#Dj in this position is either sitting on the floor or moon is sitting on his equipment smh

[clownsuu]

I couldn’t resist hhhhhh—

YesIcopythejoke

(All of my followers at me for censoring special moments GYAHAHA-)

#THE SUSPENSE #THE MOMENT #W H E E Z E #Will anyone finally be able to see these two touch faces? #Or will it forever be a running gag lmAO #Most likely the latter lmAO #Rockstar freddy the ultimate censorship WHEEZE #Anyway #THANK YOU FOR THE ART GAMER LMAO #Dj in this position is either sitting on the floor or moon is sitting on his equipment smh

[diamondsnowflakes]

(A True Home Is) Dancing In The Kitchen

It isn't home until you're dancing in the kitchen. Sometimes it's who you're dancing with that makes it home as well. Dellumbra being unable to sleep in the early morning/late night.

Thanks to my roommate and good friend, Jay, for beta-ing.

AO3 Link

   Three in the morning and McDuck manor was still and silent. The majority of the people Scrooge had graciously allowed to stay in the manor were asleep, including the man himself, with the exception of a select few. One of these select few was Della Duck, Scrooge’s thirty-seven year old niece, who sat on the kitchen counter, one of her legs drawn to her chest and the other dangling from the edge as she read.

    The radio softly hummed from one corner, not breaking the silence, but instead making it feel cosy and warm. The notebook and pen that sat to one side of Della was accompanied by a quickly cooling mug of hot chocolate. Both were untouched, and she didn’t even look up when a set of heavy, muffled footsteps approached the closed kitchen door, and barely acknowledged when it swung open to reveal an unusually sleep-ruffled Penumbra, who was sleepily dragging herself to the kettle before she carried it over to the sink.

    “I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep either,” Penumbra mumbled, sounding the least robotic Della had heard her since the moonlanders had made their invasion attempt.

    Della smiled tiredly, finally looking up from her book to address Penni. “Nope, gotta love nightmares. The feelings they bring up are real great at making me not sleep.”

    “What nightmares and what feelings?” Penni inquired as she sat the kettle on its metal rotation base with a dull thud and set the water boiling. Its whistling broke the silence, but not the awkward tension that had settled between the two.

    “Just being back on the moon, the loneliness and guilt I felt before I met you… I never want to be back there, but my brain is a bitch so I’m back there every night. It’s fine… Just a little jarring… Makes sleep difficult,” Della closed her eyes and sighed, before opening them and staring at the cold floor, inches below where she sat. “Don’t tell anyone. As far as they know, I’m still the same old Della; sans a leg, with longer hair, and a tad more experience. Anyways, what about you? You’re as awake as I am.”

    “Who would I tell? The majority of people here are either more eager to hear about the Moon or still have a lot of mistrust for me, not that it isn’t justified,” Penumbra collected a mug and a tin of instant hot chocolate mix from a set of cupboards above the kettle as she talked before placing them on the counter and turning to Della. “And my own consciousness has, similarly to yours, taken to reminding me of my own guilt. As much as the planet Moon was my home before you, now I know all the wonders of Earth are as true as you say and now that the Moon has become full of memories I’d much rather forget, it isn’t my home anymore, although some part of me thinks maybe it should be. And let’s be honest, the circumstances I left in weren’t ideal.”

    There was a pause before the kettle whistled, breaking the tension that had been slowly growing throughout the couple’s conversation. Penni turned and busied herself with preparing her hot chocolate, similar to Della’s, and Della tried to stick her head back in her book.

    It took five minutes of uncomfortable silence, the radio playing quietly in the background, before Della broke the silence once again, having read the same paragraph five times without processing its contents.

    “Ugggggghhhhhhh,” She groaned, collapsing on the counter dramatically. “Penni, I’m boooooooorrrrrrrrrred.”

    Penni ignored Della’s display and turned to lean on the coffee counter, sipping her hot chocolate thoughtfully.

    “Penniiiiiii,” Della whined after a pause, slamming her book shut before jumping down from her perch and tossing it on the counter. “We should do something.”

    Penni blinked, startled out of screen-saver mode, before tilting her head slightly. “What do you suggest?”

    As if on cue, the soft music that had been delicately drifting around the kitchen faded out and the radio DJ announced the next song, a sappy slow love song that had been popular some ten years ago. Della lit up and started humming, swaying along with the melody and gently carrying herself towards Penumbra before stopping in front of her. She held her hand out to her and smiled softly.

    “Dance with me?”

    Penni almost reached for Della’s outstretched hand, but quickly stopped herself, looking at the duck with a wrinkled brow.

    “What’s wrong Penni?”

    “I- I cannot dance,” Penni admitted, looking away. “We didn’t dance on Planet Moon. I only learned what dance was when one of your offspring introduced me to it.”

    “That’s okay, I can teach you,” Della paused for a moment. “Well, unless one of the boys taught you to when they told you what it is.”

    There was another pause. Then Penumbra set her mug down on the counter and offered her hand for Della to take, allowing herself to be pulled neatly and gently to her dance partner’s chest.

    “That would be acceptable.”

    “Glad to hear it,” Della smiled, before starting her instruction. “Okay, so I might not have this down as an exact art, but my right hand goes on your back, here, your right hangs onto my shoulder, here.”

   Della and Penni arranged their hands with Della’s instruction, and soon they were standing in the outside left position, close enough to kiss had either of them worked up the courage.

    “Ready?” Della asked after a second of awkward silence.

    Penni gave a soft smile she reserved for Della alone. “Indeed.”

    “Just follow me, okay?”

    “Okay.” And the couple took off, rising and falling with the rhythm of the music as they spun around the kitchen softly.

    As they danced, something in Della settled slightly. The empty cavern left in her chest that’d been keeping her awake slowly calmed its flare and, as the Duck twin gazed at Penni, filled with a hurricane she’d only felt twice before. Her heart spun with the duo and Della couldn’t help but admire the moonlander in the golden-white kitchen lights, the way it caught on her sleep-ruffled hair, the periwinkle flush in her cheeks from exertion and adrenaline, and her focused frown as she concentrated on following Della without stepping on her in her oversized pyjamas.

    Meanwhile Penni’s heart stuttered in her chest as she focused on Della’s graceful footwork, trying to ignore the fact that her dance partner was only in shorts and a vest top, any sign of her jacket, warm long-sleeved shirt, practical brown shorts, or signature blue scarf left in her room.

    It was all too soon when the song ended, leaving Della and Penni standing close in the silence, staring at each other as the room filled with a new type of tension that neither of them felt like they could break. Then the moment was gone. The DJ on the radio started loudly announcing another song and Della was shaken out of her haze. She quickly shook her head and let go of Penni, stepping away before playfully bowing to her dance partner.

    “Thank you for the dance, m’lady,” She giggled, looking up at Penni from her 90˚ bow.

    Penni rolled her eyes affectionately and went back to leaning on the counter next to the kettle, focusing on her now cold drink. Della huffed a laugh at the response and hopped back onto the counter she’d been sitting on, picking up her book so she could attempt to regain her focus.

    The words still floated on the page, and this time it took three minutes for someone to break the new wave of silence, or at least Penni tried to before being interrupted by an exhausted Donald ambling into the kitchen, breaking the tension with the smoothness of a knife.

    “Della, Penni,” He rasped, stumbling towards the counter Penni was leaning against, prompting her to shuffle aside to allow him room to check and then boil the kettle.

   “Heya, Don,” Della yawned in response, putting down the book and stretching her arms above her head. “What are you doing up so late?”

    “I’m not,” Donald responded grumpily. “I’ve got work.”

    “Oh.”

    “Yeah,” Donald tapped his feet on the tiles of the kitchen floor as he waited for the kettle, leaning on the counter next to Penni. “From your question, I’m assuming you haven’t gone to sleep yet. You should probably go to bed, Dell, last time you didn’t sleep all night you crashed the plane.”

    Della rolled her eyes. “I’m not flying today, Don,” She paused and looked down, frowning softly. “I don’t even have my Joyrider anymore.”

    Della shook her head and took a steadying breath, quickly regaining her composure before configuring her face back into a bright smile.

    “Not flying doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sleep,” Donald sighed, turning around to the kettle just as it whistled and taking out a mug and the instant coffee he’d stashed at the back of the cupboard.

    “Eh, you’re right, but I’m still staying up,” Della crossed her arms.

    “Whatever, your funeral.”

    Della stuck her tongue out at her twin as he finished making his coffee and strolled out of the room, leaving the gaping silence hovering once again.

    Penni considered her options for a few minutes before opening her mouth once again, ready to say something even if she wasn't sure what, before she was once again interrupted. This time it was by Della hopping down from her perch, smiling sheepishly at Penni.

    “Look, maybe Don’s right, it might be my funeral if I don’t go to bed, and I can’t let that happen,” She put up fingerguns as she backed up towards the kitchen door. “Night Penni!”

    Then the door swung and Della was gone, leaving Penni with a weird aching in her chest she’d never felt before. She resigned herself to a lack of sleep that night. 

#ducktales (2017) #della duck #penumbera #penni #donald duck #dellumbra #dancing in the kitchen #ducktales #ducktales fanfiction #della duck x penumbra #fanfiction #diamondsnowflakes #oneshot #mutual pining #fluff and angst

[artificialqueens]

Beneath the Amber Moon, Part 7 (Galactica AU Group Fic) – TheDane & Veronica

Heyyy!! Welcome to Part 7 of “Beneath the Amber Moon,” a group fic set in the Galactica Universe. Click here for previous chapters.

We hope you’re enjoying it! Let us know what you think!

Summary: Violet gets a check-up, Fame gets birthday shots, and Courtney gets a visit.

/////

“Violet.”

Violet recognised the voice, the baritone the only reason she wasn’t fully freaking out as a hand oh so gently touching her cheek.

“Violet, wake up darling.”

Violet opened her eyes, only catching a glimpse of blue before she had to close them again, wincing in pain. The sun was too bright, the light almost white with it’s blinding.

“Don’t move too much.” Violet felt Sutan move her head slightly, a shirt getting shoved under her to give her support, Violet briefly trying to remember what brand Sutan had worn. “You just fainted.” She really hoped it wasn’t his vintage Ralph Lauren.

“Are we still on the yacht?”

“Yes.”

Violet swallowed, her throat painfully dry.

“How long was I out?”

“Only for a minute or two.” Sutan was still holding Violet’s face, the man quickly calling for someone to bring some water.

Violet really hoped everyone wasn’t looking. That would be beyond embarrassing, her stomach still curling with shame whenever she remembered that Adore had seen her throw up the day before. Courtney was somewhat okay, and for a minute Violet almost hoped the blonde was near. They had seen each other in so many degrading and frankly horrible positions that Courtney was one of the few people Violet rarely felt ashamed around.

