#so if you were following from then this is your cue to jump ship

[oceansssblue]

hi hello!!! i love your stories, and I’ve been getting back into bad batch and i’d love to request a piece of your writing!! could i have an AFAB reader x hunter please? reader is their professional field medic and certified mechanic, who was an old competitive dancer all throughout school, academy days, and training. one day, she’s cleaning up in the ship and finds a stowaway holopad and holodisk that’s full of readers performances from years past of every single one of their dance performances. as reader watches through the numerous amounts of performances, omega and the others see and asks to watch all of her performances with the reader. later on, when reader is asleep, omega brings up the topic of the reader being a dancer to the others and hunter, and nudges him in the direction of learning one of her favorite dances for the upcoming summer festivals in Pabu.

and then cue hunter struggling how to learn the iconic dance and lift from Dirty Dancing.

reader finds out, because crosshair mentioned in passing to fluster the reader about their not-so-secret crush on their sergeant. reader plans to make their move and catch hunter during practice—and gets him at the right time. hunter reluctantly agrees to do the dance with her, but insists it’s nowhere near as good as her recorded performances. as they run through the dance, the reader goes for the jump and hunter successfully lifts them in the air—which leans to reader being so excited they kiss hunter as a thank you. confessions ensue, and the whole squad saw it.

sorry if it’s a lot—i just like to be detailed,,can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!!

Hi! I'm glad u liked my stories, ty! Bruh, I laughed SO MUCH imagining serious fierce determined Hunter doing the dirty dance lmao. But your wish is my command, so here you go love!

Xx,

Sky.

"A JUMP OF FAITH"

HUNTER/F READER 📩💖

WARNINGS: noneee, this is pure dancing&kisses&fluff.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

There isn't a period of your life you can remember without losing yourself in a dance. You have blurred memories of yourself stumbling on your own steps with no more than four years old, trying to follow the way your parents happily danced with each other in the kitchen, love and peace almost breathable in the air of your small home. You remember how you grinned, wide-eyed, when they first took you to your first ever dance class; how excited you always were when school finished and they drived you there in the afternoons. You danced throughout school, medical care academy, and the years you spent getting a degree in engineering and mechanics. Hell, you even danced through your combat training period with the GAR; finding strength and comfort in well-learnt rutines, moves and steps you could pull elegantly and effortlesly even with your eyes closed, letting the music and muscle memory guide you. Those little moments allowed you to carry on.

When you find your old holodisks while cleaning and tidying up the Marauder –thank the Maker these guys have you, if not they could be covered in their own dirt by now– an involuntary nostalgic smile spreads through your face. Your parents made sure to record every single one of your performances, every competition year after year after year; gifting them all to you in a heartfelt goodbye when you announced you were going to travel to Coruscant and volunteer for the GAR four years ago.

You're half way through your records when Omega joins you sitting down on the corridor floor; curiously peering down onto your cracked datapad.

"What are you watching?" She asks, then gasps when she recognices your figure in the video. "That's you! I knew you danced, but not like that!"

You chuckle and turn the screen towards her. Omega's eyes don't leave the datapad; nor your body moving almost ethereally through the recording.

"Yeah, I did competitions and everything, before the war" you tell her with a small smile. "Mum and dad went to every single one".

"Wow" Omega grins up at you, tilting her head. "What's your favourite?"

"My favorite dance?" You hum thoughtfully. Then, tap away in your datapad, finding the right recording. "Probably this one. It's a style called dirty dancing. It's fun and carefree, while also sensual and pasionate".

Omega stares at the way your old self smirks to the male dancer in the video. You let her watch the whole dance; her eyes growing wider with the final iconic jump.

"I miss having a dance partner" you laugh, watching with a fond smile your old friend hiking you up on his hands. "There's only so many moves you can practice on your own... I loved trying those challenging ones".

Omega hums, lost in her own thoughts.

"Can I keep this? For a few days?" She asks, hopeful. "I'd like to watch a few more".

You shrug in acceptance; then caress her shoulder affectionately.

"You can keep them for the whole month if you want. As long as you take care of them and give them back..."

Omega gives you a radiant smile.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Two nights after that, when you're asleep on Tech's bunk –the goggled clone piloting the Marauder back to safety–, Hunter catches Omega wide awake in the middle of the night, eyes glued to a datapad he doesn't recognise as one of Tech's, and a almost concentrated expresion on her face.

"What are you watching, kid?" He asks her, gently, staring up at her small makeshift bedroom they managed to arrange for her.

Omega blinks and pauses the video. Her innocent face fills with childish excitement.

"Star's old dancing performances! Did you know she went to competitions and everything?" she gushes, whispering confidentionally.

Hunter smiles silently.

"I didn't know that, no. So she let you watch her recordings, then?"

Hunter is very curious, he can't deny that. He's dying to have a look through that datapad.

Omega nods and quickly finds the specific video on the datapad files.

"Yeah, she even showed me her favourite once. It's called dirty dancing. Here, you can watch yourself!"

Omega all but pushes the datapad into Hunter's hands, and he has no other option –nor he wants to– to stare at your recording, your figure dancing flawlessly through the screen. He has a fond tiny smile on his face without even realising it.

"Why don't you learn that dance and surprise her for the upcoming festival in Pabu, Hunter?" She suggests, whispering excitedly.

Hunter swallows nervously.

"I... Don't think I'll be able to pull that, kid".

"I disagree" Tech's voice suddenly cuts in the conversation at his back, and Hunter turns around expectantly towards him. The Marauder must be set in automatic course now. "We're naturally agile and have trained our coordination skills for years; I believe learning a dance such as this once is only a matter of effort and practice. At least to cover a minimum and do a decent job; not achieving a profesional level, that is".

Hunter hesitates. He feels like he'll look ridiculous trying this. But oh, to see that expresion on your face...

Omega grins.

"Come on, Hunter! There's a whole month left and Tech and I can give you tips and help you learn the rutine. She mentioned the other day just how much she missed having a dancing partner. It'll make her so happy!"

Hunter sighs, negative crumbling down with their insistence. Who would have told him that a soldier like him would have to learn how to dance, huh?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Crosshair's new favorite hobby is watching Hunter struggling to learn Star's dance. It's ridiculous, really; how the firm, fierce, determined sargeant turns to a nervous uncoordinated mess as soon as the music starts playing on Tech's datapad. He has made some considerable progress in the last two weeks, sure; but Hunter has a long way to go still. Crosshair is also delighted to watch the frustration on his goggled brother's face and needs to swallow his laugh when Tech joins in on the dance too; trying to teach Hunter the moves. The fact that Tech can apparently dance more or less right without proper training doesn't surprise him. Tech knows how to analyse visuals to perfection, pay attention to the details; and replicate fairly well. But Tech's not the dance partner their resident female has really in mind, huh?

Hopefully his brother would be able to properly learn the rutine for Pabu's festival in another two weeks time. Though Crosshair thinks it would be hilarious to watch him embarass himself in front of all Pabu's cheerful model citizens, he knows he wouldn't be able to look at Star in the eyes for days; and he hasn't got the patience to cope with such akwardness without snapping at the both of them.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Hey, Omega, did you finish watching those old vids?" You ask her almost a whole month after you lend her your datapad. "I was thinking on getting the pieces I need to fix it next time we make a pit stop to refuel".

Her eyes widens, and she smiles almost nervously.

"Uh, no... No, I haven't" she looks up at you guiltily. "Can I keep it for a week more?"

It's sweet she likes your recorded performances so much –and a bit strange, honestly–, so you nod in acceptance. Instead of smiling and staying with you to chat a bit longer though –like she would usually do–, Omega quickly dissapears under the excuse of having promised Wrecker a game of dejarik –periodically glancing backwards at you– in a way that feels too much like running away.

You frown completely confused. Crosshair stops in the corridor besides you, leaning lazily against the wall and watching Omega's hurried retreat as well. You tilt your head, pensive.

"Any idea what was that all about?" You ask hopefully.

Crosshair hums uncomitedly and stays quiet for a few seconds; perhaps pondering if he should give you an answer or not.

"They have this little show going on where Tech and Omega try to teach Hunter that dance you like so much". He finally confesses.

Your eyes fly towards him, stunned.

Crosshair shrugs.

"They wanted to surprise you in Pabu's festival" he pats your shoulder almost mockingly. "Seems you're crush on your sergeant is not that unrequited".

Crosshair almost swaggers out of sight; and though a small part of you feels embarassed for him noticing your feelings and irritated for ruining the surprise, it can't compare to how warm and loved you suddenly feel by the secret revealed. Hunter's learning dirty dancing for you. Hunter. For you.

The knowledge of such an important person to you, the man that holds your heart between his fingers, doing such a thoughtful gesture for you, pushing in hours of his time, is enough to make you melt. You can't help but smile for the rest of your day.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The Marauder is stationed in the middle of Aksiis forest, the Batch unanumously deciding to make one last pit stop here for the night before continuing your trip to Pabu. It has been a long two-months, and all of you are feeling a bit desperate to return to safety, to Pabu's peaceful coast line and it's wonderfully kind people; everyone will be even happier than usual with the summer festival finally taking place.

You walk to the cockpit after walking up from your small nap, and Crosshair's the only one there. You arch an eyebrow in a silent question and he makes an equally silent gesture with his head to the outsides of the ship; a desinterested expresion on his face. You nod and walk down the ramp. You swear you could completely communicate without words for days with Crosshair.

You hear music playing low, and you hesitate for just a second. Then you find your resolve again and approach them with a fond smile on your face. This is all very sweet, it really is; but you don't want this moment with Hunter happening for the first time in the middle of a crowded loud festival, all of your feelings being shared temptatively for the first time for all to gossip and stare. A nice, quiet night with just your newfound family sounds perfect instead.

Hunter is so engrossed with his rutine he doesn't even hear you arrive; only Omega widening her eyes and quickly pointing it out.

"S-star!" she stutters, surprised. "Uh, Hunter... Hunter, we got company".

Tech presses pause, and Hunter turns sharply towards you, eyes widening too at the shock of being caught. Wrecker's eyes flicker from one to the other in a very obvious, caught red-handed nervous expresion.

You chuckle and cross your arms in front of you.

"So this is where you all dissapear to, huh?"

Tech quickly furrows his brow, connecting the dots.

"Please, do not act as if Crosshair hasn't told you a word of this. For such a talent in dancing, your acting definitevely needs some work on top of that mediocre skill".

"Tech" Hunter calls him, firmly, voice low, and the goggled clone readjusts his lenses before standing up and clearing his throat.

"Apologies if I somehow offended you" he quickly offers, then makes a hand sign to Wrecker and Omega. "We will give you some space now".

The three of them walk away –Tech completely undisturbed by the whole act and the other two following him after showing you a guilty puppy smile–. "Space" appearently means sitting down on the Marauder's ramp, where your's and Hunter's figures are still very much visible. You ignore them and give Hunter a fond smile.

"So you've been learning how to dirty dance?" you ask, trying to control the eagerness inside.

Hunter actually blushes; the unusual sight surprises you, and you have to restrain yourself not to coo and cuddle up to him. He's got no right to be sexy and adorable at the same time. It isn't fair.

"Yeah" he plays with his bandana, tugging it down a tad nervously. "I'm afraid I'm still not very good, though".

You smile encourangingly.

"I doubt it. Plus, it always feels weird to practice on your own, less natural if it's a two person dance like this one. Want us to try together?"

Hunter had picture this going different in his mind. On Pabu, with a beautiful sunset; but you're beautiful enough for everything. And you're so excited... He can read it easily on your posture and eyes.

He sighs and offers a small smile.

"Alright. Tech?" He turns and calls to him, louder. "Mind playing the track one more time?"

Omega claps excitedly, Wrecker whistling cheerfully, and you take your position besides Hunter; shooting him a grin and watching him with the corner of your eye.

The music starts playing slowly. You smile to Hunter invitingly, aware that this dance is going to take much more physical contact than what you're both used to. He grabs your waist, hand then sliding up to your upper back, while you gently grab his bicep. When Hunter helps you make the initial tiny dip back, and pulls you back to him afterwards, your heart stutters and a radiant smile shows on your face. This is a dream come true for you.

You turn around shyly, standing in front of his body now, and softly drag your left hand downwards through his hair and neck while he caresses your hip gently. Your eyes lock, your body almost reclined on his; warmth spreads inside of you, the kind of feeling that's a mix between fondness, embarassment and delight bubbling inside of you. Hunter's hand finds yours; and then, just when the music changes the slow beat to something more quick and fun, he makes you spin away from him with a quick push, before tugging you back towards him and your body quickly steps into a well learnt rutine with your new dance partner.

You're both very focused on each move at first. It takes a bit of adjustment; you're not used to dancing with each other, Hunter is still learning, and it's being a while since you practiced this. It would be kind of pathetic to stumble –being a profesional– while Hunter nailed his steps perfectly. Soon, though, your matching grins widen; and you whole heartedly trust each other with every spin and twist, each success making your feet move faster and more self-assured until you're both flying over your secluded spot on Aksiis forest, lost in each other's eyes and the music.

It's exhilarating. It took you years of practicing together for you and your past dance partner to reach this level of complicity, of understanding; but it's easy with Hunter, the conection and syncronization almost natural, and you wonder if it's all a result of your mutual –now clear– feelings.

Hunter takes his spot on the solo part of his dance and you watch him with a grin, a chuckle escaping your lips. He shoots one back at you. He probably feels a bit self-conscious and a bit ridiculous, the soldier that he is; but he sees the delight and amusement in your eyes, the affection, hears your beating heart, and he'll do this and more to see that smile lighting up your face one more time.

He gives you a tiny nod to show that he's ready and you run towards him, jumping just an inch away from where he's waiting for you and trusting your body to him wholeheartedly. He doesn't let you down. Hunter catches you perfectly, quickly pushing your weight up over his head with two firm hands on either side of your pelvic; holding you steady as if you weight nothing for him. Hands spread to the sides and legs elegantly straight, eight foots away from the floor, you feel like you're flying; and the carefree, purely unadulerated happiness bubbles out of you in the form of laughter.

You're still laughing when Hunter carefully brings you back down to earth, both of your bodies sliding slowly against the other, pressed up together while your eyes lock once again. He's smiling as well, enjoying the sincere happiness etched on your face; love and fondness clear in his chocolate eyes. You kiss him; you can't help yourself.

Hunter smiles into your lips and tightens his hands on your hips affectionately. He'd learn a thousend more dances if this is his reward.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Crosshair, what are you doing?" Tech asks when he catches his twin with a datapad on his hands, holding it in the direction of Hunter and Star.

The sniper snorts quietly.

"I thought it was obvious" he drawls in his caracteristic low voice. "I'm recording".

Omega smiles.

"Aw, Crosshair, that's sweet! I'm sure Star would love to have this dance filmed as well" the girl agrees.

Tech hums, watching the couple dance completely in sync. He did a good job teaching him.

"Very considerate, yes" he acepts.

Crosshair huffs.

"Not really. I'm just making sure they feel in debt with me" he replies, still filming, and not caring if his words stay recorded forever. "They won't be able to throw shit at me for weeks".

Tech shakes his head, and Omega and Wrecker both laugh in a mix of exasperation and fondness. Crosshair smirks.

They all inevitably hold their breath when Hunter catches Star and pushes her over his head; smiling unconciously.

"He did it!" Wrecker exclaims excitedly.

Tech smiles proudly.

"He only had to drop me four times to manage it".

Crosshair chuckles. He zooms in.

Hunter and Star kiss; both melting in each others arms like they're missing pieces of each other's puzzle. Omega coos fondly, Wrecker grins and punches the air in a sign of victory, while Tech clears his throat slightly uncomfortable with the display of affection. Crosshair rolls his eyes.

When the kiss turns more passionate and less innocent, their bodies pressing up together with more purpose now, Crosshair stops recording and tugs at Omega's hand, dragging his goggled twin with the other one. Wrecker laughs and tags along after them, getting inside of the Marauder again.

"Okay" Crosshair snorts. "Enough of watching mum and dad making out, let's call it a day".

THE END.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Taraa! I haven't watched dirty-dancing, actually, but I did watch the dance like three or four times for this so I hope i did it okay! Hope you like it :)

With this request we finish the second part of the requests masterlist (that's 20 requests y'all)! I will re-open a third part in the future, not to worry.

We're only two followers away from a 100!! I have something special prepared 👀 I really think (&hope) y'all like it!

Xx,

Sky.

Back go main masterlist here:

#hunter tbb #sargent hunter #hunter bad batch #hunter x you #hunter x reader #hunter x oc #star wars #clones #tbb #fanfic #fics #clone wars #tech tbb #wrecker tbb #omega tbb #the bad batch crosshair #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb hunter #tbb tech #sw tbb #dancing #dirty dancing #fluff #cf99 #clone force 99 #first kiss #star wars tbb #one shot

[burning-landfill]

Perfectly smol

#mcyt #vintagebeef #pauseunpause #ethoslab #team canada #my art #so….. been a while #I’m gonna be honest my SS fixation is pretty much gone #so if you were following from then this is your cue to jump ship #I’m not sure what I’m gonna do going forward #think I’ll just chase the serotonin #and right now what makes me happy are minecrafters that I’ve been watching for almost a decade #ya I’m autistic how could you tell #also I totally ripped the base of these designs from sentientstump so #very sorry #but their art is so good and it inspired me to create again #go look at them it’s top tier boys over there #ok I’m done talking #so long if you’re leaving and hello if you’re new

[stray-kaz]

Starless : a Roronoa Zoro x f!reader oneshot

Summary: A warm summer night under an ink dark sky.

