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beskarhearts · 3 years

Text

The Marshal (Din Djarin x reader)

gif credit @stwrsdaily

Connection series Pt. 12

Pairing: Din Djarin x f!reader (no use of Y/N)

Warnings: cursing, jealous Din and reader, a little ~sexual~ tension/mentions of sex (no smut), canon typical violence, chapter 2 spoilers

Word count: over 15.7 K words (ooof this is a long one)

Summary: Din and you land on Tatooine to find a Mandalorian, instead finding a marshal with a very specific request.

Notes: Did I finish editing this today and I decide I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to post it? Absolutely. Anyways, I really enjoy this chapter and I hope you all do too. As always, tell me what you think and enjoy!!

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“Are we just headed straight to Mos Pelgo?” you asked Din as he sat in the drivers seat of the Crest, flying through canyons. You had reached Tatooine and though you had never been there before, it felt very familiar. It reminded you of Jakku in many ways: monotone and mostly desert, with the only distinguishing features being sand dunes or canyons. While this kind of terrain wasn’t your absolute favorite or the most beautiful, it put you at ease. It was something you were familiar with and could hold onto when in unfamiliar territory. And while you had heard rumors of Tatooine being a rough place to live, with many spending their lives fighting to just get water and avoid the scoundrels who were spread throughout the planet, even that aspect of it felt familiar. You were used to rough types and having to work hard to get through the day.

“No. We have to stop at Mos Eisley first.” Din said, reaching over to press a button on the dash as he began to lower the ship closer to the ground.

You furrowed your brow, leaning forward in the passengers seat to look out the window where you saw small spots in the sand pop up, probably Banthas. “How come?”

“I looked at a map, can’t find that town anywhere. I know a mechanic who might be able to help out.”

You let your jaw drop slightly, looking over at him incredulously but also playfully, letting one of your eyebrows quirk up. “Are you cheating on me with another mechanic? I thought I was your favorite mechanic.”

Din shook his head at your dramatics, not letting a chuckle out this time as he continued to focus most of his attention on flying over the hills and through the canyons. “You are. She is a friend and I trust her to help.”

You couldn’t help the way your stomach lurched at his explanation. Din didn’t really talk about any friends, only saying he had a few there and there. You had bothered him for more information on these ‘friends’ of his, but he always gave you a classic Din answer: nondescript and vague in every way. You definitely would of remembered if he had mentioned a friend on Mos Eisley. A mechanic friend who was a female. A female he trusted in a galaxy where there were very few people you were able to trust.

You instantly felt ridiculous but couldn’t help the way your eyes furrowed and the gears in your mind went off, thinking of every possible situation in which this woman was anything but ‘just a friend’. Din hadn’t known you for that long in the grand scheme of things. That means there were people before you. Perhaps female companions who had kept him company. You supposed it wasn’t impossible. He was a man after all. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that it was very much a possibility that he had some ‘friends’ spread throughout the galaxy.

“A friend.” you tried not to sound so pinched up, like you were talking about something that absolutely disgusted you. But you knew he heard it when he slowly turned to face you for a second, his helmet tilting just the tiniest bit.

A chuckle passed through his modulator as he saw your face, shaking his head in response as he turned back to pay attention to where he was flying. “Are you jealous?”

You stubbornly put your arms over your chest, raising your eyebrows as if what he said what the most lubricious thing in the world and not absolutely true. You shouldn’t even be jealous. You didn’t have a claim on him. For all you knew, you were just two very close friends. Who happened to kiss and spend nights sleeping in the same beds. Who happened to whisper sweet nothings to each other and run your hands through each others hair at night. You know, just that casual friendly stuff everybody does...

“Uh, no. That would be stupid.” You let out a laugh after, trying to show just how not jealous you were. But it was dry and sounded forced and if anything, it expressed just exactly how jealous you were.

“Really?” you heard the tone of his voice, knew he read right through you, even though he wasn’t looking at you.

You rolled your eyes and turned away from him, hoping your face wasn’t as flushed as it felt. “No way. Can’t wait to meet this friend of yours. Maybe she is a hot babe.” You looked over at him quickly, to see if he would nod in confirmation or say something to give you a hint.

Instead, Din just broke out into complete laughter, a sound like sounded so sweet like honey to your ears usually but now it just made you scowl. “I think you will like her.”

The ship suddenly lurched, starting to land into a hanger of what was obviously a Spaceport. It wasn’t the nicest, but far nicer than the one you had worked at in Jakku. Definitely larger and it looked well taken care of. You couldn’t help the way you narrowed your eyes, trying to find this mysterious female friend but you only saw port droids scurry away as the Crest landed. No sign of any hot babes. Once parked, Din looked over at you. “She is going to insist on working on the ship.”

“You are letting someone else work on the ship?” you said with shock. Not only was there a possibility of a hot babe, but a hot babe who was going to touch the ship you worked on? You knew the pang in your chest wasn’t necessarily because of her touching the ship, but the idea of her touching the other hunk of metal that sat before you.

“I though you hated this ship?”

You pouted slightly, tightening the arms across your body. “I do but it will miss me. I may not be your favorite mechanic, but the Crest loves me.”

Din chuckled, starting to head down the ladder and leave your dramatic antics behind, into the hull where the child was sat in the hammock. You followed him down to find Din grabbing the child and putting him in the bag on his waist. “You ready to see an old friend, kid?”

The kid just looked up, not being the one to respond as you let out a gasp. “The kid knows this mysterious friend? I feel very out of the loop.”

“And not at all jealous.” Din responded and you froze in your tracks as Din began to open the hull of the ship, walking down the ramp without you and leaving you stunned in your spot.

“When the hell did I allow you to get so cocky?” you muttered, shaking your head in wonder.

“Hey, hey, hey! Sorry, gang. Come on! You know he doesn’t like droids!“ you heard the yelling from inside the ship, accompanied by the clatter and beeps of droids. You felt intrigued right away. It was definitely a female, but it didn’t sound like what you had expected (maybe because you were expecting some sultry voice but that didn’t matter). It was higher pitched but sounded older than you would of guessed. Please, Maker or Force or whatever, don’t let this be a hot babe.

You straightened your shoulders, trying to keep a blank face and let the red of your cheeks calm before strolling down the ramp of the Crest, arms still crossed over your chest. But you didn’t even make it halfway before you froze on the ramp, the woman coming into view. That was not what you were expecting. She was yelling at the droids, her brown curly hair frizzy from the heat of the planet. She wiped her hands on her jacket as she walked over, looking at Din but not seeming to notice you yet. She didn’t smile, just looking already exhausted by his presence and exasperated, as if ready for him to bother her entirely too much.

Shit, Din was right. You were going to like her.

“May as well let them have at it. The Crest needs a good once-over.” You couldn’t help but to let your jaw drop. You didn’t know if she detected the teasing edge of his voice but you heard it clearly, watching as he turned just slightly to look at you with a tilted helmet, as if asking ‘is this what you expected?’ You wanted to storm down the ramp and punch him in the shoulder, but instead you tried to hold back the grin from your face.

The woman continued to ramble on, her attention now focused on the droids as she huffed away at them. “Oh! So he likes droids now. Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over!” She huffed and looked at Din. “I guess a lot has changed since you were last in Mos...”

She finally looked over his shoulder as you resumed your way down the ramp, her eyes widening and the areas where her brows were supposed to be shot up. She looked over at Din and then her head whipped down over at you as you finally stopped next to Mandalorian. “Oh, Maker. It’s a woman!”

“Well, I’m glad that is clear.” You responded with a grin.

The woman looked back and forth between you and Din, the shocked expression not leaving her face even a bit. Her lips were moving, as if she was trying to find something to say to convey the shock she felt. She finally set her sights on Din, raising a brow. “What happened? What did you do?”

You chuckled at the accusatory tone as Din just looked over at you. “This is Peli Motto, my friend.” He placed extra emphasis on the friend and you could feel the grin that was on his face. “Peli, this is my...” Din paused, his helmet still aimed at you.

You just looked back at him, waiting for his response. You suppose he could say friend or maybe coworker of some sort, though that seemed like a mockery to the relationship you now had. But what else would he say? Girlfriend? That sounded silly. Companion? Now that was just ridiculous sounding. You guys hadn’t spoke about it but you couldn’t even imagine Din saying any of those words, nonetheless to another person.

The silence continued on for an inordinate amount of time, the expression on your face not even breaking Din out of his newfound trance. “I’m a friend.” you slowly said, filling in the rest of the sentence. Din just nodded before turning back to Peli, whose look of shock was now replaced with obvious confusion.

“Well that was weird.” She said, stating the obvious and you may of laughed at it if it weren’t for how uncomfortable the situation was for you.. “Where is the kid?”

Din grabbed the satchel on his side, holding it up so Motto could look straight at the kid. The child seemed to recognize her, staring straight up at woman. A grin broke out on her face instantly and she threw her hands up in joy. “Oh! Thank the Force! This little thing has had me worried sick. Come here, you little womp rat.”

You chuckled as she called him by the same nickname you often used, her hands reaching out for him and bringing him into her arms, her body starting to sway just slightly. She chuckled as the kid stared up at her. “Looks like it remembers me. How much do you want for it?” She paused just a moment, before continuing. “Just kidding. But not really. You know, if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring.”

“We’ll get working on that. Make it a booming business.” you responded and she looked up at you with a grin.

“She is funny.” She directed the statement towards Din who sighed. “Where did you find a funny woman who was willing to stick around with you?”

“Lots of credits and no contact with the outside world.” You sarcastically responded but her face just dropped in shock, obviously believing the statement.

“She is kidding.” Din responded and you couldn’t help but to laugh at the exasperation in his voice.

“Oh, kriff. Good!” She looked back at you. “Seriously though, why are you with this guy?”

You chuckled at her question, looking over at Din briefly. “Let’s just say he is lucky the kid is cute.” You teased.

She nodded. “That’s the only reason I let his hunk of junk park here.”

“And not because of the credits?” Din asked.

Peli scowled in response, about to answer when her attention was broken by a loud bang. “Oh, geez. Watch what you’re doing up there! He barely trusts your kind! What, you want to give all droids a bad name?” She continued to yell at the droids, one of which got an air tube stuck to his face.

You leaned into Din a little as she turned away, whispering, “What is with the whole droid thing? You don’t like them?”

“Long story. Don’t mind them now.” he briefly responded and you told yourself to remember to ask him about that later.

Peli suddenly looked back over at you two, eyes narrowing as she saw how close the two of you stood together. You took a small step to the side but her gaze remained steady. “I’ve got to ask. How did you get such a pretty girlfriend? This makes no sense.”

You brought your hand up to your mouth, trying to not choke or laugh at the question. You felt your face flush brightly and you just looked over at Din who stood frozen, just looking at Peli. “I need your help.”

The statement was made to avoid the question but she still scowled at the response. “I assume she is at least.” Her gaze dropped down to you. “Am I right? Because I think I’m right and I have lots of questions if I am. Like why? How? Does he take the helmet off or does that stay on during-”

“You know, we really do need your help actually.” You interrupted, wanting her to stop because you had no clue how to answer any of those questions and fearing what else she would say.

She rolled her eyes, clearly not happy with the lack of answers to her many questions but just nodded. “Fine, then business you shall have. Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?” The question was said hopefully, her arms wrapping around the kid tighter.

“I’ve been quested to bring this one back to its kind.“ Din responded and she chuckled.

“I can’t help you there. I’ve never seen any like it. And trust me, I’ve seen all shapes and sizes in this town.” She looked over at you. “You wouldn’t believe it. Shocking.”

You laughed at her expression, thinking you could probably share a few stories of your own with her. “You’ll have to tell me some time but for now, we need to find a Mandalorian that is supposed to be here.”

“That friend of yours has been the only Mando here for years from what I can tell.” She stated and you sighed. Just like Din had thought.

“Where is Mos Pelgo? I’m told there’s one there.” Din asked.

“Oh. Boy, I haven’t heard that name in a while.“

“It’s not on any map.” You said and she nodded.

“That’s ‘cause it was wiped out by bandits. Once the Empire fell, it was a free-for-all. I didn’t dare leave the city walls. Still don’t.” You couldn’t help but to sigh. Couldn’t Din have to go somewhere that was nice? Just once.

“Can you tell me where it used to be?” Din asked and she shrugged.

“Depends who’s asking. I’ll let you and your friend see it.” She smirked at the way she said friend before shouting to a droid, “R-5! Bring the map of Tatooine.”

You watched as a R5 unit strolled over rather slowly, continuously beeping in response. You noticed a panel on the back of it’s head that looked busted, looking like it was a bad motivator.

“No, take your time.” She looks over at you two, shaking her head. “Seriously. You just can’t get good help anymore. I don’t even know who to complain to! Let’s go, let’s go.” The droid responds back with a melody of beeps, seeming to be yelling at Peli in response.

The droid finally stopped moving, projecting a map which Peli reached over to touch, moving it around and pointing at it as she began to talk. “This is a map of Tatooine before the war. You got Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and up around this region, Mos Pelgo.”

You squint your eyes, trying to look into the map at where Mos Pelgo was but finding absolutely nothing. Like you had observed earlier, Tatooine seemed to just be a giant desert with a few sparsely located towns and not much else. “I don’t see anything. Is this the right map?”

“Yep. It’s there. Or at least it used to be. Not much to speak of. It’s an old mining settlement. They’re gonna see that big hunk o’ metal long before you land.” Her head tilted towards the ship and you nodded. She was right. A town small enough to barely appear on the map would definitely be alarmed to the presence of a ship, especially one as large as Dins.

“You still have that speeder bike?” Din asked and you felt yourself get excited. You had always wanted to get a speeder bike, almost getting all the parts to fix one you had found on Jakku but that had been stolen before you even had the chance to learn how to fix it.

“Sure do. It’s a little rusty, but I got it. Let me get it ready.” She said, beginning to stroll away.

You looked over at Din with a grin. “Can I drive the speeder bike?”

He looked over at you. “Do you know how to ride one?”

You twisted your lips and shrugged. “No, but it probably isn’t too hard.”

“It is harder than you’d think. I’ll drive it that way you don’t kill us.”

You huffed at his sarcasm, crossing your arms over your chest as you looked up at him quizzically. “I wouldn’t kill us. I’ve always wanted to ride one.”

“What if I promise one day we’ll get a speeder bike and I’ll teach you how to drive it?”

You bounced on your feet, grinning up at him. “Really?”

“Yes.” Din nodded.

You looked up at him, beginning to step a little closer to him as he aimed his helmet down to look at your face. “It is a shame there are people and droids around.”

“Why is that, sweet one?”

“Because I really want to kiss you right now.” you stated and watched as Din shook his head as if trying to not get flustered. You giggled, still smiling brightly up at him even as he turned away from you, seeming to make sure no one was nearby.

“Didn’t know speeder bikes would make you this happy.” He said, quieter than he had spoken before.

You bit your lip. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a hunk of metal.” You winked at him as he chuckled at your statement.

“Oh yeah, this looks just like a friendly conversation to me. Nothing more.” You looked up to find Peli staring at you two, shaking her head. You bit your lip, trying to bite back some laughter as she looked at the two of you with discontent, clearly wanting more information. Instead of saying anything, you and Din just looked right back at her and she rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. “Your speeder bike is ready to go.”

__________

“We need to stop for the night.” Din said loudly, speaking over the wind that rushed past your ears. The speeder bike was a little rocky, not in the greatest condition, but it was fast and thrilling. You had now spent hours riding on it, sitting behind Din and holding onto his waist. The child had been sat at his side, his little ears flapping in the wind as he smiled and giggled. Much like you, he absolutely loved the speeder. Had spent most of the time just letting the wind rush past him and occasionally cooing loudly if you hit a bump or moved sporadically, loving the thrill of it.

“Okay.” It was now night time, the double suns of the planet just barely skirting the horizon. Din brought the speeder to a stop and you lifted your head up, looking around. You felt your eyes widen as your saw a group of Tusken Raiders not too far away, beginning to rise from the fire they had set and looking over at the three of you. “Umm... Din, we should probably go somewhere else.”

Instead, you felt your arms fall away from his waist as he rose from the bike, stepping off it on one side and reached a hand out for you to come down. Instead of grasping it, you just looked at him in shock, eyes widened. “Din, there are Tusken Raiders right there.” you whispered, starting to get panicky as they got nearer and nearer.

“I saw them.” He stated, as if a whole bunch of Raiders was just a normal sight and no big deal.

“And...?” you asked, looking at him in complete bewilderment. Din was usually calm, almost unnervingly so at times, but this was shocking to you even.

“And maybe they will let us sit by their fire.”

You couldn’t help but to gulp, your jaw slacking a little bit as you let it hang open. “What?” you whispered, your voice getting a little screechy.

“I’m good with Tusken Raiders.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I just forgot how you were such a people person.” You sarcastically responded and Din chuckled.

He brought his hand closer to you, wanting you to come down. “Trust me, cyar’ika.”

You groaned but grasped his hand, jumping off the speeder with a frown. “If I become a Tuskens wife tonight or they kill us, I will rise from the grave just to kill you.”

Din shook his head at you, not bothering to respond as he looked over once a couple of the raiders reached where your bike was parked. They were both dressed in the traditional brown fabrics of Tuskens, both holding intimidating sticks in your hands that made you wince as your remembered stories of how they could kill a man with just a stick. They began to speak to you two but instead of words, a string of grunts, loud yelling, and rough sounds tumbled from them. You had no clue what they were saying, but it didn’t sound welcoming and you just stood back as they faced the both of you, waiting for a response.

You were just about to hiss to Din that you should leave when he began to respond to them in their language, grunting and speaking in a way you couldn’t even begin to understand. His hands moved along with his words (if that’s what you could call them) and you watched closely. Your jaw dropped just the smallest bit, not wanting the Raiders to mistake it for disrespect but shocked by Din. You didn’t know he could speak any language besides basic and hearing such a rough, primal language coming from him was surprising but also made sense in a weird way.

The three of them continued to go back and forth for a while before the two Tuskens walked off, leaving you alone. Your head whipped towards Din as soon as they got further away. “What was that?”

“What?”

“That language you were speaking!” you said, looking at him with wide eyes. What else would you be talking about?

“Tusken.” Din responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You know Tusken?”

“I told you I was good with Tusken Raiders. You need to trust me, sweet one.”

You bit your lip, feeling bashful at not believing him right away. “What did they say?”

“They said we can stay by their fire tonight.”

“Really?” You said, shocked. You had heard rumors of Tuskens and they were never described as the most charming nor welcoming individuals. Tales about them usually consisted of them brutally attacking humans or being barbarians, not welcoming weary travelers to sit by their fire when in the middle of nowhere.

“As long as you treat them with respect, they are good.” You couldn’t help but to smile at his explanation. You hadn’t seen Din interact with many people, but you knew he was respectful to all kinds of creatures and people, not seeming to judge anyone or come to assumptions too harshly. It made sense, since the armor he wore made him susceptible to people making assumptions what kind of person he was based on rumors and stories of Mandalorians. Of course Din would be more likely to give people a chance, not judge them based off common knowledge which was many times wrong or unfairly dramatized for effect.

“You are a good guy, Din.” you said softly.

Din just looked up at you, tilting his helmet a little. “We should probably head over.” Whenever you told Din that, he always seemed to shrug it off. Like he didn’t believe it himself or he still had something to prove. It always saddened you because you just wanted him to look in the mirror and see the man you saw. The kindness, respect, and care he put into the people around him was so admirable.

You nodded but once he started to walk towards where the Tuskens sat, you grabbed his arms and stopped him in his tracks. He didn’t look back, just settling the child who seemed to be uncomfortable. “I have to admit something very, very weird.”

“What is it?” he grumbled, not seeming to put much focus on you.

“You speaking Tusken was kind of hot.” Din’s helmet whipped towards you, and even the child on his side looked up at you as if he understood what you said and was judging very harshly.

“W-what?” He muttered.

You felt yourself flush. “You know, that sounded dumb even while I was saying it so never mind.”

Din finally chuckled, shaking his head and letting his gloved fingers drift down to your hand, his body now facing yours and his back covering what was happening so the Tuskens couldn’t see. “I’ve never been told that before.” you could hear mocking tone in his voice and you tried to pull away from him but he still held onto your hand just barely.

“Alright, let’s never mention that I said that.” You said, completely embarrassed at this point and now finding yourself very eager to join the Tuskens, so nothing else could be said about the topic.

“Remind me to speak to you in Tusken next time we sleep in my bed.”

Your jaw dropped at Din and the meaning behind what he was saying. “I-I didn’t say it turned me on.” you rambled.

Din was the one to freeze this time and you felt your whole face get warm. You realized how foolish you had sounded. You and Din hadn’t done anything more than making out, neither of you pushing it forward more. You didn’t because you were self-conscious, not wanting to make of a fool of yourself. Him because... well, you didn’t know why.

“I didn’t say it turned you on either.” he said to you and you looked up at him, blinking slowly.

“You implied that.” You justified, getting even more flustered as Din began to rub circles into your hand. Your skin already felt warm enough warm enough from all the awkwardness and every time he did that, it made it worse.

“You said it was hot.” he responded plainly.

“It was joke!” You lamely refuted.

“A joke?”

“I thought I said to never mention it again.” You felt like a child but you wanted the conversation to end and hearing Din tease you and talk about it so easily made you frustrated.

Instead of letting go of your hand and heading to the Tuskens, Din just stepped the tiniest bit closer to you and straightened himself up, making himself taller and broader. Your chin tilted up to look at his helmet directly, which you didn’t want to do, but you also weren’t going to look down at your feet like a child. You tried to give him a plain expression, though you could feel the redness that flared across your cheeks and the way your eyebrows were furrowed slightly. Din tilted his helmet slowly, the T-visor looking straight down at you. “Do I turn you on?”

You gasped up at him, your jaw dropping. “Din Djarin!” you quietly hissed at him. But he didn’t back down, just staring right down at you. You hated his ability to make you so self-aware of everything. You feel that because of his armor and helmet, you had to hang on to every small movement and the slightest change of tone in order to read him well. And everything he did made your senses go into hyperdrive, especially when he was purposely trying to fluster you. You tried to speak, but just tripped over your words, getting annoyed with yourself. “W-well... you know you’re e-ego is a little...I think we s-should...” You bit your tongue. You were supposed to be the one with the wise mouth and quick tongue. You found yourself cockily thinking he must of learned this from you, because the Mandalorian you first met was certainly not this cocky.

“Sweet one.” He teased and you gaped up at him.

“Fine, yes! There!” You hissed and pulled away from him. Din nodded at your answer, seeming satisfied. He began to pull away but you now wanted to fluster him like he had with you. “Do I?” you blurted out.

He paused and looked back down at you. “Do you what?”

“Oh, you know what I mean, you kriffing ass.” You responded and Din chuckled, watching as you placed a hand on your hip and looked up at him expectantly.

“Yes.” The question was meant to fluster him but he answered so easily, like you asked him if he wanted some water. There was no teasing or any theatrics involved. Just a plain, simply answer. You thought of several things to say in the moment, small jabs to get back at him, but you just flushed even more, your heartbeat quickening at the answer. Say something.

“Well, good. I better.” You said, crossing your arms over your chest. You began to walk away from him, heading towards the Tusken Raiders who were sat in the circle. You could hear Din’s chuckle as he followed closely behind.

__________

You had finally reached Mos Pelgo and now you understood why you couldn’t find it on a map. It was a small town, though small sounded like the understatement of the year. The whole entire place seemed to stretch over the small portion of road Din was now slowly driving along, a few buildings on each side of it the sandy single street that passed through it, just as empty as the rest of it.The buildings were small and aged, not necessarily in bad shape but you could tell this was a town that had gone through something and didn’t have the opportunity to spruce things up. This was the kind of place where it seemed people simply had to fight each day to just live, not much focus being spent on anything. It made sense, considering its history and it being secluded so much, more so than every other town on the planet already was. It was probably afternoon now, the two suns of Tatooine blaring down on the planet and causing your clothes to stick to your skin a little. Most towns at this time would be full of people working, traveling, getting lunch, and making their way to where they had to go, this town showed no sign of the usual hustle and bustle of places during the week. It was barren except for a few curious eyes here and there, either from people stood on their porches or people peering out from their windows, eyes seeming to dig into you. Each face you saw made you feel like a suspect, like you weren’t welcome. You suspected a town like this didn’t get a lot of visitors, perhaps none for that matter. The last time there had been outsiders may have been the time it was wiped out by bandits following the fall of the Empire. And the only other life you had seen nearby had been Tusken Raiders and while Din seemed to not be bothered by them, they were, well... raiders. And very possibly could be the kind to try to swindle and rob their way through a town like this since it seemed like such an easy target, though you couldn’t imagine there was much value here to be found. After thinking about it, you could understand the judgmental and curious looks. People like this had to be this way and you couldn’t blame them.

Din slowly drifted down the street, seeming to look around for something that stood out. A place where he could find a Mandalorian. You looked around as well, straightening your body up and removing your arms from around Dins waist to bring them up to your eyes, shielding them from the piercing rays of the suns. You didn’t see any places of particular interest and with so few people around, you imagined a Mandalorian would be easy to find if there was one here, strolling around. The speeder bike eventually eased into a slow stop and you turned to your head to the left to see where Din was looking at. It appeared to be a small cantina of sorts and you couldn’t see inside its entrance completely, but you knew it was empty. No music, no sounds of voices, nothing. Just complete silence filled the air and you felt your nose scrunch up. You weren’t a fan of the silence but it seemed to swallow a place like this whole. Like there was no reason to make some noise, have some fun, spark some conversation. Din eventually rose from the bike, you joining him and watching as he made his way to the entrance. You turned back to look at the child, who was sat in the pouch on his bike. He looked up at you, seeming to not know why the ride has stopped. “You stay here for a second, kid.” you told him with a small smile.

Your feet followed Dins path in and once you entered the establishment, your assumption that it was empty was confirmed. There were no day drinkers, nor people grabbing a bite to eat or conducting business. All that stood was a lone bartender, who seemed to be mindlessly stirring a drink mix together with not much care. Definitely no Mandalorian here. Din stepped into the building more and it seemed to grab the bartenders attention, making him look up at you and Din. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a Mandalorian.” You were praying for a quick answer. A simple ‘oh yes, our friendly local Mandalorian is right over there.’ Something to make your trip here worthwhile but you felt any hope dissipate as the bartender just looked at you blankly, no sense of recognition crossing his features as his hands continued to work away on the drink mix.

“Well, we don’t get many visitors in these parts. Can you describe him?” The bartender asked and you let out a sigh. If this man didn’t even know what a Mandalorian was when he had one standing right in front of him, you couldn’t imagine there was one here at all. A Mandalorian would stand out like a sore thumb in a town like this.

“Someone who looks like me.” Din explained plainly, not seeming exasperated but you knew he was thinking the same thing you were.

The man nodded slowly, letting out a hum as a flash of something seemed to finally settle in. “You mean the Marshal?”

Your eyebrows scrunched up. “Your Marshal is a Mandalorian?” You had learned quite a bit about Mandalorians since being with Din, and you had never heard him mention once any Mandalorian being a Marshal of any kind. In fact, you had never even heard of Mandalorians being anything other than bounty hunters. Probably not the type to love law enforcement, none the less become a member of it even in a small town like this where there wasn’t much to look after except a few Raiders every now and then.

“See for yourself.” He grunted and gestured his head to the door you and Din had entered. You both turned around to find a Mandalorian stood in front of you, with quite the outfit on. You knew Dins armor wasn’t the norm. He had never bragged about it or wanted to speak about how much he had paid for his beskar, but you and practically everyone else knew. It was immaculate and pristine, the kind of armor that sparks intimidation and power. Dominance and strength. This armor on the other hand... didn’t give you the same feeling at all and it didn’t even seem to match the individual wearing it. The armor it self had been painted a green and red but you had guessed that must of been many years ago due to how aged and worn it looked. The colors looked half cuffed off, the metal of it sprinkled with marks and dents that had shown it had seen much better days. The helmet that the man adorned was a bit unruly, not seeming quite right on his frame. A pair of wrist-cuffs and a chest plate matched the helmet, looking just as off and bizarre to you. You don’t know what you had expected of a Mandalorian other than Din, but this wasn’t it.