“How are you feeling? Did you hit your head?”

Violet shook her head slightly, holding her breath for a moment as she waited, but thankfully nothing hurt. Violet heard voices, someone, maybe Fame, giving Sutan a glass of water.

“Try to sit up, sweetheart.”

Violet nodded, opening her eyes, her cheeks instantly going red as she saw that she was surrounded not only by Sutan and Fame, but also Raja, Juju, Alaska, Courtney, and worst of all. Bianca. Sutan helped her up, his hand on her back keeping her secure as she took the water, slowly sipping at it.

“Anything hurt?”

Violet took a deep breath, slowly focusing on each part of her body, one limb at a time like she had learned at the Academy whenever she had taken a nasty fall. Start from the top, and work your way done.

“I’m fine.”

“What happened?” Alaska looked worried, the blonde often being so much kinder than Violet felt like she deserved.

“I think...” If Violet was honest, she had no idea. “It must be heat stroke...” It was the only thing she could think of. It had happened once before, in Indonesia, Sutan, Raja, Raven and her caught in a jeep for almost an hour because a Komodo Dragon had blocked the road.

“Let’s get you to our room, okay?”

Violet nodded, beyond thankful that Sutan was going to take her away from it all.

What she didn’t notice however, was Fame, who was walking away decisively, making a beeline for the crew for the number to the nearest hospital.

/////

Sutan sat up, surprised when he heard a knock on the door. He wasn’t expecting anyone, though Raja had sent him a look when he had walked off with Violet, Sutan quickly but resolutely declining his twin’s offer for help. He knew Violet, and he knew that what she needed most of all right now was rest and to be alone, though he desperately wished he could smoke, Violet laying on the lounge chair of their balcony, slowly drinking the water had forced on her.

He squeezed Violet’s thigh, getting up and walking over to the door, opening it with a puzzled expression.

Fame pushed inside, followed by Bianca and a man that Sutan didn’t recognize.

“Where is she?”

“What the hell is going on?” Sutan asked, relieved that he’d closed to door to the balcony to protect Violet from this onslaught.

“This is Doctor Dias.” Fame gestured vaguely. “I had him helicoptered in. He’s going to check on your girlfriend.”

“Why?”

“Because something is obviously wrong, Sutan.”

“Violet already told us it was a heat stroke-”

“It’s 75 degrees! It wasn’t heat stroke!”

“She probably knows her body better than you do, Fame.”

“You are such an idiot sometimes,” Fame said. “Just let the doctor check her over.”

“Fine.” Sutan threw up his hands. “He can talk to her, but you both need to leave. Especially you-” he pointed at Bianca. “What are you even doing here?”

Bianca shrugged, sitting down on the bed. “Blondie asked me.”

“She speaks Spanish,” Fame explained, and Sutan realised Fame probably expected Bianca to translate for the doctor.

“Bianca?” Sutan rolled his eyes. “I’d say barely.” Sutan was growing more and more tired, a headache threatening to break through. Fame had a tendency to oversell Bianca, attributing more skills to their shared friend than she deserved, and normally he didn’t mind, but right now it was just.. bad. “You do realise that this is Brazil, right? They don’t even speak Spanish here.”

“Potato, potahto,” Fame waved her hand. “Where is Violet?”

“Sir, if I could just see the patient,” Dr. Dias ventured kindly. In perfect English, Sutan was sure to note.

“Yes, sorry about that, I just need to-”

“This is a nice room, Tan.” Bianca lay down on the bed, stretching languidly. Sutan wanted to punch her, her smug satisfaction for once not as endlessly amusing as he usually found it, but instead infuriatingly annoying. “Not as nice as my room upstairs, but pretty good. Have you tried the-”  

“Get out! Both of you, now!”

Fame opened her mouth, aghast, a hand pressed dramatically to her heart.

“Sutan!”

“You both know how uncomfortable Violet will be with this entire situation.” Sutan didn’t normally raise his voice, especially not at these women, but they were dancing on his very last nerve. “This isn’t the time for either of you to be petty bitches.” Sutan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Thank you for calling the doctor, I’m sure he’ll do his job just fine without your supervision. So please leave. Now.”

“Come on, blondie,” Bianca said, pulling Fame to the door. “Party’s over. Tan found his balls.”

“Did you hear him shout at me?” Fame asked her, indigent, and Bianca laughed.

“Yeah, we kinda deserved it…”  

Sutan let out a relieved sigh as the door shut behind them.

“Sorry about that, doctor. Do you mind waiting a moment while I talk to my girlfriend? I want to make sure she’s okay with all this.”

/////

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay...” Violet sighed. The doctor had taken her vitals, drawing blood, asking routine questions and noting down her answers, and for the first time, Violet was genuinely scared. She had heard the entire argument through the door, Sutan standing up for her so fiercely she was sure she would have jumped him if they had been alone. She had wanted to believe it was a heatstroke, but no matter how little she liked it, Fame was right. It wasn’t normal for her body to act like this.

“Come lie with me?” Sutan obliged straight away, Violet curling into his arms in the fresh linen on their bed, his hand running up and down her back, broad strokes and the sound of his heartbeat calming her down.

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine lovely eyes.” Sutan kissed her hair.

/////

Adore found the room first. A fully-stocked bar tucked away on one of the lower decks, with a dance floor, epic sound system, strobe lights and a fabulous disco ball. So she and Courtney began to blast pop songs from their college days, those long ago times of the early 2010s.

Karl arrived next, attracted by the delicate melody of Britney’s “Work Bitch,” immediately taking over as DJ, followed by Jinkx and Alaska, who seemed like they were in the mood to just let go and have some fun after the stress of chasing Adore down all day. Raven, never one to be left out, came soon after, dragging Juju along with her. Detox and Raja joined as soon as their kids were asleep, quickly getting into the festive spirit, shouting out song recommendations to Karl.

By the time Bianca and Fame walked in, the party was in full swing. Drinks flowing, dancing, shrieking laughter. Fame was just about to scold her friends for the raucousness - there were people trying to sleep, she was sure - but then Karl spotted her and screamed, “BIRTHDAY GIRL!”

The entire room erupted into cheers, pulling Fame onto the dance floor, giving her drinks and lavishing her with all the attention she could ever dream of. She laughed and let Raja spin her, supposing that the lecture could wait awhile.

What was the harm of a little noise, anyway?

Bianca watched her friend twirl and dance, smiling. She was glad that Fame was having a good time. Firstly, because it was her birthday and she deserved to have fun and second, because then the rest of them could relax. As Patrick always said, happy wife, happy life, and things were simply easier and better when Fame was happy.

“Hey! Need a refill?” Adore held up a bottle of tequila, giggling.

“I’m still working on this one, thanks.” Bianca grinned at her sister. “Come here.”

Adore basked in the affection, letting Bianca put her arms around her waist, lean a head on her shoulder.

“I love you, kiddo.”

“Are you drunk?” Adore asked, grinning down at her big sister. “Or dying? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, I just love you. Do I need a fucking reason to say that?”

Adore laughed, hugging her back.

“Absolutely not. I’m very lovable.”

“That you are. Little shit.”

Adore giggled again, taking a swig directly from the tequila bottle.

“Classy.”

“Always!” she agreed, then realized that Bianca’s attention had been diverted. She followed her eyes, landing quickly on Courtney on the dance floor.

The blonde was currently engaged in a very provocative dance with Raven to Rihanna’s “S&M.” Adore turned back to her sister, saw the way her eyes were glazing over, glued Courtney’s every move. She kissed the top of Bianca’s head, making a secret wish for those two to get their shit together once and for all.

/////

Courtney tossed and turned in her bed, drifting in and out of a fitful sleep. The humidity was making it impossible for her to relax. Well, the humidity and the tension that had been building for days, now coiled in her abdomen like a spring.

A sharp knock on her door sounded, making her sit up straight. She stumbled out of bed, grabbing a blanket from the chair on her way, both confused by the middle of the night interruption and not at all confused.

As she opened the door, her stomach filled with butterflies. Bianca stood in the hall, hair loose and blowing in the ocean breeze, in bare feet and a flimsy nightgown.

They stared at each other for a long, heated moment, eyes locked, barely breathing.

Then, it all seemed to happen at once. Courtney took a step backwards, dropping her blanket to the floor. Bianca lunged forward to grab her face, crashing their lips together in a desperate, heated kiss - unleashing the passion she’d been holding back all week, a moan leaving the back of her throat.

Courtney’s hands were everywhere. Sliding over Bianca’s full tits, down the sides of her torso, cupping her ass. She pulled at the nightie, ripping it up over Bianca’s head, hands moving back to her smooth, heated skin.

She gripped the back of Bianca’s thighs and lifted her up, smiling at the little yelp that left Bianca’s throat as she tightened her legs around Courtney’s waist.

“I got you,” Courtney said, gazing up at her.

Fuck, she was even stronger than she looked. Bianca relaxed a little, realizing that she wasn’t going to fall. Courtney then turned around, walking towards the bed and tossing Bianca down, eyes still locked on hers. Bianca’s heart raced, lips and thighs both parting instinctually, chest heaving with desire.

Courtney crawled forward, hovering over her on all fours, sliding a hand up her thigh, looking into her eyes, pupils so dilated that they looked nearly black in the moonlight. She brushed a teasing kiss over Bianca’s mouth and started to lift her head away, when Bianca grasped a handful of her hair and pulled her down for another, deep and messy, relaxing into it as Courtney’s body pressed her into the mattress.

Their legs now tangled together, Bianca arched up against Courtney’s thigh, gripping her hips so tightly that she was sure to leave marks. When Courtney flexed against her, Bianca let out a hoarse whimper. Courtney began to trail a row of teasing kisses down her neck, grinding harder against her, feeling how wet she was getting. She inched her fingers down, when Bianca’s eyes flew open.

“Get away from my pussy with those claws, ma’am.”

The nails. Courtney stifled a laugh.

“Shit, sorry.”

Courtney pushed her legs open wider and crawled down to kneel between them. She could see how glistening wet she was, arching up, demanding attention. Courtney raked the tips of her nails lightly down her stomach, making her shiver.

“Those things are terrifying,” Bianca said, watching her through half-lidded eyes.

Courtney flashed a smirk up at her, placing a tender kiss just below her bellybutton, then lower, and lower.

“This better?”

“Much.” Bianca’s voice was low and husky, heart racing as Courtney continued her slow journey down. When she couldn’t stand it one second longer, she threaded her hands into her hair and pushed her head down.

The second Courtney’s tongue came in contact with Bianca’s clit, her head fell back against the pillows, a relieved groan falling from her lips. God, it had been so long. Those bicurious trophy wives were perfectly fun for casual encounters, but they had nothing on a real lesbian. Bianca gasped as Courtney’s tongue swirled around, slowly and carefully bringing her to the brink.

