for bed, and follow its lead when it wrapped itself around your wrist, tugging you back downstairs.

When you returned, Azriel's glass was empty, book still open, but his gaze was on the doorway as you walked through it. "Where'd you go?"

"I thought I'd prepare for bed before reading tonight, seeing as I'm so tired, that way I can get in bed as soon as the need arises." Your hands locked in front of yourself, and dipped his head in a gesture toward your book pile.

"Will you sit with me and read for a while, then?"

"Of course." What were you supposed to do, say no? You were giving him space, but when he asked you to stay, who were you to deny it? Picking up the book from the top of the pile, you settled down into the large armchair on one side of the table, perpendicular to the couch Azriel sat on. As you opened your book, his snapped shut, and he let out a rough sigh.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reading." You teased, waving your book at him, but he was not in such a playful mood, it seemed.

"I see that. Why are you doing it over there?"

You faltered. What now? Confess to hearing him, or continue to spare his feelings the way he had been sparing yours for years. The choice seemed clear. "Sitting closer to the fire, so I don't get cold."

"You never get cold, because you sit with me. You sit here, and if you get cold, I wrap a wing around you, and you get that cute little blush on your face and make one of those jokes about Illyrians being built warmer for those 'damn cold mountains'. So, why are you sitting over there?"

Busted. You worried your lower lip, trying to decide exactly what to say, but he beat you to it, his face crumpling a little as realisation washed over him.

"You heard us in the library." It wasn't a question, no, it was a statement. A fact, he knew it. Your mate was far too intelligent and deductive for his own good, sometimes. He put down his book, crossing the room in a flash, and removing yours from your hold too. He slipped down to one knee before you, grasping your hands in his, and he gaped for a few moments, no words coming. "I didn't mean it," was what he settled on.

"'Course you did, Az. It's okay." You squeezed his hands lightly, and he gripped back firmer, like you might pull away from him if he didn't hold on. "I was a little upset to know you'd rather tell your friends than simply tell me if something I was doing was bothering you, but you're allowed to be bothered by things."

"No, I didn't mean it, my love. Please, don't take it to heart." There was a pleading under his voice, like he thought this might drive a wedge between you both, and you pried one hand free to sit comfortingly over his cheek. His head tipped into the touch.

"Az, it's okay, really. Not everything is always going to be perfect between us, but in future, if I do something you don't like, just tell me, okay?"

"No, no, no.." He was panicking now, so much so that the fear was beginning to ripple down the bond, you couldn't just hear it in his voice but feel it ricocheting through your own chest. Cold, like shards of ice. "Everything is perfect, and that is the problem. Rhys was complaining about all the changes with Nyx. About how he loves his son so much, but lately, Feyre hasn't even wanted to touch him, and she's had such mood swings because of the sleepless nights, he's frazzled. One minute she's coming onto him, the next she's snapping at him because he didn't kiss her just right. Cassian was complaining because Nesta is so fiercely independent and he loves it, but when all that overprotective side of him kicks in and she snaps at him for going full-Cass-mode on her, he hates it. He wishes sometimes she'd just let him clean her wounds and treat her gently."

You didn't know quite what to say, confusion filling you, and he pressed on, pushed a little closer, never letting your gaze slip from his, holding you captive with it.

"Then they were looking at me, like I was supposed to say something, anything. Like, they'd been vulnerable about things they couldn't tell their mates without feeling embarrassed, as though it was my turn. I couldn't think of anything, because, baby, everything is perfect. All I wanted to say was, 'can't relate, Rhysand; maybe one day but not today. Can't relate Cassian; my girl protects me as much as I protect her, we fuss over each other'. I didn't want to upset them, and I realised what they wanted was clingy, the kind of clingy we have, the kind of clingy I love. So, I tried to tell them it wasn't all it seemed, so they'd feel better."

His thumbs soothed over your knuckles, the only sounds between you being the popping of the fire and the ticking of the large clock, until you sighed. He leaned down, kissing the hand still clutched in his own, before twisting to press a kiss to the palm on his cheek before you could retract it.

"It damn near broke my heart when you didn't greet me at the door tonight. It's my favourite part of getting up in the morning, knowing that when I come home, you'll come flying into my arms, and show me so much love, a kind of love I never thought I'd have. But you didn't, you said you were fine, though. I worried you were mad at me, too. You didn't want to cook together, I hated that, because I like being part of the things you like. You didn't kiss me, you haven't kissed me all night, I miss it. I miss it so much. You didn't hold my hand at dinner, and now you won't sit with me. I'm worried, my love. I'm scared, you have to believe me."

He raised his free hand, sitting it tenderly over your jaw, just like you did for him, swiping his thumb delicately back and forth across your cheekbone. It was an act you adored so much, something he knew brought you peace and comfort, and at this moment, it was doing just that. You could feel the fear in his words as it echoed in your chest, the desperation as he waited for your response. Lifting the hand from his cheek, his gaze tracked the movement, watching your hand hover for a split second over his head. He didn't let the half-second become a full one. He took your hand, lacing it into his hair where it had been headed, your fingernails scratching over his scalp in the soothing way he loved so much.

"Always touch me. Never hesitate. I don't care if we're at dinner or on a battlefield, but your touch, your attention, your love is everything. Never stop." His eyes fluttered closed in bliss, but he was still tense. "Just say you forgive me."

"I do not, because there's nothing to forgive." His breath hitched at the beginning of your sentence, eyes snapping open wide, and you leaned forward to rest your forehead on his. "Next time, come up with something that's not going to hurt my feelings, even if I shouldn't be eavesdropping."

He smirked at that, nose brushing yours and he laughed breathily. "Next time, I'm just going to take the teasing and let them know how utterly fucking hard in love I am."

"Well, that works too." You smiled, before he was sitting up more, raising from his one knee and pressing his hands underneath your body. "What are you doing?"

"Moving you so we can sit together."

"I'll just come to the couch-"

"Won't be close enough, now." He muttered, scooping you up enough to settle into the wing-designed chair, and situating you sideways across his lap as your eyes rolled. He left a soft bite to your covered shoulder in response. "Don't roll your eyes at me, you had me freaking out. I thought you weren't going to forgive me. I thought you weren't going to.. to be the you that I love, anymore.."

"Yes, well, that's over now." You leaned in, kissing the tip of his nose for emphasis, but uncertain eyes found yours again.

"You mean it?"

"I do." You pressed another kiss to his jaw, fingernails moving back to rake through the thick black hair on the top of his head.

"You'll greet me at the door tomorrow with a kiss?" Mm-hm. "You'll let me cook with you?" Your lips moved up to his cheek, nuzzling there sweetly as you left little pecks across his skin, mm-hm. "You'll hold my hand at the table, and play footsie, and you'll curl up on the couch with me after?" Mm-hm, your kisses reached the corner of his mouth, and you felt it twitch into a smile underneath your lips. "You'll cuddle with me in bed tonight?"

"And every other night, for the rest of our lives."

Something akin to adoration raced through your chest, filling every part of you. Despite his pink-tinged cheeks, Azriel was confident in his requests, hazel eyes shining as he looked at you. "And you'll kiss me, you'll hold me, every time you want to. Promise me, you'll never hide your affection from me, promise me you'll show me your love for as long as you feel it for me?"

"As long as you promise the same to me." He nodded, vehemently, sealing the deal with an urgent kiss, and you felt a tingling mark forming on the back of your neck, alongside the mating bond you'd made together so many years ago. Another promise formed, to be held forever.

His lips worked against your own, fingers slipping from where they sat on your cheek to smooth up, no longer running his fingers gently along your jaw but tracing soft tips over the patch on your neck. His lips became a smile in the kiss, teasing and sweet, a breathy sound slipping from you as he nipped at your lower.

“We should go upstairs.” He whispered, and your arms looped around his neck, prepared for the movement that was so come as he began to shuffle toward the edge of the seat. Raising with you in his arms, he walked a path he was familiar with, your lips beginning to trace his cheekbone the way his thumb had yours moments prior, when a sudden thought crossed your mind. You gasped, sitting up stock straight and Azriel paused at the base of the stairs, brows raising, half-lidded eyes attempting to focus at your reaction. “What is it, my love?”

“We.. we have to go and tell Nesta and Feyre we worked things out.” Azriel stared for a moment, before a blinding grin was splitting across his face. It was more than a smile, it was amused and cheeky and youthful in a way he rarely showed, only in moments like this where the two of you were truly alone, when he let himself be vulnerable. A deep chuckle followed, before he was moving again, climbing the stairs with you in his arms, smile becoming a smirk.

“So you’re the reason my brothers are in such trouble, huh?” He leaned down, nipping at the shell of your ear as he backed his way into your bedroom, kicking the door shut behind himself. Dropping you down onto the bed, enough to be able to crawl toward you as you backed up into the pillows, he didn’t let up with the wicked stare. “Let it be, we can tell them tomorrow. Consider tonight a punishment for complaining.”

“Were you not technically part of that conversation, Az? Should you not also be punished?” Your words held no threat, and he knew it too, because he only dipped his head down once he was supporting himself above you. His lips dragged over your skin, up from your chin to the shell of your ear, only to whisper;

“Oh, I think I've been punished enough for tonight. I can come up with some much more fun things for us to do..”

#azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel/reader #azriel/you #acotar x reader #acotar x you #acotar/reader #acotar/you

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look-at-the-soul · 7 months

Note

Hello my darling Cia! Thank you SO much for sending in this gif!! You always provide the best inspiration! (I’ve a couple more waiting in my inbox 🤭) but in the meantime I wrote this little blurb, I hope you like this 🥰

The complaint

“You made the count wrong… again, Y/N.” Freya left the heavy book over your papers.

Feeing a cold sweat you looked at the red marks she made with confusion. “I counted the money two times, it matched.”

“I just finished and it’s wrong.” She pointed loudly for everyone to hear. The other secretaries throwing discreet glances in your direction.

Counting to three mentally, you looked at Freya. “That’s not possible.” You felt frustrated and her attitude was irritating you.

“Counting the money it’s a huge responsibility, if you can’t do that just tell me.” Tap, tap, tap the sound of her shoe against the floor made your stomach twist.

“What’s the matter?” Tommy’s voice called from the door frame, making the two of you turn your heads.

“Y/N counted the money but I checked it after and there’s a different amount.” She let out a loud sigh to add more drama. “This isn’t the first time she made a mistake Mr. Shelby.”

“If I remember correctly it was John’s fault last time since he took some of the cash.” Tommy explained politely to defend you.

“Nevertheless she should’ve known.” Freya insisted. “But she continues to do it over and over again, she shouldn’t-”

“That shouldn’t be a problem because I took some cash this morning and I forgot to tell you Miss Y/N.” He added in a soft tone.

She babbled and winked nervously.

“But-”

“That would be all.”

Once she was out of sight, you took the book to place it next to the others. Tommy’s eyes danced around the office, a couple of blinders checking the bets and secretaries taking the money.

“If you’re done with that I want you to go to the Garrison, need to talk to you.” Tommy added in a serious tone.

“Of course Mr. Shelby.” You nodded and by the corner of your eye, you noticed Freya smirking.

Oh that bloody triumphant smirk, like she was always right, as if she knew it all. She made your blood go boiling.

She was a walking headache.

Organizing your desk, you finished covering the typewriter.

“Let’s see if you can keep that smile later.” She whispered as you walked by her desk with your coat hanging from your arm, your purse on the opposite shoulder.

“I can assure you it’ll grow even more.” You added with a forced smile marching outside.

Freya thought she could embarrass you in front of your boss? You were sure the count was right, now you just needed to find out what happened to the money really, because you knew Tommy was lying.

“Hello Harry, is the Shelby family in the private booth?” You greeted him.

Harry stopped wiping the counter and took a few glasses. “Miss Y/LN good evening, Mr. Shelby called a moment ago you can go ahead I’ll take the drinks in a minute.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

He looked towards you with his eyebrows raised not used to being thanked, but he knew you were different, kind and he had seen you hanging out with Tommy so you were under his protection.

You tried rubbing your hands to get them warm, then as you passed by the window you took the small mirror from your purse to reapply your lipstick and fix your hair when you heard the click by the door.

Tommy entered the private booth in a swift motion, not moving his eyes from you.

“Mr. Shelby.” You tried to control the blush that covered your cheeks.

“Oh please stop, Y/N.” He chuckled placing his hands on your waist.

“Well you made a dramatic entrance.” You giggled.

“What happened at the betting shop? Was Freya being rude to you again?”

Your fingers smoothed the neck of his suit jacket. “I think she’s jealous. A poor soul bored by herself.”

“You want me to fire her?” He asked with his lips touching the corner of your mouth.

Harry opened the window. “Oh Mr. Shelby I didn’t see you coming in. Your drinks.” As he thanked the man, you walked towards Tommy to wrap your arms around his back.

Covering your hand, he gave it a light squeeze, feeling his body burning up from the fragrance emanating from you.

But you shook your head. “There’s no need, she just needs a lesson.”

“Does it mean we’re finally going public about our relationship?”

“Is that what you want?“ You asked before lighting a cigarette for him.

“It should be me asking you that.” He frowned playfully, blowing the smoke away from you. “Even better, I’m naming you secretary in chief, so she won’t dare to bother you again.”

“What if she fills in a complaint?” You asked.

He gave you a nod and a wink. “I won’t even pay attention to it.”

You squealed at his announcement, not able to contain your excitement you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed all over his face.

Suddenly someone opened the door unannounced, taking the two of you by surprise as Polly gave you a shocked look, Tommy cleared his throat.

“What’s the celebration for?”

“Y/N got a promotion.” He took his glass with whiskey and gave you a small wink.

“Ugh please stop pretending Thomas.” She took another glass and poured herself a drink. “I haven’t seen you smile like in a while and poor Y/N deserves more than raise for keeping up with you.”

Her blunt but honest comment made you burst into giggles as you felt Tommy’s hand sneaking around your waist to pull you closer, then you felt him smiling against your cheek.

***

Masterlist

Blurbs

Tag list: @lyarr24 @runnning-outof-time @cillmequick @datewithgianni @cloudofdisney @gretelshelby @gypsy-girl-08 @lespendy @onlydeadcells @fastfan @stevie75 @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @forbidden-forest-witch @ange-thoughts @moral-terpitude @elenavampire21 @forgottenpeakywriter @thenattitude @winchestergirl22 @zablife @heidimoreton @imichelle-l-rigby @allie131313 @already-broken144 @peakyscillian @babaohhhriley @mrkdvidal1989 @shelbydelrey @shaddixlife @sloanexx @sydneyyyya @adaydreamaway08 @pono-pura-vida @thomashelbyswife @darleneslane @everythingelseisextra @mariaelizabeth21-blog1

#That’s what Cill said #tommy shelby fanfiction #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby blurb #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby fanfiction #thomas shelby blurb #peaky blinders blurb #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby x you

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dxckgrxsonx · 1 year

Note

dickpic!reader trying to tease jay by giving him her panties but it backfires badly when later he sends her a video of him with his hand, that’s holding the panties, wrapped around his cock and he fucks himself w them 🫡

phew!! almost 2k words. think this might be my fave part so far.

You flinch awake in complete darkness.

Soft, imploring fingers trail from your ankle up to the sensitive skin across the back of your knee. Panic flares so cold it burns all the way to the very top of your head and you kick out, strong but clumsy, foot catching someone warm and firm in the stomach.

There’s a soft ‘oof’ and the hand disappears. You find yourself up on your knees in the space of a few seconds, fists raised, heart threatening to pound straight out of your chest. Fight or flight hooks into all the nerves along your shaking spine and there’s half a second where you don’t even know where you are.

Until someone says your name.

It feels like taking a deep breath first thing in the morning when the air is so cold and crisp it burns your lungs. Feels like dumping freezing water over your head in the middle of a summer heatwave, body caught halfway between complete shock and endless relief.

“So this was my surprise, huh?” Jason says mildly, and the tension shoving open your ribs exhales. “Not what I was expecting but m’not complaining.”

Wearing his black tactical pants and long sleeved undershirt, Jason unclips his weapons holsters and drops them on the bed. Inelegantly falling backwards against the headboard you cross your legs and reach out, fingers curiously grabbing at one of his guns.

The weapon is cold and heavy in your hands. You find the safety close to the trigger and make a conscious effort to stay away from it. Part of you wonders how Jason can find comfort in the weapon, holding it now, you feel almost dangerous.

But a quieter, more thoughtful part of you thinks that being dangerous might be the point. After all, there’s a certain sense of control that comes from being armed, it kind of feels like protection in a weird, twisted way. People generally think twice before going to hurt the person with the gun.

And you know in the meat of your heart that Jason Todd has been hurt enough.

“I ought to shoot you for waking me up like that.” You threaten, gun pointed firmly away from Jason. “Scared the hell out of me.”

“You’re in my bed.” He deadpans, unbuckling his belt. “What did you expect?”

Placing the gun beside its holster you grab a handful of jelly beans from where you left them on the bedside table and switch on the lamp. “Is it too much to ask to be woken up normally? You know, you could have said my name or even turned on the light.”

Offering a shrug in response he grins and takes off his pants.

Raising an interested eyebrow you tip some jelly beans in your mouth and chew, “You want some?”

Pulling yourself to your knees again you shuffle to the end of the bed as Jason steps out of his tactical pants and meets you partway. Opening his mouth expectantly you roll your eyes and tip the rest of your handful into his greedy mouth.

Chewing thoughtfully he gives you a brief once over, “Are you wearing my shirt?”