18+

"It's too damn hot" Zoro complained, staring up at the starless sky. "Why won't it rain or something?"

He smoothed a hand over the back of your head and huffed loudly. He had rigged up a hammock outside on the deck of the Going Merry and you were sequestered on it with him, patches of damp skin sticking together where your tank top rode up and your bare stomach pressed to his, shirt discarded long ago.

You shifted so your cheek rested against his chest and your fingertips stroked the bare skin of his sides.

"Drought" you yawned. "No rain in a drought."

He settled his free arm behind his head and scoffed.

"I know what a drought is, smartass" he muttered, but without venom.

You pinched his hip then soothed the skin.

"Just checking" you mumbled, yawning again. "Sleepy."

Zoro sat up suddenly and you yelped, almost tumbling over the side of the hammock. He held your shoulders tightly and you frowned up at him.

"What was that for?" you grumbled. "I could've fallen asleep on you, mosshead."

He didn't even blink at the nickname, just fondly kissed you on the forehead and clambered over onto the sun warmed deck. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at you, seeing you sweaty and disheveled and tired out but unable to sleep.

"I know something that'll help you sleep" he said gently. "Tire you out, too."

You raised an eyebrow at him, smirking slightly.

"Too hot for that, handsome" you said, collapsing backwards onto the hammock.

Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Not what I meant, pretty girl" he retorted.

He leaned down and grabbed your hands, pulling you up and onto his boots. You tipped your head back to look up at him, his green hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He smiled faintly.

"What did you have in mind?" you murmured.

"Midnight swim."

Your eyes widened and you glanced down at yourself, your lack of a swimsuit. Zoro's gaze followed yours, as if he could hear your mind.

"Doesn't matter" he said. "I don't have one either."

Then, as if to prove his point, he unbuttoned and stripped off his pants and boots, leaving him in nothing but his underwear. Taking his cue, you used him for balance as you shimmied out of your shorts and dragged your tank top over your head, leaving you in mismatched cotton underwear and bra.

You caught Zoro's arched eyebrow and rolled your eyes at him.

"So what?" you groused at him. "No one else sees them."

Zoro reeled you in with firm hands on your hips, thumbing up and down.

"That's good" he muttered. "No one else should."

You rolled your eyes slightly again and leaned up to kiss him gently, hands on his shoulders.

"Do we jump?" you whispered against his lips.

"What?"

He glanced from you to the railing.

"Oh, yeah. We jump. Think you can handle it?"

You smiled.

"If you catch me."

He squeezed your hips.

"I'll catch you, pretty girl."

You left your clothes in piles on the deck and climbed over the ship's rail to balance, looking down. Every few seconds, white caps frothed against the hull, but other than those flecks of white, the sea was dark and invisible. It felt like you were about to jump into a void.

Zoro reached over and briefly squeezed your hand.

"I'll catch you" he promised. "Don't worry."

And with that vow, he launched himself out and away from the ship, and you watched him plummet into the dark. Moments later, you heard a splash and saw white rolling away from Zoro as he tread the water and shook it out of his eyes.

"Your turn!" he called up to you. "Let go!"

You tracked his voice, took a deep breath, and leaped. The shock hit you at the same second Zoro's arms locked around you and you both sank below the waves. Moments passed of nothing but dark and cold, but then Zoro dragged you back up, gasping, into the summer air, his cheek pressed to yours, grounding you as you clung to him tightly.

He huffed a laugh in your ear, shifting a hand down to adjust your legs around his middle.

"You okay, pretty girl?" he asked, free hand stroking your back.

Your breathing evened out and you nodded, resting all your weight on him.

"I'm okay now" you mumbled, dropping your head to his shoulder. "Thank you for catching me."

He slid his hand up to the back of your neck.

"I'll never drop you" he said quietly. "Never."

You lifted your head slowly and looked him in the eyes. As usual, they were dark and almost impossible to read, especially at midnight under a starless sky.

"Do you promise?" you asked softly, smiling at him through the dark.

Instead of answering, he kissed you, his mouth cool and tasting of salt. Zoro slung his arms down around your thighs, hugging you to him and giving you a comfortable seat at the same time. You wiggled closer to him, pressing your stomach to his and smiling into the kiss.

His shoulders were damp where you gripped them, his hair soaked through when you moved one hand up to sink into it, teasing the spiky strands with your fingertips. You allowed your fingers to stroke across his scalp and he grumbled into you, moving to dig the fingers of one hand into your backside, saturated fabric threatening to give way under his strength.

You pulled away and pressed your lips to the spot just below his left ear, again tasting salt tang and feeling his body shift against yours. He growled quietly in your ear.

"I thought you were too tired for this nonsense" he reminded you, tugging two fingers inside the waistband of your underwear and snapping it back taut against your wet skin.

You laughed and kissed the side of his neck, perilously close to his pulse.

"The water woke me up" you replied. "But if you like, I can just..."

You broke free of him and cut through the water, away from the Going Merry. You made it fewer than six feet before Zoro caught you and was hauling you back into his chest, shaking his head.

"No" he said simply, and dove back in, claiming your lips with a voraciousness that stole your breath.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, the ocean wet material of his underwear no match for the hardness pressing against you, making you whimper and wriggle over him. Zoro's sneakily deft fingers stole across your collarbone and slipped under your bra strap, sliding it slowly down over your shoulder.

You caught his hint and pulled the other one down, too, and felt his smirk against your lips as he kissed you, hard, once more and pulled away to look down.

"You don't want to lose this one, do you?" he asked, breathing a little harder than normal.

"I'd rather not" you agreed, rubbing your thumbs over his cheekbones.

Zoro shrugged.

"Okay."

He tugged the straps down until they looped over your elbows and then so gently peeled the cups away from your body, exposing your breasts to the night air, summer breezes swirling around you and immediately drawing your nipples to stiff peaks.

Zoro's gaze darkened.

"Huh" he muttered.

Your answering surprised laugh died off on a whispered moan as he cupped the weight of your breasts in his hands, dragging his thumbs over the hardened tips. Twin spikes of pleasure bolted down to your core and you ground helplessly against him, aware that now it was only your own strength holding you up as both his hands plucked and tweaked at you, his gaze switching between his task and your face as you gasped and whined, hips twitching over him repeatedly.

"You're enjoying this" you mumbled.

"Uh huh."

You kissed him out of sheer frustration and felt his smirk before he kissed back, changing to gently circle his palms over your breasts, squeezing occasionally.

"You're lucky I love you" you grumbled, rocking slowly against him once more.

He laughed low and nodded, stamped a kiss on your jaw.

"I know."

You giggled quietly and tightened your grasp on his shoulders, still holding yourself up on him.

"So much for a swim."

Zoro leaned his head back and raised his eyebrows at you.

"I'm sorry, did you not cool off?"

You scoffed at him.

"Zo, I cooled off and then you warmed me up again."

He trailed his lips from the corner of your mouth to your ear, and you shivered.

"Then how about we throw in the towel and finish this on a bed?"

You grinned, shivers still wracking your spine.

"Last one there is on the bottom" you told him, then struck out towards the dock.

Zoro grinned and followed you...slowly.

Tagging: @writingmysanity @elizabeth-karenina @aaubin

#roronoa zoro #roronoa zoro x reader #zoro x reader #zoro x female reader #opla x reader #one piece x reader #opla fanfiction #one piece fanfiction #liss writes

[cc--2224]

Working Parts

Pairing: Echo x F!Reader

Summary: There was always something about Echo that drew you to him, you had no idea that he'd feel the same way. But when he shares his past with you, you know you want to be there to comfort him in the future.

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, pregnancy mention, lots of angst, but it's also so soft

Notes: This was written for the @cloneficgiftexchange run by @ghostofskywalker and this fic was written for @jedipoodoo , I hope you enjoy!!

Prompts: "You're okay, I'm right here." ||"I won't leave you." - and you also included that you love stories about parenthood and pregnancy, so I did my best!

Word Count: 3.4k

Read on AO3 Here

Taglist: None, let me know if you'd like to be added!

Masterlist

The first time you saw Echo, he had just disembarked from his ship, visiting his brothers and his sister. You happened to be near the landing port, and you looked over just as he descended the ramp, and from there you knew that you wanted to meet him, to get to know him. 

But you also knew that you weren't really the type to walk up to someone new, especially here. You were new enough to Pabu, the idea of putting yourself out there when you had just come here to hide from the Empire just seemed counter intuitive. It wasn't as if you were in any kind of trouble, after all, you were a mechanic and if anything would be an asset to them, but it seemed safer to stay out of sight, you could think of only a few things worse than being forced into the Empire.

“His name is Echo.” You heard a voice ring out from beside you, making you jump. You turned to your right, the voice had come from another one of the new arrivals, you had only learned that his name was Tech a few weeks prior when he walked into your shop looking for parts for his ship.

“W-What?” Your voice was still flustered from the sudden scare.

“I assumed you would want the name of the person you were so obviously staring at.”

“No, I–” You began to protest before sighing, knowing it was pointless to argue.

Tech waited for you to continue your sentence, but when you didn't, he adjusted his goggles and walked over to greet his brother.

“Like he'd want to meet me..” You muttered to yourself, but almost as soon as Tech made it over to Echo, the latter had turned his head to face you. That was your cue to turn and leave, not wanting to make him uncomfortable with your apparent staring.

~ ~ ~

The second time you saw Echo was a few months following the initial visit. He and his brothers had all come by your shop. Tech had placed another order for his seemingly never-ending tinkering, and the others - whose names you had finally learned - decided to accompany him.

You were surprised to see them all there in your little shop, but especially surprised to see Echo. It seemed that his visits to Pabu were few and far between. 

You did absolutely everything you could to avoid staring. 

When you were busying yourself with re-organizing drawers of miscellaneous parts, you heard your name being called out from behind you. It caused you to jump and knock over a pile of bolts onto the ground.

“Oh kriff, sorry about that.” 

You turned around slowly, trying not to let the embarrassment show in your face, only to be faced with the one you were internally trying to avoid.

“Don’t worry about it.” You said, a bit too shakily..

“That is your name though, right?” He asked, and when you nodded, he smiled. “Good to know, I’m Echo.”

“Nice to meet you.” You forced a smile back.

The tallest of them, Wrecker, wandered up to the front counter to join the two of you, and slapped a hand across Echo’s shoulder.

“Weird you two have never met!” He laughed, “I mean, Echo always just stares at you whenever he sees you, so it’s nice you finally have a chance to talk!” 

“...Thanks, Wreck.” Echo sighed, and looked at you with a slightly guilty expression.

You smiled and shook your head in reassurance to his unspoken apology, knowing you were guilty of the same thing. This almost gave you hope that your desire to get to know him was mutual. Almost.

Before long, the others approached the counter to collect their order and purchase the additional parts they had gathered in your shop. 

As they left, Echo took one last look toward you before ducking out of the building, and you got to work cleaning up the bolts you had knocked over.

Kriff. You sighed to yourself.

~ ~ ~

The time between Echo’s visits seemed longer and longer the more you eventually started getting to know him. You would never admit it out loud, but you even began to miss him when he wasn’t around.

He was kind, and he was quick-witted; he definitely matched his brothers' sarcasm and humour. And when the evening sun shone on him, his eyes almost appeared to glow gold.

It didn't take long for you to completely fall for him, he had a way of speaking that invited you in, he was charming and confident, certainly the type who could have any girl he wanted. 

For that reason, in addition to his frequent trips off-world, you decided not to say anything to him about your feelings. At least you wouldn't pine after him when you didn't have to see him every day, you had figured.

You had put the kettle on one evening and began sorting through your to-do list for the next day, getting lost in your thoughts when a loud knock on the door startled you out of them. 

Cautiously, you walked to the front window, peering out to see who could possibly be visiting, when you saw Echo standing on your front steps, looking around nervously, with his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

You unlocked the door and opened it. 

"Echo? What are you doing here?" You didn’t even realize he was on-world.

"I uh.. was just nearby and wanted to say hi." He was shuffling his feet a little, and his tone was hesitant.

Everything you had thought of his confidence seemed to fizzle away with his words, but still you smiled. 

"Hi," you repeated in greeting.

"Right well.. I should just.." He sighed, "I had a whole idea of what I was going to say but..."

You shook your head, still smiling. "I just put the kettle on, would you like to come in for some tea?" 

He breathed a sigh of relief, "I'd love to."

Echo entered your house slowly, as if he wasn't fully sure if he was actually welcome.

"Make yourself at home," you told him, reassuringly. "Tea should be ready soon."

"Thank you." He sat down on the sofa, taking in his surroundings. 

Your living room was warm and inviting, it certainly felt like you. He smiled, eying some of the photos on the wall.

He knew fairly early on how he felt about you, the fact that you seemed just as nervous as he was when you had first met gave him courage that you might even feel the same way. You were smart, you knew your way around all the working parts of any droid or ship on the planet. Something that he almost felt was humourous, given the fact that it made up most of him too. But more than that, his own darker thoughts figured that meant you’d want nothing to do with him. For that reason, he could never be open about his feelings toward you, but he had enough of hiding it. This revelation was what brought him to your door.

You returned to the living room holding two tea cups, and you set his down in front of him before sitting down on a nearby armchair.

"So what did you have to say?" You asked when you were settled.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"You said you had an idea of something you wanted to say."

"Oh, right I-..." 

He looked down at the teacup.

"I guess I just wanted to talk to you. We’ve been getting to know each other, but I feel like I still don’t know much about you."

You smiled, "Well there's not much to know. I came to Pabu after the Empire began occupying Lothal, opened up my shop, and have been here ever since."

"I see. Not the worst place to escape to," He noted. "Do you er... Anyone special?" 

You could feel blood rise to your cheeks at his question. 

"N-No, not really. Do.. you?" 

"Nah, me neither." His admission brought a feeling of relief to you. He had a sad look as he continued. “Not really sure it’s in my cards. Part of me always kinda wanted a family, especially after meeting Cut and Suu, knowing that some clones out there are living comfortably, but..” He trailed off.

You wanted so badly to comfort him in some way, but you didn’t know how. Anything you thought of saying would only reveal your feelings toward him, and you weren’t really ready to do that.

It grew silent with neither of you knowing what to say.

Eventually, you spoke up, figuring the best thing to do was to change the subject.

"What do you think of Pabu?" You asked him.

He thought about his answer, then he looked at you earnestly, with a spark in his eye that you couldn't quite place. 

"Honestly? I know I’m gone for long periods of time, but… It's getting harder and harder to leave." 

"You could stay." You blurted out without thinking, and you quickly tried to recover, "I mean, since the others live here and all.." 

You mentally facepalmed at your outburst.

But instead of poking fun at you, you heard a quiet chuckle.

"Maybe I will, after my job out there is done."

Your curiosity got the better of you. “What is it that you do when you’re away?”

“We help lost clones find places where they can be safe and comfortable, and above all, free.” 

You smiled, “That’s really noble.”

“It’s the least we can do. Rex and I both feel like we’re only alive today because of the blood our brothers spilled for us, so it’s only fair that we use that to help the ones still out there.”

“What was the war like for you?”

He paused and looked down at his cup. “It’s kind of hard to say.”

You waited to see if he would continue.

“It took me and my squad a long time to even pass the training drill to leave Kamino. They used to call us the Domino squad because we always seemed to fall one after the other. When we did finally get deployed, we were sent to an outpost on the Rishi moon and in our first real battle, we lost three of our men.”

“I see…”

“After that though, Fives and I were taken into the 501st under Captain Rex, where we eventually were made ARC Troopers, but after that was the Citadel.”

“What happened?”

“I got blown up.” He stated, his tone was laced with almost dry humour but he wasn’t laughing. “Seps got me and turned me into, well, this. And now I’m here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that Rex and the boys found me on Skako Minor, but I still get nightmares about it sometimes.”

He looked over at you, and his expression turned sympathetic after he saw how upset you looked.

“I guess I unloaded there, sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m glad you told me. I just wish I knew what to say.”

He smiled a half smile at you, “I appreciate you listening.”

Without really thinking, you moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck in a tight embrace. You stayed there for a moment, and soon you felt his arm reach around you, holding you there.

~ ~ ~

After that night, your relationship with Echo changed. He trusted you, you knew that just from the fact that he was willing to tell you everything about his past. 

When he’d arrive on Pabu, he always met you with an embrace, and more times than not, he’d show up at your house to discuss his missions and any news you had over a cup of tea.

And one of those nights, he had finally confessed his feelings for you. 

He didn’t work up to it in any sense. Instead, when you opened the door to let him inside, he stood on the doorstep, holding a bouquet of flowers out to you.

“What’s this?” You said smiling at the gift.

“I love you.” He announced, a faint blush growing across his cheeks, he was slightly shaking, but his eyes were serious.