Courtney wrapped her arms around Bianca’s thighs, looking up at her face, head thrown back, lips parted, eyes shut.

“Is this why you came tonight, B?” She placed a soft kiss on Bianca’s tender inner thigh. “Is this what you wanted?”

A breathy “yeah” was all Bianca could manage. Courtney smiled and licked her lips, relishing the taste of her, before returning to the task at hand, paying close attention to the changes in her breathing, the way her body arched, sense memory reminding her of exactly what Bianca liked as she flicked a tongue over her clit.

Her first orgasm was quiet, blissful sighs and breathy whimpers, fingers tangled in Courtney’s hair, as Courtney lapped her up like dessert, tongue soft against her. She waited patiently for Bianca’s body to slow down before going in for more, sucking on her clit, one hand reaching up to toy with her nipple. She knew what Bianca really wanted, and had half a mind to chew off a couple of those awful nails, but unfortunately, they weren’t budging.

She slid to the side of the bed, smiling at Bianca’s whine, reaching over into her open suitcase and coming up with exactly what she was looking for: a Magic Wand.

Bianca lifted herself up on her elbows, dark eyes hooded with lust.

“Wow, you’re not messing around.”

“Nope.” Courtney twirled the Wand in her hand, giggling. “You ready?”

“Uh huh...”

Courtney laid down beside Bianca, turning her face and licking her mouth open, plunging a tongue inside. She flipped the Magic Wand on, letting it rest lightly against Bianca’s clit.

Bianca arched against the vibrator, vision going blurry as Courtney began to swirl a tongue around her nipple. Her fingers dug deep into Courtney arm, a string of whimpers and then curses falling from her lips. Every time she got close, Courtney changed the speed, keeping her on the edge, driving her crazy until she couldn’t take it anymore.

She moaned, pulling hard on Courtney’s hair, suddenly not satisfied with this passive role. She flipped them over, pushing Courtney’s legs open with her thigh, grinding down against her, rolling her hips faster and faster. She pulled the vibrator out from between them, turning it off and then tossing it aside, bearing down.

Sparks raced through her body as their wet pussies rubbed against each other. Courtney was fingering her nipples, arching up into her, and Bianca bit down hard on her shoulder, sucked bruises into her skin. Branding her. Mine.

“Fuck,” Bianca groaned as she came once again, slowing her movements to the pace of her throbbing cunt, sticky wetness mixing as she rutted against her.

She rode out the last aftershocks, then collapsed on top of Courtney, a sweaty mess, face buried in a cloud of blonde hair. Courtney trailed her nails up her back, round and round, making circles on her damp skin.

As if by instinct, Bianca’s mouth moved to Courtney’s neck, sucking on her pulse point, bruising the tender flesh, a hand snaking down to find her core, warm and wet.

“Oh, god, B…” Courtney whined as Bianca began to stroke her slowly, toy with her in that devilish way she had.

Whimpering with increased urgency now, Courtney arched up, pulse beating frantically as she begged for more friction, more pressure, more heat.

But Bianca’s movements were languid. Intentionally taking her sweet time, a soft tongue chasing her biting kisses, keeping Courtney wracked with pleasure, toes curled. She didn’t even mind those fucking nails digging into her shoulders, every scratch showing her the effect she was having on Courtney’s body as made her way down. Her tongue trailed lazy circles over her golden skin, still salty from the ocean.

She brushed her lips gently over Courtney’s clit, blowing hot air against her, holding her hips down as she strained and arched.

Suddenly, Courtney summoned all of her strength and flipped them over using just her thighs. She knelt above Bianca’s face, the look of surprise on her face almost as good as the feeling of her hot, plush mouth, the triumph of being in control.

Bianca’s arms circled her thighs, holding them open, mouth open and ready, a thrill rushing through her as Courtney’s hips rolled against her, grinding against her tongue, hot and messy and dripping wet. Her frantic movements set the pace, and Bianca kept up, tongue seeking her out, enthusiastically devouring her.

One of Bianca’s hands slid up, thumb brushing against Courtney’s nipple, and she groaned in pleasure, hips moving faster, her own hand moving to her other breast, pinching her nipple as she rode Bianca’s face.

Before long, Courtney’s thighs were shaking. As strong as she was, she was having trouble supporting her own weight in this state, whimpers bubbling up from the back of her throat, close to the edge, biting down on her lip so hard that she tasted blood.

All it took was a gentle push to get her onto her back, so that Bianca could take back the reins, finishing her off slowly, leisurely. Swirling her tongue, unbearably soft, as Courtney bucked and moaned, begging for more. Bianca lifted her head, just one finger toying with her as she looked at her face, eyes rolled back, mouth open in a silent scream. Bianca smiled, still watching as her tongue caressed Courtney’s swollen clit, eliciting a guttural moan, another gush of wetness that Bianca licked up greedily.

“Please B...oh god...I…” Courtney let out another broken moan, knuckles white from her tight grip on the sheets.

“I lied,” Bianca murmured against her, breathing her in deeply. “This is the reason I came here.”

She sucked harder, tongue circling faster, coaxing Courtney through wave after wave, passion engulfing her like a tsunami, leaving her gasping for breath, wrung out, her whole body unravelling as she melted into the bed.

It didn’t matter how much time had gone by. In that moment, Bianca knew that Courtney was hers entirely. She inhaled the scent of sweet victory, lips brushing against her, before rolling off, curled on her side, watching Courtney slowly regain her composure.

“Fuck.”

Bianca chuckled, sliding a hand across her abdomen, the newly formed 6-pack that had been taunting her all week.

“Your body is just…”

Courtney turned a head toward her, a smile tugging at her lips, eyes still half-closed with exhaustion.

“You like it?”

“Hell yeah,” Bianca replied.

“I thought you’d like me better dainty.”

“I thought so too, but...shit.”

Courtney giggled, lacing their fingers together.

“These, on the other hand?” Bianca lifted her hand, scowling at those dreaded nails. “These are a hate crime.”

“They were supposed to keep me from misbehaving,” Courtney explained.

“Oops.”

Courtney laughed again, turning to the side to face her, eyes soft and shining. They didn’t speak for awhile, simply enjoyed the quiet intimacy of the moment, naked and spent, curled together.

“B?”

“Yeah?” Bianca brushed another kiss against Courtney’s lips, pulling her closer by the waist.

Courtney allowed herself a few more moments of gentle affection before clearing her throat and sitting up slightly, propped against the pillows. She carded her scandalous nails through Bianca’s hair, watching her long lashes flutter.

“Um…”

“Yeah? What’s up?” Bianca asked again.

“Should we...talk about what this means?”

“Why, you moving back to New York?” Bianca retorted. Courtney’s hand stopped moving in her hair and she immediately regretted the sarcastic tone. Shit.

There was a long pause, and then Courtney muttered, “Forget it,” withdrawing her hand.

Bianca couldn’t bear to look up, to see the hurt that she knew would be in her eyes. What the fuck was wrong with her? Why did she have to destroy this moment?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Okay.”

“I just...didn’t think anything had changed for you, so-”

“You’re right. It hasn’t.”

Bianca felt like she was swallowing a mouthful of sawdust as the reality of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. Courtney wasn’t hers anymore. She had her own life, her own career. This was just a fling. And as much as Bianca wanted to get on her knees and beg her to come back, she knew that wasn’t the answer.

Courtney finally managed to catch her eye, saw how sorry she really was. She swallowed down her own pain, her own spoiled fantasies of what this was going to be, and offered her hand, palm up.

“Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“Right.” Bianca took her hand, tried to be grateful for what they had, instead of angry about what she was losing, once again. Tried to pretend, for a little while, that things were different. That this was a new beginning instead of the same old tune.

She held onto Courtney’s hand, thumb rubbing her palm, until she heard Courtney’s breathing even out, and then gave her one final squeeze. One last kiss, soft, against her cheek.

It would be better if they woke up alone.

#rpdr fanfiction #group fic #vitan #jalaskadore #bitney #galactica au #lesbian au #fluff #smut #mild angst #beneath the amber moon #thedane #veronica #concrit welcome #violet chachki #raja gemini #courtney act #bianca del rio #jinkx monsoon #alaska thunderfuck #adore delano #miss fame

[ofcloudsandstars]

It is Gemini New Moon and I am back! (for now) My life is still a maelstrom but the dust is starting to settle.

I’ve been getting more into different forms of divining and I bought a pendulum while I was in Amsterdam that I would like to try out. I will probably give more info on that later. 

Some highlights from when I was away:

Aries Season: New Moon I had to leave the apartment cause my roommate was being extremely noisy again. I went to a gallery where some witches and artists had their things and a witch I met at Treadwells when I first moved here remembered me and we made friends. She offered me some free sound healing sessions at her place since she wanted to practice. I also met a wild aries witch who is an aries poster child in everyway, she also has short white hair and paints red markings on her face (I thought it was for tonight its an everyday look) and has futuristic tribal blade runner vibes. When I got home at 1pm I exploded on my roommates who wanted to have a party (They knew I had to get up at 5am for work) and declared I was moving out. Did a million find a new home spells and started hunting

Learned how to make bioplastics and bonded with the teacher at the design museum over alchemy. Making bioplastics is so similar to what alchemists were doing in their hunt for stripping down something to it's core elemental material and reshaping it to whatever they like. It also sparked my potential new interest for diving into industrial design as a career.

Went to see my sister in Paris and saw the Notre dame burn. The night air smelled like fire and brimstone

ended Aries season with a bang when my sagittarian witch friend was going through a breakup and bought me to an easter/spring inspired fetish party where everyone was dressed either as catholic gay kings, floral nymphs in pastel bondage or frisky rabbits. They had berlin DJs and the top floor was flooded with red lighting. I ran into the Aries witch there near some ritual of people in pig masks rubbing paper on someone's latex to cause some friction. I got home at 2 and had to get up at 8am for work.

Taurus Season After intense pressure hunting I found a new home though I knew I wouldn't be satisfied there. The woman who owns the house turned out to be pretty christian and doesn't want anyone bought over without her permission. So the house hunt continues.