“What brings you here, strangers?” The Mandalorian finally spoke and you could hear a bit of an accent peaking through his modulator which must of also been older, not sounding as clear as the one you were used to that Din wore.

“I’ve been searching for you for many parsecs.” Din stated. You looked over at him to find him calmly stood back, looking at the man before him with no care. It was a curious thing to see him seem to be somewhat comfortable with a stranger. He was an inherently weary man, for good reason, and he didn’t warm up to people. But this wasn’t just a person. This was one of his own. Like a brother of sorts. You wondered how it must feel to have an instant connection with someone. To meet someone who swore by the same Creed you swore to, presumably meaning they had the same morals and beliefs as you did. It must be so nice, especially for a Mandalorian. You didn’t have a lot of people you could trust (or could trust you for that matter) and company wasn’t a norm meaning that when they were with other Mandalorians, there must be this two-sided relief and comfort.

“Well, now you found me.” The man teased and you raised an eyebrow. He already gave you an air of boldness, perhaps even cockiness though you gave him a benefit of a doubt because of the metal strapped to his body. He gave you a small nod, seeming to acknowledge your figure standing besides Din before he strolled to the bar, giving the bartender nod “Weequay, three snorts of spotchka.”

He grabbed three small glasses and a flagon of blue liquid. The Marshal took a seat at a table with three chairs, gesturing to the three cups. “Why don’t you guys join me for a drink?”

You looked over at Din, who remained glued to his spot, and wondering if the same thought was going through his mind. Why was one Mandalorian offering another a drink? Why the three glasses? You curiously walked over to the table, plopping down on the seat besides the Mandalorian and studying him intently. You were about to ask him about the drinks when the answer to your question was answered by a familiar hiss and click. His hands were attached to the helmet, pulling it off his face. Part of you almost looked away, like you would of done if Din had accidentally taken his helmet off. But you already knew deep down this was no Mandalorian so you continued to look at him as the helmet completely uncovered his face and he revealed himself to everyone in the room. He had a big smirk on his face as he looked up at Din’s frozen figure. He had a handsome face with salt and pepper hair that sat on his head and trailed over his chin and jaw. The thing you noticed first though was the cocky smile on his face. A beaming grin filled it as he looked back and forth between the two of you, his eyes landing on you for a little longer as he took in your shocked but also rather annoyed expression. He began to chuckle softly, as if finding amusement in the reactions he had caused. He began pouring the liquid into the cups, each one quickly being filled by the glowing blue liquid. The scent of the alcohol filled your senses as he smoothly slid a glass across the table your way, your hands reaching out to catch it so it didn’t slip off the edge of the metal. He gave you a small nod before looking back at where Mando stood. He was still frozen but you could see how the comfort was gone from just mere seconds earlier. He was standing a little broader than before, his legs widened out into a slightly yet not overtly threatening stance. He was no longer with a Mandalorian but an imposter. An imposter who was smiling at him as if no wronging had occurred and sliding you a drink like you were an old pal and not a potential threat. “I’ve never met a real Mandalorian. Heard stories. I know you’re good at killing. And probably none too happy to see me wearing this hardware.”

You looked over at Din, your eyes catching the sight of the child in the corner, seeming to be studying some container of some sort. You looked back at Din, who hadn’t moved an inch, his helmet still steadily aimed at the Marshal before you. This was not good.

“So...I figure only one of us is walking out of here. But then I see the little guy and the beautiful lady...and I think, maybe I pegged you wrong.” The man continued, the same smirk still on his face. He was handsome but he seemed cocky, arrogant. Two things you didn’t have the energy to deal with.

“Who are you?” you asked and he sends a glimmering grin in your direction.

“I’m Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Mos Pelgos.” He winked your way. “You can just call me Cobb though, sweetheart.”

You raised an eyebrow, sending a exasperated look in Din’s direction before drinking the cup of liquid still held in your hand. Oh, boy. This was certainly going to be interesting.

“Where did you get the armor?” Din asked.

“Bought it off some Jawas.” Why the hell did Jawas have Mandalorian armor? That must of meant there was a Mandalorian on Tatooine at some point, but it definitely was not the man in front of you.

“Hand it over.”

“Look, pal, I’m sure you call the shots where you come from, but ‘round here, I’m the one tells folks what to do.” He explained, resting his hand on the table calmly. “Why don’t you sit down with me and the pretty lady?”

“Take it off. Or I will.” Din commanded and you couldn’t help but to snort at it. You swore sometimes he said things that sounded so inherently sexual just on purpose.

Both men finally turned to look at you and you widened your eyes, realizing the tension in the room had been interrupted by you chuckling. You looked back and forth between the Marshal and Din. “Are you okay?” The marshal asked slowly, seeming intrigued by your reaction.

You nodded very slowly, pouring yourself another drink as you felt uncomfortable with both men just staring at you. “Oh, yeah. Mando here might just want to buy you a drink before he tries taking your clothes off but...” you trailed off, trying to make a joke but Din just looked back at Vanth.

Vanth on the other hand laughed, his eyes twinkling as he kept looking at you. “So far, you are much more enjoyable to deal with.” He looked over at Din. “Maybe the lady and I can work something out.”

“Take it off.” Din repeated, not in the mood for playing games. His hand itched towards his blaster, a subtle movement but once the Marshal was supposed to notice and he did, sighing.

“We gonna do this in front of the kid?” he asked, causing the child to look up from the object he was studying.

“Oh, don’t worry. He has seen much, much worse, pal.” You said with a small smirk of your own, tipping back the drink you had poured.

“Right here then?” Cobb asked.

“Right here.” Din confirmed.

You scooted your chair back as Cobb stood up, sighing. Both him and Din stared at each other, their sight not straying to you or the child rustling around in the corner who seemed to now be watching intently. Both of them reached for their respective blasters, just wrapping their hands around the holsters without pulling the gun itself out. You looked between the two men, exasperated. You loved Din, but if he was going to force the armor off the guy, he should just do it already. You didn’t understand why he was putting on such a show. You let out a loud sigh, crossing your arm over your chest and leaning back in the chair. You once again captured both mens attention, their heads aiming towards you and you shrugged. “Oh, ignore me. This whole ego, macho-man competition is rather thrilling.” You sarcastically muttered.

Before either man had the chance to respond, a loud rumble tore through the atmosphere. You stood from your spot as you the Marshal raised a finger, beginning to walk outside, Din following closely behind. You swooped down to grab the child into your arms, watching as the bartender ran out the back exit. What the hell had you and Din walked into?

You rushed out to where the Marshal and Din were, hearing an alarm start to blare. The child folded his ears onto himself slightly, tucking himself into your chest as if he was trying to hide. You stood next to the two men, watching as they both looked in the same direction. You looked over the same way and that was when you saw it. The sand in the center of the road was moving, seeming to shift from something coming below. A huge array of scales role up from the sand, only showing a small portion of the creature below who tore through the town with reckless abandon. “What the kriff?” You muttered under your breath, barely even hearing yourself over the commotion.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more bizarre, the creature rose from the sand like a creature breaching out of the water. A gigantic head rose up, the skin scaled and gnarled with what appeared to be almost horn-like structures rising from the head. You watched as it crashed down, swallowing a bantha whole in the process as if it was nothing. “What was that?” You asked as it finally slithered back down into the sand, seeming to disappear just as quickly as it came.

“Greater Krayt Dragon.” Din answered as the Marshal stepped forward, watching the people of his town slowly exit their homes and businesses, fearfully checking to see if the threat was truly gone before beginning to pick up the pieces of the damage.

“Maybe we can work something out.” Vanth said, beginning to walk through his town.

You and Din followed him, the child still held in your arms. “What is it?” you asked.

“That creature’s been terrorizing these parts since long before Mos Pelgo was established. Thanks to this armor, I’ve been able to protect this town from bandits and Sand People. They look to me to protect ‘em. But a Krayt Dragon is too much for me to take on alone.” For the first time, you could sense some genuine emotion in the mans voice. You heard the compassion for his people, the way he wanted to help. It was the first time you felt empathy for the man. “Help me kill it, I’ll give you the armor.”

“Deal. I’ll ride back to the ship, blow it out of the sand from the sky, use the Bantha as bait.” Din explained, seeming satisfied to come to such an easy conclusion. You couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow. It wasn’t your luck for this to go so smoothly.

Cobb confirmed your suspicions with a tiresome smile. “Not so simple. The ship passes above, it senses the vibrations, stays underground. But I know where it lives.”

“Of course. Cause that would have been too easy.” You said and Cobb laughed.

“Exactly, dear.”

“How far?” Din asked.

“Not far. I can take you two there.” Cobb offered and you huffed. Fighting a creature to get some Mandalorian armor. Okay. Fighting a creature that can sense vibrations and having to walk into its territory? Not so okay.

“Give us a second.” You said and Cobb nodded, tipping his head towards you.

“Anything, my lady.” He said like a proper gentlemen, throwing a wink your way before strolling a few feet away to help a towns person pick something up.

You looked over at Din who just looked back at you. “This sounds dangerous.”

“We need to do it.”

“For what?”

“We get the armor and find who it belongs to.”

“Mando, this sounds like a real pain in the ass.” You whispered back at him. You understood he wanted the armor, not just for this mission but because it was considered disrespectful for someone to wear a Mandalorians armor if they weren’t one. But you also knew you didn’t want to kill yourselves over it.

“Look around, sweet one.”

You furrowed an eyebrow but looked around. You saw the people cleaning up the mess that had been made, looking exhausted but not surprised. This was a common occurrence for them. Just another part of life. But life was hard enough, especially for people in a small town like this on Tatooine. In a place like this, getting water was a chore in and of itself. They shouldn’t have to fight off a creature, one who ate their animals and Maker knows what else. You understood where Din was coming from. It wasn’t just about the armor or honor, it was about being able to help people. It was about doing the right thing.

You looked back at Din who still stared back at you and you nodded slowly. “Fine. Let’s get Vanth to show us where it is.”

Before you could walk away, Din grasped your arm just slightly, the child held within them looking over at Din to coo at him. He took it away quickly but had captured your attention. “I don’t like him.”

“I mean he seems egotistical, but I think he will stick to his word. Sounds like he needs help.” You reasoned but Din nodded his head.

“I don’t like the way he is... with you.”

You couldn’t help the sly smile on your face. “Well, well...”

“What?” Din asked, seeming confused by your response.

“Oh, just look at who is jealous now.” You sent him a wink before turning around and waving your hand, capturing Vanths attention. “Come on, marshal! Let’s kill a dragon!”

__________

Back on the speeders you were, heading towards the location of this Krayt Dragons home as you tore through rocky terrain. You clung onto Din as he slowly rode on the edge of a cliff, following Cobb Vanth who was riding on his own speeder bike.

Suddenly, a terrible and intimidating loud growl filled the air and Vanth raised a hand to alert you, both men stopping their speeders and jumping off them, readying themselves for what was to come. You joined them, jumping off the bike you shared with Din and grabbing your blaster off your hip. The kid remained on the side of bike, looking around in wonder. The animal-like noises continue on, echoing off the walls of the cliffs that surrounded you. You and Cobb both glanced around rather nervously, trying to see the source of the noise that grew closer and closer. Din stood tall, his hand tightly clasped around his blaster as he moved towards you slowly, placing his body in front of yours to shield you.

You heard the sound of what must of been foot steps coming closer, the canyon making the sound echoe and sound much more intimidating than it was. Before you could ask Din what to do, something started to round the corner, revealing a large four legged creature with scales and dark skin. It appeared almost dog like, snarling at you four while more started to appear, a whole pack coming closer.

The marshal brought his blaster up, aiming it at the creature but you raised a hand up as Din stepped forward, staring directly at the creature. If Din wasn’t shooting right away, it either wasn’t that dangerous or he had a plan. You quietly waited to see Din’s course of action so you could follow his lead. You and Vanth both suddenly jumped as the Mandalorian suddenly let out a loud cry in what sounded like the Tusken he spoke last night, the inflection in his tone and growl of his voice sounding similar. The creatures seemed to calm instantly, allowing Din to stroll towards the one who led the pack

“What the hell you doin’?” Cobb asked, his face pulled into complete shock as he stared at the scene before him. Din brought a hand up, indicating for Cobb to drop his weapon which he did slowly, seeming hesitant to do so. You put your own blaster back on your side, listening as Din let out more Tusken calls, the animals seeming to listen to them intently.

Then Din did something that made you literally laugh with joy. He bent down at the creature directly in front of him, bringing his gloved hands to the hide of its skin and began to scratch and pet at it. The animal happily leaned in the joy, almost jumping with joy at the contact. You looked over at Cobb, whose eyes were just widened as he stared curiously at the creature and Din. You just gave him a shrug as you looked back at Din, smiling as he eagerly pet the creature who seemed to be enjoying the contact thoroughly.

You walked forward slowly, eventually making it to Dins side and he looked up at you, still petting at the sides of the creature. “Give me your hand.”

You reach one out and he grabbed it, giving another grunt to the creature right before Din’s gloved hand pulled yours downwards until it pressed into the hide of the creature’s skin. It was rough and bumpy, but also warm from the sun that bore down. It had a leathery type of feeling, not exactly soft but it was fine with you. Din let go of your hand, letting you run them over it’s side and the creature let out a satisfied little noise that made you giggle.

Your attention tore away from the creature as a group of Tusken Raiders rounded the corner, seeming to be looking for the pack of animals who had ran ahead of them. Din rose in his spot, beginning to speak to them while his hands moved.

“Hey, partners, either of you want to tell me what’s going on?” Cobb called out and you looked back at him, rising from your kneeled position.

“Dont worry. He is good with Tuskens.” You said, repeating the Mandalorians very words from yesterday and watching as he gave you a bewildered look that you guessed was very similar to your own.

Din continued to speak for a few more moments before turning back to you two. “They want the Krayt Dragon, too. We are going to camp with them for the night and then form a plan.”

__________

Night fell and once again you were spending it surrounded by a fire, sat next to Din as he spoke with Tuskens. You found it funny how he spoke so infrequently to humans but seemed to go on and on with these creatures. Part of you wished you knew the language, if only to know what Din was talking about and what each hand gesture he made meant. Was he talking strictly business? Or was he just having a normal conversation?

Din sat on your right side, the child sat on the ground in between his legs and staring at the creatures before him. On your left was Cobb Vanth, who looked just as confused as he had earlier. He stared incredulously at Din and the Tuskens, eyebrows raised in a state of shock. He leaned into you just a bit and you felt his shoulder brush yours. “Do you have any clue what they are saying?”

“None.” You responded with a grin.

“They could be plotting to kill us for all we know.” He whispered back at you and you couldn’t help but to chuckle.

“Mando wouldn’t let anybody kill me or the kid. But you...” you sarcastically trailed off, teasing the man who looked over at you with widened eyes.

“That was a joke.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself and you just laughed at the expression on his face. “You think you are real funny, don’t you?”

“I’m kind of hilarious.” you stated and the marshal shook his head in disbelief, a smile forming just the smallest bit.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, marshal. Why not?”

“What is a beautiful woman like you doing with him?” He gestured his head to Din, who appeared to be listening intently to the Tuskens.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to woo me, Vanth.” You said with a joking tone causing him to chuckle.

“Cant blame me for trying.” He responded back just as you had, grinning at the joking.

You shook your head. “I mean you can keep trying if you like to fail. And I do love to hear about how pretty I am.” You sarcastically muttered, making it clear you were just joking.

Vanth was about to respond when a Tusken suddenly shoved what appeared to be a bowl, filled with a black liquid that steamed. You scrunched up your nose as the scent of it hit you and you nearly gagged from it. It smelled absolutely horrid in every way.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Vanth asked, looking down at it with disgust, clearly smelling the same deplorable scent you had.

“You drink it.” Din explained and you almost laughed at the shock on the marshals face.

“It stinks.” he stated plainly, as if expecting Din to understand.

“Do you want their help?” Din asked.

“Not if I have to drink this.” Vanth stubbornly responded.

As soon as Cobb answered, the Tuskens started to yell at him, throwing their hands up and you couldn’t understand much but you knew they were not pleased. “He says your people steal their water and now you insult them by not drinking it. They know about Mos Pelgo. They know how many Sand People you killed.” Din explained.

“They raided our village. I defended the town.” The Marshal shouted, clearly becoming agitated himself and defensive

You looked over at the man and narrowed your eyes. “Just shut up and drink it.”

He looked at you with a crazed expression, as if shocked that you weren’t defending him. “Do you smell this?”

You did smell it, and it smelled like complete shit. But it certainly seemed better to drink it then being torn apart by Tuskens who were now rising from where they sat, screeching out and positioning themselves, ready to fight. “It smells better than us getting killed.” You hissed and he just rolled his eyes.

“These monsters can’t be reasoned with!” Cobb yelled out, rising from his seat as well and looking absolutely furious at this point.

“Men...” you muttered, resting your face against your hand as you shook it.

Cobb took no notice of your exasperation with his attitude, continuing to yell at the creatures. “Sit back down before I put a hole through you! I’m not going to say it-”

Suddenly an explosion of fire erupted next to you, causing you to jump up from your seat. Your head snapped to the right to find Din, an arm stretched out as flames erupted from it, causing the the Tusken and Cobb to stumble back in shock and fear. The child sat between his legs looked shocked as well, gazing up into the orange burst of heat with pure curiosity. It only lasted for a few moments, but it worked incredibly well. Both groups fell silent as their gaze fell upon Din. You could feel the frustration radiating off him and moments like this made you realize why he wasn’t a people person. You continued looking over at him as he turned his head just slightly to look at you, as if checking on you. “Well, that worked.” you mumbled with a small chuckle, your lips quirking slightly to show a small smile. Din only nodded in response, turning to look back at the Tusken and continue conversing with them.

Cobb looked down at you, his expression warped into confusion, anger, fear, and disbelief. You were certain he had probably never had a day quite like this before. “What is he saying now?”

“I’m pretty talented but believe it or not, I didn’t learn Tusken in the last few minutes.” You dryly responded, the same quirk of your lips present. That seemed to break him out of his trance, making a small chuckle pass through his lips before his gaze wandered over to Din.

“What are you telling them now?”

Din finally looked over at Cobb and you swore you could feel him roll his eyes. “The same thing I’m telling you. If we fight amongst ourselves, the monster will kill us all.”

You shook your head in agreement. “And I think we can probably all agree that none of us wanna be a light meal for this dragon.”

The Marshal nodded in response, rubbing his hand through his beard as if thinking. “Yes, that’s true.”

“Well then glad we agree.” you said, standing from your seat.

“I don’t have to drink this still, right?” Cobb pointed at the drink he had rested on the log he had been sitting on, the black liquid in it still steaming.

“Oh, fuck it.” You rolled your eyes and grabbed it. It smelled absolutely terrible, like bantha waste and rotten blue milk all wrapped in one. But it wasn’t a lot and if you didn’t think about it, you could get it down. You had been through much worse. You brought the shell that acted as a cup to your lips, throwing it back quickly and letting the liquid pass through your lips and down your throat. To your dismay, it tasted as bad as it smelled and looked, but you just chugged to try to get it over with, your face involuntarily scrunching up as you did so. Once you finished, you let the cup drop for your hands to the ground and rested one of your hands on your stomach, suddenly feeling very full and slightly queasy from the grotesque drink. Your other hand reached up to wipe at your face, where you could feel a few drops of the liquid dribble down your chin.

As you brought your hand down, you looked over to find everyone was completely silent. Cobb looked at you like you had grown a third eye, his jaw slightly dropped. The child looked up at you, making a face like he was disgusted and had taken a sip himself. You couldn’t read the expressions of the Tuskens but they were all looking in your direction, not grunting or making the slightest noise. Even Din stood next to you, a hand on his hip as his helmet tilted down to get a good look at you.

“No offense, but that tasted like complete shit.” You said, breaking the silence that was beginning to become overwhelming in every way. To your complete shock, the Tuskens started yelling and whooping and for a split second you thought you had done something wrong. Until one walked over to you and patted your shoulder, causing you to grin. You guessed they were shocked and amused that somebody had been willing to drink it. You had only wanted to show no disrespect but you found yourself overwhelmed by the response. You looked over at Din with a big grin but he only stared right back at you, making no movement towards you.

“Ma’am, you have managed to exceed all my expectations.” Cobb said and you looked over to him, to finally see him smiling freely. It was different from the cocky grin from earlier, seeming more genuine. You could see why some might find him a handsome man, with the scruffy beard and charm and good smile.

“I am very impressive.” You stated confidently.

He nodded in response and brought a hand to pat at your shoulder. “So I see.”

You felt a hand grab the back of your arm just slightly, starting to pull you back. You turned your head to see Din, one arm holding the kid and the other hand holding onto you. You smiled at him but he didn’t make any indication to acknowledge it. You understood why he acted differently in front of other people. It was almost like he had a role to play. A reputation to uphold. It probably wouldn’t be very intimidating if he was treating you like he always did, with people around. You also knew that wasn’t who Din was. He wasn’t comfortable with other people, nor ready to display any comfort he did feel with someone with the world. You don’t think it was shame or disgust he felt towards you, but merely you and Din were almost in your whole own world when you were with each other. And you didn’t need others in it.

“What’s up?” you asked.

“They set up some tents for us. We should go sleep.”

You raised an eyebrow, hearing an edge to his tone you were familiar with, but he had never taken it with you before. It was his rough, stoic Mando voice. The kind he gave people like Cobb. Not you. “I’m not really tired. I should probably wow everybody again and drink some-“

“We need rest before tomorrow.” Din said it quietly, not trying to capture the attention of others. The Tuskens didn’t seem to notice anything different, paying no attention to you two. But Cobb did, stepping forward just slightly.

“I can keep an eye on her if you want, partner. Wouldn’t mind the company.” He said, throwing a wink in your direction.

“She is fine.” Din insisted and you felt so much confusion. Why was he acting this way? It was like there was a wall between you. You wanted to reach out, hold onto him and ask him what was wrong but you knew this wasn’t the time nor the place.

Instead you just looked at Cobb and smiled. “You know, I should actually get the kid to bed. He becomes a monster without good sleep. Goodnight, marshal.”

“Goodnight to you. And you too, Mando.” He said, tipping his head towards Din. Instead of responding to him, Din simply jerked his body away, your arm still held tightly in his hand as he began to march away from the fire.

You looked back apologetically at Vanth. Sure, Din could come off as cold initially. But he was a good man, and certainly not a rude one. You had seen the respect he had shown to the Tusken Raiders, so what was his problem?

“Din, what is going on?” You finally said once you were further away, the fire of the camp starting to fade away. Two small tents were set up further away from the others, and you assumed it was for privacy for Din.

Din didn’t respond and you huffed, jerking your arm away from him. He finally stopped stomping, freezing in his tracks before turning to you. His helmet aimed right at you, T-visor seeming to stare straight into you. “Why aren’t you talking to me?”

“I figured you were too busy thinking of the marshal.”

You couldn’t help the way your jaw dropped slightly and anger flared in you. “What are you talking about?” You spat out and Din sighed. The child in his arms looked back and forth between the two of you, beginning to whine in discomfort.

“You know what I’m talking about.” Din coldly responded and you scoffed.

“I don’t think I am. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Maybe I should of let you stay with Vanth like you wanted to so much.”

“I don’t want to stay with Vanth. I want to know what you are going on about.”

Din stayed silent, not responding to you and treating you like he did with so many others. You stepped towards him but instead of reaching out for him, you grab the child from his arms, who continues to whine softly, his eyes drooping. “I’m putting the kid to bed.”

You turned away from him, waiting for no response as you trudged off to one of the two tents that were set up.

_____

Once the child finally fell asleep, snuggled into a ball of blankets, you considered just going to bed. But it wouldn’t stop nagging at your mind. The way Din treated you and what he had said. Stay with Vanth like you wanted? What the hell did that mean?

You crawled out of the tent, feeling the warm Tatooine air hit you, but with a cool night breeze pulling in that relieved you from the heat of the day. You rose your head up, finding Din standing outside of his tent, arms crossed over his chest and head aimed up, as if looking into the sky. He was still clad in his armor but it seemed like a layer had been taken off him. Like he was finally able to relax and get rid of the Mando persona, become the Din you knew again.

You stepped over, your boots crunching softly in the sand and Din looked over at your approaching figure. You stopped right next to him, looking up at his helmet. It was dark outside, but the moon shone brightly and a lantern sat outside each tent, illuminating the metal of his armor enough so you could see him. “Care to explain what is happening?” you calmly asked.

“Vanth and you seem to get along.”

Oh. Oh. Was this... Din being jealous? You had teased him earlier for it, but you had only been teasing him in an attempt to get him back for the way he had teased you about Peli earlier. You didn’t think he could be jealous in any way because you knew there was no reason for him to be. You were hopelessly devoted to Din, almost stupidly so even though there was nothing tying you two together. No label. No title. Just the shared nights in his bed and the kisses you exchanged in the dark. “What?” You mumbled out and Din sighed.

“He finds you attractive. I see the way he looks at you.”

You couldn’t help but to awkwardly chuckle. “Oh, please. I think that is just his natural expression. Pretty sure he might of been undressing you with his eyes earlier.” You joked but Din shook his head and sighed, causing the smile on your face to drop.

“No. He wants you.” Din insisted, now looking away from you. You couldn’t help but to wonder if he was flushed from jealously or insecurity. If his face was tinted red likes yours was starting to be.

“That is silly, Din.”

“No it isn’t. You are a very attractive person. Strong. Smart. Of course he wants you.”

You wanted to flush from the praise, allow yourself to bask in it but all you felt was a sting of sadness course through you. You could hear the inflection in Dins tone and though it was one you couldn’t place, you knew it wasn’t good. It wasn’t your normal Din.

“Din-”

“Do you want him?”

You gasped quietly, looking up at him with complete shock. “What?” You sputtered out.

“He is handsome. Flirtatious.”

“Gee, are you interested?” You sarcastically responded but Din seemed to find no humor in your joke once again, his helmet finally tilting to look over at you again.

“You kept smiling at him. Talking to him.”

“I was being polite, Din. Treating him like I treated Peli.” You explained but his head tilted.

“Peli isn’t a man. A man who is intrigued by you.”

“Hey, you don’t know. Peli could find me extremely alluring.” Din sighed and you bit your tongue. This was not the time for jokes but that was usually was you reverted to when uncomfortable. “Din-”

“I don’t want you to.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I don’t want you to want anyone.” He now turned, his body facing yours and helmet looking down at you directly.

“W-what?”

“I only want you to want me. I didn’t like when you... smiled or joked with him.”

“Din, you have nothing to-”

Din stepped towards you again but you didn’t move back, allowing his frame to be only inches from yours. “I only want you to want me.”

Your breath caught in your throat and now you felt a blush spread through your whole face, your chest feeling like it had been caught on fire. Oh, Maker, all you wanted was Din. Sometimes the want you felt, the need you had for him, was so overwhelming. You didn’t know how you had gone so many years of your life without him and now that he was here, he was like a drug you couldn’t get rid of. One you needed more and more of. One you needed to swallow you whole and intoxicate all your senses until they just become a part of you. Like they were just an extension of your being. And hearing Din say this, say how he wanted you to feel that way, made your legs want to give out. “Din.” You gasped as his hands reached out to your waist, holding onto you tightly.

“What do you want, sweet one?” This is one of the first times you heard an almost dangerous edge to his voice. Not one that was threatening or scary, not directed towards you necessarily. But it was dominant and complex and it made your stomach clench.

“All I want is you.”

Din paused for a moment, pulling your hips against his frame as he looked down at you. His chest remained steady, taking deep breaths in and out, completely calm and in control. You on the other end felt like you were gasping for air, like you couldn’t get enough oxygen in your lungs because Din was just consuming you. “Say it again, sweet one.”

“You, Din. All I wanted was you. All I want and will want is you. No one else.” You repeated, hoping you didn’t sound as needy and eager as you did in your head.

Din leaned down, his helmet brushing down your face, the cool metal of it gliding against your warm skin and sending shivers down your spine. “You are mine, cyar’ika.”

You nearly whined at the huskiness of his voice, how rough it sounded through the modulator. Your chest pressed against his and he clutched onto you even tighter. “No one else can have you. I am yours. Always will be here to take care of my girl. You don’t need anyone else. You understand?”

“Yes, Din. Yes.” You felt like you brain couldn’t process anything, the husk whispers tumbling from his lips making your body feel numb.

