#its all about the helmet squish

[xuchiya]

streets [c.san]

₊˚.༄ || filth valentines m.list || hongjoong || seonghwa || yunho || yeosang || san || mingi || wooyoung || jongho || ₊˚.༄

₊˚.༄ We real life made for each other And it's hard to keep my cool ₊˚.༄

"it's getting late, do you have someone to pick you up?" your head turn towards san, still in his uniform. his face mask were pulled down just below his bottom lip, emphasizing his cheeks; it made you want to squish his cheeks from being so innocent.

san was one of your fellow nurses. The crisp navy-blue scrubs fit him perfectly, the name tag reading "San Choi, RN" gleaming under the fluorescent lights. you cleared your throat; your heart was beating too loud for you that it hurts to taint this uncorrupted soul. you have hint after hint of crush on this man, this huge ass man that his face does not match his enormous body that you totally found yourself completely hidden.

proved when you stood behind him once and when you say, disappeared.

abracadabra, bitch not even a strand of hair can be seen.

"ah well i actually have somewhere to be ... what about you?" san looks at his watch, sighing, brushing his hair off his eyes, "my friend said he'll pick me up but he had an emergency call from his dad's company so now I have to wait for a bus..."

you frown looking at your watch too, its 10pm. Usually buses don't take this route anymore, "buses aren't available in this hour, san."

his heart fell on his stomach, double checking his watch, "damn it!" your eyes widen at his sudden burst of profanity. his eyes widen too and apologizing to you, "i'm sorry didn't mean to."

your lips curled up in a teasing smile, "your patient would not like it if she heard that one." San shakes his head laughing lightly. the small silence engulfs you both before you had an idea which will be a torture for you.

probably a torture for him too.

San was already an intern at a prestigious hospital near his family's home; owned by his grandfather though he is expecting him that he will continue his service even after his internship.

but when San came by a hospital that one of his friends were admitted after being confined. He found himself stuck on the reception area as his eyes were glued to your figure, up on hospital trolley, shouting dose of pharmaceutical. Your determine look and perseverance on your career what intrigued him to know you more.

so he left his family hospital.

San is pediatrician and so do you, the amount of love he gives on these children what also intrigued you in getting to know the man that suddenly left the hospital that you were trying to apply.

"hey i can give you a ride?" you mention, his ear perk up and reddens. his heart thumps inside his chest all of a sudden, "i-i .."

upon realizing what you said, your eyes once again widen and stutter out excuses, "oh my gosh! i - this is embarrassing, God take me!" you groan, covering your face.

for a while San chuckles at your reaction, composing himself, "I know you don't mean any harm but if you're going to drop me off then i hope i'm not delaying any of your plans."

When San agrees about you giving him a ride, he meant to be able to relax on the passenger seat.

He stares at the glaring matte black with gold flames on the Kawasaki Ninja 400R. That is one of the motorbikes he wishes to own and drive but because of his independence, San is still saving up.

"Holy .." You look at San as you place the glove tightly on your hand, "hmm?" Clueless on his reaction, you swing your leg over the bike, reviving the engine on and tune in the smoky sound of the engine of your bike.

San stares in awe as you hand him (set of embarrassment hue on your cheeks) a customized helmet. It has kitty ear with soft peach color as parallel of the inside of the ear.

"this is so cute." when he puts in the helmet, it dawned on him. You, arch back, hunch forward and him behind you, holding on tightly. His ears were once again red, frozen in place; his mind racing the same speed as your bike with filthy thoughts.

Like how could he not? Your ass is probably close to his (now) stiffening cock in his scrubs when he jumps in. the way it would keep brushing on his cock would probably have him cumming there.

"San? you okay?" You haven't feel the pressure or the weight on your back, so you turn your attention on San; standing with an incredible thickening boner in his scrubs, if it weren't for the eye shield of your helmet, he would seen you checking him out.

Or worse, staring at his firm boner.

San snap out of his thoughts and hurriedly swing his legs over the other side of the bike, after settling down on the leather seat. "You okay? Do you need-"

"Let's just go." San spoke clearing his throat and immediatly feels bad for brushing your concerns off, you understood why.

Without speaking much, you note that San would not hold on to you because of his hard situation so you did the initiative to grab his hands, in which he was taken back, and wrap them around your waist; patting his hand, "Mind you that it's night and I'll be taking advantage of the road."

You look over at San, "don't worry, I'll slow down if its too much." So without delaying much of your guys time, you kick off the stand and off both of you on the streets. San calling whatever can answer them make this ride, a comfortable one.

to say the least, no one grant his calls.

"u-Ugh f-ufuck chakaman!" San gasp, holding on to the mop of hair on the level of his hips while gripping his scrub up on his chest in his other hand—exposing his toned stomach, his scrub pants pooled on the floor. Your tousled hair, lips wrapped around his aching cock left him gripping the leather seat of your motorbike as you continued swirling your tongue on his red tip. San cried, bucking his hips when you took all of him; fitting him in your mouth up til’ his tip hitting the back of your throat.

 You hum to accumulate more of his climax, which in your satisfaction made San whimper thrusting his hips in your mouth, “f-fuck …” Shamelessly, he started fucking your throat as his climax were nearing and sooner, his cum spurted on your tongue and down your throat. You pull away from him, opening your mouth and sticking your tongue out to let him see that you have collected some of his cum before swallowing them.

  You gave him a smile before licking your salty lips, standing up proceeding to remove your leather pants; letting them rest on your knees along with your undies. You turn your head over to look at him with a smirk on your lips, bending moderately for him to see your puckered glistening hole with a small help of one of your hands to spread your cheek.

 “I know you want to get your dick wet, come on baby.” San’s eye twitch the moment you provoke him and have to look around the cleared parking spot you parked on and had him spitting his fingers and run them up and down your puffy cunt before grabbing his semi-hard dick and tap his tip on your hole; wiggling your asscheeks for him to provoke him more which he took the cue and slam his hips on yours.

You were quite taken back, his hips pace was something you were wondering if he has his dick wet a few times or he has this speed that you were looking for; nevertheless it had you moaning his name as his tip kept nudging. You rolled your hips each time he pulls away, leaving the tip then slamming back inside, “Fu-fuck Sannie— that’s so good! Right there!”

San’s hand crept down towards your clit, circling them rapidly and increasing the pleasure and the coil on your stomach, “You like that? You dirty dirty girl.” San stops circling his fingers around your clit and let you bend over your motorcycle as his hips snaps swiftly, placing the hem of his scrubs between his teeth as his hands knead the flesh of your hips then to your plump ass, spreading them as he watch his dick disappear inside your hole; a ring of your slick making him moan in his scrubs.

“Shit shit!” You cursed, lewd noises echoing the silent parking lot increase the arousal on your stomach, the fire of desire as San rapidly ram himself until you feel your thighs shake, “I’m g-gonna cum!” San drops the cloth and bent over to your ear, “Then make yourself a mess on my dick baby.” 

That it all took before you had a long string of ‘fuck’ leaving your lips as your orgasm washed over you, eyes fluterring close hips moving to chase your high. You felt San’s hand clasp around your hips and his broken moans reach your ears, “I don’t care if you’re on the pill or not but me? Get you knocked up? It’s been a fantasy of mine.”

His seeds spurted your walls, bucking a deeper part of your pussy. His hips halted as he let every drop of his cum stay inside you before pulling out, a whine left your lips but soon replaced by a yelp as San smacked your ass in his palm before placing your panties and your pants back on, “It’s cold and besides …” You turn around, he brushes hair away from your sweaty face, “I don’t want you wasting what we work hard on.”

Your cheeks flared, “You must have thought of this ‘fantasy of yours for a while now eh?” San shakes his head, a smile on his lips; securing his boxers and scrub pants back on before leaning on your motorcycle, shrugging, “Maybe but I should have taken you on a date first before I knock you up.”

You whine, smacking his arms, “Stop using that term.” San’s head threw back as he laughed at your reddened face, you groaned turning your head to the side. He stops laughing little by little before sighing, grabbing your hand; pulling you between his legs, “But it’s true. I had it all planned and there’s a step by step to it … but it looks like I skipped a step.”

You look at him, pouty lips, “a lot you mean.” He chuckles heartedly, grabbing your cheeks in his large palms, caressing them, “Okay a lot but it doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna take care of you. Let me praise you, love you, worship you and let me do those things because it is my duty to make you feel special and I want you to feel you are the only girl in this damn world. You’re my girl.”

You were left speechless and San saw in your eyes the appreciation, pulling you in his arms, “I’ll kiss you after our fourth date.”

“Why not now? You already got me knocked up and we are not even on our first date.” He chuckles and this is one of the reasons why he likes you; nonchalant or straightforward. He nodded, “Okay.” He pulls you in near his warmth, his lips landing gently on yours. He took the lead to make you feel special, make you feel the most important person to him.

#ateez #ateez choi san #choi san #choi san imagines #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez smut #ateez hard hours #ateez hard thoughts #choi san smut #choi san x reader #san ateez #ateez fanfic #kpop smut

[the-offside-rule]

Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari) - Helmet Hair

Requested: yes

Prompt: 51) "Can I wear your helmet?"

Warnings: none

Charles sat in his simulator at his apartment, focused on the virtual track. The familiar hum of the equipment filled the room as he navigated the digital twists and turns. Y/n had been studying yet she couldn't help but sneak glances over over her boyfriend maneuvering his way around the virtual track. She thought of a challenge so she stood up and walked over to Charles, a mischievous glint in her eye. He looked up confused. "Are you alright?" He asked. "Mind if I join?" He smiled. "Of course, amore." He stood up and helped her into the seat. He began describing the different parts of the car to her, making sure to keep it simplified as to not confuse her. "It seems difficult, eh?" Y/n shrugged. "Seems simple enough. I hink I've got it." Charles smiled. "If you say so. Let's start with a simple track." He chose Austria and off she went, racing her heart out.

"See how difficult it is to drive the car?" Charles teased. "It's actually easy." He arched a brow. "Excuse me-" He was cut off by Y/n pointing to the times. "See? New personal best. This is the fastest the Leclerc car has ever gone." He watched in awe as she did indeed break his record.

"It's not as simple as it seems in real life, though." She scoffed. "Oh, please. I'm a natural at this." He huffed. "I bet I can make it more challenging." Y/n raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How so?" Charles nodded towards the shelves of helmet he had. Her eyes lit up more than before. "Can I actually wear your helmet?" Charles smiled. "Of course. Pick one and you canwear it while racing. Let's see how good you really are." Y/n pointed towards the generic helmet he always used. Charles stood up and grabbed it, placing it carefully over her head. "Alright, let's add some flair to this race." Her face felt squished within the helmet and her boyfriend could see her cheeks squished up against the soft interior. Charles couldn't contain his laughter at the sight. "Shut up! Let's race!"

"Ready for the challenge, Senna?" He joked, choosing Monaco as the next track. "Absolutely!" With the helmet snugly in place, Y/n dove back into the virtual world, determined to prove herself. Charles watched with admiration as she navigated the turns of Monaco, both of them sharing laughs and cheers throughout the playful competition. "You just hit the barrier-"

"I know. Its the hairpin. Allow it." Charles hid his laugh as she continued on, overtaking one by one and borderline illegally. "Did you just hit Max?" Charles asked. "Im just being competitive." She replied. "And oh look, Carlos is in the harbour because of you now." She rolled her eyes. "He shouldn't have been there." She retorted. "Where? The track?" She giggled at his jokes. "I'm first. I don't know what you're on about." Charles watched as she went onto the final lap, hitting nearly every corner in doing so. "Oh? Look at that. Leclerc, P1." Charles clapped for her. "I won your home race before you did." He shot her a glare. "Behave." She pecked his cheek. "I'm kidding. You know that."

"Are you though?" Y/n chuckled, lifting the helmet off her head. Charles burst out laughing upon seeing her messy hair standing in all directions. "You make helmet hair look way better." Y/n said, fixing her hair in the reflection of the screen in front of her. "Not as good as you." He teased. "Oh shut up." She said, slapping his arm playfully. "Are you going back to study?" Charles asked. "I am. Have fun." Y/n smiled, kissing her boyfriend. "And thanks for the helmet."

"Don't mention it. I'll be out soon anyway." Charles replied. "Love you." She said, leaving gthe room. "Je t'aime." He called after her, getting back to racing and trying to break his girlfriend's records.

#f1 blurb #f1 imagine #f1 oneshot #f1 oneshots #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x female oc #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc blurb #charles leclerc oneshot #charles leclerc boyfriend material #charles leclerc

[shangchiswife]

din djarin- maroon

guys oh my god this is the first piece I've written in months and i already know it's bad. i just wanted to put something out because i haven't put anything out since like October. i promise I'll start writing again and next time (hopefully) I'll have a better piece!!

....

summary: din djarin spills a drink on grogu's babysitter whom he happens to be in love with

din djarin x fem!reader

warnings: none

word count: 1099

....

Din Djarin made sure that his beskar armor was polished just right.

The people of Freetown or what was formerly known as Mos Pelgo were hosting a party in celebration of the new name. 

Before Din was about to head out of town with his child and you as Grogu’s babysitter, Cobb Vanth stopped you in your tracks. 

“Woah woah woah, where are you folks heading off to? Don’t you know that there’s a party about to happen? And guess what? You all are the guests of honor!” Vanth had drawled.

Din took one look at your eager look and immediately told Cobb that he’d stay.

He would never ever want to hurt you.

After you had joined his crew, Din had grown to love and appreciate you. The way you cared for his child like he was your own and the way you constantly checked on him made him fall deeply in love with you.

So now here he was polishing the last of his helmet before he promptly slipped it back on over his head.

You previously left the Razorcrest to help out with party decorations since many townsfolk had requested your help with setting up.

Before you had left you had placed a bright red bowtie next to Grogu’s sleeping quarters.

Taking the hint, Din took the bow and set it beside Grogu who sat in the cockpit, teething on a colorful ball that you had bought him from a marketplace on Coruscant. 

Din took the ball out of Grogu’s mouth.

“You can’t eat that,” Din stated to the baby who let out a whine of annoyance before crawling onto the Mandalorian's thigh and sitting on it.

The Mandalorian placed the bowtie over the child’s head and down to its neck. 

Din stepped back and admired Grogu whose brown eyes stared down at the red bowtie quizzically.

“Grogu you can’t take that off, Y/N won’t be happy if you don’t wear that,” he told the baby who was trying to rip the piece of clothing from his neck.

Grogu stared up at him, his big brown eyes looking into his father’s helmet, and cooed with understanding.  

“Yeah now let’s get to the party,” Din told the child before picking him up and exiting the ship.

….

When Din entered the party he was shocked by the number of decorations that adorned the walls.

There were strings of lanterns that adorned the wall along with flowers.

It was definitely your touch.

Din searched the large room for you, trying to scout you out of the large mass of people that had squished inside.

Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder.

The Mandalorian turned around expecting it to be you but it was just Cobb Vanth.

The sheriff chuckled at the jerk of his helmet.

“I know you’re looking for your girl…she’s over there by the Twi’lek,” he pointed over to the right side of the room where many people danced to the beat of an instrument.

He still couldn’t see you.

“Over by the treats table,” Cobb said before Din finally laid his eyes on you.

Your hair was adorned with flowers and you were dressed in a beautiful dress that made your eyes sparkle.

Din could’ve sworn his heart stopped.

You were an angel.

“Yeah ain’t she a doll?” Cobb laughed before slapping the Mandalorian’s shoulder in a friendly way.

Din was lucky that there was a helmet covering his face because his cheeks glowed red from anger from Cobb’s comment and also how pretty you looked.

He saw you turn away from the Twi’lek and stare directly at him and the child.

Your eyes glowed as your mouth spread into a grin.

“It’s so nice to see you both!” you smiled before tickling Grogu’s chin.

“And look at you! You look so dashing in that cute little tie,” you gushed before pressing a kiss onto the child’s wrinkly green forehead.

“You look nice too, Din,” you gave him a sweet smile before touching his clothed wrist momentarily, the brief touch sending shivers down his spine.

“Yeah and uh…you look beautiful,” he said, his modulated voice masking his stuttering.

Another smile graced your face.

“Aww thank you, Din,” you put your arms behind your back and slightly swung them, trying to keep your mind from combusting at the Mandalorian’s comment.

Before Din could speak again, he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. 

He turned to find a Mirilian couple beaming at him.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” you put a hand on his shoulder before turning away and retreating toward the Twi’lek you were previously talking to.

Din was getting tired.

Being the guest of honor meant a lot of attention for him and the child which was something that he wasn’t used to.