Beltane was spent with some nice witch friends in the Heaths (of course) we found a nice clearing in the woods that was super secluded with bluebells growing everywhere. We had a blanket and bought everything from floral incense, to crystals (I got a jade crystal ring for everyone to charge and wear) to flowers (we each bought so many that we ended up casting a circle with flowers like roses, bluebells, carnations etc), and foods! I made truffle oil melted cheese sandwhiches and beetroot pea and spinach sandwhiches and sandwhich cookies with rose buttercream and matcha with gold dust and lemon curd lavender with silver dust. I also bought grass vodka to be mixed with elderflower soda. My friends bought a lot of things from blueberries to flower wines to weed to scented oils and candles. I also finished the last of my shrooms with them and the trees felt very much like sentinels though in the sense that they seemed to be watching us in our witchy shenanigans instead of a sense that they were protecting us. We each lead part in a ritual and told stories but I bought black heart candles to purify us from any attachments we had from former relationships to bring clarity or a fresh start. A new witch friend I made who was invited made us do some estatic dancing in the circle (in truth she was cold cause it was cold) but it was a great way to get the energy going and moved our sacral energy upwards when she made us twerk to attract love to ourselves lol. Then my sagittarian witch friend anointed us with oils for clarity and love and we all smelled really nice like nectary flowers. We stayed until it got so dark that the distant city lights were the only thing giving us light. We packed everything up and didn't leave a trace.

Eros moving into virgo amongst other aspects has made my sexual frusterations intense plus that venus mars square was really painful to go through. I got closer to my work crush who seems to like me too but it wouldn't work out as a FWB unless we kept it really secret because of our work position. So I decided to do a lust spell to attract another lover with a lust candle I made back when I lived in NJ. I gathered it when I was taking some stuff back during christmas and realized the love spell candles I made during last valentines day magic fair still had a lot of energy. There was only 1 lust spell candle left cause they all sold (The candles were all heart shaped and the size of your hand. The black was for cleansing relationships and was ylang ylang scented with added charcoal, the violet was for new friendships with lavender, the pink was for romance with rose oil and the red was for lust and hookups with red rose and cinnamon.) The history with the lust spell candle came from a previous successful lust spell when I used a huge red dick shaped hoodoo candle to attract a FWB on the taurus full moon and it was very successful but I still had a lot of the candle left over so I recycled the successful spell into the red wax for the new lust candles. Anyway I was going into this back story because I burned this on the full moon and it burned bright and strong the whole night into the next day for 13 hours straight. When it reached the end no wax was left, it instead grew into a massive flame which split into 3. I was mesmerized watching it, it seemed like the middle flame was me or someone having to make a decision. It went for a smaller flame on the left and they grew into a bigger flame as the little one died down then BANG!! the disk it was on E X P L O D E D and shards of glass flew Everywhere... There were pieces of dried rose petal which was the last fragment of the candle the fire had to burn on that scattered in the air like a mini meteor shower and lit little fires on the carpet of my bedroom floor. As I was cleaning I wasn't sure how to process the meaning. It was supposed to be a road opening spell to attract a FWB my way but the aggression seemed like an intense conclusion. So far I will see how it unfolds. My official Eros Return is the 10th of this month.

While I found a really cool dream apartment by the heaths I wasn't sure if it felt like the right place. I found a magical tree that was like it's own altar or temple in the woods. It had blood red leaves and the light underneath it shown like autumn. Stepping under it's cavernous-like red canopy felt like entering another realm. Underneath the ground was littered with shells from some dead seeds and the trunk of the huge tree had a large open mouth with thick saucer-sized brown mushrooms growing out. It looked like an altar so I prayed to it to help find me a home. A week later I found a nicer apartment on the east side to the park.

Gemini Season

Gemini season started off aggressively and with a lot of confusion.

I went to Amsterdam this past weekend! It's a beautiful city with big fairy energy. They are obsessed with flowers, you can buy bulbs everywhere and flowers are growing from every corner, there is nature everywhere, you can get shrooms and weed everywhere, the homes are old and beautiful with details that remind of you fairytales or iced gingerbread houses, the air is filled with sounds of chimes and bells from everyone's bikes, you have alluring enchantresses ensnaring dumb tourist men into their lairs as men glue themselves to the windows peering eagerly into their other worlds, you have shops with no clocks with the most comfortable seating to sell you joints for 4 euros while you sit there for god knows how long in a perpetual high as you eat snack after snack. Also since its the lighter half of the year the sun sets at 9:30PM and the sky isn't completely dark until 10:15. I tried to look into their urban planning and architecture centers to learn more about the city's design. It's so harmonious with nature its inspiring. I took home some shrooms (One I am excited to try is called Roaring Dragon which would be appropriate for Litha lol), some wizard like long wooden pipes, a mini mermaid tarot deck, a crystal pendulum, some goblin incense I was enticed to buy cause I was dumb high in this fairy themed shop (and in truth I wanted to buy everything cause I was dumb high and thought everything was GREAT) and a love attraction candle.

Now here I am ready to start a new moon cycle. I am really overwhelmed but I want to get my feet back on the ground lol.

#long post #aries to gemini season #personal

[sanctferum]

Steven Universe – Reunited reactions

Time for the final episode of this Stevenbomb, and it looks like it’s gonna be quite the episode…

Huh, this title screen is different…

Wow, we’re starting off with a song from Steven!

A melancholy song about Rose…but soon enough Steven stops brooding and pops out of his bathroom into the rest of his house, where Pearl and Amethyst, both in suits (and with Amethyst’s hair all fancied up unlike how it usually is) are filling a box with roses. A wedding flower! But maybe not the best flower to use at this particular wedding, methinks.

Greg, also in a suit, has no roses. He has a stack of pancakes with syrup and butter. I think that’s butter. I hope that’s butter. But I will say, my first thought was not that it was butter, but popcorn. Together Breakfast has obviously left deep scars on my psyche.

Steven anoints the top of the pancake pile – which is technically, I suppose, a wedding cake – with two little figures of Ruby and Sapphire.

Steven is taking his mind off of the whole Rose thing by having wedding fun. (Amethyst looks somewhat confused at him dancing and singing all over. C’mon, you’ve lived with Steven almost his life, you should know how he is with musical numbers.)

Pearl still has her top hat from Mr. Greg!

“How can we move on…?” Pearl asks. Maybe the top hat is reminding her of “It’s Over Isn’t It”?

Good on Steven for choosing to think positively! And it sounds like he genuinely is into it, not just repressing his emotions or anything.

Bismuth is not wearing a suit. Or rather, she is wearing a suit…of armor. Nice.

Amethyst was in charge of getting the flowers. And she’s just now thinking about the implication of picking Roses. I mean, roses. Lowercase r.

Anyways, Peridot’s gathering flowers, so I’m fully expecting her to come back with an armful of flowers, but they’re all roses.

PERIDOT IN A DRESS

She’s standing in front of a huge hole in the ground…almost certainly where the barn used to be. Yeah, no Lapis at this wedding. Then again, Lapis doesn’t get along with most of the Crystal Gems, due to them having owned the mirror she was trapped in for several thousand years.

On the other hand, this IS an episode called “Reunited”. I mentioned some possibilities before for who’s reuniting – Sapphire with Ruby to become Garnet, Garnet with the CGs, Garnet with Bismuth, Lars with Sadie (and the off colors would be there too), and Steven/”Pink Diamond” with the Diamonds as a not-so-pleasant reunion that could happen. But it’s totally possible Lapis could return as well.

“Sooner or later the Diamonds are gonna come for the Cluster…” That IS an inevitability. And judging by some shots from the Heart of the Crystal Gems trailer, I’m guessing the answer is “sooner”…

There’s a shot of Lapis sitting on the barn. Which looks to still be in that moon crater. I dunno if Lapis returned to the moon, or if this is a flashback kinda shot.

Stevens’s song has been a pretty decent summary of recent events, huh.

Steven dances Peridot over to the warp pad as he sings, returning himself to the house. The Crystal Gems, including Bismuth (but not including Ruby and Sapphire, who I’m guessing are outside) are there, and they and Greg have been joined by Connie (who hasn’t met Bismuth before, but I suppose she knows who Bismuth is, or at the very least knows what she looks like due to the fusion hallucinations in Mindful Education)

Outside, Sapphire is in a suit, and standing underneath the wedding tent thingy, while the townspeople all sit in the chairs in front. The Pizzas (and Dewey’s former bodyguards, who prolly work for Nanefua now?), The Frymans, The Maheswarans, Uncle Andy, Yellowtail and his family, the Deweys, Jamie, the Millers, Mr. Smiley…no sign of Ruby, yet, but she’ll be along soon, I’m sure.

Andy looks somewhat worried, and I’m guessing that’s because there’s a big pink magical lion sitting on the ground near his chair and generally speaking, lions sitting near your chair is not a good situation. (Lion, on the other hand, is, as a cat would be expected to, doing his best “I don’t give a fuck” impression.)

Another cute instrumental of “Made of Love”. This episode only gets better and better.

Peridot accidentally hits Mr. Fryman in the face with a flower so hard he falls out of his chair.

“All flowers have been deployed, commander!” I love Peridot so much guys

With the instrumental Made of Love being played by Greg on his guitar, the other bride makes her appearance.

Ruby is in a dress, and she looks really cute! I bet Sapphire thinks so too.

Ruby’s excitement causes her footsteps to leave burn marks on the house’s steps as she descends, and as she rushes past the guests in a ball of fire, she turns the sand underneath her to glass.

It begins!

D’aww, Cat Steven is sleeping on top of Lion’s mane!

Is Pumpkin one of the bridesmaids?! That’s amazing. 10/10

GFDI THE ONION JOKE

5,750 years and 8 months, huh. Well, it’s interesting to have a specific number of years since Garnet was formed (as opposed to a general “The War took place 6000 years or so ago”)

I’d say “get a room you two”, but if a wedding isn’t a place for public flirting, what is?

“The power vested in me by the state of Delmarva” Steven confirmed for ordained public official?

A full on lesbian kiss on the lips? On MY children’s cartoon show? It’s more likely than we ever dared think.

She’s back, baby! Garnet is back! I can’t tell if she has a new design or not, due to the wedding dress covering most of her body. (I’m assuming the wedding dress isn’t a permanent part of her design, haha)

While Greg takes a break from his guitar, DJ Sour Cream has us covered. Time to hit the dance floor!

Yeah, that bouquet isn’t coming down from the atmosphere for a long time, sorry guys.

Jamie apparently still has somewhat of a crush on Garnet, but now that he’s seen fusion firsthand he’s gotta understand why it wouldn’t work.

Dewey’s also still a bit depressed about not being Mayor Dewey, I suppose. Poor guy, standing there watching his former bodyguards dance with Nanefua.

Awww, Dewey and Jamie are bonding over their sorrows.

Are they gonna dance together? Nice.

Bismuth, meet Ronaldo. This can only end well.

Oh, the bouqet finally fell down, onto an unsuspecting Bismuth. (Amethyst proceeds to laugh her ass off. Not literally. It sure says something about Amethyst that I have to clarify that.)

Steven’s crying tears of joy. Well, no more tears now. Only happiness.

…The tears don’t stop, no matter how hard Steven tries to dry them up. That’s weird. And probably not good at all. I do remember the last time Steven cried uncontrollably, from emotions that weren’t his own. Ruh-roh…Peridot was right, it looks like. There’s only one explanation for this, and it is one of my guesses about what “Reunited” meant. Blue Diamond must be heading to Earth to see why the Cluster hasn’t hatched.

