#things that make me want to find the nearest cliff and jump off it whenever i think about them

[theimprobable1]

Troy Barnes canonically:

confessed his love for Abed

wants to have Abed’s children

is attracted to Clive Owen

but we’re supposed to think he’s straight

#things that make me want to find the nearest cliff and jump off it whenever i think about them #troy barnes #trobed

[delimeful]

nothing in this world (i wouldn’t do) (2)

warnings: mild blood/violence/injury, demon slaying, miscommunication, impromptu first aid, mentions of spiders, virgil tempting fate with his internal dialogue again

-

Whenever Virgil wasn’t sleeping, he was on the move.

At first, it had been because he didn’t trust himself around towns for too long, and there was always the chance of a real demon slayer getting wind of that ridiculous rumor and trying to track him down and kill him for it, even though it totally wasn’t his fault.

But then, as time went on, his bizarre pseudo-popularity seemed to have a different side effect.

Namely, every time he managed to save another human and hauled them back to the nearest town, he’d be practically swarmed. Antsy townsfolk would hurriedly inform him of the horrible tragedy they’d heard about up north, or the mysterious disappearances by the woods between this town and the neighboring one, or any sort of rumor that they thought a “demon slayer” should know about.

Where exactly were all the real demon slayers when people needed them? Why was he, an actual demon, seemingly more accessible for seeking help?!

Still, he wasn’t exactly doing anything else with his life (his unlife?), and if there were less demons, that meant the world would be safer for Thomas, didn’t it? So off he went, taking the less-traveled paths and following vague leads right into more danger.

His latest case had been a requested one, from a weaver in the last town. She had received a letter from her brother saying that he planned to come visit, and weeks later, he still hadn’t appeared or replied to her many return messages. The worry seemed to weigh her down like a physical burden, and he’d agreed perhaps more easily than normal.

Now, he was wedged into a shallow crevice in the mountainside and sorely regretting that decision.

The issue wasn’t the demon, no. He’d actually been making good progress on getting deeper and deeper into its territory in the past few days.

The issue was that he wasn’t the only one hunting it.

First, it had been a gaggle of young teens, and he’d been so alarmed that he’d almost dropped right out of the trees and ushered them back out of the woods. The less humans traipsing around this deep in demon territory, the better.

Of course, that was when he’d managed to spot the swords strapped to their sides, and suddenly, never appearing before a human again was looking more and more appealing. He’d immediately switched gears from tracking to stealth, and honestly, should have just turned tail and left then.

Instead, because those kids were around Thomas’s age and he still needed to find that weaver’s brother and also he was a sentimental idiot, he trailed them at a distance, always staying downwind and poised to bolt.

They handled themselves well at the beginning, and then the environment began to warp around them, and then it turned out there was more than one demon nesting here, and Virgil had been on the brink of jumping down and interfering, swords or no swords, when--

Between one blink and the next, one of the demons was cleanly beheaded.

The demon slayer-- for what else could he be-- smiled brilliantly as the body disintegrated to ash, holding a hand out to help one of the teens to their feet.

“It seemed like you all could use a little assistance,” he’d said, turning to face one of the other demons with a confidence that visibly unsettled it. Above, a circling crow cried out raspily. “My dear Missus informed me of your call for backup.”

If the stranger’s swift execution hadn’t tipped Virgil off, the way the baby slayers looked up at him with blatant awe was clue enough. This slayer was powerful and charismatic, whereas Virgil was neither of those things, so he was going to stay right here in his crevice until the whole situation had sorted itself out.

The three other demons seemed to have no such qualms, lunging at him in a semi-coordinated attack. The slayer handled them with terrifying ease, and for a moment it seemed that the battle had been settled, as simple as that.

Of course, that was when the landscape twisted further in on itself, buzzing like a disturbed wasps nest, and Virgil realized abruptly that this was the first time he’d seen so many feral, newly-created demons in one territory.

A stronger demon was keeping them all in line, like the queen of a hive. And it wasn’t at all pleased about the intrusion.

The slayer seemed to have caught on as well, his sword held aloft in threat. “Looks like the real fight starts now,” he said with a sharp, cocky grin.

Mere minutes later, the smile had grown considerably more strained.

Coincidentally, he’d taken considerably more damage in that time as well.

The slayer had given as good as he got, but against a demon’s healing factor, it wasn’t good enough. He was losing.

“Get out of here!” he instructed, and the baby slayers hesitated, clearly torn. He shot them a dazzling grin, hiding all signs of fatigue even as another blow rattled his sword. “Come now, don’t you know an order when you hear one? I don’t want any distractions while I handle this gruesome ghoul, so back to town with you!”

He cut off any further arguments by pointedly leading his attacker astray, giving them ample time to flee. Virgil felt some of the tension fade from him as the baby slayers got away cleanly, leaving just the slayer and the queen.

Really, he shouldn’t want the slayer to survive. Not when having a slayer that strong anywhere near him, or even in the same country as him, could easily be a death sentence. That didn’t change the jolt of panic that went through him when the queen finally gained the upper hand, knocking the slayer back into sheer cliff face hard enough to snap something.

… A slayer that protected others from demons so wholeheartedly was one that would protect Thomas.

The queen advanced towards the slayer, wounded and weakened but already gloating about how his flesh would be more than enough to completely rejuvenate her. Her entire focus was on the human’s fallen form.

Virgil dropped down on top of her soundlessly, claws piercing through muscle and fat until he’d torn her nearly clear in half. She shrieked in outrage, but a skull-crushing stomp was enough to knock her unconscious for at least a few moments.

The slayer, exhausted, half-crumpled against a tree, and his shoulder very clearly dislocated, looked up at him for a moment with something like hope.

When they met eyes, however, that was swiftly extinguished in favor of wary frustration.

“Another demon?” he complained, trying rather unsubtly to grasp for the sword that the queen had knocked free of him. “Exactly how many monsters can one fit on a single mountain?”

The sword was entirely out of reach, but Virgil kicked it a little further away for good measure. The slayer shot him a petulant glare.

Virgil pointed at a scrap of bloodied cloth left behind from one of the baby slayers, trying out a questioning rumble. Backup coming for you?

“I’m offended that you think I would answer that,” the slayer responded, nose upturned, “or any other monosyllabic interrogative questions, for that matter.”

Virgil growled low in his throat, frustration bubbling up. If he ditched the slayer here without backup, there was no guarantee that someone would find him before the morning came, and Virgil was relatively sure that the demon he’d just stabbed through wasn’t the only threat up here.

Not to mention the cold. He hadn’t thought the nights were cold enough to harm people yet, but demons seemed a lot more durable, and the slayer was shaking just slightly. He remembered the few times he’d had to sit out snowstorms while traveling back home up the mountain, and couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

So, leaving the slayer behind to fend for himself wasn’t an option. That meant doing something insanely, dangerously stupid: taking the guy with him.

Precautions first, then. He was pretty good at hiding himself from other demons by now, but human scents were a lot more trackable.

Virgil scooped the slayer sword up off the ground by the hilt, grimacing at the burning sensation it emitted. The slayer’s jaw dropped.

“Hey! You can’t just take that!” he cried indignantly, starting off on a tirade about craftsmanship and integrity. His rant cut off sharply as Virgil raised the sword and brought it down on the queen’s neck.

His motions were stilted compared to anyone who actually knew how to use a sword, but it hardly mattered. The sun-blade cut through easily, decapitating her in one motion and leaving only ash behind. He took a moment to hope for the soul of whoever she’d been before being turned, and a longer moment for the weaver’s brother, who was surely dead. Exhaling lowly, he planted the sword blade-first in the dirt.

It was tempting to keep it; he’d certainly wished more than once for an easier way to deal with his adversaries than the bloody scraps he normally got in, but there was no way he was bringing a demon slayer and a demon killing sword with him. That was just asking for trouble.

“That demon did all the work in an honest fight against me, and yet it’s the backstabber turning against his own kind who actually gets to eat me? That’s sad, even for a demon,” the slayer bit out, still trying to inch his way back up into a standing position.

Virgil ignored his muttering and took a testing breath in through his mouth. The slayer was definitely bloodied, but most of the major injuries mustn’t have broken skin, because the smell wasn’t too bad. It probably helped that he’d managed to avoid being injured in this fight, and so didn’t have a desperate need to heal like normal. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t even need a nap to make up for it.

He reached out for the slayer’s collar, already mentally plotting out the most efficient way to a distant abandoned bear den when a piercing shriek sounded, and his vision was suddenly full of flapping feathers. He staggered a few steps back with a surprised yelp.

“No! Missus Fluffybottom, you beautiful fool!” the slayer cried out, sounding incredibly distraught.

Virgil swatted outwards and managed to catch his furious assailant on the second try, his hand easily big enough to grasp it. He drew it away from his face for inspection, and realized that the screaming and wriggling bundle of fluff was actually a young crow.

“Scourge! Fiend!” the crow yelled at him in a belligerent tone that was uncannily similar to the slayer’s. He blinked down at it, befuddled.

“Wait! Don’t hurt her,” the slayer said in the most subdued voice Virgil had heard from him all evening. He looked up and found that the slayer had managed to climb to his knees, but wasn’t struggling to move further. “She’s a simple bird, no threat to you. You’ve already got your prize, haven’t you?”

There was something uncomfortably desperate in his gaze, and Virgil realized with a start that the slayer absolutely believed he was about to kill his bird in cold blood. He opened his hand, bracing for another assault, but the crow kicked off and flew right to the slayer instead, nestling against his collarbone. “Roman, Roman, Ro-man!” it crooned.

“Get out of here, you finicky little fowl, go! Shoo!” the slayer-- Roman?-- commanded, to no avail. He glanced up at Virgil, lifting his good hand and turning his bad shoulder slightly as though to shield the little creature.

Virgil averted his eyes from the bird, hopefully conveying how much he didn’t care about her. If he had enough self control to not murder-kill people despite it being all monsters like him wanted to do, he wasn’t going to snap because a bird the size of his palm repeated some swears in his direction.

Back to business. He grabbed the back of the slayer’s outfit and pulled, hauling him up onto one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. … Or like a sack of other, non-food items. Virgil sighed through his nose. Whatever.

Roman sucked a breath in through his teeth as his injuries were jostled, and then immediately started squawking in protest upon realizing the indignity of his position. The crow-- apparently dubbed Fluffybottom-- repositioned herself to a perch on Roman’s calf and joined in on the complaints with her own raspy calls.

Virgil ignored them, already focusing on the trek ahead.

---

By the time they reached the cave, Roman had long stopped muttering creative obscenities under his breath.

The slayer might have actually fallen unconscious, but Virgil wasn’t going to jostle him around just to check. If he stopped focusing on their surroundings, he could easily hear Roman’s heart beating, the blood pumping beneath his skin, tantalizingly out of reach--

… He had mostly focused very hard on their surroundings. The point was, the slayer was definitely still alive, which meant him passing out during their travel was fine. Convenient, even.

It certainly made it easier to squat and carefully lower his body onto the cave floor without worrying about any sudden thrashing on Roman’s part. Laying flat on his back with only the slightest crumple to his brow, the guy looked a lot less intimidating. He was probably Virgil’s age, honestly.

He also looked unsettlingly corpse-like at the moment. Virgil considered for a moment, and then sidled over to Roman’s side, tugging his injured arm out of the curled up position it had taken. He carefully maneuvered it until it was straight out, forming a right angle with Roman’s side.

Then, he pulled, applying a slow, steady pressure. The misaligned bone shifted back into place with a sickening clunk, and Roman cried out as he regained consciousness. Virgil released him, and he instantly cradled the limb to his chest.

“What in the name of--,” he started, and then seemed to remember it all at once. Or the wave of pain from all those other injuries hit him all at once. One of the two.

Either way, he sagged back against the ground, squinting at Virgil suspiciously as he bustled around the small space. Missus Fluffybottom landed on his forehead, making him look even more ridiculous.

“I notice I am not devoured,” he finally spoke, almost conversational.

Virgil ignored him in favor of moving to arrange some firewood near the mouth of the cave.

“Not even a teensy bit,” Roman continued, making a show of inspecting himself for missing flesh.

Virgil continued to stack rocks around the wood. He was beginning to regret waking the slayer up, dislocated shoulder or not.

“Now, my silent saboteur, I want you to be honest. Are you planning to turn me into some sort of spider?” the slayer asked, and that was enough to finally make Virgil turn with an incredulous raised eyebrow.

“What?” Roman defended, pinkening. “That’s a real thing that a demon did to some people! And you seem... spider-y.”

Virgil scowled at the insulting way the comment was phrased. Spiders were cool and helpful and oh yeah, they didn’t annoyingly needle him while he was busy keeping them alive. He abandoned the fire to stalk closer and drop to a squat by Roman’s legs, dodging a wild kick easily. He pointedly tore a long swath of white fabric from the slayer’s overlayer.

“Hey! Do you even know how long embroidery like that takes--,” Roman cried, and Virgil smacked a hand over his mouth, drawing close and hissing quietly. The sound was close enough to a shush to get his point across, going by the way the slayer huffed indignantly but didn’t speak when Virgil pulled his hand away.

He did whine in protest when Virgil grabbed his injured arm, but then he went still and silent, like he thought any sudden movements would end with the whole limb removed. Virgil wrapped his forearm in the fabric, and then looped the extra around his shoulder, maneuvering him as painlessly as possible, and tied it off.

Roman’s silence suddenly felt distinctly different.

Virgil pulled him up into a sitting position by the front of his shirt, and tightened the knot slightly. The sling looked just about as good as could be expected, given the circumstances.

“You are actually a demon, aren’t you?”

Speech was one of those human things that Virgil still hadn’t recovered, but he thought that the sarcastic fang-bearing smile he directed at Roman spoke volumes all on its own.

“Then why are you tenderly nursing a demon slayer back to health?” he retorted, sounding bewildered and incredulous in equal measures.

Why are you pushing your luck? Virgil thought back, clicking his teeth in irritation and shoving the slayer back into a prone position.

Roman let out a high pitched wheeze, his good arm coming to cradle his ribs defensively. “Or not-so-tenderly, I suppose. The question stands!”

Virgil rolled his eyes and returned to the half-built fire. He’d pestered the only doctor in town for first aid lessons for months, he wasn’t going to stop practicing medicine just because of a little thing like being turned into a demon that craved human flesh.

To his surprise, the silence lingered as he worked, long enough that he turned and cast a suspicious glare over his shoulder at the slayer, who jolted nervously at his attention.

“Wh-what?” he asked, fiddling with the torn edges of his sling. “No escape attempts here, haha!”

“...” Virgil squinted at him and his blatant fake laugh for a long moment, trying to figure out just what was wrong with the scene.

Wait. Where was the bird?

A chill ran down his spine, and he twisted to stare at the mountainside beyond the cave entrance. No raspy-voiced baby crows in sight.

It had to have gone for help, knowing exactly where Virgil and its slayer had holed up. Roman knew he’d realized it, was watching him with the wary expectancy of a cornered hare in front of a trapper.

A surge of furious panic did bubble up in the back of Virgil’s mind, but he quelled it with relative ease.

If backup was coming, then the human was no longer his problem.

Pleased at the neat way the situation had resolved itself, Virgil tapped two fingers to his temple in a gesture of farewell and scrambled out the cave, scaling the cliff face and resolving to put as much distance between himself and this region as possible.

With any luck, he’d never run into that particular slayer again.

#sanders sides fic #sanders sides #ts virgil #demon slayer au #nitwiwd #nothing in this world i wouldnt do #my writing #writing #bthb #ts roman #kny fusion #am i forgetting tags? #im really fond of this one #i hope you guys like it :)

[johnsamericano]

𝓓𝓪𝔂 7:

тєи ℓєє

23 days of NCT masterlist.

taglist: @notbeforelong @curieouscapt @whathamelon @unknown5tar @ajhdr @silent-potato

warnings: the reader is soon-to-be engaged to someone 12 years older, virginity loss, extreme lack of experience from the reader, dirty talk, Ten’s a sweetheart 😭

“He’s here!” Your mother clapped her hands excitedly, asking the butler to answer the door.

You sat with both hands squeezed on your lap. You’d never seen a male tailor, let alone be dressed by one. Would it be uncomfortable? Just as your mind was about to drift away, a man with at least four rolls of fabric entered the room.

“Good evening, my lady.” Was he even real? He looked straight out of a painting, just like the ones hanging on your wall.

“Good evening, sir.” You bowed your head gracefully, just like you'd been taught to do.

“There’s no need to be so formal.” He smiled cheekily, his eyes disappearing just the slightest and making your heart flutter with excitement. “Let us have a seat and chat a little about what kind of dress you'd like.”

Everything went so naturally with him, from sitting down and talking about the event you'd be wearing the dress to, to his hands surrounding your waist, taking your measurements.

“I was thinking of something white, my lady. After all, the goal is to get a certain gentleman to ask for your hand, isn't it?”

“How did you...?”

“Your mother is quite a chatty lady.” You sighed. She certainly had trouble keeping things a secret, the whole town probably already knew by now.

“Then I guess you already know we've known each other since we were kids, well, since I was a kid. He's twelve years older.” You sounded so excited talking about that guy that it made him smile. “Are you married, sir?”

“God, no!” He was quick to explain. “I want to devote myself to work, that's what makes me happy.”

“But imagine yourself, waiting for your beautiful bride at the church, ready to join your lives for what is left of them. Just to think about it gives me goosebumps.” To him, what you'd just said sounded like agony. Dedicating himself to another person for the rest of his life? He’d rather jump off a cliff.

“I just don't think I'm good husband material, that's all.”

As the days passed by, you got to know him better. He’d often tell you about his job, how many dresses he'd confectioned that week, how much money he'd earned, every single little detail of it. He made it sound like a dream, he spoke so passionately about it that you wondered whether you'd ever find something that would make you feel that same way.

“Good morning, my lady.” He kissed your knuckles, a devilish grin extending through his lips as he admired your flustered face. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

He extended a big, white box with a red velvety ribbon keeping it closed.

“That was fast!” You opened it to reveal a pretty, lacy dress. It was exactly what you’d asked for, but then why did you feel so sad?

“What is it, my lady? Do you not like the dress?”

“No! I love it.” He smiled, pulling out the dress from it’s confinement to let you have a better look at it. It was, indeed, beautiful.

“Would you like to try it on?”

You soon found yourself behind a room divider, slipping the soft dress on. The texture was marvelous, like wearing a cloud. It would definitely draw Johnny’s attention, that’s for sure.

“How do I look?” You stepped out, spinning around to let his critic eyes have a look at his masterpiece. He squinted his eyes as if he wasn’t pleased. “What is it?”

“Your corset.”

“Huh?”

“Truth to be told, I knew this dress wouldn’t work with a traditional corset, so I might have made a special one for the occasion.” You walked to the full body mirror, taking a look at yourself.

“It looks fine to me.”

“You look too innocent, my lady.” You furrowed your eyebrows, eyes connecting with his through your reflections. “This dress wasn’t made to make you look innocent, but to make you look like a sophisticated, upper class woman.”

You went through your options and finally decided to listen to the expert.

“Do you happen to have that corset at the moment?”

“Yes, but the problem is, only I know the right way to adjust it. Would you be okay with me doing that?” You could feel cold sweat running down the back of your neck.

Only your mother and some servants had seen you naked, but never a man. It wasn’t supposed to happen unless the couple was married. However, you felt the urge to accept his proposition.

“A-alright.” He nodded, keeping a straight face as he started undressing you.

He slowly started undoing the ribbon that kept your corset in place. Still in front of the mirror, you could see his concentrated features, not looking at anything but your back. Your mounds were finally liberated, and for a split second, you could see the tailor’s eyes staring at them.

“Raise your arms please.” Was he really not going to do anything? This was the part when the two main characters exchanged a heated session of kisses according to the novels you'd read. But he kept the same stoic face all the time.

“Ten?” This was the very first time you'd called him by his real name, well, his nickname.

He didn't seem bothered by it, concentrated on adjusting your corset.

“Yes, my lady?”

“Am I not attractive?” His hands accidentally tightened the ribbons too much, making you wince.

“Sorry.” He apologized, loosening the piece of clothing. “But why are you asking me this?”

“Well...” You were ashamed to admit it, but your curiosity got the best of you. “Aren’t men supposed to go wild over breasts? At least that's what I heard.” Ten would've never expected such an inappropriate comment from you, though he couldn't say he didn't like that new boldness of yours.

“I guess so.”

“Then why didn't you go wild over mine?”

The room was filled with nothing but silence for a couple of seconds before he finally found an appropriate answer for your question.

“I’ll ask you something first.” you nodded. “If you knew men had a thing for breasts, then why did you let me do this?” You would've liked to say that it was because you deeply trusted him, but you both knew that deep down, it wasn't completely true.

“I don't know.”

“Did you want to seduce me or something like that?” You were about to reply, but his deep laugh interrupted you. “Well, since you answered my question, I shall answer yours.” he finally finished adjusting your corset, placing his hands above the curves of your waist and leaning down to whisper something. “You have the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen. They look round and soft, the perfect size to hold them with my hand. But I can't allow myself to go wild over you, not when you're about to get engaged to someone else.” So the things wrote in novels weren't entirely fantasy, things like that did happen in real life. “Trust me, I wish nothing but to pinch those pretty, perky nipples and have you begging for more. But we can't.”

“Yes, we can.” With a newly found courage, you guided his hands up until they reached your mounds. They did, in fact, fit perfectly between his hands.

“My lady-”

“Y/n.” You held his hands against your warm body. “Please, my name is y/n.”

“Stop playing with fire.” His voice had become lower, hands shaking the slightest under yours.

“I want you to play with me, Ten. Use me, do whatever you want with my body. Alleviate the ache I'm feeling between my legs.” That was his breaking point.

His expert fingers quickly undid the knots, allowing his hungry eyes to have a look at your naked torso.

“Touch me.” he turned you around, so you were directly facing him.

“So greedy.” His hands covered your chest once again, this time with no fabric in between. His palms felt so warm against your skin, you couldn’t help but sight. “Tell me, how does your little cunt feel?”

“I-I’m sorry?” His right hand went down, rubbing circles over your undergarments. Immediate relief washed over your body.

“Do you know what an orgasm is?” You shook your head, gasping as his fingers pinched your hard nub. “It’s the only way to relief the ache you feel here.” He tapped your entrance with his middle finger, feeling your wetness under his digits.

“How can I have one?”

“You’ll have to trust me, alright?” His dominant demeanor had changed to a softer one, kissing your jawline as hands sneaked inside the fabric, a new, pleasant feeling making your legs shake. “How does this feel?”

“Nice.” He retrieved his hand, you whined at the loss of contact. “Hey!”

“Jump.” He instructed, lifting you up with both of his hands below your thighs. He guided you all the way to the nearest wall, your back pressed against the concrete surface. “Sorry for this.” He muttered before ripping your undergarments apart.

Skillfully, he lowered his pants, his hard member springing up. The moment his tip started slipping into your whole, an immense amount of pain made you scream.