He turned his helmet towards you, you were spinning to the beat of the instrument playing while hearty laughs came from your throat.

A wine glass full of a burgundy-colored drink sat in your hand as you continued to sway to the music.

Initially, Din wasn’t going to bother you and was just going to suck it up and try to enjoy himself at the party but Grogu was falling asleep on his shoulder.

So he started towards you, moving through the bustling and dancing crowd in front of him until he got to you.

The moment he reached for you he was interrupted by the sound of a glass shattering and a loud splash.

Your dress was now a burgundy color, a color that matched the color of his cheeks which were luckily guarded by his mask.

Your mouth hung agape as you stared at the big spot on your dress.

“Y/N I am so…so sorry,” he apologized profusely before you cut him off with a laugh.

His heart stopped.

He had spilled wine all over your beautiful dress and you were laughing?

He was confused.

“Din, it’s okay, this will come out the next time I wash our clothes,” you smiled.

Din exhaled feeling slightly better about splashing your dress.

“Aww I see someone is a little sleepy,” you cocked your head to the side before caressing the yawning child on the Mandalorian’s shoulder.

“Just a bit,” Din joked, trying to make light of the situation.

But you could see right through his mask.

“Come on let’s go home, Mando, I know you’re tired too,” you swung an arm over his shoulder and shook your head lightly.

Under his mask, a small smile stretched across Din’s face.

He was so in love with you.

#pedro pascal x reader #mandalorian x reader #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #din djarin fluff #star wars x reader #star wars imagine

[asukaskerian]

Battlefield Terra is one of those works that just...changed my brain chemistry for so many reasons. I still go back and read it and think about it. This isnt an ask to return to it (though wouldn't be upset) but just to like thank you for putting the amount of it that you did out there

.__. *squish squish* thank you.

i cannot REMEMBER for the life of me if i ever posted any of the scene bits i had written in the chapter i never completed. first scene is actually one i love a lot, but then the battle scene was overtly complex and too long and had required so many rewrites and nothing worked. hghghhg.

but. anyway. this is the scene with the fallout from the "oh shit i kissed the alien am I GAY after all?????? oh fucking hell why did i notice JUST AT THE SAME TIME AS I NOTICE HOW MUCH HE'S NEVER GONNA *DECIDE NOT TO GO HOME* vfbndjh gnx;"

--

"And this is why it never pays to be stingy with technology," Jane said philosophically from the bucket seat next to John.

Strapped in like a sausage in its skin, John still managed to turn his helmet and grin at his sister. "Aw, come on, you didn't want the industry to cut into its profit margin, did you."

In the corner of his -- of all the pilots' -- glasses was an explosion of Spanish and Chinese sentences, nonsensical words, and Roxy-worthy typos.

The industry thing was mostly a joke; the think-typing-thoughts interface had first been developed for quadriplegics and amputees, and outside of hardcore nerds and professionals whose job required they be able to code very fast, people still preferred using their actual hands. One good reason for it: at the level of miniaturization necessary to put the brain sensors into glasses, it was new enough to still be expensive.

The new communication hub was a complete mess of hundreds of people trying it on for the first time, and it was hilarious.

"--Wow, hey, I know what that guy is doing! Oh my god, it's excellent, he's trying to think in sign language." Roxy giggled, tried to kick her feet only they were also strapped in. The craft was still accelerating, after all. Bleh. "Only then he has to transcribe into English, and he's doing it super literally! Hehehe."

Jane perked up a little. "Huh! No wonder the grammar was odd."

ID28YB: holy shit were all guna die in space aaaa

ID28YB: on the upside italics!

ID17NC: fuck how do you backspace backspacebacmlnpi

ID13JA: SARGANT MY CAPCLOSK IS FUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ID01JA: Like shit it is, PrivatE.

ID01JA: DamN.

ID98NZ: fifty Nine bottles of beer ON THE WALL, take one DOWN pass itaround FIftynIneBOTTLES on Thewall!!!!!

"I'll be so glad when they lock it down to emergency communications again," Jade said from John's other side, and sighed.

"At least the bosses forbid them to use colors," John said, trying for consoling. (He kind of failed, mostly because he was snickering.)

Jake chuckled from his seat at the end of the line, on Jade's other side, but didn't add anything. He hadn't really been talking much ever since they took off, and since they couldn't lean out of their seats it was really hard to see what face he was making. John wondered if he was worried about --

Of course he was worried. And if John thought about all the reasons why, he was going to start to fret too. His stomach was already in a knot behind the adrenaline grin, no need to double down on it.

"Hey Jake," he threw out, with no idea what kind of light-conversation topic he was going to pull out. "D'you think--"

"Say, chaps, I think I feel lighter!" Jake interrupted.

"Huh, yeah, maybe?" John tried to bounce his leg and wasn't sure if there was a difference yet. It was hard to feel the lessening weight of his body when it was such a knot of anticipation already, and when he couldn't move. "Wow. Are we reaching cruising speed already? There was no announcement--"

The door opened and Corporal Vantas stepped through.

(Not Karkat. There was a difference.)

"Woohoo, you clean up nice!" Roxy said with a whistle as he stalked closer in his alien boots and his space-black flight suit, head bare but for the jarringly pink headset nestled against his horns. John noticed all over again that his skin was slate gray, that his eyes were violently red and yellow.

That he moved through the heavy gravity of the rocket's push like it wasn't even there, when John himself -- at least at first -- would have wobbled.

"What mean -- no, I don't care."

He sat beside Jake in the free seat at the end that should have gone to Dirk, and disappeared from John's view, what with the helmets and the protruding edges of the bucket seats. John swallowed and put a smile on his face, even though no one was going to see him. For a second he had thought Karkat was coming toward him. Haha, silly.

"No more talk with the Generals, Karkat?" Jane asked, tone forcefully light.

"Mm. No."

"Talk with us now? Do you have anything important to say or just hanging out?"

John's eyes flitted over the logs on his glasses, the higher ranks starting to organize to separate the chatter by platoons. It was still mostly banter and bad jokes.

"...Hanging out? Yes. Hanging out. Here, not... other here. I'm Corporal not General, it's not fucking right I'm with them."

It was the exact same tone the Marines John knew used when they got offended when their chain of command got dumbass ideas. Heh.

Maybe a little hesitation. Maybe just the translation issues.

JH: haha, you guys *wish* you could type in colors!

ID28YB: if by colors u mean rainbow fruity goodness then sure :(

ID28YB: i wanted mauve goddamn!!

JH: maybe better that you can't have it, echidna would have had to cut you. :'(

(Urgh. He missed Rose. He wished she were well enough to fight with them today.)

Jade joined the conversation, asked Karkat about... John wasn't listening. What the politicos had told him, when he was alone with them without a translator. Stuff. Boring stuff.

Karkat's low, gravelly voice kept slipping into his ears no matter how hard he tried not to pay attention to the words. ("You talk I fall on you a lot. Maybe you want --")

Anyway when the loudspeaker in the wall started talking he was pretty glad.

"Attention troops, cruise speed has been reached. Stay seated until your immediate superior allows you to stand..."

Two clicks echoed around him, Jade and Roxy undoing their security harnesses in unison.

"Oh my god, I'm so stiff," Jade groaned. "I'm going to check on Remington, anyone wanna come with?"

"You sit still for longer stretches of time in battle," Jane pointed out as she freed herself in turn, as Jake was still fighting his clasps.

"In battle my seat is perfectly adapted to my butt!"

The girls started to file out, talking about butts, and John almost heard Dave mentioning butt massages, almost mentioned it himself but. No. That would have been wrong even if two thirds of the lot weren't family.

He thought of following them. He would just skip along, snicker and stretch his legs and tease the Marines and...

"See you guys later," he said instead, waving without looking, heart a pulsating knot in his throat. "Karkat and I have to practice the telepathy-typing thing. Well, mostly me."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, listened to the tread of boots on the hard plastic floor.

He didn't need to look in order to know which one of them was Karkat, getting up and moving one seat down the line.

Leaving one seat empty between them. Huh. John wasn't sure how to take that one.

"Huhn. You want telepathy now?"

John winced to himself. "It's pretty much now or in the middle of battle, isn't it?"

A beat of silence, and then Karkat grunted an acknowledgement. "Mm."

"Mm," John agreed, and kept on not making a move toward his own headset. Karkat's was already in place, possibly already turned on. John just had to tap.

"Maybe we speak and then headsets," Karkat suggested.

"... Yeah, maybe that."

John made a superfluous noise of agreement, and then groaned and pushed his helmet off his head, tucked it between his feet. He took his gloves off next, dropped them inside the helmet, and then buried both hands in his hair to scratch and rub with vigorous frustration. It did not soothe him as much as he had hoped for.

"This is the worst timing," he groaned, muffled, as he curled forward until he could prop his elbows on his thighs and lace his fingers behind his head. His spine cracked.

The worst timing, and the worst thing. He wasn't sure he'd have taken it much better elsewhere, with more time to take care of the fallout. It sucked. His head was a mess just when he absolutely needed to be as perfectly in the zone as he had ever been in his entire life.

"I'm sorry," Karkat said quietly. "We do big things today. I was stupid. Even if you said oh yes good, kissing! it's other things in our head and we can't have other things in our head now. I didn't do the good thing."

John groaned quietly, face prickling with heat, and closed his eyes. "No, it's... Yeah. Yeah, okay, that wasn't -- the right time. But you... You were right. I was looking."

He hadn't managed to stop looking even once since he'd seen Karkat naked, coming out of his slime. Maybe he had even been looking before that, playing it off as fascination with Karkat's alienness. Kind of like 'haha no I just like looking at his horns because they're weird, so random amirite!' only with everything else on top of the horns, like his little bitey teeth on goth-black lips and his bare toes and the fit of his goddamn dress suit at the summit--

"So why--" Karkat fell silent, drew in a breath, and then released it in a long, hissing sigh and muttered under his breath in alienese. John couldn't even offer a guess from the tone this time around.

Why did you kiss back, he could have been asking. Why did you stop kissing. Why did you never make a move. Why did you make a move now. Why are you such an idiotic mess.

Answer was the same for all of them, anyway. "I don't know."

"Why do you not know that?!" Karkat shot back -- more incredulous than angry, but John winced anyway. "How you look at a people and don't know, and other people tell you 'yes, them' and you say 'haha, no' and you're wrong?"

"Oh, shut up!" John snapped as he threw himself back into his chair, his arms coming up to cross tight against his ribs. Even now he couldn't look toward Karkat at all, shoulders curled in and away from the other man. His stomach felt like someone was squeezing it with both hands; his face still prickled with mortification. It was awful, he wanted to get up and run just to get moving, stop having to think on it -- leave the feeling behind -- but he knew better than to think it would work. He knew better and he still wanted to try, flinching and too tense; what a shit condition for battle. Fuck. "I know, okay? I'm the most stupid jerk--"

Karkat's hand was hot even through the glove.

He tugged on John's elbow, lightly, squeezed a little.

"Zhann."

"... Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," he said, sounding tired, and his hand fell from John's arm. "It's shit words."

John sneaked him a look; Karkat wasn't looking directly at John either, mouth pinched in discomfort, eyes dim somehow.

"Is it I'm alien and it's gross? So you don't in your head because ... haha, gross, can't be true--"

"No!" John spluttered, turning in his seat as much as he could to face him. "No, no, you being an alien is -- it is weird, but it's not bad, it's just not normal. It's... You're a guy?"

Karkat looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Huhn?"

God. It figured. For all the joking about Karkat being gay that John had been doing like an asshole, he'd mentioned an old girlfriend too, and the cat girl who liked him that he didn't want to lead on, and it had never felt like she was disqualified because of boobs.

Also -- ugh, thanks Dirk and his casual beach gossipping -- Karkat thought Jade's butt was nice, and so was Mr. Strider's. So. Bisexual.

The way he looked now, baffled and not liking it, it was a little like he had never heard of someone who wasn't. Oh boy. What a mess. John raked a hand through his hair, tried to get back into explaining mode.

"It's -- we're mammals, remember? We need a boy and a girl to. To make little humans. That means normally we don't want other males, or other females, because -- there can be no babies? So a boy doesn't have a boyfriend, he has a girlfriend, and... The other way around, too. Boy and girl, yes, boy and boy no?"

"... Huhn."

"I mean. Some men like men! Dirk and Mr. Strider like men. But they knew it pretty early on. They knew when they were kids -- when they were small? -- that they were like that. And I've never." He swallowed. "I've never. Thought about a guy. Like that."

"Oh."

"And it's really weird." He gave a twitch of a shrug, looked away. "... And I don't know if it's because of the telepathy."

"Oh," Karkat said again, but this time he sounded stricken, not baffled.

John dropped a hand on Karkat's forearm across the empty seat, patted awkwardly -- wanted to squeeze or hold his wrist (or hold his hand) but that was just -- even such a short touch made his stomach twist with odd queasiness, his face flush back to maximum redness. "It's okay, buddy. I don't -- it's just. ... Don't feel bad, okay, that's stupid, I just -- it is weird, but --"

Karkat's breastbone beeped. Scowling down, he fished his tablet out of his collar, unrolled it, shook it stiff. Oh. Little countdown shown in rows of dots, going one by one from red to dark.

Five seconds to a dot, fifteen dots to a row, and how many rows... Hm. Ten minutes left before... John wasn't sure. They weren't going to be there yet in ten minutes.

"My mech. Gotta wake up, it's slow." Karkat waved a brisk hand, eyebrows furled in worry.

John closed his eyes. "Do you want to practice the mind-typing?"

"It's not want," Karkat grunted, slanting him a look. "... It's going to be bad."

"Mm."

"We need bigger time, not this," he added, tapping the tablet with the outside curve of a claw.

John tried out a dry shrug, and thought to himself that he really didn't enjoy it, that 'if you fuck this up you will have fucked everything up' feeling. Dread was for the battlefield, not for stupid interpersonal relationships. 

"Probably. We can keep working on it once we're in our mechs, too..."

Karkat snorted, replied something in alienese that had to be 'We had better.'

Yeah, okay. John just had to put his helmet back on.

"We don't have time for this crap!" he growled -- whined, if he wanted to be fair, something strangled and pleading, frustrated.

"Mnh."

John curled forward, hands cupping his temples, elbows on his knees. "Damn it. I don't -- I can't -- in ten minutes, that's too--"

There was no way he was going to be able to stop thinking about all the things he didn't want to think about, all the things -- the petty, selfish things -- he didn't want Karkat to know about.

Like the incontrovertible fact that no matter what John figured out he wanted, whatever compromises they found with each other, there was no magic button that would make Karkat stay.

He'd been in Karkat's head too much to imagine for one second he would weigh out John and the dubious safety Earth offered him against his people -- his people abused and thrown out like shark bait to be mowed down by enemies and superiors alike -- and choose John.

John was pretty sure Karkat wouldn't even choose Gamzee.

"Do you want sex." 

John flinched around and back so fast he hit his shoulder blade against one of the edges of the seat.

Karkat was looking back at him -- steady, John thought at first, but his lower eyelids were tight, his cheeks just a little dusky. The heat on John's face cooled down just barely at that.

"I ask so it's not more alien bullshit thing. It's what you want?"

"Oh my god," John protested, looking around wildly in case anyone had managed to open the sealing doors to the small room without the hiss of pneumatics warning them. "I don't know! I'm not -- I swear I'm not lying, I don't -- this is freaking me out."

"I see that, dumbass," Karkat said, but almost nicely. "You're so bad in your head, I don't know you can get that much a clusterfuck."

John groaned, slumped forward again.

"... Mouth thing, was good?"

"... Yeah."

"Touching?"

John gave a little grunt, eyes closed.

"Want where?"

"Why do you need to know?!"

There was a moment of silence like Karkat rolling his eyes, or maybe just watching him, waiting. John didn't check. 

"Zhann."

"... Horns? Maybe your hands. I kind of. Want to see your claws. We could sit close? We could--" He choked. His face prickled so hot it almost hurt. He wanted to touch Karkat's face, follow his nose with a fingertip -- he wanted Karkat to allow that, the trust and closeness it would mean.

"That's where?" Karkat grumbled, gave John a frustrated look. John tore his eyes away, ducked his head. Where had he -- when they had kissed (his mouth tingled like an echo) -- when Karkat was so close, almost on his lap, what had he --

"Your thighs," he whispered, dizzy with nerves and shame. "Inside." He clenched his knees together, hands knotted between them -- oh, Karkat's legs clamped down on his hand, all warm and snug. Muscles bunching, straining. So close to his -- his. Oh shit, John couldn't pop a boner inside his flight suit, not while Karkat was watching, while they were hashing out how much of a total clusterfuck this was going to be.