Garnet’s future vision shows her something bad…

“She’s here?!” “And she’s not alone.” Oh boy. It sounds like Yellow Diamond is ALSO heading to Earth. Fuck. This is really bad.

Suddenly, everything starts to darken. Onion points up the sky, at some suspicious looking clouds.

And the clouds part to reveal two arms. Or, two arm-shaped ships. One yellow, one blue. This is the very definition of bad. Goddamn Diamond party poopers.

Guests flee in panic, as Steven tells Nanefua to activate her emergency contingencies. Time to evacuate!

Peridot is momentarily distracted by her panicking from the ships flying overhead, missing the group altogether. Uh…

Oh. That explains. They aren’t here to fight the Crystal Gems at all, OR to retrieve Steven. They want something else…the Cluster.

Oh god. Bismuth doesn’t know what the Cluster is. Someone really needs to explain to her just what happened to all her friends. I mean, as far as I can tell, she seemed to figure out the corruption stuff on her own just from observing Biggs, but…

Steven can’t mentally connect to the cluster unless he’s asleep. So he tries to go to sleep, while the very world is shaking and dread is consuming everyone. Yeah, good luck with that kiddo.

Greg plays a few notes on his guitar and Steven just fucking. Passes out. OK then. But he soon wakes up, in terror, as the cluster’s bubble pops.

He and everyone rush outside, as the cluster starts to form, a million arms reaching out of the Earth at once, melding and fusing together…to form a giant hand, muscle and sinew and no skin and oh god what’s gonna happen now

The hand tightens into a fist, and…

Oh god. Ronaldo tries to attack it while dual-wielding katanas. But thankfully, Peedee pulls him away before he can catch its attention. You do NOT wanna fuck with this thing, Bloodstone.

But, while the Cluster hatching might spell Earth’s end, it doesn’t mean the Diamonds get their hands on a superweapon either. Because the cluster is made up entirely of shards from Crystal Gems, those who fought the Diamonds. And as such, the first thing the hand of the Cluster does is punch Yellow’s ship, which flies back in a clutter, straight towards Beach City. Thankfully, it lands out at sea, instead of on the town itself. The ship is tough enough that it still works fine…as such, it rises up out of the ocean to face the Cluster. The hand of the Cluster stretches up, over the Gem Temple, and for a moment it hovers there, as if about to crush the Crystal Gems and friends like a gnat.

And then, it gives those below a thumbs up.

The Cluster does not want to destroy the planet its components gave their lives to protect. And with that in the forefront of every shard’s broken mind, it’s able to prevent itself from fully forming. And the part of it that HAS formed, recognizes and wants to protect Steven and friends.

Suddenly, the tide may have turned.

As Steven gives a thumbs up back, the Cluster attacks Yellow’s ship again, and vice versa, the two of them wrestling each other to the surface of the planet. As the Cluster starts to overpower the arm ship, Blue’s own arm ship arrives to reinforce her sister. And then turns around, looking like it’s gonna ram the Temple.

The hand of the ship slams down onto the beach, and as it raises back up, it leaves Blue Diamond standing there in its wake. Of all the people to crash Garnet’s wedding, Blue Diamond is probably the worst person or gem to do so, huh.

Greg offers to parley with Blue, but everyone instantly shoots him down. Probably best he doesn’t get locked back up in the zoo, huh.

As Greg retreats into the house, Blue makes her approach. Yellow wants the Cluster. Blue wants revenge. Time for her to learn the truth about Pink, then?

“This is PINK’s world! How DARE you use it as your hiding place!” Yeah. About that…

Peridot freaks out, Connie draws Rose’s sword, and Steven is frozen in fear.

And Bismuth? Bismuth immediately shapeshifts her hand into a hammer and leads Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst out into battle like a hardened general.

“C’mon, you rocks! Let’s put her in a bubble!”

The Crewniverse once said that a Diamond can’t be poofed. But judging by A Single Pale Rose, it’s not so impossible after all. Theoretically.

Steven makes up his mind. He tells the Crystal Gems to stay behind, and walks out to confront Blue alone, intent on telling her the truth of Pink and Rose’s conflict, and therefore hopefully removing her reason to want revenge.

Blue, of course, doesn’t believe a word he says. So much for that plan, Steebs.

Blue sends a blast of energy at Steven, and he flies back, only for a newly formed Alexandrite to catch him. Steven tries to stop Alexandrite, but both the Gems and Blue are intent on ending one another. Blue’s emotions spiral out of control and she clenches her first as sorrow and anguish wash over her, her aura projecting out from her on all sides, unfusing Alexandrite and basically forcing everyone into a fetal position.

Interestingly enough, said aura only seems to affect gems. And in Steven’s case, half-gem. Bismuth and Peridot collapse, while Connie freaks out at what’s going on but isn’t otherwise affected. As she’s the only one standing, she figures she’s the only one who can do something, and whistles for Lion. Lion jumps through the air, and Connie pushes off his back, in an attempt to slash the sword into Blue’s face.

Without even looking, Blue catches the entire sword in between two of her fingers. Yeah, there’s no way that was gonna work.

Blue recognizes Connie’s sword. Uh-oh.

“This…THIS IS THE SWORD THAT SHATTERED HER!”

And with the rage of a thousand suns, she returns the favor and shatters Rose’s sword into a million pieces, sending Connie tumbling down below. Lion manages to catch her. Oh, damn. Well, I guess it’s a good thing the Gems and Connie now have a professional blacksmith gem with her own forge to make a new one, and maybe it can specifically be for Connie instead of being a hand-me-down?

As Blue prepares to destroy them all, as the cluster struggles to hold back Yellow’s ship in the background…Garnet manages to stand up and she stands before her former Diamond. Blue of course doesn’t recognize her at all.

“I am the will of two gems to care for each other, to protect each other from any threat, no matter how vast or how cruel. You couldn’t stop me 5,750 years ago, and you can’t stop me now.”

And then, Blue recognizes Garnet. A Ruby and a Sapphire, who broke the rules exactly 5,750 years ago, in Blue’s very own presence.

Blue scoffs at Garnet’s attempts to harm her, but Garnet grins and reveals that she wasn’t trying to seriously hurt Blue. Just to distract her.

A look of confusion appears on Blue’s face. And then a drop of water hits her head. And another one. And a third one. Blue and Steven look up at the sky.

There’s a giant water bubble hanging over Blue’s head. And inside of it, a barn. And next to the barn, silhouetted against the moon, is Lapis Lazuli. FUCK. YES.

SHE’S SMILING! SHE’S FOUND THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE DIAMONDS! TO PROTECT THOSE SHE CARES FOR! THIS IS THE BEST!

The only way for this episode to get any better is if Lars and crew reach Earth and help the Cluster fight Yellow’s ship.

One barn to the face, coming right up! Press F for Peridot’s meep morps. Oh well.

Blue is nowhere to be seen. I kinda doubt that poofed her, but it at least gave us a moment’s reprieve.

CRYSTAL GEM LAPIS!

Blue is down but not out, and within the next few moments, she burst out from under the barn, destroying what remains of it in the process.

Oh shit. She recognizes Lapis. Lapis WAS part of her court back during the War, so that makes sense, huh.

Aura time again!

The Gems all collapse again, except Lapis. I think I might know why, too. Lapis has dealt with too much of her own anguish, sorrow, and self-hatred to be brought low by someone else’s.

“I’ve felt…worse.” FUCK YES

And at last, Lapis has realized that being on a planet that is 70% water makes her practically a god.

Everyone draws their weapons. Say, though. Now that she’s imprisoned with water chains, maybe’s a good time to talk to her and tell her Pink’s truth.

Oh, there go the chains again. Bombardment time!

Wow, Steven’s shield powers have improved so much, he can hold off a Diamond’s energy bombardment.

Oh right. Peridot doesn’t have a weapon, either from her gem or a Bismuth weapon. Well, she’s trying to be helpful, but soda cans aren’t gonna do more than distract her for a second. Bismuth picks up Peridot and throws her straight into Blue’s face. Distraction it is, I suppose. (If Blue swats Peridot off and she gets poofed, she’ll totally come back by the end of the episode with a crystal gem design, right? There’s no way she’d get poofed and not come back with a big ol’ star shape. Also a shirt that says “take this, Diamond clod!”)

Blue successfully deflects every attack sent her way, raises up her arms to protect her face from Lion’s sonic roars, and…fails to lower them in time, as Steven hits her with a spike-covered bubble straight in the chest. Round 3 (or is it 4?) goes to Steebs!

Meanwhile, The Cluster’s grip is starting to cause parts of Yellow’s ship to explode. Yellow’s ship goes flying. Lapis scoops up Steven and carries him away in the knick of time, but Blue isn’t so lucky. Her ship smashes onto her, and keeps going, skidding into the cliffside, taking a large portion of Steven’s house and The Temple with it.

Oh, right. Greg’s still in there.

And now Greg is out here, clutching Cat Steven to his chest as he staggers out of the ruins of the house.

The Cluster gives Steven another thumbs up, then withdraws back into the Earth before it can lose control of itself, where it presumably re-bubbles itself.

Yeah, nice after-wedding party you had their, Garnet.

Whether or not Blue is actually poofed, it isn’t over yet. There’s one more Diamond here. And Yellow isn’t interested in a long-drawn out revenge like Blue is. She just wants it to be over and done with. I doubt she’d want to hear anything Steven has to say, even less than Blue. She just wants “Rose” dead and shattered, the planet destroyed, and the whole mess put out of sight and out of mind forever.

She breaks out of her ship to confront Steven and co. But first, she jumps down over to Blue’s ship and lifts it up, so that Blue (who has not in fact been poofed) can crawl out from underneath.

“Ha! I told her off once. I can do it again.” Hey, remember what happened to both Zircons? Time for Poofidot. Can’t wait to see her new design…

And there she goes.

I wonder if Yellow really didn’t remember Peridot? Maybe it’s cause she has no limb enhancers? Or maybe she just didn’t give a fuck after the initial shock of an underling calling her a clod wore off?

Steven quickly rushes forward to protect Peridot’s gem, and Yellow notices him. And she charges, intent on the kill.

Steven’s shield momentarily deflects her. Then she stomps down on it, hard.

The next moment, Steven opens his eyes to see Connie screaming over him. She sounds distorted. And the background is…weird. Did Yellow manage to poof Steven? If so, she’ll see what his gem looks like, right? And that will solve that.

Steven gets up, leaving an after-image of him behind. I guess even though he poofed, his body is still there because he’s only half-gem? Uh, maybe?

Steven looks around to figure out where he is. Uh…that looks like…Connie’s head…?