His fingers dug into your hips even more and this time you let out a whine, just the smallest noise but you knew Din heard it. “All mine. No one can care for you like I do. Be there for you like I do. Kiss you like I do.” You let out a frantic nod at that one, wanting to kiss Din so badly but knowing you couldn’t. Though you were further away from the camp site and from the other tents, you were still in the open. Exposed. Just one person had to walk up and they’d see you. See the way Din held onto you and the way your arms began to wrap around his neck, pulling him tighter against you. “We haven’t talked about it.”

You raised your eyebrow just slightly, wondering what he was meaning. “Talk about what?”

“What we are.”

Oh. You hadn’t. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to have the conversation. But things were so good and you didn’t want to scare him away with some type of commitment. Before you and the child, Din had only ever been committed to his work, his Creed. No person or personal ties. Of course there was something between the two of you. That was clear. But what was it exactly? “We haven’t I guessed.”

“How come?”

Din’s hands continued to clutch onto you, his thumbs now drawing lazy circles into you. “Well, it’s just been good-”

“Really good.”

“Yeah.” you agreed, smiling. “And I just didn’t mention it cause, y’know, it isn’t really necessary. We can just keep doing what we are doing.”

“Is that what you want?”

Your heart quickened at his question. “I just want you.” you admitted, looking away from him just slightly.

A hand left your waist, grabbing onto your chin gently and lifting it up to look directly at him. “Cyar’ika.”

“Yes?”

“You’re important to me.”

“I know.”

“No.” He interrupted, letting his hand drift up so his fingers brushed your cheek. “I am dedicated to you, okay? I’ll be yours.”

You pulled away just slightly, to look at him more clearly but you wished so desperately it was his face you were looking at. That you could look into soft eyes barely illuminated by the soft glow of the moon and lanterns. See the lips you always craved so much. Feel the chin you had pressed kisses along and held in your hand. See the hair your fingers ran through every night. But instead you just smiled softly into the helmet, looking right into the T-visor and hoping you were making eye contact. “Yeah?”

“Yes. If that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.”

“Good.” Din said lowly as he pulled you in, now wrapping his arms around your lower body to pull you in for a hug. It wasn’t the most comfortable due to all the bulky beskar he wore but it was your Din holding onto you, and that made it the best feeling. As he continued to hold you close, his hands started to drift down your lower back, fingers brushing against the bottom of your shirt and jacket, pulling the fabric up just the smallest amount so his gloved fingertips could craze bare skin. You felt goosebumps rise on your skin instantly.

“Din...”

“Yes, sweet one?”

“We should probably go to our tents.”

“I don’t want to.” He continued to rub the skin and you tried to gently pull away but he held you close.

“Someone could see.”

“Let them see.” He murmured roughly.

“Din... we should go to bed.”

“Come to my tent.” Din now whispered, leaning his forehead against yours and you sighed at the contact. Ever since you learned what a kedblade kiss was, it made it so special whenever Din went out of his way to do it because you knew what it mean to him.

“We can’t leave the kid in a tent alone. You’ll have to sleep alone tonight.” You heard the way you even whined, how clear it was that you weren’t happy with it. But the tents were extremely small and you had already put the child to sleep in what was supposed to be your tent.

“I don’t want to sleep.” He said and you sighed.

“Well, you need some rest. We’ve got a Krayt dragon to kill tomorrow.” You told him, listening to him grunt in response.

“I need you.” The way Din grumbled was barely audible but you heard, nodding against his helmet.

“I know I’m just so great to sleep next to but I think you will survive.” You respond sarcastically but Din let out another grunt.

“I don’t want to just sleep next to you, sweet one.”

You froze as his large hands grab onto your hips, letting out a small “Oh” as he squeezed them. Not roughly but just enough for you to feel the pressure of his hands, to make you gasp quietly. “Din, you may have picked the worst time to try to seduce me.”

“Is it working?” He asked and you let out a chuckle at the question, shaking your head in disbelief. Part of you couldn’t believe this was the same man who had barley spoken a word to you for the first few weeks on the Crest. The man who you thought you drove crazy with every word that left your mouth. Now he was holding onto you, saying how he wanted you and making a warmth fill in you that you’ve never felt before. Made your chest heave as your heart slammed in your chest, not out of fear but thrill and excitement. This was the man who now made you feel so many things, things you never even felt before.

“It’s working very well but we can’t.” You knew Din knew you couldn’t. It was too risky when you weren’t within the safety of the Crest. Too many people around and you were in the middle of the desert of Tatooine. Not the prime location.

Din let out a sigh as you slowly pulled away from him, his helmet still aimed right at you as his fingers began to slip away from your skin. His shoulders sagged slightly as you moved out of his reach. You knew if he didn’t stop talking to you like this and touching you like that, you wouldn’t be able to stop and you’d both do something stupid. “Sweet one, you are killing me.”

You’ve never heard Din sound so desperate in his life and you almost wanted to laugh at it. Instead you just smirked and nodded, knowing exactly what he was feeling but not wanting to show it. “Let’s kill this dragon, get the hell off Tatooine, and then we can...” you drifted off, feeling your face flush.

“Kill a Krayt dragon. Should be easy.” Din sarcastically responded and you chuckled.

“Eh, you’ve dealt with me this long. Krayt dragon should be a piece of cake.” You smirked at him and he shook his head.

“Sweet one?”

“Yes, Din?”

“Close your eyes for a second.”

You looked around. No one was near by, the sounds of the Tuskens could no longer be heard and you could just see the flame from the bonfire coming to an end. “Din, what are you-“

“Just close them real quick.”

You stayed where you were, standing a few feet away from him, but you closed your eyes. You listened closely as you heard Din step closer, feeling him lean against you just slightly as he stood in front from you. A small click rang out into the emptiness of the desert but the usually hiss didn’t follow, making you believe he hadn’t taken the helmet off completely. “Is your helmet-“

You were cut off by his lips pressing down against yours and you let out a small, content sigh at the feeling. You hadn’t kissed him in what felt like forever. All day yesterday you had traveled and the Tuskens last night didn’t have tents so you both slept outside, where you didn’t have any privacy. And today you had either spent the whole day with Vanth or Tuskens, leaving not a single moment for just you and Din.

You rested the palms of your hands against the chest plate he wore, letting the slight toughness of his lips take over. One hand reached out to grab at your hip and he pulled away, leaving one last peck before a click rang out again. “You can open your eyes.” You let them slowly flutter open, wishing you could still feel his lips against yours, the way they moved with you and conveyed things that couldn’t be said with words. “I just needed to kiss you.”

His hand drifted away and you smiled at him. “Very understandable.”

Din nodded at your tease and started to step back, towards his tent. You almost felt yourself whine as he started to move away from you. You hadn’t realized how used you had gotten to sleeping next to Din until you were faced with the realization that you had to sleep alone. You could probably squeeze in with Din and the kid in one, but you didn’t know if he could do that. Couldn’t risk somebody finding the Mandalorian tangled up in a tent with you. Probably not the most intimidating thing. But it still didn’t ease the way you felt. It might of been silly. It was only one night, but you had become addicted to him and you had already spent the last two days with minimal contact. But instead of saying anything, you just smiled at him softly as he neared the entrance of his tent, bringing yourself closer to yours. He was only a matter of a few feet away. You’d be fine.

“Goodnight, cyar’ika.”

“Goodnight, Din.”

__________

“Well, you really missed out on some fun after you left last night.” Cobb said with a grin as you approached him. He stood by the remnants of the bonfire from the night before, his legs spread and his arms crossed over his chest with his helmet sat on the ground besides him.

You stood a few feet away from Cobb, looking as his head lolled over towards you. The child in your arms was the first to respond, cooing and squirming. You let him down, watching as he seemed to relax and start to waddle around. He was becoming more dependent, not wanting to be held as much and wanting to explore on his own.

You looked around, seeing where everybody was. It was early in the morning but you had had a hard time falling asleep last night. And you didn’t want to admit it was because of Din not being next to you, but that was definitely the case. The child had woken up early along with you and instead of sitting in the tent, you decided to walk around before everything got started. You presumed that the Tuskens were probably in their tents, still asleep. Din hadn’t heard you earlier and you assumed he was still asleep in his tent, not wanting to wake him up earlier than you had to with the work ahead of him. It appeared you and Vanth were the only ones around. “Oh, really? What happened?”

“Tuskens finally got me to drink that stuff.” The face he pulled as he told you what happened was enough explanation. It twisted up into utter disgust, like he was still tasting it on his tongue and feeling the effects of it.

“Tastes like absolute shit, doesn’t it?” You asked him and he nodded fervently.

“I don’t know how you got it down so easily.”

“Pure willpower. And I used to drink lots of cheap alcohol which is almost as bad.” Cobb let out a laugh, shaking his head.

“Are you always this... spunky?”

“Spunky?” You asked, raising an eyebrow just the smallest bit.

“Can’t think of a word to describe ya.” He chuckled as he dropped down, planting himself onto one of the benches from last night. “I hope that Mandalorian of yours wasn’t too upset last night.”

You now let your eyebrows shoot up, looking down on him from where you stood. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s just say I now know why he isn’t too fond of me.”

You chuckle, shaking your head. “He isn’t too fond of anybody to be honest.”

An eyebrow of his quirked up. “I don’t think that’s true. Seems to be fond of you and that kid.” He looked over at the child, who continued to waddle around. “I just didn’t know. That’s all.”

“Know what?” you asked.

“Well, when you walked in with the Mandalorian yesterday, I figured you were a nanny or some bounty he dragged along to work with him. I didn’t know you two were...” he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

You felt your face flush and you had no clue what to say. Should you deny it, say you are just a work partner of his or something? Or did you confirm his suspicions? You and Din had never discussed what to tell people about your situation. You figured on his end he probably found it unnecessary to discuss with others because it was none of their business. And what do you even say?Saying he was your boyfriend or something along those lines felt so silly. “Um, well, y’know we are j-just pals.”

Cobb now laughed heartily at that, clutching onto his stomach as his eyes crinkled up. He kept going like that and you rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your shoulders as he continued to loose it. “Okay, you can shut up now or I’ll kick your ass.”

“What’s going on?” You jumped at the voice behind you, turning around to see Din standing a couple feet away from you. Vanth began to straighten up but his face was still red from the laughter and he kept snorting, trying to hold it in but seemingly unable to do so.

“Your girl here was just telling me about how you two are such great pals.” He said, a giggle following the words as he smiled up at you.

You didn’t even bother to glare at the marshal, just looking over at Din who tilted his helmet at you, as if asking ‘Pals?’ “The marshal here was just being an idiot.” you uncomfortably said, shifting in the spot where you stood.

“I was just trying to say I was sorry for my... advances.” He stood from where he was sat, looking at Din now and finally looking like he recovered from his laughing fit. “I didn’t realize you two were pals.” He said the word with a knowing grin.

You looked over at Din who stared right back at Vanth, his helmet aimed right at him. “Well, now you know.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over and you looked down to find the kid joining in on the awkwardness, just standing there and staring between the two men. You cleared your throat, causing all three to look over at you, and clapped your hands together. “Alright, boys, why don’t we go hunt down a dragon?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Cobb said, beginning to walk off towards the Tuskens who finally began to exit their tents and leaving you and Din alone with the child.

You looked over at him and felt the corner of your lip quirk up. “That went well.”

“Yeah. We should tell everybody we are pals.”

You smiled dropped as your narrowed your eyes at him, not amused by his sarcasm. “You know, he suggested that there was something between us-”

“Because there is.”

You rolled your eyes at his need to clarify, even though your chest squeezed at the confirmation. “-and I didn’t know what to tell him.”

“What do you mean, tell him?”

“Like do I say we are friends? Or work partners? It’s not like I can say something silly and ruin your very serious Mando reputation.”

“Something silly? Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” You looked down at your feet, becoming flushed from the way he continued to just stare right at you. “Boyfriend or something like that.” You mumbled very quietly, hoping he didn’t hear it all.

Din just nodded. “Say we are partners.”

You looked up at him and tilted your head. “Partners?”

“It’s a good word.”

You thought about it and supposed that it was the perfect word. Partner didn’t necessarily indicate something romantic. Could just mean you worked alongside him. But it could also mean he was your partner, your person. It didn’t require any explanation and a person could just take it either way. You nodded your head and smiled. “Alright, partner.”

Din chuckled at you and bent down to grab the kid, lifting him up into his arms. “Are you ready?”

You nodded your head, looking out to see the Tuskens preparing to travel to the home of the dragon. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

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firstofficerwiggles · 3 years

Text

Chapter 8: Desperately Seeking Mandos

Link to Chpt. 7, Link to Masterlist

Pairing: The Mandalorian x female reader

Rating: M/E, 18+ only

Warnings: SMUT, oral sex (F and M receiving), explicit description of sex (still romantic smut though), canonical violence

Word count: ~11K

Author’s Note: This chapter took a bit longer than I originally planned, but my semester has reached its busiest time and it’s harder to carve out as much time as I’d like to write. So, thank you for being patient with me. Also, I would like to send a special thank you to @imthemandalornow for being an excellent source of inspiration -- you’re the best, darling. As always, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

You sit in the passenger seat of the Razor Crest as you stare out at the blue glow of hyperspace, normally you find it pretty and rather peaceful, but today you’re sitting tense and fraught with worry. Din monitors the scanners regularly and it appears as if you have avoided detection by any Imperial vessels. Still, the feeling of unease stays with you. Din talks to you about some possible planets you could try to avoid detection, but neither of you seem very sure about what your next move should be. You’re distracted from having to decide when the comm dings with an incoming transmission.

“Princess and Mando, are you there? It’s Mistress Eira.” Her image comes in over the holo and she looks distressed.

“We’re here, Eira,” Din replies. You come over to stand close to him so you can see the holo better.

“I’m so glad to hear your voice, Mando, I was so worried for you both, something terrible has happened here,” she tells you in a serious voice. “There were ex-Imperial officers here; they killed Mistress Sigrid.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that, Eira,” you tell her with a heavy heart, “Was anyone else hurt?”

“No, but, honestly you shouldn’t shed any tears over Sigrid,” Eira sounds angry now, “She had some type of deal with them, apparently she was helping them find you. I’m calling to warn you.” You gasp at this news, you didn’t expect such treachery from Sigrid.

“Eira, do you know who any of the Imperials were?” You feel like you already know what her answer will be.

“Yes, the man that killed Sigrid is a Commander Kerrick Hoven, we have security footage of their interaction and then the shooting,” Eira confirms your worst fear, “I have to tell you, Princess, the man seems obsessed with you, the footage of him is unsettling, he was… talking to you, well, an image of you.”

“I’m sorry, Eira, I had no idea he was looking for me, I haven’t seen him in years and I never would have thought that I was putting anyone in danger,” Ok, technically you did know there were Imps after Din and the baby, but not you too. But who could have predicted that they’d find you on Angel One of all places?

“It isn’t your fault,” she says, “We’ve discovered that Sigrid has been in contact with the Empire for years making many underhanded backdoor deals.” Eira pauses for a moment and then says, “Listen, I’m going to send you the security footage, I think you should see what I mean about this man, you need to know what he’s like.”

“Alright, thank you, Eira, any information we can get about him will be helpful,” you say.

“Do you have any information about their ship?” Din asks Eira.

“Oh yes, I’ll send all that we have to you now,” she replies.

“Eira, thank you for helping us, you’re a true friend,” you tell her before she ends the holo.

A few minutes later, the files she promised come through. Din reviews the information for Kerrick’s light cruiser and confirms that it was the one the scanners detected as you were leaving Angel One. After he’s stored all the pertinent details about the ship, you know it’s time to see the second file.

As the holovid begins to play, you watch as Kerrick goes from an icy calm officer, to an angry bully, and then to a disturbing ex-lover. You clutch Din’s hand as you watch and you cringe in horror, as it continually gets worse. When Kerrick finishes his creepy soliloquy to your image, you feel ill.

“Oh, cyar’ika, come here,” Din stands and pulls you into his arms, “Don’t cry, my love, you’re safe here with me.”

You didn’t even realize there were tears streaming down your cheeks until he says that. You let your arms come around him tightly and you try to even out your breathing. Din rubs your back and murmurs soothing words to you and slowly you feel yourself calm down. With your face still pressed against him, you say,

“I had no idea Kerrick still thought about me, let alone that his feelings for me have become so twisted, ugh and he still calls me his ‘doll’, I always hated that, even when we were a couple… I can’t believe we ever were,” your voice shows your disgust.

“I’ll do everything in my power to keep him from you,” Din pledges to you.

“I know that you will, Din,” you murmur against his chest. You hear a sad little coo and look over to the child who is looking back at you with teary eyes.

“Oh sweetie,” you say, and you go over to him, pick him up, and hold him tight to your chest, “I’ll be alright,” you look back to Din, “We’re all going to be alright,” you promise.

“Maybe you should take him downstairs and try to get some more rest?” Din suggests his voice full of concern, “I’ll reach out to my contacts and work on finding us our next destination.”

You’re feeling exhausted and so you pull Din into a hug with you and the little one, before heading down the ladder and crawling into your bed. You don’t bother to put the child in his hammock and instead let him cuddle up next to you. You rub his back as you watch his tiny face and see as he slowly drifts off to sleep. Eventually your own eyes start to feel heavy and you fall asleep too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frustrated, Din ends another holocall without much to show for it. He’s been at this for almost two hours now and he still has no idea where to go, or what the best course of action will be. He knows he needs to be more patient, he’s made the calls for assistance and now he has to see what comes from them. Still though, the churning in his gut keeps him far from patience and instead brings him doubt and worry. It doesn’t help that he can still hear Kerrick’s disgusting words in his ear, calling you his ‘doll’ and promising to rid you of the ‘vile Mandalorian’. He’d never wanted to shoot someone through a holopad before, but as he watched that holovid his fingers were itching to pull out his blaster. When you first told him about Kerrick, Din had thought about tracking the man down, thinking maybe he’d help you get a little revenge on the man who broke your heart and betrayed you. Later, he realized that was just a silly fantasy to make himself feel important to you, but once Din understood how much you’d come to care for him, he had stopped thinking about your ex-lover altogether.

Din sighs, rolling his neck and stretching the muscles there. He’s wishing he could go down and join you in some sleep for a few hours, when the holo dings.

“Din Djarin, I hope you are well,” he hears as the Armorer’s image glimmers into view, “Word has reached me that you are being pursued once again by Imperial forces.”

“Yes, that is correct, I am seeking shelter for a few days to formulate a plan,” Din replies.

“The Covert has regrouped and joined with another,” the Armorer tells him, “You will join us here and we will assist you in your strategy.”

“I- I do not wish to endanger the Covert, I should not come to you,” Din responds, his tone regretful as he remembers all that the Covert has sacrificed already on his behalf.

“By its very nature the Covert is always in danger, it is a fact that we accept,” she states calmly, “We are gar vode, your brethren, and we welcome you in your time of need. We are always here for you. This is the way.”

“This is the way.” Din responds and he enters the coordinates she gives him into the nav. As he does this, he tells her about you and the latest trouble that has managed to find you both. Din feels comforted by the Armorer’s genuine interest in you as he tells the story, and he greatly appreciates her willingness to help you.

Feeling a sense of relief Din after his conversation with the Armorer ends, he switches on the autopilot and heads downstairs. When he sees you and the child sleeping so soundly, Din feels a sense of contentment wash over him. As he snuggles up next to you in the bed, he knows that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep you both safe and that it will be worth it no matter the cost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Din explains that you’re heading to his Covert, you feel reassured at first because you know how formidable your Mandalorian is and you can’t think of safer place to be than surrounded by a whole group of them. Nonetheless, it dawns on you that this is Din’s family that you’ll be meeting and you find yourself wishing that you were getting to meet them under better circumstances. You also start to feel a tad nervous about making a good first impression.

The Covert is currently located on Dol’har Hyde, a planet almost entirely covered in dense forests. When you land in a clearing that is just large enough for the Razor Crest, you wonder if the coordinates were correct because you can’t see any type of settlement or structures of any kind. You follow Din down a narrow forest path listening to the birds singing and enjoying the natural beauty of the place. It’s soothing and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think the planet was uninhabited. The further you go down the path, the thicker the forest becomes and it seems as if you are walking in twilight as the multitude of leaves above you block out more and more of the sun’s rays. Finally, the path appears to end and you see the opening of a cave.

“This is it,” Din says, and you look up to see a small carving of a mythosaur in the stone entrance. You get no more than five steps into the dark cavern when two Mandalorians appear out of nowhere asking you to identify yourselves with blasters raised. Different from Din, their armor is decorated with paint, one in orange and the other in blue. Once they recognize Din, they lower their weapons and greet you.

“Welcome home, Djarin,” the Mando in blue says as he thumps Din’s pauldron in greeting, “Still getting into trouble I see.”

“Vizsla, still a pain in the ass I see,” Din replies curtly.

“I’m afraid the trouble is my fault,” you speak up, not wanting Din to take the blame for your past catching up to you.

“Well hello,” Blue Mando welcomes you with a pleasant tone, “The Armorer mentioned Djarin was bringing someone with him, who knew you’d be so pretty.”

His compliment surprises you, and you stutter out, “O-Oh, thank you.”

Din makes a grunting sound as he places his hand on your lower back and steers you past the two guards, “We’re going to see the Armorer now,” he informs them.

“I’ll take you to see her,” Orange Mando offers.

“Thank you,” Din responds.

“I guess I’ll see you later then, pretty one, you too, Djarin,” the Blue Mando chuckles as you walk deeper into the cave.

As your eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting of the cave’s passageway you can see that there are drawings on the walls, many featuring Mandalorian helmets. They look like they could be children’s sketches given the simplicity and the height of most of them. It makes you smile, knowing that you’ll be somewhere with families, maybe your own little one will be able to make a few friends while you’re here. Eventually, you can hear the sounds of other people and when the passage opens up to a large room in the cave you see a comforting and homey site.

This part of the cavern has a small pool in the middle and it creates a beautiful soft glow as the water reflects back the artificial lights that have been arranged throughout the space. Around the room, there are small groups of people chatting with each other, playing sabacc, helping children with schoolwork, polishing armor, and performing all sorts of small domestic tasks. It makes you smile to yourself. Everyone here wears helmets, including the children, and all of the adults wear armor too. You notice a few helmets turning towards you as you move past the groups and you wonder if you must seem odd to them with your face uncovered.

There is a second passageway on the other side of the room and you follow Orange Mando down this next path. As you walk, you can feel a hot wind run through the tunnel and you hear a metallic clanking in an almost rhythmic pattern. The noise grows louder and soon you reach a warm room where the Armorer is working. You are mesmerized by her striking golden helmet and the graceful but powerful movements she makes as she forges a piece of beskar armor. When she sees Din, the child, and you, she pauses in her work and nods in your direction. Din motions for you to sit on a stone bench and the three of you sit patiently as she finishes her work.

“I see your foundling is doing well,” the Armorer comments, “And this is the caregiver.” She looks over at you and you offer her a smile and a nod. She rests her tools on her workbench and comes over to you. Din stands and you mirror his movement. The Armorer offers you her hand and welcomes you to the Covert.

“Din Djarin tells me that you are a very special woman, it is clear you have been a positive influence in his life.” The Armorer speaks in such a deliberate way that you feel honored to hear such praise from her.

“Thank you, I’ve tried to do my best to help him and we’ve grown very close, but I feel such regret that it’s my fault we’re in trouble now,” you admit to her and you know your face shows the guilt you’re feeling.

“It isn’t your fault,” Din corrects you, “You have no control over Kerrick’s actions.”

“Din is correct,” the Armorer affirms his statement, “You are not responsible for the actions of an evil man who seeks to control you. We will do all that we can to assist you. This is the way.”

“This is the way,” Din repeats.

“Thank you, I am beyond grateful for your help, and for making me welcome with your tribe,” you tell her.

“You are welcome,” she responds, “I must ask now though to speak to Din alone with the other members of our tribe, if you do not mind.”

“Of course.”

You hear footsteps behind you and you see that several other Mandalorians have joined you. Several of them give you a nod in greeting in your direction and a woman with purple armor steps forward.

“I can take you and the child to the place where you’ll be staying while you’re here,” she offers. You turn to follow her, but before you can, Din reaches out to give your hand a squeeze and says, “I’ll find you later, cyar’ika.”

Din watches you leave and then turns back to the Armorer, feeling a little nervous now that he is alone with her and those who remain in their tribe. His own feelings of guilt rise within him as he looks around the room and realizes how few their numbers have become.

In a low voice full of shame and remorse he says, “I am sorry for Nevarro. I can never thank you enough for helping me and the child, but I--”

“Have nothing to apologize for,” Paz interrupts him in a gravelly voice laden with emotion. Din turns his head toward him in surprise.

“We were honored to help you and we would make the same choice again,” a female member of the tribe speaks up.

“It was our duty and our privilege to fight alongside of you in Nevarro,” another tribe member says.

“You are ner vod, an important member of our tribe and we are here for you,” yet another person tells him.

One by one each tribe member speaks up to reassure Din of his place in the tribe and to express that none of them hold him responsible for the attack on the Covert in Nevarro. His eyes fill with tears and he can feel them slowly gliding down his face in response to their acceptance and love for him. He’s felt so disconnected from the tribe since being forced to flee but being with them here now, and hearing their words of support makes him feel like part of a family again. It is so much more than he could have asked for and it means everything to him.

“Th-thank you,” Din chokes out when the last person has spoken, he wants to say more but his emotions are causing a tightness in his throat and it’s all he can get out now.

“Now, let us discuss the threat against your companion,” the Armorer says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Purple Mando leads you to a small room with modest furnishings where you are able to stow your bag of belongings. She asks if you want to rest, but you tell her that you’d rather spend time with the others if that’s alright.

“I know that little one would love a chance to run around a bit too and maybe play with some other children, if he can,” you suggest.

“That sounds like a nice idea, and you can meet some of my tribe members.” Her voice has a pleasant tone and her friendly demeanor puts you at ease.

When you’re back in the larger cavern that seems to serve as the common room for the Covert, she introduces you to a group of her friends.

“Look at your little foundling, what a cutie he is,” one of the women coos at the kiddo.

“He’s a sweetie,” another one says, “He’s welcome to go play with the other children, here, I’ll introduce him to my two boys.”

“Thank you,” you reply and you put the child down so he can toddle over to the other little children who are playing with blocks. “Be sure to share, buddy,” you call after him.

“Oh, is he in the ‘mine’ phase?” Purple Mando asks you.

“It’s hard to tell really, it’s more that he doesn’t have much time to spend with other children so he’s used to all the toys being his,” you explain.

“Ah, I see, well I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” she says in a reassuring manner.

“So, will you tell me a little about your tribe? I’ve only ever met the one Mandalorian.” You’re really curious to know more about their way of life.

“Sure, we’re happy to tell you anything you want to know.” Her friends make positive sounds and nod their heads in agreement. “But you also have to be sure to tell us all about you and your Mandalorian,” she says with a small chuckle.

You agree with a smile, and the women proceed to tell you about the tribe. They’ve been here in this Covert for quite some time now. On the other side of the cavern system there is a settlement where they can go for various necessities. Unlike Nevarro, there is less threat here so they are able to leave the Covert in small groups. The adults in the tribe have one of four principle jobs. The protectors assist with guarding the Covert and training the others in fighting techniques. The hunters are responsible for bringing in fresh meat from the surrounding forest. The crafters make weapons, vibroblades and other knives in particular, that they sell to help earn income for the tribe. Finally, the caregivers are responsible for the domestic tasks including maintaining a large garden to grow food for the tribe. There are also a few members who have special jobs like the tribe’s two healers, the Armorer, and the beroya, a bounty hunter, like Din.

“Although we hear your beroya is more skilled than ours,” one of the women says, hinting a little at the subject of Din.

“Well, he isn’t one to brag, but he always seems to be successful in catching his quarry, at least as far as I’ve seen,” you explain but you can’t keep a note of pride out of your voice.

“His tribe has only been with us for a few months, but we have heard stories about him,” Purple Mando tells you, “And they were very pleased to hear that you were coming to stay with him for a bit.”

“Really?” This surprises you because you wouldn’t have believe that Din’s tribe would give too much thought to you seeing as they’ve never met you.