“It’s comfy and I didn’t bring any sleepover pyjamas.” You defend. Pressing a warm hand to your whole face Jason smiles mischievously and shoves you backwards. Falling flat out across the sheets you try to kick him in the chest but fail, “It’s your own fault for leaving it in plain sight. I’m totally blameless in this scenario.”

“You’re nothing but a common criminal.” Jason grumbles, moving to grab a new shirt to sleep in. “First my jelly beans, and now my shirt.”

“Hey! Your hiding places suck. Have you suddenly forgotten that I know you? Like really know you. You mean the world to me, so of course I make sure to pay attention to what you’re doing.” Shuffling to one side of the bed you kick back the covers and settle underneath. “Don’t think that I don’t know about the stash hidden in my apartment too by the way.”

Jason’s face does something odd then.

It’s less like surprise and more like outright horror. You find yourself on high alert, wanting desperately to soothe it, you haven't seen him look at you like that before, like you’ve just single handedly sent him scrambling for solid ground.

For a second, you wish you never told him you knew.

“You found that?” He says, and there’s something vulnerable in his voice.

You hum in confirmation, “Came across it when I was clearing out my old clothes from the wardrobe.” You remember the surprise of finding it, all that food, and then the sharp bite of confusion that followed. “It’s still there, I haven’t touched it, figured it was something important.”

“You can get rid of it.” Jason chokes, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know it’s stupid and I’m sorry for hiding things in your apartment.”

“It’s not stupid.” You say quickly, jumping out from under the covers to reach for him, fingers grabbing at his waist, his shoulder. “Jay, if it means something to you then it’s not stupid. Not to me. M’not going to get rid of it unless you want me to, okay? You spend so much time at my place, I’m surprised that’s all you’ve stashed there.”

The faintest smile brushes his mouth and your fingers itch to chase the soft, plump curve of his lips. The urge feels more dangerous than holding a weapon, it feels more selfish, feels almost heavier. Walking your hand along the top of his shoulder you brush a stray strand of hair out of his eyes.

Jason says your name so softly, with so much meaning, and you shiver. His hand comes up to press over your own and your chest cracks wide open, everything important and critical about you exposed.

“Let's get some sleep, yeah?”

The mention of sleep makes you yawn and Jason smirks before shoving his finger in your wide open mouth.

You wake with his breath on the back of your neck.

There’s a slow realisation of the position you’re in. Jason plastered to your back, hand anchored around your waist. He’s warm and safe and you shuffle backwards even further into his hold, content to spend as much time as possible in his embrace.

When he wakes, you know that things will go back to normal. Both of you stuck between friends and something more.

Loving him is a lonely thing.

Under the early light of dawn you drag the very tips of your fingers over his forearm. There’s a faint twitch of muscles and you feel Jason sigh before he snuggles against you, leg nudging yours under the covers.

“Jay.” You whisper. “I need to get up, I’ve got to get ready for work.”

Slotting his leg between your own Jason grumbles and tightens his grip, “No.” He whines, sleep clinging thick to his voice. “Call in sick. Wanna cuddle with you.”

Tracing the veins from his wrist to the crook of his elbow you laugh lightly, squinting against the sunlight shining through the window, “Maybe next time?” You offer gently, peeling his arm from your waist.

“Promise?” He sighs, rolling over onto his back.

Sliding out of his bed you beeline for the bathroom and give him no response, not trusting yourself to say the right thing. If he asked, you’d promise him just about anything. If only to see the soft, touched smile on his face. If only for the chance to kiss him.

Before leaving though, you stop by his bedside and make sure the sheets are draped loosely around his shoulders; you know how much he hates feeling trapped, confined to one single space.

And if you drop a kiss to his forehead, that’s between you and the dawn.

Checking your phone as soon as you get home you almost catch fire.

The sudden heat reminds you of solar flares, bright and shining. A burst of plasma and energy powerful enough to knock your whole life straight out of orbit. He has a habit of doing that to you. Knocking you so far of course it feels like burning yourself alive.

Jay: I think you left these at mine this morning Jay: sent a photo

Opening the image you ache between your legs.

Jason has a pair of your underwear wrapped around his fist, and he’s holding his cock, precum leaking from the fat head all over the soft fabric. It’s the pair you were wearing yesterday and you know that they’re not exactly clean.

You: you’re killing me You: i’m dying You: they’re not clean, i wore them yesterday

His reply comes a few moments later and you struggle to keep some semblance of composure.

Jay: i know Jay: sent a video

Pressing play you sit down on the sofa and make sure the volume is turned up. The video focuses immediately on Jason’s thick cock. Your underwear is wrapped around the base and you watch as his fingers twist into the fabric before he drags it up to the wet tip, jerking himself off with it.

His breath stutters when his hips thrust upwards, shoving his cock through the cotton until he twitches. The fabric steadily gets stickier and stickier as he leaks everywhere, his fist tightening until he moans.

The camera shakes when Jason shudders and you sink your teeth into your bottom lip. He groans softly when your underwear rubs over the tip and you gasp at the wrecked sound of his voice, desperate to hear what other pretty noises he can make.

All the muscles in his stomach tighten and you’re mesmerised by the catch and release of them. Even more by the faint trail of hair dusting his navel. The edge of the camera barely catches his thighs but you see them shaking, see him struggling to control the urge to really fuck your underwear.

He fails miserably and you shake when he moans, long and low.

Grinding himself up into his fist he gasps and chokes out your name. Seconds later his body locks up and you almost whimper when Jason’s pretty cock starts twitching, covering your underwear with his come. His release is thick and white and your pussy aches, clit straining for even one touch, for even a slight bit of attention.

Jason says your name again and this time it’s different. It’s softer, you almost don’t think he meant for you to hear it.

But you did hear it and you go back, listen to it again because it’s breathy. Because if you close your eyes you can hear a touch of his Gotham accent. Because for a moment you could really believe that you’re there with him.

You: great You: imma go rub one out

Jay: aw for me? Jay: how cute

You: yeah for you You: want me to send you something?

Jay: please please please

You: okay

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x reader smut #jason todd x you #jason todd x you smut #jason todd fanfic #jason todd fanfiction #red hood x reader #red hood x reader smut #ella writes #asks #answered #birthofvcnus

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emmyrosee · 11 months

Note

HAI EMMY!!! i've always wanted to send this request since it's been on the back of my mind for a while now;;

i just wanna know how kita shinsuke would act if he had a crush. likeeee would he be straightforward about it, or would he shy away from his feelings, OR OR OR IMAGINE IF HE BECAME ALL CLUMSY BECAUSE READER HAS SUCH A SOFT SPOT IN HIS PURE LITTLE HEART. AUGUAHAHHUH he's so cute and pinchable it hurts.

you don't have to tend to this request right away, of course. ^^ I JUST HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL AND PLSPLSPLS DO STAY HYDRATED!!! ・゜(。┰ω┰。).・゜

*sneezes* you got me in my feelings mate 🥺❤️❤️ also this is pre-timeskip bc I needed the boys for support dont @ me

Because kita shinsuke- the man, the myth, the love of my life and the reason I wake up in the morning…

Is SO. DANG. BAD. when it comes to having a crush, because all his steadiness and confidence and grounding is completely gone, and he turns into a mess. With most feelings, it’s easy for him, the love he feels for his granny is complete adoration, his teammates are admiration, and you… he doesn’t know what you are, because you feel different than he is used to.

All his ducks were lined up if anyone were to ask how his emotions were sorted. Then you came along out of seemingly no where.

He doesn’t know what happened; he’s known you for years, you’ve been in similar classes and know each others name, but then you started showing up when Suna Rintaro came along, even sitting quietly at practice while the second-year played. While people noticed your arrival- namely the twins- Suna would immediately shut them down with a snap of his fingers and a dominating “absolutely not.”

From then, Kita just assumed you were off limits. Not that he had specific feelings for you regardless, but he kept his distance just in case.

One day, Rintaro fell at practice and twisted his ankle, and while you had indeed helped him to the bench and laid ice on it, your scolding was just a loud hiss as practice continued.

He… liked, that you weren’t going to sugar coat the magnitude of injuries.

After that, for some unholy reason, you’ve absolutely plagued his mind.

His serves are off, he’s working harder and harder in practice as if to impress you, talking more in class for you to hear his voice. He tries to find shoes to make him look taller, shirts that tone him a bit more, he tries to style his hair a little different, anything and everything to be more visible to you.

All that seems to do, however, is make the twins notice him.

“You could be a long lost twin,” Osamu snickers on a rare day you’re not at practice, taking a sip from his water. He raises his hands in defense when Kita shoots him a small glare, “I’m serious! Cant say I don’t appreciate the style but… why?”

“Because captain’s in looooove,” Atsumu sings, dramatically resting his head on Kita’s shoulder. Kita blinks down unamused at the blonde, but everyone sees right through him as his back tenses and eyes blow out slightly. His cheeks give a small flush, and he’s so full of it, it hurts.

“Being in love implies that there’s a two party consent,” he defends. “I have absolutely no indication that she has any feelings other than platonic for me.”

“Not true! Suna’s in love with you!”

“AM NOT!”

“See? The love Suna has for me, is not part of a two party consent. Not quite the same as being in love.”

“KITA-SAN?!”

Kita ignores the completely offended middle blocker, giving Atsumu a small shrug of his shoulder to make him raise his head. The setter does, but not without continuing the conversation, “come onnnn! What have you got to lose by confessing? Huh? Plus you gotta be in love, because you’re so nervous for those feelings to not be mutual, if you weren’t you wouldn’t care!”

And gosh, he does have Kita there. Why do you make him so nervous? Truly! Maybe it’s his fault, perhaps he sees you as a fond younger class man, despite being in the same years… in… fact you may be older than him? But that’s beside the point,

“You know Kita-San, I’ve never seen you so… out of it,” Osamu continues. “You’re usually like, cold and stoic and straightforward-“

“Benched me three practices ago when I kept fooling around,” Suna snickers.

“Yeah! Now you’re smiling at your phone and laughing more during drills at our crap and just… happier. It’s strange.”

A thick brow cocks in confusion for Osamu’s words, “im… I didn’t think those were bad characteristics to have?”

Finally, to mend the situation, Aran sighs and stands up to clap Kita on the back, “I think what our eloquent second hears are trying to say, is that she’s good for you… maybe you pursue something with her and get some answers.”

Maybe he should.

Kita thinks he should sleep on it.

But in fact, all Kita does is toss and turn. All night. Thinking about all the outcomes if he does, or doesn’t, confess to you and how you may or may not feel about him in return.

In fact, Kita spends the whole rest of the day thinking and day dreaming about you and the mere idea that you could return any of the affections he could share. He shambles uncharacteristically like a zombie, a complete 180 from his usual composed self.

With all love in the world… you’re ruining his life.

He’s barely able to comprehend his movements, if he didn’t have a team relying on him, he’d immediately try to go home for the day and shake whatever remnants of you are on his mind.

His team, who look at him with cocked brows as Kita enters the gym with a massive, book in his hand; and listen… he doesn’t really know where he got it either.

But it has your name on it. He can’t remember if you left it, or forgot it, or… honestly, he may have stole the thing on a subconscious whim to talk to you.

Either way, he’s got it and not you.

“Whatcha got there, cap?”

“Her book,” he says flatly. “She… left it on her desk… I think. She needs it for her homework.” He looks at the second year who’s glancing back up at him with sharp eyes. “I was wondering if you could bring it to her on your walks home.”

“Or,” Suna says, hopping back onto his feet once his shoes are tied. “You could return it, and maybe then tell her how you feel?” He takes out his phone and immediately, his fingers start to fly.

“Oh… I’m not sure about that-“

“Too late,” he says indifferently. “I already texted her that you were on your way; she was on her way here after digging for it, so,” he claps his captain on the back. “Have at thee.”

Kita sighs in defeat, “remind me to force a phone-ban when I get back.”

“That’s my captain,” Suna teases. But he does send Kita an encouraging push on his back, and the captain takes a deep breath before shuffling out.

And his thoughts of what to say run over and over and over and over again, creating a string of words to fire out at anything and everything you could say.

He just wants to confess at this point. He can’t go on being so stiff and distracted; he needs you to either like him back, or reject him.

That, of course, dissipates when he sees you on the other end of the hall.

Your face brightens up as you see him, bouncing relieved on your toes and he approaches with his usual small smile.

“You are a godsend,” you praise, and Kita’s ears turn hot pink at your words. “I just completely blanked on grabbing it, thank you, thank you.”

“It’s no trouble,” he assures. He then swallows thickly as he continues to watch you place the book in your bag and then trying to make your way to the gym to watch Suna and the boys.

He, subconsciously, steps in front of you.

“Kita-San?”

“I… think you look pretty today,” he says, gnawing his lip and keeping very intense eye contact with you. You tip your head and, in an attempt to ease his nerves, crack a joke.

This, evidently, was a bad idea.

“Huh. Am I not pretty everyday?”

You almost hear the whimper in his throat, and before you can tell him that you’re just joking, the word fountains turn on and he’s off.

“Of course you are! It’s just that today in class, I couldn’t stop glancing over at you and the way you were chewing on your pen- because even though that’s bad for your teeth it made you look positively focused and your eyes were kept on the board and no one else and I couldn’t help but look at you because I like the way you look when your focused, I like the way you look when you do anything-“ he takes a deep breath while you blink in surprise.

“Kita-San?”

“-And I don’t know how to stop liking the way that you look but the way that it’s making me feel is making me feel confused and almost a little frightened because I’ve never had these feelings before but apparently Suna has similar feelings and according to Atsumu that’s normal to have feelings that may be unreciprocated-“

“Kita-San!”

“-But he’s the one that encouraged me to do this because I’ve been such a fool with everything I do because I can’t stop thinking about you and Atsumu said that it’s easier to get an answer rather than guess and-“ there’s small snickering around the corner, and the shy, rambling Kita snaps back to his usual composed, captain form, “atsumu, I hear you over there. 50 push ups and 3 laps around the court when I come back to practice!”

“Suna’s here too!” A voice whines.

“Then both of you! OUT!”

There’s a dash of sneakers down the hallway. He takes a deep breath and finally looks back at you, completely flushed and out of breath from the past minute and a half.

He clears his throat before he cards his hair back, “for… for reference, I have no desire of pursuing a relationship with Suna.”

You blink. Then, you snort to try and hide a giggle.

Then, you’re laughing, you’re laughing straight into his face and clutching your sides, and he could almost cry from embarrassment, swallowing thickly and looking down the hall where the twins were hiding.

“I understand,” he says quietly. “I do hope you continue to support our team-“

“Kita-San,” you say, trying to gather yourself. You reach for his hand, which is clammy and he feels bad for, but you don’t seem to mind. “I’m laughing because I like you too; I’m always staring at you too, Mr. Perfect, even when you do see it.” You plant a small kiss to his knuckles and he nearly faints.

“I was laughing, because Suna is basically obsessed with you, I tease him for it constantly on our walks home; just the idea that you had to clarify to me that you were indifferent towards that was just silly.” He opens and closes his mouth like a fish to try and reply, but you shake your head with a smile, “I like the way you look. I like the way you put your heart and soul into everything you do. I like the way you always have some money incase someone needs something for the vending machine.” You beam up at him, and he feels like he’s floating, but he finally cracks a smile back, and when you open your palm in an attempt to initiate hand-holding, he laces his fingers with yours happily.

As you walk down the hall, only the sound of footsteps ring through the air, and kita is happy, he’s thrilled that not only do you feel the same, but you had no judgement towards him. You liked him for all the reasons he couldn’t see, and that meant the world to him.

Then, you hum, and he casts you a look.

“Is it really that bad to chew on the end of your pen?”

“Horrendous,” he chuckles. “The enamel of your teeth wears down.” You laugh and shake your head at the silly fact.

“But that’s okay,” he continues. “I like when you do it. It’s endearing.”

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aurumacadicus · 2 months

Note

May I please request Stevetony and 4 (Oh, can you feel this?) for the Featheruary prompts?

I went a different direction for this one lol

Tony waited until he saw silvery blue scales under the water before he hopped from his perch, using his wings for balance as he carefully edged down to the where the water lapped at the rocky shore below his nest. He knew Steve would scold him, because his people were known to take on each other’s colors to attract easy prey during seasons when the schools of fish they hunted were lean. Tony couldn’t even accuse him of lying, because someone had once tried to come up using silver-blue scales in an attempt to eat him.

Tony had no idea how to explain to Steve that the color hadn’t been exactly right. When Steve had found a handful of blood-slick scales to compare them to his own, he’d pointed out how they’d shined the same way in the sun. But Tony had been able to see the blue wasn’t quite icy enough, that the silver didn’t penetrate deep enough, that the tiny, blush-red scales where his fins attached to his powerful tail hadn’t been the right shade under the silvery translucence of the fins as the other siren had attempted to dance for him. It just hadn’t been right. So Tony had obediently stayed up in his nest, feathers fluffing nervously until Steve’s right-colored scales sliced through the water at high speed, crashed into the other siren, and then blood had bloomed like scarlet flowers under the surface.

At least Steve had been able to eat, even if Tony had had to turn away, feathers flat in disgust.

Steve shot him a flat, unimpressed look as he broke the water, slicking his hair back out of his face. “Would there even be a point to me saying it again?”

“No,” Tony answered, hobbling over to him, carefully picking his way over the rocks. He wasn’t a rock bird. He liked flat land. But people were looking for him there. And he couldn’t be mad about rocks when he had Steve as a friend.

“I should leave,” Steve groused, crossing his arms over his chest. “You just won’t be happy until I find your feathers and blood on the ground.”