Oh, it’s everyone, frozen in a moment in time, while images of them as they are right now – fighting – are also visible…? And the fight isn’t going well. Peridot’s poofed, and Lapis, undoubtably the most powerful gem currently fighting (by the oceanside no less!), soon suffers the same fate. (Crystal gem redesign for her too…?)

When Steven passes through Connie’s image, Connie is able to hear his voice. And Steven has a plan. When he touches Connie’s image, she can hear him, so…if everyone in the fight has an image, then…he needs to make his way to Blue and Yellow and touch their images and tell them what really happened.

He tells Connie to protect his body while he’s out, and jumps from gem to gem from there. He encourages Garnet to keep fighting for what she believes in, as she is Made of Love, tells Amethyst that he believes in her, and reminds Pearl that she isn’t just fighting for Rose or Steven, but also for herself. He tells Bismuth not to give up hope till the fight is over. And then…

Yellow and Blue…

Yellow believes that what happened to Pink, is her fault. She was the one who gave Pink a colony despite serious reservations. Her sister’s death hangs heavy around her head, in a way that she’s refused to outwardly show.

And Blue…Blue knows, deep in her gem, that executing Steven and destroying Earth is a pointless endeavor. It’s pointless, because no matter what she does or who she hurts, it will never bring Pink Diamond back. And everything that happens just makes her miss Pink more, just makes her suffer even deeper.

Their emotions are super strong. Strong enough that Steven can’t even approach their minds…

He dives in again to try and reach Blue’s mind, and succeeds briefly, before being flung back again. Blue’s eyes shoot open in shock, and she looks around, confused. Again, Steven tries, and again Blue feels a presence. A…familiar presence…

Steven also gets through to Yellow, who assumes it’s a trick, a trap. She points to where Steven is, and she and Blue attack. Steven instinctively tries to manifest his shield…and ends up unlocking his Diamond aura instead.

And with that, Steven can fight back. Not with violence, not even with words, but with love. The love two sisters had for their fallen sibling. The truth about that sibling. She’s still alive. She’s here. Right here, in front of them. Not even Yellow can deny that. Not anymore.

And then Steven wakes up.

And looking down on him are the Crystal Gems, Connie, and Greg. And behind them…Yellow Diamond. And...

Blue Diamond. With tears flowing from her eyes. Finally seeing the truth…

And with that, the episode ends. Possibly the season, too. I’m not sure.

Lars and the off-colors didn’t show up in the end, but still. That was an absolutely AMAZING episode.

Thank you so much, Rebecca Sugar and crewniverse. Thank you.

#Steven Universe #SU #Steven Universe spoilers #SU spoilers #Reunited #spoilers #Heart of the Crystal Gems

[freereignastarwarsstory]

Chapter 3: One Rule

Disclaimer: I (@draksisreborn) own nothing but my OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. Many thanks to my fellow writer @zazabelle, who has been amazing as always and who also did the cover art and character designs for this project. Please review and critique this tribute to the characters of SW who are never spoken of, the ones who only wish to survive.

Rating: T (sci-fi violence and language)

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‘Nar Shadda. What a pisshole.’ Soron though as he walked through the filthy and narrow alleys flanked by Cholmon and Cenden.

He always hated the Smuggler’s Moon, but it was a good place to lie low and pick up work. If one was willing to put aside their belief in legality.

“Where are we going?” Their new member asked, covering his nose, as if that would stop the stench.

“A nightclub called The Inucbus, I got a friend there I want to you meet.” Came the reply from Soron. “She’ll have a mission for us.”

“Haven't you tested me enough these past few days?” Cenden asked. Soron had rigorously tested his physical, mental, and Force abilities since he had awoken, and it was taking a toll on him.

“This isn’t all about you.” Chol gruffly stated. “We still need credits to eat and keep the Titan flying.”

“And I wouldn’t call them ‘tests’ just more along the lines of, ‘physical assessments’” Soron cut in.

Cenden rolled his eyes.

“Hey, look, I’ve been with my crew for a long time. I know what everyone is capable of, but adding a variable to the list only makes strategizing harder. So no whining from either of you… We’re here.” Soron smiled.

This time Cenden and Chol exchanged glances. There was something slightly amusing and irking about Soron speaking to them as if they were children. Cholmon gave his glaring face a refresh and all Cenden could do was shrug.

Soron’s quick pace slowing before stopping in front of a blocky building. Neon lights covered the front entrance, the dull thrum of music escaping its walls.

“This is it. Cenden, follow me. Cholmon, wait for us while we meet with her. Try not to get too drunk.”

“Whatever you say.” Cholmon grumbled.

Immediately upon entering they were bombarded by the loud electronic music. Cenden winced at the volume and Soron’s ears flattened against his head in an effort to save his hearing.

‘She really needs to hire a new DJ.’ Soron thought as they approached the bar. Cholmon immediately plopped himself down on a stool and ordered a drink from the nearest bartender.

Rolling his eyes, Soron motioned to a flight of stairs nearby. “She’s up there.”

Cenden nodded and followed him up the dimly lit stairs where the music became dimmed into the background of their thought. At the top standing in front the only door at the end of the hallway, the where they were stopped by a heavily scarred human acting as guard.

“Clearances.” He grunted.

“Ando, can we not do this today? Let us through. Unless you want me to add a few more scars to that thing you’re using as a face.” Soron said, lips peeling back to reveal his fangs. Ando met him with a growl of his own.

“Let him in Ando.” Came a melodic feminine voice from beyond the door. Soron pushed past the doorman, Cenden following behind cautiously.

The door opened to reveal a room high above the dance floor, illuminated by the blue lights below. Against the window was a long coach and on it reclined a Falleen woman clad in tight business clothes and sporting a long black ponytail. She beamed at the duo as they entered.

“Soron!” She exclaimed as the door closed. She raced towards the Shistavenan, wrapping him in a tight hug which he returned. “It's been too long.”

“It has. It’s good to see you again Beebs.” Soron responded.

“Xa-Sin-Ruk, hold my calls.” She ordered the Tiss’shar standing behind the desk on the left side of the room as the two untangled themselves.

“As you wish, my lady.” He answered, dipping his raptor-like head as he returned to a sitting position in front of his terminal. Cenden and Soron sat on the coach as the Falleen took her previous seat.

“How long have you had him?” Soron asked, jerking a thumb towards Xa-Sin-Ruk.

“A few months now. He's loyal beyond belief, and good at what he does. Keeps the finances flowing much smoother than the last one. But who is this you brought to me?” She finished, locking eyes with Cenden.

“This is Cenden Sondron. Cenden, meet Beebs Dovrees. Probably the nicest crime lord you'll ever meet.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Cenden said, extending his hand, which Beebs returned.

Although he was a bit frustrated that Soron gave out his real name, he tried not to show it on his face. For all this woman knew, that might not be his real name.

“The pleasure is mine. It’s always interesting to see who Soron here picks up.” She said, earning a bit if a smile from Soron and a heavily muffled laugh from Cenden.

“Too true. Now then, I know you already gave us a mission, but I was wondering if you had anything for my new crew member?” Soron asked.

“Wait, what? What do you mean you already have a mission?” Cenden questioned.

Beebs adopted a thoughtful expression for a few seconds towards Cenden. “Breaking him in?”

“Breaking him in.” Soron agreed.

“In that case I think I have something.” Beebs said. “He can stay to discuss it with me, in the meantime here is your information.” She handed Soron a datapad. “Your target is a Chiss smuggling ring that's been pushing into my turf. Eliminate them and grab the cargo they’re transporting. Specifics are in there.” She finished.

“Thanks again Beebs.” Soron said as he stood up.

“Always happy to have you help me Soron.” Came the reply, a grin etched into the Falleen's face.

“Alright, me and Chol will head out.” Soron stated to Cenden, “Good luck.”

“No.” Cenden replied, grabbing Soron’s arm. “Wait.”

Cenden turn to look at Beebs. “What’s my mission?”

Beebs smiled, “I have something special for you. I have a certain Twi’lek under my protection. Runs a numbers racket in a lower district, but has been skimping on his protection payments. I want you to go and show him the error of his ways.”

“You want me to kill him?!” Cenden questioned worriedly.

“No no no.” Beebs responded, slight panic in her voice. “No killing. Takes way too long to build those connections. But you can maim him if necessary. After all, he violated the one rule.”

“And what rule is zhat?” Cenden asked.

“Don't mess with my money.” She said, voice hardening. To Cenden it felt as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees.

“Anyways, here's the location. Any other questions?” She asked, warmth returning to her voice, as she handed him a small note with the address and the Twi’lek’s name on it.

“No questions just a statement.” Cenden said as he stood up and released Soron’s arm. “I want you both to realize that I had a life before this. Not a life of commitment but a life with a job nonetheless. I didn’t join Soron’s team to help anyone, especially not hurt anyone. So before I make any agreements, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me. Am I being hired to hurt an innocent man?”

Beebs smiled slowly, “Before I answer that, ask this. Is anyone truly innocent?”

“If I find someone I’ll let you know.” Cenden growled back.

She laughed, “I like this one Soron! You’ll have to show me where you got one.” she said as she stood from her seat, “Cenden, was it? The man I am sending you to is not remotely innocent and I’m sure deserves worse than a warning. I don’t do killing unless necessary. Maiming is a stretch. And all this shows me is how well you actually know Soron, thinking he would put you in a situation where you would even need to ask such questions. Now get out, and I wish you the best.”

As the two turned to leave, Soron shot Cenden a look that he couldn’t quite read. Not anger, just perhaps, disappointment? Soron’s speedy pace shot him through the doorway and halfway down the stairs before Cenden was even halfway across the room.

“Wait.” Beebs suddenly commanded. “Soron guards his crew jealousy, and thus rarely takes on new crew members. They tend to make his job harder. So what made him consider you?” She asked eyes narrowing.

Cenden paused. “I jumped in front of a blaster meant for one of his crew. And kept him from succumbing to his other wounds.” He said, hoping that would appease the crime lord.

Beebs narrowed her eyes even more, an unreadable expression on her face. Like a predator sizing up its prey.

“You are a different one for sure. Maybe one day you’ll tell me the whole story.” She said, Cenden glaring in return. “In the meantime, good hunting.” She finished, dismissing Cenden with a wave of her green hand.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cenden approached the building where his target operated out of. It was a dilapidated old warehouse, hardly suitable for habitation or storage of any sort. As he approached the door he was stopped by a Zabrak guard who leveled his blaster at Cenden.

“State your business.” He barked.

“I’m here to meet Nero.” Cenden replied, using the name Beebs had given him.

“How the hell do you know that name?” The Zabrak growled, finger hovering over the trigger.

Cenden sighed and pulled the Force through his mind, then reached our and connected it with the frontal lobe of the Zabrak’s mind. A ringing sounded in his ears as he watched the alien’s face go calm.