“Stop!” Ten frowned, pulling away but still holding you against the wall.

“Have you changed your mind about this?” There was a hint of pain peeking through his voice.

“It hurts a lot.” As if to back up your words, a small tear rolled down your cheek.

“I know, sweetheart. But that's the way it's supposed to be.” If it hurt so much, then why did people do it so often? “You just need to get used to it and it'll start feeling better, I promise.”

“Really?” For you, it didn't make any sense.

“We can stop whenever you want, just give it a try.” You hesitantly nodded, letting him align with your entrance once again. “Deep breaths, darling.”

It was the worst pain you'd ever felt, even worse than that time when you fell off a horse. But just like the tailor had said, that unpleasant feeling was soon replaced with something else...something that made your tummy feel warm.

“You're doing so well.” He praised as if he wasn't the one doing all the hard work while you held onto his shoulders. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I need to pee.” You gasped, letting your head rest against the wall.

“Don't hold it back, darling. It means you're close.” His large hands caressed your sides, holding you tightly.

“Ten...” You whimpered, biting his clothed shoulder to stop yourself from screaming in pleasure. Something inside you exploded, making your body shake in ecstasy.

“Y/n.” You both whispered your names, pleasure taking over your minds.

“May I kiss you?” There was no response from him, his length still pulsating inside you. “If you don't want to that's-”

“Kiss me.” Your lips came closer to each other, barely millimeters away when a loud knock abruptly interrupted the moment.

“Miss y/n, Mr. Seo is here to see you.” Johnny, you'd completely forgotten about him.

“I guess you better get dressed.” He pecked your cheek, setting a fire inside you.

“I'm sorry.” He helped you put on your dress again, smiling at the sight of you trying to stop your and his essence from dripping down your bare thighs.

“Don't be.” Ten fixed your hair, proceeding to gather his stuff before sending a wink in your direction. “I guess I'll see you in a week to help you get dressed...my lady.”

#nct smut #nct angst #wayv smut #nct au #wayv #nct x reader #nct imagines #nct ot21 #nct 127 #nct #nct scenarios

[aonogifreactions]

Minecraft headcanons no one asked for

a/n: olcvfgmlkfm this hit me so randomly i dont even know. enjoy!! under the cut due to length!

★ Characters: Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Amaimon.

★ Words: 1,6k.

Rin:

this sweetheart loves playing with you whenever you ask him to! it relaxes him a lot, plus just having fun with you is making him really happy.

he stays somewhere near you, ALWAYS. he’s way too embarrassed to admit he’s scared (same Rin, same), so whenever he yelps or jumps on his bed because he heard a zombie growl, you can laugh as much as you want, but don’t be surprised if he shoots a glare at you and pouts.

he’ll bring you whatever you want. wood? fine. iron? no problem, he’s already on his way to find a cave (even if he’s afraid of caves.. he’ll do it for you).

he’s not very good at building, so usually he leaves it to you, and it doesn’t really matter whether you live in a “house” made out of dirt or a full ass mansion; no matter what your building skills are, he’s gonna praise you anyway.

sucks at parkour. DON’T ask him to play a parkour map, he’s gonna whine and barely make one jump.

speaking about bad jumping, he’s really clumsy and somehow always ends up with the highest death streak. for example, he’s sprinting to kill a pig, but somehow doesn’t notice a fucking lava pool below him and jumps right into it. accidentally hits a zombie piglin (or pigman, depends on what version you play on) and he’s dead.

HOWEVER, he’s the guy who gets really lucky. do you remember/have a person/friend that always manages to get diamonds first? yep, it’s him. gets the best enchants. both on books and tools or armor. he also gets the ender dragon kill first too.

he won’t play without optifine and texture pack other than the default one. he hates it. his fave is faithful and if it doesn’t work, he’s constantly commenting on how the default one is hurting his eyes.

he will NOT survive listening to both disc “11″ and “13″ he hates it. don’t play it unless you want him to cry.

hasn’t played alpha nor beta versions, but he likes watching vids of it! he gets very nostalgic, which honestly bewilders him because he started playing way after beta. sometimes you can catch him listening to the old soundtrack all teared up, or falling asleep to it.

LOVES GREEN PARROTS. one of them is named after you.

MAY I INFORM YOU, HE DOES PLACE HIS BED TOGETHER WITH YOURS.

Yukio:

unlike rin, he’s always complaining about you asking him to play, but he’s obviously gonna do it (because he loves u,, even if he says he doesn’t). it also relaxes him, but mostly, he likes it because he’s able to get his mind off of “adult things” and finally get some rest.

wooo, he’s the brave one. he isn’t afraid of zombie gurgles or anything like that, so he’s always going to caves first (and gets lost because he’s literally going deeper and deeper FDMKFMV). however, there’s one thing that always startles him... cave sounds. he doesn’t scream, but if you’re near him, you can sometimes witness his character spinning or jerking his head in another direction because of it vcxkvnjhbv

don’t, i repeat, dON’T make fun of him afterward. he’s gonna go all the way back to you and kill you (and then go back mining.. like nothing happened).

the perfectionist. always mines all the resources he sees; during building something he also always makes sure everything’s proportional. gladly counts blocks for you, if your brain can’t work anymore.

now, building! not very skilled with building houses, but he likes building simple decorations, like fountains, gardens or farms. despite him always claiming it’s bad, his work always looks very detailed. not very good with ideas of those things at first, so mainly at the beginning he always finds some inspirations on the internet, but later gets the hang of it and builds his own ideas!

his favorite place to have a house in is somewhere near the ocean.

likes default textures. too used to have anything else.

doesn’t like listening to in-game music, unless it’s something from beta or alpha versions (like “Haggstorm” or “Wet Hands”). Usually listening to his own favorite songs on Spotify.

His favorite disc is “Far”. It used to be “Cat”, but due to him obtaining it like 3000 times he stopped liking it. nor hearing it anywhere near.

when he goes out to get resources and/or food, he comes back with full inventory and shulkers, just like a father that’s about to feed his kids. minimum 10 stacks of iron, coal blocks and food. the nearest 10k chunks of caves is already explored, so you better be ready for a long, lONG WALK to get something new.

he’s also fond of beta versions, but rarely plays them without you.

Mephisto:

this motherfucker wants to literally speedrun every fucking game. meanwhile you’re busy making a wooden pick, he’s out there typing “can’t wait to beat the dragon and get elytras~! ★”

remembers literally every recipe for all items and alchemy. personal minecraft wikipedia right there.

he MUST have a fucking mansion, otherwise, he isn’t playing. fortunately, he’s tried building before, so he’s perfectly capable of building one himself. it’s all made out of pink wool and concrete, along with white concrete accents here and there. 

adding to the previous one, he also has a great decorating sense. the rooms look very good, space is filled nicely and is both pretty and practical. the mansion itself looks very good on outside and inside.

of course, the main bedroom that’s designed especially for you two looks WAY TOO GOOD. I'm not even gonna start on him messing with plugins and making it even prettier.

his skin is a random, pink anime girl.

master with redstone. everything’s automated, there also might be hidden rooms with surprises. there’s a hidden shrine dedicated for you. he hasn’t told you about that though... >_>

even though he gets many useful things from the swamp biome, like lily pads or that cyan flowers, he hates this biome with a burning passion. if he sees it anywhere near his render distance he’s spasming and immediately voicing his annoyance. hates that specific, “dirty and unsightly” green water and grass color.

he doesn’t do much mining, but happily goes with you if you ask him to. even if he has no armor on, he never dies. NEVER. there might be 6 creepers but he somehow survives their explosion.

not scared at all. he knows this game like the back of his hand. he might, however, attempt to scare YOU instead. on purpose. or accidentally hit you so you fall from a large height and die. if you get upset at him afterward, he’s gonna give you even better stuff you’ve had before.

HE LOVES PLAYING ALPHA AND BETA. he started to play probably around very early alpha, so coming back to such simpler times is making him somewhat nostalgic (even if he denies it). on those versions, he builds things that used to be popular back in the day, like simple towers of cobblestone or houses inside mountains. it hits him hard when old soundtrack plays.

Amaimon:

he’s very, very confused. first off, he’s not used to the game at all, but then, he googles almost any recipe or asks you thousands of questions about how to make things. after some time, he finally figures out that there’s a book with recipes in game.

he might steal your items, but usually, he gives you back better items. for example, you notice your iron pickaxe is missing, but suddenly he sprints into the house and throws at you diamonds.

oh, he’s aware of the existence of chests, but for some reason, he likes throwing various items at you. he runs off afterward, leaving you with everything on the ground.

don’t introduce him to bedrock edition, he hates playing minecraft with a gamepad, and will smash it immediately. java edition is the only help for this man.

he’s also clumsy, like Rin. he manages to do that less than him somehow, but he tends to die pretty often anyway. his deaths are the stupidest, sometimes he doesn’t even bother explaining it. he literally can die with gravel suffocating him.

once he goes to the nether, he doesn’t wanna go back to the overworld. he says something along the lines of it being similar to gehenna or whatever, but. no matter what version it is - pre- or post- update 1.16, he likes it and that’s it.

his favorite biome in the overworld is jungle - mostly because of the lively color of grass, but also tall trees. he likes having there treehouses and always asks if you can build one (because he sucks at building. even worse than Rin >_>). his fave in the nether is blue forest or basalt biome - however, he becomes mad quickly on the second one due to frequent gaps filled with lava and magma cubes.

he likes normal slimes though. he even has a pet slime!! QwQ

he named his pet slime after Behemoth. keeps it safe in a glass cube and checks on it regularly. Behemoth doesn’t know about it doe.

he bullies every single villager that’s within his sight. burns their homes. the only thing that survives is the iron golem because he thinks it’s cool.

plays with the basic Steve skin. partially because he doesn’t know how to change it and that he isn’t determined enough to look for any.

forgets that crouching exist and falls off almost every cliff or anything that’s considered high.

#Ao no Exorcist #blue exorcist #rin okumura #Rin Okumura x reader #Yukio Okumura #yukio okumura x reader #mephisto pheles #amaimon #Headcanon #Pure

[heliads]

Cedar Trees and Lost Boys

You are a dryad, living on Neverland with your family. Will a friendship with Peter Pan blossom into something more, or is he just using you for information on the other dryads?

masterlist

The green of the trees is a dazzling emerald around you. The forest is a beautiful place to live, and the woodlands of Neverland are no exception. As a dryad, you have always loved the sight of the woods, and today is no exception.

Your feet are light on the mossy ground as you stride silently through the forest. Every dryad on Neverland has a species of tree that is unique to them and is the source of their powers. Yours is cedar. You can control their growth, and they help you stay young forever without having to rely on Pan’s magic. You are also connected to each and every cedar tree on the island- you can feel when one is cut down or newly planted.

Once you find a thicket of cedar trees, you walk to the nearest one and place your palm against it, closing your eyes to anchor your magic to it. Once you’re ready, you walk forward through the tree, and end up outside of a different cedar on the other side of the island. Dryads can travel from one tree to another, and you’ve used it to your advantage to save you time otherwise spent walking pointlessly around the island. You’re almost to your destination, and soon the familiar sight of your close friend’s treehouse comes into view.

You barely even have to knock before your best friend comes cheerily to the door. “Oh, Y/N! I’m so glad to see you! Come in, quick, before anyone sees you.” Tinker Bell’s usual bright voice turns anxious in the last sentence, and she peeks her head quickly out the door to make sure no one is around to see you two. Peter Pan is always watching, but you want to make sure he won’t see you.

You sit down in a chair opposite your friend, letting out a long sigh and kicking your feet up. “What’s wrong?” Tink asks, concern lacing her eyes. “Just the usual. The High Council wants me to stay alert because they think another Lost Boy will be coming to the island soon and they want me to follow through with the usual responsibilities.” Every time the council of dryads believes a Lost Boy to be the True Believer, they send you to lure him away from camp and towards the dryad regions of Neverland. The Lost Boys always seem to trust you more than anyone, and once you deliver the potential savior to the elders, they can determine whether or not the boy is really the Truest Believer. This upsets Pan, of course, but seeing as he has no idea who’s drawing away the Lost Boys, he can do nothing but stew over it.

Tinker Bell clucks her tongue sympathetically. “I’m sorry. At least you have something to do, right?” Your mouth stretches into a frown. “I know, but still! It feels like none of the other dryads want anything to do with me until a new Lost Boy shows up, and I’m sick of it. I just wish I could do more than just lure away newcomers, you know-” Your voice drops off as you sense a disturbance in the forest. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps comes from right outside the door. It’s Pan! 

“Quick- get up! There’s a window in the back room, you’ll have to leave through there. Hurry!” Tink leaps up, rushing you out before opening the door once you’ve gone. Just as your feet hit the ground, you hear a voice coming from Tink’s treehouse. “Now, who was with you? I know I heard another voice..” 

You shiver at the sound of Pan’s voice, and run as fast as you can towards the nearest grove of cedar. There’s an odd sound behind you, kind of like the crack of lightning but more muted. You dare to check over your shoulder, and you see Pan closing the gap behind you! He doesn’t know who you are, and he can’t tell what tree you control, so you sprint with all of your energy to the cedar trees and disappear. Thankfully, you were far enough away from him that he won’t be able to follow you through the tree, but your heart is still pounding in your chest. That was close.

Later that night, the new Lost Boy arrives. He seems innocent enough, with a mess of black hair that’s just long enough to keep falling in his eyes. The other Lost Boys seem delighted to meet him, and they dance around a bonfire that soars high into the sky. Eventually, though, the new Lost Boys looks out into the trees and catches sight of you. His stare is full of curiosity and wonder. You suppose he’s never seen a dryad before, and you can’t help a small smile. You are dressed in flowing green, with a crown of white flowers encircling your hair. His interest in you eventually wins out his desire to stay with the other boys, and he slips away from the camp and into the forest.

“Who are you?” His voice, so full of the innocence of young children, is almost washed away by the loud clamor of the Lost Boys’ celebration. “I am a spirit of the forest, my friend. Will you come with me to the land of the dryads?” The boy nods slowly, then takes your hand. The two of you walk back into the dark woods, unnoticed by anyone.

Before long, you reach a tall cedar. “If you come with me through this tree, you can meet all of my friends. Would you like that?” You keep your voice soft and relaxing, and the boy immediately agrees. You place your hand on the tree, opening the doorway between it and the tree at your home where the others are waiting, and usher the boy through. You’re about to step through yourself when a hand closes around your wrist, yanking you back and stopping you from joining the boy.

“And who might you be?” You whirl around at the voice, freezing in place when you see who’s found you. Of course, it’s none other than Peter Pan. You find you can’t say anything. “You must be a dryad, probably the one who ran from me at Tinker Bell’s? The one who keeps stealing away all of my newest Lost Boys? I can’t blame them, of course, who wouldn’t want to go with you, but still. They are my boys that you’re taking.”

You can barely find the courage to open your mouth. “I- I don’t-” Pan just smiles that vicious grin of his. “Don’t worry, love. I won’t hurt you. All I ask is that you visit me tomorrow. Midnight, at the cliff’s edge. I just want to know exactly who else lives on my island.” With that, he releases your wrist and walks away, leaving you staring after him.

The next day passes in a haze, and before you know it, it’s time to meet Pan at the cliff. By the time you get there, a light wind has kicked up, and it toys with the strands of your hair. No one is there waiting for you, and you take the moment alone to stare out over the ocean. Dryads usually stay within their region of Neverland, and seeing as this cliff is in Pan’s domain, you don’t often get to see this particular view. The sight of the crashing waves comforts you, and for a second, you almost forget why you’re there.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” You jump at Pan’s words, spoken from just a few inches away. “Yes, yes it is.” You murmur distractedly, trying to calm your racing heart. You hadn’t realized he was there, but nonetheless he comes to stand beside you. “I’ve always enjoyed this sight.” Pan turns you, staring deep into your eyes. “Tell me, was it your choice to lead away the Lost Boys? Or did the Council ask you to?” Your shoulders stiffen at the mention of the Council. How does he know about that? 

“I do what they ask. We all do.” You manage to say, but Pan just clucks his tongue impatiently. “Oh, but where’s the fun in that? Come on, Y/N, haven’t you ever wanted to do something just for yourself?” You look at him, surprised. “How do you know my name?” Pan just chuckles lowly. “I have my ways of finding things out. Are you going to answer my question?’ You look at him skeptically. “Why do you care about whether or not I like what the Council tells me to do? I don’t have a choice, and you don’t even know who I am!” Pan looks at you contemplatively. “I suppose I’m intrigued. I heard you talking about it to Tinker Bell, anyway, so it doesn’t matter that you didn’t answer. I want to give you a chance to be yourself, instead of a pawn of the Council.”

You laugh at that. “Well, I appreciate your offer, but I doubt Peter Pan wants to befriend a dryad just because. What strings have you attached?” Pan pretends to be hurt. “None, actually. I was just going to ask for you, in case you were bored of just doing things for the Council. I can see I was mistaken. Well, I’ll leave you in peace. Goodnight, Y/N.” He turns and starts walking away from you. At first, you hold your tongue, but your curiosity overwhelms you and you call after him. “Fine. What do you want, Pan?” He stops walking, and when he looks back at you, a taunting grin is spread victoriously across his face. “I want you.”

That wouldn’t be your first meeting with Pan. They end up happening every few days, or whenever you can get away from the Council long enough to see him. You find that he actually wants to be close to you, and his reckless, wild friendship is one of the best things you’ve had in a while. You can finally be yourself with him, not just another dryad that the Council can order around.

It’s on a clear night like this, moonlight drenching the island in a mystical silver glow, that you and Peter sit side by side, legs dangling over the cliff’s edge. You always meet here, to talk and laugh like you’ve known each other for your entire lives. You’re pointing out the constellations, or at least the ones you know. He knows some that you don’t, and you’re surprised to find that the dryads have different names for some constellations than the Lost Boys. Just before you can find Perseus, a deep voice behind you makes your heart drop.

“Y/N. What is this?”

You turn to see none other than your father, glaring at you from the entrance to the forest. Behind him stand a number of other dryads, including a few members of the council. You stand up quickly, trying your best to come up with excuses but only able to stammer out a few syllables. Your father takes a step towards you. “This is forbidden! You are not to speak with Pan, and you knew that! What are you doing?” He squints his eyes suspiciously. “Are you under a spell?

 Peter speaks from beside you, his voice cool in contrast to yours. “What else would it be, dryad? You know, it’s taken you so long to find out. Just think, all this time she’s been walking around your home with my spell on her heart. Who knows what she would have done if I asked?”

Your father glares at Peter, and you turn to the boy beside you. “What are you talking about?” You hiss, your voice barely a whisper. “Look, she doesn’t even know. Why else would I want her near me, for company? Please. I just needed to make sure the spell still held. That’s what I said when I first met her, actually. I just want to know exactly who else lives on my island.” Peter turns to face you now, emboldened by his cocky confidence. “She was just doing your dirty work, and I had my chance. What a shame.” Your heart feels like it’s about to shatter. It was all a fake. You can see right through him now, and you know he’s not lying. Why would he want to stay with you? Why would he want you around? It was just so he could get inside your head. He’s telling the truth.

You collect the last scraps of your confidence, then walk briskly away from Peter and towards the other dryads. “I’m so sorry, Father. I didn’t know.” Your father shakes his head understandingly. “It’s alright, Y/N. There was no way you could have known.” No, there wasn’t. You leave with the rest of the dryads, and you can’t even bear to look back at Peter. You know the pain will overwhelm you if you see his face once more.

And so you don’t return to the cliffs. It hurts to be without him, even knowing what he’s done. You miss his late-night conversations, and the sound of his voice by your side. The days go by, night after night where you stare up at the unforgiving moon and wonder about Peter. Is he at the cliff, waiting for you? Is he laughing at you now, from the camp of the Lost Boys? Is he wishing for your company like you’re wishing for his?

Eventually, you can’t take it and slip out of your bed and into the night air. You’re still firmly on dryad territory, and that’s where you stay. There’s a small creek a short ways away from your home, and you let your feet lead you there. You crouch down beside it, watching the silvery clear water burble over small rocks in its path.

“You haven’t come to the cliffs in a while.”

Your eyes go wide as you recognize the voice. Sure enough, it’s Peter. “What are you doing here? This is the middle of dryad land!” You hiss at Peter, trying your best to cover up for the jump in your heart when you saw him. He just tilts his head to the side, dismissing your worries. “I wanted to see you. Why have you been avoiding me? I know you can go wherever you want in the forest and not be caught by them.” You let out a sardonic laugh. “Of course I’d go find you. You know, when we were found out by the other dryads, I realized something. You weren’t lying about why you were with me.”

Peter raises his eyebrows. “Trust me, there was no spell. I just needed to get them to believe in you.” You shake your head. “Not the spell, but the reason. You used me to get to the other dryads. You know it’s true! Why else would you want to be with me? I’m just some dryad, and you could have chosen anyone.” Your voice drops off until it can barely be heard. “I was the easiest target because you knew I’d trust you. You knew you could trick me into believing you, and you used that to your advantage.” Peter’s usually confident smirk has slipped from his cheeks. “That’s not true. That’s not true at all.” You look at him desperately. “Then what else would it be?” Peter says only one word: “This.”

Before you know it, he’s kissing you. The sudden touch of his lips on yours is enough to bring everything to a standstill. When he finally breaks away, you feel like you could get lost forever in the emerald of his eyes. You don’t think any forest in the world could hope to have that shade of green. 

“This is why. Because I knew, even then, that I never wanted to be without you. I love you, Y/N.” Your breath comes shallowly. “I love you too, Peter.” He smiles at that, and leans over to kiss you once more.

#peter pan #peter pan imagine #peter pan x reader #peter pan imagines #peter pan ouat #peter pan ouat imagine #peter pan ouat x reader #once upon a time #ouat #once upon a time imagine #once upon a time x reader

[tra-sh]

That paul lahote one omgggg do u ever do pt2? Bc i would absolutely cry if u do! I loved it too much tysm

Here you go! I really hope I did you justice with this part 2! 

This one has a little teeny sliver of angst, and more jealous Paul action because let's be honest, it's my favorite archetype to write. 

A few months had come and gone since you first met Sam Uley's pack. Because Paul's imprint had been so strong, he and Sam had requested you stay with Emily for the time being to ease the transition. It had taken a lot of convincing-- from Paul to you and you to your parents-- but eventually, you'd settled into your new life. You would often help Emily in the kitchen, prepping large meals for the hungry group. Bella would visit every so often to give you small updates and gifts from the Cullen's. You would never admit it to Paul, but you dearly missed your friends. You missed reading with Edward and painting with Alice. You missed Jasper's calming presence and Emmett's raunchy jokes. The wolf pack was steadily becoming family to you, but you couldn't help the aching feeling in your chest. Which was why the Cullen's sudden disappearance mid-September had come as an unwelcome shock. 