There was silence for too long -- three seconds, ten, every single one tightening his shoulders, knotting his guts worse, nausea and heat mingling dizzyingly.

"... Put your head thing on, Zhann."

John groaned out loud. "Are you kidding me, I will die. I don't want you to -- there's too much, it's. We can't!"

But when he glanced at the tablet still across Karkat's lap they were down to the last two rows of dots and it was now or never. More accurately, now or on the battlefield when they were supposed to coordinate two forces that had never fought together against ... however many of those aliens who wouldn't have followed some random high-ranked asshole from nowhere into open rebellion.

He shoved the helmet down before he could think about it twice. It felt too tight, like he was going to strangle, to be crushed.

Karkat felt too close; an empty seat between them and John still remembered him in Excalibur's cockpit, how easy it would have been to slip on his lap and kiss and--

(Yeah okay definitely sexual there) flitted through his mind from Karkat, alongside ... surprise, oh wow, so violent, stop feeling, not the end of the world --

John flashed back to his previous thought -- sitting next to each other and his hand trapped between strong thighs and oh shit he was getting hard, no, no --

(hand pushing higher) echoed back briefly, edged with curiosity, a spark of -- Karkat shook his head, slapped his own hands down onto his knees, hard enough to sting. John startled. "Okay!" Karkat said, staring straight ahead.

He was maybe smiling a little.

Okay yes we need to talk later I don't fuck and run (do you?)

John spluttered. "How would I know!" I've never/and run where anyway we're on an island!

Take your mech, zip off? (laughter) (mister space pilot, so locked in.) Wait, never? How old-- oh right no one around only older adults and your tangleclan/friends and you can't with half of them because blah blah mammals (and not boys? Why not boys. Aliens what the fuck.)

John groaned again, hands on his helmet since he couldn't get to his face. Could have Rose or Roxy! Roxy was my first kiss! (haha sloppy-alright-nice but I saw you fingers up your nose too much as a kid sorry John I like you tender-nice but it all fizzed out) and Rose kissed me on a dare and it was like kissing Jane it was horrible.

And that was the entire fucking extent of your romantic and sexual experience oh my dear little dark gods that's pitiful. (sharp/teal/lovely-blade moaning over me (tight-soft-deep) other hurried hands in dark corners--) shit sorry--

Oh. Of course Karkat had had sex before. Of course he would know more, of course John was hopelessly late and useless -- he couldn't even bring himself to think about, about kissing, never mind what happened later, he was a kid--

The tablet beeped.

"Shit," Karkat said in English, and another few words that echoed as bounce me around on a bladed dildo. Which, yeowch. He turned to stare at John, already half out of his seat and leaning forward, a claw-tipped hand clenched on the armrest. "(I gotta get going now. John, do you--)"

He was leaning forward like he was about to kiss John, if John hadn't been wearing a helmet, and John knew full well that wasn't at all what he'd been doing, knew because he was in Karkat's brain, and still couldn't help but fear-hope for it.

(I'll kiss you if we win) flashed between them, too fast to hold back. No wait sorry (god it'd feel nice) we have to talk first and -- not now, cannot be now.

John laughed, mostly from nerves. I'll come with you (sit in cockpit think tappy thoughts oh my god they'll love transcripts of your foul mouth be hilarious what if I accidentally transcribe the sex thoughts too oh no oh no--)

Karkat's hand caught his wrist.

"(Do you trust me,)" he said low and intense, in an alienese that John almost didn't notice as not English from how strong the mind-echo was.

The response came embarrassingly instantaneous. "Of course I --" He swallowed. What do you want me to do?

Okay. (You are ridiculous) (thank you.)

Karkat crinkled his golden-red eyes at John and for the first time John realized he doesn't mind how I feel.

Crushes happen, Karkat replied almost casually, with a little pleased-flattered-glad trill running underneath. Crushes happen to me in particular all the damn time so I have no stones to throw. (I know this one is worse, tangled-odd with headsets but it was kind of predictable too especially because of the headsets.)

A harsh beep.

No more time. Follow me?

Follow you where, John wondered, and then Karkat showed him.

His mind nudged closer. Body alive with battle arousal, heart thumping too fast, just barely shaky in his body and he need-wanted John's cheerful-calm interest, his certainty. They should absolutely not kiss before the battle because he would cling and waste time hoping for time to stop instead and also they really needed to hash that shit out but oh, so smug that he'd been right all along. His face winced briefly at whatever echo John sent back, and then he --

(Terrifying/not right/I will never manage alone.) 

John's gorge rose. (can't let that happen/you're not alone (I'm not alone either can't be please god--)

(Good,) rang like a bell between them, and then Karkat's direct, almost forceful Dive(/echo/merge) with me.

John's hands closed tight enough on the armrests that the hard plastic cracked under his fingertips at the thought, visualized like two discordant graphs slowly entering resonance, like rebounding, endless echoes -- the pattering, muted thunder of armies in lockstep. But -- but too close so many things I can't share, how?! Can't sync if we're like this I'm mortified (want to die/hide/wash it out of my brain) you're -- you're --

I want to fight. (Scared to fight.) I need to fight. Silly flurry of thoughts -- bothersome, I have them too (misjudged when to tell people about psychics, misjudged you, (this is not a romcom where you are the heroine what the fuck Vantas,) could have endangered/maybe did endanger the operation twice) we can sync on that! (would be bad). Or we can sync on --

Mechs. Piloting.

Winning the goddamn battle.

We had better not think of beds, John sent Karkat, smile shaking on his face. Karkat snorted back, crooking him a smile.

They bumped foreheads -- or forehead and helmet -- and straightened up, because it was time to go.

They stood (John stood) and walked to the door, one-two, one-two. (Easier if we walk in sync, they agreed, and wondered if it would also work mirrored. But they would experiment later, John, now where was the hangar?)

It was… odd, not quite seamless, little twitches of individual thoughts -- not like last time, at the conference.

It was easier when a Marine came across them -- Sergeant, look at the shoulder bars -- and said, "I was assigned to escort, uh, you, Corporal Vantas..."

"We're coming," they assured her with two mouths (unnecessary) (but which is it again.) "How long do we have left?"

"Four minutes," she said, carefully expressionless in her bulking power armor, the helmet politely open still as she placed herself opposite from the claws side. 

Can you blame her though? haha.

It's not like I didn't help patch those weaknesses.

How'd you even find -- oh, yeah.

Of course horn sense would perceive the electricity field where crucial wires ran, the way a solid plate trembled under a headbutt at the weaker places, of course Karkat's terror would crank his pitiful amount of sensitivity up higher and the luck of frenetic, half-blind panic do the rest.

The upgraded armor would be a little harder but they had the brute strength to punch through and the claws to tear wiring free. Should be easy -- but the Marines weren't the enemy. Strong-respectful-friendly-safe. Distant-confused too (we're too young for how much weight/responsibility we carry) but nice, mostly.

The bay where they were keeping (dad) the mech was empty, if well-guarded; the Marines had taken the warning that the biomechs sometimes ate people to heart, it seemed. Which was hilarious, because (dad) was way too tired to lunge and chomp, which... wasn't funny at all, actually. (When they won, the first thing they'd do would be to put him to a feeding/repairs station.)

They scaled the black-shelled side of the mech, pushing and pulling each body from handhold to foothold -- chinks in the shell, the edge of a plate. (They avoided the gaping cavity of its ripped-away manipulating-arm, no matter how convenient it would have been for a step-up.) The edge of the cockpit opening was cracked open like a wound, ready to be pushed through -- convenient but loose because dad was tired; worrying but nothing to be done for now -- thank god they'd gotten the flight suit back because those weird cotton clothes were a clinging, heavy pain when soaked through with neural gel...

Oh right. John's flight suit might not react quite well to the neural fluid now that dad-mech knew it. What if it dissolved? Haha, naked in the cockpit. Or more like half-naked with strategically placed, slowly widening holes, talk about a porn flick setting. Didn't help that the dissolving/digesting gels used to clean dirt and dead skin cells might also trigger if Dad felt contrary enough and also eat through yeah okay, that was an unsexy thought. John/Karkat crouched, one body on the solid edge, one across the cracked-open plates, and then sinking, eyes closed.

It was the perfect temperature inside, but that never made that first deep breath of gel any easier. He breathed air deeper with the body still outside, like the unencumbered-lungs feeling could help (it helped, even though oxygen wasn't going to come through telepathically. Bodies were stupidly easy to trick.) and settled inside within the nest of coils, seeking out the one that went -- ow, yeah, there, in the flight suit slot at the base of his neck, between the vertebrae.

Wake up, he thought at it, through the neural gel and through the spinal tap, letting it feel his nerve impulses so they could sync more thoroughly. Wake up, (flight systems, weapon arms, no more standby) there's a battle coming. 

Once the process was started it was a matter of waiting until it was sufficiently awake (and burning through the last of its energy.) The Karkat body wiggled into place, let the other tentacles slot into their ports to read his every muscle twitch, so the mech would be ready to move before he even thought it coherently enough to decide exactly what movement he wanted, and then settled down.

It was easier to keep in sync if they weren't both doing different things. The John body waited until the other one was at rest and then stood up, let himself slide along rib covers until gravity flung him off entirely, still pretty high over the ground; he landed in a perfectly timed crouch, laughing a little in admiration (Gods of the Devouring-dark but this body was convenient) and walked out of the hangar.

The Marines at the door didn't look at him like a stranger-threat or even a superior-officer-threat, more like a low-caste soldier might look at a beloved high-blue who cared-possessive for them (still dangerous in the abstract, never quite controllable, but theirs.) It was so strange, so normal.

"Is Corporal Vantas going to stay inside his mech?" the sergeant asked him, falling into step.

"Yes, Sergeant," he assured her soberly. "Until we go."

They weren't sure why that got them a weird look, but it was probably nothing to fret about. The metal mechs' bay door was just there -- similarly guarded but they let John/Karkat pass without a word; one of them nodded at him, fierce and grim-eyed. He nodded back the same way, and then -- oh -- worried that it might worry them, because John usually joked before a battle and soldiers didn't like things to be different. Bad luck. But by then they were at the lift and it was a bit too late to fret about the mental state of grunts.

They opened the cockpit and walked in, swung around to sit. The butt-hollow still felt wrong. 

So many buttons and toggles and it was a wonder John never got them wrong regarding which did what. (Heh.)

The arm-rest where Karkat had sat ... for a moment John-alone was sent reeling, buzzing, experiencing it from the other side -- the tingle of excitement-certainty, that wordless moment when you finally knew the other person was interested, had been flirting back, the pleasure-relief of feeling wanted and known. So touching-surprising-soft to find John so far from cocky carelessness, from being sure of Karkat.

It was sweet, Karkat felt. John stared at the screens he was bringing to life and read the words he knew by heart like they might have changed somehow, tried to think war thoughts.

Weapons check, Karkat thought, tinged with apology-for-the-distraction, tinged with fondness/you-are-sweet.

John went through a weapons check.

They'd left him Excalibur's usual monofilament swords, breakable as they were -- one-hit kills was more Dave's thing than John's -- but he had his hammer too, and the more usual set of bombs and missiles.

Also two EMP bombs. He thought back to Karkat shying away from the microwave and the difference in yield and --

Yeowch vicious yeah that'll work. Not through the home-ship hull (gotta shield from star radiations) but it'll work. How come no one generals-making-plans told me we had that -- wait fuck I'm stupid of course no one would tell me when they were still considering using it on me. It'll work on the biomechs and probably the troop transports but I don't know about the range.

Excal's got good radiation shields, so we can get pretty close and make sure of the kill, John reminded him, and then Karkat reminded him they weren't supposed to wade in, just watch-coordinate from the back.

Like that'll last, they both thought, so closely that maybe neither one had thought it first, that they'd just both had the exact same amused-despairing reaction.

They went through the flight check in comfortable, whispering quiet.

#battlefield terra #asuka writes #this dates from 2017 sobs #homestuck #jonhkat

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Still Subject to Change Chapter 9 (NEW)

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Hello everyone! i decided to repost arc 1 of SSTC

(the chapters were way too long and had a bunch of typos but hopefully this will make reading easier)

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

if there are still any grammatical errors i'm sorry.

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Seeing the forest come closer I was actually relieved to finally be out of here and looked over my shoulder to see that the tower really was built to keep big Monsters in there with its thick walls and embedded spikes.

I shuddered and hoped I would never see this thing again, so turning back I instead focused on the treeline and not stepping on anyone.

Yep, still weird to think about that I could end someone's life with a single misstep and I tried not to think about it, and instead just drag my feet over the ground so that if someone were to be there they'd get toppled over and not squished under me.

Reaching the Forest's edge I assumed that they would let us go now, but it seemed we were still too close to their Kingdom so we had to walk into the forest even further.

I didn't dare speak out of fear that they would shoot me, but Robin seemed to have no such concerns.

“When are we there? I want to talk to Donovan, also where's Arthur?”

I tensed at his last Question accidentally squishing Arthur a tiny bit making him move more than before and I hurried to hold my breath and cut off his air supply, however that worked.

He stopped moving after a few seconds but this sure had been a scare, if he had woken up and someone noticed it we would have been fucked.

I still felt incredibly guilty but it couldn't be helped, I just hoped he'd understand.

I almost missed the guy's answer as I was busy holding my breath and my attention was focused more… inwards.

“Oh you can talk to your big friend later ALLLLLL you want as for this Arthur guy? He's been taken care of don't worry”

I did Not like the condescending tone the Guard had used but I couldn't really do anything about it which frustrated me even more.

At least Rikaad was able to step between them and shot a death glare at the offending guard who actually backed up a bit.

We continued walking in silence, safe for the Guards communicating amongst themselves.

I could feel Arthur lying limply against my insides, only moving occasionally and sending a thrill up my nervous system whenever he made a bigger movement.

I tried to Ignore it but since he was literally inside me that was near impossible, and I couldn't help but worry about the feeling.

What if that's what the Bracelet made me do? What if one day it urged me to eat someone for real?

Shoving these thoughts down I instead focused on the road so I wouldn't trip, and I could see that the tower was a bit further away now.

I really hoped they would just let us be already but it seemed that we were still too close to the Kingdom for their comfort.

At this point we had already passed the spot where I got shot at and were led even deeper into the woods towards the mountain.

Coming to a bigger clearing they ushered Robin and Rikaad to be in the center and threw both of them a bag, probably their own stuff judging by the clunking sound of metal.

The Guards still surrounded me, but I wanted them to go away already so I could talk to Robin and try to find a spot where I could let Arthur out so Rikaad wouldn't see it.

Arthur himself was still peacefully asleep, courtesy of a low oxygen environment and had thankfully not woken up during all of this.

But I did dread the part where he would, I didn't know how he would react and it scared me.

I also had to fight to keep my hand from settling over the warm lump in my core so as to not give away anything to the Guards.

The Guards walked around me to stand at the treeline of the small clearing, I didn't move as I really didn't want to step on someone.

Suddenly a Horse came up with an ironclad knight on its back.

The rider removed the helmet and i could see that it was the king, nobody else i knew had such a monobrow.

Did he follow us? I immediately became worried, Would he tell the others that I ate Arthur? I hoped not.

The guards all stood in a line next to him with their crossbows loaded.

I had a bad feeling about this and I was proven right as the king suddenly had a wicked grin on his face.

“SOLDIER! AIM! SHOOT THE BEAST! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH A MONSTER NEAR MY KINGDOM!”

Aa all the Guards suddenly aimed their crossbows at me.

I didn't even wait to see what they would do and Instead turned to run in the opposite direction, snatching up Robin and Rikaad as I did so and getting the hell away from there as fast as I could.

Ignoring Rikaads surprised shout i just ran towards the mountains to bring as much distance between us and Maringand as possible making sure to not drop either of them.

Feeling Arthur start to move again I held my breath once more hoping that he'd fall back asleep even with all the movement.

It took longer than before and sprinting while not breathing made my lungs burn but after about three minutes he was still again.

I really hoped none of the others had noticed him squirming but glancing down while running showed that Rikaad was focused on the way we came, probably looking for any pursuers and Robin was just Clinging to my fingers.

I ran until I could no more, occasionally holding my breath to prevent Arthur from waking up.

I didn't really know how long I had been running but as I looked back I could not see the tower anymore and it was well after midday.

I sank to my knees gently letting Robin and Rikaad to the ground while I panted, my lungs burned from running and holding my breath and I did my best to calm down as fast as possible.