Tony tapped him with one taloned foot, prodding him to roll over onto his back. “It’s your fault for not scaring the other sirens off.”

“Is that what you do? Just scare others off and trust them not to come back?” Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Tony blinked at him, brows furrowing together. “Yes.”

“…And that works,” Steve asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Tony answered, tilting his head at him. He didn’t know why sirens had to be so dumb. He respected when other birds were defending their territories. And most birds respected his back! Sure, there were scuffles sometimes as they tested boundaries, but it rarely ever extended to anything more than posturing. This was Steve’s beach. The other sirens should respect it.

“That explains so much about you,” Steve sighed, finally rolling onto his back so Tony could settle comfortably in his lap. “I need to keep moving to keep my lower gills wet.”

Tony considered the feathers on his legs, feet dangling on either side of the girth of Steve’s fish tail. He wasn’t a water bird. But then, he wasn’t a rock bird either. He was a lot of things he wasn’t for Steve. “You’ll protect me,” he decided. Steve was bigger than any others he’d seen of his kind, with a tail twice as long. He placed his taloned fingers over Steve’s stomach. “Just don’t go too far out. If I fall off, I’ll sink.”

“’course,” Steve scoffed, tail beginning to sway back and forth to propel him in long, slow circles. “I’ve seen you in the water. Inelegant little thing.”

Normally, Tony would bristle. He was not an inelegant little thing. He was a prized specimen of his kind. But he could admit that to Steve, he seemed that way. Even Steve’s human half was bigger than him, muscular and bulky, and when he was sitting on Steve like this, his tail seemed to extend for miles. And he was quite elegant in the water, after all, twisting his large body in ways it seemingly shouldn’t be able to simply because of his size.

Steve would probably look pretty inelegant trying to fly, he figured. And Steve always said it with such fondness, he thought it might be a way of expressing affection.

“Do your kind mate?” Tony asked. He’d always wondered. He’d only seen Steve kill and eat others of his kind. Never express romantic overtures.

Steve’s mouth spread into a lazy smile. “Once in a lifetime. It requires a lot of trust, you know, when your mate could turn around and eat you in your sleep.”

“Oh,” Tony said, unable to swallow down the disappointment rising in him. He scolded himself for it immediately. He was just lonely. Steve… obviously didn’t feel loneliness like he did. Steve wasn’t a flock animal, and Tony was. But that was his problem. It wasn’t Steve’s fault that Tony didn’t understand things like that. His kind mated for life, but it seemed they weren’t so picky as sirens.

He probably wouldn’t ever meet Steve’s standards for mating. He was small, and weak, and wanted by humans. He was prey, technically, even if Steve had never acted on it.

Steve tipped his head from side to side to wet the gills on either side of his neck, keeping a careful eye on Tony with each move. “Is something wrong? Your tail’s dragging in the water.”

Tony forced a smile. “Oh, can you feel this? I must not be that small then, if I’m changing your direction.”

Steve opened his mouth, then closed it again, considering. Finally, he started again, apropos of nothing, “My mother said sirens and harpies share the same common ancestor.”

Tony frowned in confusion, glancing from his feathers down to Steve’s glimmering scales underneath him.

“Sirens used to be able to fly,” Steve continued, twisting to drift down with the current. “Harpies used to be able to stay underwater. Then humans started hunting them. They had to adapt. Overcome. Sirens dropped to the ocean floors to avoid them, and harpies took to the skies. That was ages ago, so long our oldest forefathers in the deepest depths are the only ones who remember it. I’ve only met one. My mother brought him food because he was too big and too old to hunt anymore. He had me shaking behind her fins, he was so scary. Do you know what he talked about as he was dying in her arms?”

“Being able to fly?” Tony guessed. He thought, if he could swim and couldn’t any longer, he’d miss the water sluicing through his feathers. Perhaps the siren had missed the air against his face.

“He missed his harpy mate,” Steve said gently, reaching out to cup Tony’s cheek carefully in his palm. “Humans had captured her, turned her into a songbird for their traveling shows, and he never saw her again.”

Tony sucked in a startled breath, turning his gaze away, even though it made something in him ache, pulling his face from Steve’s hand. “…Maybe it’s better that he didn’t,” he said.

Steve just looked at him for a moment, frowning. Tony wondered if he was remembering the first night Steve had found him, half-plucked from the stress of his escape and subsequent miles-long journey by foot. ‘Easy prey,’ Steve had called him, coming up out of the water, and Tony hadn’t had the strength to even be scared. He just remembered Steve taking in the full extent of his injuries before he’d hissed a poisonous, ‘Humans,’ and Tony had passed out face-first into the water.

Steve moved his hand so he was cupping Tony’s cheek again. “I’d rather see you one last time, under any circumstances, than see you one last time, hopeful and healthy, and then never again, knowing you were suffering all that time.” He smiled a little. “I don’t think you’d eat me while I slept, after all.”

Tony blinked at him, surprised. Finally, though, he let out a delighted little tweet and leaned in, pressing his lips to Steve’s crooked smile.

#aurumacadicus answers #iam93percentstardust #aurumacadicus writes #stony #featheruary

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snoutbleed · 26 days

Text

Telling a story takes guts.

Forensic photographer Sören Heinrich can’t ignore the nausea bubbling in his throat when documenting someone's darkest day. He loses sleep over the fates he captures but is drawn to the purpose vested in his grisly role. When blood-slicked prints become Sören's next subject, he finds a message that blurs the line between his personal and professional life.

"This is where I’ve been. Don’t follow."

Unable to fathom his long-lost brother’s crimson handwriting, Sören descends into the criminal underworld for answers. The young boar's inner demons guide him toward a morbid self-reckoning.

Direktion 2 has their work cut out for them.

Crime is on the rise in post-reunification Berlin. Among the cases, the Polizeidirektorate in the city's westernmost boroughs is baffled by freak murders at the hands of denizens without motive.

In the shadow of the Berlin Wall, the crime wave takes a supernatural twist behind the lock of a post-Soviet puzzle.

Camera flashes at the crime scenes reveal gruesome secrets stirring in the shadows.

Unravel the conspiracy in #LONG STORY SHORT.

#The Filing Cabinet -- scan the profiles of those in the know. #Bloodstained Polaroids -- view the images of lives gone astray. #Evidence Board -- learn the details of secrets best kept. #Mystery Signals -- behold the lore of the mind melt. Face the music in the official Long Story Short playlist!

Everyone gathers toward the Abschnitt.

There are several Polizei Berlin stations like the Abschnitt, but everyone tied to this supernatural symphony ends up near this Spandau station particularly.

Sören Heinrich -- ( boar | tag | bio ) The black sheep of the Abschnitt. Sören’s abrasive nature keeps his co-workers at bay, a division widened by their western ideals clashing with his East German upbringing. He distances himself from the station through tight focus on his job, always the first to arrive at a crime scene. Don Jae Hale -- ( elk | tag | bio ) The silver-tongued Kriminalhauptkommissar of the Abschnitt. Hale is quick to dismiss the killings up until his leadership comes under siege by the paranoid public. Umeya Romanova -- ( fox | tag | bio ) The Bundeskriminalamt detective sent to assist with the Abschnitt’s mounting cases. Rumor says Umeya is there for more than the mystery, but her motives veiled by a callous attitude. Marieke Reiss -- ( rabbit | tag | bio ) The star psychology student barely escaped a killing. Now a key witness, Marieke can’t rest easy knowing she could be the next victim, driving her to take matters into her own hands. Reinhardt Müller -- ( donkey | tag | bio ) The Abschnitt’s disgraced ace detective, worn down and living in the grimy corners of Berlin. When crime spikes, Reinhardt tries to relive his “glory days" of detective work. Ukko Heinrich -- ( boar | tag | bio ) The crime lord defends his territory with brutal but firm methods. He's sworn to his found family, the country's political rift making him protective to a fault. Vorwitz Albrecht -- ( bat | tag | bio ) A gardener with good banners but bad morals. Vorwitz's unsavory career choices put him in the Abschnitt, but he finds a way out with Sören.

Entropy knows no bounds.

Stop, look and listen: stories are everywhere. Behold my settings.

Face more madness in #TALES GONE STALE.

LAID TO WASTE -- an abomination stirs in the bayou, its secrets poisoning a township. THE WASTED LIVES -- a group of galactic fugitives embark on a never-ending getaway on a runaway cruiser. (Links need an update. Stay tuned.)

The mind behind the melancholy.

ACHTUNG! This blog is 18+ for gore and suggestive content!

You can call me Dissy (she/her). I'm a writer with stories and ideas always bouncing inside my head, especially this one. Feel free to ask me about myself, my writing, my characters, or anything else. I promise you I can bark up a tree for hours.

I also do Polaroid photography: check out @hogrot for my shots!

I also encourage comments, critique, etc. about this setting. I want to pace myself while writing this, therefore I have all the time I need to refine this where I can. I don't expect this story to come out for a while anyway, especially as I run it through critiques. Hell, this pet project wouldn't have come into fruition thanks to the feedback of some incredible friends.

Shoutout to PYRY for doing character design and art for this setting, as well as giving his ideas and characters for the Heinrich plotline. Go check out his killer art. This story wouldn't exist without him.

Another shoutout to @tsanapi, an incredible artist who drew the art pictured above. Her sense of style is so keen.

And a final thanks to you, the reader, for tuning into the mind melt. This signals wouldn't have picked up without you.

#wip intro #writeblr #writers on tumblr #creative writing #writing #story writing #furry writing #writing community #writer intro #long story short #furry #furry art #oc art #oc writing

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torukmaktoskxawng · 8 months

Text

tsamsiyu ta'em - strangers like me

Masterlist - part ten

Summary: Kayla continues to learn about island life with the Metkayina and also learns a bit more about her teachers along the way. Tonowari and Ronal find their student strange and intriguing.

Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character

Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic

posted on ao3

Word Count: 6k+

Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @motheroffae @undeniableadrenaline @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n @amiets2 @slutforsmut4ever @yeosxxx @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @sucker4angstt @inolaphoenix @ilovechickenwings tojisleftarm andyfromku @ivysully

A/N: I am so sorry for my absence! I wish I have a good excuse for being absent, but the truth is I'm not doing so hot in the real world rn. My job is cutting back hours and I barely have enough for rent. I'm getting a second job next month so hopefully, things smoothen out.

Here is the long-awaited update that I will kick myself for delaying in exchange for obsessively crying over Good Omens Season 2. Let the montage of Awa'atlu life commence! Again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!

Note: The title is named after the Phil Collins song "Strangers Like Me" because Tarzan and Avatar just go together XD

To avoid having Ronal hunt her down again, Kayla got up earlier the next morning and made her way back to the village to join her brother's family for breakfast before her lessons. Kiri was definitely doing better and Tuk was excited that her aunt had decided to see them off before their busy days. After pleasant conversations and the promise to meet before their midday meal, the kids took off to pursue whatever they planned for the day. Kayla stood up with the intention of going to find either the tsahik or the olo'eyktan and so Jake walked her out of the marui as they talked.

"So Neteyam mentioned that you guys talked about what happened between Lo'ak and Ao'nung," Jake started off.

'Oh, boy, here we go,' Kayla thought as she tilted her head to glance back at him, feigning partial innocence, "Yes? What about it?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that it's already been handled, and it sounds like the boys are actually getting along now. Neteyam also mentioned that you didn't get to meet Ao'nung yesterday so I wanted to make sure you knew this before you went looking for a fight with the kid."

"Jake, how young do you think I am?" When his face twisted with hesitance, she rolled her eyes, "Don't answer that. What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a child, I'm older than I look, and believe it or not, I do realize this. You don't have to worry about me... but you could've been a little nicer to Lo'ak."

Jake refrained from also rolling his eyes, knowing his sister would say this. He wasn't blind. He was well aware that Kayla would always be quick to defend his youngest son, no matter what he did. Jake was half-convinced that Lo'ak could get away with murder as far as his aunt was concerned, "He knew he wasn't allowed to go beyond the reef but he went anyway. He was at fault as much as Ao'nung."

"I get that, but it feels as though Lo'ak received more punishment than the boys who actually put him in danger, and for what?"

"For picking fights."

"No, for defending his sister," her eyes narrowed, "Not that you would know what that means."

Jake took the verbal lashing in stride, internally sighing, "I can't punish the chief's son for what he does against my kids, Kayla."

At first, Kayla had every intention of cursing her brother out, but instead paused and tried rephrasing her response. Her eyes drifted to the reef while she recalled far-off memories, "I remember Mom and Dad were allowed to punish the neighbor kids if they misbehaved with us and no one would bat an eye."

The mention of his old life irked him, and he wasn't afraid to show that in his deep snarl, "Well, Mom and Dad aren't here and we're not on Earth," her posture visibly stiffens but doesn't interrupt. Jake's wave of anger is immediately replaced with guilt, so he opts in taking a breath before he could say anything else he might come to regret, "Things are different here. So be civil and keep the peace. Don't go picking fights with teenagers."

"I won't," she mutters darkly, the coldness in her eyes returning as she side-eyes him, reminding Jake that he still wasn't out of the storm regarding her, "That's what you're here for."

She doesn't stay long enough to hear whatever rebuttal he might have in mind. Instead, she walks down the pathways leading further into the village before calling back, "I'll see you later."

Tail lowered in distress and possibly shame, Jake could only turn back to the marui and try to go about his day as he normally would. He knew he deserved the petty insults and his sister's aggression toward him, especially after all the radio silence she had endured for months while he was here experiencing a new way of life, on top of everything else. He just wished Kayla could manage to let go of all the pain and anger like he did when he first began to learn the ways of the Omatikaya. Physically, Kayla's avatar hasn't changed apart from the new Na'vi trinkets she had added to her standard-issued cargo shorts and crop top. However, Jake had hoped her mentality toward him would change the more she learned how to be Na'vi.

He knew he was a fool to get his hopes up so soon.

Walking through the village, Kayla went down the same route Ronal had brought her yesterday, hoping she would catch sight of the tsahik. Again, there were some stares from the Metkayina, but they didn't last as long as the day before and the reef people didn't look as bothered by her appearance. The Na'vi go about their day without much acknowledgment to Kayla, and before she knew it, she had made it to her destination, the craft huts she had met Tsireya just the other day.

It wasn't hard to find Ronal among the crowd of mottled skin patterns. Her accessories, tattoos, and rounded stomach are a dead giveaway, and the tsahik easily found Kayla in the crowd in turn, though it wasn't as hard, given the circumstances. Ronal's eyes visibly squint when her gaze lands on Kayla, then the Na'vi woman pulls away from her task to rise and meet the avatar. Another Na'vi stands to join her, a teenage boy and Kayla had an inkling who it was.

When Ronal approached Kayla, she motioned to the boy behind her, "My son, Ao'nung."

Smiling timidly, Kayla greets Ao'nung as respectfully as possible, though even she could admit her smile was tighter than usual. Ao'nung didn't say a word back, instead deciding to simply nod and avoid eye contact. His ears drooped and his head lowered like this was torture for him. Clearly, he was being coerced into being here with Kayla, but she decided not to fault him for it. Perhaps he's already being punished enough for his wrongdoings that he didn't need Kayla to torture him further about it.

Ronal doesn't appear to notice nor care for Ao'nung's discomfort and sternly stated to Kayla, "We will be teaching you how to communicate underwater. Do not fall behind or you will be left behind."

Kayla refrains from the small smile that threatened to escape her. Ronal's words vaguely reminded her of Neytiri's way of teaching Jake both from the stories she heard and the video log Jake had recorded. As Jake had once phrased it, 'Learn fast or die.'

With that in mind, Kayla doesn't complain and silently follows Ronal and Ao'nung away from the craft huts and further down the pathways. It didn't take long before they brought their guest to a large marui. It wasn't as big as the communal pod for the feasts, but it was significantly taller and wider than the normal ones Kayla has seen, including the Sullys' marui. She took note of the different colors of weaving and decorations adorning the home, such as the totem and skimwing skull hanging over the front entrance in greeting, a small windchime of shells softly dancing in the warm breeze. If Kayla had to guess, this was the olo'eyktan and tsahik's pod. Soon after stepping inside, both Ronal and Ao'nung lower to the ground, sitting back on their legs and Kayla does the same, proceeding to listen as Ronal starts off the lesson.

Nothing eventful happened as Kayla learned the Metkayina equivalent of sign language. Ao'nung never said a word regarding Lo'ak or any incident that happened with Kayla's nieces and nephews prior to her arrival. In fact, Ao'nung didn't say a whole lot other than chiming in a time or two to help Kayla with the lesson. Perhaps he never said a word outside of the subject of his people's sign language because his mother had been giving him sharp looks throughout the whole lesson. It was hard to miss. Ronal wasn't exactly a subtle creature. She openly expressed whatever she was feeling, unafraid of hurting someone's feelings, not even her son's, it would seem.

It was amusing to find all the similarities between the mother and son, both physically and spiritually. Their glare, eyes, and even their pout were the same. Kayla even dared herself to look a little closer without getting caught and noticed that Ao'nung inherited the same mole as his mother's, both spots found above their lip, on the top right side.

She must have lost track in time as the suns rose higher in the sky. Before she knew it, her next teacher had shown up to take her to her next destination. Tonowari stepped up into the marui, his large frame blocking the majority of the light coming in through the entryway. His gaze brushes over Kayla and Ao'nung before his eyes land on the tsahik, "Ma Ronal. Is this a good time?"