You weren't sure how to cope with the sudden loss at first. They hadn't sent you a text or sent Bella to see you. She had just shown up on the back porch in the rain, a drenched shivering mess. She'd collapsed into your arms, telling you she couldn't find Edward anywhere and that their house was empty. You'd comforted her to the best of your ability, trying your best to ease her pain. You could tell from the very beginning that she had a strong bond with the vampire; you couldn't even begin to imagine how distraught she was. The pack was not so quick to console her and made jokes about finally being rid of the nuisance family. You could tell that her sudden attachment to Jacob wasn't exactly putting her in their good favor. 

Emily had invited Bella to stay with the two of you, at least until she felt comfortable enough to go back home. She was unstable-- anyone could see that. You knew that Emily was not only being nice; she was worried to leave Bella by herself. 

This was how you came to your current situation, standing in the kitchen watching Bella mope over a mug of coffee. The brunette slowly stirred the lukewarm liquid, absentmindedly staring off into space. "Bells?" You ask. 

She doesn't move but glances over to you silently. Well, she wasn't exactly making this easy. 

"I think you've mixed it enough," you try to joke. 

She looks down before placing the spoon on the table. "Sorry," she mutters. You sigh and look away to the timer on the counter. Seven minutes. The muffins in the oven have seven minutes left, and then you can go into your room and finally have some peace. You loved Bella, you really did. But you felt like you were more of a babysitter than a friend at the moment. You were so busy trying to keep her from jumping off the nearest cliff that you barely had time to process the situation for yourself. You felt like you were holding back your feelings; both to console her, and to not set off Paul. 

Your mind begins to wander as you think of him. He was definitely the group hothead and sometimes got on your last nerve. Well, frequently got on your last nerve. But you really did care about him. He was sweet and gentle when the two of you were alone and true to his word he had been taking things slow for you. The two of you hadn't done more than hold hands and hug, which surprised most of the other members. They never knew Paul to be patient or calm; especially when it came to matters of instinct. Seeing him cradle you as if you were made of glass was definitely a new experience for everyone. A small smile dances over your lips as you get lost in thought. You fail to notice Emily as she walks into the kitchen and raises a brow at your vacant expression. 

"Excited for those muffins?"

You snap out of your trans and give her a sheepish grin. "Ah, sure," you say quickly. Emily gives you a knowing look before turning her attention to Bella. "How are you feeling today, sweetheart?" Bella simply shrugs and does her best to offer what she hopes is a convincing smile. "Alright," she mumbles. Emily gives her an apologetic smile and turns away to grab a pitcher from the cupboard. You clear your throat and shift your weight, turning your attention back to the timer. Only two minutes to go. You hear rowdy shouting and footsteps hammering up the steps to the kitchen door. "Well, it looks like the boys are back early," Emily mused. She mixes together some iced tea into the pitcher and moves to set it on the dining table. You turn away from the door to hide your embarrassment, focusing intently on the muffins. You didn't want to see the look that Emily would give Paul, and you certainly didn't need to be teased by him right now. 

The screen door slams open as the loud, sweaty group files into the house. You can pick out the different voices as the boys talk and laugh between themselves. Chairs scrape against the linoleum flooring as they choose their seats, waiting to be fed. The timer 'ding's just in time and you pull on a pair of oven mitts. As you bend down and open the oven door, you feel a pair of burning hot hands grab your hips. "Hey," Paul's deep voice sends a shiver down your spine as he greets you. You turn around and smack his bare chest with one of the mitts. "Don't scare me when I'm picking up hot metal," you scold lightly. He only smiles and brings you in for a hug, squeezing you tightly against his chest. He buries his nose in the crook of your neck and inhales, his muscles relaxing as he takes in your smell. You feel your face flush as you wrap your arms timidly around his waist. As much as you loved the attention, you felt awkward being so affectionate around the others. Especially with the new "recruits", Brady and Collin. They were younger than the others, and you felt weird letting them see this. Paul pulls away to head to the table, but not before planting a kiss on the top of your head. 

You try to ignore the hot blush on your cheeks as you turn back to take the muffin tray out of the oven. You look over to Emily and smile softly as Sam embraces her. You loved seeing them together. They looked at each other like the rest of the world had disappeared, leaving behind only them. You walk over to the table and reach between Seth and Collin to set the tray down. "Careful," you say lightly. It's really a joke to warn them; their body temperatures are so high that you sincerely doubt they would feel it if they burned a finger. In a matter of seconds, the tray is picked clean, each boy scarfing down on the warm treat. 

In moments like this, you feel like a mom of nine. You were always there to pick them up when they were down, to kiss their wounds and feed them meals. You smile to yourself as watch them crack jokes and shove one another. The smile turns bittersweet as you think about your parents. Were you going to leave? I mean, at some point Emily would surely want her guest room back. You couldn't stay forever. But with the Cullen's gone and Bella in a spiral, would you be able to return to your old life? You knew you could visit the reservation whenever you pleased, but something about the idea of not being here felt off. You didn't want to leave; this felt like home now. You glance over at Paul and snort as he tries to cram the entire muffin into his mouth before Jared can swipe it. Were you really ready to leave this behind? 

Paul noticed you staring and glances over. He frowns (as best he could with his mouth full) at the mixed expression on your face. He swallows thickly before standing up and walking over to stand in front of you. You blink into focus as your view is suddenly filled with a tan chest and look up to smile at him. "Hey," you say quietly. Paul's brow knits together as he looks down at you. "What's wrong?" 

You feel a swell of guilt in your chest as he looks at you in concern. "Nothing, I'm just thinking." He doesn't seem to like this response. He looks over his shoulder at the pack before leading you over to the guest room. His hand is hot against your wrist as he pulls you-- not too hard, for fear of hurting you. He closes the door to your room and turns to face you, arms folded over your chest. 

"You know you can't lie to me. What's wrong?" He presses, a frown settled in his features.

You sigh and walk over to the bed, sitting down on the quilted sheets. Paul moves to sit next to you and waits for you to speak. You can tell he's struggling to keep silent and his face gives away the underlying worry. Were you having second thoughts? Were you upset with him? You place your hand over his and squeeze gently to quell his anxiety. "I just," you pause and try to think of how to explain your current feelings without upsetting him. "I just haven't really had time for myself recently and I guess it's getting to me is all." 

Paul's nose scrunches and you feel his hand tense under yours. "You get time to yourself when we patrol," he points out. You shake your head and sigh. "That's not what I mean, Paul. Even when you guys aren't here, I'm taking care of Bella. I mean, I miss Edward too but--" Paul cuts you off before you can continue. "You miss him?" 

Your jaw sets and you give Paul a pointed stare. "You know that's not what I mean," you say, your tone a warning. Paul doesn't take this well and stands up from the bed. "What exactly do you mean?" He hisses. 

You grit your teeth and stand up, your hands balled into fists. "They were my friends, Paul! I'm not just going to pretend that I don't miss them just so you don't get jealous!" 

Paul's muscles ripple as a warning; showing you that he was losing his temper. But right now, you didn't care. "I changed my life for you! I moved here because your imprint was too strong for us to be apart! I stopped seeing the Cullen's because their smell was enough to set you off! Hell, I don't even see my parents anymore! Isn't that enough to make you trust me?" 

Paul's nostrils flare and he growls, stepping forward. "What do you care if you lose those leeches? They weren't doing you any favors; they left you!" 

You flinch as he raises his voice, practically shouting by the end of his sentence. Paul hesitates when he notices this. He looks away, but the anger is already coursing through him. Wordlessly, he storms out of your room and slams the door behind him. You hear snarling and run out of the room just in time to see the front door shut. The glass panels of the door shudder from the force and a howl echoes from outside. You avoid the prying eyes from the kitchen as the rest of the pack watches silently. Right now, you could care less about what they thought. You feel the familiar sting of tears in your eyes as you shuffle back to your room, locking the door behind you. You just wanted today to be over. 

It's later in the night when you wake up, groggy and disoriented. Your nose is stuffed and there's a dull pounding in your head from crying. You scoot over to the nightstand and check your phone. It was a little past midnight, and you had a few texts from Emily asking why your door was locked and if you wanted dinner. You sit up and swing your legs over the side of the bed as you peer out of the window. The sheer curtains do very little to hide the view of the forest. Though the gauzy material adds a blurry filter to your vision, you can still make out the trees and the bright outline of the moon. The thin glass allows the chirping of summer crickets to meet your ears and calm your nerves. You can’t help but wonder where Paul is. If he was still phased and running around the forest, or if he had finally calmed down and gone home. You felt bad for yelling, but you didn't regret what you said. You'd been holding it in for a while, and you needed to speak your mind. 

You sigh and stand up, making your way to the door. You'd fallen asleep shortly after the fight, so you missed lunch and dinner. Maybe eating something would help take your mind off of everything. You pad over to the door and turn the lock. When you open the door, however, you're met with a startled curse and a loud thud. You stare down with wide eyes as Paul falls into your room. "Paul?" Your voice is hoarse from crying. 

A string of curses falls from the teen's lips as he sits up and rubs the back of his head. Was he sleeping against your door? Paul looks around in a haze before realization hits him. He scrambles to his feet and turns around to face you, relief written all over his features. "Hey," Paul starts carefully. You can tell he's treading on thin ice, gauging your reaction. He's waiting to see if you're still mad. He takes in your puffy eyes and the way you try to hide your sniffling. You'd been crying. 

"Hi," you say curtly. 

Paul frowns and takes a hesitant step forward. You don't move to stop him, so he takes another step. "Baby," Paul calls gently. He tests the boundaries, reaching a hand out to rest on your waist. You look down at your feet and he pauses. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. "I know," you reply. You're not trying to be rude, but you still don't feel satisfied with how the argument ended. He can't just storm off on you every time he doesn't like the response he gets. 

Paul takes your chin in his calloused grip and turns your head gently. "Sweetness," he tries again. "Please look at me." 

Finally, you turn to meet his gaze. You feel the tears begin again at the loving look in his eyes. You wanted him to hold you. To promise to you over and over again that he was an idiot and it would never happen again. But you and he both knew that he couldn't promise you that. It would happen again, and he needed to work on that. But how many times could you forgive this behavior? It took its toll on both of you. Paul brushes his thumb over your cheek, wiping away the fresh tears that spilled over. 

"I'm sorry," he repeats, the hand on your waist pulling you closer. Your hands instinctively rest on his sides as he cradles you in one arm. You close your eyes as your lip trembles, threatening to release the sobs you were holding back. Paul's chest tightens as he looks down at you. "I'm an idiot," he adds. "And I don't deserve you." 

You let out a breathy laugh, which turns into a slight hiccup. "No, you don't," you agree lightly. He chuckles, the deep noise vibrating his chest. "I'm trying to," he whispers. You nod, leaning into the touch of his hand. "I know you are." 

You open your eyes and look at him, seeing the silent plea in his warm brown gaze. 

I'm not perfect, but I'm trying. I don't want to lose you. 

"I love you," you rasp, barely able to whisper. Your throat is tight as you squeeze out the quiet confession. 

Paul, unable to hold back, brings you into a tight hug. Your words are all he needs-- you've accepted him. You know it won't be easy, but you're willing to try. And that's all he could hope for. 

"I love you," Paul echoes. "I love you so much." 

He pulls back slightly, leaving a hair's length between you. He looks to you for silent permission and nearly preens when you nod your head. He dips down, slowly, carefully. You close your eyes and let out a shaking breath as his warm lips meet yours. 

The kiss is soft but wholesome. It carries with it all of the promises that Paul intends to keep. It's loving and loyal; much like him. You know this road won't be easy, and you know this won't be the last time you cry over this idiot. But when you pull away and meet his devoted gaze, you can't help but smile. 

There isn't anyone else in this world you'd rather be with. 

#paul lahote x reader #paul lahote #twilight #twilight saga #twilight x reader #wolf pack #part 2

[big1ron]

The Venator “Resolute” had jumped right into a separatist trap. Somehow a virus infecting the main computer has scrambled the hyperspace jump coordinates, and now the companies on board were outnumbered and without reinforcements, deep in separatist space. A few last, desperate SOSs to nobody, and the ship was quickly overwhelmed with fire. The Resolute was going down. But not before each of the escape pods could be jettisoned.

————- Chapter Two: Bad Things -—————

Dogma shot the droid and tackled Jesse just a second to late, and took the bolt himself

The pain in his left side (and a little across his back) was searing. He was still breathing though, it missed anything vital. Just grazed him. He was rolled off the arc trooper to the side as the blasterfire didn’t pause for a second even though his own shot had destroyed its target. The fire didn’t last for more than a minute though, as the arc trooper disarmed and destroyed two of the droids with ease, and the medic took the last one.

That was pathetic, he couldn’t even get back up afterwards. He had taken worse than this, so why did it hurt so badly? He could barely hear what Jesse was saying, almost didn’t notice coric appear beside him.

“You di’kut! That hurt you far worse than it would have hurt me, what were you thinking!”

Right. Arc trooper. Thicker chest plate means the bolt wouldn’t have hurt him that badly

“S-sorry sir.”

Coric removed Dogmas helmet and jabbed a painkillers hypo into his neck “that was a sniper bolt, high powered. But it missed anything vital, you’ll live” Quickly moves to remove the chest plate before being stopped by Jesse

“Leave it coric”

“Jesse I dont care how much you hate him if-“

“I said leave it! This isn’t about my feelings for him. Maybe I hate him a little but he’s still my brother and I don’t want him to suffer. But we just encountered commando droids and that means there could be more around. It’s not vital you treat that but If you remove his chest plate to treat that and he gets shot again, you would be dealing with something much worse. So let’s move!”

“I- sir yes sir.”

“Kix you doing okay there buddy?” Echo turns back from the head of the group to look at kix, who is leaning much more heavily on rex now. Rex had chosen the right tunnel, they were now on the surface walking through the forest.

“I hate you... soo much echo. Plea’slow down...” they couldn’t have been walking more than a few hours but Kix looked absolutely exhausted. And he had been tripped by echo a few times now.

“I do too Kix, I do too. Echo, he’s right we should stop here for a little while, you two need some rest. DON’T annoy him in his sleep please.“

Echo takes Kix from Rex and is glared at before he can drop him. “Oh come on. Neither of you hate me, and Rex I know I’m your favourite.”

“My favourite’s Fives”

Echo gasps, offended “you take that back”

“You’re all rex’ favourite ok? Can I plea’sleep now?” Echo sighs in apparent defeat. The two settle down against a tree and once rex is sure they’re both asleep he begins watch.

Rex paces the parameter and looks back at the two vode, sleeping together. He smiles softly. They really are cute when they aren’t trying to annoy each other, or him. On the farthest corner of his loop though he hears something drop down from the trees between him and the other two. Commando droids.

They were completely unseen in the night, with their eyes not glowing like they should. They did now though, and he was surrounded as three appeared behind him. Rex immediately turn to the one centred behind him and blasts it to smithereens, diving over it and rolling to escape the others blasts. He runs in the opposite direction to echo and Kix to lure the droids away.

All four droids fall for it, they must not have noticed the two. The captain stops dead in his tracks and elbows the nearest droid in the face and shoots it with his free hand. He then throws that droid into another, knocking it over and deactivating both. He shoots a third down and has a mini heart attack when he can’t find the fourth. Is almost relieved when it springs on him from a nearby bush. He wrestles with it on the ground until he can grab his dropped blaster, and shoot it.

Rex gets up and dusts himself off. Now he just needs to get back and... which direction did he come from...?

“ECHO! KIX? WHERE ARE YOU TWO” he called but either they were to far to hear him or were to asleep to hear him.

“- But thats way to risky! There are three of us hardcase, we will be killed!”

“It’s either that or we get used to this place cause we aren’t leaving”

“There are other ways than storming into a separatist base, think with your head for once!”

“Oh don’t start that up again. I’m thinking perfectly fine, just cause your an arc trooper doesn’t make you any smarter than me”

“Yeah well maybe it gives me a little more common-

“will you two stop arguing already!?”

Hardcase and Fives both stop bickering to look at Tup. It’s the first time either of them has stopped bickering in the last few hours.

“Stop yelling at each other, it’s getting nowhere. I know you both want what’s best for the squad but you can do that without screaming at each other! Fives I know you’re and arc trooper and hardcase I know you have seniority, and I know you have conflicting ideas and opinions but following the structure of command we have to listen to fives.”

The three were walking in a single file line across a thin out pass on the side of a cliff face, heading for the summit. Fives first plan. Get a vantage point. Tups speach shut the two of them up for a little, but not long, as they started fighting again as hardcase questioned who has been put in charge by Rex more often. They didn’t hear him yelp when the rocks fell out from beneath him. He was send skidding all the way back down to the base of the cliff, which had had to have been a few hundred feet at least. He tried to grab at rocks, branches, anything he could to slow his fall but all he did was send himself rolling instead of sliding.

He landed on the ground with a thud. His head was spinning and he hardly had time to even register what had happened. He let himself lay splayed in the ground for a second before mentally checking himself over. His hair tie had snapped sometime during the fall and he would definitely be bruised in quite a few places but nothing felt broken. He pulled himself to his feet and looked back up to where they were. He couldn’t see fives or hardcase “GUYS! FIVES, HARDCASE!” He called “IM DOWN HERE!”

No response. Great. Ok. Nice.

Tup scooped up his blaster and began to search for another way up the cliff.

“HARDCASE WE LOST TUP”

“WHAT”

“HES GONE”

“HOW COULD YOU LOSE TUP!?”

“HEY I didn’t lose anyone. He just disappeared!!”

“Well where could he have gone?!”

Both turn and look down and look to eachother before fives has to grab hardcase to stop him flinging himself off the cliff

Jesse still has one pistol drawn and is on guard as his group moves down the path. Dogma had been even more quiet then later but coric assumed that was to hide the pain. Coric would keep an eye on him, he wouldn’t tell him whenever the painkillers wore off. That’s something he knew about dogma. Dogma wasn’t paying attention and tripped in some kind of animal burrow. He w t down with a small noise of distress. Coric stopped and waited for him to get up, Jesse didn’t. Dogma caught back up to the group, but the limp was noticeable. Jesse only rolled his eyes.

“Hey are you alright?” Coric asked, as if he expected any answer other than ‘fine.’

“I’m alright, doesn’t matter.”

Close enough. He kept an eye on him and the limp didn’t go away for 10 minutes so he decided to intervene.

“Hey Jesse, let’s stop. I want to check over dogma again. He’s limping”

“I’m fine coric it’s-“

Ah there it is. The ‘I’m fine’ he’s so used to hearing.

“Listen kid when a medic tells you something you listen. We’ll stop. Coric, make this as quick as possible though.”

Of course, Kix was also a medic. Jesse is just as bad as the rest of them but he’s probably heard these PSAs more than anyone.

Coric held up the medisensor and sighed

“It’s sprained. He really shouldn’t be walking on it. I won’t be able to treat it properly until we get back.”

“What? No, I can walk fine. I was just doing so, wasn’t I? Let’s get going again”

“No, you think you’re fine. If coric says you can’t, I guess you can’t.” Jesse sighs and turns to coric “I guess I’ll carry him. We can’t leave him here, and you’ve got the medpack.”

Coric’s honestly a little surprised Jesse agreed, but then he feels a little bad for underestimating Jesse. But then again he gets the feeling Jesse may actually just be playing four dimensional petty chess as well.

Having acquired Ahsoka a second bike, the two Jedi were surveying the planet right until the crack of dawn when

“Master am I crazy or do you feel what I feel?”

Anakin’s bike skids to a stop in front of a trooper laying face down in the dirt, as if that’s right where he fell

“Whatcha doing Rex? Trying to become a landform?”

The captain pulls his arms underneath him and gets up. He is almost tackled right back to the ground as he’s tackle hugged from behind. Luckily he’s caught (and also hugged from the front) by anakin.

“We missed you Rex! I was afraid you were shot down! I’m so glad you’re alive...” said ahsoka

“It’s great to see you two, sirs. But I don’t know how much longer I’ll be alive if you keep crushing me”

“Now ahsoka, please don’t kill our poor captain. He looks like he’s had a long day.” He pulls away from Rex and ahsoka does the same. “So Rex, we only have two speeders, so who do you want to ride with?”

“Uhh...” he weighed his options. On the one hand- to long. Both Jedi got that glint in their eye that meant competition and both grabbed at rex at once. Anakin pulled him towards himself before ahsoka could lay a hand on the captain.

“Alright captain, you’re riding with me. Hold on.”

#the clone wars #star wars #tcw #clone trooper tup #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #captain rex #clone trooper kix #clone trooper jesse #clone trooper dogma #clone trooper hardcase #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #the 501st #501stlegion #my writing #my art #(kinda) #clone wars #clonewars #you can thank the discord server for me bullying dogma

[moskaisley]

migraine pt. 2 | acute

rating: mature

word count: 4k

warnings: no smut in this part but!! implied abuse and mentions of trafficking!! cursing and violence as well

a/n: HI JUST A NOTE SAYING FUCK HUMAN TRAFFICKING >:(  it's a super huge problem in my city and i rly wanted to make the reader a protag who fights against it. in this part i wanted to explore more of mando and reader working together on a mission. not a lot of feelings but more so their dynamic as a team.

summary:

“...under my protection.”

When a bounty turns into a rescue mission. 

parts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

ao3 link / masterlist

“So, tell me about this big quarry again?”

Your exit ramp was down, and Mando stood at the bottom, watching you gather materials from your ship to put in a satchel. He insisted on taking the Razor Crest for this mission, even if The Slipstream was newer and a bit more reliable. You supposed you could let the ship rest and refuel for a few days while you were away.

“His name is Khan Horne from Canto Bight; he’s wanted for running multiple sex trafficking rings throughout the galaxy,” he paused for a second, watching you struggle to grab something from a high shelf.

“I thought you said -” You grunted as you stood on the tips of your toes, “this job was Inner Rim.”

You almost jumped out of your skin when you felt a hand on your shoulder; the Mandalorian was suddenly behind you. Being the gentleman that he was, his free hand reached past your face to pick up the blaster from the shelf up above. It was annoying how that simple action warmed your cheeks.

“It is. Bounty hunters are the New Republic’s last-ditch chance at catching him. That’s why he has such a high reward,” Mando twisted it in his hands, “You still have this?”

You swallowed thickly, “Never found a reason to throw it out.”

The blaster was small and old, but it still held a charge. Mando gave it to you after you found yourself defenseless when your blades found themselves lodged in a wall in the middle of combat. Little did he know, you couldn’t hit anything unless it was less than four paces in front of you. A lot of your free time after that was filled with target practice and drills. You remember your stomach lurching whenever he put his hands on you to change your stance. He had a habit of leaning in close with his hand on the small of your back, the other pointing towards an old Stormtrooper helmet perched on a wall.

Nowadays, you don’t shoot much, but you still took it on every mission just in case.

He handed it back to you, handle first,  “You still a terrible shot?”

You took it and tucked it in your ratty side holster,  “I’m better than you think, old man.”

