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bohemian-rhapsody-in-blue · 2 years

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Beboptober Day 6: Collateral Damage

Thanks to @thestarlightsymphony for the prompt list! Something relatively light and fluffy today, since my fics for the last few days have been pretty angsty and serious.

Ed hadn’t meant to hurt Spike’s ship. She’d just been playing, running around in the Bebop’s nice, spacious hangar—partially pretending she was a bird like the fat little ones she’d seen on the streets of Mars, and partially just for the sake of running around, burning off some of her rambunctious energy and high spirits. Ein had been following behind on his stubby corgi legs, barking enthusiastically.

She wasn’t the only one on the Bebop who’d been in good spirits—since they’d caught a relatively substantial bounty a few days before, the whole crew seemed noticeably happier. They laughed a little more, argued a little less, and had, for the time being at least, a good supply of delicious food to eat. Ed loved the feeling when everyone in her little family was happy; she always fed on it, let it fill her up like a bunch of bright, buoyant bubbles.

At one point, she’d had run to the upper platform that surrounded the hangar, giggling all the while—then leapt off. She’d squealed with glee at the soaring feeling in her stomach, like she really was a bird flying among the skyscrapers.

Then the illusion had been shattered when she collided with the wing of Spike’s spaceship, landing hard.

She was able to break her fall easily by tucking and rolling, and she got up relatively unscathed. When she turned around, however, she saw that the Swordfish II was not so lucky. A deep gash marred one of its wings, ruining the paint job, with a dent in the center where she’d landed. Ed went uncharacteristically silent for a second as she inspected the damage.

It wasn’t like the ship was pristine aside from that one gash that marred its perfect surface—it was pretty heavily abused, covered with pockmarks and scratches, and had clearly been the victim of a lot of other injuries before. Ed had often seen Spike complaining as he went to the hangar to fix them or, in the occasional severe case, get the ship serviced by Doohan. This wasn’t as bad as that, she thought. But even so, Spike would definitely notice the next time he went out in the ship that there was damage to the wing that hadn’t been there before.

She hadn’t realized she’d damaged it that badly. She hadn’t meant to land there or hurt it at all. But she had a sinking sense that, once Spike saw the damage to his ship, his good mood wouldn’t last much longer.

“What are we gonna do, Ein?” she asked, hanging her head.

It really had been an accident. Collateral damage, Spike or Jet might call it—Spike with a shrug, Jet with a reproachful glare. Accidental harm done in the pursuit of something else.

But she brightened up as she realized that maybe it would all be okay. Because she could fix it! She could fix the collateral damage she’d done. The ship would be good as new, and Spike would never have to know. He—and everyone else on the ship—would be happy.

~~~~~

The first problem, to Ed, was the paint job. This she could remedy quite easily. She didn’t have paints, but she did have markers and pens, with which she’d drawn pictures on paper, on the Bebop’s walls, and occasionally on the exposed skin of the other crew members when they were asleep, unconscious, drunk, or just couldn’t be bothered to get up. Drawing on a spaceship couldn’t be that different.

She retrieved her pens and returned to the hangar while skillfully managing to evade the glances of the other crew members—or maybe that was just because they were all wrapped up in their own things on different parts of the ship and didn’t spare her a glance. Still, this fit her purposes just fine.

She used a red marker to fill in the ugly gray spots on the metal wing, occasionally hanging upside down to color in the gash from a different angle. She got stray chips and flecks of paint stuck all over her hands as she brushed them off. All the while, she hummed and chanted cheerfully under her breath: “Fixing it, fixing it, good as new…”

When she was done, she stepped back to inspect her work. As did Ein, looking back and forth from her to the wing with skepticism. Okay, so maybe the patch she’d worked on looked a little…scribbly compared to the rest of the ship, and the shade of red didn’t quite match. Still, it looked a million, billion times better than when she’d started. She could fix things! She was helping! She hugged herself and gave a little jump for joy. Spike would be so pleased. Or at least not so angry.

But there was still something wrong—the dent she’d left was still there. And this couldn’t be fixed with markers; Ed wasn’t entirely sure how it could be fixed. She wondered if it would mess up the way the ship flew. She didn’t know a lot about aerodynamics, but she did know that that wouldn’t be good.

Oh, well. Spike had lots of tools that he used to work on the Swordfish II; maybe one of them would work to fix the dent. She wasn’t sure how, but she could just mess around with the tools until she found something that worked! She was certain something would.

Now the only question was where Spike kept his tools. Luckily, Ed was good at investigating, exploring the secret corners and hidey-holes of the Bebop; she was sure she could find the toolbox easily. She hummed softly as she entered the main area of the ship, then began rooting around in closets, storage areas, and random little compartments, Ein following her all the while. She found a lot of interesting things that might be fun to use later—a few plugs and cords that could be useful for Tomato, a tube of lipstick that probably belonged to Faye, some weird small rubber things that looked sort of like balloons in packages—but nothing that seemed like it would help the Swordfish. But she was having a blast looking, happy and secure in the knowledge that she was being helpful.

Finally, in a back closet near Spike’s room, she found it! A toolbox! It looked well-worn from use over the years, dinged and dented, but it was definitely usable. When she opened it up, she was met with the sight of what looked like hundreds of hammers, wrenches, nuts and bolts gleaming up at her. It was like a whole mini-world. She stared at it for a while, mesmerized, picking up some of the objects and inspecting them with fascination.

Unfortunately, she was so caught up in looking that she completely failed to notice Spike coming up behind her.

“What are you doing in there?”

Ed looked up, answered honestly. “Looking for tools.”

“Tools?” Spike frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Why do you need those?”

And here Ed panicked a bit—she couldn’t tell Spike why she needed them, because then she’d have to reveal that she broke his ship, and he wouldn’t be happy anymore. Even if she was fixing it. “Um…”

“Ed,” said Spike, “what are you doing?”