One of Kayla's ear flick to the side at the term of endearment, glancing over to the woman in question who only firmly nods and stares back at Kayla, "Go on. My mate will continue your riding lessons from yesterday."

Kayla mutters her thanks and stands up to join Tonowari. As they turn toward the exit, the olo'eyktan points back to his son, "Ao'nung. Remain with your mother."

"But, Father--"

"Do not question me, boy," the tone in Tonowari's voice was a little louder and stronger than normal, and even Kayla could feel her spine straightening up, despite not being under his scrutiny. Kayla briefly glances back at Ao'nung and notes the way he shrinks in on himself, still unable to look her in the eye, clearly embarrassed. Kayla looks away and follows Tonowari out of the marui, shadowing his footsteps as he addresses her, "I apologize for my son."

For the moment, Kayla had the empathy to pity the teenager and decided to soften the blow against Ao'nung, "There's nothing to apologize for. He was a pleasant enough teacher."

His voice had reverted back to its normal tone, significantly smoother and kinder on the ears, "Did you learn well?"

"I think so. It's not that different compared to what the Sky People have," when he flashed a questioning glance over his shoulder at her, she further explained, "They have a language that requires hand motions, too."

He doesn't question it further, instead looking back ahead and leading Kayla down to the docks. The ilu anxiously await their arrival in the water below, clicking and calling excitedly as Tonowari pulls a harness over one of their heads. The two adults get into the water and stand beside the earnest ilu, Tonowari trying to calm the creature whilst Kayla makes tsaheylu. She mounts the creature with ease, remembering yesterday's lesson and dreading the idea of falling off again as Tonowari begins reassuring her, "You need to exude confidence. Tell the ilu that you will command them and you will be respected by them. Do not give them space to come up with their own ideas."

She takes a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and nodded, waiting until Tonowari steps away before commanding the ilu to move forward using only the bond connecting them to each other's thoughts. The creature obliges and all appears to be going smoothly. Kayla manages to instruct the ilu to swim faster before eventually sinking underneath the water's surface. The ilu picks up speed and even as she clings on for dear life, Kayla could already feel her grip loosening. Angry and determined, Kayla tightens her thighs around the saddle of the creature and demands her bonded steed to leap out of the water and let her breathe, no room for nonsense.

To her shock and delight, the ilu chirped happily and sprung out of the water like a bullet, briefly flying through the air and allowing Kayla to take a breath before diving back in. She was so shocked that she almost lost her grip before regaining composure and asking the ilu to do it again, in case she had only imagined her success. The ilu was ecstatic to leap out of the water again and did so without a fuss, and this time, Kayla laughed as the shock wore off.

On the surface, the woman is met with a small audience. Lo'ak, Neteyam, and Tsireya were out riding their own respective ilu that afternoon before briefly pausing to watch a school of fish swim all around them, tickling their feet. Just as Kayla appeared to finally be getting the hang of riding an ilu, the teenagers caught notice of her as well. Lo'ak is the first to spot her, cupping his hands over his mouth as he crows in encouragement, "Go, Auntie! Woo-hoo! Yeah! You got it!"

Kayla laughs as Neteyam and Tesireya begin to cheer her on as well, their voices carried by the winds as Kayla and her ilu dive into the water and back out again. By the time Kayla remembered herself and returned to her teacher, Tonowari had his arms crossed but otherwise appeared pleased by her improvement, tail leisurely swaying behind him with curiosity.

~~~~~~~~~

Weeks go by since Kayla first arrived in Awa'atlu, and despite having to adapt to yet another completely different culture, Kayla had to admit that it was getting easier as time went on. She originally thought the ways of the Metkayina were a cakewalk compared to the Omatikaya, but maybe it was because she learned from the Forest People first that made learning from the Reef People easier than she originally thought it would.

She makes sure to reiterate this to Norm and the other humans every time she sees them. When everyone in Awa'atlu is meant to be resting, Kayla retreats to her campsite and secures her avatar form before closing her eyes and breaking the neural link. The next time she opens her eyes, it's within the link gurney back at High Camp. Norm and Max are always there to greet her, asking about her headaches and other health problems. There were days even Kayla had to admit were rough. After spending so much time in her avatar form, it's starting to strain the link connecting herself to her human form and it causes massive headaches every time she breaks a new record of not reporting back for days on end. To distract her friends from lecturing her, Kayla just updates everyone on Kiri's condition and relays any messages Jake or the rest of the Sully family wanted her to bring. In return, the scientists or even the Na'vi, such as Txe'la and Meui, would update her on any information regarding Ardmore or any Sky People activity.

She's always left disappointed when they say the same thing. No one has seen Spider.

Trying not to let the news discourage her, Kayla always wakes back up in her avatar form in better spirits so as not to worry Jake and his family. Kayla continues to treat the days as normal, continuing her lessons and helping out in any way she can so as not to overstay her welcome. When she wasn't following Tonowari or Ronal around, Kayla was usually in the company of her nieces, nephews, and their new friends.

Tsireya was one of those friends, and she was such a sweet girl who would happily entertain Kayla in any endeavor. When she wasn't busy, one of Kayla's favorite pastimes was helping Tuk and Tsireya find seashells for their hair and any jewelry idea they had in mind. Tsireya, as Tuk said, knew all the best spots where the shells were always fully intact and not crushed into pieces by the harsh tides. During these little adventures, Kayla, Tuk, and Tsireya would learn more about each other, bonding over the fact that they were all their families' younger sisters.

The sign language was easier than the verbal language, but Kayla felt as though she had a rug pulled from beneath her feet when Ronal knowingly stated that she was going to be teaching her student a third language. The tsahik, with the help of other Metkayina, began to teach Kayla the language of the tulkun, the sea creature Kayla learned to be the spiritual animal and companion to the Reef People, as the ikran is to Forest People. Apparently, not even Kayla's nieces and nephews have progressed as far as learning the tulkun language yet, and they became ecstatic to realize that they would be learning this alongside their aunt. Joining Ronal in these lessons with Kayla and the Sully kids would also be Tsireya and Rotxo, which only excited the forest kids more. Ronal wasn't as pleased with her own student when she caught Kayla fondly watching the children interact more than once.

Kayla had to learn this extra language on top of her breathing lessons, the latter of which was taught by both Tonowari and Ronal. Sometimes they would teach her separately, and other times they would do so together, but whatever the case may be, it didn't matter to Kayla. She would carefully listen to whoever was teaching her, and sometimes she listened so intently that she caught herself observing her teachers a little too closely.

Like Tonowari's eyes for example. Kayla noted they were a light blue at first as she sat cross-legged across from him while they practiced breathing exercises. But upon closer inspection, Kayla noticed specks of green engulfed by those blue orbs, like clumps of islands surrounded by warm sparkling oceans.

He was a clenched fist with a gentle touch. Kayla greatly admired him for being someone who could easily take advantage of his strength and position above his people but chooses to be kind and soft-spoken instead.

It was fascinating for Kayla to see just how different the Metkayinas' eyes were compared to the Omatikayas'. Whereas every Na'vi of the Forest had orange or yellow cat-like eyes, the ones who live off of the reef had rounder and bigger eyes, not to mention they had a variety of different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Like Ronal's eyes. The opposite of her mate's, Kayla noted that Ronal's eyes were more green than blue, with specks of a warm, gold color, like a sunset reflecting off the ocean surface.

She was orphic, but that's as far as Kayla allowed herself to describe the tsahik.

There was plenty to say about Ronal, but Kayla thought it best not to linger on any of the words bouncing around in her head. It was clear to her that the tsahik will always disapprove of Kayla and her presence among the Metkayina, so Kayla didn't want to compliment the Na'vi woman too much, especially since she doesn't intend on staying for very long.

Her stay was still very much temporary, at least in Kayla's eyes, as she still intends on going back to the forest to find Spider. For now, however, she was content with her small campsite just inside the treeline of the Metkayina island, a campsite that Ronal appears to disapprove of along with everything else about Kayla. The tsahik still has to occasionally venture out and find Kayla among the trees if she is in need of the avatar woman, like today when Ronal had the mind to take the time to find Kayla. It wasn't hard since the demon had kept her promise and never moved her campsite so she would be right where Ronal could find her. Still, Kayla was apologetic when Ronal found her and the tsahik begrudgingly told the foreigner to follow her back to the village.

Ronal brings her to the shoreline and recruits her to help fix an ilu pen that had begun to wither with age. Tonowari was already hard at work on it and briefly looked up to greet the two women when they sat down on the edge of the pathway and gracefully slipped into the water with him. After a brief instruction from him, Kayla gets to work in silence, and Ronal isn't opposed to doing the same. The silence wasn't as awkward as they were in the past, but out of the corner of her eye, Kayla could clearly see that something was bothering the tsahik, as Ronal wasn't ashamed of openly frowning while watching Kayla work. She didn't appear to be glaring in disapproval, but she looked... frustrated. It was as if she was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle. Kayla briefly glanced at the Na'vi positioned on the other side of her and noticed that Tonowari was much more subtle than his mate. Unlike Ronal, he only snuck glances at Kayla and her work here and there and did his best to hide whatever expression was on his face.

"Am I doing it wrong?"

"No. You're doing well," a compliment was not what she was expecting and it shows as Kayla's ears perk up and her eyes briefly widen. Ronal pointedly ignores the reaction and blatantly asks, "Why do you not stay with your brother's family at night?"

Kayla looked at Ronal, nose scrunched slightly in confusion, all the while completely unaware of the stare Tonowari sent to his mate from above Kayla's head, "Why would I?"

"Group sleep is also customary in the Metkayina."

"What's a group sleep?"

By Eywa, did the Omatikaya teach this alien woman anything? Ronal huffs out an irritated sigh, "Families sleep in large groups, usually in their swaynivi. Some clan members will sleep alone or with their mate just as long as they return to their family's nivi in a short period of time. Otherwise, they're deemed spiritually unhealthy. It is unsafe for one to sleep alone."

"I see," Kayla's ears pin back and her posture straightens, understanding the question now while pointedly staring down at her work on weaving the ilu pen together instead of addressing Ronal, "Well, where I'm from, that's called an invasion of privacy. I would assume that the families who sleep in large groups mostly contain parents and their children, correct?"

She doesn't wait for a response as she further explains with a small distaste in her mouth, "Since I'm neither of those, I don't want to invade my brother's and his children's privacy. Thank you for your concern, but I've been alone for a very long time. I can assure you that I am just fine with the sleeping arrangements I have now."

Even Ronal can sense a dismissal when she hears it in Kayla's voice. It was clear that the alien woman didn't want to further discuss this topic and so the tsahik didn't push it. Returning to her work, Ronal now briefly shared a glance with Tonowari but he pointedly kept his mouth closed during the whole conversation and after.

Luckily, the silence is saved by Neteyam as the teenager arrives with a purpose, slightly bouncing over the pathways above the adults' heads, "Auntie. My father is looking for you."

Kayla's discomfort visibly melts before Tonowari and Ronal's eyes. She looks up and smiles at the Na'vi boy, "Tell your father he can come and get me himself next time instead of sending you out. You should be elsewhere, enjoying the reefs and hunting with your friends."

She briefly turned back to the clan leaders, silently asking for approval to leave with her eyes flicking between the two Metkayina. Both nodded and openly watch as Kayla turns back to Neteyam, smiling up at her nephew as she rises up onto the pathway and follows him out, gently shoving him once to get him to pick up the pace so she didn't trip on his heels.

Neteyam huffed a small laugh as they walked, but the sound falls in replace of shame. He was visibly acting a little shy as he avoided eye contact, "I am sorry that I told my father about our conversation. I should have asked for your permission."

"Hey, no harm," she nudged him, "It's not like our talks are meant to be a secret or anything. It's nice that you can trust your father with everything; trust him enough to talk about whatever you want. As long as you're comfortable, kiddo."

"Was your father not like that?"

Kayla bit her tongue to refrain from visibly wincing, staring directly ahead instead of at her nephew, "No. I don't think he was. Not from what I can remember. Mostly I relied on Tommy and your dad growing up."

"What was my father like as an older brother? Am I like him?"

Kayla briefly grew quiet as they walked, pondering about how she could best word this to her oldest nephew. She tried seeing Jake in Neteyam, she really did, but whenever she tried comparing the teenager's best traits, they only remind her of Neytiri. And when Kayla thinks about Jake, all the pain and other torture he had put her through both intentionally and by accident, she couldn't even fathom Neteyam doing the same thing to his own siblings. Physically and mentally, deep down she knew that Neteyam was nothing like his father, and she was secretly grateful for that.

So instead of agreeing, Kayla simply smiled while staring the teenager in the eyes so he could see her sincerity, "No, 'Teyam. You're like Tommy. He was the older brother. When it comes to how you treat your siblings, you remind me of him, and I think your father sees it, too."

~~~~~~~~~

When Ronal isn't busy with her duties as tsahik or teaching Kayla, she is making sure Neytiri also adapts to their way of life. Although the former tsakarem had been comfortably accustomed to island life by the time her sister-in-law joined her family, Ronal still takes Neytiri into the jungle for a second pair of hands to gather the needed plants and herbs for her stock. Today was no different as the two women stumbled across a large jungle tree, larger than any of the others around them. Instead of following Ronal's suggestion to skip this tree and its healing fruits in exchange for a shorter one, Neytiri stops and shakes her head. Ronal was adamant about moving on since she was in no condition to climb and wasn't built to climb trees even if she wasn't currently pregnant.

Neytiri still shook her head in defiance and simply said, "You need Forest People."

The Forest woman opens her mouth and calls out at the top of her lungs, causing Ronal's ears to twitch in response to her whooping and cawing. Notifying her family about her location, it didn't take long for Jake, Kayla, and all the Sully children to come running to Neytiri's call.

Neytiri proudly smiles at her family while explaining why they had been summoned, "Our tsahik needs the fruit from the top of this tree and the ones surrounding it."

The others take a moment to look at one another before Kayla breaks the silence, briefly tapping Tuk's shoulder before running off, "'Last one to the top is a rotten egg!"

Tuk squeals and immediately chases after her aunt. The older Sully kids smile and break into fits of laughter, following suit and running after Kayla and their little sister. They all leap up, grabbing onto the lower branches before lifting themselves up, climbing expertly higher without their arms protesting the weight of their bodies. Ronal watched them climb higher and higher, keeping her expression stoic while observing the way Kayla makes the collecting and scavenging into a game for her nieces and nephews, challenging them to see who can gather the most fruit. In the corner of her eye, Ronal could still see Neytiri standing beside her, also watching the trees and smiling fondly up at her family. Jake soon stands beside his wife, hands on his hips while watching his sister and his children with a careful eye.

It was then did Ronal address Toruk Makto directly, flashing a face of disapproval, "Does your sister always act so childish?"

Jake's posture stiffens and he struggles to find the right words under the tsahik's watchful eye, "Well-! Uh..."

"No, only with the children," Neytiri answers for him, eyes hardened when they meet Ronal's as if daring her to speak again, "She plays with them because she wants to remind them that they are still just that. Children."

~~~~~~~~~

Kiri woke up bothered about something and everyone could tell. That girl didn't know how to hide her feelings no matter how badly she wanted to, the definition of an open book. Even though no one knew why she was upset, they could clearly tell that whatever it was, it had something to do with her aunt. Kiri wasn't necessarily cold to Kayla, but the teenager would go quiet and only speak in one-word responses whenever the older woman spoke directly to her.

Kayla decided that she needed to fix whatever was going on between herself and her oldest niece, so she offered to take the children out as the afternoon slipped into the evening. Neytiri suggested bringing them swimming through the reefs to collect barnacles and other underwater plants for tonight's supper, a passing time a lot of the villagers tend to do. Kayla takes up the idea and presents it to the Sully kids, who all agree to go, some more enthusiastic than others.

Tuk immediately splashes into the water and her brothers chase after her. Meanwhile, Kayla and Kiri linger on the beach, watching them disappear into the ocean. Kayla had tried breaking the tension with a small smile, "So when are you gonna show me how to use those underwater fairy wings?"

She was hoping for a small laugh or even a smile, but Kiri does neither. Instead, she looks sad and distracted, looking out over the horizon where the sky meets the sea, daydreaming of other lands... of home. Kayla bravely touches the girl's shoulder, and when Kiri looks up, her aunt could see the concern plain on her face. The avatar woman squeezes Kiri's shoulder, "What is it?"

Kiri bites the inside of her cheek before giving in, letting out a small sigh, "When are you going back to the forest?" She quickly understands how that could easily be misinterpreted and corrects herself, "It's just that-- you promised you'd look for Spider. And yet, you're here and he still hasn't been found yet."

Kayla relaxes both in posture and touch, removing her hand from Kiri's shoulder and instead letting it fall to her side, "I'll likely be gone by the end of the week, but for Norm's peace of mind, I'm going to be running a few tests on you so he and I both know you'll be okay," silence follows and Kayla reaches out once more, letting her hand gently grasp Kiri's arm, "Kiri, look at me."

The teen does so, a little belligerent at first. Upon staring up at her aunt, Kiri could see the determination in her eyes that closely matched Kiri's father's. Kayla tilts her head down to try and stand more at Kiri's height before softly explaining, "I haven't given up. And you might find it pointless to keep an eye on you after what happened, but I don't, and I don't think Spider would either. Think about it, kiddo. Spider would want us to make sure you're alright before we ever went looking for him."

Kiri ducks her head and watches her toe make shapes in the sand beneath her feet, "I know... but that doesn't mean I have to like it. He deserves to be put first for once."

Silence lingers between the two of them before Kayla simply says, "You're right."

Kiri doesn't wanna look up to see whatever expression was on her aunt's face. Instead, Kiri takes her arm and drags her to the water, "Come."

"'Where we going?"

"You said you wanted to learn how to use a txampaysye."

Kayla's nose scrunched up, testing the word on her tongue with bitterness, "How do you even spell that??"

Kiri manages to loosen up and laugh before they both held their breath and sank down into the water, sinking until they joined the rest of the Sully children. They introduce Kayla to txampaysye -gill mantle- and instruct her on how to use it in order to breathe underwater. Kayla wasn't far off. The gill mantles really did look like fairy wings, but other than maybe a few comments or stories, none of the Na'vi children would know what exactly a fairy was. The children and their aunt spend the evening doing as Neytiri suggested, gathering underwater plants and barnacles alongside other Metkayina, most of whom all wore the txampaysye. By the time the communal dinner rolled around, the Sully family was exhausted, but content all the same.