A part of you hated how easy it was to talk to him after all these years. When you were with him now, it felt futile to stay angry at someone you shared such a deep connection with at some point in your life. But you haven’t forgotten those first days in the Slipstream, makeshift curtains out of your clothes, crying your weight in tears and dealing with one of the worst migraines of your life. You remember heaving bile in the shipyard with how disoriented you were.

Maybe one day, you’ll tell Mando everything you went through after his disappearance. You knew it could crush him; he’d spill out apologies until you were drowning in them. But then again, maybe not. He did leave you stranded on a planet all alone after fooling you into thinking you two would stick together as a team, maybe even more. You couldn’t really tell what he was feeling behind his beskar helmet. He was obviously being soft on you now, but you honestly think it’s because he’s trying to save face for what he’s done to wrong you.

It was all very headache inducing. That was the last thing you needed right now.

When you closed up the Slipstream and boarded the Razor Crest, you expected everything to be pretty much the same. And it was, save for the tiny wrinkly baby cooing in a little floating pod.

“Um, congratulations?” You were only slightly panicking. Who the hell did he have a baby with?

“It’s not mine,” he said, quick to explain, “biologically. That is.”

“Oh.”

“He’s... in my care until I find his people.”

You walk up to him, and raise your hands up to his pod, “May I?”

Mando nodded; at his consent, you gingerly nuzzled his head with your fingers. He gurgled in delight, his big eyes squinting with happiness. He was achingly adorable.

“Hello there,” you introduce yourself, oh so gently, “You must be Mando’s new partner. You must be sick of him already, huh?”

You shoot a pointed smirk at the Mandalorian, and he shakes his head, amused.

Kids were never really something on your radar. They weren’t right for the way you lived. However, every so often (when you’re especially exhausted from bounty hunting), you let yourself dream about a day when you’d eventually settle down in a cottage, one with lots of windows, and on the cliff near an ocean. You would maybe be married, with one or two children to bring up and raise as your own. The windows would be open to let in the ocean air, curtains delicately drifting in the wind, and you would be sipping on a cup of tea with your family softly sleeping around you. Your daydreams were so domestic because you envied people who had such peace; no blaster smoke or iron blood in your mouth. Just a sleepy home with laughing children, sea breeze and sunshine. In another time, you’d imagined Mando there, no helmet or beskar armor. Just him and you and home.

You don’t think about that cottage much anymore.

Pulling yourself out of your thoughts, you turned away from the child to Mando, who was already settling into the pilot’s chair, setting coordinates.

“Jaemai?” You asked, brows furrowed.

“The planet is a big hub for travelers in-transit, especially between Rims,” The Mandalorian

explains, “It’s basically a glorified airport; busy enough to transport people without a trace.”

You lifted the tracking fob off the console, turning it around in your hands, “Is that where he was last spotted?”

“Yes, but with how evasive he is, we’d be lucky to catch him there at all.”

You hum in agreement and take a seat in the co-pilot chair, “We need a plan. With an operation as big as his, he probably has men hired to protect him at all times.”

It was like no time had passed between you two. Discussing strategy was always easy, probably because there weren’t any feelings involved: just a bounty. Much to Mando’s dismay, the two of you decided that his presence in any of the terminals would be highly suspect. It was easier to have you undercover as a young, lonely traveler. Mando would have the high ground in the air traffic control tower, scanning the area just in case Khan takes off.

You looked for clothes that were the least ragged and dirty; many of the people who traveled through Jaemai were dignitaries, senators and the like. (Basically, not dusty bounty hunters like you.) The lack of a utility belt and combat jacket left you struggling to fit any weapons on your person. You were dressed as a doctor and you were able to tuck your blaster so that it would be hidden by your flowing lab coat, but you had to sacrifice your dual blades for small throwing knives under your sleeves. The blades needed to be put elsewhere, which wasn’t ideal in an emergency, but you felt more comfortable having them at all.

“Leave your commlink on the whole time,” Mando advised as he pushed the tracking fob into your hands, “If anything goes south, come back to the Razor Crest immediately and we’ll figure something else out.”

You nodded, sticking the tracking fob in the inner pocket of your lab coat. You took the leather satchel that carried your weapons, and walked down the exit ramp onto the tarmac.

“See you on the other side, Mando,” you say to him

“Y/N,” he called, “Be safe.”

You took a deep breath and kept walking through the gates of the shipyard to catch a shuttle for the departure terminal. Jaemai’s transit system was enormous; it crossed stretches and stretches of land, and you hoped that you wouldn’t need to scour each one to find a single man. The first terminal was reserved for transit in between the Inner Rim and Core worlds; you figured that if Khan had been running circles under the nose of the New Republic, it would be the best place to start.

Three hours later and you haven’t even covered half the terminal. It’s so huge that finding a single man here would take an entire day. He’s definitely here though; the tracking fob took you somewhat closer to the right direction, but he was still able to blend in amongst the crowd. Nausea and pain in your temples were starting to settle in; being in such a loud and cramped space was an easy trigger for a migraine. You scrambled to the nearest refresher, slipping into one of the stalls and shutting the door behind you. Reaching into your satchel, you pulled out the bottle of pain pills and a flask of water.

“Y/N, come in,” Mando’s voice through your commlink startled you into dropping your pills onto the ground, “Is everything okay?”

You groaned, “Yes, I’m fine. Just frustrated. This guy could be anywhere, Mando. I think we need to cut our losses and wait for him to move.”

You heard him sigh, “It would take a few days to refuel depending on where he ends up next. We need to catch him here while we can.”

You rubbed your temples with your fingers; he was right. You needed to pull it together or else you’d probably never find Khan at all. You bend over to pick up the pills on the floor but you freeze at the sound of a sniffle. Is someone crying? Pushing open the door to your stall, you locate the sobs of a girl two doors over.

“Knock on the door.  She’ll tell you what you’re looking for.”

So you knock, “Um, hello?”

Mando is questioning you from the other line, but you ignore him. The door to the stall is unlocked, and you push further. You see a Twi’lek girl frozen and curled up in the corner next to the toilet. Tears were running down her face, and a nasty welt was forming at the corner of her eye. Your heart ached; she couldn’t have been older than 19.

She tensed in her spot, and she looked ready to dash out the door, but you held your hands out in front of you to ease her fear.

“Hey hey, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you, I promise,” you said gently. Mando went silent over the line choosing instead to listen intently.

She stayed still, but refused to speak. Instead, she pushed herself further against the wall behind her. You set your bag down on the floor carefully, and then you took a seat a few paces in front of her.

“My name is Y/N,” you introduced, “What’s yours?”

She still said nothing, sniffling and shifting uncomfortably in the corner.

You tried again, “I’m a doctor. I can help you with your eye. It looks like it hurts a lot.”

You reach into your satchel and pull out your medkit, careful to conceal your blades; you don’t want to scare the poor girl. From the kit, you take out a bacta wipe and hold it out in front of her.

“May I?” you prompt calmly, waiting for her to come to you. And she did. She unfurls from her corner, and slowly crawls towards you. You smile as you gently take her face in your hand, and wipe along the bruised area. The area starts to heal already, and her labored breathing has returned to a normal pace.

She’s looking down at her knees as she whispers, “Aayn’vida”

“That’s a lovely name,” you say. You reach into your bag again, pulling the flask of water and handing it over to her, “Here, drink some water.”

“Thank you,” She croaks as she unscrews the cap and chugs it down.

“Aayn’vida,” you sit up a little straighter, “ Do you mind telling me you did this to you?”

She freezes mid sip and starts to shut down again. Your chest constricts at how afraid she is. “I fell, that's it.”

“You can tell me if you need help. I’m here to help you-”

She shifts again, looking around and suddenly on high alert, “What is that beeping?”

You’re caught off guard, “What?”

“Your jacket. It’s beeping. Is that a tracking fob? Are you here to take me too?”

Your heart rate starts to pick up. If the fob is beeping, that means Khan is close. You scramble for a response that won’t scare Aayn’vida away because it’s abundantly clear to you that she’s involved with this whole situation.

“No! No, it’s just a pager,” you reassure her, “It’s just telling me I’m going to depart in an hour, but I won’t leave you unless you’re okay.”

She doesn’t seem convinced. You try to wrack your brain again to save face, but then a loud banging comes from the door. Your tracking fob is beeping even louder now. Aayn’vida seems to react automatically to the loud knocking at the door, springing upwards. “I’m sorry, ma’am but I need to leave,” she quickly stammers, pushing through the stall and striding towards the door.

“Wait!” You grab her arm, “Aayn’vida, I can protect you. You just need to tell me what’s going on.”

She’s on the verge of tears again. She whimpers “You can’t; he’ll kill you and then he’ll kill me too. He’s evil and-”

You grip her shoulders and steady her as another angry stream of knocks come again. “Who is ‘he’? What is his name?”

“Khan. Khan Horne."

--

Mando’s voice suddenly cut through your commlink, “I’m coming over. Keep the girl safe.”

“Okay. Be careful. I’ll meet you at the Razor Crest”

She looked at you, eyebrows furrowed. The knocks came again, and they were growing increasingly louder and heavier. It only panicked Aayn’vida more.  You look her in the eyes again, and hold her shoulders tighter.

“Aayn’vida, I’m going to need you to pay close attention to me, do you understand?” You speak to her firmly and quickly,  “Stay behind me and under any circumstances do not leave my side.”

She nods, and watches intently as you secure the satchel to your person and pull the tracking fob from your coat. The beeping is echoing off the walls of the bathroom; it’s deafening.

“He’s right outside the door.”

Your head pounds at every knock at the door, but for Aayn’vida’s sake, you keep up your strength.

You hold her hand as you open the door, and you’re met face to face with Khan Horne, an incredibly well kept man dressed in an expensive suit. He scowls at the sight of Aayn’vida cowering behind you.

“What is the meaning of this?” His voice is grating. It feels like knives against your skin, “Who are you? What are you doing with my daughter?”

You bore daggers into his bronze brazen eyes, “I’m afraid that’s none of your concern, sir.”

“This is preposterous!” he snarled, “Hand her over immediately or I’ll make you pay, sweetheart.”

He slams his hands against the door frame in an attempt to intimidate you, moving in closer to gain the upper hand. You’re quicker than him though; in an instant, you have a small knife to his throat, digging it ever-so slightly deeper.

“Unfortunately, for you Mr. Horne, Aayn’vida is now under my protection. ”

“You bitch, ” He hisses at you, blood trickling at the fresh wound in his neck.

You push forward out of the bathroom and edge the girl into the hallway, keeping your blade trained at Khan until the two of you can slip out into the terminal crowd. You grip her hand and begin rushing towards the nearest exit. As the two of you push through the droves of travelers, you immediately notice men moving quicker towards you.

“Mando?” You call, pressing the link closer to your ear, “His men, they’re everywhere.”

You hear him grunt on the other line, “They’re out here too. Don’t try and fight them, just get outta there.”

Khan’s men were flanking all around you, inching in closer and you’re trying not to panic. Your brain is pounding and yelling at you to find a solution. You can’t take all of them by yourself. If you tried, Aayn’vida would end up taken again, Khan would disappear and your body would be dumped on a tarmac.

“Think, think, think.”

And then you see it along the far wall, a fire alarm. You take the knife you used against Khan in your dominant hand

“Maker, give me something.”

You throw, and it lands perfectly, shattering through the glass and straight to the switch. Water and cooling steam rains from the ceiling, as if it were falling from the heavens. The terminal spirals into chaos with civilians yelling and scrambling to get to evacuate. Khan’s men are thrown for a loop. Your grip on Aayn’vida’s hand tightens, and you sprint towards the exit.

“Mando!” You plead through the comm link, “Get to the ship! We need to go!”

“Y/N! H-h-ell-?” Your heart plummets to your stomach when the line fizzles dead. In your stress, you scream a curse and rip the earpiece off and toss it to the ground. Khan and his men are still in tow and you need to keep going, Mandalorian with you or otherwise.

“Sorry! I need this,” you push an unsuspecting droid off a speeder, and take it for yourself, heaving Aayn’vida behind you, “Hold on!”

You take off at full speed and before you know it, you’re both running through the shipyard.

You rush up to the bay door of the Razor Crest, banging loudly and yelling for Mando to open up. Your chest stomach lurches when no one answers.

“I believe you have something of mine, doctor. ”

You whip around, pushing Aayn’vida behind you against the ship and arming yourself with another throwing knife. Khan has two of his men flanking him, both with blasters trained on you and the girl. Your head was searing with pain.

“Drop it, sweetheart,” his skeevy voice chided, “You’re clearly outnumbered three to one.”

You smirked, “I like those odds.”

“Hey, that’s his line.”

Khan Horne’s face soured at your indifference, “You’re partner isn’t here, bounty hunter! My men are taking the Mandalorian down as we speak.”

“You clearly underestimated him then,” you taunt, stalling for time, “He’s the best in the parsec, didn’t you know?”

He’s getting impatient, you can tell. Khan raises his hand and his men take aim.

“Wait!” You hold your hands up, “If you can triple the bounty on your head, I’ll let her go and you won’t hear from me again.”

Aayn’vida rustles nervously behind you. Khan stops his men and takes a second to think over your offer. He narrows his eyes at you in apprehension, “What is keeping me from killing you and taking her myself?”

“The New Republic will always send hunters your way. I can clear your name in the Guild with Greef Karga and guarantee your immunity,” You try to keep your voice from shaking. You know you couldn’t actually clear his name, but he didn’t know that, “Just give me the credits and say the words.”

The thirty seconds he takes to think your offer over feel like an eternity.

And then, by some miracle, he says, “Very well then. Cuff her for me, will you?”

He waves off his men and they lower their aim.

You turn around and guilt overwhelms you when you see the fear and shock in Aayn’vida’s eyes. You’re terrifying her. As you open your satchel to reach for the cuffs, you briefly show her the hilts of your weapons. You give her a knowing look and hope she understands.

“Trust me.”

You slip both hilts up into one your sleeves, and hold them in a way where they wouldn’t be seen by Khan and his men. You then put the cuffs around Aayn’vida’s wrists, and turn around striding forward, gently pulling the girl by her restraints. Khan has already put the credits in a box, and he’s stupid enough to hand it off to you first.

You take the box and deck him in the face as you push Aayn’vida back towards the Razor Crest. You command her to take cover as you finally unsheathe your dual shock blades from their retractable sheath. His men are quick to take aim, but you’re quicker. You drop to the ground to swipe at the left man’s legs. He cries in pain, electrocuted and stumbling over himself. You slash his chest and kick him backwards.

You yell when you feel a hot surge rip through your right side, and you curse yourself for nearly forgetting about the man on the right. With all your strength, you launch your left blade into his shoulder, pinning him against the concrete wall behind him. You raise your other sword to deliver a final blow, but the click of a blaster makes you freeze.

“That’s enough! ” Khan’s voice is unhinged, “I’ve had enough of you, you fucking whore. I’m not just going to kill you; I will break you. I will throw you to the ugliest creatures in this galaxy and let you rot!”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Another blaster click. Mando’s smooth voice sounded like a song from an angel. Relief washed over you like an ocean wave. You dropped your hands to the side, and turned to Khan with a victorious grin.

“He can bring you in warm, or he can bring you in cold.”

You knew the Mandalorian was smirking under that shining beskar helmet.

Khan cursed loudly, finally accepting defeat. He dropped his blaster to the ground, and Mando roughly pulled his wrists to bind them. You trudge over to Aayn’vida, unlocking her restraints.

“Sorry I gave you such a scare back there,” you say, holding out your hand for her to take “I really didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay. You did what you had to,” She croaks. As you go to pull her up, however, a sharp pain shoots through your waist and you cry out.

“Dr. Y/N, you’re bleeding!” Aayn’vida cries as she catches you and loops your arms over her shoulders.

Any relief that you felt at the Mandalorian’s return and the capture of the bounty quickly dissipated when you looked down at your side. You could feel that your skin was singed, and red was seeping through your godforsaken lab coat and dripping further down your legs. Your head is crescendoing with pain, and black is creeping into the corners of your vision. You haven’t felt a blaster wound with a migraine before; Aayn’vida is hastily hobbling you to the ramp of the Razor Crest. Her words are becoming garbled; you hear her call out for Mando. You think he said your name.

The last thing you see are the shadows of his beskar helmet, and the last thing you feel are his leather gloves, scooping you up and carrying you up the ramp into the ship. He says your name over and over again, and you make out only a few of his words.

“Stay with me.”

“Y/N, please.”

He’s setting you on his bunk, stripping you of your lab coat, and spraying the area with bacta spray. You wail at the agonizing sting, and your vision is completely blurring over. You were in so much pain. You feel leather fingers against your cheek; he’s wiping away tears you didn’t know were falling.  He’s shushing you softly as he ties your lab coat around your waist as a temporary gauze.

“Sssh, lay down ,” he whispers as he gently eases you down onto a bed, “You’ll be okay, cyar’ika.”

The bed is his. You thought he brought you to your old bunk, but it’s his. You know it.

“It still smells the same.”

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin #din djarin/reader #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian/reader #migraine #star wars

[blazerina]

Rain - Mal x MC

Rain - Mal x MC

Word Count: 3202 

A/N – I meant to post this on Wednesday in place of our absent BOLAS chapter, but it took me a while to get this out. I’m pleased to debut this Mal story. Hope you all enjoy!!

--

“That’s not all I can do…”

A voluptuous woman approached Mal, but her face was indistinct.  Seductively she advanced towards him, swaying from side to side, ready to straddle him as he fell back against a comfortable, plush, lavishly decorated bed.  

“By all means, show me more…”

And just as their bodies were about to intwine –

“Mal!” Threep perched right beside his ear, hissing into it with a whisper.

“Are you kidding me?!” Mal sat up quickly, infuriated and confused.  

As he quickly remembered the rest of the group was sleeping nearby, he glared at Threep and shrugged.

“Gods, was that necessary? I was in the middle of an awesome dream.  I don’t have any food for you, you mongrel.”

Threep purred deeply and used his tail to point towards the entrance to their make-shift camp. A small fire was glowing in the distance. Scratching his head, trying to figure out what Threep was motioning towards, Mal looked around and realized someone was missing from the group.

With a heavy sigh, Mal got up. “All right, all right. I’ll go get her.”

“Tread lightly. I sense she is deeply troubled.” Threep cautioned, following at Mal’s heels.

“Also, please see if she has any snacks with her because I’m fami-“

“Do you mind?!” Tyril sat up sharply. “Some of us are trying to sleep. Take your little party elsewhere – far away from me.”

“If you all could please be a tiny bit quieter, I’m still trying to rest.” Nia chimed in. She didn’t sit up but made her request from where she was laying.

“All of you are going to end up tossed over the nearest cliff if you don’t shut up right this minute.” Imtura bellowed with a roar.

“Hey, hey, hey! You all need to relax…I’m handling it okay, everyone?”

“Handle it, WITHOUT MAKING NOISE.” Tyril rolled over onto his side with a huff as Mal dramatically tip-toed out of the area, leaving Threep behind.

--

Raine was sitting next to the small fire she made, knowing there was no need to be keeping watch. This was her turn to sleep; time for her to be resting and getting ready for the next adventure that awaited her new group of friends.  She found a large stick and began picking it apart, breaking it into little pieces and tossing it, piece by piece into the flames in front of her.

She had been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. The further and further she went along this journey the harder and harder it was to quiet her mind.  She felt her chest tighten and her heart flutter a lot more lately, but she wasn’t sure if that was a direct correlation to the situations she was finding herself in, or due to her growing infatuation with Mal.

A loud crack and then a snap in the distance made Raine flinch. Instinctively, she jumped up, ready to pull an arrow at a moment’s notice. She spun around and immediately felt her heart do that fluttery thing again.

Seeing his face increased the heart palpitations she was feeling. Even if his face was contorted at the moment, as he tried to wipe away a large spider web from his hands and arms.

“Get – this – darn – ugh – there – no – off – away! Ugh. Hey there, kit.” He smirked, wiping his hands on his pants.

“Didn’t mean to scare you…”

Raine didn’t even realize she was frozen in position, aiming her bow directly at his chest. She dropped it almost immediately and smiled at him, grateful for his presence.

“I’m a bit jumpy these days. Glad it’s just you.”

“Just me? Since when has it ever been just me?” He raised an eyebrow, questioning her, holding his heart as if he was personally hurt and attacked by her comment.

Raine shrugged, returning to her position by the fire. She was in a daze and too focused to be taken in by his charm this evening. She wanted to be, but tonight, something else had her full attention.

--

“I’ve…uh...” Mal stuttered. He didn’t know what to say.  He scratched the back of his head, looking for the right words.

He could tell something was going on in that mind of hers. From the moment he laid eyes on her out here, all alone, in front of a fire, he just knew she wasn’t herself.

Mal was instantly attracted to her from the moment she ran into him back in Riverbend. It was something he had never felt before. The look in her eyes, the way she challenged him not knowing anything about who he was or what he was after – it intrigued him.

Sure, he told everyone he was used to being in peril. The group had heard story after story by now about countess after countess. They didn’t have to know that none of it was true. He built his reputation on being an adventurer, a seducer, someone who always got whatever it was he wanted, using his charm and deception.

Whenever he told his stories he was always being chased, always being taken in by some poor fool who felt bad for him and ended up being his saving grace. But this time? He felt like she was the one he was chasing. It wasn’t treasure, riches or fame he was after anymore. It was her heart.

Mal had been with her long enough to crave being near her when she was gone.  He eyed her in moments when she was all alone, watching her gentle movements. The way she cared for animals and others, the decisiveness with which she led their merry band of misfits, it was all so…genuine. None of it was a show. None of it was done with any kind of ulterior motive. She wanted to save her brother and that was that.

He made up his mind a long time ago to do whatever it takes to see this adventure through to the end. Not just because he cared enough about Raine to help her, but because he wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to get whatever it was she wanted most in this world. He wanted to be some small part of the reason she was successful in her mission.

He swallowed hard, all of these thoughts racing to his mind at once. Realizing how fast he had fallen for her scared him. Would she be able to see through him? What would she think of him when she realized he really was a fraud? He wasn’t all he said he was. He wasn’t as debonair and suave as he pretended to be.

Would the charm eventually wear off? Was it wearing off now? Was the one and only night they innocently spent in each other’s arms, all he was ever going to get with her?

“I’m okay, Mal.”

Thankfully, Raine’s comment interrupted his thoughts.  He sighed mentally, grateful for the break.

“Thanks for coming to check on me, but I think…”

She trailed off and Mal noticed she bit her lip. It was a tell he’d picked up from her pretty early on.

Whenever she had something more she wanted to say but stopped herself…she bit her lip.  

If she had to think really hard about what she was going to say because she was lying and didn’t want to give away a secret…she bit her lip.

Sometimes when she was joking around or teasing someone, trying to be funny and pull off a prank, she got a twinkle in her eye…and bit her lip.

Mal decided not to press. He stayed quiet and made himself a little place to lie down near the fire. He dragged a few logs over to prop his feet up onto and laid down with both hands behind his head, looking up at the sky.