“You- What?” Was all you could manage to say in reply. You heard him, but you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“I have for a while now. I knew from the start that I had feelings for you, but.. Ever since the night where I told you about, well, everything, I knew how deep those feelings were. If you don’t… Feel the same way, that’s okay, but I needed you to know.”

“Echo…” You managed to say, quietly. “I do feel the same.”

“What?” Echo was surprised, and he immediately believed he misheard you.

“Come in, please.” You said, and all but pulled him into your house. “I love you too.”

“But why? I.. Since when?”

“The same time as you.” You sighed and stood closer to him. “I’ve always had feelings for you, since we met. And when you opened up to me, when you trusted me with your past, I couldn’t ignore it anymore, but I always thought I was alone in it, so I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”

He smiled softly and placed his hand on your cheek, drawing your face closer to his. 

“You’re not alone. I’m right here with you.” He told you before he closed the distance, pressing his lips to yours, and you wrapped your arms around him, smiling into the kiss.

Echo broke the kiss before you both ran out of air, but still he held you close to him, pressing his forehead against yours.

“I’m relieved that you feel the same way, but I would understand if you didn’t, with me being this.”

“Oh shush,” you told him. “You’ll need a mechanic to keep everything in order.”

He smiled at you before placing a kiss against your lips once again.

~ ~ ~

You felt him tossing in the bed next to you. Another nightmare, you thought to yourself. 

He was getting them more frequently, and it worried you. It had been some time since he was rescued from Skako Minor, but the memories he had of his life before that had never quite faded. Memories of a life he could never quite return to. And you knew that something else was causing him stress. His nightmares grew more frequent ever since you had told him that you were pregnant. 

He was happy to be on Pabu with you, to start a family with you. But you knew it was still a hard adjustment for him. Not just living on Pabu, but everything since waking up from the stasis chamber he was put in. Everything that he had told you about all those years ago still haunted him to this day, and you wished that there was some way that you could help, but he had always told you that just being there with him was enough.

All you could really do in these moments was to try and calm him down, gently ease him out of his nightmares, try to get him to talk to you about them when he woke up, but sometimes it was easier said than done. 

You lay next to him, rubbing his back gently guiding your hand up and down next to the cybernetics, attempting to soothe him from his nightmare without waking him. He stirred gently under your touch before his eyes fluttered open.

"Fives!" He yelled as he lifted himself up off the bed. 

He took a moment to look around, eyes adjusting to the dark room.

"Shh.. You're okay." You whispered to him. 

He fell back onto the bed, turning to look at the ceiling before turning to face you.

"You should be sleeping." He said quietly, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

You shook your head, "No, I was already awake." 

He sighed and pulled you close to him, you adjusted yourself so you could rest your back against his chest, and he held you there, with a hand rubbing your belly gently. 

"I dreamt about the Citadel." He began. "Only instead of me getting hurt, it was Fives." 

You could feel his breath get shakier, and you intertwined your fingers with his. 

"I couldn't protect him. I couldn't protect any of them. Fives, Cutup, Droidbait, Hevy... I'm the only one left." 

You could tell from his voice that this wasn't entirely about his nightmare, and you turned back around to face him.

"Echo.." You gently reached your hand up to rest it on the side of his face.

He wouldn't meet your gaze, his eyes became fixed on your belly.

"What if I can't protect our child?" He asked quietly. 

"You can't think like that, I know you'll do anything for them." 

"But what if I can't?" He sighed, "You deserve someone you can rely on, someone strong to stand beside you. A good father for your children."

"And I have him." You reassured him. "Echo, everything you've described is you. I know you're afraid, and it's okay to be. In a couple months, we'll have someone else to look out for, but I know we'll be able to do this together. I didn't know them, but I know that Fives, Hevy, everyone would be so proud of you, for everything you've made it through, and everything that is coming our way." 

He sighed in frustration, clearly not hearing your words. “I won’t even be able to hold them properly without hurting them. How am I supposed to take care of a child?”

“Because you’re not doing it alone. Echo, I’m still here. I’ll always be here, we’ll be in this together, just like we always have.”

You pressed your forehead against his. "I'm right here with you." 

Echo nudged his forehead into yours gently, and pressed a kiss against your lips. 

"Thank you, mesh'la. You always know what I need to hear. I'm.. sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. Anytime you need to hear it, I'll be here. I won't leave you."

~ ~ ~

If there was one thing Echo didn’t need to worry about, it was whether or not he would be a good father. 

He was nervous about it, of course. His nerves couldn’t be calmed until the moment he looked into the big brown eyes, his eyes, on this tiny person. His insecurities and worries all melted away from that moment onward.

He had a bit of practice with Omega, but fatherhood really came naturally to him. You remembered hearing a joke once that it was the Mandalorian genes, but to you, it was just how Echo was. He was always kind, gentle, and caring, and these traits became even stronger once your child was born. 

He was a perfect father, perhaps a little overly cautious at times, but caring all the same. You remembered laughing at his idea to wrap a soft blanket around his scomp link so that it didn’t dig into your child’s skin, but he did it anyway.

And he was proud that his child had such a loving family, the other batchers became the best uncles overnight. Hunter and Wrecker immediately took to doting on and fawning over your child, Tech took to adding all kinds of child safety measures to the Marauder, and Omega was ecstatic to finally be an aunt. 

You knew that there was still a part of Echo that he tried his best to keep hidden that longed to see the other members of the Domino squad be part of your little loving family, to watch your child grow up, to play games with them, to teach them to fly, to tell them stories about their dad that even you haven’t heard, to just be there, to be alive, but all you could do was reassure him that, wherever they are, they were looking out for him, and the new addition. 

From there, everything seemed to fall into place. Everything made sense. 

Echo had told you once, all that time ago that he had wanted a family of his own, a dream of his and yours that became reality with you by his side. 

The two of you were working parts, you helped each other move and grow, and you would continue to do so for as long as you could.

#the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch fanfiction #tbb fanfic #the clone wars #the clone wars fanfic #echo x reader #clone trooper echo x reader #echo fanfiction #echo bad batch #TBBE24 #echo bad batch fanfic #echo bad batch x reader #the bad batch fanfic #the bad batch x reader

[oxittocin]

whatever this is (nico robin x reader)

nico robin masterlist

i'm not a writer, just a nico robin simp. this is but an unworthy tribute.

cw: gn!reader, an exploration of the [nico robin x reader] relational development across arabasta, skypiea and enies lobby arcs, with the god/devil motifs.

i. Post-Arabasta

Sanji had a terrible habit of leaving his cigarettes around. It is kind of a miracle that his pockets continue to contain a never-ending cigarette supply. You spot a half-burnt cigarette lying on the deck for the fifth time this week and swiftly picked it up. Didn’t want litter on Merry.

“Should I start calling you Janitor-San?” A hint of playfulness in her voice as Robin looks up from the book she’s holding.

You cleared your throat with a flourish.

“You can call me Mr. Prince.” Cigarette between the index and middle finger, you cooly placed it between your lips, pretending to take a drag in the best Sanji impression you could muster. Wiggling your eyebrows and pretending to exhale sweet smoke into the cool air, you asked Robin, “Are you lost? I need to call God and tell him I’ve found his missing angel.”

Expecting to hear Robin’s gorgeous, gorgeous laughter, you mentally gave yourself a pat on the back for a job well done on an exquisitely accurate Sanji impression.

Or so, you thought.

A long moment passed before you saw the tiniest trace of amusement grace her features. Still, the silence that followed had already pushed you down a rabbit hole of self-consciousness and embarrassment. Involuntary flashbacks of Robin nonchalantly breaking necks with merely a flick of her palms had you panicking. What kind of idiocy had possessed you to freely joke around her like this? Stupid cigarette. Stupid Sanji.

It wasn’t that you didn’t trust her. It just always felt like she was keeping you at arm’s length. A careful distance, a wariness masked by gentle smiles, a tentative friendship that rendered you a bumbling idiot. You didn’t know how to act around her when in this state of incongruence.

It felt like an eternity had passed when she finally responded.

“Ah, an angel.” She simply stated, turning her attention back to her book.

Now, cue the internal screaming, cursing yourself over and over again, wishing you could just jump off the ship and disappear. Face flushed red with embarrassment, it was no surprise that you missed it when she said, “Lucifer was an angel too.”

Ah, it must have been odd for someone so closely associated with the name of the Devil, to be called an angel.

ii. Post-Skypiea

Sure, God Enel did wipe out a whole lot of folks but the real bulldozer was the Moonlight Party afterwards. Leaving behind a sea of wasted idiots - including the majority of the Strawhats - you winced at your throbbing headache as you shuffled to sit beside Robin, who seems to be the only one sober enough for a conversation.

“What a God, huh?” You offered her a friendly smile.

“It seems you might have jinxed us with your Sanji impression, with wanting to call God and all.” She retorted.

“Well, eh, I’ve never believed in God,” you say with a shrug of your shoulders. A pause, before you continue, “I believe in you, though.”

Throughout the events that unfolded in Skypiea, you had grown much more comfortable around Robin. She remains a mystery in more ways than one, but she has saved your hide countless times over that you feel safe around her.

“Another attempt at a pick up line, I see.” She teased.

“No, I mean it.” You admit. It must be the sentimentality that arose from the quietness of the night or the atmosphere under the full moon that had given you an ounce of courage to be sincere.

“Even if I were the devil incarnate?” She asked. In the dimness of the night, you couldn’t quite make out her expression. You weren’t sure if she were joking or not, but there was a quiet desperation in her tone that you couldn’t quite comprehend.

A pause.

“I’d still think you were cool.” You say softly to her, not sure if that was the answer she wanted to hear. You hope that it was enough anyway, because you meant it. You liked her, regardless. You hope she knows that, but the silence that ensued lasts a little longer and tells you that she probably doesn’t.

iii. Post-Enies Lobby

“It's divine intervention, you know that right?" That was the first thing you said to her after the ordeal that was Enies Lobby. A couple of pirates against the Marines' stronghold is practically a suicide mission after all. If not for heaven's will, then how else?

"And would God really save the Devil's Child?" She asked, amused by your interpretation of the events that had unfolded. A twinkle of playfulness in her eyes as she challenged your theory.

"God made me to never leave you alone."

A promise you intend to keep.

#one piece x reader #nico robin x reader #nico robin #robin one piece #nico robin x you #nico robin x y/n #one piece robin #one piece #sorry sanji

[meadowofdarts]

I would love a champion ship reader stuff!

If u do oneshot can I request “fighting” for the crown with Scara who’s your partner, he’s stronger but you know some of his tricks and impress him

Same with Cyno! <3

Fighting For The Diadem (BONUS)

Ngl, I wasn't going to make a bonus like this since I wasn't doing requests yet (considering rn) but I figured this a way to make up for those who wanted a different love interest <3 Thanks to Anon for the idea!

Since Wanderer is in the main post, I'll be doing Cyno but I figured to add the other contestants so it's more fun.

Btw, I want to say that this was written way before the polls about the weapons and vision. The ones that won were an anemo vision with a polearm (you guys want to be Xiao huh?) - that will be for the main post. This one contains the other elements and weapons.

This will follow the same rules as the main series. You and your partner are in the same darshan.

CHARACTERS INCLUDED: Cyno, Tighnari, Kaveh, Layla, Faruzan.

MAIN POST (WANDERER): PART ONE, PART TWO, PART THREE

Enjoy!

CYNO

(Reader uses a catalyst with a pyro vision)

Cyno aimed his spear directly at Hat Guy. In response, he sends an anemo wind blade to the polearm, sending it back up.

The General Mahamatra catches his weapon in the sky and dashes fast to Hat Guy. Cyno sends the first attack to him with an electro-swift thrust of his elemental skill.

Successful with his hit, Hay Guy turns annoyed but fights back, sending more of his anemo wind blades to him as Cyno dodges.

Meanwhile, you examined your boyfriend's moves with Hat Guy while inside one of the forest's fluorescent mushrooms.

Cyno suggested that while he fights the others, he will use it as a distraction for you to grab the diadem if there is an opportunity for it when he fights the contestants.

You prepared your weapon in hand as you waited for Cyno to give a signal or an opening to snatch the diadem off-guard. Cyno and Hat Guy continue to exchange blows with one another. Hat Guy unleashes a number of his wind-blade attacks, and Cyno deflects them with his polearm.

When Cyno attempts to attack, his opponent blocks them with his arms. Although, It didn't seem to hurt him as he didn't show any slight pain whatsoever. They both bounced off away from a distance when Hat Guy noticed something.

You turned to where he was looking, raising your eyebrow. It was Kaveh, yelling coming towards them with Faruzan's device in hand, looking like it was out of control.

Seeing it got Hat Guy's attention, Cyno quickly looked up to meet your stare. He ushered you to his opponent before leaping to him.

That was your cue.

You quickly jumped on top of the mushroom you were on. You still struggled, but you managed to make it above. You were preparing yourself to take action.

At the bottom of the forest, Hat Guy forms his charged attack of wind pressure on Kaveh when he passes by him with the device still in his hand. It sends Kaveh off somewhere away from the duo.

Unnoticed, Cyno uses his spear to hit the diadem, finally resulting it out of the hands of Hat Guy. From the impact, the crown goes far up above.

Once it was high enough, you jumped off from the mushroom to the next mushroom forward while successfully quickly grabbing the diadem in your hands.

After landing on the mushroom, you quickly sprint and plunge to the ground with the possession of the diadem. While running, you hear the speed of footsteps coming behind you. At the corner of your eye, you see Kaveh running after you. It was blurry, but you could make out that Hat Guy was flying toward you.

You lowered your pace as you took out your catalyst and sent your pyro attacks to the architect. Kaveh barely dodges it as he was still dizzy from Faruzan's device and the wind from Hat Guy. But it seems to stop Kaveh from chasing you because he stopped, catching his breath, and stopped momentarily from the burning grass.

You also noticed Hat Guy coming. You send more of your Pyro attacks, and he dodges them without a struggle. He, in return, sends more of his wind blades, but you still manage to avoid them while running without looking.

Without you noticing, Hat Guy was about to fly into you to get the diadem until someone came in his way and blocked his aggression. He cursed under his breath as he flew back to meet Cyno's hardened gaze.

Cyno noticed the venue ahead, and you were close to reaching it. He smiled, proud of you, but he needed to defend against the guy with the giant hat to keep him busy, so there's time for you to put the diadem in place.

...

TIGHNARI

(Reader uses a sword with an electro vision)

You were running at the scene at the part of the forest where Layla is coming and is supposed to be with the diadem. You noticed before that Faruzan took ahead up, so there's a chance she might catch up with Layla, so you had to be quick.

But all of a sudden, when you glanced up ahead to see Faruzan and Layla's figure, you attempted to run but fell back down so suddenly by the wind force. Confused and surprised, you looked up to see Hat Guy flying out of the scene. But you only focused on one thing; he now had the diadem.

You got yourself up again and ran behind him.

'He's so fast...' You thought. Hat Guy never really participated in the other rounds, almost like lazing off during the championship. But seeing this round, it's like he's giving his all. You shouldn't have underestimated his strength.

You pulled out your sword and leaped up high to attack him straight. But already having a sense of your figure, he dodged and lowered himself to the ground. Once he did, you attacked again, using your elemental skill by throwing various spearheads with electro circling around them.

He deflected them with the use of his anemo vision and started sending his attacks to you. You avoided them as you sprinted up to him to attack him near, but he stopped it quickly with his catalyst.

He flew near you and sent more of his wind blades. Every time it comes, you stop it with your sword directing the anemo attack backward to Hat Guy, which he dodges every time.

At some point during your fight, you sent your electro spearheads again. Your opponent avoids them, except one spearhead managed to land a hit on his shoulder, which causes your element vision to flow around his body.

He seemed surprised yet annoyed at the same time for letting himself get hit like that.

Still fazed by your sudden attack, he was startled to glance at the sides to see charged dendro arrows charging at him.

When you had fought with Hat Guy, Tighnari aimed his bow and arrow at him while you distracted him, which allowed Tighnari to shoot his shot.

Quickly, when Hat Guy took his gaze off you for only a second, you sprinted past him as he dodged immensely from Tighnari's arrows.

His smirk was quickly wiped off his face when he realized that one of his hands that was once occupying the crown felt empty.

He turned to see you running away with the diadem in your hands. You looked back at him and stuck your tongue out as you fleed. Grumbling under his breath, he went after you by flying. Unknown to him, Tighnari also ran in your direction.

Seeing Hat Guy was catching up with you, you turned and noticed your boyfriend. "Tighnari, here!"

You throw the diadem at him which he caught it without a struggle. In exchange, he also threw you one of his arrows from his pocket.

While he ran with the diadem, you stopped and turned to throw Tighnari's arrow to Hat Guy, who turned his attention to your lover. Caught him off guard, he flew back until he was against one of the mushrooms from Tighnari's arrow piercing through his clothes, sticking him up to the mushroom.

You laughed mockingly at him. You figured Tighnari was near the venue with the diadem, so you decide to leave Hat Guy stuck on the mushroom.

You met up with Tighnari along the way and high-fived him.

...

Hat Guy despises you now :D

...

KAVEH

(Reader uses a bow with a hydro vision)

It was the third and final round of the championship. You were determined to win and help Kaveh this time around. Even though he earned a point, Kaveh didn't have a good time during the second round.