~~~~~~~~~

A peaceful morning where the Sullys invite Kayla over for breakfast goes uneventful until they're rolling up their nivi after a good night's rest. Their peace is interrupted by a horn, followed by whoops and hollers of celebration coming from outside. Confused and on edge, Jake and the kids emerge from the marui, looking around as the Metkayina jump around and dive into the water, making the newcomers curious as to what was going on.

Their answer came in the form of Tsireya, astride an ilu as she waved down her people from the water below their homes, "The tulkun have returned! Everybody! Our Brothers and Sisters have returned!"

Kayla looked up toward the atoll wall protecting the village from less docile nature. Emerging from the tunnels and pathways underneath the wall were rolling waves indicating something large below the water. Spurts of seaspray spring out like geysers from beneath the ocean's surface. It was a large pod of whale-like creatures, massive and slow. Their descent onto the village was graceful and one that brought much joy to the Metkayina as they couldn't get in the water fast enough.

The Sully kids couldn't wait either, jumping from the walkway around their home and into the water below. They scatter, exploring the new creatures one way or another. Tsireya had grabbed Lo'ak when she spotted him and pulled him onto her ilu, swimming away to introduce him to her Spirit Sister. Jake summoned his tsurak and both he and Neytiri take off to observe the sacred animals themselves. Rotxo had come around and pulled Kiri and Tuk away too, leaving Neteyam and Kayla to wander. Ao'nung was not far behind his friend, however, and invited Neteyam to come along with him to find his own Spirit Brother. Earning a small reassurance from his aunt, Neteyam doesn't hesitate to jump in and both teenagers each grab an ilu and take off, making a game of chase with Ao'nung in the lead.

Neteyam kept close to Ao'nung the entire time. The chief's son leads Neteyam through the chaos expertly, the two of them swimming quickly around a particular tulkun. Kiri, Tuk, and Rotxo were hanging onto the bull's fin and gliding peacefully through the water, the tulkun likely the reef boy's Spirit Brother. Neteyam was only able to catch a glimpse of this as they swim by, keeping close to Ao'nung's tail and playfully chasing him.

Jake had been leisurely swimming his skimwing through the maze of tulkun and Metkayina before glancing off to the side and perking up. Reaching back and tapping Neytiri's thigh to grab her attention, he waits until her eyes are on him before pointing out the sight he stumbled across. Following her husband's gaze and finger, Neytiri spots a mother tulkun and her calf, the smaller whale-like creature keeping close, mostly under its mother's fin or belly. Neytiri smiled with delight, her heart melting at the picture.

Kayla had been floating above the surface, watching the vast sight of tulkun from up top the back of an ilu she had successfully summoned. She didn't venture very far until the olo'eyktan sought her out. She noticed his tsurak first, flying above her head before gracefully sinking into the water, folding in its webbed fins. Tonowari brings it back around and swims up to Kayla's side, a determined smile on his lips, "We must put all that you learned to the test. Come meet my Spirit Brother and see how well you can understand and communicate with him."

She nods and dutifully follows him into the water after taking a deep breath. They submerge and take off, weaving through and around the large bodies of tulkun, dodging other ilu and Na'vi while Tonowari keeps his pace slow for Kayla's ilu to catch up. Underwater, Kayla can get a better look at the tulkun, and to her amazement, she realized that most of them were tattooed like their respective Na'vi. Eventually, they come across a large bull and Tonowari slows to a complete stop, disengaging from his tsurak and openly swimming the rest of the way to the heavily tattooed tulkun male. Kayla disengages from her ilu and watches it swim away before swimming in the same direction as the olo'eyktan, keeping a small bit of distance while he approaches the tulkun, greeting it like an old friend with a wide smile before gesturing Kayla to come closer.

When Kayla swims close enough to float near the large eye of the creature, Tonowari motions to the bull and makes rapid hand movements, "This Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. She is of the Forest People and has come to learn our ways."

"Greetings, Makayla te Suli." The tulkun sings, and Kayla is delighted that she can understand him.

She quickly signs back, just as she had practiced, "I See you, great and mighty tulkun."

"Have you learned much since your arrival?"

"Yes, many things. I have excellent teachers in the olo'eyktan and the tsahik."

"Indeed. You are in good hands with my Brother and his mate. Ro'a speaks highly of her."

Curious, Kayla turns to the olo'eyktan in question, hands slowed by the water as she asks through the Metkayina sign language, "Is Ro'a Ronal's Spirit Sister?"

Tonowari nods while further explaining with his hands, "Yes, and I believe Ro'a has just given birth to her first calf."

"Indeed." The tulkun calls softly, the beautiful sound muffled in Kayla's ears like a song trying to pierce through cotton, "We are very proud and happy for our sister. What of Ronal's child?"

Tonowari beams, "Growing fast. Halfway there."

Kayla faintly smiles as her lungs begin to faintly burn, then quickly makes the appropriate hand motions to signal, "Forgive me. I need air."

She tilts her head upward and kicks her arms and legs to plunge up to the surface. Kayla immediately gasps for air the moment her head broke through the ocean waves, taking deep and calm breaths while looking around at all the joyous reunions going on around her. Laughter and cheers are still clinging to the approaching afternoon air, not a single Metkayina worried about the day's chores as they are too busy reacquainting themselves with their Spirit Brothers and Sisters. Kayla fondly watched these interactions, her heart warm and yet... sad as she watched the Na'vi swim around her without a care in the world. It's not as though she expected anyone to notice her, but it was a brief realization that today she was invisible and an outcast compared to these beautiful tulkun creatures. It was just another reminder that she didn't belong here and she had no Spirit Sister of her own, feeling out of place among an entire lagoon full of tulkun, Na'vi, tsurak, ilu, and other aquatic creatures.

Once she caught her breath, Kayla inhaled deeply and stuck her face back into the water to check out the activity going on beneath her treading feet. Looking around, she managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar Na'vi, a woman, adamantly communicating with her hands toward another tulkun, a female and her calf. Kayla recognized Ronal's ornaments that expressed her importance among the other Metkayina, along with her rounded belly. Without those traits, however, Kayla wouldn't have recognized her because the tsahik was smiling, broadly, unbothered by anything going on around her as she spoke to what had to be her Spirit Sister, Ro'a.

In all the weeks Kayla had been living here, she had never seen Ronal smile, let alone smile like that.

A/N: Please remember that I can't reply to any comments below every chapter because I'm using a secondary account. So if you have questions about the series you would like answers to, please put it in the ask box, thank you!

If you have a request, check the rules first! Much love!

Buy me ko-fi <3

Just a brief notice that updates are gonna be spotty from here on out as summer is coming to a close and I'll be working two jobs next month (Sept). Keep the love and support coming and I hope to update for y'all soon!

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mango-bango-bby · 1 year

Note

🥂 with mafia dabi and hawks pleaseeee

♡ Unconscious ♡

(A/N: I fell down the stairs in my apartment building and hurt my ankle 😭😭😭 Random I know, but I’m in so much pain rn I just wanted to tell you all 😭😭😭😭)

Content Warning ⚠️: Yandere, MAFIA AU, drugging, kidnapping, sort of angst

Summary: Dabi and Keigo take you the day before Christmas but it seems like Keigo gave you to many pills (Yan!Dabi x GN!reader x Yan!Hawks)

Holiday Event ➸ ♡

Masterlist ➸ ♡

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Your apartment is silent aside from the sound of a window opening. You don’t notice though, you’re completely passed out on the couch.

Keigo was the first one to bring up knocking you out before kidnapping you, Dabi has wanted to just barge in and take you home with them. Keigo didn’t want to scare you to much so he was the one to knock you out

A couple pills crushed into the food you had ordered earlier certainly did the job. Ordering food on Christmas Eve, it seemed sad to them.

If only they had taken you sooner, you could be spending the night with them and a meal cooked specifically for you by one of their underlings.

Dabi picks up one of your hands, letting it fall limply back onto the cushions. “Fuck, how many pills did you give them?” Dabi asked, he had expected you to at least be semi-conscious when Keigo told him that they were going to drug you.

“They’re out cold” he continues, putting one arm underneath your knees and the other around your back to pick you up.

“Just two!” Keigo defends, clicking the handcuffs around your wrists just in case you woke up. “They were just stronger than expected, they should be out for a couple hours” He says, unlocking your door to let Dabi carry you out to the black sports car parked outside the building.

They almost felt a little bad for you. It wasn’t your fault that you were just so charming that you caught the attention of some bad peoples like Dabi and Keigo.

However they truly did believe they could give you somewhat of a better life. They’re not good people by any means but they do love you. They want you to be safe and happy.

And it’s not like you’re exactly happy now. You come home from such long shifts at work just to sleep or cry. You order in food on holidays because you don’t have anyone to visit.

You need people like them. You need someone to love you. And despite how twisted their definitions of love are, Keigo and Dabi are those people.

Keigo gets into the back of the car, Dabi sliding you in next so you can be in between them in the car.

Keigo takes the opportunity to buckle you in, your head falling against him as your body is limp. “Back to the house” Dabi says blankly to the driver in front, the car starting up and beginning to move. You’re going home with them.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Thank you for reading, darling!!

#yandere mafia au #yandere bnha #yandere dabi #yandere!dabi #yandere dabi x reader #yandere!dabi x reader #yandere hawks x reader #yandere!hawks #yandere hawks #yandere!keigo #yandere keigo #yandere takami keigo #yandere keigo x reader

669 notes · View notes

liyahin4k · 28 days

Note

Can you do a team x Leah and basically kk and ice are on live and saying that they wants pancakes and how Leah was suppose to make them pancakes(or any food)but Paige and some other team members put her in a bad mood because they scratched her car and kk and ice come into her room still on live and tries to convince her to still make her pancakes because they didn’t do anything wrong and Leah is convinced and while they are eating her pancakes and Leah is cooking Paige comes in and basically tries to ask Leah if she’s still mad(she still very much is) and tries explain and to defend herself and throws the people she was with under the bus while and this all happens on live while eating pancakes

Idk this is really random but basically it’s just just kk and ice doing their thing eating pancakes and Paige is in the background trying to convince Leah that what happened wasn’t her fault and Leah just making pancakes while fuming

I just want to see Paige trying to get on her good side again I think that would be cute 😭😭

(𝐁𝐖𝐖𝐖)

(𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐱 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐡)

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐲-pancakes

Are you serious you yelled as you and Paige stood in the parking lot looking at your now scratched car what they hell did you do.

On the way back from target I-I might have ran into a mailbox on the way to drop off azzi b-but it’s nothing I-nothing Paige do you know how much this is gonna cost me you shook your head and disbelief.

I know I know and I’m sorry I’ll get it fixed I promise she looked up at you yeah you better you walked past her to you and hers apartment when you walked in you saw ice and kk on live in the living room you walked past them back to your room and try and calm down.

Back to ice and kk they were answering questions the fans asked and laughing yo I want pancakes kk cried out what you telling me for you and me can’t cook unless you want to burn their apartment down again.

I didn’t burn the place down I burnt a pot kk defended herself ask Leah hearing your name kk quick got up with her phone and ran to your room.

She ran in and saw you on your phone facing the wall heyyyyyy twinnn she sat next to you what kk you answered not looking at her what wrong she asked, realizing you were in a mood ask Paige you turned to her.

What did she do now kk laughed she scratched my car going to target kk eyes widened now you know she can’t drive she laughed making you smile she looked back at her phone and started reading the comments.

They said make her pay for it kk read out to you oh trust me she is you sat up there was a pause kk hesitating to ask you soooo you know I just loveee your pancakes, right.

You side eyed her making her laugh harder soo you know since you love me and all don’t you wanna make me and ice some pancakes out of the kindness of your heart she flutter her eyelashes smiling at you.

You just looked at her before answering you get on my nerves you answered getting up and walking to the kitchen kk quickly got up following you doing her little happy dance.

Ice and kk were now eating their pancakes still on live as you did the dishes when the front door opened it was Paige with one of her hands behind her back she slowly walked behind you nervously.

You still mad she mumbled into your shoulder wrapping her arm around your waist you think you side eyed her she sighed and paused before before speaking again.

I got you something she softly smiled you didn’t respond.

She moved the hand that was behind her back revealing Lego flowers you turning off the water you froze that why I had to go to target I wanted to surprise you she whispered in your ear making you blush.

She knew how much you loved flowers but she wanted to add a little twist to it and got you lego roses so they wouldn’t die and you could have them forever.

This doesn’t make up for my car though you turned to her softly smiling you know i got you ma she smiled pulling you into a kiss you better you pulled away grabbing the legos and going back into your room.

Paige looked at kk and ice when she heard the mocking her you in trouble they laughed in union shut up Paige smirked following you to back to get ready to make it up to you.

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battlekilt · 10 months

Text

To my discovery, I seem to be an outlier that has thought, in great, detail about Rex hearing the story of Anakin Skywalker defending the Temple against the 501st men, and being slain by this Lord Vader.

I think about this scene all the time, from Rex's POV—obviously.

Because the truth was, Anakin was a GOAT of a Jedi. But also? The 501st was Spec-Ops; they helped trained Ahsoka, and Anakin taught his men specifically how to be better soldiers alongside him. The 501st and Anakin knew each other's tactics far more intimately than other Jedi-Clone units did. Rex knew too well how a fight between them and Anakin would have been disastrous for both. Numbers would have swarmed Anakin, he would have killed so many.

Rex's imagination much have just played over and over and over and over again how many of his men's lives his General—who he was so clearly loyal to, but also... proud to serve—fell. He must have imagined that moment when the mysterious new Sith Apprentice showed up, backed up his men, and provided the aide and support needed to take Skywalker's life. The scenario must have played over and over again, none of them merciful.

Every time another body fell, it was another shot in Rex's heart. But, so too was the moment he imagined when his men's blasterfire joined in Vader's blade. When their men had the power of gravity, and pulled Skywalker's lifeless husk onto the beautiful, polished, Temple floor.

Think about Rex being able to conjure the image of the Temple so clearly in his mind. He knows how his men fought, he KNOWS how Anakin fought, and with his tactical abilities... he could think of so many scenarios that could have very well played out—and he'd know it. He'd sit in the dark and just know any one of them could have been exactly how they happened... and it would HAUNT him that the two fought each other. Killed each other. That HIS men would have helped spill Skywalker's blood on that pristine, reverent floor as his General died trying to defend the children and the elderly. Rex would have known that Anakin would have fought until he couldn't, and it would EAT him up to picture his helmeted men staring down at Skywalker's bloodied face.

And he'd wonder: Who picked up the General's lightsaber? Was it Appo? Did Appo pick it up and hand it over to this Lord Vader?

That horrible, twisted wish that Skywalker killed as many men of their men—as many of HIS BROTHERS—as possible. Men whom Anakin knew by name helped many of them pick out their names and how Skywalker remembered them all. Men that Anakin would recognize by the sound of their voice, a feat only Clones learned to do. Their General, who laughed with them, painted their armor with them.

I can just imagine old-man Rex maybe opening up and talking about this to Ahsoka and Ahsoka? Refusing to correct him. She isn't going to be the one to tell her old friend what he's figured out—what she learned actually happened to Anakin. There's no way she's telling her aging Cloned friend that Anakin, Rex's GENERAL, was Vader—that it had been HIM who led the 501st on the Temple.

Yeah, I think about this a lot—how for the rest of Rex's days, he thought over and over again about what must have happened at that Temple. The role each of them had to play. I think about how Rex's speculative thoughts about his men's role in the Temple's purge and their role in General Skywalker's death.

So, I think about how Ahsoka let him think of these horrors, these nightmares. Because she knew the truth would break his heart more than the images he already played in his head.

The truth would have been a death kneel to Rex's faith, his heart, and his spirit, and I think Ahsoka knew that. There was enough blood-stained betrayal in the old Clone's heart, and I think she would let him imagine that their men, his brothers, had killed their General Skywalker of no fault of their own, and the Jedi Knight he had served for years had instead died valiantly.

#anakin skywalker #captain rex #ahsoka tano #darth vader #order 66 #clone king #jedi: skywalker #sith: vader #kilt's meta #kilt's writing #bucket's writing #bucket's meta

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musings-of-a-rose · 3 months

Text

Falling Slowly Chapter 6

Pairing: Tommy Miller x f!reader

Word Count: 4000+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story.

Notes: This chapter will be entirely from Tommy’s pov. It’s also bringing in a Joel story I’ve been dying to write.

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage! (It is not required in any way!)

**Divider made by @benkeibear

**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

Falling Slowly Masterlist

Tommy Miller Masterlist

<<;Chapter 5<<

Tommy rubs his wrists as the officer unlocks his cuffs, gesturing to the phone on the wall.