Don’t mess this up, pal. He told himself, closing his eyes as he exhaled.

“Mal?” Raine called out quietly, after a few moments.

There it is…he smirked, keeping his eyes closed, thankful she couldn’t see his face at the moment.

Still got it. He told himself, ready to reply.

“Yes?”

“I know you’re…you’re used to this sort of thing…but do you ever…” Raine sighed, clearly having a hard time communicating her thoughts.

“Do you ever miss your life before all this?”

“Well…” Mal rolled over, facing her and propping himself up on his elbow.

“You forget, this is my life.  One might say this adventuring stuff is kind of, oh I don’t know, my thing.”  

He stopped and thought for a moment before adding, “Honestly, I didn’t have much of a life before this so there’s not much to miss.”

“You’re lucky.” Raine made eye contact with him and Mal noted how beautiful she looked with the flames reflecting off her face, in her eyes.

He cleared his throat and nodded in her direction, urging her to go on.

“Before this whole thing started, I took so much for granted.” She explained.

“I find myself thinking about Riverbend all the time. Going down to the tavern, spending time with Kade, not having a care in the world. It’s kind of funny now, I guess. I used to want out so badly…now I’d give anything to go back…”

Raine intensely stared into the fire, throwing piece after piece of another stick in with ferocity. She seemed mad, almost angry and agitated.

Threep was right. Mal told himself. Better be careful.

“I think, uh…I mean, I think it’s okay to miss stuff, sometimes.  Just because I don’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. It’s nice that you have somewhere and someone to miss, you know? That’s probably what it feels like to have a home.”

Raine looked up at him, pulling her gaze away from the fire for a second.

“Mal, I’m sorry. I’m being so insensitive -- to be bringing this up now and burdening you with my ridiculous problems. I know how absurd all of this sounds.”

“Raine. Stop.”

He slowly sat up and went to sit beside her. He questioned whether to take her hand. He decided against it but encouraged her to continue.

“I want to hear what’s bothering you. If it matters to you, it…” he paused, why was he so afraid?

“It sounds nice. It helps me to get my mind off things too. This whole life of adventuring, fighting off evil villains, plundering for gold and succumbing to wild vixens’ charms, is sometimes insufferable, you know?”

He knocked his shoulder into hers as she chuckled, looking at her feet. Mal made a mental note of how good it made him feel to know he was the reason for her smile or laugh.

“I’m curious.” He looked at her sideways. “What do you miss the most?”

Rain smiled slightly but tightened her jaw at the same time. She bit her lip before answering.

“No – I can’t tell you. You’ll never let me live it down. I know you too well.”

This, of course, was intriguing to Mal. He now saw a challenge. He would stop at nothing to get her to tell him her secret.

  “Is it the smell of mead right out of the barrel?” He asked, knowing there was no way that could be true.

Raine smiled and shook her head no.

“Hmm, how about shoveling the stables when you needed some extra coin?” He bumped into her again, trying to get her to open up.

“That would be crazy.” She feigned annoyance with him, enjoying his attention and company.

“Last guess…you miss days upon days of utter boredom, staring out your window wondering when adventure would find you.”

“It’s true – I did do that…and now that I have it, here I am. Running away in the middle of the night to wonder and worry about what’s to come. Some adventurer I’ve turned out to be.”

Raine sighed ruefully and returned her stare to the fire.

A loud boom of thunder rolled over the forest and hillside area where the group had settled for the evening, making both Mal and Raine jump.

“That was unexpect—” Mal was cut off by another loud clap of thunder and a lightning strike in the distance that was bright enough to illuminate most of the kingdom.

Impulsively, Raine leaned into Mal and he wrapped his arms around her tight, yelling out a loud “Yoooo!” When the lightening hit.

No rain was falling yet but clearly some was moving in. The smell was now heavy in the air and the wind was picking up quickly.

“Dancing.” Raine said, out of nowhere. “I miss dancing.”

Sheepishly, she looked up at him from under her long, thick lashes. He was holding her now and he could see the light brown freckles that danced across her face, under her eyes and over her nose. The small specks of dark brown in her hazel eyes were practically glowing.

“Raine…” He whispered her name, mesmerized by her.  

Soft tendrils of hair danced around her face as he tried to build up the courage to share with her what he was actually thinking and feeling.

“I have one memory, it seems so silly now but it keeps coming to my mind as I think about Kade. We had been paid to take care of some pigs…just for a few days…and they were horrible little things. They would not stay in the pen no matter what we did! And there were so may of them. They just kept appearing. It was like they were multiplying right before our eyes…”

Mal relaxed his grip on her but kept one arm around her as she told her story. It was engaging to see her physically light up, regaling him with a tale this time instead of it being the other way around.  

“We finally got them all back in the pen together and it started pouring. Coming down in buckets! It was horrible and so muddy. One piglet escaped again, then another and another. Kade and I were slipping and sliding around in the mud and got so incredibly dirty and we smelled SO bad!”

Raine was laughing now, remembering it and how it must have looked.

“It wasn’t funny at the time but thinking about it now – we were so happy when the whole ordeal was over that we literally danced IN the rain, all the way home.  It wasn’t a horrible storm or anything, but we soaked up all that water to wash away the dirt and grime from that horrible pig farm.  We sang and danced and danced and sang; silly songs, just bouncing along, huge smiles on our faces.  We were just so happy, then.”

Mal held onto her more tightly now, feeling the sadness creep back into her body as she tensed up.

“At that time, we had no idea what…what was to come…”

She let out a long, deep sigh and leaned into Mal as he stroked his hand up and down her arm.

“Thinking about home and, now this storm coming in, it brings it all back like it was yesterday.”

“I don’t think it’s any accident your name is Raine.” Mal stated, timidly.

The voice in his head once again announced itself - Now is not the time to be a coward. You can do this.

She looked at him quizzically but let him continue. He spoke in hushed tones, voice just above a whisper as light drops fell from the sky, almost a mist, they were so faint.

“You’re so similar to this…” He gestured to the sky as it began.  

“I’ve seen you be like that lightning and thunder we witnessed. When you’re going after something you want you can be a bit violent…” he chuckled, “winds and rain so heavy you can’t see – it’s blinding the passion and love you have for your family and friends.”

“Other times you’re barely there, so sweet and soft, falling like this right now…all around, leaving an impact on everything you touch even if it’s a small one…” he held his hand out watching the moisture collect upon it.

“In the time that I’ve known you, you’re always steady, doing your job to replenish all that is around you – rain when rain falls it creates this rhythm, a pattern, constant and predictable. You’re there no matter what. You do what you can to make the people you care about feel better.”

Mal hugged her and pulled her in close, resting his chin on her head as she settled into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.

“Storms like the one rolling in sometimes sit in one place and stay for a long time, hovering over an area for days; or they clear out quickly but still leave traces behind…puddles in the street, streaks on windows, that kind of thing…”

“Mal…” Raine looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes.

You have to finish this.

“Shh…” he held a gentle finger up to her lips, asking her to not to interrupt him without using words.

“You told me tonight that sometimes you miss your old life and sometimes you don’t – you live for the adventure but long to be at home and that’s like those crazy days where it’s raining in one place, all hot and humid in the other, but still dry as a bone. Two places so close together experiencing such different things…it’s just like you, hot and cold sometimes. You know?”

Raine wiped a few tears off her cheeks, remaining silent. Waiting to see if Mal was done.  

“Just like the actual rain, you always have a purpose and you never leave without having achieved your goals…remember that, Raine. It’s one of the reasons I admire you so much…”

Tears still streaming down her face, Raine reached up and kissed Mal, tenderly, sweetly and longingly. Hoping to convey to him how much his little soliloquy meant to her, just now.

“Oh good.” He breathed a sigh of relief after the kiss.  “I was afraid I said too much and made you mad…” Mal smiled, blushing slightly.

Rain was actually falling more heavily now, the wind was really picking up and the temperature was dropping.

“No one has ever…” Raine bit her lip, quickly but then carried on, “…said anything so kind and sincere and beautiful to me or about me before, I…”

Mal interrupted her, taking her hand and standing up.  

“If you miss dancing, then let’s dance.”

He circled his arms around her waist while she let hers drape around his neck.

“In the rain?” She laughed, looking up at the sky, letting the water fall on her face.  

“In the rain.” Mal repeated, smiling and laughing while watching her.

They danced slowly, circling around as the rain continued to fall. Every so often thunder would roll through again, but the lightning had subsided.

“I’m still just speechless, Mal.  I had no idea there was so much more to you than you’re showing or letting on…”

Mal winked at her as he pulled her in closer to him, looking down at her. With a smirk, he responded, “Ah very good, very good.  That’s just the way I like it, kit.”

#blazerina babbles #mal x mc #mc x mal #mal volari #bolas #bolas fiction

[umbrellalad]

An Excerpt from a Book I’ll Never Finish

The Galaxy and all it’s Stars

Why is quiet so hard to hear? Sitting in the quiet, listening and thinking and all I can hear is the static in my brain. No matter what I do I can’t turn it off. Even when I try to use it all the thoughts do is jam together, running into each other jumping around until all it’s caused is a headache. I try to sort them out, to figure out what it is the universe is trying to whisper in my ear, but all I hear is noise, noise, noise, until I have to just stop trying. 

My thoughts are as vast and as jumbled as the universe itself, so you’d think we speak the same language, but I guess the two don’t mix, because all I can hear is static. My room reverberates with the stuff. A box full of echos only I can hear. Still, it’s better than outside, where all of my thoughts are trapped inside my own head. Outside they swirl in the wind, forming a cloud around my head. I have to reel them in, chain them up to keep them from running out. I don’t know why they’re so hard to control. Others don’t seem to have a problem with controlling their own heads. They walk around perfectly content with the way they’re thinking, the way they’re acting, the way they’re talking. To them the world is nothing but hopscotch for one to enjoy. For me the world is a tight-rope across a windy canyon. One wrong step and it all goes tumbling down, down, down.

I find comfort in the universe. With something so colossus and magnificent, how can anything I do possibly ruin it?

Still, at times it feels like the universe is shrinking in on me. Gravity increases and the galaxies collide in on themselves. Then I go to bed. Wake up. And the universe has begun expanding again. 

Waking up today was easy. Summer had begun. I no longer had to worry about the load of homework or projects piling up while I sat in my room doing nothing.

I roll over and look at the clock at the side of my bed. It’s a retro rectangle of an alarm clock, because somehow turning the clock face into a rectangle made it more desirable then. 

9:26. Not a bad time to wake up. Early enough that I haven’t wasted the day away, and late enough to feel like it’s too late to go back to bed. 

So I get up. Whatever extensional crisis took it’s turn last night has retreated back into the basements of my brain. If it was a good day hopefully I wouldn’t have another one until at least four.

Downstairs my mom is cooking breakfast for my sisters and my brother. I can smell the bacon as I walk into the kitchen. What would be described as a peaceful, welcoming scene to wake up to is anything but. There’s not so much serenity and love in the air as there is simply hunger and tension.

My youngest sister Brielle is sitting at the table, smearing scrambled eggs on the table. Now with this behavior one would guess Bri is three? two? She’s ten. My theory is she doesn’t have that little voice in our heads that tells us our actions will have consequences. Or that she does have this voice, but only listens to it when the consequences include her. She knows that she could get up from the table right now, and Mom would go over and clean it up without a second thought.

The twins Adalyn and Asher are play fighting. A game that will without doubt turn into a real duel the moment one of them knocks their elbow the wrong way on the couch. They’re both 13. Old enough to know that actions have consequences, but still too young or too sociopathic to care. 

My mom sees me first. She’s making more eggs for Adalyn and Asher along with frying bacon. “Morning sweetie, do you want anything?”

White Dwarf

A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to that of the Sun, while its volume is comparable to that of Earth. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf.[1] The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star. There are currently thought to be eight white dwarfs among the hundred star systems nearest the Sun

My mom is a white dwarf. She was once a shining star, a radiant young woman, full of life, energy, and excitement. When she was young my mom would go on spontaneous adventures with her friends. They would go skydiving or cliff jumping or bar hopping or just go on a road trip to the middle of nowhere. I’ve seen pictures from back then. She looks so free, so unburdened. When Mom had kids that part of her life took a decline, and when my dad left it ended completely. No more time for spontaneity. No more opportunity for it either. Now she’s only a remnant of the woman she used to be, but she still manages to give off the same warmth. 

I know she has a lot on her plate, so I try to stay out of her way most of the time. I do my best to be self-sufficient and try not to cause her too much worry. 

I wish I could be more like she was, when she was a kid. I find it hard to even leave the house without planning it a day in advance. She would board a plane and fly to Italy without a second thought. My life consists of the same thing everyday, no changes, no excitement. Is it because I made it that way or is it the way it was made for me?

I say no, like I always say no. Not because I don’t want to accept her hospitality, but because I don’t want to add to her plate of things to do. 

Nor do I want to partake in this mess we call a home life.

I grab a banana from a bowl on the table and sit on the opposite side of Bri. I look down at the egg she’s using to decorate the table. She stares at me challengingly. 

I take a bite of my banana.

Adalyn and Asher’s voices rise. Someone hit someone else a little too hard. 

Bri glares at me harder, increasing her pressure on the eggs.

Asher screams.

The banana feels tough in my throat.

The sizzling of the bacon rises.

Bri smooshes her eggs.

Adalyn yells.

My head hurts.

The scent of bacon gets thicker.

My heart picks up pace.

A cry.

A scolding.

A challenge.

A throbbing.

A yell.

I get out of my chair and go back upstairs.

My room is safe. In my room I don’t have to worry about screaming children or a messy home. The only things I have to worry about in my room are the things I create myself. Still challenging, but at least here I have a sense of control.

My headache lessens and my heart slows to its normal pace.

This house is like a prison. Everyday it feels like it’s closing in on me, tightening it’s hold on my life. There’s nowhere to go, no escape. It just drives me deeper and deeper into my own brain. 

I’m sitting on the floor. I’ve found that sitting in places where one wouldn’t normally sit when there are chairs available, is calming. It gives me a fake sense of personality.

Looking up I examine the face looking back at me in the mirror. I inherited my mother’s thick blond hair. It falls past my shoulders in ringlets. Needing something to do, I part my hair and braid it into two plaits. 

Full lips. Brown eyes. A freckled face.  Heavy brows. A pointed nose. Thick lashes. 

This is who I see in the mirror. It’s me. This is the body which my mind, my soul, my essence is encaptured. An infinity of possibilities, an infinity of features and these are the ones I’ve been graced with. An whole wide universe to choose from and this is where my soul settles. 

Oh look there’s the existential crisis. In almost record time.

I sigh and fall back onto the carpet. Stare up at the ceiling. The quiet is nice.

A crash sounds from downstairs. More yelling.

A sudden urge strikes me. Like my chest will explode if I don’t do what it says. 

I need to get out of this house.

I pull on my shoes from my closet and jog downstairs.

“I’m going to go on a walk,” I call to Mom.

She’s busy trying to talk Bri into eating some fruit with her eggs. She doesn’t hear me. I stand in the middle of the kitchen. I don’t see Adalyn, but Asher is sitting on the couch, looking very upset about the book he’s most likely being forced to read. No one sees me.

I’m used to being invisible.  As soon as the first attempt to be seen goes unnoticed, all of the others just melt away. 

I go out the front door, not bothering to take my phone with me. I don’t have to worry about getting texts. I was never really one for making friends anyways. Whenever I did find people to hang out with it always felt superficial, like they were just pretending to tolerate my company. Besides, I could never find the right thing to say. My mind wouldn’t go with the flow of their conversation, it would pick at each word, each voice inflection, each micro-expression. Trying to decipher the hidden meaning in every one of their simple sentences. 

When I was 14 I had a friend named Blake. She was my first real friend. We had met at school when she said something funny in history and I laughed. She turned around and smiled at me and I smiled back. We exchanged numbers and then every night we would text for hours. We talked about school and the teachers we hated. She talked about the boys she had crushes on and I told her why they weren’t good enough for her. We traded music suggestions and talked about how Sherlock deserved a fifth season. 

I would lay on my side in bed and smile in the glow of my phone screen. It was the best feeling in the world.

But then the spaces between her texts got longer. And I started to realize that the only nights we talked were the nights where I texted her. And then that feeling started to melt, to harden in my stomach. I worried that she felt obligated to text me back. What if she didn’t actually want to text me, and only did because she felt like she had to?

So I stopped texting her, and I waited for her to text me. 

And the text never came.

A couple times after that she would say something like “Hey we haven’t talked in so long!” and I would reply “omg what’s up?” But it was just that. An obligation. She had gotten bored of me and after a while I began to wonder why it hadn’t happened sooner.

My feet slap against the hot concrete as I walk away from home. I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but it feels good to go. I keep walking until I find myself at the edge of the sidewalk. Trees, tall and proud, loom over me. 

I step into their embrace. In the trees the air feels cooler and the light is muted. Sun shines in through gaps in the leaves, trickling over the stones and the roots. I go deeper into the woods and I feel the pressure in my head drop with each step. The world seems to sparkle and I find solace in the quiet beauty of it all. This is a place untarnished by whatever messes us humans decide to create. 

Eventually, I find what would become my refuge. It was a large pile of  massive stone blocks, shaped so that if there was a fourth side it would have been a square. But the fourth side must have fallen out, must have given way to nature, because all that remains are a few scattered blocks leading up to the top.

I like to think that it was once part of a grand castle, and that this structure was all that remained from that era we’ve romanticized so. But I live in the United States so that’s unlikely. I don’t know why it was built, or what it was meant to be, but now it stands in solitary, unbothered by whatever expectations were once put onto it.

Excited, I move towards the stones. It stands over four times taller than me, but still I climb. I crawl over the blocks and pull myself up until I stand at the top of the ruins. My heart clenches as I look down, but it’s not a completely bad thing. It’s… exhilarating. For the first time in a while I’m not stuck inside my own head. The thoughts that normally ping ponged around in my head had flown out. My mind was clear.

It was amazing. 

I felt like I was alone, sitting on an island of time just waiting. I don’t know what I was waiting for, but I didn’t mind the rest. I laid down across the stones and looked up at the sky. It was framed by the trees, a perfect little viewing spot just for me. 

I laid there for a long time. Watched as the clouds raced across the sky, eventually moving out entirely and leaving the sky open for the stars. It’s so funny how when we think of stars we think of tiny little dots sprinkled across the heavens, while in reality stars are massive, flaming orbs of heat and gas, so big we can’t even comprehend how big they really are. The sun is the closest star to Earth and we are so used to it that its mass settles slightly better in our tiny brains. But if you think, if you truly think about how immense stars, the galaxy, the universe is… Our brains aren’t big enough. 

Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our sun. It is a small, low mass star and is a member of the Alpha Centauri system. It is located 4.244 light-years away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. This means that even if traveling at the speed of light was possible, it would still take 4.244 years to reach the star.

The second closest star in the entire universe, and at the height of technology right now it would take 73,000 years to get there. An amount of time past comprehension. We think that time is something we observe, but time will continue long after everything else is gone. The only thing we do is give time a little more meaning, a little more use. Time goes and goes and goes and goes every if there’s no one and nothing to observe it.

I don’t know how much time I spent laying on those ruins, but eventually I stood up, climbed down, and walked home. 

Quietly pushing open the door I stepped inside. It’s moments like this I don’t mind being at home. When the house is silent everything seems a bit more bearable. The shadows give everything mystery, making each step a small adventure.

I tiptoe upstairs, making sure to step over that one stair that always groans. I peek into Mom’s room. 

She’s asleep, sprawled out across the bed. She had probably thought that I was just in my room all day. I couldn’t blame her. It wouldn’t have been off brand. 

There’s just a small part of me that wishes she would have stayed up so that we could have talked without the commotion of my siblings wrecking the house. But it’s unreasonable, it’s late and she’s tired. 

I’m tired too. Closing the door to my room I fall onto my bed. My head is still clear from my little adventure.

It was a pretty good day.

#writing #writer #lgbtq #short story #wip #wip tag #new wip #writblr #free write #lgbt #top stories #story #stories #my story #mental health #read it i dare you #try it

[arahul-abyssia]

What Lies Out of Sight

No one:

Absolutely no one:

Me: Hmm... I should create a bunch of weird headcanons to try to add continuity to a world that explicitly doesn’t care about such things.

Anyway, this story for @starprincesshlc and @jklantern ’s Nintember event is a bit more of a ‘Lower-Deck Episode’ type, focusing on the sorts of individuals that go unmentioned in the tales we see, those who are passed over without a second thought, but must surely exist if the world were an actual one, fully fleshed out, not just made for a game for playing. This story is also only a little shorter than the length of the last two combined, so, prepare for that, I guess...

~~ Meal, Depths, Ascend, Teamwork, Determination ~~

“You sure you’ll be alright?”

“I already told you, I’ll be fine!”

None of the other members of his squad ever seemed to want to take risks and branch out. They were perfectly happy to spend their time off lounging at the beaches or the café, or doing whatever other mind-numbing things came to their minds. Kolba preferred to use his free time to see what else the world had to offer, beyond his little hometown and the drudgery of work.

Kamron always seemed to fret about Kolba’s escapades. Even though he came back from each of them just fine, even though he was never late when he returned, even though he had frequently shown that there was nothing to worry about, Kamron refused to let him hear the end of it.

“Y’know, if you’re so worried for my safety, why not come along?”

“Because it’s dangerous, and I’m trying not to put myself in harm’s way when I don’t need to!”

“Well, maybe we’ll be safer together. Strength in numbers, he always says…”

“That hasn’t once worked out for us! No matter what formations we take, those two always chew through us faster than we can blink! And that’s if Karla, Kollen, Kiam, and Kyrra haven’t walked off a cliff, as usual!”

“And ‘those two’ won’t be there, so there’s no problem!”

“That’s not the point!”

Kolba sighed and shook his head. He didn’t know why he continued to argue with Kamron about his plans; neither one ever budged on their positions and no new arguments ever came up. He threw his pack onto his shell, adjusted his boots, and walked out of their quarters into the warm ashy air of Bowser’s Fortress.

He’d give his boss credit where it was due: no matter what the design, every single building in the fortress was great at keeping the smoke and smog out, palace, towers, and barracks alike. It wasn’t absolutely choking, but spending time out in it did eventually make it harder to breathe, and it was typically better to avoid it as much as possible, especially in times such as now, when the volcano below was more active than usual.

Kolba walked down the rocky paths and across the ashy fields, toward the nearest long-range warp pipe, which lay a little beyond one of the cracks in the rocky wall around the volcanic region. He would have much preferred for one to be near the barracks, but given that those who maintained the network, whoever they were, were on Peach’s side, Bowser’s forces weren’t allowed to have one within their walls. And he had heard tell that the reason so few short-range ones existed within the fortress was some disagreement between the pipe maintainers and His Stubbornness himself, though he had no clue what that could be.