“Mmhmm, yes, apparently he’s never been serious about a woman before, so they’re all wondering if he’s finally ready to settle down,” she laughs lightly as she says this and tips her helmet in your direction.

“Oh I- I don’t know about that,” you stumble over your words a bit, feeling flustered at the implication, “He um hasn’t said… I mean, I wouldn’t assume anything… I-”

“Don’t let her tease you,” another woman pipes up, “She’s a hopeless matchmaker.”

“Oh c’mon, what can I say, I just adore love and a riduurok,” Purple Mando giggles.

“What’s a riduurok?” you ask.

“A marriage ceremony,” she tells you, “When two people become each other’s riduur, or spouse.”

“Well, I appreciate learning new words in Mando’a,” you say with a chuckle, “But I don’t think there’s going to be a riduurok any time soon, unless one of you are getting married this week?”

The women laugh with you and you feel a contentment that you haven’t felt in days, it feels like you can let your guard down with them. As much as you enjoy spending time with Din, you’ve missed having friends. The afternoon passes quickly as the women fill you in on the gossip in the tribe and you watch the child playing happily with the other kids.

When Din returns to your side with several members of his tribe, he introduces you to many of them although all without names as per their tradition so you continue to refer to them in your mind by the colors of their armor. Even though some of the colors are repeated, the patterns of the paint vary sufficiently that you can easily tell everyone apart.

One woman with pink armor seems very chatty and interested in you. She asks you all about your work with languages.

“Oh, how did you know about that?” you ask surprised.

“Din told us of course,” she says pleasantly, “He’s very sweet on you and talked at length about your many accomplishments while we were catching up.” As she comments on Din’s affectionate side, she nudges him slightly with her elbow and it’s clear she’s teasing him. It’s cute and it reminds you of the way you used to tease your brother about girls.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” you whisper conspiratorially to her, “I’m sweet on him too.” You hear Din let out a chuckle at that and he rests his hand on your knee. He’s relaxed here in a way you’ve not seen before and it’s nice.

“Oh, but yes, languages have always intrigued me, I love figuring out how they work and learning about new ones,” you explain, “I’ve even learned several words in Mando’a today.”

“Which ones?” Pink is curious to know.

“Well, beroya, talking about Din, of course,” you say with a smile, “And then a few related to families, ad’ika, aliit, and buir, oh and then riduur and riduurok too.” You’re just happy you remembered all the new words.

“Hmm, riduur and riduurok, talking more about Din, I suppose?” she giggles.

“Oh! No! I- I didn’t mean in reference to him, it- it just came up…” you trail off embarrassed to have implied such a thing. You’re thankful that Din is deep in conversation with one of the other men and doesn’t appear to have heard that.

“Don’t worry, I’m only playing,” Pink reassures you, “I’m just so happy with my own riduur. It’s only been eight months and I’m already expecting.” She tells you this excitedly and places a hand on her lower abdomen tenderly where you can see a small baby bump.

“Congratulations!” you beam at her with delight, “That’s so exciting.” You ponder her news for a moment and then ask, “What’s it like? Being pregnant, I mean? I’ve always been curious.”

“Well, at first I just felt really tired and I could throw up at a moment’s notice,” she explains, “But now, I’m further along and I just feel really happy and excited. Plus my riduur is just so proud and happy too.” She points to a man in black armor. Then she leans in closer to you and drops her voice low as she whispers, “And honestly, the sex has never been better. You’d think he was trying to get me pregnant twice.”

You laugh merrily along with her, not realizing that you’re drawing Din’s attention back to you when you pipe up to say, “I’ve always fantasized about being pregnant, it seems like such a special time, knowing that a new life is growing within you.” Your face takes on a dreamy, wistful look as you say this to her. But then thinking about your reality, you say, “I guess it’s just a far-off wish, but it’s fun to dream about it.”

Din’s helmet snaps to look directly at you when you say this, and, as it turns out, so do several other curious helmets. Something deep inside Din’s chest pulses with a desire to make your wish come true. Suddenly he can see what you would look like round and swollen with his child, the beautiful glow you would have, the tender way you would look at him when he’d caress your belly, and so much more. He wants to say something, anything to you, but he can’t think of the right words, especially not in front of so many people. Happy giggles from you and your new friend distract him from these thoughts.

Pink giggles at your statement and then leans in to stage whisper, “You should be careful saying that around a bunch of Mandalorians, one of them might take you up on it and put a baby in you tonight.”

Her statement is rather blunt, but it just makes you laugh along with her. After the stress you’ve been under all day, you’re enjoying making a new friend and just giggling along with her. As nervous as you were about meeting Din’s tribe, you are so thankful to be here now.

“So Djarin, your woman wants a baby,” Paz ribs Din, “You know if you’re not up to the task, I’d be more than happy to oblige her.”

“Shut up, di’kut,” Din mutters at him.

“Vizsla has a point; she is a beauty, I’m surprised you’re not trying harder,” another guy sitting next to him gets in on the teasing.

“Not you too,” Din replies and gives the guy a shove.

“Maybe we should introduce ourselves, get to know her,” Paz says cheekily, then walks over closer to where you’re seated. “Hey, mesh’la, how are you doing this evening?” he nods his helmet in your direction.

“I’m pretty sure he means you,” Pink snickers.

Not wanting to be impolite, you smile kindly as you answer, “I’m having a nice time; everyone has been so welcoming.”

“That’s good; we all want you to feel welcome.” He props his knee up on a rock formation and then leans his arm down on it so he can be closer to where you are. “Maybe later you’d like a nice tour of the caverns? I know some really nice spots.”

Din stands up at this and positions himself between you and Blue Mando, “You want to ask her that again, Vizsla?”

“I dunno, maybe she’d rather see some Mandalorian sparring? Let her see how a real man fights,” Paz jeers at Din.

“Why not? I’m sure she’d enjoy watching me kick your ass.” Din taunts back.

“Whoa, guys, there’s no need for this,” you try to interrupt, but the air is thick with tension and testosterone. This seems to be an older dispute, and you’re just a convenient spark to reignite the flames of the argument. You’re worried that they might actually start fighting when the child comes to your rescue.

The little guy toddles over carrying a big piece of paper in his claws. He wants to show Din and you a picture that he’s drawn.

“Hi, buddy!” You purposely step between Din and Blue Mando to reach down and pick him up. “What do you have here?”

It’s a drawing of a stick figure family with flowers and what looks to be frogs surrounding them. One of the figures has a helmet-shaped head, another has hair that looks a lot like yours, and the third little figure has big green ears, so it’s clear that he’s drawn his own little family of Din, you, and himself.

“This is so good, buddy,” Din tells him and then he leans over to pat the kid on the head.

“You did so great, kiddo!” You say enthusiastically, feeling a bit relieved too. You lean in and kiss the child on the forehead, and then whisper, “Good job calming down your papa too.” He coos at you in his happy way and you could swear he understands everything you say to him.

Just then, a soft gonging sound rings out across the cave. You watch as the other children scramble back towards their parents and little groups begin to funnel out of the room.

“What’s happening?” you ask Pink.

“It’s time for the evening meal. The food is prepared collectively, and each family goes to collect their portion before heading to their private quarters to eat. Follow me and we’ll get you three all set up.”

You follow her and the rest of the Mandalorians towards another large room with a buffet of food. It all smells delicious and you didn’t realize how hungry you’d become. The child starts wiggling in anticipation when he sees the feast before him. He starts making little whiny sounds and grabby hands towards the dishes.

“It’s ok, sweetie,” you tell him, “We’ll get our food very soon, I promise.”

Din moves forward to begin collecting your dinner and he quickly scoops up a bun that had started to mysteriously float upward and hands it to the child so he won’t get too fussy. “Don’t get too impatient, kiddo,” he says gently reproaching the child.

You retreat to your appointed room with your meal and once you make sure the child can’t peek over at Din, you’re able to enjoy the food. For a while, you simply eat in a comfortable silence. There’s been so much going on today, it’s nice to be here where it’s more tranquil and you have a moment to yourselves that doesn’t feel as stressful as early in the day.

“I’ve really enjoyed meeting everyone here, they’re so caring and nice,” you tell Din, “Pink and Purple did a great job of introducing me to lots of people and teaching me about the Covert.”

“Pink and Purple?” He asks, confused.

“Oh, well, I don’t know anyone’s names so I’ve just been referring to them by the color of their armor in my head, Pink, Purple, Orange, Blue, you know?”

Din laughs at this and says, “You’re so adorable, cyar’ika.”

“Thanks, darling,” you say laughing a little with him, it is rather funny, “Seriously, I’ve felt so safe and at home here, even though it’s only been a few hours.”

“It makes me happy to hear you say that, cyar’ika,” he responds, “I hope you don’t mind but I told my tribe a lot about you, I wanted them to know how hard you’ve worked to take care of the child and keep him safe.”

You feel a fluttery sensation in your chest at his words, “I’m honored that you wanted to tell them about me.”

“Of course I wanted to,” Din says, “You’re very important to me.”

“You’re important to me too, Din,” you admit softly, trying not to get too choked up as you share your feelings with him. You hear him come closer to you and then he’s placing his arms around you, hugging you to his chest. His helmet is still off and you can feel him nuzzle his face into your neck and hair.

You sit like that for a while, just enjoying the closeness; you’re holding the child in your arms and Din is holding you in his. After a bit, you start to rock the child a little and hum a little song to him. He’s had a long day after running around with the other children and now that his belly is full, you can see he’s getting drowsy. As his big eyes start to blink longer and longer, you get up to put him in his little pod for the night. When you close it, you can feel Din has followed you and is standing right behind you.

“I have something for you,” he says, his voice a little gruff, but modulated so you know he’s wearing the helmet again. You turn and face him and you see he’s holding out a small leather pouch for you to take.

You smile broadly at him, “A gift for me?”

“Yes,” he confirms.

You untie the strings of the pouch and reach inside to pull out a necklace with a heart pendant made of beskar. It glimmers in the light and you can see there is a mythosaur skull imprinted on the heart. You hold it up and smile, touched by the gesture.

“Oh, it’s beautiful, Din,” you breathe out in delight, “Thank you so much. Will you help me put it on?”

You hand him the necklace and then turn away so he can clasp it at the nape of your neck. He tries to do it first with his gloves on, but then you hear him mutter, “Kriffing gloves,” followed by some shuffling before you feel his bare fingers against your skin as he finally secures the clasp for you.

“How does it look?” You ask him.

“Beautiful, just like you,” he says, before adding, “It’s made from a piece of my armor.”

“It is?” you gasp a little, “So it’s like I’m wearing a little piece of you?”

“Mmhmm,” he nods.

“Then I love it even more,” you tell him truthfully. “If I close my eyes, can I thank you with a kiss?”

“Absolutely,” Din says. You let your eyes flutter closed and then you feel his lips on yours, kissing you softly and slowly. It’s so sweet and romantic, you feel like you want to swoon. His tongue comes out to brush lightly against your bottom lip and you open your mouth letting him deepen the kiss. You pull him closer to you, running your hand up into his hair as you tug lightly and shift against him to position yourself to an even better angle. This rouses something in Din and he kisses you more passionately as his hands run down your back to your hips before pulling you flush to his body. After a bit he breaks away from your lips, only so he can trail kisses down your neck and throat, traveling further down until he kisses your chest right above the pendant.

“I’m glad you love the necklace,” Din says and you can feel his breath on your chest as his fingers lightly play with the pendant, “It… it means a lot to me, giving this to you means I feel attached to you… it means that you have my heart.”

“Oh, Din,” your voice fills with emotion, “You have my heart too.”

“Then I don’t need anything else in the galaxy, cyar’ika.” After those sweet words, Din moves back up to give you another scorching kiss.

When he pulls away this time, he rests his forehead on yours and asks, “Did you think to grab the sleep mask before we left?”

You giggle a little at that and say, “Yes, I did. It’s in the outside pouch of my bag.”

He kisses you again, “Can I get it?”

“Yes, but, do you think it will be ok with the little one right in the room with us? I mean I know he’s in his pod…” you trail off, really wanting things to continue but a little torn given the sleeping accommodations tonight.

“His pod is soundproofed, but I’m sure we can be quieter if we try,” Din replies, “But if you’re not comfortable with that, we can just sleep.”

“Well, if you think we can be quieter,” you reply honestly, “I’d rather keep going.”

“Me too,” Din says and in almost an instant, he’s back by your side slipping the mask over your eyes and kissing you soundly again.

“Cyar’ika, can I undress you?” he asks.

“Yes, please,” you respond. Gently, Din removes each piece of your clothing. He is unhurried as he reveals more of you to him, almost as if you’re a present and he’s savoring the unwrapping. When he reveals a patch of skin, he pauses to kiss you there, sometimes letting his hot tongue slip out and taste you. Each time he does it, you melt a little more into his touch. When you’re completely naked, he guides you to the bed so you can lie back. He kisses your lips one more time before telling you, “Let me remove my clothing now, I’ll be just a bit.”

You wait in anticipation, and when you hear him moving closer to the bed again, you’re surprised when you feel him kissing your toes.

“Din!” you yelp in surprise.

“Shh, cyar’ika,” he murmurs, “We’re supposed to be quieter.”

“You surprised me,” you explain, but in a softer voice this time.

You feel his lips again on your feet as he starts to kiss his way to your ankle and then up your calf. He’s gradually parting your legs as he works his way up higher and higher. You can guess his destination as he places a kiss high up on your inner thigh, but then you’re surprised again when he pulls away. When you feel him kissing your other foot, you realize he’s repeating the whole process on the other leg this time. He’s taking his time kissing and tasting your skin, and it feels so good that it’s turning you on more than you can believe. This time when Din gets to your inner thigh, you’re trembling in anticipation. As he lingers, you can’t take it anymore and you start to beg him.

“Din, please,” you whine out so softly it’s almost a whimper.

“Do you want more, cyar’ika?” he says against your skin and he lets his tongue caress the very top of your thigh. It’s so good, but it’s still too far away.

“Yes, please, higher.” This time it is a whimper and you don’t even care just so long as it gets him to finally kiss and lick where you need him most.

“Well, when you ask so nicely…” Din finally brings his tongue to your pussy and licks a path from the bottom all the way up to the very top where he places a kiss directly on your clit.

You let out a soft mewling sound and he says, “Was that better?”

“Please, more,” you manage to get out in a breathy voice.

“Anything for you, cyar’ika,” Din says before licking you again in the same deliberate manner. He keeps this up, licking in long strokes but very slowly, driving you completely crazy with desire. You start to try to grind your hips against his tongue but his hands come up to hold you still.

“You’re so eager,” he chuckles, “But be patient, my love; I’ll make it good for you.” With that comment, he pushes his tongue inside you as his fingers come up to draw light circles around your clit. It feels incredible and you let out a shaky moan as he finally starts to give you more. His tongue and his lips start to explore you in earnest, tasting and sucking on your most sensitive parts, turning you into a moaning mess. It an attempt to be quieter, you hold your hand up to your mouth to muffle the sounds because you just can’t stop making them.

“Mmm, that’s a sound I like to hear,” Din says between licks, “Reminds me of when you were first on the ship with me, late at night, I’d hear you trying to be quiet as you touched yourself.”

“You heard that?” you manage to gasp out, you’d be a little embarrassed but considering where his head is now, you don’t care.

“Yes, and I lived for it,” he tells you before diving back in and picking up his pace. You keen up into his mouth as he sucks hard on your clit, like it’s the last thing he’ll ever taste, and you feel your thighs starting to quake. When he pushes two fingers deep inside you, you can feel yourself starting to tighten around them. Your pleasure builds and just when it seems like you can’t take anymore, you feel yourself coming apart all over his face and hand.

You’re still panting when he makes his way up your body and then pulls you into another passionate kiss. His enthusiasm for you is humbling, but truthfully, you feel the same way, like you can never get enough of him. You break the kiss to move down his body now; you place hot, open-mouthed kisses all down his torso. You stop at both of his nipples to tease them with your tongue and nip at them lightly. Now it’s his turn to moan as you let your hands and mouth guide you lower and lower.

“Where are you g-going, cyar’ika?” Din grounds out, his voice stuttering as your tongue delves into his navel.

“Mmmm, can’t you guess, my love?” And with that, you let your mouth envelope the head of his cock and swirl your tongue all around it. Din lets out a loud groan that is almost a whine and you smile to yourself.

“Now who needs to be quiet?” you tease before returning to let your tongue caress his shaft all over with long, wet licks.

“Aaaahhh, just feels so fucking good,” Din breathes out, his voice low.

“I’m going to make you feel amazing,” you promise, and you return to the head, rubbing your tongue across the sensitive spot just underneath before sucking him into your mouth. You go about halfway down this time before pulling off him again. You return to taunting him with licks, this time running your tongue over his balls before you resume sucking him. You repeat this teasing process, each time sucking him deeper into your mouth until you start to hum to open your throat as you begin to reach his base. When you finally take all of him, he’s practically shuddering at the sensation. You take pity on him and instead of continuing to tease, you hollow your cheeks and begin to glide up and down, showing him how much you want to please him, wanting to give him the same intense pleasure he brought you a few moments ago. You can hear him doing his best to muffle his moans as he shakes and writhes underneath you. You can tell he’s trying not to thrust into your mouth, but he can’t help bucking his hips a little and when he does, it causes your throat to constrict around him increasing his enjoyment. You can tell he’s starting to get very close, but before you can get him there, he’s pushing you away.

“No, no, wait, I… I don’t want to yet…” Din gasps.

“Are you sure? I wanted you to finish in my mouth,” you explain, still eager to resume.

Din groans a little, but moves to haul you back up against him, “If I do that right now, I don’t think I’ll be able to make love to you anymore tonight, and I want that more.”

“Oh, Din,” your voice catches a little, “I do want you to keep making love to me, but sometime, I want you to let me finish you with my mouth.”

“Yes, sometime,” he kisses you to seal the promise. Din rolls you onto your side so that your back is flush against his chest, “I want to take you like this, cyar’ika,” he says. His hands are already maneuvering your legs so he can slide himself between them, and then you feel his steely erection rubbing deliciously between your folds.

“Yes, Din… aaah, like this is perfect.” Your breath hitches in your chest as he positions himself to enter you.

“Tell me,” he says.

You reach back to cradle his head with your hand and bring him closer to you, “Take me like this, Din, I want you… I need you.”

With that, he thrusts into you in one swift motion causing all the breath in your body to push out in a gasp. As he moves within you, he winds his arm around you tight holding you close against his chest. It’s like there’s no space between you at all. His mouth attaches itself to your neck where he’s biting and sucking a new mark into your skin. You can feel him everywhere and it’s overwhelming in the best way. It doesn’t take long for you to feel the stirring of your climax again and you start to struggle to stay quiet. In this position, every thrust hits on your most pleasurable spot deep inside you and it’s taking all that you have not to scream out Din’s name. You know he must be getting closer to his peak too, as he’s also starting to groan and grunt more.

“Are you close, cyar’ika?” Din asks you desperately and he drops his hand to your clit to rub fast circles there. All you can get out is a whimper and a shaky breath, as you start to feel the waves of your orgasm lapping at you. Din doubles his efforts and starts to beg you, “Please, cyar’ika, please… I’m so close… want you to come first… need you to… oooh, please.”

Hearing him plead with you like that is all you need to send you over the edge and almost as soon as your inner muscles begin to flutter around him, Din is following right along with you. He holds you as tight as he possibly can as he pumps himself into you and bites down on your shoulder to keep himself from crying out. You’re so stunned by the sensation you feel like you might black out from the pleasure. You’re shuddering from little aftershocks of bliss when Din starts to speak to you again but he’s speaking in Mando’a and you can’t fully understand what he’s saying.

“Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum, ner cyar’ika,” he says reverently and turns you towards him so he can kiss you fully.

When he breaks the kiss, he speaks again, only this time in Basic, “I love you, my sweetheart.”

Your heart skips a beat and then you tell him, “I love you too, Din.” His lips find yours again in the sweetest, most tender kiss.

When you break apart the next time, you ask him, “Will you say it in Mando’a again?” He does and you carefully repeat it back to him. You barely get the last syllable out and he’s kissing you again, as if he can never kiss you enough. You kiss him back fervently trying to pour all of your love into it, wanting him to understand just how much you love him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next two days pass pleasantly in the Covert. Din feels pleased that you fit in so well with everyone and it warms his heart to see how eager you are to learn more about his culture. It fills him with a new hope for the future, and he lets himself daydream about being able to return to the tribe permanently with you. Still though, Din can’t ignore the danger that you’re in and each hour that passes makes him anxious that the Imps could be headed here right now. In discussing the predicament with his tribe, Din was able to come up with a plan to keep you on the move and, hopefully, to find a stronger Covert that could help you defeat Kerrick. While his tribe and the others in this new Covert offered up their fighters, Din refused to accept based on their already reduced numbers. Now each moment that passes, his unease at being caught builds. It’s on this third evening, that he brings up his worries with you.

“I think we should leave tomorrow,” Din suggests, and you can hear the concern in his voice.

“You don’t think we’re safe here?” You’d been feeling so much better since arriving, that you’d hoped you’d be able to stay longer.

“It isn’t that-- I… I don’t think we’re safe anywhere, really,” he pauses and looks down at the ground when he says, “I’m worried that if we stay any longer, I’m endangering the Covert again, like Nevarro.”

You know all about Nevarro now as the other night the Armorer and the rest of Din’s tribe spoke about it, wanting both you and the other Mandalorians to understand more about that part of their history, and as a way of honoring those who lost their lives during the battle. Din was very quiet though as the story was being told, opting to simply grip your hand tightly and listen. You could tell that he still felt responsible for the loss of the Nevarro Covert, despite his tribe’s endeavors to show everyone that only the Imperial forces were to blame.

“I understand,” you reassure Din, “We can leave tonight if you think we should, it won’t take long to get our things together.”

“Can we? I think it would be the best option.” You can hear a note of relief in his voice as you agree with him and let him know that you’ll start packing right away.

“I just need to speak to the Armorer again,” Din tells you, “I shouldn’t be too long.”

When he finds the Armorer at her forge, she appears to have been expecting him. He doesn’t know how she does it, but it’s almost as if she can anticipate his thoughts, it’s always been that way with her. He wonders for a moment if she might share some of the child’s powers.

“Din Djarin, I have the pieces you have requested,” she speaks in her carefully measured voice.

“Thank you, I appreciate that you’ve worked to complete them so quickly for me,” he responds and watches as she moves to collect two small leather pouches. When he opens the first, he pulls out another beskar pendant; this time it is a mudhorn, the exact match to the one on his pauldron. The second pouch contains three rings, one is a ring of yours that Din swiped from your jewelry collection, and the other two are matching bands of beskar, one in the same size as your ring and the other sized to fit his own finger.

“I see that she wears the heart pendant with joy,” the Armorer tells him, and then asks, “When will you ask her to join your clan?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Din admits a bit bashfully, “But I want to be prepared to ask her when the time is right.”

“You have the blessing of the tribe, if you should want it,” she declares to him, “Your woman has mandokarla and we will always welcome her.”

“Thank you, that means so much to me,” Din replies gratefully.

“You have decided to leave us,” the Armorer states, again already seeming to know his thoughts before he shares them.

“Yes, I think it is for the best.” His voice can’t contain its concern, but he knows she understands as she nods to him.

“You must do what is best for your clan. This is the way,” she confirms.

“This is the way.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later and you’re back in hyperspace. You’ve been following the plan that Din’s tribe helped him design, stopping at some remote outposts in hopes of finding other Mandalorians. So far, the information the Covert shared with Din has been reliable and you both feel confident in your efforts. A sudden pinging on the dash draws Din’s attention and he sees that a transmission is coming in.

“Brother, we heard you are seeking assistance,” a strong voice speaks out into the cockpit, but no holo accompanies it.

“That depends on who’s offering,” Din responds carefully.

“Our Covert has heard that you need warriors to battle against some Imps,” the voice says, “We are willing to help you in that endeavor.”

“How did you come to hear that?” Din questions the voice.

“We are in communication with many other Coverts, and heard of your needs through our contacts,” the voice explains.

Din stays quiet as he thinks; the caller’s explanation seems logical but trusting a disembodied voice also seems a bit naïve. He continues to hesitate in his response when the voice speaks again.

“We also have information about where you can find the Jedi.”

“What are your coordinates?” Din asks, his mind made up. If they know about the Imperials and the Jedi, then they must have spoken to his Covert.

“We’re transmitting them now,” the voice informs him.

“Thank you, for being willing to help us,” Din says graciously.

“Ibic mando’kar,” the voice states.

“This is the way,” Din replies before ending the call.

As soon as the transmission is cut off, you speak up, “Do you think they’re the Mandalorians we’ve been searching for?”

“They must be, I know they’re an older sect and it makes sense that they’d say ‘Ibic mando’kar’ for ‘This is the way’,” he explains to you, “I think they can help us.”

You’re about to ask him more about these Mandalorians and what he knows, but you’re stopped by the child who has started fussing and crying. You go over to pick him up, but he’s worked himself up into a real tantrum, and no matter how much you try to soothe him, he won’t calm down.

“Are you hungry already, buddy?” You pull out some snacks from your pocket for him, but he shoves them away and cries harder. You know Din needs to focus on piloting the ship to the new coordinates so you descend to the hull with the poor little guy. You try rocking him, singing to him, even a warm bath, but nothing seems to help. He doesn’t seem to be in any visible discomfort so you simply sit and hold him hoping that ultimately your presence will show him that everything is ok. Eventually, he’s exhausted himself and falls asleep. You clean the tears off his little face, and although it’s finally quiet on the ship, you can’t shake a feeling of unease after how upset the child has been. However, you’re exhausted too after trying to care for him and you find yourself curling up on your bed your own eyes closing shortly afterwards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You reach the coordinates provided to you by the Covert on a remote planet whose name you don’t know. The scenery does nothing to lift your mood, as the place appears to be an old industrial center and now looks run-down and abandoned. Although, given what you know about the need for the Mandalorian Coverts to remain secretive, you suppose that makes sense. You follow Din off the Crest with the child’s pod floating right beside you. As you walk to the designated meeting point, a large warehouse building, the child begins to whine again. You see the familiar sight of a mythosaur skull painted above the doorway to the warehouse and you breathe a sigh of relief, that this must be the correct place. You enter the building, but everything is dark and dusty inside and it doesn’t look like anyone is around. Thinking back to Din’s Covert, you expect that some guards will probably appear like before. When you see a helmeted figure in the shadows, you think you must be right, that is until the person turns to reveal the stark white helmet and armor of a storm trooper.

“You found us!” An eerily cheery voice trills out, making your blood run cold. It’s Kerrick.

Din instantly moves to shield you behind him, but you know it’s in vain, as now you can see an entire squadron of troopers moving out of the shadows to surround you. Even with Din’s impeccable skills as a gunslinger, there’s no way you could take on this many troopers, you are hopelessly outgunned.

“Come now, my little doll, don’t be shy,” Kerrick’s voice is almost sing-songy in his joy at trapping you, “I’ve missed you so very much, baby doll.”

Your heart is lurching in your chest and you feel sick to your stomach. You’re running through all the possible scenarios in your head, but there’s only one that you can think of which will keep Din and the child from being hurt.

“I’ve missed you too, Kerrick,” you call out, stepping out from behind Din.

Din’s hand reaches out to pull you back, but you gently shake your head and pull away. Before you do, you try to look into his visor with all the love you can and silently try to tell him that everything you’re about to say is a lie, but you have no idea if he can understand that.

“My sweet baby doll, come here and give your man a kiss,” Kerrick leers at you with a wide grin.

You raise your hands up as you walk slowly towards him, and you make your voice high pitched and girly, the way he used to like when you were in bed together, as you say, “Kerrick, all these guns are scaring me, can’t you have them put the blasters away?”

“Oh, my little doll, those are for your protection,” Kerrick explains condescendingly.

“I don’t know, I don’t think I can come any closer, I’m too scared,” you tell him.

“Alright, my doll, for you,” and he motions for the troopers to lower their blasters.

You feel a tiny sense of victory as you can tell you still have some power over Kerrick even with how twisted and vile he’s become. You move closer to him and when you’re within arm’s reach, he becomes impatient and he reaches out to grab you. Din’s instincts kick in and he draws his blaster without thinking and aims directly for Kerrick.