You felt so bad for him during that time, so you wanted to win the championship all for him. He deserved it.

You were lucky that you manage to seize the diadem first in the forest. But now, every other participant was after you. You didn't know where Kaveh was. He said he forgot Mahrak, and he suggested you should take action first.

Currently, you hide in one of the mushrooms of the Mawtiyima forest as you see Faruzan and Layla looking around the area, probably looking for you. Even though they are the ones you saw right now, you need to keep an eye out for the other contestants.

You waited a bit before climbing up top on the mushroom you hid yourself with. It seems no one has noticed you yet. But just in case, you took out your bow and waited for your charged attack to fill up.

After a while, you shoot at somewhere random in the forest, creating a splash from your hydro vision that reaches the ears of the two girls below. Layla immediately ran in the direction where you shot while Faruzan followed her.

Seeing the coast was clear, you dashed in the opposite direction where the venue was located with the diadem in your hands.

But when you immediately see a polearm thrown at you, you know this isn't easy already. You aimlessly stopped the weapon coming by deflecting it with your own bow. The polearm is being thrown in a random direction to the ground.

Sensing someone, you quickly took out your bow and shot various arrows to where it came from. Cyno enters the scene as he dodges them very well.

Cyno ran past you to get the weapon that allowed you to shoot behind him with your bow and arrow. But that failed quickly when he ducked to avoid it.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Kaveh had finally arrived back in the central area of the forest with his forgotten suitcase. He started looking around for you but still tried to keep an eye on who had the diadem. He realized that you probably already went ahead.

He sprinted to the route of the venue but noticed something in the corner of his eye. He sees Faruzan and Layla looking troubled as Faruzan's device goes around to lose control.

Seeing it was heading in his direction, Kaveh tried to stop it with his hand. But it overpowering him, dragging Kaveh with the device still in his hand.

Back to you, you were still fighting with Cyno, defending yourself against him as he was trying to get the diadem. Both of you continue to send attacks to each other while blocking some of the strikes.

At some point during the battle, Cyno managed to snap the diadem out of your hands, so now he has it while you are trying to get it back.

You and he were both immersed in the fight until you heard a scream with a familiar voice coming closer every second.

You turned to find Kaveh coming after you and Cyno with a device in his hand, as he looked like maintaining a hard time controlling it.

However, it was swift to register that because of the sudden quick appearance; you both got knocked out to a far distance from each other. You had to get your back get hurt against one of the mushrooms. In the process, Cyno had lost grasp of the diadem, and it managed to land near you.

You groaned, rubbing your back, but you were more concerned about where Kaveh went. You see the diadem near you and grab it quickly before dashing away with it. A little while later, you see Kaveh still having his hand on the mad device.

You immediately took out your bow as you charged your arrow. "Kaveh, let go of it!"

He did as you said without hesitation, as his mind was probably spinning in circles. He landed on the floor, still dizzy from it.

As the device reaches you, you immediately shoot it with your charged attack. This caused the device to smash into one of the forest's tiny hills that successfully seemed to stop the little machine as it landed on the floor.

You sighed in relief before heading up to Kaveh. You draped one of his arms around your neck while holding his torso with your other hand. You were still holding the diadem. It was a good thing that you saw the venue up ahead.

"You okay?"

"A bit. Thanks, (Name)."

...

LAYLA

(Reader uses a claymore with a cyro vision)

You and Layla were able to get hold of the diadem before anyone else. The two of you were running together, Layla holding it tightly as the two of you attempted to make it to the end goal.

You both were in second place; before Spantamad, wherein you were behind Cyno. So far, you both managed to get a point from the two other rounds. So, you and your girlfriend had a high chance of winning this with the point system.

Layla stopped making you do so as well. You meet at the front to see Faruzan blocking your path. Immediately meeting your eyes, she summons her device that goes straight up to you two.

You grabbed Layla's hand and dashed ahead while you quickly pulled out your claymore and swung the device with your weapon sending it back with its appearance looking broken.

Faruzan looked surprised but gained her composure when you and your partner decided to flee the scene. She dashed in an attempt to stop you from continuing on ahead.

You gave Layla a look while running, and she immediately knew what you meant. She showed that by tightening her hand around yours.

Layla quickly summoned her shield as Faruzan was coming near.

You used your elemental burst to summon your cryo blades to the ground that block Faruzan out of your sight.

The Haravatat girl stopped in her tracks near the swords you summoned. She stared at it, confused, until she heard rushing footsteps behind her. She turned to see you and Layla sprinting away.

She cursed for letting you guys get away as she believed that you used your elemental burst as a distraction, which it was. Faruzan let another one of her devices go towards you.

You and Layla knew something was coming behind you, but you continued as the device hit the shield instead. While running, you glance to the side to see Tighnari shooting his dendro arrows at the two of you. It was useless anyway since it hit the shield and did nothing.

Another threat appeared as you saw Cyno running up ahead and trying to send an attack on you. You obviously blocked and deflected him. You thought you could make it to the venue without distractions, but Cyno kept blocking your path and trying to attack you.

You nodded to Layla as you decided to fight Cyno while she moved ahead to put the diadem in place.

She hesitated but agreed to it. You also started attacking Cyno as he dodged and used his skills against you. That gave Layla time to dash past you guys as you both fought.

You summoned your elemental burst, but Cyno managed to leap over it. He swung his polearm to strike you, but you blocked it with your claymore with your full-on strength to push him back with your weapons still in contact.

At some point during the fight, Cyno managed to trip you down with his foot and used his polearm to trap you in.

You grumbled but noticed that he looked confused. Cyno stood wondering where you had the diadem until he realized your girlfriend had it.

He was about to get up until you pushed him back down as you got up and ran ahead.

Cyno went up, threw his polearm at you, aimed successfully at your back, and led you back down. Cyno was about to get up and find Layla but paused as he saw a cryo starlight towards him. He dodged it but saw more coming his way. He managed to avoid them but was still confused about where they came from.

But that gave you time to get up and run ahead. The cryo starlight was coming towards Layla's burst. You knew as you see the Dreamsphere she summoned earlier.

Later, you met up and hugged her, thanking her for what she did back there. She blushed but gave a small smile as she also said her appreciation for your skills.

...

FARUZAN

(Reader uses a sword with a dendro vision)

After waiting for a while, you decided to find Faruzan or whoever had possession of the diadem. The final round came in, and Haravatat was in second to last place, which isn't good. (Even though you tied up with Kaveh.)

Speaking of Faruzan, you honestly don't know where she went, as she said it's better to split off to make it easier in case different opponents managed to seize the diadem. Word got out that Layla snatched it first, so she went ahead to check it out while you waited at the middle center of the forest, in case something happen.

So you were about to daze off and fall asleep when you heard rushed footsteps and a gust of strong wind past you that you had to hold the mushrooms for a bit of support.

You turned to see Faruzan running in your direction. She stopped the moment she was near you while catching her breath.

"What happened?" You asked quickly.

She gained her composure and mumbled. "Ugh, that guy..."

You looked in the other direction to see a figure flying, but it seemed they were far from a distance, but you barely managed to make out that it was Hat Guy from Vahumana. But you also see in one of his hands was a shiny treasure. The diadem.

"(Name)," She said to gain your attention. "Here's what we can do."

She whispered her plan in your ear. After hearing it, you agreed to it with a little smirk.

...

Hat Guy was basically more overpowered than any of the other contestants, as he was flying with his elemental skill while dodging every other contestant's strikes.

His smug expression dropped when he heard someone sprinting behind him. He turned to see you below with your sword in hand.

Hat Guy stopped for a brief moment to send his catalyst attacks to you. You blocked them with your sword while aimlessly dodging a bit that went near you.

While you started the fight with Hat Guy, at the same time, Faruzan entered the scene. She sent her charged attack to the one with the giant hat.

Hat Guy backed away as he dodged your charged attack but then noticed Faruzan's charged arrow coming in his way. While he intended to avoid it, you took this as a chance in an attempt to get the diadem.

As expected, he avoided it and gave your girlfriend an anemo attack. In doing so, you managed to go around him and quickly sprinted and got the diadem out of his hands.

Immediately, Hat Guy noticed he didn't have the diadem in his hands anymore. You ran away with it, along with Faruzan catching up to you. He then chases after you, still flying.

While running, Faruzan released one of her devices again and instantly was sent to Hat Guy, hoping it could get him out so that you put the diadem in place without anyone interrupting.

Hat Guy sent a charged attack to the device, which gave the machine a malfunction, and now it's going crazy again. She stopped in worry as it went in every corner out of control. Noticing her, you also stopped and saw the commotion.

Hat Guy took this to his advantage to take the diadem.

But you know what to do. The device was getting closer to you and Faruzan with Hat Guy coming. Faruzan ducked to dodge it, but you quickly pulled out your sword and swung it with a charge of great strength that sent the device flying to another side.

That side happened to be where Hat Guy was. Since the device was still out of control, it was relatively fast. So Hat Guy couldn't dodge it in time. The device managed to land a hit on his chest and the device sending him off a far distance.

(author: why does imagining that is so funny)

Faruzan couldn't help but smile widely at what you did. You turned and sent a smile back.

She went to you and gave you a quick peck on your cheek. "Come on! Let's get this diadem back."

...

ngl just realized that the readers visions don't matter - it's mainly the weapons i used for reader in here whoops lol

good god, idk why this took so long but I finally did it :D (but i might go back to this and make minor changes)

See you guys there in a play of vigorous wisdom part three!

taglist: @etherisy, @fanfictionenthusiast, @melobee, @cattycattitude @timeofsilversstuff, @yourfuturebaee, @cloudycloudd, @sketcheeee, @godsblesstheboi, @swivy123, @that-mom-friend, @julia-scribbles, @llunariese, @seirenspinel, @anggurz, @stormyenglish-23, @inferisk0, @paracosm-life, @mochisgf, @fabimaou, @yuyukami, @kaocia, @sharkdays, @miyakoa, @vvyeislazzy (extra tags) @fairygirl18, @caramelstarlight, @osaihara

(Those without underlining are the people I am unable to tag, sorry but check your settings!)

#genshin fanfic #genshin impact #genshin impact x you #genshin x reader #genshin x you #wanderer x reader #genshin x y/n #cyno x reader #faruzan x reader #layla x reader #tighnari x reader #kaveh x reader #interdarshan championship #genshin version 3.6 #sumeru #sumeru x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin imagines #genshin fluff #scaramouche x reader

[shyficwriter]

This isn't really a fully formed idea but imagine being part of the Guardians of the Galaxy and having like lightning powers.

And like, when you get angry or frustrated an electrical charge builds up. Sometimes it's just static arcing through your hair. Other times you accidentally discharge the electricity into a metal table or something. Or you'll purposely reach out an grab onto a metal pole to make sure you don't discharge the lighting into whatever person is pissing you off (Rocket)

One day you discharge the lightning into a pole when you're pissed at Rocket and it looks like a transformer exploded. Rocket cockily asks "Was that meant to be intimidating?" and you answer, "No, that was to prevent me from electrocuting you when I kick your furry raccoon ass." *cue Rocket lunging for your throat and the others needing to break up the fight*

Also I imagine the following exchanges would happen: "Damn it! They've fried [electrical device] again!" --- "Sorry!" Or, "If you don't stop arcing my ship-!" --- "It was an accident!"

Because problem is you can't always control it, and once the charge builds up either you discharge it intentionally somewhere where you won't fry the electrical (or fry any of your friends) or it will just happen on it's own the next time you touch something- anything. Like static electricity shocks- but worse because it could either be a tiny tingle (if you're mildly frustrated or annoyed) or you could electrocute whoever comes in your path (if you're royally pissed).

Mantis has actually been forbidden from trying to use her powers on you after one time she attempted to see if you were angry and got blasted across the room when the electricity discharged (She was fine though, but you still felt real bad)

Obviously those who have metal implants are less than thrilled if they accidentally brush into you and you have a charge built up. (Nebula could have killed you the first time it happens, and Rocket legitimately tries when it happens to him- also his tail was singed for a week)

Eventually someone gets you a rubber mat to stand on to mitigate this, especially when the charge becomes too great. It's the only thing that allows you to discharge the electricity without electrocuting your surroundings. (Your rubber soled boots apparently weren't enough and you often get sentenced to go stand on your mat until you "cool down" when you're frustrated.)

It's not all bad though. Sometimes you get to see Drax's more playful side because the tiny shocks barely faze him- in fact they kinda tickle he claims. So sometimes you'll even sneak up behind him and give him a little shock just to make him laugh and every once in awhile he'll even chase after you if he's in the mood to be playful. Doesn't happen often, but it's still fun when it does- though he always catches you and gives you a playful noogie in retaliation.

It's also a real asset to the team. Lighting powers are super helpful with taking down big bad guys. You may have also even been convinced at least once to jump-start Peter's ship too lol

#gotg #imagine #story ideas #lightning powers #x reader #rocket raccoon #nebula #drax the destroyer #peter quill

[wild-lavender-rose]

Riot (part 2)

Part 1

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x shy!fem!reader (call sign Riot) 

Category: One-shot

Summary: After meeting in Penny’s bar, you and Rooster see each other the following morning under very different circumstances. Him, a lieutenant and candidate for an impossible mission. And you, Captain Maverick’s daughter and public affairs specialist a.k.a. army photographer assigned to chronicle Maverick’s life. 

Warnings: Mild swearing, brief insinuative flirting 

     You arrived at the base dressed for work, which for you was not something army issued. Your long term assignment of chronicling your father’s life and accomplishments had done much to ensure humans stayed in the cockpit and not robots. Combined with a little help from Iceman, your position as Captain Maverick’s personal photographer was essentially permanent. When he was shipped back to Top Gun to teach you were worried at first, fearing that the threats of his discharge meant you would be re-assigned somewhere else. But Iceman had pulled strings and you had gone with your dad, giving you at least a little more time to work together as father and daughter. 

     Amid the insanity of Maverick’s reassignment, one of the privileges you had managed to keep was the ability to wear civilian attire. So when you walked into the base wearing jeans and a white t-shirt with your hair tied up and camera bag slung over one shoulder, the Vice Admiral grimaced but remained silent. 

     Maverick smiled as you came to stand beside him. He was holding one of the thick flying manuals waiting behind the rows of pilots to be introduced. You scanned the line up of heads, gaze landing on Bradley. Heat rushed to your face and you looked away. He made you blush without even looking at you. You glanced back at Maverick to see him gripping the manual so hard his knuckles were turning white. You gave him a half-smile, trying to quiet both his nerves and your own. Contrary to popular belief, Maverick did have the capacity to feel nervous. He was just a master at hiding it. 

     “And in order to complete this mission, we have enlisted the services of Captain Maverick.” 

     That was his cue. He walked up the aisle, prompting the pilots to turn around. Hangman was the first to see you, a smirk lighting his face. You grimaced and adjusted the strap of your camera bag. You could feel Bradley’s eyes on you. The heat in your face grew worse. 

     No one had announced it but it didn’t take a genius to see that you were related to Maverick. You knew the nature of the water under the bridge between him and Bradley. You knew he blamed Maverick for his father’s death and the delay to his career. Maybe you should have told him Maverick was your father last night. Maybe you should have given him a heads up just like he did with the piano. Maybe you should never have talked to him in the first place. 

     You dared to glance at him just as Maverick began to speak. Bradley met your gaze, his expression unreadable. He turned to face the front and you followed suit, insides fairly trembling with uncertainty. He must hate you for not telling him who you were and what he was in for. Surely Bradley was now regretting even talking to you. 

     “You’ve memorized every inch of this manual.” Maverick dropped the book with a thud into the trash can. “Well so have they.” 

     Your hand slipped inside your bag without thought and withdrew a small handheld camera. You adjusted the settings by memory and raised it to your eye. Maverick continued his talk. You began to take pictures, capturing the moment, pretending Bradley wasn’t there. 

     The tension was growing in the room right along with the excitement. It made sense. This was the kind of mission pilots lived for, even if it meant that they might not come back home. Bob looked worried. Phoenix seemed to be fighting back the urge to jump up and run off to complete the mission that very moment. Hangman was practically drooling at the concept of a dogfight, imagined or otherwise. 

     You couldn’t help but smirk as you zoomed in on the side of his grinning face. “He’ll eat you alive.” You muttered, taking the shot. 

     Within a few minutes you had snapped pictures of everyone there. Everyone except Bradley. You couldn’t. You just couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, even through the lens of your camera. You should have told him, you thought, a growing sense of regret and embarrassment threatening to swallow you whole. Why didn’t you just tell him? 

     Because then he wouldn’t have talked to you, you realized. Because, for a single blissful moment, you felt seen and safe and content with someone other than those that had raised you. And nothing else had mattered. 

     Except now the moment was over. And Bradley knew. Now there was zero chance that he would want to flirt, let alone talk, to the daughter of the man he despised. 

     “On that note,” Maverick’s voice broke through your thoughts. “Suit up.” 

     The pilots took that as the cue to stand, uncertain but respectful of Maverick’s orders. You stepped to the side and continued to take pictures, kneeling for a different angle. 

     Hangman crossed to you. “Make sure you get my good side.” 