As he crossed through the crack, it was as though he had passed a magical barrier, for beyond it the sky was suddenly clear and blue and not a trace of ash wafted in the air. He took a deep breath and then set off down the hill towards the massive red pipe at its base. He always thought it interesting how different long-range pipe travel was from short-range; the smaller pipes were always just big enough to fit comfortably, and your movement remained controlled, while the larger ones, well…

Kolba jumped up onto the rim of the pipe and stared down into the dark pit within. The first time he used it, it was quite daunting, but he had long since gotten used to it. With one final check that he had everything in his pack that he needed, he leaped from his perch into the darkness. After a few seconds, his descent slowed and came to a stop for a split-second, then his body began to rocket upwards, the pipe spitting him out into a small grassy clearing surrounded in part by trees, and the rest by more open fields. He looked around to get his bearings, noting that the pipe he emerged from was smaller than the one near the fortress, though certainly not as small as the pipes typically were. He hopped down and looked around some more. Judging by the grey mist in the area, he was already in a location that was only partially active.

That was one of the aspects of their land that he was never sure if he liked. The Mushroom Kingdom and its surrounding regions had an alarming tendency to shift around, the locations of forests and deserts and mountains and everything else moving elsewhere quite noticeably and often suddenly, taking entirely different names and appearances in the process, and many locations hiding themselves away or appearing out of seemingly nowhere. But if the land did not shift, his off-time pastime could not exist. He loved to explore the areas that had become hidden, their entrances having become barely detectable paths that were far off the usual routes.

One of which should be right… around… here!

In the foliage at the edge of the field was a winding string of rocks about as wide as his finger. He pushed through the plants and began following it closely. In almost no time at all, the grey mists had set in more and he emerged from the bushes into a rocky and craggy location. If he had seen it when it was active, he did not know, but he was sure that it was inactive now; the stones lodged in the sheer cliffs that clearly had been paths up and down them were now greatly displaced from one another, and all the pipes were bent oddly and emerged from the ground or pits at weird angles.

Kamron frequently expressed his concern that Kolba would be caught in an inactive zone when the world shifted and then be unable to find his way back, but he was not concerned at all. He knew that the shifts only ever happened on three occasions--between Bowser’s schemes, between other sorts of crises, and between sporting events--and he made sure to never go exploring when nearing or after the end of any of them. And given that His Surliness was busy planning his next scheme to kidnap the princess (which would no doubt ultimately fail), and the world had shifted only two days ago, he was confident he’d be safe for this excursion.

He began to climb up the cliff in front of him, to see what was beyond it. The hand- and footholds were entirely unusable, but his training in being a Fence-Climbing Koopa allowed him to scale the cliff anyway, albeit with some difficulty. In only a few minutes, he had reached the top and pulled himself up. The clifftop had other cliffs he could climb, but there was also a clear disjointed path of relative flatness, so he chose to follow that.

He would have liked to have seen the views from the crags, but the dense grey fog that marked an area as inactive made that an impossibility. On other adventures of his, there was usually something interesting about the locations he was exploring, or something curious to find, but this place seemed to be nothing but broken rock, sheer cliffs, and weird pipe formations.

Maybe I’ll take a few pictures of the weirdest ones… yeah, that’ll work… 

He stopped, pulled his camera out of his pack, and continued onward. While the pipe shapes so far were certainly odd, there were none that he thought particularly picture-worthy. After another several minutes of walking, he decided to flip about and walk backwards for a bit, to see if anything notable popped out where he couldn’t see before, after he made sure the ground before him was relatively straightforward and flat. Walking like this for a few moments, he noticed that his footsteps sometimes seemed to echo about the cliffs, and other times they were practically silenced in the fog.

And then, as if to confirm it, he felt his boot touch something else’s leg as his pack leaned into something similarly squishy. He whipped around to find the telltale mushroomy shape of a Toad doing just the same.

“Oh, hello—”

“Waaaaauuuugggghh! It’s a Koopa Troopa!” The Toad began to flail and scream, as they so often did whenever the Army attacked one of their towns.

“Uh… yes? How are y—”

“G-get away from me! Or I’ll… or I’ll… I’ll make you!”

He brought his arms up to what was probably supposed to be a fighting stance and bent his face into what was likely meant to be a brave and daring glare, but both were quite shoddy attempts.

“Hey now, I may be part of Bowser’s Army, but I’m not here to—”

“Bowser?!” The Toad started yelling even louder and hopping back and forth on his feet, shaking the ground beneath the two, in what could only be described as a dance of panic.

Wait… shaking the ground?

Kolba looked down and saw that the ground around them was cracking from the Toad’s stomping. He reached out his arms and tried to get him to stop, but the Toad seemed too enveloped in his own frenzy to notice anything else in the world.

And then the ground beneath them gave way, revealing the gaping maw of a long-range warp pipe. Kolba turned to get to safety, but the rim of the pipe was too far away and he had already begun falling.

If this was any other pipe, he would have been fine, and could just be sent back up and out once he reached the warp zone. But because this area was inactive, so too was the warp pipe, and so no warping was possible. A panic welled within him, but he took a deep breath and made to recall his training for situations like these. The rhyme for long falls… 

Pull in your limbs and tuck in your head, that’s how you don’t end up dead!

And so he did just that, giving himself a slight spin in the process. There was always something comforting about being inside a shell, the walls pressing close, offering a peace wherever one may go, providing protection from basically everything, halting any possible dizziness. To say it was simply ‘nice’ would be to put it far too mildly.

After what was probably around half a minute, he felt his shell bounce on the hard metal at the bottom of the pipe, the spin keeping him from turning in any other directions, and the bouncing stopped, he stuck out his legs to halt the spinning and then fully emerged. It was almost completely dark, the only light being what little made it down from the entrance high above.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then sat down to brainstorm a way out, but his thoughts were interrupted by a strange rhythmic squeaking noise, slowly getting louder and louder. He looked up just in time to have the giant mushroomy head of the Toad hit him in the snout, squeaking even louder. As his unwilling assailant fell face down on the ground, Kolba rubbed the point of impact; though it wasn’t really painful, it wasn’t exactly comfortable either.

The Toad popped up and whipped around. “Gah! You’re here too?! Why?!”

“...Because you broke the ground beneath us…”

“HUH?! How?!”

“...With all your yelling and screaming and stomping. Like that.” Kolba tried not to be overtly rude, but he couldn’t help but let a slight amount of irritation creep into his voice.

His comment, however, seemed to get the Toad to realize what happened and calm down. “...Alright, fine, no, that’s right…” he looked around, likely coming to the same conclusions Kolba did. “So now what? I’m stuck at the bottom of a warp pipe next to a Koopa Troopa with no way out. What did I do to deserve any of this?!”

Now that was just plain rude. “Well, since it seems we won’t be getting out of here anytime soon, you can sit down and quit acting like I’m the worst thing since Bowser’s Hotel Scheme.”

He made to protest, but immediately his eyes seemed to fill with sudden realization. There was a moment’s pause, then he took a deep breath and plastered a weird smile, somehow both entirely genuine and entirely forced, onto his face. “I’m sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Hi! My name’s Jol, as in Jol T. I’m from the town of Shroomvale.”

Now that was better. Kolba plastered on his own mostly-real smile. “Hello, I’m Kolba, Kolba Koopa. I’m part of the Koopa Troop in Bowser’s Army. Pleased to meet you!”

Kolba stuck out his hand for Jol to shake. He hesitated at first, but then grabbed onto it and quickly shook it. His face seemed to relax in relief. “Oh, good! I thought that might’ve hurt…”

This comment came as a surprise to Kolba. “How exactly would a handshake hurt you?”

Jol seemed to fidget back and forth, realizing what he said, then stumbled about for an answer, saying nothing that Kolba could find meaning in besides what was probably a sort of backpedaling. Eventually, he interrupted, tired of the pointless blubbering.

“Look, it seems like you have some… ‘conceptions’ about me that are preventing us from talking like two normal individuals. So, if you would, please tell me what the problem is so we can work things out. I am all ears.”

The Toad stared at Kolba, with some mixture of confusion and shock, then sighed and began to formulate his words properly. “It’s just… after all the attacks by Bowser on Peach’s Castle, and all the Mario Brothers’ adventures to stop him, rumors start going around, y’know? That the members of Bowser’s Army will stop at nothing to help him, that they coat themselves with something that makes those aligned with Peach unable to normally touch them without getting hurt, that they are imbued with an evil magic that makes their every move serve some purpose of Bowser’s. And now that I say it out loud, to you, it sounds completely insane! But… when so many around you say something, it kinda affects how you think, y’know?”

Kolba closed his eyes and thought. He knew that rumors spread about the Troop, but he had no idea that some were like this. A part of him wanted to feel insulted, but he then suddenly realized that his own societies had similar misgivings.

“Well, some of us aren’t too much better. For a time, I was convinced that all Toads, save for a select few that I could count on one hand, were complete cowards who couldn’t do anything to try to save themselves from danger.”

“Oh? What changed your mind?”

“Met a decent handful over the years who attempted to fight off our attacks. I don’t think it ever worked, but I admired the thought, and felt bad that our assaults succeeded in spite of their efforts.”

Jol nodded, something seeming to give him pause. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up again. “So, if you feel bad seeing the destruction Bowser’s Army causes, why do you still work for him?”

Kolba sighed. “It’s… a living. Obnoxious as Bowser and his direct lackeys can be, there’s a lot that’s provided free of charge, and I’ve met some good friends there. I know the attacks can be difficult, but I’d like to think that we make up for it and then some when the Mushroom Kingdom counters, which, more often than not, consists of a thorough defeat from Mario and Luigi.”

At this, Jol snickered. “Y’know, that’s honestly perfectly fair! Exactly how many times have you had to respawn due to them?”

“Oh, I’ve lost track at this point… I think I’m up to, like, fifty separate times or so?”

“Really?! Fifty times you’ve been trounced by one of their boots?”

“Or hit by a fireball, or punched in the face, or used to destroy brick blocks and then hurtled into a pit, yeah… you get used to it after a while, comes with the territory and all…”

“That’s… okay, fine, that’s honestly impressive that you’re able to put up with all that…” he paused for a moment. “Y’know, I’ve honestly never realized just how much you guys go through as well, having to serve Bowser and all. No offense, of course, the thought just never crossed my mind.”

“Eh, none taken. Though I am curious: how did you know I was a member of Bowser’s Army? Surely you don’t think every single Koopa is aligned with him?”

“Of course not! I actually have several good friends in Koloburg who are Koopas. It’s just… I guess I can just sort of ‘tell’? I don’t know what it is, there doesn't seem to be any specific visual difference, but unless someone’s in disguise, I just know who’s going to be friendly and who’s going to be hostile. …Or, would be hostile under typical circumstances, I suppose…”

“Oh, then it’s just like us! We can tell which other individuals are aligned with us and which aren’t. I guess that’s a universal thing…!”

Another brief bout of silence, then: “So… we really only get to see Bowser being the attacker… what’s he like when you’re working for him?”

“Not much better, I’d say. His Grouchiness is impatient, petulant, and pretty much impossible to please. It’s not like he mistreats us, but I think he could stand to be a little more grateful if he’s going to keep pulling these schemes to kidnap the princess. ...If you ever get the chance, don’t tell him I said any of that.”

“No worries! Why does he keep doing that anyway, if it never works out? Like, at all?”

Kolba smiled and dropped his voice to a conspiratory whisper. It wasn’t necessary, of course, but the tone would make all the more impactful. “You didn’t hear this from me, but there are rumors going around that it’s not actually Peach that he wants; they think he’s doing this to get Mario’s attention, but he doesn’t actually know how to do that… well, like a normal person. There are a couple of holes in the idea, but it certainly would make the whole situation a lot more interesting, right?”

“But didn’t he rob several other Kingdoms and throw a wedding on the Moon just to try to marry Peach, like, only a few months ago?”

“Like I said, there are a few holes. Some think Peach might be in on it all, but that’s even more flimsy… still though.”

Jol sat for a moment in thought, then shrugged and giggled. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d be at all surprised if it turned out that nearly every crisis in our kingdom was the result of the world’s most dangerous love triangle.”

“Right?! Anyway…”

The wall between them had finally been broken and taken down. For some time after that the two talked about all manners of things, laughing and joking as though they had always been friends. Eventually, however, the conversation did indeed once more die down.

Kolba stood up, Jol following suit. “So, fun as this has been, I think it’s high time we get out of here. Any ideas?”

“Oh, I completely forgot where we were… uh, hm… rope obviously wouldn’t work, and we can’t wall kick like the Bros…”

“Yeah… although…” An idea was rapidly forming in Kolba’s mind. It wasn’t guaranteed to work, but it was the best idea he had.

“Huh? What is it?”

“You know how the Brothers occasionally use this move where one stands on the other and they spin through the air?”

“Y’mean their Spin Jump? Yeah, I think I’ve seen it.”

“If we imitate it in here, if we can move the air around enough, it might provide us with enough lift to get us out of the pipe.”

“Huh… I mean, it’s worth a shot…”

“Right! Grab your bag and hop on!”

With haste, Jol leaped onto Kolba’s head, which he had to retract a bit to be able to properly grip the Toad’s feet. On his mark, the two began spinning clockwise, jumping more and more frequently, and in little time at all, they felt their jumps being boosted by the air flow. Though it was beginning to dizzy them, they kept at it, each jump and twirl bringing them slightly higher.

And then, Kolba’s feet did not reach the ground, and with a quite similar sensation to exiting a functioning warp pipe, the two shot upwards, reaching the top of the tube in about as much time as it took them to fall to its bottom. The change in space outside caused them to lose their rhythm, and the two shot off in opposite directions, each hurtling pack-first into a cliffside. Both took several seconds to catch their breath and balance, then stood.

“Yeah!! Your idea worked! Nice job!” Jol ran to Kolba and proceeded to vigorously shake his hand with both of his own. Kolba returned the gesture with far less excitement.

“I’m… honestly a bit surprised, but yeah, we’re out now! ...Should we do something about the pipe?”

Both turned and looked at the maw of where they were trapped only minutes ago, the last gusts of the wind they created dissipating into the fog.

“Nah, it’ll fix itself eventually. So, what are you going to do next?”

“I dunno about you, but I think I’ve had quite enough adventure for one day. I’m gonna head back to active places, maybe get something refreshing from a café in a simple grassy region. ...Ya wanna join me?”

Kolba thought for a moment, then grinned. “You know what? I think I will.”

And with not another word, the two began their return treks together through the grey mists.

#super mario series #nintember #super mario bros. #my writing

[nad-zeta]

I kindly ask for a matchup and I completely get it if you don't have the time. pretty stubborn and resilient, no matter I many time I get down I won't admit defeat, though if I'm wrong about something I will admit my fault. I hate the thought of emotionally hurting people i will do everything for those i love, but if I'm wronged by someone I will coldly cut off any ties. I don't believein love at fist sight to me it's something that needs to be nurtured and I charge batteries by being alone.

Hey there, love! Thanx so much for the request and for waiting sooooo long! I hope you enjoy it! ^_^

So I match you with............. Yukimura 

Hehehe the first time you meet this boy was obviously when he saved you from falling off a freaken cliff. Like, darn you legit could have died. Just based on that fact alone, you saw him as a friend. You haven’t seen the brash boy since. You had been working for Nobunaga for a week now doing random errands like dropping off mail, helping the maids and buying his precious candy from the market. You were coming to enjoy your time in the past and have actually made quite a few friends. You and Ieyasu had become really good friends due to your resilient nature. One day you were out in the market on your candy run. You finally reached the candy merchant only to discover one bag of candy left. Just as you were starting to celebrate the fact that you managed to make it just on time to buy the last bag. A large hand reached over your shoulder to grab it. Hell no you thought. You turned around ready to scold whoever thought they could take advantage of your shortness and jump the queue. When your eyes met his honey brown eyes, you were taken back. You didn’t expect to see ranger rick here. His eyes widened at the same time as yours in recognition and the first words he spoke to you were. “Hey, aren’t you that cliff diving wild boar”. Did he really just call you a wild boar. You were in shock, like you’ve been called many things before but wild boar. You shook your head and poked his chest scolding him for stealing your bag of candy. You may have met you match when it comes to stubbornness cause this boy was just as intent on buying the candy as you. Neither of you backing down from the challenge, insults and witty remarks were flying everywhere. The two of you were so engaged in the battle of stubbornness that you didn’t even notice a third party buy the last bag of candy. When the shop owner promptly announced that he was sold out both of you turned to look at him at the same time with horrified expressions. The two of you walked away from the shop in defeat grumbling at how rude it was for some rando to just steal your candy, like didn’t he see the two of you clearly fighting for it. The two of you then parted ways to go back to your homes empty-handed

The next time you saw Yuki, you laughed your ass off for like 20min at the thought of him selling woman’s jewelry. You had come to the market in hopes of finding boy wonder to apologize for some of the harsh things that you may have said, as you found out that he had actually pre-ordered and paid for the candy in advance (you couldn't understand why he didn't just say something back then. Or why he instead on arguing with you when it clearly was already his candy in the first place, freaken idiot). It actually gave you a good idea to pre-order your own bag next time- to ensure that you would get one. Although, in retrospect, pre-ordering didn’t do Yuki any good in any case, cause both of you had left empty-handed.

 But honestly seeing him sitting behind the girliest cutest accessories made you forget all that. It was seeing Yuki's small pout that helped you to calm down a bit and catch your breath. Before you could invite him to an apology tea you caught sight of a beautifully dainty bracelet. You couldn’t help but admire the workmanship of such a delicate piece. “So, dummy did you come here just to laugh at my livelihood or what”. You couldn’t help but smile at the idiot, he definitely doesn’t have any tact. You invited him to tea, which he gladly accepted. He quickly packed up his shop, and the two of you started walking to the nearest tea house

Spending time with him was surprisingly pleasant. And Yuki definitely didn’t lack a sense of humor. You spent your whole tea date laughing at his stupidly hilarious jokes. You couldn’t help but tease the poor boy for his adorable blush that would spread to the tips of his ears. Of course, it wouldn’t be a date with Yuki if the two of you didn’t stubbornly argue about something, and this time it was about the bill. You insisted on paying as a way to apologize for your rudeness. While he insisted on paying for the same reasons and well at the fact that it wouldn’t feel right for him not to pay. While the two of you were bickering, you decided to order another round of tea and snacks. The sun was busy setting when the two of you finally settled on a compromise. He would pay for this round, and you would pay for the next. And that is how your weekly tea dates with the tactless boy started. During these little get together, the two of you would talk about everything and anything. The two of you actually became really good friends

Yukimura loved your resilient nature, and your refusal to give up no matter how hard a task may get. You had asked your dear friend Yuki to teach you some self-defense cause you noticed that women are basically pretty powerless during these times. And you didn’t want any man trying to take advantage of your, much less kidnapping you to use against Nobunaga. Yuki accepted the challenge with the biggest goofiest grin. The two of you would train early in the morning, it was the perfect time for both of you, For you cause you could sneak out before the castle residence would wake up and for Yuki because he had to run the shop during the day and spy at night. He first taught your hand to hand, and then how to use a sword. He honestly admired your grit; whenever you would be knocked down, you would stand up and get straight back into stance. Honestly, you were thankful for your training cause it had saved you many a time from attempted kidnappings

Your and Yuki’s entering into a relationship was slow. It actually happened one day when he had taken you to his favorite spot to train. It was near a cliff surrounded by a bunch of flowers. You couldn’t really understand why that was his favorite destination until the sun started rising. He pulled you over to sit next to him on the edge of the cliff and watched the sunrise; it was honestly the most beautiful sight you had ever seen. You could see Yuki was being a bit fidgety, and his eyes were filled with a question, but you brushed It off as he offered you a hand up so the two of you could make your way back home before it got too late. On your way down the mountainside, you slipped and twisted your ankle. Yuki immediately crouched down and helped you strap your ankle. He then turned his back to you “Get on dummy, there is no way you can walk on that ankle”. You could feel yourself go red at the offer of a piggyback ride. Yuki lifted you up effortlessly and started walking. You took comfort in the fact that he was just as red as you, evident by his bloodred ears. You couldn’t help but take in his scent, he always smelled so good, like pine trees and spice. Yuki awkwardly started a conversation with you when all of a sudden, he just blurted out that he loved you. You couldn’t help but smile. You nuzzled the back of his neck and rested your head on his shoulder. You hid your face and muttered that you had felt the same way. This boy be happy. When he dropped you off at home, he even surprised you with the dainty piece of jewelry you had eyed in his shop. Honestly, you were overjoyed. Yuki was actually a secret soft under all that talk.

The two of you nurtured your relationship. It definitely helped that it was based on a really good friendship. Whenever the two of you were near each other you always had the goofiest grins on your face, Yuki definitely respected your space and wanting some alone time to recharge. Both of you honestly helped balance the others out. Yuki was very forgive and forget, while you were very set the bridge alight and let it burn. Yuki would sometimes help you forgive and forget someone that had wronged you, and you would help Yuki cut ties with toxic people.

The two of you are incredibly cute together. Both of you kept up your weekly tradition of going on tea date. You really enjoyed each other’s company even if it was just sitting in silence. He would always hold your hand and tangle his legs with yours. You love the blush that would creep over his face whenever he does this. The two you can often be found snuggled together watching the sunrise after your moring training.

Other potential matches.................Ieyasu 

I hope you enjoyed love! Hope you are doing well and staying safe! And once again thanx for the request! 😊

#yukimura #ikesen yukimura #yukimura sanada #sanada yukimura #ikesen matchup #ikemen matchup #ikemen sengoku matchup #matchups #yuki matchup #yukimura matchup

[solara-bean]

A Talk With The Prime Himself

(Reader insert-ish)

I stood by in the entrance of the warehouse, one foot outside the ajar door and my shoulder resting on the other. I heard the calm rhythm of the rain against the forest floor and trees. With each subtle gust of wind, a spray of mist cooled my face. Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh of content. Nothing could ruin this peaceful moment.

" Is there something troubling you?"

Ok you'd think a giant, metal robot breaking the silence would, but his deep, gentle voice did the exact opposite.

I turned slightly and made eye contact with Optimus over my shoulder. It wasn't too hard to find his glowing, blue optics in the dark.

" No. Why do you ask?"

He came a step closer. How he managed to do so with little sound, or sneak up on me to begin with, baffled me.

" You are normally in stasis at this hour. The others, including Ratchet, are deep in slumber if I might add."

I grinned. Of course he checked on everyone before heading to bed. If he ever slept that is. He was always the first one up and usually the last one, besides Ratchet, who was still up working on a datapad late in the night. He never showed any signs of fatigue so maybe he did rest every now and then. That or he was just good at hiding it.

" I just wanted to see the rain is all."

" I see...do you mind if I join you?"

I shrugged.

" Not at all."

We stood and watched the rain with the door fully open. I thought back on the first time Optimus had seen rain. We were on the open road when all of a sudden he'd panicked at the first drop on his windshield. Speeding to the nearest shelter, with the rest of the Autobots in tow, I found myself cluttered under a rock formation with them.