I did not want Arthur to wake up now from all this, not now at least.

I was still trying to figure out how to handle this and having him wake up now would be extremely awkward.

Rikaad seemed to stand Guard and looked in the direction we came from.

“We should continue after you rested, then we can figure out what happened to Arthur and how to get him back”

Ah fuck i really needed to make a plan.

Looking at Robin instead to make sure he was alright too and I didn't grab him too harshly I saw him staring at me, or more specifically my middle.

While I sat there I had unconsciously put a hand over my Pouch where Arthur lay and I yanked it back, looking at Robin and putting a finger over my lips to tell him to never say a word about it.

He nodded but still tilted his head at me with curious look in his eyes, i would tell him later what had happened, when I got the chance to do that without Rikaad listening in.

Being hunched over like this made the weight in my core just a lot more prominent as Arthur was lying on what was previously the front wall.

Getting up again and holding my breath anew even if I still felt like I needed more time to rest.

And feeling Arthur slide around in my pouch when I was hunched over was a bit weird.

I wanted to go as far away as possible as fast as possible from that place so I forced myself to continue on.

“Alright let's go i want to never go near that hellhole again we can worry about Arthur when i'm sure i wont get shot again”

I slowly stood up and went to walk even more towards the mountain.

I was glad that riding on horseback through the woods was not a good idea, otherwise we'd have to worry about that too right now.

Holding my breath again I went in the direction of the mountains in a straight line, not like there were any roads here anyway.

Robin scrambled after me and Rikaad started to walk faster too to keep up.

“It is going to be dark soon we should look for a campsite if possible”

At Rikaads words i looked around, it was indeed getting darker, How long had i been running?

No matter right now I needed to get Arthur out without the others or at least Rikaad noticing and I still didn't have a plan on how to do that.

So we ended up setting up a temporary camp near a river, still far enough to not be able to see said river but close enough to get water, and I felt extremely awkward the entire time.

I had their Friend within me for fucks sake! And the only one that didn't know was Rikaad at this point.

It didn't help that I had to fight with myself to keep my hands from straying to settle onto my middle.

If Rikaad did notice my odd behavior he didn't say anything about it luckily.

I kept frequently holding my breath to make sure Artur did not wake up and hoped to God that this wouldn't give him brain damage from the low oxygen he had been exposed to for some time now.

The Dark came as soon as we managed to light a fire, The crackling sounds provided a soothing white noise and I finally got an idea as I saw in the glinting light how dirty my legs had become.

And not just my legs, everything about me was dusty and on some spots downright caked in dried or fresh mud.

So I stood up and on the other two confused looks told them what I was going to do.

“I'm going to wash myself in the river, stay here i don't want any of you seeing me without clothing”

Robin looked a bit confused at first but then nodded, motioning a thumbs up, he'd been weirdly quiet since the capture.

I would talk to him later to make sure he was alright but for now I had other things to deal with.

Rikaad just made a dismissive hand motion and instead focused on the fire so I left to go a good bit downstream, away from where they could hear or see me.

I went a good bit further than that to make sure that even if it got loud they wouldn't notice, which took about five minutes to walk.

I had stopped holding my breath while walking and I could feel Arthur start to move again as I took deep breaths to supply him with fresh air.

The movements were confused at first, then a curious hand prodded my insides before he went still again, not unconscious, more like a stiff weight that held itself and it seemed like he was terrified of moving.

I even heard him say.

“Oh fuck”

I finally allowed myself to put a hand on my abdomen and poked at him, receiving a surprised noise in response.

“Arthur? Are you okay?”

He shifted confusedly for a second before answering.

“What? You ate me, why would you ask that?”

He seemed still a bit groggy so I would do one thing after the other for now.

“I didn't really eat you, but can you tell me if you're okay?”

I was a bit worried over the fact that I had essentially kept him in a low air environment and hoped I didn't damage his brain or something.

“What do you mean by that? And uh… well i Feel fine? wait-”

He started shifting a lot and I had to bite back a pleased hum at the feeling of having my insides rubbed, I didn't want to scare him after all.

“What the FUCK! Donovan, what the hell is going on?!”

He suddenly was a lot more energetic, seemingly having figured out that he'd been in there for some time now and was still okay.

So best to finally explain this…chaos.

“First off you're fine! And you will stay fine! You're not in my stomach okay?”

“Where the hell am I then? You fucking ate me!”

Well there was the anger, but now I knew that beneath that anger was fear, so I would try my best to reassure him.

“You are in my pouch not my stomach, basically i have some of my organs doubled but not all of them work so you're fine and nothing will happen to you in there”

He seemed to freeze at my words, likely trying to comprehend what I just told him.

Then I felt an indignant kick against my insides.

“WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THIS SOONER!”

Now he really was angry instead of afraid and I sighed.

“I literally couldn't! Not with that Monobrow guy listening in! He would have killed us both!

Besides You said it yourself that you couldn't act to save your life! I'm sorry that I had to do this but it's better than death isn't it?”

He seemed to calm down at my words, probably realizing that I was right.

“So wait, are we still in the tower or why are you suddenly talking to me? And how did you manage to keep me asleep during all of this???”

At least those two questions were easy to answer but I hoped he wouldn't get angry again at hearing that I had deprived him of air.

“We are not in the tower anymore, i got us as far away as possible when we got out, as for keeping you asleep well uh- I just held my breath so you'd get less air?”

He didn't kick or punch me, instead he just flopped backwards against the walls of my pouch.

“You know what, okay why not? Are at least Robin and Rikaad okay? Wait, do they know I'm in here?”

I decided to try and answer the questions in the order I heard them.

“The others are okay, they are at out camp a bit away and no the don't know where you are, at least Rikaad doesn't, and i'd appreciate it if you'd never tell them about this, i'm not keen on getting stabbed by Rikaad to be honest”

He shifted again a bit and I had to suppress another delighted hum.

“So if we are away from the tower can you let me out? No offense but i don't like this and i never want to repeat it”

Walking a bit into the stream after chucking my shoes onto a boulder to keep them dry while he talked I could understand that he didn't want to do this ever again, so as long as he promised to not tell anyone I'd let him out as soon as possible.

“Of course I'll let you out just give me a sec, also can you promise me to never tell Rikaad about this? I'll help you come up with a believable cover story if you want”

Coming up with something would probably be difficult as he admitted to being a bad actor, so something simple would have to do.

Feeling him move again to sit up I walked even deeper into the widest part of the river, but the water still didn't go over my entire legs so I just stood there in the calves deep water listening for his answer.

“Yeah sure, i even swear on God to not tell Rikaad unless you tell me to, now get me out of here”

“Alright… try to go limp… i'm going to get you out now”

I felt a squirm of confirmation as I pressed in with my hand, and tensed up as I forced my body to throw up the form in my pouch.

Feeling something travel the wrong way up your esophagus wasn't by any means pleasant but I was used to it by now from the years of hiding valuables in there.

It wasn't long until I felt the cursing form of Arthur reenter my mouth and I plucked him out with two fingers, dangling him over the river in the pale moonlight.

“Fucking hell! How long was I in there? And set me down already! I hate this!”

I couldn't really set him down right now as I stood in the middle of the river and he would get swept away by the cool water that flowed around my legs so I instead cupped him in my hands.

He was a lot less slimy than I thought he'd be but still needed a wash to get rid of the bit of slime that did cling to him.

“One second, unless you want me to dump you in the river, also how are you? Are you okay?”

I walked back towards the riverbank so I could set him down.

“I've seen better days to be honest, and i'm sorry for what my uncle did to you guys”

Setting him down slowly onto the rocky dirt covered shore I went to wring out the hem of my shirt that had gotten wet when I bent over to get Arthur out before what he said registered in my brain.

“That Was Your Uncle??? What? Wait a sec, if that guy is your uncle then-”

He interrupted me before I could say another word.

“Yes my dad was the King, but frankly i didn't really know him aside from when i had to stand at his side during some stupid events, and no i'm not sad that he's dead i never cared about being some stupid royalty, at least i wasn't inbred like some of my other relatives”

He seemed to shudder at the last bit and not entirely from the cold.

“I thought Winton had told you who i am, ah fuck, how about you don't tell anyone about my royalty status and i keep quiet about the pouch thing okay?”

This did seem like a good deal but one thing confused me.

“Deal! Though, Who the fuck is Winton? Is that the monobrow guy? Don't tell me That ugly fuck is your uncle”

He flopped over into the mud of the riverbank groaning.

“Yes he is, i like to pretend that he's not though, i hate him”

That was completely understandable, I had only been around that guy for about a day and I already despised him as much as physically possible, and Arthur had to live with that for who knew how long.

Though now we needed to come up with a reason as to why Arthur wasn't kept captive anymore.

“So, any idea for a cover story? You know Maringand better than me”

He flopped onto his back in the dirt sighing.

“I'll just tell them i escaped through the sewers, as disgusting as it is it's believable enough and they probably won't ask for details”

That sounded good enough, I knew I wouldn't ask how someone crawled through a sewer, or at least not expect them to answer it.

“So can we go back now? I want to actually see Robin and Rikaad again”

That would be nice, but suddenly coming back with Arthur might be a bit suspicious, there was no way he would have kept up with us, especially since he had way shorter legs than I did and I had done an Adrenaline fueled sprint away from Maringand.

“Not a good idea, you suddenly turning up this fast is going to raise questions so maybe not today, ehh Night i mean”

It would be even better if he backtracked a bit so when Rikaad would usher us back to get him we'd ‘meet’ him on the way.

“Maybe even backtrack a bit? Rikaad is going to go back to get you anyway so if you go back a bit we meet you there and it's more believable”

He slowly sat up, now having mud stuck to the back of his shirt and put a hand over his face.

“Yeah that is a plan, not one im looking forward to but im not going to admit that i was eaten and didn't even do anything to stop you, that's just awkward and kinda embarrassing”

At least he shared my view on that point, so I went to sit next to him in the mud.

I would wash that anyway so I wasn't concerned with getting it even dirtier.

“Well you better get moving then, you have to go downstream and a bit to the right”

I pointed to where he had to go and he slowly stood up and started walking, even if his legs seemed to be moving a bit weirdly, they probably fell asleep in the time he didn't use them.

I was right in my guess as Arthur actually did comment on it.

“Dude my legs are wonky, how long was I in there? no wait don't answer I don't wanna know that, see you and the others tomorrow?”

The last part went an octave higher and I could clearly see that he was worried but did not want to show it.

Instead he started to walk through the woods and I hoped that I hadn't just made a mistake, After all, the woods were still dangerous and now he was unarmed.

I REALLY hoped I hadn't made an irreversible error but he was already out of sight so I went back to striding into the river, planning to finally get all the dirt out of my shirt and pants.

The cool water felt Pleasant against my sore legs and while I just let the stream wash away the mud on my pants I took my shirt off and swirled it in the water a few times to get everything out.

Dragging the now heavier shirt out of the water i wrung it out a few times before realizing that if i put it on again i'd likely get a cold or something, So the shirt had to stay off until it was dried.

Ah Fuck.

That ment i had to go back to the camp shirtless and try to dry it against the comparatively small fire we had.

I hoped no one would take offense to the fact that my top half was naked, but knowing Robin he'd more likely ask about my scars than complain about me missing my shirt.

Standing on the riverbank I wrung out my pants as best as I could while wearing them and slipped my shoes back on as I started to walk back, trying all the while to wring out my shirt as best as I could so it would dry faster.

I returned to a happily flickering fire and saw Rikaad inspecting Robin's face, apparently checking for bruises.

I realized with a pang that I might be too big to see small injuries, at least Rikaad was here to assess them.

Upon hearing me come back two heads simultaneously looked at me but Rikaad went back to checking Robin over who grinned at me.

Something was wrong with his teeth but I couldn't figure out what, I was too far away and probably too big too.

I sat next to the fire and put my shirt as close as I dared, I didn't want it catching on fire after all, then gave a worried look over to Robin.

“Are you alright? You've been weirdly quiet since we left Maringand”

He motioned for me to get closer and I bent down to be more at eye level for him.

He showed off his teeth and I finally saw what was wrong, The tooth behind his left canine had a small piece missing making his canine appear far more pronounced, like a fang.

No wonder he's been so quiet that must have been painful.

“How did that happen? Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

He shook his head, making his messy ginger hair bounce around his skull.

“I'm fine, one of the Maringand Guards told me to shut up and hit my teeth, but that aside where did your shirt go??”

I was glad he seemed to be okay and gestured vaguely to the shirt lying next to the fire.

“I'm letting it dry before putting it back on, not keen on catching a cold out here”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rikaad nodding.

“A good idea, though we should rest soon i will take first watch”

He did have a point in that, we really should sleep soon and i could put my shirt back on tomorrow as embarrassing as them seeing my scars was i wouldn't risk a sickness right now.

“Is that where your kidney is missing?”

I flinched a bit at the question, it seemed Robin had come closer as I stared into the Flames of the campfire and was looking at the pale line of scar tissue at my side.

“Yeah it is, i'm glad i punched that guy when i did or had have killed me for sure”

He seemed to stare at it a bit longer before his gaze became that glazed over look again for half a minute.

He snapped out of it and shook his head.

“You have any more scars? You don't have to tell me though!”

Well I did have a few more but most of them were from mundane stuff like falling off a tree or climbing into small spaces, though there was a long thin line across my back doing shoulder to shoulder that I received from a blade.

PREVIOUS / NEXT / OVERSIGHT

#sstc #lizards writing #vore story #giant/tiny #soft vore #extreme cuddling #g/t story #g/t vore #v0re #sfw vore #Barmea #Maringand #magic

[animealways]

Matching

tony x daughter!reader/ mention of tattoos, birthday, avengers, tony getting emotional i know surprising, alcohole and a shit ton of fluff (You decided to make give your dad a gift he will never forget)

Your dad was gonna be 46 and you decided to make it speciale. You walked towords the tattoo shop with peter who you had been practicing how to copy voices along with vis. You walked in and got into the chair as the artist had everything ready while peter show going thru a book full of tattoos.

As the artist started working on your left and you looked over to peter. 'You know could get a tattoo yourself.' He lifted his head, eyed wide as if you suggested to steal thor poptarts. 'May would kill me!' You rolled your eyes with a smile knowing at his age you done way worse. 'You can just get a small one on somewhere like the bottom of your foot.' You commented not really putting any further thought behind it but he did end up getting a spider tattoo on the bottom of his foot.

As a typical stark party there is way more drinks then there probably should but far more tame then previous birthdays your dad threw. iron man 2 anyon- anyway, the amount of people was also at a far more reasonable number at some point your dad decided he was tired of waiting and started to open the gifts. You choose to be a troll this year though because you made sure your gift was the last and it was packed in a big wooden box making your dad scoff. 'Kid i raised you i'm prepared.' He left The room and came back with his hand covered the iron man repulsor only to find a concrete layer on the inside making people laugh.

'How thick is that layer?' 'Eh about inch or 3.' 'A inch or 3?'

You simple shurged and your dad rolled his eyes at you as he continued to tear his way to your gift at somepoint he found a small safe written on it alpaca. Everyone including your dad was confused.

'Its a hint.' You simpley stated trying to hold back laughing remembering your 8 birthday. Its was the first birthday you would spend without your mom son tony tired to make it extra speciale and bought jareld, a alpaca that ended up spitting all over your dad.

It took less then a minute for your dad to figure out what you ment and he just playfully glared at you before putting in the date. He found his helmet wrapped up in plastic. 'So YOU took it.' 'Well techically pietro did.' 'Hey keep me out of it!' He shouted in his heavy sokovian accent. He started to rip the plastic away while the others are enjoying the show and the birthday card fell out of it. He picked it up and open it finding a receipt.

'What is this?' 'Vis you can stop concealing now.' You raised you hand, clearing your voice.

'I am, Iron Man.'

You imitated your dad voice and face he has while working on the suit. Tony eyes widen as he saw the repulsor tattoo. He recognized the design, it was based off the mark 3. 'Oh and look at the back.' You turned your hand to saw the tiny the acr reactor that says 'proof tony stark has a heart'. He took his sunglasses off to make sure he saw it right.

'I should get one too.' Your dad father said and for the first time in your life you were speechless. So much so that the only thing that came out of your mouth wasn't even a word just a sound. 'Eh?'

'Yeah i should get one based off of your suit.' He put the glasses back on althought there was something about the way he said it that was very unfamiliar. 'Uh sure why not? It would look cute for the media anywa- wait... Are you crying???' Who the fuck is this and what did they do to your dad?