     “And that would be?” You looked up at where he was towering over you. 

     He ignored the retort. “Hey, about last night. I had no idea you were a, you know,” 

     “A captain’s daughter?” 

     “Yeah.” 

     “Don’t worry.” You snapped a couple more shots before standing, tinkering with the camera so you wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. “I know you would have tried to pick me up even if you did know who I was.” You smirked. “Pilots are unbiased like that.” 

     “Damn you’re hot.” Hangman jerked his head towards the hanger. “Don’t take it too hard when I pulverize your old man up there.” 

     “I’ll try to stifle my tears.” You looked up at him and saw Bradley watching you from over Hangman’s shoulder. Your heart fairly stopped in your chest. Bradley looked between the two of you for a moment, expression still unreadable. Then he walked on without a word. 

     Hangman followed your gaze. “Got a thing for the pathetic ones, don’t ya’?” 

     “Well if I did then we’d be in bed by now.” You slipped the camera back into your bag and brushed past him. “Have fun up there.”

     Hangman was chuckling as he followed you, joining the other pilots as they went to prepare for their flight. 

                                                  # # # # # 

     “Dad!” 

     Maverick looked over his shoulder as you ran to him with his helmet in tow. “Thanks, honey.” He smiled as he took the helmet, reaching out to tug at a loose strand of hair dancing in your eyes. “You’re grounded.” 

     “What?” You tried to seem offended. “I didn’t even ask to fly.” 

     “This one’s by the books, Riot.” 

     “Says the one who literally just threw the book away.” You continued on before he could defend himself. “I understand, Captain. I’m grounded.” 

     Maverick grimaced but he looked more bemused than annoyed. “I noticed Hangman talking you up.” 

     “More like talking trash.” 

     “Need me to ground him too?” 

     You shook your head, gaze trailing to where Hangman was prepping to get up into the cockpit. “As much as I’d like that, his file says he’s a good pilot. And you need all the talent you can get.” 

     Maverick chuckled. “See you later, honey.” 

     You couldn’t help but smile at that. Maverick always said the same thing before he flew. See you later. It implied that he wasn’t really going too far and that he was coming back. And he always did. Every time. 

     “Wouldn’t be a fair fight, you know.” Maverick turned away. “Having you up in the sky with me. Pretty sure we’re supposed to go easy on ‘em.” 

                                               # # # # # 

     Maverick did not go easy on them. Your heart twisted down into your stomach when you heard them make the deal of taking two hundred push ups. What a bunch of imbeciles. You paced by the radio the entire time except when you were looking out the window. To your surprise, you heard Bradley be the first to go down. Why was he the first to get gunned down? 

     You watched him from the window, sweat dripping off his forehead as he took his punishment silently, aggressively. Normally you would have taken delight in seeing a bunch of cocky pilots get deflated. But seeing Bradley out there made you feel sick. You knew Maverick had no intention of playing favorites...but why couldn’t he have gunned down someone else? 

     You paced between the radio and the window. Bradley disappeared and was back on the radio a few minutes later. You ignored the way your insides fluttered at the sound of his voice. Maverick gunned them down with minimal effort. The line up of pilots doing push ups grew. You smiled when Hangman joined them. 

     But the satisfaction was short-lived as you heard Bradley get gunned down again. And again. And again. 

     “Dammit, Dad.” you ran a hand through your hair and turned away as Bradley knelt to do yet another brutal set. You felt helpless and stupid. Why were you having such a reaction? Why did it even matter? 

     You considered this for another moment, eyes landing on a cooler filled with water bottles in the room you had been forced to wait in. An idea sparked within you. You took a deep breath and pushed your shoulders straight. “Forget this.” You muttered as you grabbed a water bottle and your camera bag. 

     Bradley might hate your guts for not telling him who you were but you’d be dammed if you had to stand by while he suffered. Maverick said you had to stay grounded. But he didn’t say a word about staying away from Bradley Bradshaw. 

                                                  # # # # #  

     You had lost your courage by the time you were walking towards Bradley, water bottle in hand, heart pounding out of your chest. Everyone else has left him. You could tell even from a distance that he was angry and tired. The sweat and pain that covered every inch of him pushed you forward even as your absolute and utter fear urged you to run away. 

     You reached him just as he finished the set and had collapsed on the ground, stopping in front of him. He looked up at you, sweat dripping off his chin. 

     You looked at the ground and held out the bottle. “Here.” 

     Bradley was silent. You started to set it in front of him and go but then he took it, fingers brushing against your wrist, stilling you with the slightest of touches. 

     “I’m sorry,” the blazing heat in your face was worse than the sun beating down on you. “I should have told you who I was. Should’ve given you a warning.” 

     Bradley twisted off the cap. “Doesn’t matter.” He gestured at you with the bottle. “Not your fault that your dad ruined my life.” 

     “He was trying to help.” You managed to look him in the eye, your thoughts swirling with possible implications of him dismissing the fact you’re related to Maverick. 

     Bradley scoffed. “Some help.” He tilted his head back and drained the water bottle without stopping for breath. “Mom never mentioned you.” 

     “Your mom was the best.” A smile lit your face as you remembered. “I got to meet her a couple times a few years ago, before she...I wanted to come to the funeral, but dad knew that he was the last person you wanted to see.” You bit your lip. “She spoke highly of you.” 

     Bradley’s smile was faint and tainted with the pain of bittersweet memories. It made your heart hurt for him. “Why are you here?” He asked. 

     “I’ve been assigned to chronicle the captain’s life, help prove that humans should be in the cockpit instead of-” 

     “No, I mean why are you here?” He nodded at your surroundings, gaze burning into you. 

     You shrugged as if it was an every day occurrence for you to face your impossible introverted self and talk to a near perfect stranger. “You needed someone.” You bit your lip. “I mean, someone had to tell you that you exceeded two hundred push ups.” 

     Bradley scoffed but amusement was washing the turmoil from his eyes. You stepped back as he got to his feet and leaned against the plane behind him. “You look good like that. With your hair up.” 

     The heat in your face tripled. You gave a breathless laugh and ran a hand through the strands of hair that had escaped from their disheveled knot you had created that morning. “Shut up.” 

     “Want me to stop?” 

     “No,” you smiled up at him carefully, heart skipping at the way he was smiling back at you. God, did you just do that? Change the emotion in his eyes from pained to happy? You didn’t think you had that kind of power, especially not with pilots. “Just, go shower.” You said, biting your lip as he grinned. 

     “Yes sir.” Bradley watched as you turned and started back the way you had come. “Hey, Riot?” 

     “Yeah?” You looked over your shoulder. 

     “You ever eat supper?” 

     It felt like you had been hit by a tank. Surely this man was not implying that he wanted to go on a date.

      “Yeah?” You replied. 

      “Nice,” Bradley nodded for a moment before pushing off the plane. “Good to know.” 

     Confused and giddy beyond belief, you turned on your heel and continued to walk ahead of him. Your brain tried frantically to process. What on earth had just happened? Was he asking you out? Was he kidding? 

     Your fists clenched as you forced yourself to breathe. Despite the confusing chaos in your mind one thing was painfully certain. Bradley wasn’t upset with you. In fact, he didn’t seem to mind at all that Maverick was your father. The question was, what would Maverick think? Your stomach did a twist. 

     Well, you thought, if Bradley’s flirting was all in your head then there was no reason to worry. And if, by some random and highly unlikely miracle, Bradley was interested in you, then you would find out quick how Maverick felt about it. At least you knew that he wouldn’t ground him. As you stated earlier, he needed all the talent he could get. You just hoped that Bradley knew how to fly a jet with a black eye. 

Part 3

Fanfic Masterlist

#rooster #rooster bradshaw imagine #rooster bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster x reader #rooster x you #rooster x y/n #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x you #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x y/n #bradley x you #bradley x reader #bradley x y/n #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun movie #top gun maverick movie #top gun rooster #top gun maverick rooster #rooster fluff #rooster imagine #top gun imagine

[ringanon]

Date Night | Tyson Jost

(gif creds to @mattymartin )

Pairing: Tyson Jost x fem!PotteryTeacher!reader

Warning(s): None?

Word Count: 3000 on the dot

Summary: Part 3 to this, cute dates, adorable humans

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

"Y/N-Y/N-Y/N-Y/N-Y/N The Sabres pots just made it out of the kiln, you're going to want to see them," Shelby came running into the main room of the studio giddy and practically jumping up and down, "They turned out so good!"

You snickered, "give me one second, I'll come look at them. I think they're coming soon anyways."

"Dude- come ON!" You didn't need to turn around to know that she was probably shifting her weight back and forth and practically bouncing off the walls waiting for you to spray and wrap the plates you were refining. The second you stood up from the chair, you only saw a flash of Shelby's hair disappearing down the hallway. You followed her down to the kiln room, hitting the threshold by the time she was standing over the open kiln, eyes scattering around the inside of it. You looked into it, looking at the five masterpieces that littered the top shelf of the kiln. you stifled laughter at the odd array of clay in front of you. You left Shelby to take apart the kiln and went back to the front. The Sabres weren't supposed to be here for another hour, which gave you time to work on a few orders, organize a couple classes for this upcoming week, and contemplate how you would attempt to keep yourself together around Tyson. You started glazing a piece that needed to be shipped out this coming week when the front door opened. Your head spun around and met the eyes of Scott Balzar (The team videographer, per nhl.com), "Mr. B, I didn't think you were supposed to be here for another 45 minutes?"

He nodded his head, "I know, but we were wondering if we could film around the studio a little so the viewers get an idea of what the studio looks like and so the guys have a chance to be around what you guys do a little more, if that's okay?"

You smiled, "Of course it is, just be careful when you head back the hall, we're unloading the kiln right now, so I would avoid that end room."

"That's perfect, thank you. I'm okay to release everybody?"

"Yeah, as long as I have my little bubble to work," the grin plastered on his face scared you, it was almost like he knew something he shouldn't. Maybe you were just paranoid.

You turned your focus back to the pot that was still in your hand, listening to the bell on the door jingle. When the door shut completely and everyone was inside, the team was trying to be respectful and quiet around you. They were almost succeeding, until Tage Thompson sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table, "So, what'd you think?"

You looked up, "Of what?"

"Of Lombardo?" You felt yourself cock your eyebrow in confusion. It took longer than a second for you to connect the dots that Tyson told him about your date.

"Oh! It was nice! I got the Fazzoletti and he got whatever their Lobster pasta is and we split their little banana pie!"

Tage looked so excited, "Phew, some good choices. Overall, enjoyable?"

"It was, 10/10 would do again, why do you ask?" You had all but abandoned your glaze work, more interested in why Tage was questioning you like a trained FBI agent.

"He did not shut the hell up the entire time. From the second he walked through the door, to the time he fell asleep, you are all I heard about. I was told I'm supposed to be asking you about the Merlot?" You burst out laughing. Apparently Tyson did not hold back to tell Tage all of the details of his night.

"I didn't have too high of hopes for it, but it was good. I don't remember what it was, if that's what you're asking," Tage looked disappointed, "but I can find out and text Tyson."

As if on cue, Tyson came up behind you, "How many projects do you have going on right now?"

You looked up at him, "We have an online shop that people place orders on, so I'm constantly working on those. This one is going to a woman out in California and the plates I was working on earlier are going to Alberta."

Tyson took this as an invitation to sit down next to you, asking you about all the orders you were working on and all the other cool stuff that your job let you do. You sat there and chatted with the two of them until your alarm went off. It was supposed to tell you that it was 15 minutes before their scheduled start time, "I should start setting up for you guys."

Both men sitting at the table followed your eyes as you stood up.They turned to their own conversation as you cleaned off the table. Tyson looked at Tage in shock as you used his shoulder to lean on as you reached for a cup of water on the opposite side of the table. He felt like a giddy teenager, overthinking light touches and sweet words, trying to hold himself together in front of you. You walked to the back room and grabbed the five bowls that sat in a circle closest to the door and brought them to one of the classrooms. By the time you made it back out to the main part of the studio, all of the members of the Buffalo Sabres had congregated in a little huddle around the table you previously occupied, "Gentleman, you can come back, we're in the second room on the right."

All five of them stood up and scurried back to the hall. You popped open the door to show them where exactly you were talking about, allowing Tage to pass you first. Tyson, who passed right behind him, touched your hip lightly as he walked past- a motion that didn't go entirely unnoticed. you finished grabbing a few supplies that you weren't sure were all in the room already and stood back to let the rest of the crew in and give them space to set up.

This room was set up differently than the last one. Instead of pottery wheels, there was a long table that stretched most of the room, with cabinets along the side and a counter top at the front of the room. You watched all five of them take in the change of scenery. You stood at the end of the table and grabbed the bowls you had sitting there. You silently passed around all of their pots and let them talk and compare their pieces. When you were given the go ahead, you started class, "Welcome back to the last part of your little pottery making journey. You're almost free, I promise."

The room collectively chuckled. You got the chance to look around the room, Tyson was enamored in your words; Tage was too busy looking at Tyson ogle at you. Owen was too busy watching Jeff, who was twisting his bowl in his hands inspecting every crack and crevice of it. Dylan seemed to be looking around the entire room, looking at you every so often to make sure you knew he was listening, "today we're going to be painting our works. You have the choice between using glaze or acrylic paint, there's pros and cons to each one. If you paint it, it is only decorative, you cannot eat out of your pieces, but you can take them with you today. If you glaze it, you will have to come back after it is fired again, but it'll be food safe. I, thankfully, don't have to do too much of a tutorial on this, because you guys watched me glaze a pot out front before we came in, yeah?"

They nodded, "If you decide to glaze your pieces, you have to do at least 3 coats of whatever color you are using, and that's for each color. Most of the glaze containers should say how many layers you need for that glaze to be opaque, I would try to shoot for 2 layers of acrylic just in case. Any questions?"

The entire room shook their heads, so you showed them where all of the materials that they didn't already have out in front of them were and basically cut them loose. You helped where needed, but it seemed like they all got the hang of it pretty quickly. Owen and Tyson were the only ones who decided to glaze their pieces, so you spent most of your time sitting with them and helping. The hour went by quickly, most of the guys didn't need that much time, opting to do one color and call it a day. Owen and Tyson stayed back, Tyson having driven separately from the rest of the group (He planned to go out with you afterwards, but couldn't tell anyone else that). They had decided that they would film the two other pots after they were done with the last firing, and had decided to go home for the day. You sat in the room, just the three of you, until they were done. Owen was the first to push his bowl in front of him and announce that he didn't think there was anything else he wanted to add. Tyson offered to drive him back to his place, and asked to hang back for just a couple minutes while he finished up. 

When Tyson had, very loudly, announced he was finished, Owen huffed. Both of them placed their pots together at the end of the table, which you grabbed and promised to take back to the kiln room when they left. Owen left to go use the restroom and then was going to wait out front, which left you and Tyson alone. Tyson found you leaning against the counter at the front of the room, and caged you in front of it, “Sweetheart, you’ve barely looked at me the entire time I’ve been here.”

“Did you seemingly forget that we’re barely supposed to know each other?”

Tyson kissed your forehead, “It’s okay, we’ll make it up tonight. I’m going to drop him off at his place and then come back for you, okay? You’re done in half an hour?” You looked over at the clock.

“Yeah, about a half an hour. Is that okay? You’re not going to be cutting it too close?”

“I’ll rush through it if it means I get to spend more time with you.” you blushed, “I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

You nodded, letting him lean down and kiss you sweetly, “Go take Owen home, You’re gonna have me the rest of the night, or until Tage thinks I’m harvesting your organs again.”

The laugh that he let out was heavenly, “I’ll text you, keep you updated.”

“Yeah, we’ll make that work.” he walked out with nothing more than a nod of his head. 

You took their pots back to the kiln room and slipped them on the next glaze kiln that was going to go in. 

The 35 minutes that it took Tyson to drop Owen off and come back went by slowly. It seemed to drag on after 15 minutes, when Tyson texted you and told him he had just dropped Owen off and was on his way back. You were the last one at work, having ushered everyone else out and that you would finish cleaning up. You were sweeping the floor when the door opened, “I’m back, did I miss anything.”

You didn’t look up from what you were doing, “nope, Steve chirped me because I wouldn’t let him help me close up.”

You finished what you were doing quickly, letting Tyson ramble about the conversation on the car ride to Owens and the cool song on the radio on the way back. You grabbed your bag and looked at Tyson from the other side of the front register, “Are you done? Can we go out now? I’ve been waiting all day for this.”

You walked around to him, wrapping your arms around his neck as he talked, “yes, I am done, I am all yours.”

“Thank god,” he placed a hand at the base of your spine and pulled you into him. He pressed his lips against yours in a kiss that made you weak in the knees. You grabbed a handful of the tshirt that adorned his shoulders. When he pulled away from you, you were breathing heavily, red in the face, and staring up at him in bewilderment, “I’ve been waiting so long to do that.”

“Are you ready to go?”

“You mean to tell me I can’t just stand here and makeout with you?”

“Maybe back at my place, or yours for all I give a shit.” You took a step back out of his arms and gently motioned him towards the door. You both took a step outside and he let you lock the door. Taking a hand in his, he walked towards his car.