I'd barely gotten the chance to ask what was the matter in the mist of it, so I did once they'd seemed to calm down. Ratchet didn't hesitate to scold me on not mentioning earth's toxic rain. Which of course rose many questions. Optimus took the liberty of answering them, still clutching me to his chassis, as the others stared fearfully at the downpour.

I kindly asked him to put me down, then proceeded to step into the rain despite their protests. Once they all saw that I was indeed not burning alive, one by one they came out of the shelter. We'd probably spent a half an hour playing in the rain. By which I mean Ratchet watched as the others, especially Bumblebee, ran around and jumped in mud puddles. Optimus, however, kept his head titled to the clouds, optics shut. I'd never seen him more at peace.

It was one of my fondest memories of them. Optimus had even kept the cab's heater on so that I wouldn't get sick. Although I could've dealt without paying for all of them to got to the car wash.

After what couldn't have been more than six minutes, the rain came to a slow stop.

" Huh......I thought it would last longer." I whispered.

" I did as well."

Oh right, I keep forgetting how sharp their hearing is. It really doesn't help for those who think out loud a lot.

" Well," I stretched out my back with a groan. " Guess I should head to bed." I began to walk towards my room before pausing to see if he was heading to his. He was still looking out the door.

" Are you staying up?"

He blinked as if coming out of deep thought.

" I was contemplating on watching the stars. The sky seems to be clearing faster than I expected."

" Oh, well don't stay up too late. Can't have our fearless leader falling asleep during his own speech."

His shoulders shook as he let out a small chuckle. It was a sound I rarely heard, which probably added to why it was one of my favorites.

" You have my word. I hope you have a pleasant stasis."

" You too. Goodnight." I only made it ten steps before turning back around. " Actually I have an idea."

----

Optimus strolled through the forest, his peds creating a soft smush sound on the rain-drenched grass, while I sat on his shoulder. I don't when the habit started, but whenever given the chance I'd find myself situated on his shoulder. Sometimes, I did so to chat with him, others was just to have a comfortable place to read or on occasion nap.

Optimus didn't seem to mind at all. He was normally the one to put me up there if I couldn't reach. No one seemed to question our ritual either. A few perplexed glances at first, but that was it. It felt nice though, having the privilege of being this close to him, his presence calming me. The view was nice as well.

We soon arrived at a cliff in one of the clearings. It overlooked the rest of the expansive forest, trees seeming to go on for ages. However, our view was turned upwards.

The stars were brighter than I'd ever seen them. Growing up in the city truly deprived me of such a sight. If only I knew every constellation.

" Are you enjoying the view?" I asked him. He was now sitting on the edge, peds dangling. His posture inclined backwards enough so that I wouldn't slip off of him.

" Immensely." he replied, optics not leaving the sky.

We sat there for several moments in a peaceful silence, besides the occasional cricket. Then I remembered something that I'd been wondering for a while.

" Do you.....like it here on earth?"

" Yes. Why do you ask?"

I looked to the ground.

" It's just that...I can't imagine needing to leave my planet then settling on another and starting over. It just seems so...terrifying."

He hummed in thought. His audiual fins twitching slightly and quite adorably.

" It was a challenge, settling here, but I've come to admire this planet dearly."

I smiled, but it soon turned back into a frown.

" I wish that this war didn't happen."

He turned to me sharply, as if concerned.

" Are you sure that you're alright? First you stay up later than usual and now this."

" I'm fine I just," I groaned and sunk my head into my hands. " I just keep thinking about how better your lives would have been if you weren't at war. I know that my time with you has barely been a fraction compared to long it's been going on, but even to me it's becoming tiresome. You've all gone through so much and you deserve to be happy yet...."

" Yet?" he pressed on.

I sighed.

" Yet everytime I think about the war not happening, I get sad. Your conflict with the Cons is the only reason why you came to earth. So if it never happened then...."

" ...Then we never would have met you." he continued.

" Exactly," I let out a quiet, sorrowful laugh. " Isn't that selfish? Me getting all mopey over you being happy without me."

I could feel my eyes sting with oncoming tears. Come on! Now is not the time to cry. Not in front of Optimus of all people.

" I don't think it's selfish at all."

I was taken aback and made eye contact with him again.

" Really?"

" Of course, in fact, you're one of the most selfless beings I have ever had the honor of meeting. If anything, I'm the one who has been selfish."

" What?! Optimus I think you of all people are incapable of being selfish."

He gave me a small smile. It held a bit of guilt to it.

" You have done everything in your power to help us even though you are merely a bystander in this war. You have put your life on the line countless times for our sake and I have not repaid you in any way. I haven't even been able to protect you properly." his field radiated with regret. I'm still surprised that I can feel it. Not as strongly as a cybertronian would, but there was still a faint feeling when were close. Since that was often, I've learned to distinguish each emotion. Regret, however, was rare, especially directed towards me.

" I won't deny that there have been close calls," I felt a chill go up my spine at the memory of Megatron grabbing me, much harsher than any of the Bots. I had been sure that I'd die then and there in his cold, tight grasp. " But you have repaid me. Countless times actually."

His audial fins perked up.

" I have?"

" Of course you have. Do have any clue how in a funk I was before you guys arrived. I was lonely too but I guess thats on me for living in the woods. But when you showed up, it's like everything was new. By showing you my world I realized just how much I love it. Some people not so much, but the goods ones for sure. Then I was able to further my knowledge, learn about an alien race, make new friends AND fight killer robots,"

I caught my breath which soon turned to short giggle.

" Opty, I'd say you paid me in full before you even owed me. " I still can't believe he lets me call him that.

For a while he just stared at me fondly and I did the same.

" When all of this is over. When everything is safe here on earth....I'm going to take you to Cybertron."

My head whipped to face him although he was still looking at the sky, determination in his optics.

" Really...?" I muttered in disbelief. " You'd...you'd do that? You'd take me there?"

He turned to me and nodded.

" If it's to repay me then you don't need to. It would be too much of a hassle and what would the others think of you bringing an organic? As a Prime no less!"

He stared at me intently before raising his servo and cluthing me gently. It's what he normally did when I was distressed.

" I'm not taking you to my home because I feel that I need to. I'm taking you because I want to. I want you to experience my world as I've experienced yours. And ....to be completely honest...I...."

I gingerly touched his digit to urge him on.

" I don't think I'm quite ready to part ways with you either....For this to be over..."

We both didn't need to ponder on what this was. We never did and probably never will. Whatever it was it was certainly mutual. The Bots knew too. Probably even the Cons.

" I don't think I ever will..." I leaned my head against his faceplate and he nudged back, optics closing in content.

" I can't promise that you'll be accepted. I can't promise that it'll be all that you hoped. And I can't promise that I'll survive to be able to take you....but I promise that I'll try...with all my spark." he whispered with his optics still shut.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I let a few fall.

" You have to promise one more thing. And not as a Prime or even an Autobot. Just as you and only you."

" And what would that be?"

"....that you'll never forget me, no matter what happens."

He chuckled. Almost sadly as if realizing what I meant. That even if he did survive my lifespan would dwarf his. It was inevitable.

" How could I promise such a thing? Primus himself couldn't stop me from forgetting you."

And he didn't.

He never did.

#optimus prime #optimus #orion pax #g1 transformers #idw transformers #optimus prime x reader #fluff #reader insert #honestly whatever version of op #a lil oc-ish for future writes

[princess-orihime-inoue]

Heartbeat for who?

Videl is curious about the new student in her class, there is just something weird about him. But the more she investigates, the more she gets confused about who he really is.

What is Son Gohan hiding from them?

Type: One-shot

Status: Completed

---

“Through the exchange of resources the two countries united into an alliance that to this day stands,” Son Gohan read aloud to the classroom. He paused and looked over to the professor smiling in awe.

“That was beautiful Gohan,” the teacher praised with a nod and quickly added with excitement, “your English is absolutely fluent.”

Gohan bowed and took a seat, trying to ignore the hard glare from the girl sitting in his row. He didn’t know why but ever since he transferred a week ago, he has been getting followed by his classmate. If he let his guard down he was afraid she would discover that he was not normal.

He glanced over to the city’s strongest female, Videl Satan, and was surprised when their eyes met. She furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her azure gaze with curiosity. Gohan looked away and swallowed nervously, hoping she wasn’t too suspicious of him.

He isn’t normal, Videl thought with annoyance.

Gohan is at the top of the school in academics after only a week, and he also possessed incredible abilities in jumping. During one of their baseball games he jumped effortlessly into the sky, only adding fuel to her suspicions. Not to mention it just didn’t make sense how he lived so far away and always managed to get to school on time. How does he do it?

Ever-since he showed up there has also been reports of crimes getting solved by an in-human hero, it just makes sense that he is the cause. But how can a skinny guy like him fly and be so immensely strong?

“It’s a trick,” she mumbled under her breath as she bit the bottom of her pen in thought. She was definitely going to uncover his secrets, and reveal his true colors.

Just you wait Gohan, I’m going to find out. She promised silently, as her attention shifted back to the chapter they were reading.

---

“Gohan is kind of cute, don’t you think?” Erasa asked as she pointed over at the boy having trouble in cooking class. He was in the process of making banana nut muffins, but was failing miserably.

Videl couldn’t help but frown, “Cute?”

Erasa nodded and giggled as he took out a tray of burnt muffins from the oven, “Yeah, not to mention he is like super smart.”

“He’s a total nerd,” Sharpner rolled his eyes and set down his tray of muffins proudly on the counter. “Gohan is obviously not Videl’s type, right?” He turned toward her and was expecting a remark that would support his claim.

But Videl was still staring at Gohan, the frown on her face slowly softening as she watched him blow on his steaming burnt baking failure. He had been so focused on reading and following the instructions on the cooking book that he had disregarded the amount of time. It was frustrating at the start, but she couldn’t help but smile at the effort he put.

“Videl?” Sharpner repeated, feeling oddly defeated.

She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face Sharpner, “Huh?”

Erasa smirked and giggled, “What’s wrong Videl? He just said that Gohan is not your type.”

“Of course he isn’t, he’s far from my ideal guy,” Videl didn’t need to hesitate, after all she preferred guys that were stronger than her or her father. The only reason she was looking at Gohan, was because he may have connections with that Great Saiyaman that showed up a few days ago.

“Alert! Level 6 Danger in Region 4, near the Takashi Jewelry store!”

Her watch suddenly turned red and showed her the coordinates of the crime, it seemed the criminals were in possession of guns and are on the run through the city in a yellow automobile. Without waiting for more information she took off her apron and started to make her way to the nearest exit, “I’ll be back Mr. Cranberry!”

“Of course, please be careful Videl,” was the last thing she heard as she ran down the hallway and turned sharply to the left. She took out her capsule and pressed it as soon as she reached outside, jumping into the driver seat of her helicopter.

It took seconds for her watch to send the coordinates to the helicopter’s GPS, and she was on her way to search for a speeding yellow car. The city was enveloped in a dark cloud, the air had a tint of warning of a storm and she hoped it wouldn’t start to rain heavily.

After five minutes she located the target around 10th street. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to be forced to shoot you,” she warned through the speaker, hoping that these jerks would stop before causing anymore harm on the citizens. But they replied with a few dirty cuss words and aimed at her. “So rude, well you guys asked for it.”

She aimed at one of the wheels and watched as the car spun out of control and collided against a light-post, “That was easy.” Videl parked near the crash and walked over to the three guys trying to retrieve the bags full of jewelry. One of them noticed her and threatened to beat her up if she took another step toward them. Which she replied back with a smile and a step forward.

He came toward her with a clenched fist, and she avoided it with ease. They must be new here if they think they stand a chance against Hercules's daughter, she raised her leg and kicked him back into the car, knocking him out instantly.

“Anyone else?” She grinned as the two guys came running toward her in a flash.

They were surprisingly good at fighting, but she held her own in power and skills. With a swift uppercut she got one of them falling to the floor doubling over in pain. Videl barely had time to dodge an incoming punch from the last guy as she took off one of her gloves, because it was too tight. She took a step back and tried out her eagle kick, she was instantly happy with the result of her training because he flew back.

“That was pretty eas--” she was cut off by a loud honk.

The headlights froze her in her tracks, and she couldn’t think as the car came racing toward her. Her eyes shut in their own accord and she waited for the impact with her heart pounding with fear. The sound of a crash met her ears and yet she felt no pain.

“Need help?”

The sudden deep voice made her jump in surprise, her eyes fluttered open to a cloaked figure...this was the third time they had met. And yet again he had come to her rescue. He lifted the car with one hand on the hood and threw it over his shoulder like it was nothing. The Great Saiyaman smiled as if what he did was...normal.

How is that even possible? 

She thought as she searched his face, but it was useless it was hidden behind that stupid helmet. He always defied logic and did things that were impossible to the human eye, flying to save her when she fell from the cliff with the bus of citizens, saving her from the falling water tank while she was trying to put out the fire, and even during the bank robbery yesterday.

“Why?” She blurted out.

“Excuse me…?” The Great Saiyaman seemed confused.

Videl tightened the grip on her shirt and raised her head, watching as the rain fell around them. “Why do you keep saving me? I don’t even know you and you keep getting in the way,” she couldn’t help the crack in her voice, and was thankful that her tears were drowned in the rain. “It’s frustrating, you show up out of nowhere and save the day while hiding behind a stupid helmet!”

She was shocked at her own outburst and fell to the floor from the weakness in her legs. But she couldn’t keep bottling up her emotions of self-worth and disappointment. From all the times he had constantly saved her, she felt like she was losing at some invisible battle with herself and her pride. She never needed anybody's help until he showed up out of nowhere...

The Great Saiyaman was silent as he looked at her small form on the floor, she was completely drenched to the skin with scratches and cuts. He didn’t know why but he didn’t want to see her getting hurt, Videl may be capable of protecting herself. But he felt anxious whenever he saw her in trouble.

When he saw the car going straight at her he didn’t even think when he stopped it, all he could picture was Videl’s pale face in danger.

It took everything inside of him to stop from sprinting toward her and embracing her, it was weird he had never felt like this with anyone before. Sure she was very hot-headed and stubborn, but he couldn’t help but think highly of her…and also worry about her.

“Do I need a reason to save someone in trouble?” Was all he could manage to say.

Videl felt the warm trail of tears on her cheeks and nodded, she never needed a reason to save the people of this town. Yet she wanted to hear more from him, something that even she didn’t comprehend.

“Can you stand?” He asked with worry as he knelt down and offered his hand.

She blinked away the tears and bit her quivering lower lip, as she stretched her hand out and placed it in his open palm. Even though he was wearing a glove and it was wet, she felt the warmness seeping out into her skin.

Behind them though one of the thieves had taken out their gun in an effort to shoot her, his eyes were bloodshot and full of fury at being embarrassed by a little girl. “You f*cking little b*tch, take this,” the man yelled as he pressed the trigger.

Gohan felt the threat and heard the sound of the thief firing toward his classmate and without hesitation reacted. “Videl!” He pulled her into his arms and shielded her from the bullet, aiming a quick blast toward the guy with the gun. As expected he had put a little bit of energy to knock down the thief, and was relieved when he saw the gun fall from his hands.

“Are you alright, Videl?”

His voice was soft and she nodded against his embrace, feeling her hands tighten on his outfit. Everything had happened so fast that she was trying to calm down from the sound of it all. The bullet had bounced off his back like nothing to her surprise, he really is a wonder to behold.

“Thank you...Great Saiyaman,” Videl muttered as she reluctantly leaned away from him. The sound of the police came around the corner and soon enough the criminals were surrounded.

“I better go,” he turned feeling flustered for holding her for too long, he was lucky that she couldn’t see his expression under the helmet. “See you later, Videl!”

She smiled at the familiar voice, for a moment she thought about someone.

“See you later, Great Saiyaman.”

---

“Videl, I have to confess something,” The Great Saiyaman swallowed nervously as he took a step toward her, the wind blowing his cape behind him like a sea of red. It felt like they were in a movie, everything around her was moving in a slow pace. The sun was setting just behind him and it looked like his tall form was being enveloped by a warm glow.

She raised her brow and crossed her arms over her chest, “Confess what? That you are a criminal? Or that you are a complete faker that relies on tricking people?”

He shook his head and smiled, “No, it’s something that I lied about.”

Lied? She just knew that he was lying to her. “What is it?”

Within the blink of an eye he decreased the distance between them in a flash and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his hard chest. “W-what the?! What do you think you’re doing?” She felt her face burn and placed her palms against his chest to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

“The reason I always came to your rescue is because…” his voice trailed off as he leaned forward, Videl felt hypnotized by his lips as they parted, “...because I love you.”

Her eyes closed as their lips met, her body melting into his warm embrace. Something warm fluttered in her stomach, and made her whole body feel light as a feather. Without realizing it she was kissing him back, wanting more of his sweet taste.

When her eyes fluttered open she found herself looking at Gohan, he was gazing at her with a gentle glow in his dark eyes.

“Gohan…?”

“Videl I have always--” His voice drowned in the sound of a familiar alarm.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Her hand reached out to silence the alarm clock and she sat up from her bed in a flash. Videl had awoken feeling her face burn at the dream she had, there was just no way that she was interested in Gohan. Or that he was the Great Saiyaman.

Maybe you want him to be, her consciousness whispered.

“Ugh, no way!”

It must have been because Erasa had been talking about him all day yesterday and putting strange ideas in her head. Not because she was romantically interested in that weak guy.

“There’s just no way my heart is beating because of Gohan,” she denied with a huff of anger.

---

The Satan Gym was full with the usual members, all of them training their best to become as strong as the world champion.

Near the treadmills Videl was doing cardio, her legs running as fast as she could. Sweat dripping down her forehead as she checked her heartbeat, which was still maintaining the same rhythm. She was trying not to feel agitated with last night’s dream.

Videl didn’t even want to think about him.

“I asked Gohan out on a date today after school,” Erasa smiled as she leaned against the treadmill.

Videl suddenly lost her footing and grabbed the bars to balance herself. Her heartbeat had accelerated at the mention of Gohan’s name and the monitor started to beep at the sudden increase.

Erasa and Sharpner looked over at her in confusion.

“Take it easy Videl,” Erasa commented with a worried shake of her head.

Sharpner nodded in agreement, “She’s right, I think you should rest you look really flustered.”

“You’re wrong,” Videl protested as she continued to jog, yet the heart monitor didn’t lie. Her chest felt like it was pounding at the thought of a certain mysterious boy in her class. “There’s no way I like Gohan,” she whispered to herself, hoping that maybe if she repeated that statement it would come true.

#Dragon Ball Z #son gohan #videl satan #hanvi #fanfiction #fanfic #my edit

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Could you please do another set of HCs about meeting their femS/Os ex-boyfriend but with Bakugou, Shoto, and Hitoshi

Sure, definitely! Thank you for requesting!

Katsuki Bakugou

The only thing more fiery than his explosions are his personality so everyone around him tries to make sure they don’t piss him off in some way or another, or they’ll get blown up into another dimension.

Now, since he’s got together with his S/O who’s a real angel, at least around her, he learnt how to behave non-hostile. More or less because he can actually feel at ease around her, like he doesn’t have to constantly have his guard up or be a strong hero.

He honestly enjoys just about anything his S/O loves, be it gardening, reading, playing video games, dancing or anything of the sort, as long as it makes her happy and he gets to see it. Hell, if he feels like it, he’ll actually join her in whatever hobby she’s invested at the moment.

Her smile always made his heart skip a beat and unlike his usual condescending grins, his face actually managed to calm down, looking unusually peaceful and content.

Their date was supposed to be a a nice trip to the mountains, a place with fresh air and only nature where they could both relax, enjoy the beauty of the world and also train their Quirks as best as they could.

Everything was going fine, they stopped half-way through their hiking to their destination since they found a nice clearing where they could spar and help each other develop or better their Quirk special moves.

As she tried to practice her most effective move with Katsuki’s help, he managed to parry it and sent her flying, hitting the ground and laughing at her obvious mistake, reassuring her boyfriend that she’s okay and unharmed, when suddenly, a condescending chuckle echoed through the forest.

As Katsuki was there to help his girlfriend up, a boy around their age walked out of the forest, smirking in superiority at them.“Ehhh~? What is it, S/O? Still as weak as usual? Crying to be saved?”“What the hell are you doing here?!”“What, are you surprised to see a true hero in front of you? I can give you an autograph if you ask very nicely.”“No, no, no, no! I never wanted to see you again! Why are you literally everywhere I go?!”“Oh, you know you need me in your life. You might be messing around with this lowlife, but you know, deep down in your heart, that such a weakling like you NEEDS me!”“GO! AWAY!”

Hearing someone talk in such a degrading way to HIS lover really made Bakugou get more angry than he has ever been in his entire life (and we all know he’s always angry).

Calling her a weakling when she’s the strongest person he’s ever met? Saying that he’s a lowlife?

No.

Such a patronising jerk with a God-Complex needs to be eradicated.

With a growl full of rage, he lashed out at the jerk, throwing the most powerful explosions at him, easily overpowering him and making him run away scared with his tail between his legs.“Tsk. That fucker better not bother you again, or I might just beat him up until he goes on his knees to apologise for being such a lousy cockroach.”“Thanks for that Katsuki. I…I guess I really didn’t want to actually deal with that bastard ever again.”“You won’t have to. If he has anything in that thick skull of his, he’ll know not to mess with me or my girlfriend.”“Aww, you’re such a sweetheart! Thank you, Katsuki.”“Shush. Don’t mention it.”

She only grinned at his adorable face and hugged him tightly, finding it adorable how he actually tries to escape from her grip, even if he secretly loved the affection.

Shoto Todoroki

Sweet Todoroki loves his girlfriend with all his heart, even if he doesn’t really know how to show it really well, but bless his heart, he’s trying his best, learning and asking for advice from his older siblings.

He may not outright say it, but receiving hugs from her and her kissing his cheeks are the things he loves the most that she does, and in turn, he thinks kissing her forehead and hands are the best way to show her that he loves and respects her with every fiber in his body.

He loves intimate places where he can just relax with his S/O, just the two of them, nice and quiet, reading a book, drinking some tea and all that. He enjoys the classic, traditional Japanese things, so he’d love to take her to a nice festival where they wear pretty yukatas and there are lots of little festival-game booths and traditional food stalls.

When he sees her in her gorgeous f/c outfit, with her hair in a simple but stylish updo with the pin he gifted her on her birthday, his face becomes red as a tomato and freezes on the spot for a second, just admiring her beauty and be like “Damn, SHE is MY girlfriend and SHE is an absolute GODDESS!”

Since they’re both training to become heroes, they always manage to ace all the little games and earn lots of cool prizes, making all the stall-owners forbid them to play, much to their amusement.