'What? pfft no i- oh who am i kidding?!' Tony exclaimed rather dramaticly. He grabbed your face squishing your cheeks slighty while smiling at you, only confusing you more.

'Umm dad?'

'You turned out perfect.'

'Thanks dad.'

You simply returned the smile knowing this was your father way of saying he loves you without having to say it.

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

Closes thing i found to what inmagine the tattoo to be like

and based the fic off of this song

MaRynn Taylor - Dads and Daughters (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube

#tony stark #tony #avengers #tony x stark!reader #tony x daughter!reader #tony stark x stark!reader #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stank #tony stark daughter #tony stark x reader #iron man imagine #iron man #iron dad #ironman #iron man x reader #iron man reader insert #x you #x y/n #x reader #x daughter!reader #peter parker #spiderman #spidey #spider son

[httpiastri]

Hey angelll🫶🏻 PLEASE HEAR ME OUT, have you seen Paul with the balaclava on that goes under the helmet??? His eyes oh my god, I carnally need him in the mask, the TikTok masked men epidemic is getting to my head I think

paul :((((

his eyes are so gorgeous.... the dark blue is so pretty, especially in combination with the blonde hair !!! he's crazy

so pretty :(((

he seemingly doesn't like to wear just his balaclava a lot (i rewatched all of the prema lap videos today heh and he always pulls it off super fast when he pulls off his helmet) and didn't catch it a lot, but i did go back to his monaco podium and saw this:

the squished, red cheeks 😭 and the head shake?? hello???? im so in love with his hair, its not sane. his post-race hair should be studied honestly because it has a personality of its own

also these aren't with the balaclava either but he just removed it before soooo

the marks from the balaclava !!! it's weirdly attractive? idk how to explain it?? but it looks so good.... the one by his eye, the one going from under his ear 🥺🥺 and again, his hair!!! the amount of money i would pay to pull my hands through it or braid it or just-

(also if he ever trims it down. i will fight.)(also #2. if anyone sends me a single ask even mentioning his hair, i might have to make a full post about it. just for science, ofc.)

#paul 🫶🫶🫶🫶 #i love love love getting paul asks :(( #well i love all asks but #paul asks make me giggle like a little schoolgirl #i wanna make even longer posts for him but i don't wanna spam too much about him #also i have so many gorgeous screenshots of him from my rewatch but again #dont wanna post too much in case ppl dont care shdjkfh #sorry for taking days to answer this but i just rlly wanted to look through the lap videos again #(bad excuse because who doesnt wanna do that all day any day) #asks! #anon! #paul aron #f3 #f2 #prema racing

[emperor-palpaminty]

HI HI! ok so I have a request based off a dream I had a while ago. Tech (and/or fives) x Fem!Reader with the kiss prompt 7? Basically tech is rambling about something or fives is teasing the reader and the reader kisses them to shut them up and they get all flustered because they are SO 👏 GOSHDARN 👏 CUTE AND WHOLESOME. No worries if u don’t want to or can’t tho :) I ADORE your writing. Have a strawberry ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎🍓

Fives needs to shut up lol, plus we haven't seen him in a long time!! Fives x Jedi Fem!Reader coming up!!

Kisses found here!

"Come on," Fives nagged, over the sound of the pounding rain. "Admit it! You were shocked by that droidika."

The rain was, unfortunately, trapping you here under this little alcove with the ARC trooper. Your robe was soaked and your feet hurt, and you were not really in the mood for teasing. "Fives," You sighed, eyes closed. You were trying to listen to the rain, feel the life in it, the force. It was peaceful when it rained, and you rarely got to enjoy it.

"Oh, general. Come on." Fives chortled. He propped his gloved hands on his armored hips, the kama swaying with the motion. "It's alright to be a little spooked sometimes. I was too."

You rotated your jaw. "You're loud."

"Thank you. I get that a lot."

Your eyes opened and you looked over at him, ready to be angry. That feeling evaporated briefly- he had abandoned his helmet and sat it on a small rock nearby, and the dark clouds couldn't stamp out the teasing twinkling in his brown eyes. Curly hair twisted, frizzled by the rain that had found its way onto his head. He smiled brightly, and it was as if the sun had come out.

And then he opened his mouth and spoke.

"You're the jumpiest Jedi I've ever seen. Always looking over your shoulder. Aren't Jedi supposed to be peaceful?"

You scowled, looking out at the hazy rain again. You wanted him to hush. You wanted to hear the rain. You needed your head clear.

You didn't hear whatever else he said as your boots squished through the mud towards him. Your fists opened and you reached up, grasping his face and yanking him down.

His mouth stilled the second it touched yours and, for once, he was quiet, save for a peaceful hum. Black gloves fell onto your wet robe, settling against the curve of your back, pulling you in for warmth, comfort, something that Jedi could not provide. The beard was surprisingly soft and he smelled like war and grime, but also like musk and manliness.

And then you heard it. The force. It sang, glided between the water droplets, whistled with the stormy winds, echoing in between the rocks of this little sanctuary in the rain and weather. You felt it in Fives- warm. Real. Alive. Here and ever present. Perfect, even.

You pulled back, ears rushing with sound. Five's lips were still pursed, eyes blown in shock. Your hands dropped and you stepped away, feeling heat charging your cheeks. "Not so loud now, huh?"

Fives stared, mouth slipping into a grin. "General, if you shut me up like that more, maybe I would be more quiet."

#fives #fives x reader #fives x you #star wars reader insert #clone wars reader insert #fives x reader insert #minty writes

[prismaticpichu]

Weenie Hut Jrs anti-Nibelheim request!

Flock of puppies🐶

Nibelheim Roadblock #2 ~ “Flock of Puppies 🐶”

Omg that is GREAT!! Ahhhhhh <3333

~

No one could believe their eyes.

No one.

No. One.

And it was a completely, utterly rational response too. Anyone else would have had the same reaction had they been watching the spectacle unfolding before them—them, as in one Zack Fair, one Cadet Cloud Strife, one other sadly irrelevant SOLDIER, and one tour guider Tifa Lockhart. To all four of these nonplussed individuals, the great dome of reality itself was starting to seem mighty suspicious.

Because the sight of General Sephiroth, melted to his knees, absolutely swarmed by a litter of Nibel wolf pups as he struggled to stroke and fondle them all, was not exactly something one could prepare themselves for.

“Gaia… look at those eyes…” No one had ever heard such raw, heartfelt fondness in the General’s tone before, two strong gloves squishing the cheeks of one of the slate-shaded pups—a pup whose tail was nothing but a whipping grey blur, wagging and smearing against the garnet sky that blanketed their morning.

“Ruff!”

“….Unbelievable,” Cloud breathed through his helmet.

“Can you believe this?” Zack folded his arms, watching now as the slaty pup rolled onto its side to receive a series of loving tummy rubs.

“No, I really can’t.” Cloud looked at his friend. “That’s why I said, ‘unbelievable.”

…How had this happened? How…? How had their unmovable, stoic leader possibly devolve to such a squishy state…?

Well, for one thing, it only happened about nine minutes ago. And what did happen was really just a perfectly-aligned amalgamation of over-efficiency, convenient timing, and a heart that was caught by surprise.

————

About 9 minutes ago

They were just about to cross the bridge when he heard it.

Sephiroth stopped in his tracks, bristling, snapping one hand in the air like an armored traffic cop to halt the rest of the squad behind him. Somehow he had managed to walk ahead of their designated tour guide and take the reins; either way, though, those reins were his, and the rhythmic sound of boots crunching into dirt froze all at once behind him.

“…What’s going on?” Cloud asked his friend, having hung in the back of the train with Zack.

“Seph senses something,” Zack answered easily. He blinked towards the General, well-accustomed to his odd and somewhat spooky ways. “What’s up, buddy?”

Sephiroth didn’t respond; he just merely narrowed his eyes, focusing on the sound—on what had plucked his attention. It was faint, yes…. distant… but there was an underbelly of aggression. A veneer of something violent. And that was enough for concern.

He wasn’t about to let another monster ambush them like that dragon had. He wasn’t going to fail again.

The graceful song of metal echoed through the air as Masamune was unsheathed. Sephiroth turned his head, turning towards the source of the sound—a small, natural barricade of jagged rock.

“Alright, we tackling something?!” Zack lit up with a smile, reaching behind his back for his own hefty sword.

“No.” Sephiroth stopped him before his hand could make it. “You stay back; keep the others safe.”

And before Zack nor the others could protest about their adequate survival skills, Sephiroth made his way over to the rock formation.

The sound got louder, the closer he got. More defined. Sharper.

A snarl.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes further, shifting his blade in his hand, pearls of raw daylight scintillating off the metal as he reached the slab of stone. As he reached it, and slunk around it, and prepared to—

…

…

…

Well, one could probably predict what happened next.

———

“Shouldn’t you, y’know, intervene or something?” Tifa cast her own glance to the spiky SOLDIER. “We kinda got a job to do.”

By now, all the puppers were on their backs, Sephiroth running his gloves over the combined terrain of their fuzzy bellies as they kicked and squirmed and chirped with all sorts of playful barks in a hopeful plea that the massage wouldn’t stop. Zack’s eyes softened to dough.

He’d never seen Seph look like that before. Never seen him so… so… relaxed. So calm. So at ease. So open.

He’d never see him smile like that.

So much warmth flooded Zack’s heart then, as he caught sight of the soft, genuine curl on Sephiroth’s lips. It was veiled, yes, discrete… but he could still see it. And it was the biggest smile Seph had ever given.

No…. he couldn’t pry that happiness away from his friend. He wouldn’t. He’d let Seph cherish every second of this, even if they had a “job” to do. Gaia knew Seph did enough as it was.

“Alright, new plan!” Zack clapped his hands together, grasping everyone minus Sephiroth’s attention. “Me & Tifa are gonna head to the Reactor ourselves. Spiky and, erm… other guy, you stay back and keep an eye on Seph.”

“My name is Carl!” the infantryman corrected.

“We… we have to watch over the General?!” Cloud added with obvious confusion. “Isn’t that—“

“Yes you do!” Zack chirped. “No telling what kinda danger Seph’ll miss while he’s infatuated by puppies.” He didn’t wait for another response before whirling back to Tifa, smiling like the rising sun behind them.

“On we go!”

———

The trip to the Reactor went smoothly, all things considered. Genesis showed his face when they got there—Ifrit knows why—and completely blew up upon hearing that Seph got sidetracked by puppies. Anyway, guy eventually flew away and they fixed what needed to be fixed no problem. Bridge was a little wobbly on the hike up and back though—prolly couldn’t handle more than two folks. But they made it across just fine, both ways, and the sun was just beginning to descend as they rejoined the rest of the squad.

And lo’ and behold, Seph was still playing with the puppers.

Whatshisname had fallen asleep against a rock, Spiky still standing on-guard as instructed. But he did look tired. And bored. And kinda numb.

Alright. Prolly time to pack it up.

“Hey, buddy.” Zack started towards his friend, all the wolves having fallen fast asleep against his lap in a myriad of different positions. Sephiroth glanced up to meet him.

“You ready to go back yet?”

Sephiroth returned his gaze to the sleeping puppies, silent. It was clear what was unspoken in the air between them, what plea was being made.

“I know you don’t wanna leave them, Seph.” Zack kneeled beside him. “But….” The words twisted his heart, knotted his tongue. “We gotta go back. Reactor’s all clear.”

Sephiroth blinked slowly, letting out a sigh, looking back to the swathes of grey draped all over him.

“They… trust me,” he said then. “They know… I won’t hurt them.”

Zack was quiet for an undeterminable amount of time. Nothing seemed right to say, really. Not in that moment.

No wonder Seph got so attached so quickly. He had found someone—multiple someones—who weren’t afraid of him. Who didn’t run away, who didn’t flee when catching sight of him. Who didn’t assume the worst.

He didn’t want to let that go.

Doughy eyes melted even further. “Seph…” Zack leaned closer to him. And then, a soft smile of his own graced his lips, raising his arms to gently wrap around his friend’s form.

“Hey…. I trust you…” he said softly.

Sephiroth could only blink again, this time in surprise, in confusion, the tender weight wrapped around his upper body too delicate to make him stiffen.

Tifa and Cloud watched on, struck incredulous all again.

“…The folks back home are never gonna believe this trip…” the girl muttered.

Zack held his older friend’s figure and gaze, gazing deep into the emerald eyes rippling with awe of their own.

“See? I know you’re not gonna hurt me,” he said with a lingering smile. “You’d never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.”

…Never.

Sephiroth blinked again—and again, and again, and again, swatting away any remnants of glass trying to invade his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Aha! I’ve found you!”

And before any words could leave, a crippled blur of crimson and black shot down from the sky, alighting with a stirring of dust and stones as the figure collected himself and straightened.

“Genesis!” Zack shouted indignantly, tightening his gentle hold upon feeling Sephiroth bristle. “What you want?!”

“So you think you can hide from ol’ Genesis, do you?” He let Zack’s question ricochet from his ears, sailing towards the still-sitting Sephiroth—Sephiroth, whose eyes were narrowing by the second, a grid of slightly uncanny teeth flashing into view. Think you can avoid your fate by… by what?” He squinted for a closer look, looking at the snoozing fuzzballs. “Babysitting wolves?”

“Stay away from them!” the warrior snapped darkly. “I’m warning you, Genesis.”

It would have been a little more intimidating had he not been sitting criss-cross applesauce, but he digressed.

“Oh believe me, I’m not here for your whelps.” Genesis not so subtly eyed Zack, who didn’t have time to think of a retort before continuing on. “I’m simply here to inform you about something. Something that is LONG overdue.” He strode closer, closer, a certain haughtiness pulling at his leaden lips as he shouted,

“You, Sephiroth, my old friend, are a—

And just as Sephiroth had been rudely interrupted moments before, just as the words had been pried from his lips, every wolf snoozing on that warm leather coat snapped awake then.

—monstaaaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

And every wolf proceeded to lunge at Genesis then, an entire stampede of grumpy Nibel puppies proceeding to chase the shrieking auburn across the mountains and out of sight.

Tifa and Spiky exchanged a Look.

Sephiroth, meanwhile, sat flat on the ground, staring off into the horizon that had taken his friends away.

“Goodbye…” he mumbled quietly, completely stripped of the fluffy, fuzzy, indescribable warmth that had been enveloping him just moment before.

Well… not for long.

Zack rewrapped his arm around the crestfallen warrior’s shoulders, that gentle smile resurfacing as Sephiroth turned again to face him.

“Let’s head back to town,” he offered kindly. “I saw a really cute wolf plushie in one of the windows—and, well… I just soooooooo happen to have brought souvenir change.”

It took a few beats, but Sephiroth smiled.

#sephiroth #ffvii #zack fair #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #crisis core #nibelheim #nibelheim fix it #asks #ty!! #pichu writing #ff7 #I was legit gonna just have zack accidentally clone himself or something but y’know I wanted pupper puppers #randomness #weenie hut jrs

[lex-the-flex]

Psss what about Luke and reader stuck in small place and very close to each other 👀

“Alright R2, you know the drill. We’ll be back shortly and stay close to the ship.” Luke advises, just as he kneels down to his faithful droid. 

Checking R2 one last time, you carefully place your helmet on top of the neatly folded X-Wing pilot suit in the ship’s tiny cargo shelf. Jumping down from the ladder, the soles of your boots squished on the soft terrain carved from sandstone, dried up pieces of coral, and broken shells. 

Pillio’s landscape never fails to amaze you. You were introduced to all different kinds of life and the vast box of secrets that uncolonized planets were holding. And it was all thanks to Luke. 

Joining Luke at the edge of a cliff overlooking the endless caves and pools, he stood tall, enjoying the sun and tied his sash in a quick knot around his waist. Looking your way, a gentle smile crossed his lips as you adjusted the lightsaber of your hip. 

“So, where too?” You asked, crossing your arms. 

Pointing through a field of tide pools, the tiny entrance of a cave becomes visible over Luke’s index finger. 

“There’s a cave system beyond the tide pools. It’ll take us to the Emperor’s Observatory.” He explains. 

“I can feel it. Something’s down there.” You shudder, feeling a strain of cold shudders crawls its way up your back. 

Pulling your arms closer to your chest, Luke takes your shoulders in his hands. Trying his best to warm you, the sun finishes the job. Heading through the vast tide pools, you follow Luke’s lead to the cave entrance while balancing on the edge of a tiny rock wall, avoiding harm to the beautiful ecosystems at your feet.

Treading lightly in the cave, you both quickly hit a dead end. Agreeing to split up for just a moment, you manage to find a second cavern, hidden by a few boulders.

“See anything?” Luke asks from the ground.