“Uh, uh, uh, Mandalorian, she just said she’s scared of blasters,” Kerrick admonishes, “You don’t want to scare my doll any more than you already have, do you?”

Oh no, you need to salvage this and quickly, “It’s not like that, Kerrick, he’s been trying to help me find you,” you lie, “I’ve been so lonely and sad without you, and he’s been protecting me until I could get back to you.”

“Is that true?” Kerrick asks, skeptical, “From our visit to Angel One, I was under the impression that you’ve been acting like a little whore for him.”

You want to die as you say these next words, but you know you need to convince Kerrick to let Din and the child go, “I was just using him, so he’d keep helping me, but it was just so I could find you again, Kerrick, after all, I’m still your doll.” Your hand comes up to your chest to sit over Din’s heart pendant hidden under your tunic and you hate yourself for having to put Din through this.

Din’s blood is boiling and he feels heartsick as he hears you lie to Kerrick. He knows you must be lying in an attempt to save him and the child. But he can’t ignore how much your words hurt, even if they’re not true. Hearing you call yourself “doll” though and seeing you grip your pendant, he tells himself that you don’t mean what you’re saying, that you do really love him, and that you’re prepared to sacrifice yourself to save him. He’s so angry with himself for leading you into this trap and he’s desperate to find another solution, but like you, he’s out of options. He has to do all he can right now to reign in his desire to start shooting.

Kerrick’s arms are wrapping tighter around your waist, and you know you’re going to have to muster up every acting skill you have if you’re going to convince him of your falsehood. You bring a hand up to caress his face, and he nuzzles into your touch. You thought he was handsome once, but his years with the Empire have changed him and his smug, pretty boy face holds no attraction for you now. You push these thoughts deep down though, and close your eyes as you bring him closer to you for a kiss. It takes everything you have not to shove him away in disgust. As Kerrick forces his tongue into your mouth, you tell yourself to be calm and then you pretend you’re kissing Din. It’s a struggle, but you manage to fool Kerrick enough that when he pulls away he’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Let’s go, doll,” he says and he starts to tug you away.

“Wait, Kerrick, will you do something for me, please?” You do your best to make yourself look as sweet and innocent as you can and you use the girly voice again.

“What can I do for you, baby doll?” He looks at you like you’re a child asking for a treat.

“Will you let the Mandalorian go back to his ship? He really did help me find you, and if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have this wonderful reunion.” You pray Kerrick won’t see through your ploy.

“You always were so softhearted,” Kerrick says as he pats you on the ass.

“Please, for me? Please, Kerrick,” It’s soul crushing to have to beg him like this, but if it can help Din even a little you have to do it.

“Oh alright, I don’t want you to be sad or distracted all night. I have much better plans for us,” Kerrick tells you suggestively. You do your best not to throw up right then, but plan to save it as an escape for later.

“You six, take the Mandalorian back to his ship,” Kerrick motions to a group of troopers. Ok, six is still kind of a lot, but if feels like a number Din can probably handle. You don’t believe for a second that Kerrick is actually going to let Din go without a fight, but at least now he’s not facing an entire squadron.

“Can I say goodbye?” You know you’re pushing it, so you add, “To the child.”

“Fine, but make it quick,” Kerrick pats you on the ass again and you run back over to Din and the child. You scoop the baby up in your arms, but you look directly at Din and mouth, “I love you, I’m sorry.” He inclines his head in the slightest of nods and you know he understands. It doesn’t stop your heart from breaking in two though and you know tears are threatening to spill from your eyes.

“That’s enough!” Kerrick’s sharp voice calls out and you place the baby back in his pod before fixing a fake smile on your face and turning back to Kerrick. It’s shaky at best and you know you can’t hide your teary eyes so you throw yourself back into Kerrick’s arms hoping that a seemingly enthusiastic hug will mask your true feelings.

He chuckles, pats your head, and says, “Don’t worry, doll, I’ve got you now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The troopers lead Din out of the warehouse and each step feels painful, as he knows it’s taking him further away from you. All he wants to do is run back into that warehouse and fight for you, but he knows a deathtrap when he sees one. He doesn’t believe for one second that the troopers are going to let him leave, but he’s pretty sure he can take them out and get to the ship fast enough to get away. If he can make the jump to hyperspace before Kerrick’s cruiser can realize what’s happening he should be able to escape with his life.

“Be sure to get the asset,” one of the troopers is muttering to another, and Din knows it’s time. He charges and fires his whistling birds taking out four of the troopers at once and as he turns to fire at the other two, he sees their bodies being slammed together forcefully. Despite the terrible situation, he smiles to himself as he sees the child’s hands raised, helping him defeat the Imps. He quickly dispatches the last two troopers and then dashes to the Razor Crest.

He takes off as quickly as he knows how and, risking everything, makes the jump to hyperspace while he’s still in the planet’s atmosphere. It’s incredibly dangerous but it pays off and thankfully, the Crest manages to get away.

As hyperspace glows blue around him, Din plots in a course back to his Covert. He needs reinforcements and this time he can’t let the past hold him back from accepting help.

“We’re going to get her back, buddy,” Din vows looking at the child, “Don’t you worry.”

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

Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Link to Chapter 9: Not Without My Cyar’ika

Mando’a glossary:

gar vode = your brethren, your brothers

ner vod = my brother

beroya = bounty hunter

riduurok = marriage, wedding ceremony

riduur = spouse

ad’ika = little one (affectionate)

aliit = family

buir = parent

di’kut = idiot

mesh’la = beautiful

Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum = I love you (literally, I know you forever)

mandokarla = having the right stuff, the epitome of Mandalorian spirit

Ibic mando’kar =This is the way (there is some debate about how to say it)

Tag list: @grogusmum @wellofeternalthirst @idreamofboobear @theamuz @fangirlalexia @callmekane @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11 @theravenreads @nicotinebirds @boomtownboy @nova646 @wandering-storm-lost-shadow @becks-things @sleepwithacommunist @mackycat11 @som3thingcr3ative @punkdalek @pinkninja200 @s-unflowxr @ladyjenny19 @peppywitch @haley7242 @the-bottom-of-the-abyss @hotsauceonabiscuit @asta-lily

#the mandalorian #din djarin #the mandalorian fanfiction #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian x female reader #din djarin x female reader #the mandalorian smut #din djarin smut

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sunflowergirl522 · 3 years

Text

Phobia

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader

Summary: You get stuck on an ice planet with the worst thing ever.

Warnings: Spoilers for season two of the Mandalorian. (If there’s anything else let me know)

Word Count: 3,377

A/N: This was inspired because of my poor arachnophobia while watching the new episode. Also I started planning and writing this thinking it was really good but now I’m doubting it so I’m really sorry if it’s just shit.

Also for those who don’t know: Bare = dear, Cyar’ika = darling/sweetheart, darasuum = eternally, Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar = I love you

Masterlist

You’ve been tense ever since you got back. Not only had Din sent you back before fighting the Krayt Dragon, the child had snuck off of the speeder Cobb Vanth had been kind enough to lend you. So now instead of just worrying about if your Mandalorian was coming back safe you have to worry about the little one too. Peli noticed how tense you were when you showed back up to the hangar and instead of asking about it, she tried her hardest to distract you. So here you are sitting in the cantina watching her play with the insect across from you both. The insect had just beaten Peli and they started a new round when Din walks into the cantina. The relief you feel when you see him is visible as you let out a breath of air and your shoulders drop.

Din makes his way over to the table and you smile up at him as he gives you a small head nod. After he turns his attention to Peli yours transfers over to the little one who coos at you. Mando explains what happened to Peli while you get up and grab the child from the bag on Dins hip. “Come here you little womp rat. You were supposed to come back with me.”

“That’s a high stakes game.” You tune back into the others as Peli gets Din to cover the insects bet. You turn to look at Din trying to tell if he has any major injuries but there’s none that you can notice at least. “I thought you said he was on a hot streak?” Dins voice causes you to look at Peli who’s collecting the credits from the table.

“Aw quit your cryin, you’ll rust!” You giggle at the exclamation and Din gives your foot a playful nudge. Peli then translates everything the insect has to say about the contact before starting to talk about the Krayt Dragon meat.

As you’re following her out of the cantina a thought strikes you and you look up at the Mandalorian next to you. “Did you walk here?” He responds to you with just a nod. “What happened to the speeder?”

“Guild members who were here for the kid made me crash it.” You gasp at his words and immediately start to check the child for any wounds. Once you see that he’s perfectly fine you grab Dins arm to stop him and turn towards him.

“Are you okay?” You once again look over him to see if you can spot any serious injuries.

“I’m fine Cyar’ika, don’t worry.” He leans down to touch his forehead to yours. “I took care of them.”

“Good.”

***

You sit with the child in your lap while you both watch the meat cook. Din stands off to the side watching over the two of you and the meat. The silence that exists is comfortable and not unlike many days in the Razor Crest.

“Hey, don’t overcook it, Treadwell. I like it a little rare! It’s not some Rodian for crying out loud.” Peli breaks the silence as she enters the hanger and walks towards Din. “All right here’s the deal. A Mandalorian covert is in this sector.”

“Are they the ones that left Navarro?”

“Don’t know. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them.”

“How much will it cost me?”

“That’s the great news, it’s free!”

“What’s the non great news?” There's your Mandalorian always assuming there’s a catch.

“There is none. However there is one small stank in the scud pie.” Normally he’s right. “The contact wants passage to the system. And no hyperdrive.”

You watch them go back and forth until a frog lady catches your attention. She walks in and heads straight for Peli and Din. The child’s attention goes to her as well, more importantly to the eggs on her back. Once you notice him doing this you pick him up to be eye to eye with you. “Don’t you even think about it buster.” He just coos back at you. You can’t help the small smile that graces your face at how cute the little guy is. “Alright little one let’s go start to get the ship ready to go.” You get up with him in your arms and follow the frog lady into the ship where Din joins you shortly after.

Din explains the importance of staying strapped in while seated after take off and you stop yourself from chuckling at him getting annoyed after not getting a response to speaking Huttese to the lady. “I’m gonna hit the rack. I set the nav for our course. It’s gonna take a while so I recommend you get some rest.” As Din walks out he gives you a head nod motioning to follow him. You smile at the frog lady as you get up and follow him out the doors to the cockpit and down the ladder. Once you get down to the hull he’s turning around to look for the child. “Kid?”

You both look over to see him grabbing an egg from the carrying case. “No, no, no!” You both chant as you rush over to him. Din shuts the container quick and grabs the kid. “That’s not food. Don’t do that again.” The child burps and all Din can do is sigh in exasperation before turning and heading to the bed. You follow behind looking between the eggs and the ladder with a frown. Once Din puts the child in his hammock he crawls in himself and opens his arms as much as he can for you to cuddle up beside him. You tuck the little one in and kiss his forehead before crawling in next to Din and having him wrap his arms around you.

“Get some sleep my love, you’ve had a long day.” You rest your forehead against his chest plate as you speak. Before you know it you can hear the small snores slipping out from underneath his helmet and you smile before drifting into sleep yourself.

A ringing wakes you both up and Din rushes up to the cockpit leaving you and the child alone. You groan to yourself about being woken up too soon and how your Mandalorian just needs some rest before crawling out yourself. “Behave yourself.” You speak to the cooing child before heading up the ladder and entering the cockpit. You walk into Din speaking to two X Wings and silently sit in the last open seat.

“May the force be with you.”

“And also with you.”

You yawn and stretch as he sends them the ping they had asked for and the frog lady wakes up. Next thing you know the X Wings are opening up and Din is speeding away and you’re thanking the heavens that you had buckled in.

A sigh of relief leaves your mouth as they lose you and the Crest slides to a stop on the ice. Frog lady starts to unbuckle and get up to most likely check on her eggs as Din places the ship completely down just for it to fall through and crash at the bottom. When you open your eyes it’s suddenly so cold in the ship. Frog lady is shivering on the ground and you quickly unbuckle to help her up as Din picks his head up and tries to start the ship. Once she’s up she starts to speak in a worried tone and points to the door. Din states that he’ll find the eggs and walks out of the door as she whimpers to you. “I’ll find some blankets too to keep you warm.” You leave her and get down to the hull just to gasp at the hole in the side of the ship. You then catch up with Din in the wreckage.

“The kid’s gone.”

“Oh no.” You walk towards the hole hoping you won’t see little footprints leading away. Din continues to look in the wreckage as the anxious pit in your stomach grows.

“No! I told you not to do that.” You turn to see Din grabbing the container of her eggs from the kid and rush to grab the one out of his hands before he can eat that one too. Din yells up that he found them as you place the one you took back in the case. “How many did you eat?” The concern in his voice is clear and the only response he gets is a burp from the kid. A gust of wind comes through the hole and you wrap your arms around yourself to help provide a little warmth.

“Hold these for a minute Y/n, I’m sure I have a coat around here somewhere for you.” Din hands you the container of her eggs that’s giving off a little bit of heat and gets to work searching for something to protect you from the cold. As soon as he finds the coat that’s just a little too big for you he starts to clean up the wreckage and you grab one of the blankets for the frog lady who makes her way down and start working on a lunch tray for the little one and the new passenger. Once Din feels everything is cleaned up enough he explains the situation to the lady and she tries to communicate with him.

“I’m sorry lady, I don’t understand frog. Whatever it is can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep.” He then crosses his arms and leans against the wall he’s sitting in front of while you watch the lady take her blanket off and put it over her eggs. After realizing it was to keep her unborn children warm you take off the coat and hand it to her in order to help. Din is quick to wrap an arm around you once you sit next to him and you curl into his side using his cape as a blanket as much as you can. “You're too kind bare.” You smile at the words whispered to you and shrug before dozing off once again.

You’re both startled awake again however when the frog lady accesses the vocabulation on Zero’s head. You can’t stop the smirk that makes it’s way onto your face as she tells Din off for saying that the deal was off. The sigh of defeat he gives before grabbing his tools and heading outside almost makes you giggle but him mumbling about how this wasn’t part of the deal throws you into a fit. Once you’ve calmed down you pick the child up and carry him over to his hammock. “Get some sleep you little womp rat and don’t bother the nice lady too much. I’m gonna go help your papa.” You grab the last blanket and exit through the hole to follow Din.

“You shouldn’t be out here Y/n, it’s too cold.”

“I’ll be fine, I just wanna help.” You wrap the blanket tighter around you and sit in the snow next to him. A bit of time passes by with you handing Din tools he asks for to help him repair the ship. Your hands had gone numb a little while ago and you can’t stop your shivering but you’ve been dealing with it to help your Mandalorian. When handing him a new tool it falls from your shaking hand and Din’s attention is drawn from the wires to you. He notices your blue lips and chattering teeth immediately and sits up straight and putting the tools he had down.

“Cyar’ika please, go back inside and get some rest.” His voice pleads with you as he grabs your hands in his gloved ones to try to warm them up. The leather is still warm from the heat coming from the broken wires.

“I want to stay out here and help you.”

“You’ll only get sick if you stay out here much longer. You can come back out after you’ve gotten some rest and warmed up, okay?”

“Okay, fine. But only because you sound so desperate for me to go.”

“I just want to keep you safe ner kar’taylir darasuum.” He leans his forehead against yours and you stop yourself from flinching from how cold it was.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” You head back inside and pass the frog lady who’s cradling her eggs and the child who’s now sitting on a crate watching the eggs. “C'mon little one, you wanna keep me company?” He follows you to the small makeshift bedroom and you curl up with him at your side.

***

Waking up from your nap and going into the hull you’re met with silence and you don’t see anyone. You search around the ship just to find noone and you scrunch your face up in confusion wondering where everyone went. You make your way outside and blaster fire breaks you out of your thoughts. You look up to see frog lady and Din carrying both the kid and the eggs running towards you with Din shooting behind him. “Y/n! Go inside! Get to the cockpit!” You’re about to shout back why when you almost freeze in your spot from what’s chasing them. What has to be thousands of Krykna spill out of the caves all around. You let out a shriek and run as fast as you can back into the ship and up the ladder. Once in the cockpit you curl into a ball in a corner breathing fast and panicking.Of anything that had to live on this planet it just had to be kriffing Krykna. You’ve been terrified of them almost your whole life and you’ve only ever heard stories about them. Now that you’re seeing them in person you’ve decided that they’re even more terrifying.

The child is the first one to enter followed closely by the frog lady. She sits in her seat holding her eggs close to her and the little one stands to the side. Din comes in then followed by loads of Krykna that are keeping the door open as he tries to close it. You scream as they begin to crawl and jump into the cockpit. You try to shut your teary eyes and go to a happy place in your head but the child's whines make your eyes snap open. The Krykna are all over the cockpit but your attention is on the one that’s made its way onto the child's head. Something in you snaps as you watch him try to get it off and you dive next to him and knock it off before stomping it. Two more start to crawl up your legs and you snap right back out of it. You kick your legs trying to get them off while crying before two blaster fires kill them. The frog lady has a small blaster in her hands and you smile in thanks at her and bring the child into your arms keeping him close to you. Din uses the flamethrower on his wrist then to get them away from the door and it closes. He pants as he kneels down next to your shaking form.

“Are you okay?” All you can do is nod at him. He helps you up and into a seat as quickly as he can. He buckles you up before sitting himself in the pilots seat. “Strap yourself in. This better work.” Din gets the ship to start up and says something about a bumpy ride but you’re not paying attention to that your eyes are stuck on the Krykna that are climbing over the ship. You start to calm down a little bit once the ship starts to take off just to start panicking again when it crashes back down. Two giant legs pierce through the roof and yet another shriek leaves your mouth. When you see the giant Krykna outside of the ship your mouth opens in a silent scream while tears stream down your face. You sit there paralyzed in fear as it’s mouth lunges at the window. When Din gets up to go see who shot it down he hands the kid to you and you grab onto his arm in a panic.

“Please no.” You want to tell him about how you don’t want him to go out there to die and how scared you are but that’s all you can force your mouth to say. Din seems to be able to pick up on the panic in your voice though.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’ll be right back Cyar’ika.” Your grip on him doesn’t loosen and he brings a hand up to cradle the side of your face. “I’ll come right back to you like I always do.” The way he says it causes you to let go and you hold the child tight the whole time he’s gone. However once the frog lady leaves the cockpit the kid starts to coo at you till you loosen your grip on him so he can follow her. You try to get up to go with him but you're still paralyzed where you are.

You don’t hear Din come back up, too absorbed in your thoughts, so when he places a hand on your shoulder you flinch away. “It’s just me Cyar’ika.” He puts his hands up and you snap out of your trance and fling your arms around him not caring about how cold his armor is or the webs that are attached to him.

“Baby get me out of here.” You sob into his ear and his arms wrap tightly around you.

“I’m gonna work on that. Do you need to use the privy, we’re gonna be stuck in the cockpit and it’s gonna be a long ride.” You just shake your head in response. “I’m gonna need you to let go so I can do repairs.” You let him go but make sure to stay close to him while he does them.

After getting off the planet Din turns to the two of you. “Wake me up if someone shoots at us. Or that door gets sucked off its rails.” You can tell that as soon as he crosses his arms and leans back he passes out. He deserves a nice rest after the day he had. You try to sleep, knowing that it will make the trip go faster, and you can normally sleep anywhere and anytime you tried. But this time anytime you closed your eyes your thoughts just took you back to the Krykna and you could feel the ghost of the ones that were crawling up your legs. Frog lady fell asleep a little bit after Din had and all you could do was stare at the endless darkness of space. All you wanted to do was curl up with your Mandalorian to feel safe and get some rest but you didn’t want to wake him up so you just stayed there rubbing at your legs when the reminder that they were on you came back to haunt you.

The child, who you didn’t realize was still awake, noticed that something was wrong after watching you for a while. He’s the one who wakes Din up. Before he can say anything to the kid he points in your direction. Din turns to look at you just in time to catch you rubbing your legs.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Your head whips over to face him once hearing his voice.

“Why are you awake?”

“The kid woke me, I think he could tell something was wrong. Why are you still awake?”

“I can’t.” Your voice breaks in the middle of can’t and your bottom lip wobbles. He swivels to face you after putting the child up on the console. He pats his legs motioning for you to sit on his lap and you immediately comply, straddling his legs and getting comfortable. You feel so much better already knowing that he’d keep you safe.

“You can sleep now, I’m here to protect you, darasuum. Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar, Cyar'ika.” You smile at his words and close your eyes ready to drift to sleep knowing that he’ll be there if you need him.

#din djarin #din djarin x reader #the mandolorian x reader #the mandalorian #din djarin x you #din djarin x y/n #star wars fanfiction #mandalorian x reader

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cannotgiveafuck · 4 years

Text

HEY SORRY ITS BEEN A FEW MONTHS HAVE A SHORT BBATTOWLB SNIPPET.

I put it up on AO3, though it may not be completely compliant in verse, but hey whatever.

Billy's identity has been revealed and he's dealing with the not quite immediate fallout.

(Spoilers for post BBATTOWLB main story line.)

The first time Marvel tried to leave Fawcett City, J'onn was there to stop him.

"I cannot allow you to pass city limits, Captain." He said, and moved to push Marvel back every time.

The second time Marvel tried to leave, Green Lantern was there.

Just lounging about in a hammock from his ring, looking at his phone like he was enjoying a relaxing day out.

"Sorry, bud," he said, only glancing up with a shrug. "You know the rules."

The third time Marvel was actually able to leave, because there was nobody around to stop him. Because they were all out at Metropolis fighting an army that didn't really exist because, well. Illusion magic.

Marvel really felt they could use a hand from the Champion of Magic himself.

Apparently, the others did not feel the same.

From the moment he showed up, those that noticed told him to stay aside, that they could handle it, that he could get hurt, that he should leave it to them.

"This isn't your fight, kiddo."

"Go back home, champ."

"Watch your back, kid."

Yeah. Well. This kid just saved their collective magic inept butts, so...

Superman did not see it that way. The second the fight was over, he was right there, back straight and shoulders broad and brows furrowed.

"That was reckless, Billy. You were not called in to join the fight, and if you had misstepped in the slightest someone could have seriously been hurt."

But he didn't misstep. This was a magic fight and hello, did they forget what he's good at? They could suspend him all they want, they couldn't keep him away from where he needed to be, they couldn't freaking ground him.

Something hot and uncomfortable unfurled in his chest. He felt his fists curl at his side, involuntary sparks of electricity snapped around them. On the inside, Billy felt like screaming. On the outside, Marvel felt his jaw clench.

"I understand that, but--"

"Do you?" Superman interrupted. He didn't believe him. "Do you really understand how much damage was done? How much more could have been done? This is why you're on suspension, Billy. You can't just go around getting into every fight--"

"Marvel."

"What?"

"My name is Marvel," he ground out with surprising calm. "And every fight that needs me is my fight, Superman."

Superman crossed his arms and stared him down, like Marvel wasn't as tall as him, as broad and muscled and powerful as he was. Like Marvel hadn't just saved their asses.

Marvel kept his chin up and eyes forward. He would not back down. Not even from his hero.

"Go home, Captain."

With the threat neutralized, the team watching, and civilians and news reporters starting to venture back out, Captain Marvel knew there was nothing else left for him there.

A bolt of lightning struck him.

Rather dramatic, as exits went. But like hell he was going home, where he was sure another Leaguer would come patrol, where he was being commanded to stay - so the Rock of Eternity it was.

He didn't try to leave Fawcett City for awhile after that. (At least, not in any way that they would notice).

There were no missions, no patrols, no monitor duties, no cafeteria hang outs or briefings or alerts. His communicator was forfeited, his access to the Watchtower denied, his place on the Justice League all but officially revoked.

However, with how often one of the other heroes showed up to assist him with his own city's emergencies, Marvel felt like he was seeing the League a lot more than he had before his suspension.

Since they couldn't really stop him, they interfered as much as possible.

The Flash would stop by and want to grab food, always ready to take Billy somewhere to eat, and sometimes he’d drag Hal with to mess around at an arcade, and well, would you look at that, there's a bank robbery taking place, lemme get that for you.

Green Arrow and Black Canary came to town during the week, asking him about his home life and family and schooling and what he wanted to do, as if there was anything besides being Captain Marvel, and they tried very hard to be very nice and very friendly and very nosy.

Kori frequently came blazing by. She would greet him with a hug and be excited to see him. Like she actually wanted to. Every time, she would excuse the lack of Roy and Jason, stating that they wanted to give him space. She would ask him if her presence was a burden, was unwanted. And every time Billy would say no and hold her hand just a bit tighter. There were never questions about his memory loss, about what he came to remember, as if she understood the precipice he was balancing on and only wanted to remind him she was there. Billy appreciated that a lot.

Even Doctor Fate showed up. Suddenly next to him in the middle of the night as he glided through the sky. Not saying much of anything, though Marvel could feel his stare, feel his assessment. There were questions he wanted to ask, answers he wanted known, but still he didn't push. He just floated alongside Marvel until he vanished again. It was creepy, but it could've been worse.

Very rarely, in the corner of his eye, he would spot Batman or Nightwing, just on the edge of a building's shadow. A few times during the day, Billy caught sight of Bruce or one of the other batfamily. They would be strolling through the streets like it was a normal occurrence for them to be in Fawcett, and every time, Billy ran the other way. The thought of meeting them like this, as himself, as street rat Billy Batson made his heart race and head dizzy. He couldn't do it. Not now, not yet.

Captain Marvel could hardly go on patrol without another hero showing up at some point, all of them seemingly taking shifts to watch him, to baby sit him in his own city. Like he couldn't be trusted any more. Like he couldn't be the hero he had been this whole time.

Billy couldn't sleep at night. Couldn't lie on his bare mattress in his apartment without jumping at the slightest of sounds. As if the others would barge in and take him as he slept. The wards that were put up awhile ago did not help soothe this fear. Tawny's reassurances that they would not let anyone take him only comforted him in so much that he did not want his Familiar harmed, either. Not for him, not because of him.

He spent a lot of time sleeping at the Rock, where at least he felt safe.

Superman never stopped by. Aside from that first confrontation in Metropolis, Marvel hadn't seen him. No lectures, no orders, no commands, not even static silence. Nothing. Word from Hal was he had originally wanted to actually ground Billy. Keep him at the Watchtower where he could be easily monitored and cared for. But the idea was shot down and he'd been a little miffed about it. Still, that didn't stop the spike of paranoia Billy felt upon learning it.

Diana never contacted him, either, surprisingly. And that hurt more than he thought it would. Marvel remembered the look of sadness on her face, the hidden anger in her voice, and the passion she gave as she tried to defend him, as he stood before the League and confessed to his deceit, to his lying. She looked like he betrayed her. Even if she showed up, Billy had no idea what he could possibly say to apologize, to make it better.

Victor's position in the League was on the line, too, and Billy hadn't heard any more from him except that he'd be out of touch for a bit while he was essentially grounded. For him, that meant staying at his Detroit home with supervision whilst on duty at the Watchtower. The curdling feeling of guilt that he had brought this onto his friend sent Billy into such distress he didn't leave the Rock for the whole day.

Constantine thought the whole thing was bollocks. Said they had no right to control him, to stop him. He also said a few curses about them and the Wizard, but Billy let it slide. It felt nice to have someone truly in his corner. When John offered to whisk him on a vacation for awhile, see the other side of the pond, Billy regretfully declined. He felt like that was running away from his problems and he hated that notion most of all. Still, he thanked John for talking to him, even if it was just through the mirror. It helped elevate the ache in his chest.

Billy hadn't felt this way - this distant, disconnected, and closed off way - in a very long time.

"You keep returning here, young Tháv̱ma."

Don't look at him, don't talk to him, don't listen to him.

"Over and over again, you grace these stone halls."

He's goading you. Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it!

"Tell me, do you miss the cold throne and all the power it holds so much?"

Don't fall for it! Don't listen! Don't--

"Or are you here for something else?"

Don't react! Don't--

"Perhaps you wish to find the echoes of the old Wizard's ghost haunting this Rock?"

Don't cry, don't cry, don't--

"Or perhaps... perhaps you wish to find solace in a familiar presence?"

Don't cry, don't--

"Tell me, how heavy is the burden of being both Wizard and Champion?"

Don't--

"You seem lonely, young Tháv̱ma."

I am.

Billy was so, so lonely.

"I know loneliness, and all its dark corners, very well."

Really?

"Oh, yes. Spent thousands of years trapped and alone."