~~~~~

She had an uncharacteristically guilty, evasive look as she led him to the Bebop’s hangar; even her patterns of walking were more subdued. Spike had barely known her to be anything but cheerful, and her expression threw him for a loop. What could the kid possibly have done? Was she planning to crash the ship? Blow it up? Blow up someone else’s ship? Revive the mutant fridge monster and release it again to terrorize everyone on the crew?

But she showed evidence of none of those things. Instead, she stopped next to the left wing of the Swordfish II and gestured to a spot on it, her head hung ashamedly. Ed whined and looked up, his ears back and low on his head.

The spot had been dented pretty badly, and the paint job was scratched up, suggesting a mild to moderate collision—nothing that couldn’t be fixed relatively easily, but still noticeable. It definitely hadn’t been there the last time he’d taken the Swordfish out. The area had been clumsily filled in with a red marker; the area was also noticeable by the little doodles of blue stars and yellow smiley faces that surrounded it.

“Ed hurt Spike-person’s ship while playing,” Ed said, looking up at him from below the lids of her wide, heartbreakingly contrite eyes. “Ed tried to fix it…”

God, she was practically the dictionary definition of “puppy-dog eyes.” Almost even more so than the actual dog who stood beside her.

Wait a second—was he actually taking pity on the kid? He shook his head in disgust. Since when had he gotten soft like this?

“It was an accident,” she said imploringly. “Collateral damage.”

He’d normally be mad—he wanted to be mad—but she really did look sorry, and whatever the hell she’d done to the ship had clearly been an accident; Spike just couldn’t imagine her intentionally sabotaging it. Besides, it wasn’t like he hadn’t damaged the thing himself hundreds of times, in dogfights or during hunts or just out of sheer carelessness. And at least, in her attempts to help, Ed hadn’t made it actively worse. (Spike couldn’t imagine what would have happened if she’d actually gotten hold of the tools and tried to use them on the wing to fix it, without any actual knowledge of mechanics. He tried to shove the mental images out of his mind.)

Anyway, he didn’t have the energy to waste on anger. They had just caught a bounty. They were out of the red for the first time in a long time. He was looking forward to a hot shower and a hot meal tonight—maybe bell peppers with some actual beef. For one fleeting, fragile moment, things were going okay for them all. He didn’t want to ruin that over a little, easily fixable bit of—what had Ed called it?—collateral damage. (Not his usual definition of the term, but he supposed it worked.)

He kneeled down and took the toolbox from her. “Do you want to learn how to actually fix this?”

Ed brightened up immediately, her usual cheer back. “Okay!”

Spike couldn’t help but give a small grin, despite himself, as he got out the tools to buff out the scuff. Ed cheered and chanted happily behind him. He wouldn’t be surprised if she got bored partway through and left him to do the thing himself. And he couldn’t deny it was a pain having to take the time out of his day to fix the ship. Ed really deserved to be chewed out for all she was worth—he couldn’t believe he’d gone soft the way he had.

But now, as Ed rocked back and forth on her heels and stared at him with wide, fascinated eyes, Ein next to her with his head cocked in curiosity—

Well. He’d had worse.

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fictoculus · 1 month

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Dunno if you've done this before, but characters with tall reader!

This is mostly me being sick and having OC obsession brain rot, but the majority of my OCs are 5'9–6'0+ for reference by what I mean for "tall".

Love your writing, by the way! Keep yourself safe and make sure to treat yourself for all the joy you bring your viewers with your writing<3. Also, this is my first request:D

(Thinking about characters like: Venti, Diluc, Zhongli, Traveller, and whoever else you want to write/if you don't write for some of these characters, that's fine!)