“I think we should make a pit stop first, real quick.” He brought your hand up to his lips to kiss the back of your palm.

“Why? What do you have planned or are you not going to tell me again?”

Tyson walked you over to the passenger side of the car, opening the door, “What’s your go-to Mcdonald’s order?”

You laughed and kissed his cheek, “Thank you.”

“You didn’t answer me,” He leaned against the door frame until you cracked and told him, “Good, welcome to our second date.” 

He shut the door and you laughed. The whole way back to your apartment was full of comfortable silence and little touches that Tyson wanted to do the first time. Your hand held his on the center console and his thumb made small strokes across your knuckles. Once the Mcdonald’s bag was secured, the conversation started to pick up. Tyson talked about how difficult it was to not say anything to you during ‘class,’ you made fun of him for admitting it. You made it back to your apartment and handed Tyson the bag of food. 

You collapsed on the couch, letting Tyson drop his stuff on the table by the door. He sat on the couch next to you and unpacked the bag. As you ate, you chatted about the upcoming week. The Buffalo Sabres played one pregame at home and then were set to play a road game later on in the week. You ate and talked about the pots and your schedules and how you two would navigate it. The conversation came easy, flowing consistently until the trash was thrown back in the bag. Tyson stood up from the couch, swiping the bag off the table. 

“I’m envious of you,” Tyson turned around to look at you with a confused look, “you and your healthy knees that don’t crack when you stand up-”

Tyson let out a chuckle, “I think it’s the athlete.”

“I think you’re mean,” You watched him waltz to the kitchen. He kept his head held high like it was a regular routine of his. You laid down on the couch, listening to the soft thuds of Tyson’s gait, the thunk of the bag at the bottom of the garbage bin, the screech of the bar stool from the island, and the silence that followed. Tyson sat at the kitchen island and admired his surroundings. He memorized the way you decorated the walls with photos and paintings of pretty landscapes and portraits of what he could assume were Your People. He admired the bookshelf of old leather bound copies of classics and some other random books he’s never heard of with quaint clipart looking flowers on the spine. Shelves and nooks were adorned with hastily painted clay pots he assumed were from former students and photographs taped to your cabinets and fridge of smiling college girls and graying people who looked eerily like you. He doted on how every miniscule part of your apartment felt like it captured your whole heart and attention; every single part of it got your undivided attention in the decorating process.

“Tyson- '' You called from the living room, “can you take a photo of that Merlot and send it to Tage? He was asking about it earlier. I don’t wanna forget! It should be in the fridge”

Rounding the island, he pulled out his phone. Tyson opened the fridge door and scanned for the bottle. He found it half corked in the back corner of the door shelf. He grabbed the bottle by the neck, set it on the counter, snapped a photo quickly and sent it off to Tage. He hoped the no-context photo would do the trick as he pushed the half-corked bottle back to its place in the fridge, “done.”

“Thank you, I assumed he’d have your ass if I didn’t tell him what the brand was by the time you got back.” You watched Tyson walk back into the living room, phone in hand. He dropped it on the coffee table in front of the couch and took your slightly spread legs as an invitation to lay down. He rested his head on your shoulder, embedding his face in the curve of your neck; your hands, almost instinctively, found the curls at the nape of his neck. You two laid there in silence until Tyson’s breathing went faint, and soft snoring echoed from his lips. You entangled your hand in his hair, lightly scratching his back with the other. You stared up at the ceiling trying not to fangirl. It wasn’t enough to really be geeking about, but it made you wonder if there ever existed a thing as “too fast.” you were comfortable with him, and obviously the reciprocal was true. It wasn’t much, you knew that, but it was yours. 

-💍

I think there actually is a thing as too fast, but that's besides the point. She's here (albeit a year later)

#Tyson Jost #tyson jost x reader #buffalo sabres #nhl #hockey #tyson jost imagine

[jessysapphireblue]

Luffy x Oc: Magical

Hello everyone. This is my first time writing here and I am using my Oc, but you can also imagine it as yourself. English is not my first language so I hope it´s ok. Nicknames included are Lu and Je. Female is a born magician without a Devil Fruit

There is only one option how Luffy wakes her up, since he is basically married to food.

tapping on your nose before it comes over to whining

"Je...Je...JE! come up up up! I can already smell Sanjis food"

followed by shoving and more whining until you either wake up or he glomps onto you, which will defently wake you up now.

Luffy simply laughing and chanting for food and jumping up and down

"Wait up. I´m not even dressed yet. Go on if you want"

Cue on him dashing out, yelling over the whole sunny for food

Eating with him is just like any other crewmember, just with the fine difference of him giving you puppy eyes

Luffy swallowing food left and right, not caring for any of the yells of his friends until Sanji hits him

Pouty baby for the rest until you hold one piece of your own food out for him

Sunshine boy awakes and happily gets feeted with the biggest grin of happiness

Showing magic to Luffy was probably something you loved the most. Nami needing help with her tangarines? Watering in one sec. Chopper and you probably would talk endless hours on different magical plants to treat, Robin also listening in on that.

"Here we go! Now these have to dry and then we can use it for salves and medicine", you beamed at chopper who looked eagerly at them

"JEEEE!!!", cue on Luffy hanging on you like a coala.

"Yes, lu?"

"What is this?", taking a plant before eating it, "...ah! spicy mint! Ha ha ha!!!", cue on jumping around, making chopper sigh

Moving your hand, a little viral appeared in your hand as you gave it to Luffy, who eagerly drank it down.

"Better, Lu?" Only nodding in responce.

Or

simply taking his hand while jumping from board

others would became a heart attack

bouncing off the water surface only to land back on the sunny

or making him hover

taking him underwater to see the fishes and breathe freely is a MUST!

That the marines never found the sunny because of luffy shining of exitement is a mystery

CONSTANT!!! praise about your magic

Luffy wants to see a robot? you make a golem with your magic

just imagine keeping him busy with your magic

The others were never more blessed then now

You swear you saw Nami, sanji and Usopp praying once

And in battle?

magic in battle is something you have mastered!

don´t even need to leave the sunny

attack from marines? One hand move and the water cut the ship into even cubes

even going so far as to sense danger from afar, either from the water or the wind

Luffy would be so amazed and happy he´d just grab your face and kiss you full-on, then snuggle and praise!! THE PRAISE!!!

It would go so far that Luffy would only leave with you because of how cool you are, amazing but also kind and gentle!

He would be head over heals for you, knowing that someone so kind and sweet is being able to defeat a whole fleet in mere minutes without even trying! Like pls, you´re the prize for him

#one piece #monkey d. luffy #luffy #straw hat pirates #luffy x y/n #luffy x reader #strawhats #magical reader #magic #luffy x oc

[hellhound5925]

Welcome to the next Chapter ☺️ I have decided to post once a week and I’m going to try to stick to Tuesdays so mark it on your calendars! Also, I will like the previous and following chapters in each of these posts to make life easier for those of you who might just be joining us. I hope you enjoy!

Cyare Verd

*OC Raven x Hunter

Previous: Chapter One

Chapter Two: Spoils of War

Sleep has never come easy for me. Every time I close my eyes - even for a few minutes - the image of the surface of my home world, left to be nothing but ash. Followed by the night I thought Aspen and I would die…

After hearing news of the bombardment Aspen and I were at one of the many cantinas of Ord Mantell drowning our sorrows. After everything, we needed some time to mourn and think through our next move. It was too risky to make the trip to Mandalore with everyone looking for me and my family.

Since others had found out about what we were doing, a bounty had been placed on our heads. Most people weren’t dumb enough to mess with a mandalorian let alone two so Aspen and I stuck together.

Only after Aspen mouthed off - like she tends to do when she's drunk - to the bartender did some di’kutla (fool/idiot) try to make a move. He came for me first and even though my body didn’t do exactly what I wanted it to, he went down with little fight.

I knew we had quite a bit to drink but I can hold my liquor. Nothing was adding up.

It wasn’t until the rest of the merc’s filed in did I realize it was bad. My vision began to blur and patrons were running out screaming. My head spun at the chaos. Sober, we could have made it out. But it almost seemed like we had been drugged.

Before I had time to process, I was shoved to the ground and hands bound behind me as the same was done to Aspen. The familiar click of a blaster safety as the barrel was pushed against my temple. The cold metal biting my skin. If there was ever a moment I needed my beskar it would have been this one. Too little too late.

Hunter

Raven woke with a startle, smacking her head on the bunk above her. The sound echoed through my bones and up through the walkway where the others took notice. Her breathing was so ragged, it pounded in my head. The horrors of whatever she was dreaming were all over her face.

"Everything okay?" I asked, preparing for a snarky response.

"Yeah, fine" She snaps, brushing it off.

Echo and I exchange a look. We’ve both seen that before, the days after Echo was rescued from Skakko minor.

Our eyes meet briefly before she stands and moves toward the fresher. The haunted look in her eyes causes my chest to tighten. Only when the door clicks shut do I let out a breath and run a hand through my hair.

Something broke her between Kamino and here. I resist the urge to comfort her but what would I say? She’s practically a stranger.

“What is it?” Echo asks as if he’s the one with enhanced senses.

Sighing heavily, and tear my eyes away from the door.

“We uh, we spoke on Kamino a few times. She trained some of the other Commandos.”

Echo smiles at me like he knows something I don’t.

“I knew it was her.”

He laughs at the confusion written on my face.

”No offense Hunter but even back then we knew something was up.”

”What do you mean?”

”You never could take your eyes off her.”

The thing about Echo is he has always called things as he sees them. This time I’m not sure I’m happy to be the one he calls out.

As on cue, the console alarm goes off for the jump out of hyperspace. Mentally I thank whatever powers at be for coming to my aid.

“We’re coming out of hyperspace.”

Raven

Mumbling to myself I place both hands on either side of the sink.

“I don’t need their sympathies.”

Splashing some water on my face and trying to shake off the images from my dream, I collect myself. There is a slight rattle in the ship indicating we’ve likely excited hyper space. I quickly rebraid my hair and secure it in a bun at the back of my neck.

Opening the door to the fresher Hunter is there as if he was about to knock.

"We're here" is all he says.

Understanding. His expression was one of understanding. Not pity like I’d expected. The walls I’ve built around myself threaten to come down.

To avoid further conversation, I quickly exit the fresher, grabbing my helmet on the way and join the others as we prepare for landing.

————

Serenno - as much as I almost hate to admit it - is beautiful, the lush grass and forest that seems mostly undisturbed. I can almost imagine myself camping out under the stars.

In the background the boys are arguing about how they should be doing 'more' to fight against the Empire. I can't say I blame them, with a group like this they could do enough damage and tell the Empire to nar'sheb (shove it).

Yet I roll my eyes at brothers fighting. Mine have done this time and time again. Sometimes I’d take bets on who would throw the first punch if it was bad enough - it was usually Ordo.

Sliding my helmet on, I turn back to the boys with hands on my hips.

“Are we going or what?”

They all stop and look at me like something important was interrupted. But let's face it…they were getting nowhere.

Hunter is the one who gives me a sidelong glance. A challenging smirk tugs at my lips and I tip my visor up to meet his gaze. One eyebrow raises and a shadow of an amused smile hides under the skull tattoo. For whatever reason that has my stomach doing a flip. I spin on my heel and strut towards the woods. His eyes were no doubt on me the whole time.

“She’s right we need to get moving.” I hear him say behind me.

We make our way up a large mountain in silence to get a good vantage point. The trees provide enough cover from the sun I mentally thank whatever powers that be its not unbearably hot.

"That's the city?" I scoff seeing all the imperial ships.

"What happened to it?" Asks Wrecker.

"Imperial orbital bombardment. Same as Kamino." explains Echo.

"They bombed Kamino too?" I guess I was so caught up on my own stuff to hear about it. A chill rakes down my spine. Unable to suppress it, their attention is drawn to me. Echo’s helmeted head tilts from me to Hunter whose eyes are still on the city below. The latter is the one who speaks.

“Mandalorian’s aren't the only ones who lost their home.” His words strike deep, the tone meant to be of understanding.

Once again, I find myself turning my attention towards him. It’s anyone’s guess what he’s looking at but there’s no doubt he can see me staring. The half skull painted on the same side of his helmet as his face. For once I don’t think my visor is the most intimidating one here. There’s something quite attractive about it.

Tech looks through his binoculars and speaks, getting us back on track. "It appears that they are beginning to transport the war chest off-world."

I drag my attention away from Hunter and flip through my HUD to see what he's looking at.

"Our window of opportunity then” Hunter speaks like maybe he was too busy paying attention to notice me.

"It's quickly closing" Tech continues.

A moment of silence washes over the group as we continue to observe.

Hunter shifts "There's over 40 troopers down there."

I scan around making note of where they are and their patrol patterns. Scoffing, I stand and brush the dirt off my knees. “And?”

"That's nothing!" Wrecker says, enthusiastically slamming his fists together.

Three visors snap his direction as if he isn’t taking it seriously. “I agree with Wrecker” I add flipping my thumb over my shoulder at him.

"Stealth, Wrecker. Remember?" Echo says, causing me to chuckle - I’m not sure how someone so large can be stealthy.

"Imperial escort ships” Tech continues. My attention drifting towards them.

"That's standard protocol for when high-level cargo is being transported." I say matter of factly. My turn to have all visors on me. I throw my hands to surrender. "At one point we were all a part of their army, remember.”

"Get to the nearest container and grab what you can" Hunter barks at us. His tone sparks something in my blood. "I'll be eyes on the ground. If things go sideways, I'll divert their forces and buy you some time."

I tilt my visor in his direction, "that’s too much for one person. I can help." If he thinks he can order me, he’s wrong. He shakes his helmet covered head.

"No, I'll be fine, now go.”

I huff an annoyed sigh and glare daggers at him - not that he can see through my visor - hoping he feels the sharpness of them.

The rest of us all head down the hill in silence before - other than Wreckers thunderous steps - taking cover behind some trees.

"In position. And the second transport's launching" Echo’s voice comes over our com channel.

"We've got roving patrols. Stay alert." Hunter commands.

A figure - I now realize is Hunter's - darts onto the landing pad. I watch as he tactfully places detonators on a few of their escort ships. As if he didn’t trust me to do that.

“I coulda done that” I sass.

His winded voice comes back over coms. “We need as many as we can to get the crates.”

Echo interrupts "Let's go.”

I follow reluctantly, rolling my eyes.

When we approach one of the chests, Wrecker takes out one of the troopers with one swift movement which earns a look from the others.

"What? I did it quietly" he throws his hands up in defense.

"Yeah, but they will definitely notice when he doesn't report in" Tech scolds him climbing into the first container and the rest of them follow.

"Well, let's be gone by then” I hesitate for a moment before continuing, “I'm going to head to the next container over, I'll catch up with you guys."

"You shouldn't go alone" Tech says to me.

"I'll be fine" is a poor attempt to dismiss him.

If I can go alone Cid won't know what I have and don't show her. Tech turns to Echo like he’ll back him up. Only he doesn’t say anything.

“You don’t trust me.”

“We simply do not know you.”

I sigh in annoyance standing my ground. “Don’t think that I’m not capable of loyalty just because I have no one left to be loyal to.”

A few tense seconds past and I realize we are just wasting time. “Fine” I climb in behind them.

————

"Woah so this is what a war chest looks like" Wrecker says in awe.

Sliding the door mostly shut behind me, I glance around the room. Floor to ceiling boxes that are full of what I can only imagine. Personally, I've never been much of a thief. Honest work is much more satisfying - another reason why Cid was never my favorite - but again, here we are.

Tech speaks as we begin to look around "Our priority is anything of high value.”

"Like what?" Wrecker asks. I now realize that Wrecker is basically a large child at times.

"Well I suppose anything shiny or heavy is probably a good start.”

Together we work for a while to determine what is worth taking and put it into one of the emptier crates.

There's enough in here I'd never have to take another Osik (crap) job again. I could even disappear.

Tech speaks breaking the silence, “How did you come to know Cid?”

Halting my movements, realizing he’s talking to me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

”You want us to trust you. Yet you won’t tell us about you.”

My temper starts to flare, ”I’m not worth knowing. Okay?”

Echo cocks his head in confusion. Yes, he opened up to me but that doesn’t mean I’m just willing to talk about me.

“What I’ve heard about you on Kamino says otherwise.” He says carefully.

I turn back to picking through crates. Their eyes feel heavy on my back, turning my head slightly. The three are standing there staring at me. They really aren’t going to let it go.

“Everyone that gets to know me either gets hurt or dies” My voice is so soft it doesn’t even sound like my own. No one comments and they go back to work in silence.

Aspen's face being shoved into the carpet with a blaster also pointed at her head flashes in my mind. Even though she was smirking, I could see the real fear in her eyes. We thought that was it.

Taking a breather, I head towards the door and peek out to look for patrols. The trooper Wrecker knocked out is still out cold on the floor next to me.

Conversation seems to pick up and I listen while staying on look out.

"Woah" Wreckers voice echoes in the container. "How could all of this belong to one person?".

A sigh, "A lot of this probably came from the worlds Dooku and the Separatists controlled."

"Grab as much as you can.”

The unconscious trooper’s com goes off as another one tries to get ahold of him.