Of course, Teth Adam would understand.

"I am here."

Please.

"I will listen."

Please.

"Talk to me, young Tháv̱ma."

Billy didn't want to be alone anymore.

#Billy batson #captain marvel #shazam #justice league #fanfic writing #dont comment if you're just gonna say some shit about how u think characters should act #gettin real tired of folks tellin me how to write my own fic #anyway. billys trust is correlated with his support system. and they are both in shambles around him #he has no idea where to turn. who to turn to. bc hes avoiding everyone in JL.#they know who he really is. and hes being treated like a kid. and he hates it. and its makin him real vulnerable #so he feels like he cant go to any of em except constantine. but. well. even he knows thats not the best choice for support #but then again. being coaxed by black adam is also Not Good At All.#theres a lot for the JL to debate when considering billy and marvel and his position in the league #like. this is not a decision they can make lightly or quickly. especially when they barely comprehend HOW marvel even works #and especially when marvel is not going to stop. but also he is bound to a great position within the mystic community #they cant stop that. they cant interfere with that. that is a whole other can of worms and they dont even know how to fish

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creativia10 · 3 years

Text

Janus in Wickhills Part 3

Notes: (Continuation of recursive fic of @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors 's Love and Other Fairytales series

Previous parts Janus in Wickhills Part 1, Part 2)

This is an au of Laoft where Remus came back several years earlier, and Linda isn’t in the picture yet. Also takes place some time after Logan has become the Seelie court rep.

Chapter 3

For the second time, outside light seeping against his eyelids started to rouse him awake. The sunlight would feel good if he were more conscious though. He groaned, as though the sun were an annoying wakener. He shifted and felt something warm against him. Well that was nice.

He leaned towards it, and felt something somewhat soft yet unsmooth against his face.

Wait. Something wasn’t right about that.

Janus blinked his eyes open and blurrily looked in front of him. It was…someone. It took a few moments for his brain to kick in, and then he jolted upon realization of what happened. The jolt unfortunately shook the other awake who was mumbling and blinking in some disorientation. As Janus had panic tried to scoot back from him, he ended rocking the hammock again and tossed himself out.

“Oof.”

Well, that was a rough wakeup.

A door slammed open close by.

Janus just blinked up from where he had fallen on the ground. Apparently Remus was better at holding on and keeping his balance. He gave Janus a sheepish smile through the holes in the webbing.

“Goodness, Jay. I didn’t think I was that intolerable already. I was even trying to tone it down for you.”

Somehow, that got a little laugh out of Janus, even though he was sure he was blushing.

Steps rushed to them.

“What happened!? We heard a fall. Oh! Jay, are you alright!?” Wren exclaimed. Janus sighed, and tried with as much dignity as he could to carefully scoot out from under the hammock. Upon seeing his shoes by him on the floor, he started to put them on.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just unused to sleeping in hammocks, or with another nearby. Not a fun combination for temporary morning amnesia.”

The Prince winced in sympathy. Janus stood up as gracefully as he could manage.

Remus somehow flipped out of the hammock, and creaked as he stretched.

“Well, I liked the sticky hanging banana.”

“How did you even come up with that for a description?” L asked. Remus just shrugged.

Wren cleared his throat.

“We were going to have breakfast. What would you like?”

“Uh, I’m not picky honestly.”

“Careful with that,” L started, “Because Remus’ version of ‘not picky’ includes any plant he can find.”

Janus grimaced at that. “Gosh, not like that. Please tell me someone around here knows how to make normal human food?”

They shared a look again, of course, and Wren nodded.

“Of course!”

“Good. I’m fine with something simple.” Wren nodded again before he scurried back inside to the kitchen. Wren seemed to remove tension with his presence, and return it as he left.

“We can eat wherever,” L said.

Janus nodded. “Is there room for whatever you do normally?”

L nodded, “Yes.”

Janus bit back another comment.

“Alright. Th- uh, I appreciate it.” They walked back to the front.

“Please tell me at some point I’ll hear why you are all acting so strange around me. It is driving me crazy.”

The Prince bit the inside of his lip.

“I suppose that’s fair,” L said. Remus hopped in front of them not bothering to hold the door open. There was a sigh as they made it in. The house wasn’t cramped or anything. It was cozy. Janus was surprised to see an old woman in a wheelchair by a window, glaring at him in suspicion.

“Oh right, we forgot to tell you about Mamaw,” Ro said as he went over to give her a hug. She made a disgruntled face but patted him back.

“She’s my Mamaw. She’s a witch too, so maybe she can help us figure it out.”

“…okay. I think I’m going to wait over there. Let me know when breakfast is ready,” Janus said.

Nobody protested. He could tell there were many whisperings.

Breakfast was awkward. Not that that was saying much at that point.

“So Mamaw, do you have any ideas what could be the cause of this?” Ro asked her, gesturing at Janus. The old woman scrunched her face and shrugged.

“Not sure why you thought I would know anythang, I only know witch magic, not as much about fae magic.”

They then turned to the prince. The prince sighed.

“I can’t think of anything relating to what he is claiming happened to him.”

“I haven’t claimed anything,” Janus spoke up, “I have simply said I don’t know what’s going.”

“Ya know there’s an obvious way to answer some things,” Mamaw looked at him directly.

“Are you the Serpent King?”

Janus was taken aback, “What?”

“Just answer the question directly. Are you the serpent king?”

“…no?”

She hmmed at that.

Ro then stood in front of him.

“Have you ever gone by the nickname Dee?”

Janus furrowed his brows at that, “No?”

Ro’s shoulders relaxed some at that answer.

“What’s with the weird questions anyways?”

They hesitated.

Janus found his fingers curl, feeling that frustration again.

“Those may be helpful to reassure you about me apparently looking like someone you all are wary of, but this is not helpful to me at all. I get it, apparently I’m a reminder or whatever. I did not wake up thinking about who I look like. I would rather just go somewhere to get some idea about whatever strange situation I woke up in than stew in that. So could you please either help me, point me out to who will actually help me, or let me be on my merry way, because frankly I am tired of already being treated like a bad guy by people I don’t even know.”

Janus let out a breath after his tirade. That felt a little out of character for him, but his frustration had been building and he had a feeling he did not currently have access to whatever his usual coping skills were. Their expressions changed, but it was still hard for him to read. He stood up then.

He still felt unsure about what he would get himself into if he headed out alone, but he wasn’t sure if his patience could take this. A moment after he turned around he heard steps.

“Wait,” Wren said.

Janus paused and looked back at him.

He sighed.

“You’re right,” Wren looked at the others in the room then back at him. “We did say we would help you. Please sit back down.”

Janus sighed and returned to his seat, arms crossed.

“I think we were going to try and go see where Jay woke up, yes? To see if we could get any clues?”

Janus nodded slowly.

They went back to breakfast as some discussion continued.

“It seems like our main concerns are figuring out the reason behind the amnesia. Also, it seems important to look into the similarity of his appearance,” The prince said.

Janus rolled his eyes, “I thought I said-“

“I know you do not seem to care about this similarity, but I feel it’s an important detail to look into. Think about it. Remember how the faery in the forest reacted upon seeing you?”

That did get Janus to consider.

“See? Most likely, if there is a magical cause to this, as I suspect, whoever did it had a clear reason, and I frankly don’t think it’s a good one. Looking like a traitorous king who was executed? That is going to kick up tension and wariness, which does not lead to anything good. “

“I would suggest being careful,” L said, “Given what V has said.”

Janus hmmed, thinking over everything.

“I think we may need to look into types of transformation magics as well.”

“V, do you know of any magic used that transformed what someone was? Like from a human to a faery?”

V, who was apparently the prince, frowned as he thought.

“I cannot think of an instance with that happening at least. Why?”

“Based on some of the things I have noticed, I am wondering if that is a possibility. Jay acts like he thinks he is human.”

“Excuse me?” Jay asked. He had suspected as much himself, but the way it was worded made it come across like this was a big problem.

“Just some of the things you have said. Plus, most faeries know of some things that you seem not to. What do you think of yourself at the moment?”

“Well, you all have made it clear that this,” he gestured to his snake scales, “is a pretty good indicator of me being a fae.”

“Yes, but that is based off of what we told you. An uncertainty in that regard, unless you tell me you think otherwise, concerns me of how great this amnesia may be affecting you.”

Janus sighed.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t even thinking about it until my attacker from the woods and you all started talking about it. I had some familiarity with knowing of fae, but did feel off when they first said that.”

“This is just, so odd.”

Janus snorted at that for some reason, “That is a gross understatement.”

L stood.

“Shall we go investigate then? Do you still remember where?”

Janus nodded, “Well, at least I believe I can figure it out from where the revel took place.”

“We can start from there.”

V stood. “I am coming as well, just give me a moment.”

V pulled Ro off to the side, and talked to him quietly.

Janus rolled his eyes and walked towards the front to wait there.

“Hey.”

Janus blinked as Remus approached him, the green man having been surprisingly quiet during most of that.

“We’re lucky we have those four, honestly. They look out for people.”

Janus just looked at him.

“I may do some rounds to scour for suspicious beings. I do live in this forest,” Remus winked at him before he took off. Janus blinked. He wasn’t sure what to make of that one.

“Alright.” Someone clapped. Janus turned to them.

“L and I shall accompany you there.” V walked out the door and stopped in front of a tree before he looked back at them.

“Do you mind if I help us get there faster?” He asked.

Janus raised an eyebrow at him, “That depends. What do you mean?”

He hesitated.

“It would probably be better for him to just show you, so we can get there,” L said. He walked right over to V, although he was already grimacing.

Janus frowned a little but sighed.

“You will want to hold on to us,” V said. Janus hesitantly got closer. Being close to other people did not feel normal to him. Remus falling into him in the hammock earlier had been a shock, although this one was definitely filled with more nerves.

Janus wrapped his hands around them, following as he saw them doing, and they each wrapped an arm around him. Before he could ask about what was about to happen, suddenly his world was swamped with black. He also felt a whooshing motion, as though his body had become liquid-like or formless. The only feeling coming to him was a cold around him, aside from the less cold feeling of the others’ arms around him. Yet, quickly, the black cold dripped away and they were on solid ground again. A motion seemed to continue with him though as he felt propelled onto his knees. He put a fist to his mouth as he fought nausea.

He distantly heard an apologetic murmuring above him. As soon as he felt something solid behind him he allowed himself to lean back into a tree trunk, the world was still dizzy for him. He unsteadily looked to the side, where V was standing fine, but holding up an unsteady L. After a moment, where L seemed more stable, they looked down at him.

“Are you alright?” V asked. Janus gave him an incredulous look.

He touched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry. I knew I should have given you more warning.”

“I don’t respond well to his level of shadow transportation either,” L cut in, starting to look a bit better, although he put a hand against the tree Janus was sitting against.

V sighed.

“Yeah I remember it didn’t go well when I tried to bring D-“ V cut off, glanced at Janus and looked away. Janus sighed again.

“Do you think you will be able to continue any time soon?” L asked. Janus scowled.

“I’ll see a moment.”

L nodded. After a bit, V looked back over, saw how L was, and then turn to Janus again.

“How are you feeling?” V asked, crouching and holding a hand out for him. Janus scoffed, but accepted the hand. Embarrassing enough, L helped steady him as well.

“I’ll manage,” Janus said. L frowned a little at the not-quite answer. V ticked his head.

“Which direction?”

Janus took a breath. When the world didn’t spin as he turned his head, he let himself get a look of their surroundings. He pointed to a space in the trees he remembered passing. V nodded and started in that direction. L walked with Janus.

Now that they were here earlier in the day, as they continued to go towards where Janus woke up, Janus picked up on how that area of the forest actually was darker. He had thought it solely had to do with the time of day before. There were also a lot less movement, like there was less life.

“What is it, dear?”

Janus looked to see L giving V a look.

V pursed his lips.

“I know this area, of course, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here…” He trailed off and seem to ponder.

Janus walked ahead and stopped in front of a tree trunk much bigger than all of the others.

“I woke up on the ground right here.”

He said, pointing to the area right in front of the tree. V’s eyes widened as he came forward.

“That’s…” He paused.

Janus narrowed his eyes at the other, but he wasn’t looking at Janus. They were quiet. Then, V extended a hand to the side. A shadow coming out from the tree curled up and then encompassed V. Janus jumped.

“What the-“ He looked over at L, who just pursed his lips in concern.

“What the heck just happened!?” Janus asked him. L turned to him and sighed. He adjusted his glasses.

“I am uncertain how to explain it…but I believe he is communicating with his mother?”

Janus gave him an incredulous look, “Ok, I’m going to need more than that.”

“To my understanding, V claims the forest is his mother who’s physical form comes to him in shadows, and when he goes into them he can sometimes hear her?”

Janus didn’t even know how to begin to respond to any of that. Somehow, he was saved from trying as V came out of the shadows frowning slightly.

“Well?” L asked.

“What was that about?” Jay asked.

V pursed his lips. He gestured to the tree.

“This tree is where my brother and I, at separate times, came into being.”

“…you came out of a tree?”

“Yes. And as far as I know, nobody had come over here in a very long time, so I knew it was significant for you to wake up here.” He gestured at the shadows behind him. “Since my mother created us there, I decided to ask her if she knew anything about this.” A frustrated look came over the prince’s face.

He continued, “Unfortunately, mother can be difficult to communicate with at times. She will say some words, and she shows me some images, but she is not always the clearest at getting her meaning across.”

L then asked, “So what did she say?”

V sighed. “She said, ‘not brother’ when I asked about Jay. I tried to get more than that, but I got images of him, “ he motioned to Janus, “asleep, in the tree trunk, where we had been born, and on the ground. I think she may have been the one to move him out of the tree and awaken him. At least, she didn’t show me any images where anyone else did anything before he woke up.”

“Why would she do that? I mean, no offense, but your mother does not seem the type to interfere a lot,” L said.

V nodded, “You’re right, she’s not.

“There is clearly some significance to this then.”

“I would say she normally only interferes if it’s something related to me, and this does not happen very much. She was much weaker for a while so I have not heard from her as much since I woke up.”

“This implies that there is a connection to you to some extent.”

“I mean, I kind of figured that. Anything related to my brother always seems to come back to me somehow.”

“Did anyone else know this was the tree you came out of, before you told us that is?”

“Unless someone witnessed us come out of there that I wasn’t aware of, I don’t think so. Just mother, my brother, and I knew the significance of this place.”

“Hmm,” L put a couple of fingers to his chin in thought. V and L both glanced at Janus and then looked back at each other.

“What can we do with this information then?” L asked.

V sighed again.

“I’m not sure. If Jay was put to sleep as he is now, and he is fae, we have no idea how long he may have been like that.”

They paused, and then the pair turned to Janus.

“I don’t suppose it’s too soon to ask if you remember anything else since waking up?”

Janus sighed and thought.

“Every time I try to, I get a headache, and the images I do see I can’t recall long enough to even begin to describe.”

He wasn’t sure if he needed to mention the bad feeling they gave him. He didn’t like admitting stuff like that.

“The headache is probably another sign of it being magical.”

“I feel like we’re already going in circles about this,” L sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “When we reach a seeming ‘dead end’ in an investigation, it’s a good idea to go back to looking. If we go over any possibilities, we can conceivably find some more answers as we gather as much information as we can.”

V nodded, “Right. Are you suggesting you have an idea for how to do that next?”

L nodded.

“We haven’t exactly tested if he’s fae.” L said. “We can start from there and look for any outliers to see if we can learn anything else.”

V looked considering and gave a hesitant nod.

“I mean, you would know science more than me, so I think I get it?”

“Plus, how strong of a reaction he has, depending on what we use, could also help us gather data on his power strength. And you would know what would be similar to your brother’s, right V?”

V nodded at that. “Yeah, ok that makes sense now.”

Janus hesitated. “What exactly would that entail?”

Janus wasn’t entirely sure what he would want the results to be from these tests.

“There are many ways. First, I think we should go back to a safer place if we’re done here. I think we should also ask Ro and Nana to look into more on witch magic, in any way that may be related. We may end up being surprised, as I suspect we are dealing with new territory here.”

They nodded.

(continues in Part 4 )

#laoft fic #ts janus #sanders sides fanfic #ts remus #ts virgil #ts logan

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haderpjs · 4 years

Text

Eddie lives.

But Richie at the beginning isn’t allowed to see him, (no one is, obviously, he’s under surgery) the losers try to take him to the Town House so he can sleep and change his filthy clothes, they try, more than once each, until Richie finally agrees.

Eddie had more than one surgery, Richie wasn’t paying so much attention to what the doctors were saying to them. All the things they had to do to save Eddie's life sounded numb and far away because he was occupied thinking on how he might be so close to losing Eddie a g a i n, after just having got him back.

Now clean and rested (not really he couldn’t sleep more than two hours because he made the mistake of entering to Eddie’s room and see the blood all over the bathroom floor) he is finally allowed to see Eddie, it’s been almost 10 hours since they first brought Eddie to the hospital. It hurts to see his dearest friend all pale and weak and tied to diverse devices and machines but it’s a million times better than what he saw in the deadlights.

They stay all the hours the doctors allow them to, when the night comes he’s the only one who doesn’t go back to the Town House. He stays besides Eddie because he is afraid of leaving his friend alone, he is afraid of Edie dying even when the doctors said he was in no danger anymore, he can’t leave Eddie, he can’t lose him after he just got him back, -you don’t ‘got him’ don’t be stupid, he is married and you know it- he tells himself.

Richie sits on the chair besides Eddie’s bed, since the bed is taller he can rest his head on the mattress. He knows he should put his glasses on the table but he finds himself being comfortably at peace por once since he arrived to Derry and he might not want to fall asleep but he is so tired, without realizing or thinking much about it his body is already reaching out for Eddie’s, Richie holds his friend’s hand and lets the [beep beep beep] of the heart rate monitor drift him to sleep, -it’s practically the sound of Eddie’s heart- he tinks and sure it isn’t the most comfortable position but he won’t let go of Eddie’s hand.

He wakes up in the middle of the night all startled and alarmed, he adjusts his crooked glasses and once his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room and then he can see how the dim glow from outside lightens Eddie’s facial features, Richie feels like crying for the nth time since he woke up from the deadlights. And jus now he had dreamed what he saw in those fucking magic demonic lights.

‘‘Hey Eds, you ... you have to wake up man’‘ his voice is barely a whisper

[beep beep beep]

‘‘Not like, right now I know you’re on a lot of drugs and very weak from the surgeries but-huh’‘ he whimpers and tries to calm himself

-Of couse Eddie will wake up, we killed that fucking demonic clown, we won, and we remember each other and we’ll not forget this time!-

‘‘y’know you’re the strongest person I know right?, and you’re so brave Eds, I hope you know I meant what I said down there in the sewers, you are braver than you believe you are’‘

-Eddie will wake up and I’ll tell him how brave he is to his face until he believes it-

‘‘But you’re an Idiot too’‘ he can’t contain the little giggle that escapes his mouth

‘‘Why did you save me?’‘ he asks to the unconscious man lying in fron of him

[beep beep beep]

-It should’ve been me- that thought is been in Richie’s head since they were draggind Eddie outside from neitbolt.

He was the one with the stupid trashmouth that got himself in the deadlights and he probably should have died with his brains fried or whatever. It sucked that Eddie had to rescue him only to nearly die impaled. If Richie just hadn’t acted stupidily. But he knows Eddie did it because they are best friends, the same way Eddie would have done it for Bill or any other of the losers, Richie also knows he would have done the same thing, bitch he did what he did because Mike was about to die and even if it wasn’t the most smart thing to do he’d do that again just so Mike or any other of his friends wouldn't die.

[beep beep beep]

‘‘Why did that fucking clown had to hurt you?’‘ He lets out a sob and burries his head on the space between Eddie’s arm and the right side of his torso

-to hurt me, It did it because he knew my secret, always knew and It did it in front of my eyes, because he knew my dirty little secret because It knew one of my biggest fears is losing you-

Sure the moment pennywise died Eddie’s bleeding had stopped and when they put Eddie in the ambulance Richie is sure the hole in his chest wasn't as big as pennywise claw must’ve first pierced through Eddie’s chest, but Eddie still lost plenty blood and the internal damage still was there. He wishes Eddie’s injury had dissapeared the moment they killed that demonic clown.

‘‘I know you’re out of danger now but you didn’t deserve this, you didn’t have to, for ANY reason, especially not for me’‘

[beep beep beep]

He hated himself for being the cause Eddie was now lying almost lifeless on a hospital bed, with a big-ass scar on his chest and back, not to mention who knows how many months of physical therapy ahead of him.

‘‘Eds, I am so happy you’re alive, umm I thought-’’ he whimpers

‘’I thought I had lost you, when we were dragging you out and you wouldnt wake up, I held your almost lifeless body on my arms and it felt fucking horrible’‘ a deep breath escapes his mouth

[beep beep beep]

‘‘it felt like my life was being drawn away from me’‘ he lifts his hands and presses his palms under his glasses against his eyelids

[beep beep beep]

The only sound in the room was Richie’s pained voice and the constant [beep beep beep] of the machine, not that he was expecting Eddie to wake up and reply, but he was so used to Eddie always replying to him, most of the times some annoyed comebacks because of Richie’s jokes about Mrs. K, sometimes just Eddie’s giggles at Richie’s most stupid jokes, and the good ones too.

‘‘Because since the moment I remembered you, I felt like the most alive person on earth’‘

[beep beep beep]

‘‘I didn't know I missed you so much until I saw you’‘

[beep beep beep]

‘‘The void in my heart took your form after my brain reclaimed your name’

[beep beep beep] ‘

‘‘I want you in my life forever’‘ -and the rest of the losers of course-

[beep beep beep]

‘‘i don’t think I can make it another 27 years without your- friendship being a constan in my life’‘

[beep beep beep]

Richie thinks about confessing his feeling to Eddie, since well... Eddie wasn’t really listening and also, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever had the guts to do it when Eddie was actually listening, and if he ever dared to tell him how he felt, well... Eddie was married anyway and he had a life in NY, Richie would have to conform with Eddie’s friendship.

Eventually Richie fell asleep again, he didn’t dreamed about Eddie’s death this time, he dreamed they were fifteen again and they were on the hammock reading comics and annoying the shit out of each other. Until an ugly whiny voice woke him up.

‘‘[I AM HIS WIFE and I have all the right to see him!]’‘

Richie could see the shadow on the closed curtains of the window that a nurse was standing between the door and a woman, blocking her way in.

‘‘[Mrs. Kaspbrak I understand you are concerned about your husband but I already told you he is stable and these are not visit hours]’‘

-SHITSHITSHITSHIT EDDIE’S WIFE IS HERE-

Richie stood up from the chair and started pacing the room, he had stayed past visit hours and he wasn't supposed to, but since the nurse that came last night into the room to check Eddie’s vitals didn’t say a word he supposed it wouldn’t be a problem if he slept there.

Now he had no way of sneaking out of the room and they were going to find him in there and honestly, he didn’t care if the doctors disapproved his actions, he didn't want to see Eddie’s wife, but he didn’t want to leave Eddie’s side just so Mrs. Kaspbrak would take his place

-It is NOT your place! stop it!!!-

‘‘FFFFUCK’‘ he muttered

‘‘[... else do you need me to sign?, I am going to demand this hospital if you refuse to let me see my husband]’‘

‘’fuck Eds she really is Sonia 2.0, Jesus man what did you got yourself into?’‘ Richie whispered towards Eddie

‘‘[... and sorry I don’t mean to be rude, I am just very *hiccups* very worried abut my husband and i just need to see him, I haven't seen him since he left three days ago, pleease even if it’s just 5 minutes I need to see him!, you can’t imagine the pain I was in when i found out he!- *wimpers*]’‘

Richie reaches out for Eddie’s hand and sqeezes it, Eddie looks so peaceful now and he really can't hold himself out, he leans down and pressed a kiss to Eddie's forehead.

He was just leaning back up when the door opened

‘‘You can stay but when the Doctor comes in for the routinely check-ups you'll have to leave, that gives you about 20 minutes-’‘ the nurse stopps when she sees Richie standing beside Eddie’s bed.

‘‘Oh!, I didn't thought-’‘ anyone would be here

‘‘No i was just le-’‘ Richie doesn’t finish because Myra interrupts him, walking towards Eddie’s bed while observing Richie’s being very meticulously

‘’WHO ARE YOU?’’ Myra demands looking at Richie now with a flash of disgust on her face

Richie doen’t like how demanding she sounds, and he certainly doesnt like how she’s looking at him, he feels vulnerable and he feels exposed like he just got caught doing something that he isn't supposed to, allowed to. He hates it.

‘’No one, I am leaving’‘ He answers almost very apathetic and walks down past them towards the door. Hands on his pockets and head slightly facing down

‘‘are you one of Eddie’s friends?. He said he came to visit some friends, were you with him when this happened to him?’‘

He stops in the door frame but doesn't turn to face her

‘‘Yeah’‘... -yes I was there and I didn’t do enough to keep him from being hurt, yes it’s my fault he’s there ... -

Richie leaves the room.

#i am sorry i don't know what is this #reddie #reddie fic #reddie ficlet #post chapter two #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #it chapter two #richie's pov #fanfic #.txt #my writing

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theriverpersonshadow · 3 years

Text

Lamia Drama (Part 2)

See previous post for warnings and general info.

Credit for the lamia species (or at least the specific species, not lamia in general) goes to @vex-bittys

Keith decides to give this new girl a chance and introduces another lamia! DnD shall come whether Hux likes it or not. Coral boy is jealous.

< PREV | NEXT >

Keith and Hux had just been talking DnD with each other when a girl with short, wavy blonde hair walked into the back. Keith’s flickering tongue caught the taste of sweat, dirt, and a variety of plants. Real plants, not like the fake trees, though he could identify some of the smells as the foliage they could keep here. His soul leaped in his chest, he could feel it immediately, they were meant to be.

… According to who? Or what? Some bred in biological imperitive? It was just there to make him easier to adopt, right? But it felt real…

No.

He wasn’t going to leave Hux and the others behind. The woman didn’t seem to have even noticed anyways, so maybe he was just imagining it. Heck, he probably was. Then again, if anything was going to seduce him – something he felt was pretty impossible, he’d just never been interested – it’d probably be someone bringing their own books and homemade fucking cookies. Yes please. They smelled like chocolate and peanut butter – questionably healthy at best, but he’d take it!

… He should probably answer the question, huh?

“Yeah, nice to meet ya. Name’s Keith, I’m the DM,” Keith said, slithering down to her level.

“So, you think you have what it takes to play with the big boys?” Hux said. “Heh. How’d you even find out about that?”

“There was a sign,” the woman said. “My friends are busy with college stuff right now – I’m on break, doing work in a greenhouse and all – but my evenings are totally free. Kinda have to leave early though, have to be up before the sun. I love the job, but that part sucks.”

Keith chuckled, “I feel you there.” He’d stay snuggled in a nesting mound half the day if you let him. What? Blankets are soft, and it’s not like he had to leave to read things. Beds and blankets make reading better if anything. Prime coziness.

“I think you should look somewhere else,” Hux said. “We go until, like, two in the morning sometimes.”

Before Keith could stop himself, he found himself saying, “Eh, we can end early for a little while. Or hey, maybe have a side campaign with you or something.”

“What?!” Hux said, standing high as he could on his tail with his arms thrown out. “Dude! We’re halfway through Pipsqueak’s character arc or whatever! Can’t just push him aside…”

Pipsqueak was Trousle’s (a bitty Papython) mousefolk bard; he’d been looking for pieces of the Worldsong, a song that, once played, was supposed to give the musician power over all things. Pipsqueak had managed to get half of it and was facing down with Caterwaul, the Tabaxi bard, who had the other half. It was looking like Pipsqueak was questioning whether the song should be played by any. However it played out was going to be awesome, though it might or might not be the end of the campaign depending on how Trousle played it.

Since when did Hux care so much about that though? He wasn’t exactly a roleplayer type…

“I mean, if you guys are full or in the middle of something, I can just… not?” the woman said.

“Nah, don’t mind Hux. It’s alright, uh… What’s your name?”

“Oh! My bad. Call me Alex. You said it’s, uh… Key?”

“Keith,” Hux said, unimpressed.

“I am the actual worst at names,” Alex said, sighing.

“Eh, it happens. But I bet we can work something out.”