As they were walking around and munching on some dangos, they hear a voice calling out for her, making her turn around confused, with the dango in her mouth.“Oh, woaw, you never lay off those sweets, do you, S/O? Its starting to show.”“Do I know you?”“What, you don’t even remember your own boyfriend?”“My boyfriend is next to me, you weirdo. He’s gorgeous and smart. You don’t seem to be like that in any way.”“So that’s why you got all dolled-up like that? To impress this…This guy?”“It’s a festival, of course I’m gonna get prettied up.”“Okay, fine, whatever you say, what do I have to do to make you come back to me and ditch this wannabe weirdo?”“I don’t know, just about run away, jump off a cliff and never bother me again?”“Wha-”“And don’t insult my boyfriend again, or there will be hell to pay.”

The ex-boyfriend tried to touch her, but Shoto was quick to grab his wrist and freeze it, glaring at the ex with everything he had, seeing fear in his eyes.“S/O’s beauty is ethereal and not for peasants like you to gaze upon. Leave now or else I will make your cells freeze and slowly die.”“Y-You freak! Let me GO!”“Only if you won’t ever bother S/O again.”“Fine, fine, I won’t!”“And take back your insults.”“Fine, I apologise! Sorry, uh, S/O!”

Shoto only nodded and used his fire-side to melt the ice, watching as the jerk ran away for his life.

The girl only kissed Todoroki’s cheek and held his hand, leading him to a nice place where they could watch the gorgeous fireworks together.“These fireworks are amazing! Thanks for taking me to this festival, I’ve never been to one before.”“The fireworks may be beautiful, but your beauty surpasses anything in this world.”“You’re such a sweetheart, Shoto.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder, holding his hand tightly and looking up at the sky, enjoying every moment of that night with her beloved.

Shinsou Hitoshi

Shinsou is an amazing guy with a Quirk that makes everyone make jokes that he’d make an amazing villain, which only piss him off to no end and make him strive and struggle as much as he can and even harder to prove to the world that he’s actually a hero and wants to use his powers to save people in need.

Dating Shinsou was something neither he nor his girlfriend expected any time soon, but they are both enjoying every bit of it, finally feeling like they met someone who understands them and is there to support them through the good and bad times of life.

He’s a straightforward and pretty stoic, not caring much about the others around him, so if he wants to tell his girlfriend something, he’s going to be direct, but try not to look like a jerk or someone without emotions.

He absolutely loves cats and in some ways, he’s really cat-like himself and after his S/O realised that, she knew exactly how to make him smile and purr-

By scratching him under his chin or playing with his fluffy hair.

It really calms him down and he’ll just lay his head on her lap, at her mercy, letting her do what she wants with him.

Since they love cats so much, he’d suggest for him and his girlfriend to take care of a kitten and even volunteer to the nearest pet shelter, just to be around kittens. 

There, he could just relax with her playing with his hair and casually pet kittens and play with them.

What they weren’t aware of was that by some annoying coincidence, in that same day, her ex-boyfriend also decided to come over and look for some pet to adopt.“Well, I wasn’t expecting that. You and some creepy zombie weirdo taking care of some cats. How disgusting.”“Why…Are you here?”“What, am I not allowed to get a pet just because you are here?”“But you hate animals! My puppy was afraid of you! She would run away whenever she saw you!”“Yeah, well, your dog was absolutely STUPID! Just like you!”“Don’t you dare insult my dog! She’s an infinite times smarter than you will ever be!”“Who do you think you are trying to control my life?! You’ve always been like this! Possessive and controlling as if you’re some Queen whatever who knows it all!”“N-No, I never did that! All I ever did was try not to let you control my life! I have my own life and rules, which you never accepted!”“My way was always the better way, I was only trying to help!”“By abusing me?!”

But before he could say anything else, he just stopped abruptly, looking dead ahead.“Apologise.”“I apologise for my words, S/O.”“Now slap yourself as hard as you can.”“Is this right?”“Yes. Because you deserve it.”“I deserve it.”“Now, leave this place and never return. You won’t adopt any pets. Ever.”“I will leave now.”

The guy left in a very robot-like way, leaving her blinking in confusion, then looked at Shinsou who, despite his stoic, bored face, had rage burning in his eyes.

Realising that he used his Quirk to save her, she hugged him tightly, scratching his chin and smiling up at him like a kitten.“See, Shinsou, dear? Your Quirk is absolutely amazing! You really saved me back there.”“Hm, no big deal, really.”“It was a big deal. Shinsou, you are my hero!”“Your…Hero?”“Mhm! My very cute, kitten-like hero that I love very much.”“I guess I like how that sounds. Say it again.”“What? You like it when I say that you’re my hero~?”“Maybe I do.”“Well, you better like it, since in a few years, you’re not going to be only MY hero, but everyone’s hero!”“That’s gonna fun. But until then, being your hero is what I treasure most.”“I love you, Shinsou.”

By that time, he was already cuddling a kitten, his head on her lap, enjoying her playing with her hair and silently purring in happiness.

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #boku no hero season 2 #katsuki bakugou #midoriya izuku #shinsou hitoshi #todoroki shouto #kaminari denki #bnha jirou #kirishima eijirou #uraraka ochako #tsuyu asai #mina ashido #dabi #league of villains #shigaraki tomura #toga himiko #chisaki kai #cat #kitten #eraserhead #aizawa shouta #present mic #yamada hizashi #all might #toshinori yagi #toru hagakure

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: Nocturne (10/30) - Ao3 Link

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Pairings: Mostly Gen (variety later to come)

Summary: In which Cor Leonis loses his temper, accidentally acquires a kid, and tries to single-handedly dismantle the Lucian immigration system – and that’s before he and his lawyers find out about this Prophecy business. If the Astrals think Cor’s going to let his kid’s best friend die without a fight, they’ve gotten the wrong cheetah ‘taur.

(a young adult novel set in @kickingshoes’ ‘taur AU)

—————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————

Less than a month to go until their first major expedition to try to establish a Covenant with an Astral, and they’ve started climbing the walls.

Literally.

Well, sort of.

“It’s okay,” Regis calls, doing his utmost best to keep from laughing. It would only offend the poor child’s dignity.

“It is not!” said poor child shrieks, clinging to the cliff.

Prompto came to fetch Regis immediately when it happened, of course, and Noctis and Gladio are milling anxiously underneath the sheer cliff face where poor Ignis is trapped about halfway up.

“How did this happen?” Regis asks.

They’re at their favorite fishing hole – well, Regis’ and Noctis’, anyway, since the other boys tend to get bored fishing and run off to play with each other nearby while Regis teaches Noctis how to fish properly. This place is inside one of Insomnia’s parks, within the safety of the Wall that glimmers above them in the sky, but isolated enough that most people don’t think to come here. Regis loves it, and comes whenever the business of ruling can spare him. Especially now that Noctis is finally old enough to really appreciate the more sedate joys of fishing – the preparation, the casting, the wait, the capture.

They were sitting by the water, waiting patiently, when Prompto ran up in a frenzy to explain that Ignis had gotten stuck, somehow, on the near-sheer cliff face by the side of the park.

“Well?” Regis prompts when nobody answers. He’s the only one out with the children today, since this visit is within the Wall. Yes, there’s a few Crownsguard in civilian dress lingering in nearby coffee shops and admiring the botanical gardens not far away, but Cor’s trained them well: it’s subtle enough that Regis can pretend they’re alone. “What happened? How did Ignis even get up that far?”

“Well,” Gladio says, looking sheepish. “Um…”

“Gladio was saying that no one could climb the sheer cliff face and Ignis explained that ibexes can climb sheer cliff faces and Gladio asked if Ignis could and Ignis wasn’t sure and then Gladio dared him,” Prompto says all in a rush. “And so Ignis decided to go up and then he got stuck.”

Regis presses his lips together. He will not laugh. He will not laugh.

“And you never,” he says, then cleared this throat, “you never considered that there might be a difference in training for ibex ‘taurs in the mountains and ones that live in the city?”

Ignis’ glare could have caused blisters.

“He did get halfway up?” Gladio offers.

“Yes,” Regis says dryly. “However, I remember several trees where you successfully got all the way up, young Gladio. The problem was always with coming down.”

“I know this is extremely uncharacteristic of me to say,” Ignis says from his perch. “But I would appreciate less discussion of this subject and more activity aimed at resolving it. Specifically, activity geared towards getting me down.”

“Well, my boy,” Regis says, looking up at him. “As far as I’m concerned, there are only three options: one, we call the fire department and get them to bring ladders –”

“Certainly not!” Ignis yelps.

“Two, we ask the Crownsguard spying on us to come and try to see if any of them can lasso you down –”

“No!”

“Or you could jump,” Regis concludes.

“I’ll break my legs!” Ignis brays, looking distressed.

“No, no,” Regis says soothingly. “Jump to me, and I’ll catch you.”

“Are you sure?”

“If necessary, I will catch you with magic,” Regis promises. Sure, he doesn’t keep that much in practice any more, but he’s pretty sure he could warp to Ignis mid-air if he needed to.

Honestly, he could probably warp to Ignis now, but then he’d be holding onto Ignis some eighteen feet in the air with nothing to put his paws on, and that seems like a bad idea.

Ditto the idea of summoning a sword and using that as his warp object. He doesn’t trust his aim after all these years.

...maybe Cor is right and he should get back into training more often. It's just that he's so busy all the time...

Ignis is clearly considering his options: total humiliation, nearly total humiliation, or jumping.

“Okay,” he finally says. “I’ll try jumping.”

“You can do it!” Gladio calls up.

“You don’t get to say a word,” Ignis says crossly. “You I’m going to deal with when I get down again.”

“It was just a dare! You didn’t have to do it!”

“You’re just digging yourself in deeper, my boy,” Regis advises Gladio. “If I were you, I'd stop now.”

Gladio subsides, pouting.

“All right,” Regis calls up. “On three, yes? One – two – three!”

Ignis leaps.

Regis catches him.

He gets a flailing hoof in the gut for his trouble, but he does catch him.

He puts Ignis down. “Now, next time –”

“Don’t take any of Gladio’s stupid dares,” Ignis says. “Yes, sir. Now as for you –”

And he’s off like a shot, Gladio already leaping away as fast as his paws can take him which is fairly quick but not quite as quick as his furious pursuer.

Prompto is laughing and barking and clapping, running circles around the two of them.

Noctis is shaking his head. “They’re silly,” he declares, but he’s smiling.

“Indeed they are,” Regis says. “They could’ve been with us, fishing.”

“Nuh-uh,” Noctis says. “I told them to go away. Fishing is for us.”

Regis is surprised into a laugh. He hadn’t realized it was intentional on Noctis’ part.

He puts his hand on Noctis’ shoulder. “Yes,” he says warmly. “Yes, it is. Now, shall we see if we’ve gotten a bite?”

Noctis beams at him and puts his hand in Regis’.

If only they could stay this way forever, Regis thinks to himself. If only Noctis hadn’t been the Chosen King of the Prophecy –

There’s nothing for it, Regis reminds himself. It is what it is, and all the ‘if only’s in the world won’t change that. All there is to do is to make the best of the time they have.

They walk back to the pond, hand-in-hand.

It's nearly midsummer.

Midsummer: the day of the great Hydread Festival, held in honor of the fearsome Tidemother who sleeps beneath the waves. The day when each window in Insomnia Port is hung with water-chimes, the fountains are decorated with lights, and thousands and thousands of paper boats are released into the waves – a sacrifice of paper into the maw of Leviathan in the place of the real boats she used to demand.

All in all, a perfect excuse for the King of Lucis and his family to go all together to Insomnia Port, the nearest portion of Lucis to the islands of Galadh beyond.

No one would know about their real destination until it was too late to stop it – Cor hasn't even told Drautos, who is stepping in to help command the Crownsguard in Cor's absence, that anything is going on beyond a simple visit to the Port for the holiday. If anything, he's made a few comments about Regis wanting to show his son the traditions of his kingdom, and implied that he's being dragged along as the guardian of Prince Noctis' best friend, just the same way he's been doing with anybody else who's been left out of the loop.

It's nothing personal – oh, all right, it is a little personal; Cor would've preferred to leave the Crownsguard in Monica's hands, or Riyad's, or Tempus', or even, Six help them all, Gloriana, good reliable soldiers all. But Captain Drautos came very highly recommended from the countryside, where he'd achieved some significant (if unfortunately temporary) victories with nothing more impressive than the local militia, and he'd won the favor of a number of the more conservative Councilors with his work policing the inside of Insomnia.

Cor personally feels that Drautos' hand falls too harshly on the populace, dragging in violators or even suspected violators of the laws on fairly minimal provocation, but his law and order rhetoric and personal charisma are appealing to certain conservatives, while his heritage as an immigrant refugee himself makes more progressive Councilors listen more readily than they might have if it was just another Insomnia native saying the same old thing.

In fairness, Cor is also more inclined to listen to him on those grounds, being Insomnia-born himself and thereby not having the insight that might be offered by consulting an outsider. He's aware of that weakness, and he's tried to recruit Crownsguard from the outside where he can, but Drautos is easily the most highly accomplished non-Insomnian they have. Cor should really make an effort to listen more to his suggestions, and to involve him in his planning and operations.

But damn if he just plain old doesn't like the hyena ‘taur.

It's not even a matter of safety – Drautos has been so thoroughly cleared by Insomnia's intelligence division that suspicion is essentially useless, given the fact that no one would believe Cor if he made any accusations, even if he were the sort of 'taur inclined to trade on baseless rumors, which he is not. It's honestly just a personal distaste, backed with no rational reason whatsoever.

Cor has had years to train himself to be a proper professional who can work with people he dislikes and he's gotten quite good at it (whatever Clarus might say about his work in the Council where, at the very least, Drautos is not), so he's determined not to let it affect his relationship with the other 'taur. He's going to act to Drautos, sharing information and work and relying on his skills, just as efficiently and effectively as he would if he did trust Drautos.

....soon.

Really.

He swears.

Regardless, it's not like it matters this time around. Not knowing about their real target is unlikely to affect Drautos' command of the Crownsguard in Cor's absence, and Cor himself will be personally leading the Crownsguard delegation that will take the royal family to Galadh, so he's not too concerned about the omission.

No, Cor's focus now must be entirely on the upcoming voyage. He's sent Riyad ahead to obtain a vessel – it has to be Riyad, with his extended family and knowledge of childcare, to keep up the ruse – under the pretense of making sure it's safe for a short pleasure cruise, should Regis' whim require it, and he's assigned whatever Crownsguard members know how to sail a ship or can quickly learn how to help crew it.

Riyad finally called in and reported success – the ship he obtained would be more than capable of making the journey to Galadh – and that means it's time for the whole lumbering Procession to go: not just Regis and Clarus and Scientia and their families, plus a Crownsguard escort, but all the staff that are popularly seen as necessary, like cooks and servants and valets and chauffeurs and whatnot that Cor scarcely realized the largely self-sufficient Regis even had.

Titan's horns, Cor's glad they'll be mostly left behind to enjoy the holiday at Insomnia Port.

"You ready to go?" he asks Aulea.

"I've been ready to go for three weeks," she says waspishly. "You know, I've never thought I'd be nostalgic about working as a temporary sailor in exchange for passage on an illicit Niflheim steamer, but this whole ridiculous rigmarole is starting to do it."

"You ready?" Cor asks Regis, who looks up from his paperwork with a slight 'o' to his mouth, like he's totally forgotten what day, week, month and possibly even year it is.

"He's ready," Clarus says, rubbing his eyes from his place at Regis' side. "Aulea has been in charge of preparations – do you know that she used to be patient about these things? I blame you and your sea voyage –"

Cor smirks and moves on. He doesn't bother asking Scientia if she's ready – she's been sending paralegals ahead of her to ensure the Insomnia Port branch of her law firm has an office ready for her use for ten days already.

Instead, he pokes his head into Luna's room. "Ready to go?" he asks Luna and the children, who appear to be dressing Noctis up in some sort of vile green dress with feathers, with a similarly colorful make-up palette.

"Yes!" they all shout, except for Noctis, who tries to shout and trips over his own hem in the process.

Cor doesn't want to know – first, because he thinks he might recognize that dress from the bottomless pits of Cyrella's closet, some sort of old bridesmaid business, and second, because he thinks they might be attempting to create some sort of ballgown version of Kenny Crow.

He really doesn't want to know.

"Meet me at the elevator in twenty minutes," he says instead. "I'll take you to lunch while everyone else gets ready."

They all rush off.

"Oh, and Noctis?" Cor added, casually sticking out a paw to block Noctis' way.

"Yeah, Marshal?"

"Wash your face first. If you want to wear make-up to your next public event, you need to get your mother to do it for you, not your friends."

“Right!”

Cyrella, who Cor informed first and foremost, is rounding up what staff hasn't been sent ahead to go. She’s not joining them, much to her irritation: her stomach is already starting to round with the (possibly) unexpected pregnancy of her second-born. Clarus was over the moon about it and her doctor is pleased with her health, all but for the morning sickness that has made her throw up every time she so much as scents something containing more spice than plain salt.

Not exactly the right time to go to spice-loving Galadh, to say the least, and her doctor was also rather alarmed by the idea of letting a breeding ‘taur with severe morning sickness go on a sea voyage, no matter how short.

So, instead, Cyrella is running herd on the staff – and, as a result, Cor has never had an easier time getting people moving.

Really, he should consider finding an extremely tall, extremely irritated pregnant 'taur who hasn't eaten properly in a month to get people ready every time he travels - no one, not even the usual suspects, has made so much as a squeak of protest. If anything, they all seem to find the idea of getting far away from Cyrella's grasp to be extremely enticing...

They'll all be divided into their own cars, all the staff, forming a convoy for the royal family – of course, Cor has no intention of letting the entire royal family travel together for something this public, and he has (reluctantly) agreed with Clarus that Clarus can handle the protection of Regis and Aulea. With the assistance of some Crownsguard, of course.

Cor, in turn, will be driving the children, and he prefers to do that after they've finished their lunch.

He picks a restaurant fairly far off from the Citadel in the direction of the Port to give them a nice head start, though. An hour or so in the car weaving through city streets with hungry children, and then the next few hours traveling through the countryside with the full, sated and hopefully sleepy versions...

Unfortunately, this excellent plan is derailed by the fact that everyone is extremely excited about their first visit to Galadh, and therefore not even a good meal can make them sleepy and quiet.

No, instead, Cor gets –

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"I wanna play a car game!"

"Go ahead."

"Hey, look at that!"

"Get your head back into the car."

"Can we change the music?"

"Fine."

"Are we there yet?"

"Still no."

"What car game should we play?"

"You decide."

"Can we change the music?"

"Fine."

"Look! A coeurl!"

"That is not a coeurl. It's a bush. Please all get your heads back inside the car."

"Are we there yet?"

"Not since the last time you asked."

"Cor, I wanna play Animal-Plant-Black-and-White and he wants to play I Spy -"

"Take turns."

"Is it much longer till we get there?"

"Changing the form of the question will not get you a different answer."

"Guys! Cactaur!"

"That's a cactus."

"Can we change the music?"

"No. The music remains the same forever now."

"Are we there –"

"The next person to ask if we are there yet, how long until we arrive, makes another comment about the music, or asks me to arbitrate anything will not receive a bedtime story from me tonight," Cor says pleasantly.

Ah, blissful silence.

For about five seconds.

"I spy something – black."

"The Marshal's mood, perhaps?"

Snarky brats.

Cor hides a smile and keeps driving.

Of course, the sad drooping expressions are enough to make him relent and lift the prohibition on questions after another half-hour or so, but they manage, somehow, to make it to Insomnia Port without anyone (primarily Cor) committing infanticide.

He loves all the boys dearly, he's even starting to be fond of Luna, but sometimes...

Luckily, Insomnia Port dressed up for the Hydread puts a rapid end to the inane questioning. The normally quiet city – more of a town, compared to the Capital – is festooned in blue sashes and ringing with the tinkling sounds of wind chimes, hanging at every window. Children and even adults run through the streets wearing the traditional blue 'Hydra Head' cowls on their heads – caps in the shape of the Leviathan's draconic-seeming main head or of her watery "heads" of legend – laughing as they throw out blue-wrapped treats to all the passerby.

The warmth of summer is more intense here; nothing like the islands of Galadh, renowned for their hot weather and hotter food, of course, but hot enough to make the children unhappy that they're wearing their formal wear, even if said formal wear is the summerweight version.

"We'll change after we arrive in Galadh," Cor promises. "You need to be impressive to the crowd for a bit, and then T-shirts for everyone."

Noctis sighs, already accustomed to public events, and Luna is nodding, too, but Gladio, Ignis and Prompto are not so easily appeased. Ignis, at least, has the self-discipline to stop complaining out loud, but Cor can see his pout.

Time for a distraction.

"If you look to your right, you'll see the sea-ships in the harbor," Cor says.

Everyone promptly crowds over there, complaints forgotten.

"There's so many of them," Luna marvels. "It's like the pictures of Altissia!"

"More, actually," Ignis says, nose pressed up against the window pane. "Altissia is the larger harbor, and serves as the port of call for more sea-ships, but due to the way it was built inside a lagoon, they prefer not to let sea-ships get too close. They make them dock some way out – you can't see them all together like this."

"Wooooow," Prompto says.

"It's so awesome," Noctis agrees.

"Marshal, what has more ships – Insomnia Port, or the Lucian Airstrip in Tempius?"

"The Port," Cor replies. "Virtually all of our remaining airships are government owned, and they're rarely used. The Port, in contrast, has warships and merchant ships and pleasure craft and much more."

"Cool."

"But Niflheim has more ships overall, doesn't it?" Ignis asks.

"More airships, yes," Cor corrects. "Their airstrips are in vast, empty fields, with gigantic ships lying there in rows. But Niflheim started as a landlocked mountain realm, and to this day they far prefer airships to sea-ships."

The children ooh and aah.

“Look again now,” Cor suggests as he makes another turn, aiming for the harbor. “We’ll be passing a look-out point over the harbor-port – you should be able to see the boxes and boxes of the paper boats that will be released at midday on midsummer.”

More oohing and aahing ensues.

"I must say I'm excited to see Galadh," Luna says. "They're exclusively Lucian territory, but their community in Insomnia is quite small, I believe..?"

"They haven't been invaded - yet," Cor says dryly. "As a result, they have fewer refugees in Insomnia. We rather hope it stays that way."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose that's true."

"It's been years since I've had reason to go to the Galadh proper," Cor adds. "But I remember it fondly enough."

"You talk like you're old," Prompto complains.

"According to you, I am old."

"Nuh-uh!" Noctis exclaims. "Dad says you're like half his age."

"I'm only ten years younger," Cor says firmly. Maybe a dozen. He's always taken great care never to calculate exactly.

"Ten whole years?" Gladio marvels. "Wow. You're like a baby."

Cor sighs.

It’s bad enough that people who don't recognize him on sight when he's out walking with the children like to compliment him on caring for his "younger brothers". Now his own children are doing it...

The sailing time to Galadh might not be that considerable, but this is still going to be a long trip.

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum #regis lucis caelum #cor leonis #ignis scientia #gladiolus amicitia #lunafreya nox fleuret #aulea lucis caelum #clarus amicitia #cyrella amicitia #my fic