౨ৎ them w a tall partner...

send a request!┊masterlist┊taglist applications

FEAT... aether, venti, itto, alhaitham, diluc

A/N... hiiii anon tysm for the request!! i loveee this idea it's so cute so i'm more than happy to write it ^^ unfortunatelyyy i wasn't able to write anything for zhongli as i js couldn't think of anything, i hope that's ok!!! also thank youuuu! i'm so glad you like my stuff, nd please make sure you take care of yourself too!! hope to see you again soon, enjoy ♡ alsooo i tried out some new colouring!! i hope you guys like ittt i think it's prettyy :3 oh and disclaimer these heights may not be accurate!!! i got them from this website but it seems pretty reliable to meee

✧ aether. - 5'4"

the traveller, the honorary knight, the swordfish II captain, the first sage of buer: just a few of the multitude of titles aether has earned from the many battles he's fought for teyvat. he's always fighting for people, protecting people, blindly jumping head-first into danger; he needs someone to protect him for a change, and that someone is you.

he always feels safe with you, and the way you stand behind him when he's chatting with friends or purchasing items from vendors makes him feel untouchable; evident by the way he practically melts under your touch.

one of the first things people tend to notice about you is your height, and although it doesn't really bother you, aether thinks it's ignorant and unfair. don't get him wrong, he loves your height, but there's so much more to you than that. he wishes people would notice your style, or your personality, maybe even your smile, anything. as long as nobody tries to steal you from him, he doesn't mind.

he'll often find himself being the little spoon while cuddling, and honestly, it's the thing he most looks forward to after a long day of completing commissions and collecting resources.

he loves how tall you are, how gentle you are, how loving you are; he loves all of you, and he hopes you love all of him too...

✧ venti. - 5'5"

venti loves the way you tower over him, and finds your subsequent protectiveness rather endearing.

your height sometimes intimidates people, and discourages them from wanting to strike up conversation with you. venti, however, was never bothered by it, and had no problem shamelessly flirting with you the very second you entered angel's share that fateful day.

the bard struggles to understand how people could possibly be afraid of you. of course, he knows how strong you are, and is aware of the lengths you'd go to in order to protect him, but nothing about your personality was something to be scared of.

the more he got to know you, the quicker he came to the realisation that you're really just a big softie - a gentle giant, if you will.

your impressive stature also means that you can carry him around. venti loves nothing more than being in your arms, face nuzzled into your chest as you take him to bed after a long day, or resting his head on your shoulder and forcing you to lift him up when he 'falls asleep''.

all in all, your boyfriend views your height is anything but negative. he loves you the way you are, and, as cliché as it sounds, wouldn't change anything about you for the world...

✧ itto. - 6'1"

no matter how tall you are, itto will give you piggyback rides. and you will enjoy them. to put it quite frankly, you don't have a choice.

even though you're taller than him, he still loves to have you in his arms, whether that means cuddling, carrying you around, or simply just hugging you from behind. something about having you in his hold makes him feel stronger and more confident than he ever has before.

the members of the arataki gang were shocked when they first met you, genta mistaking you for itto when he caught sight of your silhouette. nonetheless, they have all grown to be quite fond of you, and often leave small gifts on your doorstep which never fail to bring a smile to your face.

your height was something you sometimes felt ashamed of, however, itto always makes sure you feel happy within yourself, and will do everything in his power to wash the insecurities away; showering you in kisses and telling you just how perfect you are...

✧ alhaitham. - 5'10"

at first, alhaitham was slightly embarrassed that you were taller than him, not because of your appearance, but because of how he'd been relentlessly teasing his roommate for his height while having a partner who stands at an impressive 6'5"...

nevertheless, the scribe truly admires everything about you, and will often just stare. even though he wants nothing more than to have you in his arms, he's more than happy to admire you from afar, to watch you go about your day or make idle chit-chat with the local vendors so that he can just take you in; "archons, they're beautiful".

even though he stands shorter than you, he is extremely protective over you; intertwining his fingers with yours whenever he has the chance, and staring down anyone who 'looks at you wrong'. you often tease him for this, poking fun at his pout before kissing it away with a smile, only for it to return as you pinch his rosy cheeks.

the love alhaitham has for you is immeasurable, and the (not so) little things like your height only make him fall harder for you. his heart skips a beat when he feels your arms snake around his waist from behind, being pulled into your chest as you rest your head on his shoulder. yes, you could still do this even if you were shorter, but for him, nothing compares to being able to sink into you; he rather enjoys feeling smaller when he's with you...

✧ diluc. - 6'1"

you and your husband, diluc, stand at a similar height, him just slightly taller than you at 6'1". people often stare when you walk into a room hand-in-hand, but the darknight hero couldn't be more proud.

he never misses the chance to show you off, introducing you to everyone he knows while making sure to subtly flash the wedding ring he oh so gently slides onto your finger every morning. however, as soon as someone dares to make a rude remark about you, your husband has no problem stepping in front of you and handling the situation himself. yes, you're capable of looking out for yourself, but the redhead always feels the need to protect the ones he loves most.

the two of you are a package deal, and are rarely seen apart from each other unless absolutely necessary. diluc can't stand being away from you, and often finds his mind flooded with thoughts of you when he should be focused on the financial papers spread out on the desk before him.

being the taller ragnvindr, diluc often takes it upon himself to hand you items from higher up shelves, knowing full well you can reach them just fine by yourself. "given my stature, wouldn't it be rude not to hand my partner the things they couldn't possibly reach?", he always asks, pressing a loving kiss on your forehead and handing you whatever you were reaching for. such a tease...

thanks for reading ♡ want to read more? my requests are OPEN, so please feel free to let me know what you’d like me to write next!

TAGLIST... @maopll . @nyxmainex apply here

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