"You get one call. 3 minutes."

Tommy nods and picks up the phone, hesitating a moment before dialing his brother's number.

“Hello?”

“Joel, it’s me. Uh, I’m ok.”

“Yeah?”

“But I’m in jail.”

“Goddammit.”

A little offended, Tommy defends himself. “Wasn’t my fault this time. I was at the bar, some guy goes crazy, starts swingin’ at a waitress, I stepped in, knocked him out, cops show up-” The din from the other room gets louder, like people are fighting almost. Look, it doesn’t matter. You gotta bail me out.”

“Now?”

“It’s Friday, you don’t get me out tonight, I’m in here all weekend. It’s a fuckin’ madhouse, Joel. I gotta get out.”

“Well, which jail? Travis County?”

“Yeah, on 10th.”

“Goddammit Tommy.”

“I’m sorry….Please?”

“Ok.” Joel hangs up after that and Tommy stares at the receiver for a moment, hoping that his brother shows up fast.

It's when he waits for Joel that Tommy really sees it. The way people are behaving oddly, just like the man in the bar, lunging at people or twitching. Some of the officers' hands shake as they restrain them, their heads moving from side to side as if trying to clear their minds of a fog. Something is happening, what specifically he can't say. But something is very wrong. All he knows is he has to get Daisy and Jax and get out of town with Joel and Sarah and Rose, if Joel wants that? Maybe to the cabin? Would Joel even believe him?

Just then an officer opens the cell, his hands shaking and fumbling with the keys, dropping them a couple of times before he jams them into the lock and pulls the door open. Tommy quickly walks past the officer, who's now shaking his head and walks down the hall towards the front desk. He sees Joel standing there, his arms crossed and a hard look on his face.

"I thought you were done with this shit, Tommy."

"We have to get out of here."

Joel snorts. "No shit. You think I want to spend my night here?"

Tommy looks at his brother, holding his gaze. "No, we have to leave. Somethin' isn't right."

"What-"

Screams and gunfire echo down the hall from where Tommy just was, obvious signs of multiple people fighting. Joel looks at Tommy and nods towards the front door as the desk officer draws her gun and moves down the hallway, her screams cut off by the door closing behind Joel.

Outside isn't any better. People are running, screaming down the street while other people chase them, pushing them down and…biting their necks? No. Kissing them? No, their lips aren't touching.

The window from a store front next to Tommy breaks, glass shattering all over the road as a person falls from the store, gashes covering their body as they jerk and twist. Suddenly, their, no, her head jerks up and she looks at them, something long and like tendrils sliding out of her mouth just as an inhuman sound comes from her throat, her body launching at the men.

"Shit!" Tommy yells as he moves from her way, her body crashing to the floor momentarily before popping back up.

"Move!" Joel yells and Tommy runs after him, heading towards his truck at the end of the street. Joel reaches it first, just as Tommy feels her fingers close around his shirt, pulling him to the ground. She straddles him, leaning her head towards his, the tendrils sliding from her mouth, reaching towards him, trying to pull her mouth closer to his as Tommy slams his mouth shut, desperately trying to shove her off him.

CLUNK!

A large wrench slams into the side of her head and she flies off Tommy, landing on the sidewalk, her body no longer moving. His chest is heaving as he gasps for air, Joel shoving his hand in his face to help him up.

"We gotta go!" He tosses the keys to Tommy who hops in, starting up the truck and taking off the second Joel closes his door, another one of those things pounding on the window, tendrils pressing up against it.

"Take 42nd to Palm and cut through that alley."

Tommy nods to his brother, his eyes glued to the road where people are running around, trying to avoid getting pounced on. He makes it to the shortcut, his tires screeching down the alley as he heads toward the neighborhood where he and Joel live.

"We'll grab Sarah first since we're up first."

Tommy nods. "Be quick, Joel. I have to get to Daisy and Jax."

But as they pull up to the dark street, they see Sarah running from the neighbor's house, a look of pure terror on her face. Tommy pulls up and Joel jumps out, his wrench in his hand as an old lady runs from the house Sarah just left, tripping over the stairs.

"Get in the truck!" Joel yells at Sarah as the old lady gets up. She grunts, running at them as Tommy moves from around the truck.

"What are we doing here Joel?"

Joel tightened his grip and swung, hitting the lady square in the face, her body hitting the ground.

"You just killed her!" Sarah gasps from behind Joel. He turns to her, kneeling a bit to her level.

"It's not just here. We have to be strong, ok?" She nods, hopping in the back as they jump in, the truck roaring to life as Tommy speeds off down the road towards his house.

They pull up and Tommy's stomach jumps to his throat. The front door is wide open, the plants on the front steps knocked over, dirt splattered across the ground.

"Fuck," Joel whispers under his breath. "Sarah, stay in the car and do not come out. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes."

Tommy opens his door, fingers trembling as a thousand horrible images cross his mind of what may lay inside the home he and Daisy had created. He tightens his grip on the shotgun he grabbed from his backseat, Joel sliding into a position behind him to cover him as they tentatively step inside.

The room is a mess. Furniture is upturned, frames dangling on the wall, broken glass scattered across the floor, the lights flickering as the lamp desperately tries to stay lit. But as they step towards the kitchen and the main stairwell, Tommy has to swallow down a wail, panic seeping through his veins and threatening to take over his mind, his body turning cold.

"Is that…blood?" Joel whispers, coming up beside Tommy, looking down at the dark puddle on the ground.

Tommy nods, not trusting his own voice as he rounds the corner, his shotgun weighing heavier in his hands. No one is in the kitchen, cups clattered on the floor, some drawers pulled out and silverware scattered across the floor.

Tommy then turns to the stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs. Joel claps his hand on his shoulder, his eyebrows raised in a silent question of "You got this?"

Tommy nods, flexing his fingers against the wood of the shotgun and turns his gaze towards the stairs, slowly ascending them and taking a double step so as not to step on the creaky stair he'd promised Daisy he would fix months ago. His throat tightens thinking of her and he prays to whatever is listening that she's ok. That Jax is ok.

He makes it to the top of the stairs, more things scattered about the floor up here too and turns to Jax's room, his door half open. Toys are scattered about the floor, his lamp over turned and the room nearly pitch black. He swears he hears a small shuffle from the back of his closet and he swallows hard, terrified of what it could mean. He grips the gun tighter, taking a deep breath.

"Jax? It's Daddy."

There's a moment of silence, Tommy's stomach churning with every second as hope fades from him. But then the closet door bursts open and Jax jumps out, his arms outstretched towards his dad.

"DADDY!"

Tommy drops to his knees, quickly setting the shotgun on the floor and opens his arms, Jax throwing his own tiny ones around his neck, little tears streaming down his face as Tommy embraces him, his own tears falling freely.

"I am so glad to see you, little man! Are you ok?" Reluctantly, Tommy disentangles Jax from him and he looks at him. Nothing seems to be off about him other than the fact he was terrified.

"I ok, daddy."

"I'm so happy to hear that, little man. You were hiding and waiting for us?"

Jax's eyes go distant as he remembers, nodding his head. "Mommy said to hide and wait for you or Uncle Joel if she not come back."

Tommy's heart races at the mention of Daisy. "Jax, look at me." He turns his face up and looks up at his Dad, fear blowing his pupils wide. "Where's mommy?"

Jax is quiet for several moments before he speaks and Tommy almost misses it with how softly he talks.

"Mrs. Johnson was being mean to mommy."

Tommy feels himself go cold, blood rushing, heart pumping as fear floods his system. He tries hard to swallow down his fear for Jax. "What, uh, what happened?"

"Mommy woke me up. Said to hide in my best hiding spot. Not to come out until daddy or Uncle Joel or mommy come to get him. That if I do, if I stay really quiet, I win the game. But…" His eyes flick behind Tommy at the door, the door that had been half open when they came upstairs.

"Jax it's OK. You're safe."

Jax looks back at Tommy, eyes watering with fear. "Someone hit on my door. Mommy saw me hide. Took my..r..Rangers bat. She open the door and Mrs. Johnson…" He glances at the door again before looking down at his feet. "She was doing doggy sounds and chasing mommy. But not like when we play. She tried to bite mommy."

"Did she bite her?"

Jax thinks for a moment. "No."

Tommy lets out a puff of air. That's at least something good. "Where did they go?"

"Mommy ran out the door. She made a lot of noise. Mrs. Johnson chase her. I hear sounds from downstairs but then quiet. Then daddy get me. I win, daddy?"

Tommy pulls Jax in to his chest, hugging him tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Yeah, bud. You win."

Joel clears his throat. "Tommy, we gotta go. We can't stay here."

"I can't leave Daisy. I can't, I-"

"Tommy." Joel speaks in his stern brother voice. "We have to keep the kids safe. Daisy wouldn't want you to risk Jax-"

Anger floods Tommy, heating his face, a rushing sound in his ears as he stands quickly, taking Jax with him. "How the fuck would you know what she wants?"

"Because she's a mom! How pissed would she be if something happened while we were lookin' and waitin' for her?"

He's pissed. So pissed but mostly because his brother is right. Daisy would skin him alive if something happened to Jax while they were looking for her.

"I… I can't…"

Joel grips his shoulder. "We'll go to the cabin still. It would be a safe place to hunker down. Leave her a note or somethin' but we have to go. Now."

Tommy nods, succumbing to his brother's order. They all head back downstairs, Tommy grabbing the pad of paper and pen that they always kept near the phone. He quickly scribbled a note to Daisy, telling her they had Jax and were heading to the cabin and to meet there. He ended it with an I love you, taking a shuddering breath as he sets the note on the table, Sarah placing Daisy's backpack next to it, the one she had packed last night in preparation for their weekend trip. While he wrote, Jax had grabbed his own little pack and Joel grabbed any food he could carry from the cabinets, tossing it into some grocery bags that were stored under the sink.

They all head to the front door, Joel doing a quick scan of the area before they silently move back towards the truck. Tommy takes one last look inside, speaking quietly while saying an internal prayer.

"Please be ok, Daisy."

The highway is blocked, everyone having the same idea as them. They cut across a field, intending to take a shortcut through town, but then chaos erupts. People pour from a movie theater, yelling, screaming, biting, and then Sarah yelling from the back seat before the sound of a plane crashing, way too close for comfort. And then his world flips, goes dark for a brief moment before Tommy wakes, upside down, the sounds of terror from the street quickly roaring back to life.

"DADDY!"

Jax's scream wakes him from his stupor, spurring him into action. He quickly undoes his belt, seeing Joel stir next to him.

"You ok, man?" Tommy asks as he drops to the roof, which is now the floor, with a grunt.

"M' fine. Sarah!"

"I'm stuck!"

Tommy sees Joel hit the roof and scramble out to get Sarah. Tommy does the same, whipping out his pocket knife and cutting Jax loose from the car seat Sarah had buckled him into when they left. He grabs him before he hits the floor and pulls him from the truck, faintly registering Sarah whimpering as Joel pulls her from the truck, another car slamming into it a moment later. Jax screams and buries his face in Tommy's neck, his little backpack somehow clutched in his tiny fist.

The truck is on fire and Tommy steps back, quickly grabbing up the shotgun that had slid from the truck when it had flipped. He looks over the hood at Joel, cradling Sarah in his arms but blocked in the alley.

"Go! Meet up at the river. Get her out of here, Joel!"

Tommy tightens his grip on Jax. "Keep your eyes closed, bud. Hold tight. I've got you."

He runs, his eyes on everyone and everything as they make their way down a few blocks before cutting down a side street. Mercifully, none of the things seem to notice them, too caught up in the chaos of the street and they make it around the edge of buildings and towards the river. But then he sees them, Joel cradling Sarah and pleading with a soldier who has his gun fixed on them. He quietly sets Jax down, who seems to sense the seriousness of the situation, and flattens himself to the ground, just like he does when they play soldiers.

Tommy raises the shotgun and takes a few steps. But then he hears a shot ring out and sees Joel and Sarah go down, the soldier stomping up to Joel, who's raising his hands, pleading, begging, telling the man they aren't sick. Without hesitation, Tommy clears the last step to put him in a decent range and pulls the trigger, the soldier instantly going down. Joel looks up at him, gratitude on his face. But Tommy doesn't see it. All he sees is Sarah, blood covering her shirt as she gasps on the ground.

"Oh God."

Joel snaps his head around and sees her, rushing towards his daughter. Tommy feels Jax hold onto his leg as Joel screams to Tommy for help. But what is he going to do? He has no medical training and he doubts the med pack on the soldier would do much-

"MOVE!"

In her element, Rose comes from nowhere, her shoulder jamming into Joel to move him aside as she expertly moves her hands over Sarah, ripping her shirt open. She confidently gives some orders to Joel, who takes a second to respond.

"Joel!"

He shakes his head and moves, doing exactly as she says when she says.

"Tommy! Bring me his med kit," Rose nods towards the fallen soldier.

In one swift movement, Tommy scoops up Jax and runs as fast as he can to the soldier, patting down his body until he finds the kit, yanking it from his vest.

"Tommy!"

"Joel, here!" Tommy tosses the kit to him, Joel catches it and rips it open, doing exactly what Rose says, while also trying to keep Sarah calm. But as he watches her work, Tommy knows there's no way she will be able to save Sarah with just a field patch kit. He glances down at the soldier, his walkie dangling from his shoulder and an idea occurs to him. He kneels, picking up the walkie and pressing the button, waiting a moment to talk.

"Soldier down, over!"

A moment passes before the static sound of someone picking up echoes across the small lot. "What's your position, over?"

"Back by the river. Murkmire street. Over."

"Stand by. We'll be there in 2, over."

There's nothing left to do but watch and pray that Sarah makes it not just for him and Jax, but for Joel. Especially for Joel. Tommy doesn't want to think about what would happen to Joel if Sarah…

"Daddy, is Sarah ok?"

Tommy looks down at Jax tucked into his side, his eyes wide and worried and it breaks his heart how much trauma Jax has had to see in the last few hours.

"I don't know, bud."

He nods, looking over towards her. "Rose is good doctor. She will help Sarah be better."

"I hope so, little man."

Tommy keeps an eye on the perimeter as Rose races to keep Sarah alive. After the longest 2 minutes of his life, Tommy sees the army truck pull around the corner, stopping just short of the soldier and Tommy. They jump out, raising their weapons to Tommy, who raises the shotgun in the air before slowly setting it down.

"Back up!"

Tommy does as he says, keeping his free hand in the air while the soldier moves towards their fallen man. But before he can say anything, Rose’s voice booms across the short distance.

“He’s gone. I couldn’t save him. But she can still be saved if you get us to med.”

The soldiers blink, staring down the several feet towards Rose, whose hand is now buried inside Sarah’s stomach, literally holding her life in her hands. They raise their guns towards them too but Rose just shakes her head.

“None of us are bit. She was shot. I need you to take me to med so I can save her.”

The soldiers look nervously from one to another before their leader replies.

“I’ll have to call this in.”

“Can you call it in while we’re en route?”

The soldier thinks for a moment. “How do I know if you’re telling the truth?”

“You can shoot us if we aren’t. But we have to do this now.”

The soldier hesitates for one more moment, glancing down at Sarah, who’s head was starting to loll from side to side as Joel speaks to her, trying to keep her conscious.

“Alright. Pull the truck around and help her load up. Do as she says when loading, I don’t want blood all over the back.”

“Yes sir!”

Everyone springs into action and before Tommy can even blink, they’re all loaded in the back of the army truck, racing towards the temporary medical camp they had erected at a nearby clinic. They whisk Sarah and Rose away, Joel not allowed to follow his daughter back to the quarantined rooms. Soldiers have to beat him back, but Tommy steps forward, Jax still clutched to his side.

“I got him! Joel. Joel! Look at me.”

Joel spins and looks at his brother, his eyes wild as he focuses on him.

"Hey man. If anyone here can save her, Rose can. But you gotta stay here. Keep out of her way. That's how you can help her. Ok?"

Joel's eyes are hard, but then he nods, crumbling to the floor. Tommy joins him, Joel clinging to his shirt as he cries for his daughter, Jax's little fist twisting into Joel's shirt as he tries to hug his broad shoulders. They stay like that for a while, Joel eventually settling, accepting Jax as he crawls into his lap, hugging onto his neck. Just when Tommy was about to go find some food, the doors open and another doctor walks out and over to them.

"Millers?"

Joel jumps to his feet and Tommy reaches over to take Jax, who had fallen asleep.

"Is she ok? Is my daughter…"

"She's alive. Thanks to that doctor she came with. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have made it."

Joel lets out a puff of air, silent tears falling down his cheeks. "Can I see her?"

"Yes. Follow me."

They follow the doctor through some doors and then she's there, so small and frail looking on a makeshift stretcher bed, Rose next to her holding her hand while Sarah sleeps. As soon as Joel walks in she stands, motioning to Joel to take her place, which he does, immediately holding Sarah's hand.

"I'm here, baby girl. I'm here." His eyes are only for Sarah, but he reaches out and grips Rose's arm. "Thank you."

"Of course. We'll talk later. For now, let her rest. And you get rest too, ok? Doctor's orders." She kisses the top of his head and gives his hand a small squeeze before walking towards the door.

"Are you guys ok? Where's Daisy?"

Tommy can feel his face harden. "She's not with us. I'm not sure where she is."

Rose nods. "I'm sure we'll find her. There's no way she would let anything keep her from you guys."

"Thanks, Rose."

3 weeks. 3 weeks have gone by since the world went to shit and the last time he'd seen her. The love of his life, the mother of his son.