“We don’t need to work things out,” Hux grumbled, curling into a ball on the floor and sulking, hiding his skeleton half under a ball of black and red scales.

Keith rolled his eyes. Hux never liked change and didn’t seem too fond of people. He was tolerant of the people running the place, but no one else. That said, it was no excuse to be a dick. “Hux, be nice. Sorry about him, he’ll warm up to ya. Why don’t I take you to meet the others? We can work something out. Not like we’re going anywhere…” And that was fine by him. Home was here with his own batch of misfits. “Get Liam, will ya Hux?”

“Ugh, why do I have to?”

“ ‘Cause you can never find Trousle.”

“Why don’t I go looking for Oozy?”

“I’ll bet you a week’s snacks that Oozy’s in his hammock.”

Hux huffed and crossed his arms with an adorable blush on his face, flustered. He was, apparently, not willing to take that bet. As much as Keith liked to stay curled up all cozy, he had nothing on Oozy. It wouldn’t be the first time they had to carry him in the hammock to DnD night. Hecking cornies.

“Thought so,” Keith said, chuckling. “I’ll go get Nikolai. Hope you don’t mind kiddos, Lex.”

“Is Nikolai a kid?”

“Nope,” Keith said. “Follow me.” He slithered past the jungle of fake plants, real plants, and various toys and hiding holes that made up the dim room he liked to call the “Chilling Room.” It was a little cool in here, but mostly he called it that ‘cause this area tended to be more quiet, lacking the toys and people-chairs that littered the rest of the back. Sometimes you just need a place to be a Snake and stalk your friends for a little while, or somewhere to just hide in a hole and listen to the same song until it was playing through your dreams in utter bliss. That second one seemed unique to him.

“… I’m not gonna remember any of these names,” Alex whispered to herself. She stopped to pull some dead foliage from some of the plants, fingers working fast with practice. For a moment she paused then put a leaf in her mouth. “Stevia leaves the weirdest after taste. Not bad though. Also, why do you have stevia?”

“Is that what that is? I think the Honeybos like to chew on it.”

“Is that why they’re Honeybos? ‘Cause they’re full of sweet?”

“I mean, maybe! Never bitten into one.”

“Not even licked one?” Pause. “That’s a weird thing to ask, huh?”

“I mean, I smell with that y’know. But some of them do smell kinda sweet.” He had the oddest urge to nibble a snake now. Logically he knew they were not just little slithering sweets, but a little voice in the back of his head whispered but what if they do taste like honey buns?

Keith really hoped that voice wasn’t Alex’s. That’s just a weird thing to think. Even weirder if you aren’t a snake. “Do you stick a lot of random stuff in your mouth?”

Alex kinda went quiet, staring at the floor, and Keith tried to stifle a laugh, stopping in his tracks to look at her behind him. “Oh my god. You have, haven’t you? What’s the weirdest thing?”

“Probably either crickets, an agar plate – one of those things they grow bacteria on – or my salt lamp.”

“Can confirm, those are salty.”

“You too?”

“Nope. But Trousle dared Liam to once and he swallowed the whole thing. We had to pull it out by the chord.”

“That… That’s both amazing and dangerous.”

Keith nodded, “Yep. Never dare a Mamba to do something unless you want to face the consequences.” Looking around, he brought out his phone and showed some pictures of Liam – a full sized Mamba – with light streaming from his mouth and tail as Hux and Nikolai (a King) tried desperately to pull the lamp out. Trousle was on the table, shouting encouragement but too small to actually help. “That’s why we’re not allowed to have salt lamps anymore.”

Alex was snorting as she laughed, hand over her mouth and eyes crinkled behind glasses. “Oh my goodness. Reminds me of when I caught a baby rabbit and found out they can scream. I almost dropped it.”

“Oh no!”

“It tried to escape! But I caught it midair. And then it just stared at me, judging. Relatedly, gardening gloves have multiple uses. One of them is bunny catching. They have claws and will kick the shit out of you.”

He’s tempted to mention that’s why he just eats them, but gets the feeling that won’t go over well. Since when does he care? He’s a snake, she should know this. It’s natural.

“You like cute? C’mon,” Keith said. It was a short slither to the very back room. Alex stopped, staring at the “Staff Only” sign, but Keith gently tugged her through, “It’s fine.” The door opened up to a humid room with multiple little lamps scattered over eggs and newborns. The nursery. They were greeted with a variety of hisses and chirps from little baby snakes and a much louder hiss from Nikolai. The King’s hood flared upon seeing the stranger and he stood as tall as he could, clutching three squirming baby Pygmy (full sized, but still so small) to his chest protectively.

Alex froze up, face going blank as she stared at the sight of King’s hood and fangs, venom dripping from them. Maybe Keith should’ve warned Nikolai first, but better late than never?

“Alex, this is Nikolai. The most broody bastard you’ll ever meet. Nikolai, Alex. She wants to play DnD. And probably to also hold some kiddos, but who am I to judge?”

Nikolai narrowed his eyes, somehow keeping hold of the Pygmy as all three attempted to go in different directions, unfazed by one of them trying to put his hands in Nikolai’s eyesockets. “Keith. We need to talk.”

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

Text

All in the Family

Chapter 73: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

"Holy hobknockers, this place is amazing!" Sirius couldn't stop the delirious burst of happiness that possessed him to start shouting and running around the deck. Of a ship. A pirate's ship! In the middle of Hogwarts lake?!

The air was fresh in his face, streaming his hair behind him as he whooped with enough joy to possibly even tantalize the mermaids at the bottom of the lake to come above and see. He began latching onto ropes and swinging about, trying to haul himself into a crow's nest, and then taking off down below to try and see through a porthole before anyone else could even get their bearings.

"Should we, stop him?" Remus asked in mild concern. "I certainly don't want to know what's going to happen when he figures out how to work a cannon."

"Why would they even have a cannon on here?" Alice asked in extra concern behind them.

"Why is it here at all?" Lily countered prodding the massive wheel in front of her, then flinching away as if fearing the slightest breeze would send the whole thing capsizing.

"Well obviously Hogwarts is going to be attacked by pirates, can't be the arrival of the other schools," Regulus rolled his eyes as he trailed up from below, rubbing his head.

They could all still hear Sirius shouting like a loon from below decks, but they all spread out regardless to find the book with extreme curiosity, not one of them had ever had this experience, and as nothing was trying to kill them, they'd at least enjoy it while they could.

Alice found Frank happily swinging from a hammock below decks, grinning with that smile she'd missed so much lately. He invited her up into it, and the two spent another few moments giggling at the feel of it, though unable to imagine sleeping in such a thing.

Peter had landed in what must have been the galley, sending a sack of potatoes rolling around and a half-eaten sandwich upon the floor. His stomach rumbled just a bit, and after only a few moments hesitation he shrugged and began collecting the fallen spuds and washing them in the basin.

James and Remus found Sirius in the cargo hold, which also seemed to be some sort of improvised classroom of sorts. Books were lined along the lower shelves, several instruments they could identify on the top portions. Remus glanced along the nearest paper, but frowned in confusion upon finding it in Bulgarian so had not a clue what could have been going on down here. The two exchanged a look before deciding to stay regardless, and instead waited patiently for Sirius to finish inspecting a porthole and the lake life beyond rather than acknowledge them.

Lily decided to stay up on the deck, shivering a bit at a gust of wind, but smiling regardless at the stars above and admiring a view of her school she hadn't properly seen since her first night here, riding across this very lake. Hogwarts castle was as imposing as ever, she could still flashback to riding that boat with Sev, the two in awe along with the rest of the first years at the sight. Out on the grounds, Hagrid's hut could be seen, and something odd in front of it. It almost looked like a carriage, and horses perhaps, but they must be quite large to be so easily spotted from so far away. She began pacing across the deck in fascination as she looked up at the sails and the wood creaking beneath her feet, it would almost be spooky if she were here alone.

Regulus found himself in what must be the captain's quarters. There was a grand bed in the corner and an open bottle of rakia half-drunk beside a book on the desk. Upon closer inspection, it was the exact book Regulus needed for this to continue, and with a curious enough feeling he flipped it open to find his chapter did indeed live up to his assumption.

"Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," Sirius nodded without surprise, finally turning around to acknowledge the two. "Want to take a gander who brought this?"

Remus rolled his eyes, of course Sirius hadn't taken a look at any of the papers or books with the language hinting at an answer.

They hovered in slightly awkward silence as Regulus' voice echoed around them of Harry writing a note to Sirius to try and dissuade him from returning to this very castle. Sirius was wrankled slightly Harry thought it a bad idea coming back, he would think it obvious he'd want to be around his godson to help and was more than pleased at James' reassuring smile saying he fully agreed with his best mate. Remus on the other hand looked very hesitant, and Sirius decided he'd rather have Moony get it off his chest now.

"Well go on Moony," Sirius sighed and waved at him. "I know you've got the reasons I'm an idiot listed alphabetically by now."

"And laminated," Remus agreed, ignoring his confused look. "I do wish you'd be more careful, I'm not going to deny that, but it's not as if anything I've ever said dissuaded you from doing anything regardless. Either of you." He hesitated, then added softly, "any of you."

Sirius and James flinched and didn't look at each other for a moment again, but Remus cleared his throat and continued with purpose, "look, you two need to work out what your problem is, then all three of us can go and talk to Peter. It's not as if we can avoid him the rest of our life because of this."

"I don't see why not," Sirius said petulantly, but for the first time not as if he meant it, the smallest kernel of pity finally lodging in him. He could still vividly recall how alone he'd felt when all this began, because he'd made a horrible mistake he still didn't know if Remus would forgive him for. Then, under the light of that Dark Mark, he could no longer deny it hadn't been entirely Peter's fault...he was at fault for the betrayal in some way...

"Well I do," James snapped back defiantly, and Sirius took a quick step back like he expected to be hit in the face again. His nose still looked a bit swollen from that. "We never even heard his side- our Peter's," James finished when Sirius opened his mouth. "That book, yeah alright that future guy said why he did it, but you know what our friend's been doing this whole time? Exactly what I asked, giving us some breathing space, just like you were for nearly a month Sirius."

Sirius winced and didn't deny that.

"I think it's high time we let him say his peace." James concluded.

"I don't know what you're hoping he's going to say, to make it better," Remus sighed. "Even if he promises he'd never really do it, how much can it mean? Now, well, we'll always wonder-"

"Are you going to spend the rest of your life afraid Sirius is going to send Snape into your den the next full moon?" James harshly shot back.

Remus answered immediately, "no, he clearly regrets that." He bit his lip for a moment before half lying, "that's, what we talked about back in the Leaky Cauldron. I forgive him."

"And Peter doesn't deserve the same?" He gently tried to cajole. "For a crime he hasn't even done yet."

The two exchanged an uneasy look, but Sirius would be lying if he tried to say he wasn't now looking for anger rather than feeling nothing but as he responded, "it's not the same Prongs! I didn't actually get anyone killed! He did, you!"

"You almost did though," James crossed his arms, but hesitated as he wouldn't deny, "you think I'm looking forward to talking to him? You think I've forgotten any more than you? I just," he swallowed uncomfortably as he heard the news Professor Moody would be putting the kids under the Imperius Curse for extra training, the miracle that was his and Lily's future child and what all he was having to survive through. "I'm willing to try."

With that he left, he couldn't force them to do the same.

Remus stepped closer to Sirius now that James was out of sight, hesitating only a moment before rubbing a hand up and down his back and leaning down to whisper for him alone, "I hope you really heard all that."

"Every word," Sirius sighed, shoulders still slumped in defeat, pressing his forehead into Moony's shoulder rather than having to look him in the face. "Prongs is too damned forgiving though," he muttered one last-ditch reprieve for getting out of this, he already knew it had worked. He'd...try.

"That's one thing he and Evans have in common, hell, it's why he continued to put up with you after the first day," Remus say with an almost cheerful voice. He stopped in surprise and sniffed curiously at the air. "You smell that?"

Sirius dragged his face away from the warmth, but did indeed scent the air, and wouldn't deny his grumbling stomach the pleasantness of it as he grabbed his hand and squeezed for a moment before dropping it and taking off.

They found Evans, Smith, Longbottom, and Prongs already in the galley with massive bowls of a hearty stew. The two were quick to join in, but the three Marauders were the quietest and slowest to eat, all eyeing the door and ready to drop the delicious meal the moment they saw a particular someone enter. They wouldn't deny this time they'd drag him off to finally have it out...whatever it turned out to be.

"There's stew down below," Peter told Regulus as he finally found him perched comfortably in a captain's chair, feet propped up on the table and a bottle of alcohol with a third of it missing.

"No thanks," Regulus shrugged without concern as he flipped the pages, finding in Harry's story the arrival of the foreign students was indeed upon them. He knew he'd regret this later, but he only had a mild appetite for now, it certainly wasn't enough to entertain all others who would be attracted to the same.

"Thought you'd say that," Peter shrugged, before setting down one of the two bowls he'd carried around. "Don't worry, I can eat both fine."

Regulus tried, and failed to hide a smile of delight. The only person who'd ever brought him food before was Kreacher. It didn't matter how sick he was, his mother had always fussed over his table manners during dinners more. He gingerly dragged the warm bowl to him and took a tentative slurp, then dug in with gusto while still reading with just a bit more of a quick pace now. He wanted to be done eating before Sirius or his rotten friends showed up to ruin this good mood he was in.

Peter ate quietly beside him, not adding anything, though he'd been all for laughing about all sorts of things Harry got up to when he'd been hanging around Sirius and their lot. Regulus still wasn't sure what he hoped to gain from avoiding them, but he couldn't claim to be any better as he was now doing the same. It was their turn to do something about this.

The two did exchange a very curious expression as yet another instance of the twins up to something was again passed along, neither of them would deny they were abundantly curious what those two trouble makers were doing, but neither still felt much of a need to speculate on it, the two redheads reminded them too much of James and Sirius, not a duo they wanted to linger on.

Regulus did stop in mild admiration of Hermione Granger trying to keep the attention of a whole house on the acts of what house-elves do. He liked the company of his own, more than most of the people in his home some days, and could almost see her point the ones at Hogwarts should be thanked more, but Kreacher loved his life and the family he served. This little Muggleborn was merely showing her ignorance of what she was trying to pretend they needed a better life, it's no wonder his mother and father thought ones like her shouldn't be associated with real wizards, they had no idea what a real wizards home was like.

Then Sirius wrote a reply back to Harry saying he was back in the country already and safe as could be, and Regulus couldn't deny the breath of relief. He chanced a side look at Sirius' friend who wasn't bothering to hide any such thing, pushing some now soggy potatoes around the bottom of his bowl and chewing on his lip. Neither of them still wanted Sirius dead after all the rotten things he'd done recently, but could he say the same about them?

Finally the chapter was reaching its end and the other schools were really arriving, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic landing first with apparently an impressive display. He supposed it might have been in person, but all he really felt was grateful they got to enjoy this cool ship rather than some smelly old horses for this experience.

He sat up properly in his seat as he reached the final section, and read rapturously of the magnificent boat arriving, and paused for several moments to wonder dreamily if this vast vessel could really take them away, anywhere they'd like. Sailing may even be better than flying...

He heard shuffling footsteps downstairs and rummaging around the deck and scowled, realizing the minute peace the two of them had achieved themselves was about to be interrupted, and he'd rather do that on his own terms as he hurried to finish. The last little shock indeed surprising that Viktor Krum the International Quidditch player had been aboard this ship and he hadn't even the chance to see his quarters before they all vanished.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #Marauders #GoF #Wolfstar #Jilly #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Peter Pettigrew #James Potter #Lily Evans #Alice Smith #Frank Longbottom

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maybankiara · 4 years

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I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, BUT I WAS TERRIFIED OF LOVE

pairing: Sarah Cameron x Kiara Carrera

summary: It takes Kiara a little too long to realise that it’s not John B she loves, it’s Sarah, instead. Based on the song Girl Crush.

word count: 5.2k

warnings: slight cussing, cannabis use, underage drinking.

additional: pining, fluff, gay angst, and a lil bit of mayward on the side because it was too good not to include it. i based this off the actual interpretation of the song, in which the narrator is jealous of the girl her ex is dating, not in love with her. except maybe...in this case, maybe she’s jealous of the boy, after all.

also, idk what’s the game that jj and kiara play at the beginning, it came to my mind and it’s basically the pogue version of “true or false” except you just say “poke” and then say whatever statement you think is true.

masterlist

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Kiara has liked John B for as long as she can remember. Well, not really, but long enough for that to become a thing that she just associates with herself.

Kiara Carrera likes John Booker Routledge. That’s all.

For years, she has taken this for granted. Sure, she is in love with one of her best friends, but it doesn’t matter, because they are all in love with one another, at least a little bit. She loves JJ and his disgusting sense of humour that never fails to make her laugh; Pope’s dedication to his academics and how much he always relaxes around the Pogues; and John B’s ability to get them all to do stupid things they shouldn’t be doing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’s okay with things never changing, because she doesn’t want them to. If she were to lose her Pogues, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself – who is Kiara Carrera without her closest friends?

It’s this kind of love that Kiara values over any other.

And it’s fine, perfectly fine, until John B begins dating Sarah Cameron and things change.

That’s also about the moment that Kiara realises that shit, i’m in love with john b.

JJ is the one who notices it first. They’re sitting at the porch of the Chateau, waiting for John B to come back from his first date with the infamous Sarah Cameron. They’ve all heard about her – a Kook, a rich bitch from the wealthy side of the island. The Kooks stay off the Cut. They Kooks only date Kooks.

Pope’s away, studying for whatever it is this time. He made Kiara and JJ promise they’d call as soon as John B’s back, so it’s just the two of them.

Kiara’s fingers trace shapes in the dust covering the wooden planks. They’re doodles, nothing in particular, and the smell of weed fills her nostrils.

‘What’s up with you?’

‘Nothing,’ she responds, not taking her eyes off the floor.

She hears JJ shift and sees him rest against the outer wall of the house, legs propped up on the couch. ‘You’ve been moody.’

‘Don’t call me moody.’

‘See?’

Kiara throws a bit of dust at him, but it doesn’t reach him. She huffs, crossing her arms on her chest, and leans her back against the wall, too.

JJ grins. ‘I’ll poke.’

‘Don’t poke.’

‘Poke.’ He throws a toothpick at her. ‘You’re stressed out about school.’

Kiara frowns and an airy laughs escapes her, scratching at the tension within her. ‘No.’

‘Poke.’ JJ throws another toothpick and grins at her, widely, shifting his legs until they’re almost in her lap. She pushes them off, but he puts them back there, and she just gives up. ‘You’re stressed because Pope is stressed.’

‘That doesn’t even make sense.’

‘It does. You’re empathetic. It makes sense!’

‘Well,’ she sighs, ‘it’s not it.’

JJ nods. ‘So there is something.’

The air is filled with yet another cloud of smoke, and Kiara almost gives in to the feeling. She’s been feeling a little agitated lately for whatever reason, and the idea of smoking while not being completely herself doesn’t sound appealing.

‘Poke,’ he says. The joint is hanging between his lips and he’s sprawled across the floor, and it would make her laugh if it wasn’t something she sees every single day. ‘You’re upset about John B.’

Kiara shakes her head, but there’s something off about that. She turns her gaze away from JJ and begins playing with his shoelaces, instead.

He pulls his legs before she has the chance to. He’s looking at her in bewilderment, his mouth agape. ‘Holy shit. That’s it.’

‘It’s not.’

‘You’re blushing. It’s John B.’

‘It’s not John B,’ insists Kiara.

‘Poke,’ JJ says. ‘You’re upset because he’s with Sarah Cameron.’

‘No—’

‘Poke. You’re jealous.’

‘I’m not jealous!’ she snaps, finally. Her cheeks are burning hot and it’s not embarrassment, regardless of what JJ might thing. She shoots him a glare, her chest heaving. ‘I just don’t like the idea of a Kook infiltrating our circle.’

JJ nods, putting on a serious face, even if you can see beneath it. He smokes the last of his joint and flicks the butt, puffing the smoke in Kiara’s face.

‘Whatever you say, Kie.’

What he gets in return is a middle finger, and the conversation shifts to something else. It’s only when they hear John B’s van pulling up that JJ gives her the look, but she gives him the same so it stays between the two of them. JJ is a snitch, between the Pogues, but this is a line he wouldn’t cross.

Not when it’s about two of his three best friends.

Except John B doesn’t walk out of the van alone, and if she had any hope of things between the Pogues not changing, it all falls into water when Sarah Cameron walks over to Kiara and JJ, holding John B’s hand.

Kiara feels as if she’s about to combust.

Weeks later, the ongoing war between her and Sarah is the new Pogue thing. Kiara manages to convince them it’s about the whole Kook thing—‘She’s not like me. Kook’s a Kook and I was never one’—and they all buy it, apart from JJ. Sometimes she think how they never give JJ enough credit for how smart and perceptive he actually is.

John B doesn’t notice. Pope doesn’t really care. He mostly makes bets with JJ on who’ll win each argument, and how long it’ll take John B to realise that he should probably choose between the two girls.

Thing is, JJ didn’t get it right – Kiara isn’t jealous. Pope is the one to notice that first, when things click for him.

The two of them are lying on a hammock at the Chateau, legs intertwined. It’s a breezy March evening and they’re wrapped up in a blanket. Not too far from them, John B and Sarah are cozied up on the couch. He has her arms around him and she’s leaning into his neck, his fingers playing with the tips of her hair. JJ is off somewhere, probably taking his “me time”.

Pope shifts in the hammock. Kiara feels the movement and it’s sudden, and when she looks at him, his eyes are squinted and lips curious.

‘You like John B,’ he says.

Kiara just runs a hand through her hair, pulling her lips into her mouth. She doesn’t know what to say.

‘Shit. You actually like him.’ Pope stares at you with a hand clasped over his mouth, eyes wide in shock. ‘How long?’

‘Not long,’ she admits. ‘It’s because of Sarah.’

Pope nods, as if he understands. ‘Because you were enemies in school.’

‘No—’ Kiara begins, but then her face falls and she grunts, throwing her head back. ‘Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. Sarah always hated me.’

‘You never really told us about your Kook year, you know.’

‘It’s just…’ Kiara sighs, tugging at a loose string in the hammock. ‘Sarah and I were really close in the beginning, and then she shut me off. She started hating me. And I don’t like her, okay? I don’t and I never will.’

‘Is that the whole story?’

‘I guess. No. I don’t know. We were best friends. She came up to me, the most popular girl in the school, the prettiest one, and asked me if I want to save turtles with her.’ Kiara glances at where the blonde is sitting – the sight of John B and her ex-best friend doesn’t sit right with her. ‘It was the best day of my life.’

Pope is quiet for a bit. Sarah’s giggle reaches the two of them and Kiara finally looks away, towards the other side, out to the sea. Its calmness is the opposite of the buzz of her own feelings inside her chest. There’s something about the whole situation that screams WRONG, and it’s more than just John B being with a girl who used to call her best friend then broke her heart.

When Pope takes her hand, it’s sweet and comforting. He doesn’t smile, but she feels it, anyway.

‘How does it feel?’ he asks. ‘When you look at them?’

Kiara shudders. The image pops up in her mind before she manages to stop it – John B and Sarah, standing in the kitchen, not noticing Kiara walk into the living room. His hands are on her waist, pulling her close to him, and his lips are pressed against Sarah’s forehead, his eyes closed. Her hands are wrapped around his torso and it looks so domestic, so… Kiara can’t even find the words.

There’s a thought, though, and the thought comes suddenly, when John B leans and kisses Sarah’s lips. The thought is wondering what Sarah’s lips taste like – do they taste like him? Or do they taste like Sarah, still?

Kiara shakes herself out of the moment, unable to suppress the shudder that runs through her. She knows Pope feels it, but he doesn’t comment on it, and she’s grateful.

She looks at her friend, wondering if he can see right through her. ‘I just wonder what it feels like. To be her.’

Pope nods as if he understands, and Kiara thinks that maybe he does. She’s seen the way he looks at JJ and the girls he’s with.

Maybe the two of them are not so different, after all.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says.

Kiara gives him a sad smile. ‘Me, too.’

She wonders if he understands what she means.

It’s almost May when things start getting stressful. It’s finals time for the Pogues at Kildare High School and also for Kiara and Sarah at the Kook Academy. This is what the rest of their lives depend on – it comes as no surprise that John B and Sarah are in a constant state of arguing and making up, each cycle more passionate.

Safe to say, it drives the Pogues insane. They’re studying at Pope’s, mostly, as Heyward said he prefers to have his son under his roof when the situation’s as important as this. Kiara and Pope manage to get JJ to concentrate more than usual, adapting their own studying tactics to JJ’s ADHD.

They’ve begun to ignore John B’s cries about Sarah being mean to him, or how they’re on the verge of breaking up. It’s mean, a little, and Kiara thinks she should care a little more, but she finds herself non unsatisfied that this is the situation.

She doesn’t think either of them are happy.

One of many stress-filled Fridays rolls around and they take a break from studying, chilling in John B’s living room. JJ has a joint between his teeth, despite John B saying his dad’s going to complain about the smell. His legs are propped up on Pope’s lap, inconspicuously, but Kiara can see the tension in Pope’s neck.

She wonders if she has those little tells, too, when she looks at John B and Sarah.

Her gaze shifts to them and she feels her stomach twisting in on itself. Sarah’s half-sitting in John B’s lap, her bare legs peeking out of the blanket. She’s freshly shaven – Kiara finds herself trying to guess if it feels as soft as it looks, and what John B’s fingers must feel like on them.

JJ’s laugh breaks Kiara out of her trance. She laughs, too, because when she turns her head, JJ’s upper half is on the floor and Pope’s holding onto his feet, looking mildly inconvenienced.

‘Asshole,’ Pope mutters.

The Pogues laugh and JJ blows him a kiss, making himself comfortable on the floor. Kiara notices the twitch of Pope’s ear, the one specific tell he has – he doesn’t blush, not really, but his ears twitch.

She laughs, a bit longer than everyone else. Pope glances at her and she shakes her head. ‘Y’all are idiots.’

Behind her, Sarah laughs, too. It’s a sound lower than she’d except, and she still hasn’t gotten used to it, months later. Kiara glances at her and catches the girl smiling at her, resting her cheek against John B’s shoulder.

Kiara looks away. It hurts too much.

It’s Pope who holds her gaze and he gives her this half-smile that almost breaks her heart. Somewhere along the line, they realised both of them are just pining after people they shouldn’t like that way.

But Pope smiles when JJ tries to kick him in the chin, helps him get up, and JJ smacks a kiss on his cheek. It’s not the same, it’s not what Pope wants, but it’s more than she could ever get. JJ only has eyes for the Pogues, and Pope is getting the most of his affection – John B only has eyes for Sarah.

It’s not like she can blame him. Still, she can’t help but think about Sarah’s golden hair, soft over her shoulder; she wonders what keeps John B kissing her. Does she kiss good? Is she good with her tongue, with her lips, with her words? She wonders what it feels like to run her fingers through Sarah’s hair, letting them rest on her neck.

She just wants to know what’s so special about her.

This time, when she glances at Sarah, it hurts as much as any other.

But not as much as it does when they break up, not even three days later, and Kiara ends up being the one consoling Sarah. It’s awkward, at first, because Kiara still kind of resents her for what happened freshman year. The two of them are sitting on the floor of Sarah’s bed, listening to Frank Ocean because apparently that’s what straight white girls listen to after a breakup.

Kiara is drawing. She’s doodling in her notebook, wishing she could be studying, but knows that Sarah needs her. They’ve only recently learned that most of Sarah’s friend didn’t support her relationship with John B and her friendship with the Pogues, and she was more alone than ever.

like i was first year, Kiara thinks.

Sarah glances at her. She’s sitting with her back against the bed, legs pressed close to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her face is sour, tearful, but there are no tears on it.

Kiara puts down her notebook, sighing. ‘I don’t get why you asked for me. You don’t like me, I don’t like you.’

‘I never said I don’t like you.’ Sarah’s voice is quiet, miles away from the usual girl. She looks almost guilty; something bubbles in Kiara’s chest, but she pushes it down.

‘You didn’t invite me to your birthday party.’

‘Are you talking about my sixteenth birthday?’

‘Yes.’