”Osik (shit)” I mumble. Just as two troopers around the corner. Fumbling to quiet the troopers link, I open ours to Hunter.

"Hunter, I think we're about to have some company."

Next thing I know, there's an explosion. Jumping up I help the others finish getting the crates around. “That’s our distraction. Oya!”

An alarm sounds shortly thereafter, even through my helmet is ear piercing. As if on cue, Hunter's voice fills my ears “I'm on my way to you.”

"Let's speed this up. Wrecker, that one goes first" I take charge not really meaning to, but no one objects.

Wrecker picks up the container and heads out to meet Hunter. Just as he makes it out the door begins to shut. I grab onto the sides and pull, trying to keep it open.

“A little help would be great!” I grunt out, straining against the door.

Echo rushes over to the port and connects his socket to it. Our comms buzz.

"The ship's taking off. Get out of there" Hunter sounds worried.

"Hurry Echo!” I yell, my fingers getting closer to being crushed.

“Let it go. There’s nothing I can do from here.”

Once I let go, the door shuts sealing us in. We all look to Echo for any kind of update but it's like he’s in a trance. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it.

After a few moments he speaks, voice strained "It's externally sealed. I can't open it."

I comm Hunter, "Hunter we're trapped in the container. We can't get out."

"On our way" Hunter replies.

I take a few hurried moments to look around to see if there's another way out. Tapping at the walls to see if there's a hollow one we can cut through I continue my search but it's taking too long.

"Hunter, where are you?" The question comes over the comms.

"Sorry, we Got a little sidetracked. You need to get off that ship before it jumps to hyperspace" he continues sounding winded.

Tech puts a hand to his chin thinking for a moment, "If we gain access to the ship's main hold, we could commandeer an escape pod—“

“—Do it. We'll get to the Marauder and recover you.”

After moving some containers my search finally produces some results, "There! We should be able to get into the rest of the ship from there" I yell towards the others and point at the hatch to the maintenance panel.

Tech comes over, and gives his assessment before nodding.

"Are you sure this hatch will lead into the ship?" Echo asks.

Tech looks at his datapad. "If I am incorrect, we will instantly be sucked out and perish. I am seldom wrong."

I roll my eyes. "Ba'gedet'ye (you're welcome)" comes out under my breath. Echo must have heard me because he lets out a light laugh.

The door slides open.

"Congratulate yourself after we escape". Echo's sass makes me giggle and Tech tips his helmet towards me, probably giving me a look. He looks back down at his datapad.

"The closest escape pod is five corridors away."

I peer around the corner down the hall. "Let's get going then.”

Drawing a blaster (my westar-35) from my hip and head out with the others behind me. Tech and Echo carrying another container. We make our way down a few different hallways per Techs directions.

Once we get closer to the escape pods a door slides open and troopers step out "Freeze" one of them yells. Echo and Tech drop the container. The three of us duck behind it as a barrier.

With a quick glance between the three of us I make a split-second decision. My armor will hold up against blaster bolts. There's will not. Decision made.

I nod to myself for a brief pep talk.

“What are you going to do?” Echo asks.

Whipping around to peek over, I tell him, “Cover me.”

In one smooth motion, I slide over the top of the container landing on two feet. Bolts of blaster fire begin to fly past me, forcing my HUD to adjust to their brightness.

Crossing my arms in front of my body, I use my vambraces to block the shots coming for my visor as I move closer to the troopers. Even through my beskar, the shock of them sting - But far less than it would for the two in plastoid. I can feel bruises already forming under my skin.

Tech and Echo return fire from behind me, taking out a few of them. I swore to myself I would never harm clone troopers, only stun if it came to it. Once I’m close enough I can tell they aren’t. So death it is then.

I eject my blade from my vambrace with a skunk that's barely audible over the sound of blaster fire, and plant in just above the collar bone one trooper. He goes down with little struggle once the blade is gone. His body now becomes a shield taking the brunt of the bolts for me. I drag him with me for as long as I can while shooting my way through the others.

Fighting my way through them seems to be never ending. With that being said, I can hold them off long enough for the others to escape.

"Find another way to the escape pods!" I yell over the comms. Even though my helmet I can already smell the scoring left behind by the blasters.

"They just ejected all the escape pods!" Echo yells back.

Cursing under my breath in Mando’a, I drop the body of the trooper I’ve been dragging. Two of them take the opportunity to lunge at me - fortunately I’m able to get a shot off as the three of us hit the floor.

"Go- Get out of here!" I yell, trying to shove the now limp trooper off me. Just as I do, the other one crawls over me towards his blaster. It landed out of reach further above my head. Rolling onto my stomach I reach for the knife in my boot and cram it into his calf. His pained cry echoes through the all too quiet hallway.

With a quick glance behind me the other troopers are now incapacitated in a heap of limbs. Electricity arcing between them. By the time I swing my attention back to the trooper in front of me, his blaster is aimed at my helmet.

Using my arms I block the front of my head for the impact. A lone shot echoes through the space but the impact never comes. As I lift my eyes slowly from behind my arms, the trooper is face down on the ground unmoving. A hole through the side of his helmet. Tech is standing over him with a hand outstretched holding a smoking blaster. Plastoid. What a joke.

I take the opportunity to catch my breath and roll onto my back. "Do you trust me now?" I grunt.

”I suppose.” Tech’s matter of fact reply.

“Vor’e (thanks)” my tone is quite sarcastic.

"Ba'gedet'ye (you're welcome)" Echo hollers back. Then it clicks, ah me must have been the one in Cid's Parlor who laughed at what I said to her.

————

We take a few moments to catch our breath and come up with a plan. "There has to be another way off this ship" Tech says which has Echo simmering with irritation.

"Other than over taking this vessel, what do you suggest?" He sasses.

Wait a second. Idea. "Hey, aren’t these containers equipped with reentry thrusters?” Both Echo and Tech shift their visors towards me. I shrug. Tech goes back to his datapad.

"You are correct. I am impressed. However, the containers must be ejected before leaving the atmosphere, which means our window is rapidly closing.”

"Great, this just keeps getting worse" I sigh.

"Come on, we need to hurry," Echo says, taking the lead.

We carefully make our way back to the container we came from, taking out any troopers we cross paths with.

"How much time do we have?" Echo checks in.

"Very little" Tech says in his usual tone.

Finally making it into the container, Tech immediately goes to work on the panel on the wall "initialing cargo release".

I steady myself, cursing in mando’a as my stomach drops and the cargo starts to free fall. After a few very long moments - and a lot more cursing - nothing happens. We’re still in a free fall.

"When are the reentry thrusters supposed to fire?" Echo asks.

Tech thinks for a moment. "They should have by now."

“Great. Suddenly I’m wishing the troopers had just finished the job!” My irritation is boiling over.

I make my way to the cargo net on unsteady feet, with Echo and Tech in tow. Echo and I make it first and just as we turn to help Tech but the container turns over. Thankfully he holds on but his feet are hanging in the air, "that is going to be a problem" he voices.

“Thanks Captain Obvious!”

Next Chapter

Wattpad link here.

Taglist: @cloneloverrrrr @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @idoubleswearimawriter @techs-goggles9902 @clonethirstingisreal

#the clones #star wars clone wars #the bad batch #tbb hunter #hunter bad batch #starwars the bad batch #tbb hunter x reader #clone force 99 #tbb hunter x you #hunter #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter #bad batch hunter #hunter x reader #clone trooper hunter #mandalorian oc #Raven Skirata

[rocketrouquine]

And here we go Episode 3, second viewing :

The little squeaking wheels as Stede is following with the towels, fuck me.

Sergent Maaka, you don’t recognize Anton? Shame on you. (Also John bartholomew is a real pirate, right *goes to check* « Bartholomew Roberts, de son vrai nom John Roberts » okay, no)

Queen, this is how I aspire to talk to some of my male collegues. I have the passive agression irony nailed down but the gorgeous pettiness ? gurrrrl you got it locked ! And then they are eating in the palm of their hand

aaaww forget it… it’s sillyyy GIRL I’ve done it so many times, stop it.

So a …Talk it through or die situation ?

« The revenge ? » « our ship. » « ED » And this is the moment I lost all dignity on my first viewing.

I was actually jumping like Stede in the water like there was a fucking trampoline in my shoes.

Do you remember the pilot episode when he struggled going down on a rope held by his crew ? Now, he’s climbing all by himself from the fucking sea ! GROWTH.

I heard your sneaky little notes, Gnossienne, don’t triffle me !

Ahahahaha ! When the guy responsible for the zombie apocalypse shows up back from his vacation. These poor birds though… Buttons would be most displeased. (Imagine if it was Olivia… I would slaughter everyone)

The « oh shit. This ? is this Stede?! » is so precious to me as a film maker/technician because in almost everything I watch, these basic human and normal reactions when people get caught up with information are never shown and it takes me out of it because suddenly, I see actors playing their lines. Here, I believe it. (Even if it’s just played for laugh and to press the fact that Stede is in fact NOT what you would think about, if your pirate life had been ruined by him leaving fucking legend Blackbeard)

Why can I get a straight answer from any of you ? I see what you did there, David.

And here he is : bitch Bonnet right on cue every time Izzy is around. I love him.

Thank you Zheng Yi Sao to confirm what I suspected with leather and sea weather : BO.

Apart from the cold blue sky, this is the same beach where Steard bested Izzy and rolled around in the sea with smouldering Ed. I had theorized that this was a fever dream/coma, sooooo very happy about it.

Am I your hostage ? Wow. This rings a lot different when you know who « just Ben » (just Ed ) is.

On my first viewing, when auntie goes all Will Graham *this is my design* I was sure someone had snitched to her and she was playing them. Obviously nobody did so she really guessed everything. Sooooo is Buttons really a sea witch, anyone ?

« You’re kinda the best friend… » I screamed FRIENDZONED but now I don’t know… a polycule or throuple could work, it’s just not what they set last season and it kinda shows (feels forced if what I mean)

Aaaaaand HERE YOU ARE GNOSSIÈNE ! With the 50 knives and shit… (go to the auxiliary closet I want to see if all the fan fictions were right)

I don’t mind actually. I think the knives really help bring the place together Stede, your metaphor is showing.

I know you think you understand him…. *Stede proceeds to say exactly what happened.* Open your eyes, Izzy. You’re not the one understanding him.

Ahahah his crutch is a mop. Sorry, not funny. (Kind of funny)

Maybe I’m an horrible person but if I was Stede, I would be kind of be flattered/proud that my boyfriend (shipmate) would go that insane by me leaving.

When Izzy tells him that it’s both their fault, all that follows is such a different vibe. There is fucking respect and equality in the dialogue. You can almost sense a captain and his first mate talking, devising a plan. Who would have thought ? (It’s a joke, a lot of people)

Who’s the pig ? Who does the fucking pig represent ? I need to know.

Move on. Blow your brains out. Make some soup. Ok.

Girl, how are you ? you are insane, writers. I worship you.

Edward Teach | Jeff / Reader, AU, Inn, confort, angst, TW multiple killing

I loooooooove Taika in this scene. All playful playing with his little accessories and stuff. Keeping his cool and being like okay why are you being a dick, play the game correctly please. Don’t worry baby girl, Stede is excellent with people. No client will end up dead. (I think)

Holy shit, Stede was the only one he ever told about his father. Not even Izzy. Wow.

Come on Bonnet give me your worst. The silent devastation in both of them. The feeling of waste. Uh I can’t. And then he helps them escape and take back the revenge and being an excellent resourceful captain and they are following him like a real crew (now I know that it’s going to be Ed who can’t move, getting better and Stede being the captain…) AAARRRHH FUUUUCK and then he, he… oh shit, here we are, it’s coming, this fucking scene…

But before :

Intercourse. Orgasms. A lot of them. You thought of him. You gonna fuuuuuck.

Boatmance (the queen is not up for a polycule, if you were wondering)

The immediate joy of everyone around Stede making the escape. He’s the best. I’ll fight everyone to the death. (And look at him making his little knots like it was nothing. Honestly I don’t think Izzy has that much to learn to him.)

Am I the only one hearing « JULIEEEEEEETTAAAAA !? » with this music ? No, only me ? Okay. (Mind you, I was 12 when Romeo+Juliet was released, it’s kind of imprinted in me like the trigger words in the winter soldier)

I fucking knew Olu would move his feet like a little school girl/boy, I SAID IT ! You just have to scroll up. (I was so sure Jim would be the one surprising them but it’s a better show than that)

* Zheng Yi Sao sees Olu waving.* Girl, how are you ?

Stede crying his lost love after having fixed some mistakes with gusto and a smile. What is it in my eyes ? Is there some fucking dust in the air or what ? (They are already cleaning the ship in the background)

HornigoldEd is doing a fine impression of calico Jack if I dare say.

Ed doesn’t want to die, I repeat. He had made a choice to live. It’s just that some other part of himself thought he was too far gone. And that’s where Stede saved him. But he was gonna live for himself also… next week is going to be glorious.

*Kate Bush in the distance* oh no.

*Sobs uncontrollably*

I started to laugh through my tears because it’s fucking Rhys Darby swimming with a glittery goldfish attire and chest hair glowing in the sun. But then… The profile of the both of them. Their smile. Taika’s lean into Rhys’s space -> and yes I said Taika because you mothaf*ckas KNOW that it was an impro like the foot touch. (On third viewing, Rhys is leaning first very subtly and then Taika GOES FOR IT)

And then the hand. The gasp and laugh.

Time of death : 02:32 am, Paris, France.

Ps : the black cravat is back on (we didn’t see it before) when Ed goes into the storm, it’s off when he’s in the gravy basket, it’s on when Stede makes him come back to life.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season 2 #our flag means death season 2 #ofmd meta #sort of #thoughts #second viewing #i want the rest #this fucking gourmet meal #this episode was a masterpiece #i can’t stop thinking about the end #i could write epics on it #our flag means death spoilers #our flag means death reaction #so many thoughts #impure some #ofmd episode 3 #ofmd analysis #I am GONE

[autistpride]

I am so damn proud! My kiddo just sat down and wrote out a Star Wars one-shot and its so good! 668 words in one sitting.

I've shared it with their permission! Read if you'd like. If you enjoyed it, leave a little encouragement for them.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… yes cue the cool music starting.

The Jedi interceptors fly by, both of them closing in on Tatooine. Just then a bullet flies right into Kri-sons interceptors engine and starts to fall. The same thing happens to Jake. He tries to eject but it doesn’t work. He starts using the force to try to slow down, but when he is about to hit the ground he lunges forward and hits his head. He blacks out.

After an unknown length of time, he wakes up and sees his ship had been destroyed. He heard a crackle from his side and he looked around but saw nothing. He realised it was his lightsaber. It had broken and the Kyber crystal was stolen. He was unarmed and in the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, there was another noise and he looked behind him. It was Tusken raiders with their weapons and speeders. Jake was captured.

Jake was chained to a rock with a Tusken staring at him. Hours passed and the same Tusken left and then returned, coming out of his tent with a hard rock. Jake was sure he was going to die. The hard rock was yeeted at him and Jake was surprised when it hit the chain, breaking it.

The Tusken yelled at him, a sound that meant “run for it”. He tossed Jake a compass. Jake caught it and ran, following the needle north. After some time he slowed to a walk and came across a cave. He looked up and saw Kyber crystals everywhere.

Despite the cave being full, the force was calling to him. He followed the feeling and continued to walk through the cave. Then he saw it, a shadow running.

Jake started chasing it and when he was close enough, jumped on it. He finally caught sight of the person he jumped on.

She was angry and pulled out her blaster, pointing it at him. Jake backed up and used the force to pull it from her hands. He pointed it at her and demanded she not attack him with it.

“Fine,” she said, “fine but you better not try to attack me either Jedi”.

“Okay,” Jake replied. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m Padme and this is my family's cave.”

Jake was shocked. He recognized the name. “You’re not Padme.”

The girl explained how she was named after the other Padme and then questioned why Jake was there.

Jake told her everything that had happened from the crash and kidnapping to running and coming across the cave.

Padme decided that she would join Jake in his search to find his master and would not be swayed.

Jake and Padme wandered the cave. Jake could feel the force pulling him and he separated from Padme, following it until he saw a tall rock with a Kyber crystal growing out of the top.

Jake climbed up and grabbed it, but the crystal burned his hand. He tossed the crystal and it floated. Jake’s hand was covered in the burn and he wrapped a strip of cloth over it as the blue crystal slowly turned red.

A man with a red sabre killing many Jedi flashed in Jake's mind. Jake blinked and was on the ground, having fallen during the vision. His hand throbbed, but he reached for the crystal anyways. It didn’t hurt him this time.

Jake returned to Padme and asked where her family was. She was quiet before replying.

“I grew up on the moon called Concordia and my parents were killed by the separatist droids. I was saved by a mandalorian but ran away here to Tatooine.”

“How is this your family's cave then?” Jake demanded as they left the cave.

“We used to come here every rotation,” Padme replied simply as she pointed at her ship. The transport was usually used for spice.

Padme welcomed Jake aboard and they took to the sky to search for Kri-son.