Peeking through the large boulders, the way ahead looks clear with some bioluminescent plants giving off their light on the other side.

“Yeah, it looks clear. We might be able to squeeze through the bottom boulder if we go slow.” You answer, motioning to the small hole on the wall.

“Okay. I’ll go first. Stay here.” Luke advises. 

Crawling through the place in the wall, Luke briefly stands on the other side, getting his bearings. 

“What’s over there?” You call through your cupped hands, hoping he’ll hear you. 

“Um, there’s not much to see. I’m not sure we can use our lightsabers, the walls are so tight.” Luke warns, squatting down to pull you through. 

“Alright. Well it’s better than nothing.” You respond, crouching to the ground. 

“Gimme your hand, then we’ll figure out--” 

Suddenly, emerging from the limestone and sandstone mixed walls, a few dozens of Scritters break free from their nests behind you. Their bright yellow eyes glow in the cave’s darkness, like the chemical sticks you left in the X-Wing. Igniting your lightsaber, the green blade illuminates the damp stone walls, as you block the fluttering wings. 

“Y/N, no! Don’t hurt them, they’re just trying to defend their homes!” Luke shouts through the wall. 

Quickly turning off your lightsaber, you literally throw yourself through the spot underneath the boulder. Grabbing your hand, Luke pulls you in one motion. Scrambling to your feet, Luke holds you in his arms as the two of you hesitantly inch away from the miniscule entrance. 

Turning back to the tunnel, you realize Luke was right. 

“I told you the walls were sealed. I’m not sure if this is the right way.” He says. 

“It’s better than nothing. But I want to see where this goes.” You reply. 

Taking point, the two of you shuffle in between the walls until you reach a tiny clearing. Entering the clearing, the “room” was big enough by the width of both your arms put together, and beneath a fresh layer of dry stone was a circular wheel. Gripping your hands on the wheel, the outline of a door cracked through the dripping walls. 

Barely turning the door handle, the rusted wheel broke off and crumbled in your hands. 

“Dammit. It broke.” You mumble to yourself. 

Gazing back at Luke, you can’t help but notice that he hasn’t been paying attention. 

“It’s here.” He whispers in the dark. 

“What’s here?” You ask, guiding his face towards your own. 

“The Observatory. I think it’s right above us.” Luke replies, quickly scanning the outline of the door you freshly created. 

Amidst the cavern’s silence, the unexpected thump of the insects clicking fills the tunnel’s entrance and the loud rush of water flows towards you and Luke in a flurry. The water quickly ascends to your waists and Luke thinks quickly by taking out his lightsaber. 

As quickly as it came, the water instantly stops at your chests, and Luke begins to cut through the limestone ceiling. 

“Hurry, Luke.” You say, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Opening the ceiling, pieces of rubble drop in the water below, forcing Luke to wrap himself around you. Making sure you don’t get hit, his grip closes around your back, keeping you safe. 

Letting go, you gaze at his lips, as they’re inches from yours. 

“You okay?” He whispers. 

“Y-yeah. Can we get out of here?” You ask. 

Nodding in agreement, Luke climbs through the ceiling before pulling you up. With his hand in yours, the two of you readjust your bearings before realizing where you are: before the Emperor’s Observatory. 

a/n: I really went off didn’t I? 

luke skywalker taglist: 

@dreamliners

@tindradelrey

@full-time-make-believer

@ladyrebel25

@maybeimart

@nonbinary-tatooine

@kaleidoscope1967eyes

@tearsleftt

@thereallchristine

@partofmejustwantstosleep

@xxx-aurora-swirls

@remusstefon

@annoyinglythoughtfuldestiny

@giona45-5

@0paperairplane0

@jobean12-blog

@iamhavingamomenthere-crowley

@winter-soldier-101

@dindjarinishot

@kethamine

@pantaeudaimonia

@bonky-n-steeb

@kindnonny23

@ellora-brekker

@acupnoodle

@flawroses

@skx-wxlker

#luke skywalker #luke skywalker x you #luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker fanfiction #Luke Skywalker Mandalorian #luke skywalker book of boba fett #luke skywalker fic #luke skywalker fluff #luke skywalker angst #star wars #star wars fic #star wars fanfiction #star wars fandom #mark hamill

[carnivoreofthesea]

in your swap AU; how does pike wizard/amber, slime wizard/goobert and most importantly (the precious and need to be protected) lonely wizard would look like ?

are they now grimora's pupils now or still with mags but they are now undead ?

HI OK IM SO EXCITED TO ANWSER THIS BECAUSE I AM SOOO SO NORMAL ABOUT IT HEHAHDJAKDJADJ!!!

THERES A LOTOF STUFF UNDER THE CUT

So with magmento (mags), I did originally plan to have his pupils be in the crypt but it was getting too long. They're grimmoras pupils traits, But they have His students names and a few key features.

Pike wizard -> Decapitated Scholar

"Do not pity me, It was all worth my while."

Being a mortician before she died, She had made new ways to cremate the dead and be preserved longer. However she ended up dying from a mixture of chemical poisoning after inhaling some of the ingredients used in said embalming and an unfortunate accident. Her skin had become more frail and she had restered her head on one of the spikes on her fence. Poor baby got impailed without even realising it :[. She hopes that she could use her body to make a less deadly way of preservation, To no avail yet. She looks pretty similar to normal Amber but instead of a helmet she wears a mourning veil! Also her little spike is a singular fence post that looks a lot more fancy. She has the same concept as Amber, Hurting herself to be more appreciated by her scrybe (although its more the concept of death she was trying to pay respects to) and still being in servitude when the player comes.

Goobert (my baby boy <3) -> Goo pile

"Please, Please! Arghhhh... Battle me! I'm promise I am more than just a gnarled mess!"

Died in a horrible accident, Something that contorted and squished him past being recognized. His death was more famous than the life he lived, So now he strives to be remembered for something other than his death! He's trying so hard, please just give him affection :[. a lil kissie on the head for always trying new things and working to be good at them! He looks pretty similar to goobert, if not more. Gross <3. I’M SORRY BUT HE WOULD BE NASTY… He would be a pile of just random sludge and liquids, if you’re lucky you could find bits of melted skin? Purrrhapes his ghostly body would piece itself together but even then he would look like a nasty little pile of grossness. I love you babay… but you are nasty.. I would still hold him though!! Just put the goofy goober in a jar again please.

Lonely wizard (ALSO MY BABAY!!) -> Loney Dominguez

"PLAY A GAME! PLEASE?! I need something to do!"

He was quite young when he died, Being a coma was terrible considering he was such a rambunctious kid! He couldnt see or hear or move, but he could feel his body and think. Even when he died, Magmento trapped him in his coffin out of fear. He's not good with kids... Especially ones that are 6 FEET TALL. That may have been related to his death but I haven't decided yet. Also think of just a huge coffin that's hidden away under the main room, the player finds it and he’s just like. “Oh yeah, that's the crazy kid, He bites. I think.” And then you just see the coffin violently shake and scream. He has normal anatomy and would just be a very VERY rotting body. Like yes, he has formed, just melty and turning into goop. Maybe a few bugs live with him so he isn’t as lonely… Also think it would be funny if he still had a hyper fixation about wizards out of spite. Let my baby like his wizards damnit.

James cobb -> James Hobbes

"Oh neat. A player, Let's do it."

A mellow player who died... How did he die? His tombstone says he drowned but he doesn't have any signs of it like the others do. In fact he might even tell you that it's fake. He won't tell you how he actually died but as long as it solves the puzzle who cares? He's probably the most normal guy you'll meet, Also is very tired. Like. let the guy nap. please. strangely modern. Uses slang and sometimes makes suggestive comments but he's a baby girl for that. He’s actually a fairly healthy corpse, Only slightly pale and occisonally goes stiff. His hands are deathly cold but at least his hair is still a bright red. Good for him! Good for him :].

GRIMETHS ARE SO SILLY PDSUIAUFHIUFHW MANIC LAUGHTER

James Cobb -> Kaycee Cobb

“Don’t you wonder what’ll happen? C’mon, I wanna find out.”

IM TALKING F. R. E. AY KAYYYY. SHE IS MY FAVORITE CAN YOU TELL BATTING MY EYELASHES SO MUCH WHEN I TALK ABOUT HER. ANyways she’s the sillayest wizard ever. She doesn’t take herself seriously and just straight up tells the player that she enjoys being stuck in there. Its literally her dream and she uses magic to fuck herself up. She can finally have gender goals of occasionally turb herself into whatever the fuck she wants! Don't like feeling of skin? SIMPLY BECOME A SKINLESS BEING FOR A LIL! god i love her sm… She definitely indulges in the whole wizard shit and has a whole over the top outfit. other than that still very greasy <3

Lonely wizard -> Royal Wizard (GOD I LOVE HIM)

“YARGGGG! WATCH ME SKILLS, YE LANDLUBBER!!”

Oh my god. Peek tism. Category five tism events. He's a pirate obsessed wizard who has a problem with summoning things. Specifically. a ford f150. vehicular manslaughter never ends. He's very confident in his skills and thinks he should be a head wizard or at the very least a card, However he can only do a few spells… God he’s so silly I love him. He's a low poly pirate that I’m thinking of making black. give mah boy some pirate dreads!!! Why? Because IT LOOKS COOL. Anyways he locked away in a ship in a bottle by Grimeth as a “final test”. He's never getting out.

Goobert -> Stinking mass

“Ohhhh… Yes… Perhaps I’ll cast a spell that will finally make me disappear..”

Oughhh… Gender dysophoria baby… I love you poor baby. Turned himself into a pile of… Something? Honestly he doesn't even know. His final test is to turn back, And he’s trying real hard! The thing is, It would probably be easier if he was going to transform into who originally was but he didn't like how liked he looked… He wants to transform into something better to prove himself to be better than how he looked. god my baby. i need to hold him.

Bone lord -> Eye.

Need I say more? Its a painted eye in a black room that speaks in fucking wing dings.

#inscryption #inscryption au #inscyption #inscryption swap au #swap au #au #alternate universe #oh my god i love them #ALSO ALREADY DRAWING BABAY GURL KAYCEES #I LOVE HWR SM #you dont understand #I LOVE HER #ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK!! #THIS WAS WONDERFUL ANON KISSING YOU!! #anon ask #anonymous #go submit asks!!! #ask #ask me anything

[identityflawed]

captain rex character study

tw: battle scene, death, gore, odd thoughts

---

REX SOMETIMES FELT small. Laughably small, inanely so, like a tick on the mane of a manka cat, plucked off by a tamer and squished thoughtlessly between their fingers. Dead in an instant, with no knowledge of just how vast the real world was. No funerals for the bloodsucker, no mourners for the soldier.

Such emotions were an irregularity, almost certainly carried into his mind on the backs of war machines and mass destruction. Back on Kamino, in the barracks he shared with his birth cohort, he’d never felt like this. The pristine halls of Tipoca City were claustrophobic, despite the height of the Kaminoans that so often traversed them. He’d asked his brothers, in their quieter moments, if they’d experienced this oddity. Some said yes, some said no, others said they had no clue what he was trying to say.

Even his accelerated growth modifications did little to allay this… feeling. If he thought about it for too long, his head would begin to hurt. The complexities of his existence — twenty-four years of life, training and biological processes in a mere decade — were utterly useless in the face of a droid army’s blaster rifles and rhythmic footfalls.

And that was what he stared down now, so he stowed away his foible and ran headlong into battle alongside his men.

Christophsis, by all accounts, was a beautiful city with less-than beautiful people. Rex was born and raised seeing nothing but identical faces and his long-necked creators, and he'd thought that he'd be able to enjoy the new people he might meet while fulfilling his duty.

Not here.

Christophsians had a tendency to look down on those who immigrated from off-world, employing them as slaves or underpaid labor workers in the crystal mines that mapped the underside of their capital, Chaleydonia. Once renowned for its glittering crystalline skyscrapers and impeccably-made jewelry, the so-called Crystal City now sat in ruins, blue-green fragments breaking under Rex’s boots.

The buildings at the center of the City Plaza had suffered the most damage from Republic artillery, cannon fire shaking the ground from behind clone forces with distinct pauses between. Rex could picture his brothers hoisting steel shells into the cannon, calling aloud to send another streaking bolt of blue towards the clanker ranks.

He shook the image out of his head and focused on what was in front of him. His helmet HUD lit up in a frenzy, identifying standard B-1s, silver SBDs, the spindly legs of rotating spider droids and the rumbling overture of approaching tanks. Packed in as he was with his men on a standard frontal assault, it was difficult to bob and weave from the blaster fire. In his periphery, a few clones were shot down. Headshots sent a static noise through their shared comm line, but Rex found it within himself not to wince.

Droids numbered in the thousands as they surged through the ruined city, spewing superheated scarlet volleys towards them. A new squadron of spider droids reached the forefront of their attack, their turrets firing in sluggish, powerful bursts. Rex dove to the side to avoid the onslaught, and the ground where he’d been standing was instantly scorched and scarred by the shrieking hyphen of gas.

He rolled over his shoulder and popped back up just in time to see a darkened silhouette landing atop the spider droid’s sloping carapace. A pillar of sky-blue light illuminated in the figure’s hand, driven straight into the droid’s head. In one smooth, coordinated move, the silhouette hung from the saber and dragged it down the droid’s head, before sweeping it wide and relieving the machine of its only weapon. A final slice at the legs on the way down, and the droid crumpled in a whining, whirring heap, smoke and sparks pouring from the question mark -shape drawn across its body. The droids caught beneath it in its dying collapse let out shrieking wails as they were easily dispatched by nearby clones.

General Skywalker couldn’t deny himself a dramatic entrance, and Rex was glad that his commanding officer had skill to match his melodramatic flair. The golden-haired Jedi found Rex in the mess of things, but recognition was fleeting as he was swept back into the tide of battle.

Rex opened fire once more with his twin pistols, reloading them without pausing in his own miniature onslaught for even a second. Muscle memory allowed him to pop out cartridges with a hard flick of the wrist, and then angle his blaster so he could slide the next one in by lining it up on his hip. One then the other. As soon as that was done, he followed his general into the fray.

Another bout of cannon fire shook the ground, taking out a whole squadron of droids on the left, and several more on the right. Rex landed a series of shots on several battle droids, and watched with grim satisfaction as fire burned holes in their metal hearts, spewing glistening oil from the hole as they imploded. If he really focused, he could see his men doing the same with their repeating rifles. At least one — Patchwork — had managed to repair their only flamethrower, and was carving a path of destruction down the eastern front, noxious smoke gushing out into the air. Another — Strale, telling by the eye decal on his helmet — had fashioned a makeshift grenade launcher out of an SBD chestplate, and was launching them wantonly into the enemy lines.

A world’s worth of effort, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Rex felt himself zoning out, his body moving for him. Briefly, he could imagine a bird’s eye view of the skirmish, reducing each of his men into white pinpricks versus taupe and gray, their battlefront into a warring division of red and blue. That’s all he was, one in many. Just a number.

And whatever that meant for him… he found it mattered less as the man beside him was obliterated by a spider droid round. Blood splattered on his helmet, and his visor cleaned it immediately. So what if he was just one man? He had a job to do and a Republic he was proud to serve. Men he was proud to protect, a general he was proud to follow.

All he needed to do was shoot, and shoot to kill. 

#captain rex #clone wars #character study #rex #star wars #christophsis #anakin skywalker #clone wars movie novelization #idflawed writes

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Painted Snow

sorry for late post. I wanted to sleep in since today is a holiday :) I hope the non Americans can forgive my indulgence. 

https://www.patreon.com/empyreaniris?fan_landing=true

https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/182501791735/master-post

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jzEIdDAB4omdO2JcQVMObfrhLJ5kX4ONmSsLypM1ks0/edit?usp=sharing.

The creature pulled itself from the ground in a shower of snow and ice sending a shockwave across the clifftop to disturb the hard packed crystal. Snow pelted his helmet and a chunk of ice slammed into his chest before shattering and falling to the ground in a shower of crystals. For its part, the snow crab didn’t take time to inspect the interlopers, instead it took the offensive straight out of the gate.

It screamed, and the entire team covered their ears in pain. The noise was incredibly high pitched, so loud he thought his eardrums were going to rupture, but the sound continued to heighten, until he could no longer hear it. At his back, however, Krill could still hear the sound, all four hemispheres of his brain ringing in confusion. For a moment, it caused Adam to waver in confusion, but then the screaming cut off and the ground began to rumble as the creature charged towards them, its legs slamming into the snow and ice for purchase as it barreled towards them.