Daisy.

Sarah was healing fast and well, even able to walk around the clinic several times before needing a break. She was eating and it was apparent that her wound was not going to affect her eating.

But Tommy, while ecstatic for his niece, was more than antsy. He was sick in his stomach at the thought of Daisy being out there alone. He couldn't think about the alternative, so he focused on that, convinced she had gone to the cabin like they'd said to do in the note.

"I have to go find her, Joel."

Joel looks up from where he sits. "You just gonna walk the 150 or so miles?"

"If I have to."

"You have a responsibility here. To Jax. To us-"

"I made a vow to her, Joel! She's my wife. I need to find her!"

Joel stands facing his brother. "I know, Tommy. But you have a job here. You have to protect him."

"But-"

"I promise, as soon as we can, we will all go to the cabin to find her. Ok?"

Tommy didn't fully believe his brother, not when there were whispers of a quarantine zone, and towns being erected by FEDRA that were supposed to be safe. He can't imagine Joel would give up safety for Sarah for his wife. But he was right - if anything happened to Jax, Daisy would straight up murder him.

A few days later, Rose quietly comes into the room to check on Sarah, closing the door behind her, which she rarely does. She leans over Sarah, who happened to be napping with Jax snuggled up next to her. Joel immediately moves to her side, his eyes glued to Rose.

“I think we need to leave here.” She says it so quietly, Tommy almost thinks he heard her wrong, moving closer to hear her better.

“Leave? Why?” Joel whispers back.

She glances towards the door and back at Joel. “I’ve heard…rumors. Quarantine zones-”

“Yeah, we have too,” Tommy cuts in. Joel glares at him, silently telling him to shut up.

“Yes, but I hear that once we’re all vetted, we won’t be able to leave.”

“What?” Tommy says out loud, Joel immediately shushing him.

Rose looks from Joel to Tommy and back. “Being locked in somewhere doesn’t sound good. Not with FEDRA running the place.”

“But wouldn’t it be safe for us? For the kids?” Joel asks, his eyebrows pulling up.

Rose is quiet for a moment. “I want to say yes, but really, I don’t know. FEDRA is already controlling this place, rationing out meager supplies and I know they pocket things for themselves. They’re scrambling and I don’t want an organization in panic mode to tell me what to do.”

Joel looks down at Sarah and Jax, still peacefully sleeping on the bed. He sighs, pushing some hair from Sarah’s face before looking back at Rose.

“So we have to leave.”

It takes them the rest of the week, but Joel and Tommy secure a car, big enough for them and some supplies. It should have enough gas to make it to the cabin, as Tommy and Joel went around siphoning gas from the surrounding cars to add to theirs. They carefully covered it with matching debris to hide it, crouching down and sneaking back under the fence to get more supplies that Rose had been tucking away all week. Medical supplies are already hard to come by and who knows what will be out there?

Under cover of night, just after a month after the outbreak happened, Tommy, Jax, Joel, Sarah, and Rose sneak out through the hole in the fence and make their way to the stashed car, grateful that nothing bothered them en route. Mercifully, they make it out of the area mostly unscathed, only having to run over a few runners on the way out. Once they get around the parked city traffic and onto the back roads, it becomes smoother sailing, probably due to the lack of people.

The closer they get to the cabin, the more nervous Tommy becomes. What if Daisy isn’t there? Would he really be able to leave Jax behind and go search for her? What if he never came back? Could he really live without Daisy? He gently pats the top of Jax’s head, which is currently in his lap, Sarah leaning on his shoulder completely passed out.

The sun starts to rise when they pull down the hidden drive to the cabin, Tommy sitting up a little straighter, shifting Sarah to lean against her window and Jax against her. His eyes scan the ground for tire marks, but of course, there are none. Either Daisy was smart and covered them or the elements did. They turn a corner and the cabin comes into view, the shutters still on all of the windows, looking exactly as it had when they were here last. Tommy swallows hard, his heart is racing and he feels like he’s going to vomit, almost like he can feel hope leaving him. Joel parks the car and Tommy gets out, grabbing his gun and closing the door behind him.

“I’ll check it out. You guys keep the kids safe. Anythin’ happens, just leave me. I’ll find you.”

“Tommy-”

But Tommy doesn’t hear him. He doesn’t hear anything over the rush in his head, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he sees her emerge from the house, the love of his life.

Daisy.

>>Chapter 7>>

General Taglist:

@frankie-catfish-morales @chaoticgeminate @janebby @astoryisaloveaffair @balekanemohafe @greeneyedblondie44 @hoeforthefictional @marvelousmermaid @hauntedmama @giuliarogers @icanbeyourjedi @wretchedmo @sunnshineeexoxo @livingmydreams13 @adventures-of-a-noodle @sara-alonso @theewokingdead @punkerthanpascal @giggly-otter @f0rever15elf @phandoz @dirtytissuebox @gallowsjoker @lovesbiggerthanpride @sarahmilesbendrix @booksarekindaneat @mrsudontknowme @swol-bear @charlispersonallyhell @xoxabs88xox @amneris21 @gooddaykate @alindeluce @avengers-fixation @paintballkid711 @harriedandharassed @ladykatakuri @marrianena @practicalghost @withakindheartx @batdarkladyvampir @justanotherkpopstanlol @mermaidxatxheart @alexxavicry @ichigodjarin @justreblogginfics @sullyosully @kmc1989 @veryprairieberry

#tommy miller #gabriel luna #The last of us #tommy miller x you #tommy miller x f!reader #tommy miller x female reader #tommy miller x reader #tlou #tlou fanfic #tlouff #the last of us fanfic #gabriel luna x reader #gabriel luna x you #gabriel luna characters character fanfic #gabriel lunal character ff #gabriel luna character fanfiction

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bluebunnyears-08 · 1 year

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Why Nine is The Secondary Protagonist in Sonic Prime

I recently made an appreciation post about this edgy little fella, however, when I rewatch the show (yes I rewatch it several times daily, so what?) I feel the cogs in my brain turn and create several theories. Looking back at Nine, I realized he will be one of the BIG characters, not the big (relevant to the plot and development), but the BIG (really fucking important).

As in MIGHT BE THE DEUTERAGONIST type of BIG.

Sonic is the protagonist, as he usually is in his games, however, Nine is another huge character who is not only crucial to the plot but might also twist the plot as well.

A deuteragonist is an essential secondary character in a narrative, second only to the protagonist, and may act like a constant companion or someone who aids the protagonist. However, the deuteragonist can change from helping the protag to actively opposing them, depending on their own conflict or plot.

Nine already proves to be a huge character in Sonic Prime, however, in the first batch of episodes, Shadow does somewhat take up some of this role. However, he might change to become a tritagonist in future episodes. Someone who helps the protagonist, is the third most important character, and often the third member of the group.

So Nine might be the TRUE deuteragonist and I DO have a list of reasons why I think so.

So, with that said, let's begin.

1. He is already established to be an important character

From the first moment we meet him, we already know he's going to be a very important character in the plot. He fixes up Sonic's shoes and gloves figures out how to use a shard to open a portal, and is a very formidable ally. He is an important character to keep the plot going and to help explain the plot. However, it's not like those Sonic games, where he's just there to explain the plot. He HAS a character and personality, he's not just a cardboard cutout.

He HAS depth and complexity to him. Something I can appreciate considering the past media of any version of Tails the past years (not including Frontiers, that game was amazing). He's also obviously going to continue to be an important character in season two as well.

2. He's a very engaging character

Let's all admit it: Nine is the most interesting character in Sonic Prime. Not just because of his mindset of "get this however you can no matter what" and "do whatever it takes and needs to survive". Not just that but his snarky and cold personality combined with his nine-tailed badassery just makes him an engaging and enjoyable character.

The things he does can leave people scrambling for answers. Why exactly did he change his mind about helping the rebels? What is he planning? What is going on in that fluffy head of his?

So many questions that leave us waiting with anticipation for the next batch of episodes for answers.

3. People can relate to his trauma

Nine's backstory is what we expected, but that doesn't mean it holds back punches. Without Sonic to defend him from bullies, without Sonic to care for him and take him in, he learned to trust and look out only for himself. It's a sad backstory and it explains why he's so guarded and aloof all the time.

I've read posts that state they relate deeply to Nine and can immerse themselves in his character with empathy. I can confirm as being a victim of abuse. He's aggressive and snarky because he has walls, walls that he put up to never get hurt again. He doesn't try to justify himself in his backstory, stating he "wasn't minding his surroundings" instead of "I didn't know" or "it wasn't my fault" he shows signs of a sort of self-resentment. Again, I can relate SO MUCH to, thinking that I could've prevented it and holding myself responsible for not doing anything, that I could've stopped it from happening.

Those who suffer or have suffered can see themselves in Nine, and as a result, the sorrow we feel for him can hit harder if we know what it was like.

4. We don't know where his character is going to end up

Another bunch of posts I've seen about Nine is that we legitimately don't know where his character is going to end up. He's muddled deep in his mystery and inner turmoil that we can't see the deep end of what he's going to be. A hero? A villain? An Anti-hero?

Just what's going to happen to him?!

He has a plan but what is it?

5. He's the most controversial character

Nine's intentions and character have been put in many perspectives on what people think he's planning, what he's going to be, why he does certain things, whether he cares for Sonic or not, whether he trusts Sonic or not, and MORE.

He's been theorized and twisted into what people think about him and what he's going to do. In my opinion, if a character does this to a community, you KNOW you're doing something right. Controversial characters are very mysterious and morally ambiguous, you don't truly know why they do the things they do or what they plan, but you have your own ideas on what might happen and other people do too, despite them possibly being different from yours.

Controversy (WHEN NOT LEADING TO VIOLENCE AND DEATH THREATS) is very fun and interesting. Reading people's thoughts even if they differ from your own, with the possibility that they might change your own theories is a very enlightening and interesting thing!

6. He has a completely opposite goal to Sonic

It's very clear that Sonic and Nine have different goals that clash with each other. Sonic, being the all-loving hero he is, wants to return home and see his true friends again, not to mention help and protect the other shatter spaces. Nine on the other hand wants to make a new home, a world with just him and Sonic and nobody else, not caring for the other shatter spaces or anybody else.

Their goals clash with each other and can't be fulfilled at the same time. Nine's goal includes only him and Sonic and no one else. Sonic's goal includes others, not to mention these two are from two completely different universes.

It's clear these two, no matter how close they are, won't give up their goal for the other, so unless their willing to compromise, it might lead to something bigger.

7. His goal separates him from other variations of himself and others

While he is just another variation of one of the main characters, his goal of achieving something beyond his own universe along with keeping Sonic differentiated from the other main variations who want something within their own shatter space. Thorn wanted to keep the jungle from being destroyed, and Dread wanted the shard out of greed, the rebels want to put the council out of power and take back their land, the jungle variants wanted to eat and live among the jungle again, and the pirates are just typical pirates.

Unlike the others, whose goals can be achieved in their universes, Nine wants nothing to do with his own. Like Sonic, Nine's goal is related to the shatter space.

8. Nine truly has no one EXCEPT Sonic

Another thing to differentiate him from the other versions of himself and the main cast is how Nine has nothing to lose. Other versions of him have a group of the main cast, hell even Rusty Rose finds herself valued (not sentimentally but still) and useful to the council. Nine, however, has nobody until this bright blue hedgehog told him about a life he could've had, a life Sonic gave to his other self.

So it's no wonder he took the very person who can give him the same life to a new shatter space. He wants that desperately. It's no wonder he doesn't show an interest in getting Sonic home anymore, if he does that, the chance of having the life he always wanted, that hope, would be gone forever. I don't think Nine's going to let that happen easily.

9. Everyone roots for him and wants him to be happy

There are zero people that don't want him to achieve his goal of love and happiness. Not just for the fact that he's a version of a character we're already emotionally invested in, but also because Nine is his own person. He's still a person who was horribly abused to the point of being jaded and cold.

Seeing him smile or show comfort really melts my heart cause this kid deserves SO MUCH! I know you all agree. But it is depressing to remember that Sonic NEEDS to go back and restore his world, he'll have to leave Nine behind. I don't think they're going to go with Sonic taking Nine with him because of what might happen with the whole "they can't see each other" stuff.

And with how stubborn and desperate Nine is...

I'm curious about how they figure this out and resolve this.

10. He might affect the plot

A protagonist is not just the lead character who pushes the plot along, they also affect and can possibly change the plot as well. Sonic already kicked off the plot, it's possible for Nine to affect it in a BIG way. This can lead to a LOT of possibilities when you consider that. We KNOW he has a plan and it has something to do with the Chaos Council capturing him. This fact can lead to a LOT of interpretations.

Well, that was my list of how Nine might be the deuteragonist of Sonic Prime in the future. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day <3

#sonic prime #more sonic prime!#sonic prime spoilers #nine needs a hug #tails nine #miles nine prower #nine sonic prime #sonic prime nine #nine deserves to win #i love him so much #i need the second batch now #my little guy #baby boi #he has trauma #haha anyways #thank you for coming to my TED talk #sonic fandom #i want to hug him

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some-pers0n · 4 months

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Albatross makes me sick. He makes me ill. How does one even get to a point like this. I don't understand. The fixation on this one character is so strong.

In other words, here's that ramble I promised. It's literally just me talking about the massacre with supporting context from my fic that I haven't even written about yet. Why? He makes me that diseased.

I think there's something to be said about the nature of a character who's life begins with violence and ends with it. Albatross discovers his magic via trying to defend himself against Sapphire and Lagoon, and his final few moments alive are spent taking the lives of Lagoon and anybody else in a general vicinity.

He never wanted this. If anything, he wanted his legacy to be more than that. He wanted to be remembered as more than an animus who hurt others. Lagoon defined him as a monster who could barely contain himself, and Albatross believed it. He didn't want others to remember him as such. He wanted to be known as the first SeaWing animus, not some...beast.

I don't think he snapped. He didn't "go insane" or whatever generic trope. I think he was tired. Exhausted. It had been many decades of abuse under Lagoon. When it happened, it was more of a result from years of build-up and pressure finally being released all at once. Tensions are high. Albatross found out that he's going to be replaced by Fathom and likely killed off by Lagoon. Swiftly disposed of as soon as he was obsolete, just like with Marlin. He went in wanting to have a civil discussion, but when things turn worse, he couldn't control himself.

Albatross wanted to see Lagoon bleed the same way Sapphire did all those years ago. He always felt selfish and horrible for this. What kind of person wants to hurt another? That was such a life altering moment. Besides, they were all kids! Little dragonets. They were playing around. They...they didn't mean what they said. It was Albatross who overreacted. It was his fault for it all.

Yet, he hated her. Lagoon was a constant tumour in his life. From that moment on, he was under her control. She would dictate how his life would go. She arranged him to be married with Marlin. She had him have dragonets in hopes that he would have an animus that could replace him. She had him do party tricks. He was like an wild pet to her. Beast of destruction and chaos who had been beaten into submission. A chained lion who wanted little more to be free. An animal who hated the parties they were forced to preform at. A feral creature who wanted to bite and twist the head off the one who trapped them.

He didn't want it to end like this. He always feared it would be like this, but he wanted to avoid it as much as possible. Praying, pleading with himself. He tip-toed around using his magic as much as possible, believing that trying to "preserve his soul" would keep it at bay. Those were just myths. Legends. A lie he would quietly repeat to himself when things seemed most bleak.

But, he couldn't contain it. Since learning that he was being replaced, he knew it was up. Lagoon would send some assassin after him and have him be killed swiftly and like he was nothing. He was nothing to her. His life was meaningless. He was nothing more than her lapdog. This party, some hollow excuse for Lagoon to show off to some SkyWing diplomats, might be the last night he was ever alive.

He had nothing to lose. He wanted something in his life to be of value. To be remembered as more than a footnote in history.

And it happened. That argument. It only cemented what he wanted to do. Like the cracks in the dam finally growing weak enough for the water to burst through. He killed her. Slit her throat and left her dead on the floor, lying there like how he found Marlin all those years ago.

And he loved it. Who wouldn't? After years of being trapped and jumping through flaming hoops for the sake of entertainment, not just biting at the hand that feeds but mauling it entirely was exhilarating. He heard the screams. He heard the cries and shrieks. It was powerful to finally have some semblance of control. Of using his god-gifted powers.

He knew he was going to die this night either way, so why not take down as many as he could? Reason and thought slipped away rapidly as he devolves into pure instinct. Something he once feared he now embraced fully. He feels the freedom and joy of standing up and being seen as the force of nature he was destined to be. Not a servant for others, but an animus. A god.

I think Manta and Eel, his daughter and son, tried to reason with him. The books mention this explicitly. Manta is trying to reach Albatross. Trying to calm him down, Fathom rationalizes. Manta and Eel see their father, who they know has struggled with this all his life, and want to try and help.

This isn't him. They can help him though. They try to reason with him, but he's wild. He's full of paranoia and anxiety. All of these thoughts spill out of his mouth with no filter. It's a mess of "I'm sorry"'s and sentences that seem more like half-formed words stringed together. Manta and Eel try grounding him, but...Splash comes from behind. One of Lagoon's own dragonets. She tries stabbing him in the chest, but he reacts quickly. He kills her.

Albatross breaks further. He assumes that this was a play from Eel and Manta to kill him. His own children. The dragons he loves most. How could they do this to him? Did they never love him? Did they always see him as this force? They wanted to kill him too. They wanted him dead just like the rest of him.