“You will let me pass.” Cenden ordered, waving his hand through the connection, sending only the thoughts he desired before interrupting the “line”.

“I...will let you pass. Nero is at the end of the hall on the right.” The Zabrak replied in a trance.

Cenden carefully skirted around him before disappearing into the building. The guard snapped out of his trance, confused.

“Where did he go... eh he probably ran off. It’s Nero’s problem now, I’m on break.” He muttered as he walked off.

Cenden made his way through the building, thoroughly disgusted by the business taking place. Innocent people, with no other option for improvement, were gambling away everything on this racket, while those running it simply stood by or openly laughed when their hopes were crushed by the “random” numbers. It was enough to make Cenden’s blood boil.

‘Not here.’ Cenden had to remind himself. ‘Not this time.’

He made his way to the door and rapped his right knuckles against it. “It’s unlocked.” Came the reply.

Cenden breathed deep, then pushed the door open. The room was small, with several terminals and desks along with five guards. At the far end sat his target, going over documents on a datapad and with two Quarren guards flanking him. He looked up, surprise appearing on his blue face.

“Who the hell are you? How did you get in?”

“Beebs sent me. It’s time to pay up.” Cenden replied, channeling a small amount of anger into his voice.

“Ha, she must truly be a fool to send someone as green as you. Now get out of my office before an “accident” happens.” Nero threatened, gesturing to his guards.

They loomed towards him, both surprisingly light on their feet.

‘I hope Soron’s mission isn't going as badly as this.’ Cenden thought as he reached for his pistol. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Of course this happens to me!” Soron shouted as he dove back into cover, a storm of blaster fire passing over his head. This mission had gone horribly, with the Chiss apparently expecting him and had already dug in. Priming a grenade, he tossed it over cover, rewarded with the screams of two Chiss.

“How many of these blue skinned fanatics are left Chol?” Soron asked as the Mon Calamari in question slid into the cover across from him, venting his pistol.

“Let me check.” He responded, but no sooner had he peeked his head around cover than a shot whizzed inches over his head. “Sithspit!” He swore.

“How many Chol?”

“Six or seven of em. This had better be worth it.”

“I have a plan.” Soron yelled. “I'll throw another grenade, then you lay down some suppressive fire. I'll sneak around the right side and flank them.”

“Fine by me cap.” Cholmon responded.

“Alright on three. One. Two. Three!” Soron yelled, throwing the grenade. Hearing Cholmon’s pistol a second later he sprint towards the next building, getting ready to loop around.

‘I hope Cenden is having more luck than us right now.’ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The first guard, a human, reached for Cenden’s shoulder. The moment his hand made contact, Cenden unfurled his arm, jabbing his wrist swiftly into the throat of the guard. Swiftly stepping back as the guard choked Cenden’s fist flew to make contact with the man’s temple.

The room exploded to life.

All Cenden could see were fist and feet and weapons. All things he instinctively knew needed to go.

He grabbed and punched one guard’s stomach, causing him to fall onto his knee as he felt the presence of another on his right. Tumbling over the winded guard’s back, he used the inertia of the tumble to gain momentum to throw himself onto the third guard that had appeared on the opposite side of the winded one.

The guard’s body flew with Cenden’s towards the wall. Grabbing the man’s face during their flight, the guard’s skull smashed hard into the surface. The guard crumpled into unconsciousness before the three remaining guards were upon him. Cenden swung hard into the side of one guard’s head and grabbed his blaster pistol.

He reached out, just for a moment.

The room seemed to go into slow motion. Just for a second, Cenden could feel something adjusting his hand and directing his aim.

He fired once.

Twice.

The two remaining guards went down.

They weren’t dead, but they easily could have been.

With the last guards down Cenden advanced towards Nero, panting slightly.

“I guess I’ll do this myself!” Nero shouted as he stood and reached under his desk. Cenden flew towards him and grabbed the pistol from the Twi’lek before using it as a bludgeon against his head.

“Ah! For the love of-” Nero began, but Cenden cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt, dropping the borrowed pistol and placing his own against the bottom of his jaw.

“Now then, what will it be?” Cenden asked menacingly.

“Screw you and that green bi-” Cenden slammed his face against the table, earning another cry of pain.

“Want to try zhat again?” Cenden asked.

“Alright alright. I’ll pay Beebs what I owe. Tell her she won’t get any more trouble from me.”

“Good choice. Try and remember this next time you get ideas about messing with her money.” Cenden finished, shoving Nero into his chair. He holstered his pistol and exited the room, looking forward to leaving this shipwreck of a moon. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The wind began to blast at the faces of Soron and Cholmon as they stood among the bay now littered with the corpses of pirates and smugglers. The smell of a storm once again threatened the horizon, but the two weren’t thinking on the storm, only the rain that they hoped would wash away the traces of blood that stained the ground.

Soron left out a shaking breath and Cholmon nervously rubbed the long closed scar that ran along the top of his head.

“That could’ve gone better…” Cholmon spoke lightly, trying to calm their nerves.

“Why do we do this to ourselves Chol? Why do any of us fight this war? I saw younglings not much older than 14 handling the heavy artillery fire just over the ridge there…”

“Soron, let’s not get into this now. We needed money, they needed money, and we earned it, and they didn’t and that’s the way things are.” The two older men exchanged glances, Cholmon could see the old pain beginning to resurface in Soron’s face. “Don’t start doing this to yourself now, tell you what, when we get back to Beebs I’ll buy us both a drink. Sound good?”

“I’m getting tired of fighting for all this nothing.” Soron sighed and the two turned to leave, the storm growing steadily behind them.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cenden sat impatiently in Beebs’ office. Soron and Cholmon should’ve been back by now. This senses still on high alert from the fights, every sudden bout of laughter or shatter of glass from the nightclub downstairs was enough to make him twitch for his pistol, but his stern face remained deadpan as always. His more explosive emotions safely tucked away within the grooves of his mind.

If there mission was as… violence filled as mine was, maybe I need to go looking for them? Would that be the smart thing to do? Cenden thought to himself, a bit of stress surfacing. Why am I worried? They’re fine. I would’ve sensed if something happened… right? They again, it’s not like that helped in the past.

As if on cue, Soron’s voice could be heard muffled through the door and it wasn’t long before a tired looking captain stepped into the room. A scowled look was locked onto his face mirroring the several cuts just barely surfacing from underneath the alien’s fur.

“How did it go?” Cenden asked.

“How does it look like it went?” Soron responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Got it.”

“And your mission?”

“About the same.”

“Figured.” Soron mumbled flopping onto the couch opposite his new crew member.

“So where’s Beebs? I’ve been here a while and I haven’t seen her.”

“Eh, she owns like half this whole nightclub so she’s probably just lost in the crowd downstairs. She might be up soon, or in an hour. Either way, I’m going to take a nap until she gets here.” Soron explained, his mouth barely making the effort to move as his head rested on the couch’s backing his eyes shut.

For the little Cenden knew about Soron, him taking a nap seemed strangely out of character, and for a moment he wondered if the captain had a concussion or something. The two sat in silence for a while. Even in his half conscious state, Soron could tell something needed to be discussed while there was silence.

Cenden broke the quiet built up in the room.

“Ya know, zhis was not exactly what I was expecting for my first mission on the team.”

“What? Did it not meet your high standards in terms of excitement?” Soron chuckled, his eyes still closed.

“I guess… Just from the way you were talking on the ship on my first night, I was expecting something more but less, ya know?”

Soron raised an eyebrow as his eyes opened ever so slightly.

Cenden sighed, “How you were talking about this greater picture, and this noble neutrality to the universe, it sounded like, someone I used to know. I was expecting more importance and less… conflict.”

This time Soron was the one to sigh as his head lifted from the couch, “That’s why I took you on, I thought maybe with your background of work you could help us straighten things out.” Soron said as he threw a glance at the Tiss’shar secretary.

“I am not the man to help you find some sort of greater purpose. I was never good at what I did, and I certainly never did anything for any of you to put faith in me. And I certainly haven’t had any kind of epiphany after my original position was terminated. I was just a temp at a medical clinic on the moon you found me on. So, maybe next time you’ll quit the riddles and have a better interview when you take on a new employee.” Cenden laughed sarcastically.

“If you knew you couldn’t help us, then why’d you take the job?” Soron’s voice dropped to an agitated whisper as he leaned forward in his seat.

Cenden fell quiet for a moment before continuing in the same hushed voice, “Maybe I had nowhere else to be?”

“You sure acted like you could be somewhere else when you were taking your mission from Beebs earlier.”

“Well I don’t.”

“You are not making much sense to me Sondron.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, captain. I was foolish to think this would be any different from any other crew in the galaxy.” Cenden sneered.

The door to the room suddenly burst open and a slightly tipsy Beebs came wandering in laughing. Her half-lidded eyes met the two crew members.

“Ah! Great to see you two made it back alive! Credits are with him...” she pointed at her secretary as she hiccuped.

Cenden and Soron rose from their seats and collected the credits from the Tiss’shar. Before the two made it out of the room, Beebs stopped them.

“I believe I’m owed a story from mister Cenden here before you leave.” Beebs smiled drunkenly.

“I don’t owe you anything. Maybe some other time.” Cenden said sternly as he and Soron exited the crime lord’s office.

Emerging into the packed club, Soron spotted Cholmon sitting at the bar near the center of the room. Weaving their way through the crowd of dancing people, Soron nearly dragged Cholmon off his chair as him and Cenden shuffled past.

“We’re leaving now.” Soron shouted above the noise.

The Mon Calamari followed without a word.

The three crew members wandered back to the ship parked several blocks away in the main bay area of the quadrant.

They were silent most of the trip, and the mood didn’t lightened much even after the three walked inside one of the main common areas of the ship to find Nek had brought back food from the market nearby.

“So how’d everything go? We spent the last of our spending credits on food.” Lerti explained with her mouth full.

“Could’ve gone better, could’ve gone worse. But we got credits and we’re alive so that’s a plus.” Cholmon answered reaching for some of the assorted fruits that lay scattered across the counter.

“Well that good I guess...” Nek joined in, noticing the unpleasant faces of the three. “Did something happen or…?”

Soron answered, “Oh a lot of somethings happened. I’m going to go bandage these cuts, I’ll tell you all later.”

After the captain had left the room, Cholmon’s mouth flew open.

“Soron just upset cause, as with most missions, people died unnecessarily. He’ll be fine, just give him an hour or two to push back whatever’s making him upset and he’ll be over it.”

“Oh shut up.” Cenden suddenly snapped as he plopped down onto one of the booth chairs.

“What?” Cholmon asked sounding genuinely surprised.