Adam and Sunny went one way and the others dove to the other side just as the creature came barreling through. Its legs churned as it attempted to turn towards them, but its vast weight and momentum carried it further down the hill before it was able to slow down.

The three of them were able to regroup.

Etim, for his part, took the safe route, mounting the back of his gun like a small pony, and kicking off the ground to float twenty feet into the air, and hopefully out of range of the crab. Adam could have deployed his jetpack, but with the others on the ground he didn’t want to leave them, especially not sunny.

Before his minds eyes he imagined the crab rushing forward, barreling into her and throwing her bodily off the side of the cliff onto spikes of ice below, where her and their unborn child would expire in the cold. Unconsciously he placed himself in front of her weapon raised.

He was well aware of Sunny’s confused thought process as he did so.

That wasn’t his normal move, and she had to adjust her stance to match him, which took away precious time for her to ready herself.

The crab charged at them again.

The sucker was fast, faster than Adam anticipated, and any thought he might have had for a proper attack fled his mind. Instead he turned to Sunny and tackled her out of the way just as the creature went past. Ramirez and Maverick shouted waving at the creature to come back around. 

Sunny pushed up from the snow as the crab ran towards Maverick and Ramirez.

The two of them did not run but linked arms and fell backwards as the crab charged towards them, falling under its belly just inside its churning legs and fired up into its soft undershell.

The creature screamed.

Sunny snarled and pushed him off, “The Hell Adam. WHat are you doing!”

He frowned, “Trying not to let you get squished.” 

The crab had reached the base of the hill now, and was turning around ponderously as orange Icor spilled out of its belly and onto the snow  from where it had been hit.

“You are behaving strangely!” She shouted, and in her head he got the full picture.

Usually as her battle partner she knew what he was going to do before he did it and vise versa, but today she had no idea what he was going to do, and every time she set herself up for something he got in her way.

“I can’t let you get killed!”

She gave him an incredulous look as the crab began its charge, “You never worried about that before!”

She stood and planted her feet stubbornly.

He gritted his teeth, “Well before I wasn’t worrying about two of you.”

“That’s what this is about!?”

The crab charged them. Adam went one way and sunny went the other. Adam dove into the hard decline and skidded sharply through the snow, narrowly avoiding the pounding legs above him, but the legs were unable to avoid him. He slashed sideways scoring a direct hit on the joint of the middle leg which exploded with orange sudge.

The crab screamed again, but kept running.

Sunny Came out the other side with blood on her spear as well glaring at adam.

“I am not one of your squishy delicate human females, my body was built for combat and if you think I am going to hide and cry at the first space crab we run into, than you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.” She had approached and they were standing toe to toe now.

Adam prodded her in the chest of her armor, “No, I know you WONT which is why I had to intervene.”

“It isn’t even a few months old, behind carapace, muscle and now EVA armor! It’s as safe as it is going to get. Unless my battle partner starts behaving erratically and we both screw up.”

The crab turned again and paused this time trying to decide which one of them had hurt it the most,

It decided eventually that Adam and Sunny were the better targets considering their size and brightly colored nature and began running down the hill at them again. They both glanced up the hill.

“Throw me.” She said.

“What, NO!”

“I swear Adam if you don’t throw me, I won’t speak to you for a millennia in the afterlife after we die.” The crab continued to barrel down at them.

“Now!”

Adam cursed but planted his boots against the ground.

Sunny was bigger, that was true, and logically it should have been the other way around, but Adam had SE armor, an SE exoskeleton, a steel eye leg, and a maker enhanced body. Power thrummed through his limbs and into his suit, the exoskeleton whirred loudly as did his leg, and his suit responded.

The crab plunged towards them halfway down the hill now.

Sunny took a running start adding her momentum to the manuver. She leaped, and the caught her by the hand branching himself against the ground and spinning like he was throwing an anvil or a discus. The mechanical components in his suit roared with power as he threw her into the air staggering back.

Sunny leapt into the sky, outlined against the ice , her EVA armor a pearly blue gem against the white.  And for a moment it seemed as if she was suspended above them, trapped in a single moment.

And then that moment burst and she came plunging down from above straight down onto the creature’s back. Her spear at the ready she drove the point into the soft junction between its head and its shell. The crab screamed again and bucked violently, shaking at Sunny like a cowboy riding a bull.

But with four hands holding onto her spear she was difficult to throw off.

Maverick and Ramirez ran forward together, side by side as Etium sunk towards them aiming up a show at its left set of legs, doing his best to avoid hitting any friendlies .

As they reached the crab Ramirez turned, planting his feet against the ground. Maverick got the picture and raced forward, leaping up to use his chest plate as a springboard. The power of the blow sent him rolling backwards into the snow, and her high into the air, where she flipped once and landed beside sunny, clamping down on the spear and drawing her side arm and jamming it into he crack between head and shell firing once, twice, three times.

The crab screamed again.

Adam dove forward, again under the legs as the crab spun in place bucking and rocking WIth the blade of his spear adam slammed upwards into another junction between the soft shell of its body and ints neck. Warm orange fluid spattered the outside of his armor, but he kept going. The snow at his feet was drenched in orange. Sunny sawed from the top and Adam did the same from the bottom until the entire mountainside was a river of orange blood.

Ramirez ran around the outside perimeter with Etium shooting at whatever leg joints they could.

The back joints went first and the legs buckled jolting everyone as the crab tipped backwards. 

Adam and Sunny continued to saw.

The crab roared.

“Oh shut up!” Etium said and fired a round straight into its open mouth.

There was a short delay before the crab exploded.

Sunny and maverick were sent flying backwards tumbling into the snow.

Adam was blown backwards into a jutting chunk of ice, while Ramirez was able to roll out of the way.

The echo of the blast lingered for a long time as chunks of crab slowly settled into the ground.

Etium hovered above them a look of shock on his face.

He looked down at them, “Sorry, I had…. No idea that was going to happen.”

Adam staggered to his feet and ran towards Sunny, but she ignored him, rising on her own power and pushing him off. She duested the snow from her armor, “Well that was fun.

In her head he could hear

It would have been more fun if Adam wasn’t  being an ass.

He frowned and she looked at him, raising her chin. She knew he could hear her and she certainly intended him to. She didn’t shy away from arguments and was unlikely to be passive aggressive about it. Maverick and Ramirez and Etium hadn’t noticed their exchange and began walking up the hill.

The two of them stayed behind.

“I don’t like the way you are treating me.” She began as blunt as ever.

“I’m not a Drev, Sunny, I can’t just pretend you dying wouldn’t screw me up horrifically especially now that Kazna wants your soul, and the soul of whoever you are carrying. I don’t think I could live with that.”

Cards on the table as they always did it.

“And you don’t think I don’ worry about the same thing. You let Krill cut into your head and poke around in there, and I am supposed to be supportive, but as soon as I do something dangerous its not okay? Are you seeing the hypocrisy?”

“There are two of you.” He pointed out stubbornly.

“I am aware of that, and as soon as I think it is affecting my battle prowess, I will back down. I would appreciate it if you supported my decision, and trusted my instincts.”

There was a silence between them .

Adam could hear everything that the words in her head did not say. She couldn’t articulate some of the feelings, but there was one that caused his face to burn in shame. The way he treated her reminded her of how she had been handled as a child by her mother. 

Incapable.

He sighed

“I’m sorry Sunny, this isn’t a commentary on your abilities, you know I never would….. It's just. WIth what happened to kelly. I am terrified of what might happen to you if….” He took another deep breath and tried again, “I will always trust your abilities in battle, but I doubt my ability to provide you with the proper cover that you need.” 

That was true enough.

She looked him over, “Than stop doubting. Doubt has always been your worst enemy, don’t make it OUR enemy too.” She turned on her heels and began a path up the hill leaving him to stand in the snow for a moment. He sighed and followed after her. At his back he could sense Krill trying not to have an opinion on their argument, but he was having trouble.

Adam blushed.

He forgot Krill was there.

whoopse .

And then, something strange happened. For a moment Adam thought he sensed something. He paused and turned to look at the room behind him, eyes narrowing. For A moment he thought he sensed someone's thoughts brushing against his mind, but there was no one there.

He frowned.

How odd.

Must have been nothing.

So he turned and continued the rest of the way up to the crimson castle.

[auxiliarydetective]

Love and War, Chapter 5

Heartbeat

i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | v. | vi. | vii. | viii. | ix. | x. | xi. | xii. | xiii.

AO3

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Don took the very last drag of his cigarette. He tried to get every bit of warmth from it that he could but finally had to breathe the smoke out into the freezing cold air. With a flick of his finger, he threw what was left of his Lucky Strike to the ground and squished it with his boot. For a moment, he contemplated taking another, but then decided against it. He would save what he had for another night. He had already given one to Muck and Penkala each, and would now save up the rest. After all, it might be a long time before Luz was charitable enough again to give him another pack, and his supply had to be limited too. What a lovely Christmas, Don thought as he looked up into the night sky. Up there, he found nothing. It was a dark, starless night - not even the moon was visible. If only Operation Market Garden had been a success, they could have all been home by now. Or at least in Aldbourne, with some warm food in their stomachs and a roof over their heads. Instead, they were dug in for the night, waiting for someone to open fire again.

Don let his mind wander back to their last stay in Aldbourne. Immediately, he had to think of Anita. Where was she now? What was she doing? He had thought about her in Normandy too, but this was even worse. This time, she wouldn’t be there waiting for him in England. She was out there somewhere, maybe in Africa, maybe in the Pacific, maybe in Europe, and she was facing the war without him. He still remembered the last night they had had together. The words “I love you” played over and over in his head like a broken record. “Somehow, we’ll find each other again,” she had said. But when? At least she had kept her promise to write a letter. It had been addressed to Bull as, in her words, “the most responsible of you rascals”, but had started with “To whom it may concern”, making it a message to all her friends in the company. Dutifully, Bull had read the letter out loud many times and Don had taken every chance to listen. According to the letter, Anita had just finished her training and was, at the time of sending it, waiting to be shipped out to a theater of war to put that training to good use. They had trained her in skills like cooking (her least favourite), handling mail, first aid and – her favourite – repairing and maintaining weapons. She had also claimed she now knew how to “run away with style” since she was supposed to stay away from combat situations. Along with the letter, she had sent a postcard from Iowa and a newspaper clipping of a caricature that she had really liked. But the way she had signed the letter was what had stuck with everyone the most: Love, Anita, with a lipstick mark red as roses next to it.

A smile spread across Don’s lips. He could see her image clearly in his mind. The brown uniform with its shiny buttons and branch insignia, the overseas cap placed neatly on her braided, chocolate-colored hair, the soft lips, the large, amber eyes…

That was when he got the feeling someone was staring at him. He must have drifted off very far. Really, when he slid back into reality, Muck and Penkala’s eyes were pinned on him, grins plastered on their faces. The moment he looked at them – he had to look very bewildered – they couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” he asked, trying to find out what was so funny.

Then, he looked up, right into a pair of large, amber eyes.

“Dreaming a little dream of me, weren’t you?”

“Annie!” Don gasped and jumped out of the foxhole, wrapping her in his arms. In his joy, he pressed a kiss on her lips. Who cared if others were watching?

How wrong his image of her had been. Anita was standing there in a woolen overcoat just like his own, the same greenish pants and boots underneath, the same helmet on her head, her formerly soft lips just as coarse from the cold.

“Yes, actually, I was dreaming of you. What are you doing here?” Don asked, holding her by the arms, still not ready to let go of her.

“My unit’s stationed in Bastogne,” Anita explained. “One squad of WACs, we work at HQ. - I have a nice little surprise for you.”

“Nicer than you being here? That’s impossible.”

“I’ve got mail from home.”

She pulled three letters out of the bag draped over her shoulder, handing them out to Muck, Penkala and Don.

“They can send us mail, but they can’t get us proper winter clothes?” Penkala complained, but he tore the letter open in an instant.

“They came with the last supply drop, wedged between the items,” Anita explained. “I was only supposed to drop them off here and leave, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you and give them to you personally. Captain Winters let me, as a Christmas gift.”

“You being here is the best gift I could’ve asked for,” Don beamed.

“I’d say ‘get a room’,” Muck murmured, “but then I’d be jealous of the warmth.”

Suddenly, an explosion boomed a few dozen feet away, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt.

“Come on, get in here!” Don called and grabbed Anita by the sleeve.

He pulled her down into the foxhole and was met with no resistance. Down there, there had only been enough space for three people, not four. Squished between Don and the wall, Anita felt trapped. More hits followed, some eerily close. That was when a voice cut through the noise.

“MEDIC!”

“Damn it,” Anita hissed and jumped to her feet.

“What are you doing?” Don called against the barrage, trying to pull her back down. This time, she shook him off.

“I may not be a medic, but I can help!”

Before anyone could say anything to stop her, she sprinted off in the direction the call had come from. Soon, she could make out three silhouettes behind a cloud of smoke. One man was lying on the floor, two others were tending to him.

“Sergeant!” one of them called out to her. It was Captain Nixon. “Get the jeep you came with! We need to get him to the aid station!”

Immediately, Anita turned around on her heel and ran off. She was headed for the clearing with Winters’ hut where she had parked the jeep, weaving between trees, praying that there weren’t any roots beneath the snow that she could trip over. The moment she sat in the driver’s seat, she could feel her heart jumping out of her chest. But there was no time for rest. She started the engine and drove back the way she had come from. When she reached them, Nixon and the other man – whom she recognized as Winters – carried the wounded to the jeep. He was placed on the hood, right where Anita could see him. His face was pained and almost lifeless, like he was about to pass out. It was now that the pressure really got to her. She was driving. She was in charge of getting him to the aid station. His life was in her hands, along with the steering wheel. Just before she was about to drive off, Doc Roe climbed onto the jeep. She remembered the day she had been introduced to him. A kind man that had saved many lives. Now, he looked exhausted.

“Go!” she heard and so she set off in the direction of Bastogne.

Everything around them was pitch black, the headlights of the jeep barely enough to illuminate the path. The darkness made Anita worry if she was going the right way, but she had to be. She needed to trust herself now. This was no time for insecurity.

But as they went further on, a grim image started to form itself. In the distance, gunfire flickered. Explosions swept over the hills. The closer they got, the clearer everything became. Anita knew these sounds well enough by now. This was an air raid. They were driving into an air raid on Bastogne. One of many. When they reached the first streets, the destruction was everywhere. The noise was deafening. Still, Anita kept her hands tightly on the steering wheel and drove down the main road.

Doc Roe threw himself protectively over the wounded, trying to shield him since he couldn’t shield himself. They were close now. Almost there. But then, a bomb landed right in the church up ahead, smashing the windows. The aid station. They had hit the aid station. A wall to the left of the jeep burst apart, forcing Anita to swerve to the right. She choked as the dust got in her lungs. In the middle of the chaos, she stopped the jeep not far from the smoking building. Immediately, Doc Roe jumped off, but then froze. People came stumbling out of the church, cowering and coughing. Then, he started running, running towards the aid station. Anita stayed behind in her seat, trying to calm her heartbeat. This was not the first time she had been in an air raid, but it still shook her to her core. A medic approached the van, checking on the wounded. He was in better hands now. He would make it. A bit shakily, Anita got off the van and started walking off, down the street. She was headed towards headquarters. Her task was done, now she needed to return to work. This air raid would not stop her. But it wasn’t meant to be.

When she reached headquarters, there was nothing left. The explosions faded into the background as she tried to process what she was seeing. The building was in ruins. Only the left side was still halfway standing, the rest had completely crumbled. Underneath the rubble, Anita spotted a body, an arm with a dark sleeve and a pale white hand. She scrambled across the bricks only to stumble and almost fall, revealing another body under the stones her feet had pushed off. Her heartbeat forcing her to shallowly breathe, she kept walking, eyes pinned on the ruins beneath her boots. Underneath a mountain of shingles, she found two entwined hands, one wearing an engagement ring. Finally, when she had reached the center of the building, she saw a face under the rubble. Pale skin, almond-shaped eyes and a birthmark on the left cheek. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but it all got stuck in her throat. As if in a trance, she stumbled back across the ruins, towards the jeep. There, Doc Roe stood, hands in his pockets, looking down. Silently, she stood next to him, leaning against the jeep.

“What’s wrong, Doc?” she heard herself say.

For a while, he said nothing. “I lost someone,” he finally said.

“I’m sorry.”

“What about you, what happened to you?”

“I… I lost headquarters. With everyone inside.” Saying it felt like swallowing a bullet. Saying it made it real. Immediately, she felt herself choking on it. She suppressed a sob, forced back her tears.