He kills them both. He finishes off the rest of the scraggles, leaving him with only one target in mind: Fathom. He wants to talk with Fathom more than anything. He wants to have one last conversation before either of them dies. The screams have been silenced. It is just him and Fathom that matters.

He finds Fathom in the storage room. He can smell his fear. He monologues and rambles, finally letting these innermost thoughts out. Fathom was just like him. Fathom would've gone down the same path he did had Albatross not...done this. It was necessary. He talks about how he wasted his life before finally striking. He wants to put Fathom out of his misery. To him, he sees it as less of revenge for replacing him, but rather as a means to ensure he would never have the life he had.

But, Indigo attacks instead. He lashes back, fatally wounding her, but Fathom kills him before he can fully do it. The spears plunge into his body. He should be dead, but...he survives enough to stay standing. He remains there, looking at Fathom. He's hunched over Indigo, sobbing and pleading with her to live.

The shock of the spears sobers him enough to have him realize what he's done. His legs shake as he struggles to stay standing. Fathom looks back at him, asking him why he's done this. Asking him why he's not killing them right now.

Albatross winces. He sees the hatred and fear in Fathom's eyes. He tries to speak, but blood gurgles in his throat. The look he gives Fathom says it all though. He murderous rage had subsided. He was...sorry.

But it was too late for apologizes. He had killed dozens. He truly was that monster.

He staggers out of the room and eventually back into the main hall. He finds the statue of Lagoon he had built for her all these years ago. He steps by the corpses of SkyWings and SeaWings he barely knew, yet already mourned the deaths of. He stumbles as he rests his head on the fountain. It's grand. A beautiful piece of art.

He dies there, bowing to the statue of Lagoon.

...he remains there still. The main gimmick of the fic is that Albatross's spirit has survived. He's restless. Unsatisfied. Bound and chained to the abandoned Island Palace for a couple millennia. As a ghost, he wanders the halls. He only ever truly becomes visible and noticeable on certain nights, where the moons above align in such a way.

He cannot rest until he feels he can. The one thing still binding him to this mortal realm is his want to be remembered as more than a monster. More than anything, he wants to be known for what truly happened. To be seen as more than a mad animus.

Eventually, Turtle and the rest of the Jade Winglet come around. It's been thousands of years since the massacre. Turtle is frightened and fearful of it all, but when nightfall comes and the moons shine down from above, he meets the spirit of Albatross by the beach. A specter with a spear still lodged in his body.

Turtle, despite his fear, slowly realizes that Albatross means no harm. Albatross simply wants to tell his tale. His story. This is the framing device of the fic. Albatross telling his entire life's story to Turtle over the course of one night.

By the end, Turtle is in tears. He's crying after hearing about the massacre. He's been through so many ups and especially downs with this story. He feels guilty for ever believing that Albatross was a murderous monster.

They hug perhaps, with Albatross apologizes for subjecting him to such a tale. Turtle tells him that he wants to make up for everything his however-many-great grandfather had been through. He says to Albatross that he wants to spread this story. He's a writer. He wants to put it to paper. Spread to the masses the truth.

And...Albatross smiles. He feels so happy. Finally, after all of these years, somebody listens and trusts him. Somebody, despite viewing him as a horrible monster at first, learns how...broken he was. How horrific it all is.

The sun peaks over the horizon. The night is over. With it, Albatross is fading away. It would be several years before something like this could happen again, yet Albatross doesn't think there will be a second time. He's happy. His one wish, to have his legacy told to another, was fulfilled.

He says goodbye to Turtle and disappears in the blinding light of the sun, leaving the dragonet all alone. Now? He has a story to tell. A tale he wouldn't let others forget. For Albatross's sake.

#wof #albatross wof #SP-rambles #SP-writing

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vodika-vibes · 7 months

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Another Happily Ever After

Summary: After Ella, your step-sister, grabbed her happily ever after with both hands, you decide to do the same. Luckily for you, Captain Rex is happy to help.

Pairing: Knight Captain Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 2852

Warnings: Fluff

Mando'a Used: osik'la - messed up, screwed, horrible (impolite)

A/N: A twist on Cinderella, where the reader is one of the "evil" step-sisters.

Divider by saradika

Your life has changed a lot since your step-sister married into nobility. Oh, she’s not a Duchess, not yet at least, but it’s only a matter of time before the Duke retires and his son ascends to inherit the title.

Granting your step-sister a title as well.

And you can admit that you’re concerned.

And you’ve admitted your concerns to your mother and your older sister. Though they just laughed your concern away as you being overly dramatic.

“Mother,” You say as you fold your hands around the simple tea cup that you prefer, “Mother, please. You have to see why I’m concerned.” You plead, “You and Bea, you were never kind to Ella. She has every reason to want revenge.”

“That girl,” Your mother counters, “Doesn’t have the nerve to do anything.” She opens a magazine, “Now, how much of Dear Edmund's estate do you want, ad?”

“Estat-? Mother, no! That money does not belong to us!” You say, “Edmund set that money aside for Ella, his daughter. You have to give it to her!”

“Absolutely not,” Your mother looks offended, “Ad’ika, I am entitled to this money. After all, I took care of that rat of a daughter.”

“Mother-”

“Mother has a point, vod.” Bea drawls from where she’s sitting next to your mother, wearing a dress that probably costs more than your entire apartment put together. “Mother raised Ella, made sure she had clothes, food and a roof over her head. We deserve this money.”

“And, ad, if you took some of this money, maybe you can move into someplace…better.” Your mother says as she eyes the plain dishes and simple decor of your apartment in disdain.

“I like my apartment, it’s right over my bakery.” You defend, as shame causes your cheeks to burn.

“It’s an adorable hobby, ad.” Your mother says, “but it’s time to grow up and join the real world. Now. How many credits do you need?”

“I…none. I don’t need anything.” You insist.

Your mother sighs, and shakes her head, “You are as stubborn as your father was, ad.” She stands and smoothes the rich silk of her dress, “Also, ad, next time you’re coming to see me. I cannot handle the mess of this place. And make sure you clean up, you’re filthy.”

“It’s not-” You sigh and your shoulders slump, “Yes, mother.”

“Good.” She nods her head once, as though she hadn’t just trampled all over your self-worth, and then turns to Bea, “Come on, darling. You need a new dress for your meeting with your betrothed.”

Bea smiles sharply, “Yes, mother.” And then she glances at you, and her grin becomes mean, “See you later, osik’la.”

Your face flushes even more, but your sister is gone before you’re able to say anything to her in return. You huff out a breath and push your hair out of your face, and then you stand up and head down into the shop.

You really want to hit something.

Maybe there’s dough that needs kneading.

You step into the kitchen, and one of the other bakers glances at you sympathetically, “I take it the talk with your mother and sister didn’t go well?” He asks.

“Does it ever?” You ask dryly as you wash your hands, dry then, and then walk over to a clean work station and spread flour, before pouring some dough onto the surface, “I swear, mother and Bea would hold me up to a mirror and only see themselves.”

“Well, that’s why you opened the bakery, right? So you can be independent from them?”

‘Well, yeah. Of course.” You reply as you start kneading the dough, “But they’re still…they…” you shake your head.

“It’s not your fault. You can’t control the actions of other people, boss.”

“Sometimes I wish I could,” You grumble.

He laughs, “Well yeah, who doesn’t. But that’s not the way the world works.” He grins, “Come on, I’ll take over here, you go tend to the shop proper. You like dealing with people.”

You scowl at him, but step away from the dough, “Fine. But make that dough cinnamon swirl.”

“You got it, boss.”

You wash your hands again, and push through the door that separates the kitchen from the shop, and you lightly place a hand on the shoulder of the girl working the register, “You good?” You ask.

“Hey boss! Yeah, today’s going great! Look at how busy we are!” She motions to the crowded shop.

“Have you taken your break yet?” You ask as you scan the shop, and your lips curl up in a pleased smile when you see just how crowded the shop actually is.

“Yeah, I just got back from mine. No need to worry, boss. Things are going well here.” She beams at you, and then turns her attention towards the patron who just walked up.

You walk a little further down the counter, making note of what you’re running out of, and then you lean against the counter and you pull out a sheet of paper. You should write a letter to Ella, telling her what your mother and sister are up to.

You should. Stars know that they’ve mistreated Ella enough as it is over the years. But you really don’t know how to start the letter…or even if she’ll accept a letter from you.

You look up when you notice motion in front of you, and you greet the man standing in front of you with a smile, “Hi there, how can I help you?” You straighten as you realize that you recognize him. Captain Rex, of the 501st Naval Battalion, and a regular to your shop before he went on Deployment a year ago. “Oh. Captain, I didn’t realize you'd returned.”

“Yeah, we docked this morning,” He replies with a small shrug.

You smile at him, “And my humble little shop is your first visit? I’m flattered.”

He turns to look at the bustling shop, “Humble? Is that what we’re calling it?”

You laugh quietly, “There has been a bit of a boost in sales over the last year, I admit. I even had to hire some employees.”

“So I see. I’m happy for you. I know you said you were worried that the shop would never take off.” Rex replies, and there’s a sparkle of mischief in his eyes, “You were so worried, that I put in a word with some of my brothers about how good your pastries were-”

“I knew it!” You laugh, “I thought it was weird when more of your brothers started showing up after you left.” You fold your arms, “Bacara and his Nova Corps bought out my entire shop one weekend. I made enough money to pay off my loan with interest!”

Rex grins, “Well, I didn’t ask him to do that. But I’m glad it helped.”

“I have a standing order for him for the first weekend of the month. We have to close the shop that weekend just to make sure we can make him everything he asks for.” You admit gleefully. “Bacara’s been great for business.”

“Bacara, huh? So you and he are friends now, then?” Rex asks, very casually.

“I don’t think Bacara does friends.” You admit with a shake of your head, “But I like him well enough in spite of that.”

“Yeah?” Rex shifts, “Uh, just out of curiosity, how much do you like him?”

You pause, “Rex.” You grin at him, “Are you jealous?”

“No!” He says too quickly, and too loudly, to be true. “Er…I mean…no. Not at all.”

“If it helps, I like him less than I like you.” You offer easily.

“Oh, thank fuck for that.”

Your eyebrows creep up, “Not jealous, huh.”

He blushes slightly, “No. Of course not.”

“Alright, I’ll believe you.” You tease lightly.

He smiles a little bashfully, “So, uh…are you free? Now that you have employees, maybe we can hang out?”

You glance around the room, and then you nod once. “So long as we don’t go too far, I think I can slip away for a little bit.”

“Great! I have an empty table.” Rex replies. He waits for you to step out from behind the counter, and then guides you, with a light hand against your back, to a table in the corner. He pulls the chair out for you, and then he sits across from you.

“So how have you been, Rex?” You ask him.

“Good. The deployment was pretty simple, all things concerned. No fighting at all, thankfully.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I worry about you, you know.” You reply.

He pauses, “Would it be bad of me to say that I’m glad you worry about me?”

You shrug, “I don’t think so. Though I probably worry about you more than necessary.”

“Still. I’m glad you worry.” He leans his arms on the table, “How have you been? Not the shop, mesh’la, you personally.”

You lean your arms on the table as well, “I’ve been…okay. The therapist you suggested is helping me deal with my mother and sister. But-”

“I thought I saw them walking down the street…I’m guessing they came to visit you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, they did. Mother wanted to give me money from my Step-Father’s estate. And I turned her down.” You admit.

“Good. How’d she take it?”

“She…stomped all over any sense of self-worth I have, and told me that I need to clean up because I’m filthy.” Your smile is wry.

“You’re not.”

“She…disagrees.”

“You know, the more I hear about your mother the more I want to punch her in the face.” Rex grumbles, “You’re perfect. You’re finally doing what makes you happy, and she thinks that she can-” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “So, what are you going to do about the money thing?”

“I should write Ella. Let her know. But…” You shake your head, “Ella hates me. For good reason. Any letter I send her will be tossed without getting opened.”

“You’re younger than her, right?”

“Only by a year or so,” You reply with a shrug, “I was old enough to know that what my mother and sister were doing to her was wrong.”

“You never took part, though.”

“Of course not. For the most part I just…carried on with my life, and kept doing what I’ve always done.” You reply with a sigh, “I always made sure that there was food for Ella though, even though Mother hated it.”

“Does she know that?”

“That I was the one making sure that there was always enough food for her? I don’t know. Maybe?” You rest your head on the palm of your hand, “Does it matter? I wouldn’t blame her for hating me.”

“You want my opinion?”

“I’d love your opinion.”

“Write the letter. And then give it to me. I’ll make sure she gets it.” Rex promises.

You smile at him, soft and fond, “What did I do to deserve a friend like you?”

“You gave me a delicious chocolate chip cinnamon cookie, and I fell in love.” Rex replies easily.

“...With the cookie?”

His gaze locks with yours, and he shrugs one shoulder, “Sure.”

Your smile softens slightly, and pink rushes into your face, “Well, then,” You murmur, “What’s stopping you?”

Rex shifts, “I’m worried that I’m not good enough.”

“You’re about as perfect a man can be without being obnoxious, Rex. You don’t have to worry about that.” You reply quietly.

He stares at you for a moment, and then he smiles, “Would you like to go on a date with me? Tonight maybe?”

“I’d love to.” You reply, “If you come upstairs, I’ll even make you dinner.”

“Your mother will not approve of me,” Rex warns.

“I’ve made it a habit of doing things my mother doesn’t approve of,” You reply blandly.

Rex pauses and then he smirks, “Including me?” He asks, innocently.

“Well, yeah? Of cour-” You stop mid-sentence, and your face flames red, “I didn’t mean it like that!”

His grin grows, “Really? Cause I kinda liked that sentence, cyare.”

You scowl at him, your face still red, “I have to get back to work.”

“I’ll sit here until you’re done for the day.” Rex replies as he leans back in his seat.

You get to your feet and shake your head, “It won’t be too much longer,” you reassure. You turn away from him, and he catches your hand and lightly tugs you back.

“Hey, come here,” He murmurs.

You move around the table until you’re standing next to him, and he gently encourages you to lean down. And then he catches your lips in a gentle kiss, and only once he’s done that does he release you.

You press your fingers to your lips and you release a quiet, giddy, giggle.

Rex watches you with warm eyes, “I’ll see you after you’re done for the day, cyare.” You flash him a blinding grin, and then turn to hurry back to the kitchen.

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

Before you know it, a month has gone by. And you’re happy. You’re so very happy with Rex. He’s your biggest supporter, and when your mother and older sister became too much for you to handle, he stepped in to help with the restraining order.

And now he’s here with you, with his arm hooked comfortably around your waist, as you stand in the foyer of Ella’s house. The house she shares with her husband.

“You ready for this?” Rex asks as he kisses your temple.

“I think so. I’m surprised she wanted to meet with me. I wrote everything in the letter, after all.” You reply as you lean against him.

“Is it really so surprising that maybe she wants to be family too?”

“Uh. Yeah, a little. My own mother doesn’t want to be family with me.” You point out.

“That’s because your mother is a bitch.”

You release a surprised noise, and there’s a quiet laugh from the stairs, “You’ll get no arguments here, Captain.” Ella, your step-sister, finishes walking down the stairs and she stops in front of the pair of you. “She really is.”

“Hi, Ella.” You greet with a small, nervous, smile.

In return, Ella’s smile is blinding, and she reaches out and takes both of your hands in hers, “Hello, vod! I’m so glad that you reached out!”

“It was the right thing to do,” You reply quietly, “I…haven’t done that enough for you.”

“Nonsense.” Ella’s grip on your hands tighten, “You think I couldn’t hear how they spoke about you? You think I didn’t notice that you made sure that I didn’t starve? That I never noticed the small cake left at my bedroom door on my birthday?”

You shift slightly, “I could have done more.”

“It wasn’t your job to protect me, vod. You were always so much smaller than I was. It was enough that you never took part in their abuse.” Ella smiled warmly, “It’s enough that you told me that they’re trying to spend my inheritance.”

“But-”

“No. No. No buts,” Ella gently guides you down the hall to her garden, “I was so pleased to hear that you managed to slip out from under your mother…and to open your own bakery, even! Oh, I was so proud that I cried, vod!”

“You…you did?”

“Oh, yes. I was a mess when I heard.” Ella grins, and motions for you to sit at the table in the garden, and Rex lightly presses his hand against your shoulder as he sits next to you, “I even sent one of the house servants to go and buy some pastries for me, I was worried that you’d react badly to seeing me in your bakery.”

You shake your head, “You’re always welcome, Ella.”

Ella beams and clasps her hands under her chin, “Oh, this is great! We can finally be a family. A real family. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, really.” She takes a deep breath and visibly calms herself down, “I’m going to go and get my husband, but, oh! I am so happy to see you, vod!”

She hurries back into the house, and you turn to smile at Rex, “This is…better than anything I ever hoped.” You admit.

“Glad that you came, cyare?”

“Yeah. I am.” You agree with a nod, “I never thought…well, I thought families were for other people, honestly. But if me and Ella can put something together with us, and her husband…and you?” Your gaze catches his and he smiles soothingly, “Then maybe we can be a family.”

“It sounds like something to work towards, cyare.” He reaches out and lightly brushes the back of his fingers against your cheek, “And I’m more than happy to help.”

“You won’t get bored?” You ask.

“Of you? Never.” He leans in and kisses you gently, his hand sliding around to gently cradle the back of your head. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see, cyare.”

You smile against his lips, “Well, if you say it then it must be true.” You kiss him again, a sigh of contentment escaping your lips as you do so.

#star wars #tcw #star wars au #captain rex x reader #rex x reader #x reader fanfiction #star wars fanfiction

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