“I’ve met too many people like you, like all of you, in my lifetime and you’re all the same. You think you have some sort of unspoken rule, some burden to bear. Well guess what? You’re allowed to be upset. You’re allowed to be angry. It’s better than just bottling everything up all the time! We live in a time of mercenaries, and thieves, and dictators, and heroes. But we’re all still just people…”

“Whoa. Ok where’d that come from Master Jedi?” Lerti scoffed defensively.

“I just realize what you all expect from me. Or what Soron does anyway. That I’m suppose to change something, or make some difference. But I’m just a person who's just been trying to live a normal life up until now, and I thought you all might have some answers. But truth is, I don’t know anything about any of you.”

They were all silent for a moment.

Outside the closed door, Soron stood listening while BX wound a bandage around his arm.

Nek hopped down from the counter he had been watching from and walked over to where Cenden sat. Smiling he put his hand on his shoulder.

“My friend. We do not expect any greatness from you. And what you say is true. The lifestyle we, and many others in this galaxy live, make us feel responsible for something. Perhaps we feel invincible. Maybe we feel vulnerable to point that we all have nothing to lose. There were no ‘better times’ as some claim. There are only good moments, for all of us that we dwell on when we’re sad or hurt and we think, maybe, just maybe, we can make those moment last forever.” He laughed, “I’m actually glad I got nearly shot to death just so that I can finally speak these feelings with all of you. Sometimes the worst can lead to a little good! We formed this team to look for a greater purpose than to kill or be killed, so let’s do it!”

Nek fell completely silent in a bit of surprise as the door to the kitchen slid open and Soron and BX walked in. The captain laughed a bit.

“Today has been one of those days, and I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m tired of feeling sorry for myself.”

Glancing at Cenden, Lerti stood.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked with a smiled in her eyes.

“We’re going to figure out what we’re looking for and find it.” Soron answered.

“Sounds easy enough.” Cholmon said.

“Am I understanding we are looking for something that we don’t know what we’re looking for?” BX chimed in suddenly sounding disgusted.

“We have a feeling and that’s what counts right?” Nek spoke.

“Cut the sentiment, engineer.” Cholmon snapped.

“Alright, alright.” Soron spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone in the room before directing his gaze towards Cenden, “Cenden. We know you are just a man, you’ve been through a lot. But so have we all. Is there anyway we can figure out what we’re looking for? Answers to… bigger purposes? Not to many people are religious these days, but there has to be something more than all of this.” He said gesturing around him.

“Well believe it or not, but the Jedi aren’t very religious.” Cenden joked sarcastically. He sighed, “I really do appreciate everything you are all doing. But I want you all to understand that we are going to have to go digging around in some very… restricted places. It almost sounds like you are trying to dig up the Jedi from their graves. And if that’s what we are going for, well Jedi Temples are where we are going to have to start.”

“Temples of the Jedi are restricted by most Imperial controls in any area, are destroyed, or overrun by scavengers and thieves. This seems like getting involved in a lot of Imperial business for some people who definitely have made it clear they want to avoid the Empire.” BX analyzed.

“We’ll do what we have to. But this is a huge start. Do you know where the best one to start with might be?” Soron questioned Cenden.

“A few I can think of off the top of my head might be Alaris Prime, Iktotch, Tyroth, Jedha…”

“Wait so we’re really doing this!?” Nek piped in excitedly.

“I think so.” Lerti confirmed.

“Cholmon. Can you begin charting some possibilities on the star map with Cenden?” Soron asked.

“Sure, but, is this a good idea?” Cholmon inquired.

“It’s the only good idea we’ve ever had as far as I can remember.” Nek responded.

“Let’s begin our search then.” BX spoke.

#Free Reign: A Star Wars Story #draksisreborn #zazabelle #star wars fanfiction #chapter 3: one rule #collaborative writing

[namira2006]

Guinea Pig Fever

The day stretched out before her like a horizon just before the sun dipped below it. Something was ending and its flip side was not yet beginning, but impending.

The phone on her bed stand vibrated, lulling her slowly into a waking state. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, catching a glimpse of the Eight of Swords card sitting next to her phone, it emanated a thick energy, like treacle. A woman bound by cloth amidst a field of swords planted upright in the earth. Her hands tied, eyes blindfolded. One wouldn’t need certified training in tarot card reading to have a stab at the symbolism within this particular image. She averted her gaze. As if it would cease to exist if she didn’t look at it.  

Sarah had never understood the cards. Perhaps this is why they broke up. In the beginning Lea would pull a card everyday and Sarah would just make a face, accepting this facet of Lea’s upbringing, faith, compartmentalisation of the world. But towards the end, Sarah would sit up in the bed with her back turned to Lea, the duvet pooling at the jut of her hips and just probe her about her interest in the occult and magic.

“It’s just always been there. I can’t explain it very well.” Lea reached across the bed to run the tips of her fingers across Sarah’s bare shoulders.

“It’s like when you wake up from an intense dream and you can only recall the outskirts and the harder you try to remember, the more evasive the core becomes, slipping away. Magic is like that for me, it has always hummed in the background and I can only grasp the outskirts.” Sarah exhaled sharply.

Atop her bedside, Lea’s iPhone vibrated again. Snapping her back into the present moment. She reached over to unlock it, read the text and try to take her mind off of Sarah.

*

That humming she always felt, like a spark racing down a wire of electricity, always got louder in the evening. Especially on a clear night when the moon hung in the sky like an off-centre painting in one’s childhood home; ever-present, and not usually a detail she could recall but she always knew it was there. Just like that thrumming of something more, of something beyond.

After the break up it had felt like the space between her hands had gotten smaller. One time she sat in the bath for three hours and just moved her hands around each other, playing with the space between them. The tepid water rose and fell lightly alongside her body, the candles lined up along the bath’s edge beginning to wane, their flickering becoming frantic. A magnetic string seemed to pull her palms together and apart in a cycle, and as she slowly revolved them around each other this only became stronger. An invisible ball of energy was floating between her hands.

She guffawed at herself and broke the fixation. As she let her hands drop, a third impact was formed on the water’s surface. A thud resounded at the bottom of the tub directly beneath where she had been forming the invisible ball. Lea gasped and scrambled her hands around the bottom of the tub, searching for the energetic ball she had just caused to materialise. It seemed as though that humming she had always felt in the background of her psyche had upgraded to a loud pulsation.

*

When Lea and Sarah had first met, Lea’s hazy link to magic had only ever been bubbles under the surface, never quite spilling over into reality. They had met in a lesbian nightclub. DJs churned out generic bass beats with samples from top 40 pop music and the cheap sweet smell of smoke machine and cigarettes clung to the bodies on the dancefloor.

Sarah’s skin had been peppered with craft glitter and her makeup ran from sweat. They had danced together after sharing a grin.

“Can I get you a drink, babe?” Lea had asked.

“Espresso martini.” Sarah had grinned back.

That night, the gleam of paua shell Lea had used to stimulate psychic ability and intuition was reflected in Sarah’s teeth. The cauldron used to cense herbs and cleanse the air, in Sarah’s rolling hips. There had been witchcraft upon Sarah’s lips.

*

Sarah’s relationship to magic was so different to Lea’s. Sarah had suppressed the fuzziness that existed at the boundaries of her vision, the charge at the edge of her perception. She would argue relentlessly about logic and science. On some level on that first night however, like had recognized like.

Getting into an argument that dissolved into a screaming match with Sarah often meant a lightbulb would go. On that one occasion with her father, an entire fuse blew. It had developed into a recurring joke about her explosive temper, but was never discussed any further, written off as a foible. Lea had seen through this immediately after their first argument, and subsequently thrust magic enhancing sigils and crystals into Sarah’s vicinity. A feeble attempt to draw Sarah into the intimacy of Lea’s persistent burning desire to connect with magic.

Sarah would just shake her head and say the rose quartz was an obstacle in the kitchen. “Babe, it gets in the way of the spice rack. I’m moving it to the windowsill.” She stated, a sigh coating the first handful of words.

*

Hanging on the back of Lea’s door was a dress. It was red with white polka dots. It cinched at the waist and had tulle under the princess-line skirt. It was the only clothing item of Lea’s that Sarah had ever expressed a positive opinion of, and Lea had been hanging it there ever since they broke up. Unable to get rid of it but unable to wear it either.

All of Lea’s other clothes had felt too strange to wear recently, like they didn’t fit properly. It wasn’t that she wanted Sarah back, it was more that she wanted her to tell her she had actually wanted her all those times. She kept the dress hanging there, it’s shadow disappearing with the sun’s changing position outside the window. She’d throw it out another day, another day.

*

Lea awoke with a start in the middle of the night. There was wind howling outside the window, not in a dramatic way, just in a strong northerly autumnal way.  There was a bashing on the window, unlike that of tree branches in the wind. This was a deliberate, frantic thumping.

Reaching to pull her sheet above her breasts, to produce some feigned sense of decency – the neighbours had seen her nude more than enough times due to full moon rituals, she approached the window. Standing outside with dirt and blood combined on her fists, was Sarah. Her face had contorted into that of frenzy and red lined the whites of her eyes.

Once inside, Sarah stood sheepishly in the kitchen. The lack of things they had to say to each other drowned that of the kettle’s announcement. “I just. One minute I was sleeping – dreaming horrible things. The next I was awake and I was on my back on the floor with shards from my light sticking into my hand.” Sarah’s voice tremoured with uncertainty. “Aside from the fact that you might have some idea what is happening to me,” her voice grew much smaller. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

Lea just nodded while preparing Sarah a tea of chamomile and passionflower. Herbs of calm, and of placid dreams. The wind definitely sounded dramatic outside the window now. “Has it ever happened before, the breaking things?” Lea probed, although she was certain she already knew the answer. She glimpsed over her shoulder from the tea and caught Sarah’s face contort in frustration. With a sigh of defeat, Sarah just nodded, looking Lea directly in the eyes. “I broke my bed, Lea. It’s only ever been small things before. Enough that it could have just been a coincidence. But waking up with all the slats splintered around my room-“ Sarah’s voice faltered and she hung her head. “I knew I couldn’t pretend anymore.”

They sipped their teas silently. “I shan’t stay.” Sarah mumbled.

“Tell me you didn’t walk here Sarah.”

“Well, that would be lying.” Lea tsked. Sarah had always been impulsive, but under the fluorescent kitchen lighting, walking 5 kilometres in the rain to see Lea really did seem excessive.

As Sarah reached for the door handle to exit Lea’s car, Lea reached over and placed a chunk of angelite into Sarah’s cupped hands. It’s baby blue hue entirely muted in the shroud of night.

“For under your pillow.”

Sarah nodded, and their clammy hands lingered for a split second, hovering over one another as the storm raged on. Sarah left the car and Lea waited inside, watching Sarah fumble with her keys and enter the house. Even though this exact snippet of events had played out before, this time was different.

#w