#fanfiction #star wars #my kids writing

[nikethestatue]

I’m apologizing in advance because this a long one, but once I get going sometimes I just don’t know how to stop 😅

I’m a new follower of yours and for awhile was just a casual ACOTAR reader. After a recent re-read I decided to jump into the online fandom and *wowzers* was I surprised to discover the massive shipwars happening. Being a casual reader like many, (and not having seen nor even possessing the knowledge of the Azriel bonus chapter) I was always under the impression the next couple to be was Elriel. After seeing all the hullabaloo and noise regarding Gwynriel, I was confused and sought out the BC. Here is what I would like to contribute to the conversation after reading it…

First let me explain what I do for a living and how it applies to my thought process. I produce unscripted television episodes - my official title is Story Producer. I work in post production and am responsible for assembling and tracking the story for my designated episodes. Now, obviously television and books are wildly different mediums, however, the art of storytelling is universal and as a professional storyteller I’m banking all my chips on Elriel. Their ship has been seeded many times throughout the earlier books and I do not believe that the addition of the Gwyn character is going to change that rather than merely shake things up. I see a lot of Gwynriel supporters screaming why would SJM even have the interaction with Gwyn and Az if it wasn’t important… I think the answer to that is simple - It’s classic misdirection. Even though it’s a chapter that clearly not everyone is even aware of and takes place middle of the book’s timeline, I believe it’s ultimately meant to be treated as a cliffhanger. And what storytelling device is often used in cliffhangers??… misdirection. A tactic we employ often in the shows I work on. Even the wording surrounding the dancing shadows and the glowing necklace image seems very deliberately misleading and can be interpreted in multiple ways - which we have already seen from all of the ship camps (I myself am a supporter of the Gwyn lightsinger theory).

Given the types of meetings I experience at my job discussing character arcs, relationships, likability, audience perception, etc., I think it’s possible that similar conversations happened with SJM and her editing/publishing teams regarding Elain’s book. (Yes! I, too, believe her book is next!!!) And based on what I’ve seen to be a large portion of the fandom’s negative and grossly misogynistic attitude towards Elain, it’s possible they felt the need to drum up more interest for sales. Personally, I don’t think you need more interest than having Rhys outright command Az to stay away. I know what non-Elriels are squawking about enemies to lovers reigning supreme or whatever, but to me a forbidden romance (along with a broken or rejected mate bond) sounds soooo deliciously refreshing… but maybe the publishers were worried it might not have been enough to convince Elain nay-sayers to tune in next time, cue the Gwyn/Az cliffhanger.

I am by no means stating that everyone should listen to me because my profession dictates that I am 100% right in this (I’m just a storyteller of a different kind waiting on pins and needles for Sep 8th just like everyone else!!). I’m merely chiming in on the discussion from my perspective. And despite some very vocal Gwynriels deeming Elriel a “sinking ship”, I truly don’t believe SJM seeded said ship for three books only to change her mind before it even comes to fruition. That would be some very strange and bad storytelling. And no - Tamlin, Chaol, etc. isn’t the same thing. Those weren’t just multiple books of only build up, so that is a useless argument. And I definitely don’t believe she set up Azriel to “only want sex from Elain” after all this time. That obviously wouldn’t make him very likable and I highly doubt that is the goal for one of her beloved batboy creations, especially after making us wait all these years for insight into his character.

I have several other thoughts about the delusion of Elucians and Elain “not looking good in black” theories, but I’ll stop here haha. Sorry for rattling your ear off 😂 I’m just such a fan of your blog and wanted to share my two cents while we all eagerly await the *hopefully* upcoming news!!!

No, rant away, because this is actually perfect!

Because that's what we've been saying for years! It IS misdirection and somewhat of a lame attempt at an additional conflict and a cliffhanger.

Because if SJM wants to make this book spicier in terms of 'choice' it's nice to have people wonder, since a choice between just between 3 people isnt always all that interesting. But if there is another figure seemingly in the mix, it would seem like something else is going on.

It's kind of like Rhys expressing shock in ACOTAR and just disappearing. I don't think this is at the same level obviously, but it also makes people pause and wonder.

And no, she will not have an unresolved romance which she'd been building up for years just not happen. That's ridiculous.

it's the same thing as with Elrocan in TOG. They were built up over a course of many books. They were the background love affair, and they didn't consummate until the final book. Now imagine, when suddenly.........nothing happened. Elide met someone else and walked away from Lorcan. How would people feel about that?

[miras-ash]

Chapter 8 of "Just as the stars love the night"

Mira's pov

"Elena."

Hearing her voice no matter how different it sounded after all the time I thought she was dead made my heart almost jump out of my chest. That feeling as if all my prayers had been answered, as if a miracle had happened.

Her eyes closed again and a small smile played around her lips, then her features relaxed and an uneasy feeling replaced the joy I had briefly felt.

"Ace, quick!"

Immediately he was at my side. Carefully he pulled the blanket away from her. Pulling up a piece of the nightgown. The sight made me stagger back a few steps. Apart from the fact that her body was littered with dark marks, cuts and other bruises, one thing in particular stood out. For being very thin, almost skinny, her belly was roundly bulging as if she was pregnant.

Immediately, all sorts of images played in my mind's eye, I felt nauseous. He would pay for this.

I didn't want it to come to this during the mission, but I had no control over myself anymore. Tears ran down my face at the thought of what she must have suffered through while we all thought she was dead and went on with our lives. All this time she was here and suffering through agonies that no one should ever experience, I don't even want to imagine how she must have felt. So alone and full of fear.

Ace was the one who brought me out of my thoughts.

"Mira?! Do you hear me? Get Finka, I need her. Now!"

Quickly I left the room and wunk Lera closer, she followed me back and together we were now standing in front of the bed. I felt so useless, at least the two of them could help her.

"You need to inject her with your nanobots, not too few not too many. It should be enough for a whole dose or she'll die on us."

Horrified, I looked up, she was going to die?

I should continue to be on standby but I couldn't help it, I sat on the edge of the bed and put her head on my thighs and neither of the other two said anything, they knew they had no chance of stopping me. I stroked her hair and forehead while Finka gave her a quick shot of her nanos into her arm, giving her an adrenaline rush on Ace's cue.

Eliza's body jerked briefly, which I took as a good sign. Her breathing started to become frantic and under her eyelids I could see her eyes moving from side to side as if she was having a nightmare. Gently, I stroked her cheeks.

"Shhhh. It's all right, I'm here now. I finally found you."

I couldn't tell if she heard me but it was a comforting thought.

Ace separated the old, bloody bandages on her arm and leg and immediately a horrible smell spread. Her leg looked like it had been soaked and discolored in a run. It looked like a burn that had never been treated.

Very carefully he dribbled something on the open areas and finally wrapped the leg again in a kind of sterile cloth blanket. I hoped he knew what he was doing.

After making sure we could move her, he swung his backpack back on his back and carefully lifted Eliza up.

Just as we were about to leave, a violent explosion shook the ship. The floor and walls shook briefly, another explosion and an alarm went off. It was a deafening sound and when the sprinklers went on, chaos broke out.

We walked briskly through the narrow corridors, trying to find our way in the darkness, but our vision was severely impaired by the sprinklers and we lost sight of the way several times.

"Tell me, is it just me or is the ship leaning?"

Since Finka had brought it up, I noticed it too, we were walking up an incline, the ship was going down and we were still in the middle of it. Over the radio I tried several times to contact Kali or someone else but the connection was gone, we were on our own. After some time, the sprinklers at least went off, but before we could finally regroup, a third violent explosion shook the ship again and we had trouble keeping on our feet. The water was up to our knees by now, and walking was difficult.

We finally reached the deck, where among the fugitives there were also some trigger-happy people, in all the chaos I could make out a few familiar faces. Not everything was lost.

"We have to get to a boat, there's no other way for a helicopter to reach us. Whatever is happening here was not the plan."

I could barely understand a word, it was too loud, I just followed my comrades far towards the stern. Again and again the ship shook and with every step it became harder to walk. We had just reached one of the inflatable boats when the freighter began to tip to one side, apparently too much water had run into it. I managed to hold on to the railing and was just able to grab Finka's arm, but Ace fell into the water carrying Eliza with him. I screamed after them. Instinctively I let go and fell behind. The impact hurt and the water was cold.

For a moment I was in danger of losing my orientation, but I struggled to the surface and tried to catch sight of someone, which was not so easy in the darkness. Again and again I called for them, swam around in a small radius, but they were nowhere to be seen.

A loud roar was heard and bright lights came towards me. A motorboat.

A pair of hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the water into the dry and I looked into a pair of familiar eyes. Hibana.

As puzzled as I was, there were more important things to do. Eliza, Ace and Finka were the ones outside, we had to find them.

"Yumi, we have to find them, they fell into the sea in front of me. They're going to die."

Panicked, I looked around, trying to locate them.

"Mira it's okay, another squad has them, came through on the radio when we pulled you out."

She pointed to a boat a few feet away from ours. While I was still out of breath trying to get clear, she put a harness on me and hooked me to a rope. I didn't realize that the helicopter was directly above us.

Once at the top I was untied and someone offered to take care of me, I declined and looked around. This was a familiar helicopter, it was from Rainbow, they had not abandoned us after all. Doc came up to me and patted me on the back.

"Well done, we shouldn't have doubted you."

It was nice to have my friends by my side now.

Suddenly things got restless, I looked behind me and there she was. Eliza was being brought up, she was unconscious and one of the men on the winch was shouting something I couldn't understand.

On the spot Doc ran to them and received Eliza, he came back and put her on a stretcher he had prepared in the back. Like Ace before, he examined her from top to bottom and all sides, checked her pulse and then put an oxygen mask on her.

She was freezing cold and here in the light I could now see the full extent of it. She had been through hell and yet she was still alive. I sat down next to her, took her hand and closed my eyes for the first time in months to really relax. Everything would be better now, wouldn't it?

#rainbow six siege #ash #r6 ash #tom clancy #eliza cohen #mira x ash #r6s mira #mira #ash x mira #mirash #r6 fanfiction #fanfiction #r6s ace #Finka #Finka r6

[shabre-legacy]

Corso’s first Flare run

The pounding of feet echoed through the Siren as leikael raced through the hall and slid into the galley. Bowdarr and Corso were there playing cards and eating something. She didn’t bother to pay attention to what. It hadn’t been more than a few weeks since Bowdarr had joined the crew and she still didn’t feel great about taking him into potential combat. He was still underweight, she knew that from the frequent meddroid scans she made him get. She kept telling him once she was sure he’d recovered fully, they’d only happen if he got seriously hurt, and she meant it. But Drooga wasn’t kind and she could see that he still carried some of the physical damage that the poisons and starvation had caused. He wasn’t at his full strength yet, but for this, it didn’t matter. There wasn’t time to wait for him to get better, they’d just have to hope that they were able to handle whatever was coming. They wouldn’t be alone though. At least she didn’t think so. “Hey boys, gear up and hit the bridge. We got us a Flare run and it sounds like it’s gonna be a rough one. Move it!” She didn’t wait for a reply before grabbing her own gear and heading up to the bridge just as they prepared to drop out of hyperspace. 

As she reached the bridge, she was pleased to see that both of them were there, even if Corso was still buckling the last pieces of his heavy armor. She stepped close and swatted his hands away as she did the buckles herself. She had enough practice helping her father and some of the other members of the old crew. “So, not to sound too ignorant of the galaxy, but what exactly is a Flare run. Like to know what we’re running into.” 

She grins and is about to answer when Bowdarr rumbles. They’d had a conversation his first night on the ship. She’d told him her own history and they bonded over terrible memories. Though their exact paths and timelines had differed, they’d found some overlap and it set a good place to begin. 

She turned that grin to him “Karking right it’s a Solar Flare run!” she answered “got a call just before I jumped us. We’ll be hitting an imp ship, 2 pirate crews should already be taking it by the time we arrive.”

“Solar Flare? From the context, I’m assuming you’re not referring to actual solar flares.”

The ship dropped out of hyperspace and Leikael slid into the pilots seat. “Corso, you did that whole mercenary soldier thing, still remember communications and procedure approaching a space battle?”

The tone in his voice, he sounded almost insulted, “Of course” 

“Good, You’re on comms.” 

Corso slid into the comms chair as Bowdarr took the guns, they didn’t need them. The pirates they were helping had already taken down the ships defenses and were starting to board. They approached and Leikael slid the ship smoothly into one of the hangers. Her boys barely a step behind as they ran to the door and she stopped them, raising her hand, she opened one of the hidden hides and pulled out three small flareguns and extra flare packs and handed them to Corso and Bowdarr. 

“Alright, I’m assuming that neither of you have been on one of these before, so these fire a green short range flare. The crews have their own colors. Watch for the flares and fire your own whenever you go around a corner. It lets us know who we are when we don’t share a uniform or know everyone involved. Friendly fire is expected, but we try to avoid it. Shoot imps, not pirates and stay close.” 

“Ya gonna bother tellin’ us what’s goin’ on yet.”

Leikael laughs as she loads them up with the short flares and rushes them out of the ship. “Risha, anybody I send up gets tucked into the cargo hold for now, and be ready to go on my cue.” She calls out as she hits the door controls for the ship and answering Corso. “If you haven’t figured it out, by the time we get back, I’ll explain it pretty boy.” She fires off a green flare over the heads of the slavers, followed quickly by several shots as she comes out shooting. The three hit the ship and head in running, Leikael laughs as she gives Flashy a twirl and fires off several more quick shots, clearing the way deeper into the ship and sending a flare ahead as they turn the corner. 

They move in an erratic pattern across the ship. Not seeking control of it, but the systematic death or surrender of every crew member, hired gun and imperial overseer in the place. As they move, Leikael makes calls and despite Corso and to a lesser extent Bowdarr’s confusion, they follow without question. She long since earned the trust of the two men and their loyalty. Occasionally another flare flies in front of them, and if there’s time Leikael answers with a flare from their group.  Pirates run past them on the tail of those flares and if it weren’t for Leikael’s timely orders, they probably would have fired on the angry crews charging in their direction, weapons drawn. The ship is chaos and the crew doesn’t stand a chance. Before long, they hear an announcement over the ship’s system that the ship is under control of the pirates. It’s followed up by an announcement to begin searching and that the transport is aboard. 

Corso frowns as soon as the Siren is mentioned. “Captain, should we retreat to protect the ship.”

Leikael laughs, “nope, no need. We just gotta make sure that we search this section find any spaces where the crew is hiding slaves.”

“Captain?”

“I’ll explain later. This ship isn’t safe enough for that.” 

Leikael blasts open a door and softens immediately. “Bowdarr, I’ll let you lead here buddy.” She steps aside as Corso and Bowdarr look in to see a cage with three young wookiees crammed inside. Bowdarr makes a quiet sound of distress before rushing forward and ripping the cage open, his greater strength making it easy for him.

The baby wookies rush to him as soon as he starts speaking to them and he keeps them close. 

“It’s ok, Bowie, take them back to the ship. Me and Corso will finish searching the ship and meet you back there.” 

She turns and leads Corso back through the ship. “This is a slavers ship. We’re transporting the captured slaves to a location where they’ll be safe and get help to restart their lives. Get back to family and home, or start over new. Depends on what they need.” 

Corso nods and keeps his blaster up. It’s a much better idea than he was afraid of and he’s glad to help with this. 

It takes a while for the various crews to communicate and verify that the ship had been searched entirely. It seems like a low count for this trip, only ten had been found, they had probably just made a sale and the pirates seemed determined to bring everything together and find where that had been, but they would call another transport when they did. For now, Leikael has her job and leads Corso back to her ship, she sends him to the bridge while she goes and talks to the rescued people and explains what was going on. Eventually, she drags herself back to the bridge and collapses into her chair as Corso swings around to face her. 

“So…Solar Flare?”

Leikael leans back and kicks her feet up. “Loose association of pirates, smugglers and paper pushers who don’t like the slave trade. There’s only so much that can legally be done and most of us, the pirates and smugglers anyways, are already outside the law. So we take down the ships, we kill the crews, we take the slaves, make sure they know they’re free and help them to safe houses and refugee camps where we have people who can help them. It’s not a perfect system. But it helps. For this run, there’s a camp on one of the few parts of Kyshyyyk that’s relatively safe and close to the ground. It’s only transitional, most everyone will stay there a night or two before a ship arrives to take them somewhere better and with more ability to help them get their lives back. But the baby wookiees will go back to their families right away.”

She smiles at the thought, usually things were so messed up, that she didn’t get to see the families brought back together. This was a rare treat. 

“Doing good work then. I can deal with that. Something worth fighting for.” Corso nods to himself. A good reason to lift his blaster, something more than just because the Captain said so, though that’s a good enough reason itself. “Wish you had told me sooner, but thanks for taking me along.”

“Anytime pretty boy. That aim of yours is great to have around when blasters are everywhere.” 

She looks away from his kind, but intense look quickly, a faint spot of pink appearing on her green cheeks. 

Corso grins at her comment. It’s not much, but he’ll take it. “Let’s get these people to Kashyyyk then, so they can start enjoying their freedom and the small wookiees can get back where they belong.”

Leikael nods, “Hit it, pretty boy.”

Corso laughs as he punches the coordinates into the navicomputer from the copilot's chair and sends the ship into hyperspace, away from the remains of the larger ship and towards the green planet.