“You lost your entire unit?”

“Yup. … What do I do now, Doc?”

For a while, there was silence. It seemed the bombing was over. For some reason, everything being quiet was scarier than the explosions before. It was empty. Left you alone with your thoughts.

“I’m taking you back to Captain Winters,” Doc Roe decided. “He’ll figure something out.”

So, Anita climbed back on the jeep. This time, Doc Roe drove. She didn’t look back at Bastogne, only staring ahead, into the distance. The future was uncertain now. To be honest, it made her scared. She had almost gotten used to the explosions and the gunfire, but to have the ground beneath her feet pulled from her like this… What would happen to her now?

Finally, they pulled up to the hut in the clearing. Captain Winters was there, along with Captain Nixon. Winters looked at the jeep when it pulled up but seemed to notice nothing off. That was when Anita realized: She looked just like a soldier. From afar, there was no difference. Well, almost none. She was lacking the markings on her helmet, but aside from that… The same boots, the same uniform, no face recognizable. In fact, one might not even be able to tell if she was carrying a gun or not. Would the Germans even care?

A little helplessly, she looked at Roe. This had been his idea. Luckily, he looked like he would be taking responsibility for it. He nodded at Anita assuringly. Then, he walked towards the hut, Anita following behind.

“Captain Winters?”

Winters turned around. It was only now that he recognized Anita.

“Do you have more mail?” he asked, a hint of a smile forming on his lips.

“No, sir,” Anita replied, swallowing down the lump forming in her throat. “My unit was wiped out, along with headquarters. I don’t know where to go.”

“And you come to the frontline?” Nixon questioned.

“It’s the last place she was sent to,” Winters said. “If anyone comes looking for her, they’ll start searching here. I just want you to know that this is far from the safest place.”

“Bastogne isn’t safe either, sir,” Anita commented. “I was trained to handle combat situations, I’ll survive.”

Nixon looked at her doubtingly, but Winters’s expression remained at the very least neutral.

“What else were you trained to do?” he asked.

Dutifully, Anita responded: “Cooking, handling mail, first aid and repairing and maintaining weapons, secretary duties... I know how to mend clothes, too, if that’s worth anything.

Winters nodded. “I think we can find work for you. That way you have something to do. Wouldn’t that be better than just sitting around and waiting?”

Wouldn’t that be better than just sitting around and letting your thoughts consume you?

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright. For now, get in a foxhole. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

“Yes, sir.”

She saluted the officers and turned around. Doc Roe walked away with her, in the direction of the frontline. Behind her, she could hear Nixon complaining about how he thought this was a bad idea, how she would get in the way, how she would turn into a problem. But Winters defended her.

“Doc…?” Anita said carefully. “Can you take me to Don’s foxhole? I don’t know if I can find it by myself right now.”

“Malarkey?”

“Yeah. I… I feel safe with him.”

He nodded and walked off across the snow. She followed, her knees growing weak. Don was her light now. Her hope. Maybe he could provide her with new ground to stand on. Doc Roe led her through the snow and the trees until pointing at a spot in the distance. Anita could hardly see the foxhole but then she spotted movement.

“Thanks, Doc,” she said quietly.

“Good luck,” he replied, patted her shoulder, and left.

Anita took a deep breath. Then, she walked over to the foxhole. It became clearer and clearer to her. The noise her boots made on the snow must have announced her arrival, because Don, Muck and Penkala turned around in the foxhole and peeked over the edge.

“Annie?” Don gasped.

“Mind if I join you?” Anita asked weakly.

Perplexed, Don scooted over and made space for her. She climbed into the foxhole and sat down on the ground, suddenly feeling the exhaustion.

“Anita, what happened?” Muck asked.

“They bombed Bastogne. HQ was destroyed. Everyone’s dead. Everyone except me anyway. Merry fucking Christmas.”

Gently, Don pulled her into his chest. He took off her helmet and gave her a kiss on the head before putting it back on. Tears crawled into Anita’s eyes. This time, she couldn’t stop them. In the tight space, she buried her face in Don’s chest, trying to hide from the world. She had promised herself not to cry, that she would stay strong, that she would face whatever happened bravely. People died in a war; she knew that now. She should have always known and maybe she had, but to have it happen to someone so close to her… She had lost Tessa. Tessa, who had been with her ever since their recruitment. Tessa, who she had shared everything with. Tessa, who had volunteered to go give out those letters instead of her. She could have been saved if only Anita hadn’t been so stubborn, so obsessed with going to the frontline. All Anita wanted was that the exhaustion would finally take her out, make her fall asleep, put those thoughts to rest. But that salvation never came.

#band of brothers #band of brothers oc #oc: anita reed #fanfiction

[charliesimss]

All of them for hemming

All odds for Issy

Evens for grown up lio

1. When they tap their fingers do they use the pads of their fingers or their nails?

The pads of his fingers, his nails arent very long

2. What textures can they absolutely not stand?

Burlap I've decided to call it, like that scarecrow stuff, its too scratchy

3. How long can they go without showering before they feel gross?

Probably like 4 days

4. Do they leave clothes on the floor or a chair?

If he must leave clothes somewhere it'll be on a chair or his bed, or on top of his dresser

5. Do they sleep with the bedroom door open or closed?

Closed because he was raised correctly

6. Which do they prefer: 3am or 3pm?

3am because it gets dark at fucking 3pm now.

7. If they suddenly woke up with animal ears and tails what animal would they be?

Don't make me answer this mf furry question. He'd be a bunny.

8. If they could only eat one thing for 20 days straight what would it be?

California rolls cause its my default favourite food.

9. Are they the type to re-read a book?

Yes, he's read nothing but A little life since he got it in 2021. He's read it like 5 times. He kins jude, obviously.

10. Would they want to know the exact date and time of their death?

He would!!! Now that you mention it, I've just planned it, but obviously he doesnt get to know until it happens :charlieexplain:

11. What’s their favourite mythological creature?

I only know girl ones, so I guess whatever was in the magic tree house, like, warlocks?

12. If they had to listen to one song on repeat 100+ times what would it be?

🖤🖤🖤

13. Do they believe in an afterlife?

Yes, but he's not ableist, so everyone's disabled in it if they were when they were alive.

14. When they get tired do their eyelids twitch?

Yeah, he squishes his eyes really tight, like a mini sleep

15. What are their favourite textures?

Squishy and soft like a squishmallow

16. Do they crack their joints?

No not really, he doesnt need another body part not working 😵

17. Would they eat/drink something too hot or wait for it to cool?

He'd eat something right away, he be hungry

18. Are they the type to adopt strays? (Animals or people)

Animals maybe, not people, he's an introvert

19. Do they get work done straight away or wait until the last moment?

He likes to do assigned tasks in order of importance

20. How do they bathe/shower? Long or short? Hot or cold?

i love this question and cause only 2 ppl are gonna read it, I'll spill. He prefers showers, more accessible, and just sits on the built in seat of his shower cause its fancy like that, he does his face wash first, and his hair last, usually hot and on the longer side, which is why he only does it every 4-7 days.

21. Are they the type to daydream?

YeS, what else do u do when you dont have friends?

22. Do they work best in a messy space or a neat space?

NEAT, he's good at cleaning.

23. Do they keep any personal photos?

He has a family photo album, but he doesnt keep the photos on his person

24. Do they indulge in anything?

Hot choccy and then he has to be on the toilet for like 8 hours :/

25. Would they do the exact opposite of what someone says just to spite them?

Probably not. he'd be like, "youre probably right" and forget about it. every son of mine will be a doormat, know that.

26. If they’re alone and hear a noise would they go and investigate?

No, he'd accept his fate 💀

27. If they’re lost what is the first thing they would do?

Check if he had cell service to pop up his maps

28. What is that one dream that makes no sense but is absolutely terrifying?

Being recruited for the military! His biggest irrational fear! Biggest nightmare/dream (?)

29. What is the stupidest thing they’ve ever done just because someone said they couldn’t?

did the skate park tricks in his wheelchair without a helmet, boi got himself another head injury from that one

30. Are they stoic or melodramatic about being injured?

Laughs in disabled. He's all brave about it because he has a praise kink.

#oc hemming #oc asks #make my day #<3 <3 <3

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

Tango

His ears were ringing. Or maybe it was the alarms blaring through his helmet. He wasn't sure. It hurt.

He forced his eyes open, though he wasn't sure just what to make of his view. His HUD was dark. The vision in his left eye was obscured by something, and he couldn't make out much more than blurry shapes. His right eye was doing its job more effectively, showing muddy ground rush by his own blue-armored leg. His eye instinctively tried to shut against a drying breeze.

There was a muffled sound like someone talking from behind him, and suddenly he realized he was being dragged on the ground. The talking sounded urgent. Though the voice sounded like it was underwater, he registered that someone was saying his name.

It was Kelly's voice. She was jabbering incessantly, under her breath – the way she did when things were going wrong. What had gone wrong? Where was he? He tried to will his eye open.

"Hang in there Fred, we'll get you back," she kept saying. "Just hang in there Fred." She kept repeating the command like it was a mantra.

He blinked.

When his eyes reopened, the rough ground was gone, replaced by the gunmetal gray floor of a Warthog. Someone was driving. They must have been going fast, because his body swayed wildly as the vehicle swerved this way and that. Every time his body shifted, pain screamed through him. His eye felt even more dry now, and he finally put together that a sizable hole was allowing fresh air to wash over it. He vaguely registered the feeling of the Warthog dropping out from beneath him. When his shoulders reconnected with the floor of the vehicle, he was unconscious before he even registered the pain.

The next time he opened his eyes he was lying on a medical bed. That wasn't new. He'd awoken that way more times than he could count. Still didn't mean he enjoyed it. He lay back into a pillow that was too fluffy to be comfortable. Machines beeped around whirred around him, and an IV snaked its way into his left arm.

Slowly, he worked on his memory. How had he gotten here? He was deployed alongside the rest of his team, the mission ostensibly "routine." Something had gone wrong. At this point his mind remained stubbornly fuzzy – had it been a mine? An energy mortar? A blast from a fuel rod cannon? He didn't know. The painfully burnt skin that wrapped over his left shoulder and halfway down his arm confirmed the presence of a plasma weapon of some kind.

Luckily, he supposed, Kelly must have dragged him to safety. She probably would have dragged him clear to the Infinity herself if she had to. She was never one to leave a friend behind.

He lifted his head from the stuffy pillow that squished around his ears in a way the Spartan didn't like. The infirmary appeared empty; the neatly rowed beds near him were all vacant, and the only sounds from the room were the machines attached to him. Not another soul in sight.

Except for one.

She stood near the foot of his bed, a soft, familiar smile on her lips. She was very plain, objectively speaking. No makeup or jewelry to speak of, physical features that were pleasing, if . . . ordinary. But there was something about her that was unequivocally gorgeous, and he found himself staring. Her jet black hair was tied in a tight bun, her eyes carefully and meticulously scanning over him. She was dressed in a UNSC medic's uniform, though it seemed clear to him that she was no servicewoman. Her face was entirely unblemished, her hands unscarred. She looked like no other person he'd ever known, though her presence was a familiar one.

She gently placed a hand on the rail at the foot of the bed.

"We've met before," he said to the ethereal beauty. "Well, maybe we haven't met, but we've come pretty close."

She started. She seemed surprised to hear him. Her mouth spread into a sweet smile as the initial shock diminished, though she remained somewhat nonplussed.

"Oh, don't act so surprised," he said nonchalantly. "It seems like every time I get in a tough scrape you come check on me."

"Can you blame me? It's my job. On the Infinity medics are supposed to care for the wounded, you know," she said coyly.

Fred grinned in response. "I'm well aware," he said. "But you and I both know you've never been stationed on the Infinity. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that you've never been stationed on any UNSC vessel."

"What makes you so sure of that?" she asked, leaning forward. Her smile grew wider, feeling more familiar with every second that passed.

"I've seen you too many times," he answered simply. "In too many places."

His first memory of her was on Reach. He'd looked up into her deep brown eyes that seemed to stretch on into eternity and took solace in them, even as his body was wracked by the tortures wrought by Doctor Halsey's augmentation procedures. For years he thought she had been nothing more than a fever-dream, or perhaps a long-forgotten memory conjured up as each neuron in his brain fired incessantly in an attempt to adapt to the changes his body underwent.

He didn't see her again for more than a decade, until a lucky swipe from a Hunter ruptured most of his internal organs during the battle of New Harmony. He had spent a week in an out of consciousness, but it seemed that every time he opened his eyes, she was there.

That wasn't the last he'd seen of her though. Actium, Miridem, Skopje . . . he'd seen her across the galaxy. He was now thirty years older than the first time he saw her face, but she hadn't aged a day.

"I'd say we've run into one another often enough to be considered old friends by now," he said with a wink.

The last hint of apprehension vanished from her face, the happiness in her features genuine and . . . comfortable. "We have," she conceded, stepping closer to him. "I've come to you more than a few times now, yet you always manage to sidestep me."

He tried to shrug nonchalantly, but the screaming pain in his shoulder made him reconsider. "I wouldn't call it 'sidestepping,'" he said. "If I were any good at that, neither of us would be here right now. What you and I have is more like dancing, and you're just too good a partner. I don't want the song to end yet."

Her smile lessened. A sad look entered her eyes. He tried to ignore it.

"The music has to stop sometime," she said quietly.

She didn't say anything for a moment, and neither did he. They both remained still, enjoying an easy silence. They'd never spoken before, yet each felt comfortable in the other's company.

He thought about asking her. Asking her just what she was, exactly. It had taken him a while, but he had developed his own assumptions as to her nature. About why he only ever saw her in the infirmary. Why she only visited him in the moments between wakefulness and sleep.

He stayed quiet. Though his inquisitive mind begged for an answer, the Spartan felt unprepared to face the man behind that particular curtain.

"I've come for all sorts, you know," she said eventually.

She gently sat on the bed, though he didn't feel the stiff mattress adjust at all for her weight. Not even the sheets seemed to ripple beneath her.

"Some of them came willingly, some even invited me. Others fought, tooth and nail – like a feral beast hunted by its own personal nightmare." She turned to look him dead in the eye. "They all had one thing in common, though. In the end, everyone walks with me."

She reached up and pressed the backs of her fingers against his left cheek. Her hand was neither warm nor cold, her touch simultaneously feather-light and weighing a ton. Her conversation set his hairs on end, but her presence put his mind at ease. She was a walking contradiction.

"Will you walk with me now?" she asked, still brushing her hand against his face. "Will you finally end this dance of ours? Aren't you tired?"

"Tired?" he asked with a smile. "I'm exhausted. I can't even tell you how badly I'd like to get off this bed and walk with you. To leave all of this mess behind. No more war, no more death, no more . . . " he trailed off, finding himself at a loss for words.

"Then why don't you?" she asked softly.

Fred looked around himself. "Because of all of this," he said. Though the small hand gesture he mustered up the energy for didn't encompass more than the infirmary, he felt confident that she understood his meaning. "There's too much at stake. John, Linda, Kelly . . . they're the last of my family. I need to be here for them as much as I need them to be here for me. If I fail, if we fail, the toll will be higher than I could begin to stomach. I'm not ready to go yet. I have too much work to do."

Her sad smile returned. "I know you do," she said. "It seems unfair for just one person to feel responsible for so many. But you, and those like you, haven't been given much choice, have you?" She gently withdrew her hand from his face and rested it on his leg.

The lights in the infirmary suddenly activated, triggered by some movement outside in the hall. Fred could suddenly hear familiar voices arguing beyond the door. Kelly, shouting something at the guards standing watch. Linda, most likely uttering threats under her breath. John, ever the level-headed one, barking orders to the poor marines that were by now undoubtedly fearing for their lives.

As the voices grew louder, she stood and turned to leave. "This will not be the last time we see each other. Our dance continues, for now."

At the foot of his bed, she paused. "Make no mistake," she added, almost as an afterthought, "even the missing in action come to me eventually. Someday our song will end. And you'll walk with me as so many have before."

His attention was drawn to the door in the corner of the infirmary as it burst open, his team spilling through it. Kelly was the first through it, as always. She smiled widely and barreled toward him. Linda and John followed at a more subdued pace. When the Spartan turned his eyes back toward the woman at his bedside, she was gone.

Fred smiled at the empty space.

Our song will end, and part of me will look forward to that day, he thought.

But our tango isn't over yet.

#fred-104 #halo fanfic #my writing #death #blue team #honestly only Fred could charm his way out of dying #it's ridiculous but it feels right #First time posting anything I wrote #But I'm really proud of this one still so why not I guess