‘Kie, that was two years ago,’ she says, voice breathy from shock. Her head’s tilted and lips parted, eyebrows making the slightest of movements. ‘Is that why?’

she doesn’t understand, Kiara realises. ‘You cast me out, Sarah. We were best friends. The day we met is one of the best days of my life. And then, you just—’

Kiara pauses, because she can feel she’s about to say things she could regret. She focuses on her breathing and relaxes it, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. She doesn’t drop Sarah’s gaze, but Sarah’s eyes lower and she’s staring at the floor.

This is the first time a tear slides down the girl’s cheek, after all she’s been through.

She sniffles and smiles through whatever it is she’s feeling. ‘I have—’ she pauses, clearing her throat. When she locks eyes with Kiara, there’s something different in them – something she saw in Pope’s eyes all those months ago. Understanding. ‘Do you know why I broke up with John B?’

Kiara shakes her head.

The smile that Sarah gives her is sad, but not a devastated kind of sad. It’s the sad that glows in sunlight, that looks almost golden, that makes your eyes tear up because it’s too intense. It’s not inherently negative, but it’s full of emotion, hidden beneath a sheer exterior.

‘I can’t stand it when people like me. Not like you liked me,’ Sarah says, her voice barely louder than a whisper. ‘I push them away. I thought it was different with John B, but I couldn’t— I was wrong. It wasn’t John B.’

There’s a moment of silence, and Kiara feels as if there’s something more going on. She knows, vaguely, of the conversation that took place prior to Sarah giving her a phone call and asking her to come over. It was Sarah’s call to end the relationship, and both of them seemed kind of certain that it ended for good.

Suddenly, the idea of Sarah not being at the Chateau, with the Pogues, seems almost impossible. It feels like a vision from a different world – a world that somehow doesn’t seem right, not anymore.

Kiara takes her eyes off the blonde. Her eyes fall on the sketchbook, where his hand has been tracing a shape, and she realises it’s not a shape, but a person.

She closes the notebook. Her throat is dry and Sarah is looking at her, and maybe the silence between them is a little too loud.

‘You were my best friend,’ she finally said. ‘Of course I liked you.’

Sarah holds her gaze, unwavering, lips slightly pursed. She doesn’t say anything after that, not for a long time. But whatever’s going through her mind ends, and she relaxes her hands, letting them fall next to you. Her head’s tilted and her smile is small, sympathetic.

‘I’m sorry,’ she tells Kiara. ‘I really am. It wasn’t the right thing to do. But I just want you to know that I’m happy we got the chance to try again.’

It’s risky, and Kiara can’t believe she’s doing this, but she nods. ‘Promise you aren’t going to bail on me this time?’

Sarah smiles, and it’s bright, the usual smile she gives people when she’s herself, for the first time since Kiara arrived to the Cameron mansion. ‘I promise not to bail on you, Kiara Carrera.’

And she doesn’t. Things end on a good note between her and John B – turns out while Sarah was the one who instigated it, it was bound to happen, much like the Pogues predicted. Kiara goes over to the Chateau once Sarah’s better, and she finds the boys drunk, playing some drinking games she’s never heard of.

JJ pulls her into a hug the moment she arrives, and it’s almost unexpected how carefully he’s holding her.

‘Don’t do anything I would do,’ he whispers in her ear.

Kiara smiles against his cheek, giving it a light kiss. ‘Don’t worry, J. I’m not you.’

She sits on the couch and asks John B how he’s doing, and he pulls her into a hug. Pope catches her gaze, and his eyebrows shoot, glancing at her hands wrapped around John B’s neck.

‘Thanks for coming,’ John B says.

Kiara ruffles his hair, laughing lightly. ‘Of course. You’re my best friend.’

Pope and JJ stare, waiting for something—anything—to happen, except it doesn’t. They’re the Pogues, drinking beer in John B’s living room, helping one of them to put himself together, and that’s all there is.

They continue playing games, they give Kiara some beer, too, and it’s a fun night. John B doesn’t seem too beat up about the situation, which makes her happy, but that’s all it does. She doesn’t feel relief that he’s now single; she doesn’t feel the need to jump at him now that she has the opportunity.

Instead, her eyes glance to John B’s right side, which is where Sarah’s head would usually rest; his arm isn’t wrapped around anyone’s torso, and it feels almost like there’s something missing.

JJ is the one who catches her looking, but she doesn’t notice. It’s the expression on her face that makes him wonder; the way her eyes are gazing at the spot that used to be someone’s, almost tearfully, her smile shallower than it used to be.

Pope notices and Kiara notices him looking, because he’s sitting right across from her. The tilt of his head is asking her if she’s okay, and she nods, giving him a smile.

She is. She doesn’t have a reason not to be.

This is what she’s wanted all along, right?

But she can’t help the way her stomach flips when she looks over to where Sarah should be, and how she feels the empty space as if it were her own.

JJ notices. And JJ brings it up, a few days later, when they’re finally alone. He’s sitting in her bedroom as they wait for Pope to join their study group, having been held back by Heyward. JJ is spread across her bed but his feet are in her lap, unwilling to be anywhere other than people’s laps, apparently. The back of his head is propped up on his hands and he’s chewing a flower he plucked out of Kiara’s mom’s garden.

He nudges his foot into Kiara’s stomach, forcing her to bring her attention off the textbook she’s reading. ‘I poked you.’

Kiara sighs, closing the book. ‘What is it this time?’

‘You’re bothered about Sarah.’

She looks at him, lips pursed, and gives him a slight nod. ‘She’s our friend. Obviously I’m bothered.’

JJ frowns and purses his lips, mimicking her, and points a finger at her. ‘Poke. You’re upset because of more than that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Poke. You know what I mean.’

‘No,’ Kiara insists, ‘I don’t.’

His grin is wild and he has this face that says he’s in on the joke, on the secret, even if this time there’s no secret. ‘Poke. You miss Sarah Cameron.’

‘I do. So?’

‘Poke. You miss Sarah Cameron.’

‘You’ve just said it.’

JJ’s grin grows bigger and he shifts around, until his feet are playfully bopping at your knees. He looks like a kid that’s having fun, and Kiara smiles against her will, rolling her eyes.

‘Poke.’ He props himself up on his elbows and clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. ‘You know that’s not what I mean, Kie.’

Kiara shakes her head, finally pushing him off of her. ‘Wrong poke. And I’m done talking about this.’

JJ opens his mouth to talk, but he’s interrupted by Pope who walks through the door already ranting about his dad’s strict measures of keeping him in check, and JJ’s attention to whatever he thinks is going on with Kie is gone immediately.

She sees it, now, and understands it in a way she hasn’t before. Pope and JJ don’t need anyone else – they only have eyes for each other. Sure, JJ keeps his feet in her lap, too, but he’s gentler with Pope. He teases him more, they joke around more, but he also seems more playful, brighter.

It’s not something Pope notices, of course, and Kiara wonders if she should intervene.

But it’s not her decision to make, so she doesn’t. Instead, she revels in the appreciation they have for one another, and doesn’t stop to wonder why it makes her think of Sarah’s golden smile when she said Kiara liked her.

In fact, she doesn’t think of her and JJ’s conversation until mid June, the day before Midsummer’s. Sarah takes her dress shopping, after the two girls have been spending quite some time together. The blonde has held onto her promise on not giving up on their friendship and Kiara appreciates it more than she could let her know.

Well, she does, by going shopping with her, and letting Sarah try to find her the ideal dress for Midsummer’s.

It’s a fun day. The Pogues are all working at the event and Kiara knows it’s going to be odd for her and Sarah to be on the other side of the food chain, but that’s the way it is in Kildare.

They’re shopping in Chapel Hill and they’re on a ferry home, when Sarah leans her head against Kiara’s shoulder.

It’s sudden and unexpected; Kiara fights the need to shudder. Her mouth opens to ask something, but her voice betrays her – what is she even going to ask? This is something JJ does all the time, something John B has done before, and Pope must’ve, too. She had girl friends when she was younger and they’d all do this thing.

It’s normal. It’s perfectly normal and unexpected – they’re friends after all.

She relaxes her shoulders slowly, hoping Sarah doesn’t notice. It’s a warm and sunny day, but there’s a breeze and she feels the scent of Sarah’s perfume. It’s sweet, just like a summer day, with a dash of some flowery scent in it. It’s her shampoo, Kiara realises, and her hair is just as soft as she thought it would be.

Before she realises what she’s doing, her hand slides around Sarah’s shoulder. Her skin is warm underneath Kiara’s fingertips and Sarah relaxes into the touch.

Neither of them talks for the rest of the ride.

When they get off, Sarah chats as usual, as if nothing has happened, and Kiara begins to wonder why she’s having to convince herself that yes, she’s right, nothing happened.

They drop off the clothes at Sarah’s house, since that’s where they’ll be getting ready tomorrow, and Sarah offers to give her a ride home – except she doesn’t drive her home.

She drives her to the far north of the island. It’s a sandy beach, not far from Sarah’s home, and it’s just a little further from where most of the Kooks go for tanning. Golf courts aren’t too far away, either, but that’s not why Kiara gasps quietly when she finally realises where they are.

‘This is where we helped the turtles hatch.’

Sarah nods, turning the key and taking it out of the ignition. She spares Kiara a brief glance before she’s out of the car, the door slamming behind her.

what the fuck is going on crosses Kiara’s mind, but she follows her friend out of the car.

The blonde is walking ahead and Kiara runs a little in order to catch up with her. The sound of her feet in the sand is louder than she’d like, but it doesn’t matter, because it makes Sarah laugh.

They take a seat next to the ocean that’s still, only the moon shining above it. There’s a lighthouse on a small island in front of them, too far to be loud enough to disturb them.

It’s almost as if the only sounds Kiara can hear are the ocean, Sarah’s rhythmic breathing, and her own heart pounding in her chest.

‘It was the best day of my life, too,’ Sarah says, staring out into the ocean. ‘I didn’t know it at the time.’

Kiara’s fingers begin drawing shapes in the sand. ‘Happens.’

‘Kie.’

When she looks up, the intensity of Sarah’s gaze is almost too much for her to bear. It’s almost as if there’s every single emotion pushed into a single glance, and sometimes Kiara thinks Sarah is too powerful for her own good.

It’s also somewhere about this moment that Kiara’s eyes glance to Sarah’s lips and she begins to wonder how they’d feel when being kissed, if they’d move in the same rhythm as hers. It’s also somewhere about this moment that Kiara realises that she’s not thinking about John B kissing her, and it probably never was about John B kissing her, in the first place.

It wasn’t Sarah she was jealous of. All these touches she kept imagining, forbidden and quiet in her head, masked as through the lenses of John B – she didn’t want to be with John B, she wanted to be him.

oh is just about the only coherent thought in Kiara Carrera’s brain in that moment. Because Kiara Carrera does not and has not liked John Booker Routledge.

It’s been the blonde girl she thought she was jealous of, and that’s been the problem the whole time, and Kiara wonders how long?

The ocean is dancing in the quiet and Sarah’s breaths are quiet and Kiara’s mind is quiet and all she can think about is all the thoughts she’s had for the past months—no, years—and they’re rewriting themselves, to be the truth, to stop fitting the narrative she thought she was living.

JJ’s telling her she’s upset about John B dating Sarah, a joint in his mouth, poking the guess at her. Pope holding her hand as they talk about her situation, which is also the moment she realises his situation regarding JJ, and it makes sense how she knew it felt the same. JJ is on her bed, flower in his mouth, poking the guesses at her, and this time he’s right when he says that she misses Sarah.

The blonde bastard is probably the first one who figured it out.

But then her mind wanders off to sitting on the floor in Sarah’s room, golden sunrays shining on the blonde girl, and Kiara figures it must just be the blonde instinct, because when Sarah said she stopped being friends with her because Kiara liked her, there was a misunderstanding.

The oh comes again, and Kiara’s eyes are still staring at Sarah’s lips.

Maybe a moment has passed since Sarah called her by her name. For Kiara, a lifetime has passed, a lifetime has changed.

Sarah bows her head, catching Kiara’s gaze. ‘I pushed you away because I liked you, too.’

A moment – that’s how long it takes for Kiara to press her lips against Sarah’s, her hand cupping the back of the girl’s stomach. It’s everything and nothing like she’s imagined, because it’s not John B kissing her, it’s Kiara, and it feels more earnest than any kisses between her and John B have.

Sarah’s lips are soft and she still smells like the same perfume and shampoo, and she tastes like the food they had at the Wreck, but she also tastes sweet and like summer and she’s all summer days and summer nights and moments that never end.

Their lips move in sync, brushing and colliding all at once, a dance that feels like second language. Kiara’s hands graze Sarah’s jaw, kissing the corner of her lips, and Sarah’s hands are underneath Kiara’s waist, underneath the shirt, and where her fingers touch bare skin, she leaves fire.

When they part, they’re both out of breath, but they’re smiling and laughing and Kiara is savouring the moment, bottling it up, knowing this is the new best day of her life.

She kisses Sarah, again, and again, and once more just because she can. It’s not something she thinks she’ll ever get tired of.

‘I thought I was jealous of you,’ she whispers into Sarah’s mouth, kissing it again. ‘I thought I just had a girl crush.’

Sarah laughs, and it’s heavenly, and Kiara feels the flutters in her stomach and they’re not empty anymore because Sarah is here, right in front of her, all hers.

Their lips brush again and it’s soft and it’s exploratory, and they’re both crossing a line they didn’t even realise was there, but it feels right. When Sarah laughs again and says ‘must’ve been one hell of a girl crush,’ Kiara kisses her until she’s too out of breath to laugh, and Kiara thinks that maybe she’s happy that John B took Sarah out on a date all those months ago, after all.

#outer banks #obx #sarah cameron #kiara carrera #sarah cameron x kiara carrera #outer banks fic #obx fic #kiarah #kierah #my fic #f: obx #s: kiarah

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neomikey · 3 years

Text

Contributing to the #RyukoPrompts this month (albeit belatedly), Final Fantasy 14 with my wife and sister-in-law has been helping us to get through the lockdown! After all our time spent running through Eorzea, original adventures inspired by our time playing came to mind...and I thought to write one out.

Enjoy~! :)

The following story’s canon is questionable,

both with the in-game lore and how the characters are presented.

Viewer discretion is advised, void where prohibited,

see store for details, careful of wet floor.

Hear...

Her voice was calm and crystalline.

Hear.... Feel....

The air was warm.

Hear.... Feel.... Listen....

There was great weight to her tone and a quiet urgency.

I am Hydaelyn. I know all...see all...I have seen you...and you are needed.

You will be required for a great task. One of which you must not fail, for to do so would bring great ruin.

The task which you have been given is monumental – you will help to stop a primal where no one else can.

My words...keep them. Remember them. Heed them.

You must not forget, Muto. You must not forget.

Muto blearily opened his eyes. Outside the world was waking. Light was coming in through the window, still orange as the sun started its journey above the horizon. Birds were already in song, announcing to the world that they had survived the dark night. Windows were beginning to light as the people of Gridania awoke.

As he lied in bed, something urgently tugged at Muto's mind. Something desperate. Something important. His eyes shot open.

He was out of toilet tissue.

This was the fourth attempt that Hydaelyn had made to spur the Hrothgar toward his quest.

Stumbling out of bed in his boxers, he rushed for the door and threw it open. Rushing across the small house, he passed by another white-furred Hrothgar and a tired-looking Lalafell who were sitting at a table with mugs. On the side of the beastman's in large block lettering had originally been “#One Brother,” but the number had been messily scratched out and replaced by “#1st”. It was a gift Muto had made while still learning to read and write Eorzean. The Lalafell, meanwhile, had a tankard large enough for a Roegadyn filled to the brim with coffee.

“Just one morning,” Lalinu sighed, “I would like for him to be decent when he comes out of there.”

“Muto is not naked,” Tahro observed.

“A marked improvement,” the Lalafell admitted.

The door to the back was flung open and Muto rushed out. A minute later, he rushed back and stood before them, eyes wide with excitement. “No more emergency!” he announced.

“...I'm sorry?” Lalinu asked. “Wait, no, forget I—”

“Muto thought there was no more toilet tissue, but Muto was wrong!”

“You were wrong about something.” She went to have a drink of coffee. “How about that.”

“Tahro buy,” Tahro informed him. “Tahro also fill up larder. Get groceries. Get good deals.”

“While somebody was out playing adventurer.”

“Muto is real adventurer....” Muto insisted.

“If you got sustainably paid, you could be considered a 'professional' adventurer. Just like how I'm supposed to be a 'professional' accountant.” She had another drink of coffee. “Though I currently lack the dignity that comes with such a position.”

“Muto think Lalinu is great!” He grinned brightly, hoping the smile would affect her mood. It remained as dark as her coffee.

“Muto need a good job,” Tahro informed him. “Get good money. Money not lasting.”

“He's right. It's not.” Lalinu swiveled in her chair, then hopped off. She walked across the kitchen to where her desk was set up, which was a little lower than the Hrothgars' knees. She sifted through the stacks of papers, brought up one, then put on her glasses. “After your last trip to...hold on....” She squinted and leaned in, then removed her glasses and sighed. “I can't even pronounce half these names.... Anyways, your exploits are currently not economically self-sustaining, even cutting back on everything – including feeding that beast in the barn – and your queen's 'adventuring grant' won't last forever.”

“Muto need to do more,” Tahro gently informed Muto. “Cannot keep doing light duties.”

“Grand company have nothing but light duties for Muto!” Muto protested. “So many adventurers in Eorzea! So many legends!” He put a hand to his chest. “But Muto is legend in heart.”

“We know how great you think you are,” Lalinu said after another drink of coffee, “but until you make that a reality, you're under a ticking clock.”

Muto looked above himself. “...where is clock?”

Lalinu gave a throaty sigh of frustration, but Tahro spoke up in her stead. “Lalinu mean...get big job...or no more adventuring.”

It looked for a moment like someone had slapped Muto, as his expression went from shock to heart-rending sadness. His ears drooped, his tail went limp, and he looked like he was about to cry. However, the moment was brief, as moments later, his ears went back up, he brought his fists near his chest, and he bore a determined expression.

“Muto get help!”

The world was warm and comfortable. She was a ball. A warm, fluffy, pink ball. All was well in the world.

And then she woke up.

“Miyu...!”

“Mm....”

“Miyu, hey...!”

“Nuhhhh....”

“Come on, it's time to get up.”

“Nuhhhhh...!”

“Don't 'nuhhhh' me. You asked me to get you up.”

A pink tail emerged from the blanket ball and began to angrily swish. “That was before it was morning....”

“I even let you sleep in a little,” Ryuko said, poking Miyu through her hammock.

The blanket ball tightened. “Then you can let me sleep in more.”

“If you sleep in more, you're going to miss all the good jobs.”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmhh.” The blanket ball loosened and Miyu's head poked out. Her hair was skewed to one side and only one eye was open. “You know how unfair this is.”

Ryuko stood before her already clad in her dragoon armor, leaning on her spear. “Oh, I know, but Eorzea isn't gonna help itself.”

“Why not?” Miyu tucked herself back into the blanket ball. “Seriously. People treat us like their servants sometimes. Like...picking mushrooms a little outside the city's walls. 'I'll give you 50 gil to get ten for me!' Get them yourself! Seriously, the creatures outside are not bad if you don't bother them. We have other things to worry about, we're not here to do your chores for you.”

She heard the Au Ra's boots walking away. “Technically speaking, that's exactly what we're here to do – do whatever people pay us to.”

“Well, some of us have standards....”

Ryuko's boots came back. “Are you getting up?”

“In a moment....”

There was a pause. “Moment's up!”

The carbuncle was dropped into the hammock and immediately starting rooting through the blanket to find an opening, while Miyu's limbs flailed. “Ack! Twitchums! No! Stop! Off!” His nose found Miyu's face, then eagerly started licking. “TWITCHUMS!!”

The hammock twisted from all the activity, dumping Miyu and Twitchums on the floor, followed by the blanket, which fell and draped over half of Miyu's face. Ryuko did her best to hide her amusement. “Glad you're up!”

“That was meeeeaaan...!” Miyu whined, pushing Twitchums away. He was trying to jump up on her chest to lick her face, both because he loved her and because it was time for breakfast. He was a bright, shining topaz color, indicating how thrilled he was to see the Miqo'te.

“You asked me to get you up,” said Ryuko as she turned and headed for the door.

“I'm asking you for less next time...” grumbled Miyu. She stroked Twitchums's head, making his tails twitch in delight.

“Go and get ready soon!” Ryuko waved from the door. “I'm sure you're gonna get a great job today!”

“It's Declan,” he said, flashing a bright, sly smile, “but you can call me 'Dec.'”

The Viera lady looked to the Miqo'te less than enthused.

“Y'know, I'm kinda big around these parts,” Declan went on. “I took out some primals singlehandedly, you know. Like Titan? Yeah, that was me. I even took his crystal, just because I felt like it. I sold it for a million gil, even though I didn't need the money. Did I mention I was rich?” He flashed the Viera a bright smile again, who returned a flat stare.

“Declan,” said someone behind him.

“Not now,” he said, waving the person away. “Okay, okay,” he went on to the Viera, “I've got a secret...but you've gotta promise not to tell anyone.”

She just stared.

“I...am actually one of the original Warriors of Light. I know! I know, but it's true! I was there when Bahamut broke out. I was actually right by Louisoix's side. I told everyone, 'Get out of here and I'll protect you!' I was gonna save everyone, but Louisoix decided to hog the glory. He totally stole my idea.”

“Declan.”

“Not now.” He leaned against the wall, still eyeing the Viera. “So, I wouldn't call myself a 'legendary hero,' but some people do. I just was trying to do what was right, y'know? However, I'd love to have lunch with ya. I know this lovely place near the Steps of Nald. My treat! You like Lalafell cooking?”

The lady sighed. “I'm gay.” Then she walked off.

“All right! All right, that's fine! Hey, you do you! Just making polite conversation!” She wasn't stopping. Declan sighed, his ears lowering a bit, then looked to a nearby man in a hooded white robe with glasses. “What do you think, Bo? You wanna try?”

“No, Declan...” he wearily sighed.

“Awww, you're no fun....” Bo hadn't been “fun” ever since he had become a white mage and swore a vow of celibacy. Declan ran his fingers through his hair, then turned to face the young, dark-skinned man. He had a metal-clad grimoire hanging from his belt and waiting with his arms crossed. “Yeah?”

“About time.”

“I was doing important business, thank you.”

Enzo took a hardboiled egg out of his pocket and bit into it through the shell. “Does Kijhon'a know about this 'business?'”

“Hey, I was just being friendly is all! Just making a lady feel welcome!”

“Sure, whatever.” Enzo tilted his head. “I've got a lead on a job. A big one, and I could use your help.”

“Ehh?” Declan arched a brow. “Well...maybe. Maybe. What's it paying?”

Enzo inwardly cringed. He knew this might be where things fell apart. “Technically, it doesn't.”

“Not interested,” Declan immediately responded.

“It's a Garlean facility,” Enzo went on. “It's currently lightly guarded. I've got a lead on—”

“Ehh....” Declan gave a dismissive wave, then walked off.

“You can have a share of whatever we find inside!” Enzo called after him. Declan turned a corner, then was gone. Enzo's ears flattened, while his hand went to the ring on his necklace and rubbed it while in thought. As much of a blowhard as Declan was, he did have considerable skill, which was exactly what Enzo needed right then.

Enzo popped the rest of the egg into his mouth. If Declan was out, what other options did Enzo have? His sister, sure, but he could guarantee she would say “no” straight-out. This wasn't something that he could entrust to just anyone at the grand company either, as secrecy and decorum would be needed, and the grand companies documented everything.

“Hmm....”

There was an idea. Not the best one, but it would work...enough.

Miyu waded through the crowds. She was running a little behind, both because she had been tired, plus Twitchums had decided to take his time with “doing his business.” What made this situation all the worse is that it was Tuesday, meaning that all the week's fresh jobs were just posted. Miyu mused that maybe this week, people were still recovering from the last one and weren't likely to be out there this early.

Seeing the grand company's building, her heart sank. She was definitely wrong.

A large crowd of adventurers clustered in front of the building. Some were crowding around the posting boards, while others were waiting in line to talk with representatives. It was always surprising to her how most of the larger races hardly ever stepped on the smaller ones, particularly the Lalafell. If she were a giant, she could see herself being lost in her own world, but then again, it was likely taught to them from a young age to be mindful of the small ones.

Getting to the board, she likely wouldn't find too many good postings left. Her best bet would be to wait in line with everyone and to see what someone of her rank could get. Given her record of...nothing big or impressive...it likely wouldn't be much. But she had been consistent, at least!

Speaking of which....

Someone who was determined to be an adventurer, even if he just got duties picking mushrooms, was a Hrothgar she was always happy to see. Regular as ever, she always saw him in line at this time. While waiting, he was looking to the large postings, reading them and slowly sounding out the words to himself as he did.

“Muto!” Miyu called, jumped, and waved. Despite her best efforts, it was all for naught. His full concentration was on trying to sound out “tyrannic coeurl.”

Miyu knit her brows, then knelt down and gave Twitchums a stroke from head to tail. “Eee!” squeaked the carbuncle.

“Where's Muto?” she asked. Twitchums's tails went up. “Wheeeeere's Muto?” The carbuncle eagerly looked about, his nose snuffling at a surprising speed. His tails flicked about wildly as he concentrated, seeking out his quarry, until his eyes locked on the Hrothgar. “There he is!”

Twitchums shot off like a bullet. He nearly collided with a Lalafell as he went past, snaked through the crowd, and the next thing Muto knew, there was a carbuncle who was so happy it was bordering on gold pawing at his leg. It took Muto a moment to realize he knew this carbuncle, then broke into a wide smile.

“Oh!! Is Twitchums!!” He bent down and scooped up Twitchums, who eagerly went to wash Muto's face. “Are here alone? Is not good to be alone! ...wait, is Twitchums here to be adventurer?!” The Hrothgar became incredibly excited. “Oh!! Muto teach you everything!!”

“Mutooooo!!”

The carbuncle's ears flicked, then wriggled out of Muto's grip and ran back towards Miyu. The Hrothgar followed his path, then brightened up.

“Is Miyu!! Hello!!”

“Muto!” Miyu called over the din of the crowd. “Wanna adventure together?”

“Miyu and Muto be party?”

“Yeah!” She nodded. “Let's party up!”

“Join Muto!!”

The crowd was thick and unmoving, and prodding a couple Hyur's in fur-trimmed armor to ask to get by only got Miyu dirty looks. She then eyed a nearby street lamp, shimmied up it, then – at Muto's encouragement – leapt straight for him. He caught Miyu, and after a bit of shuffling, she crouched perched on his shoulders while holding onto his horn for support. She could feel the glares of the Hyurs who initially spurned her, and simply playfully swished her tail back and forth at them.

“Next.”

“Hello!” Muto greeted the Elezen representative.

She blinked in surprise at seeing the Miqo'te perched on top of the Hrothgar, but neither of the pair paid it any mind.

“Badges, please.”

Muto passed hers down to Muto, then he placed them onto the counter, smiling brightly to her, hoping his smile could at least pass on to this person. As it turned out, working customer service did not make the Elezen feel like smiling.

“Okay, two one-stars. Are you working together?”

“Muto and Miyu make best team!” Muto affirmed.

“Uh huh. All right, we have plenty of one-star jobs. If you're interested in working locally, there's a farmer who has had some kobolds spotted near her farm. It looks like she'd love to have some able-bodied adventurers on hand to scare them off...or permanently deal with them if it comes down to it. Until they make a move, though, she would love to have some help harvesting her crops. That will be 200 gil and 50 points towards your next rank. Sound good?”

Muto perked up, happy to have work at all, completely forgetting what Tahro and Lalinu had said earlier. “Muto think sounds g—”

“Wait...wait, wait, hold on.” Miyu's tail began to angrily swish. “You're dealing with two one-stars...and you're giving us farm duty? That should be a zero-star job! We qualify for at least a two-star.”

The Elezen gave a weary sigh, and in her best customer service voice, she repeated what she had many times before. “The stars in your rank do not accumulate when doing jobs together. You can only do jobs at your current rank or below, except in special exceptions. Those exceptions are when requested specifically by a higher-ranking adventurer or in times of great peril. Is there a third member to your party who is above you in rank?” She paused only long enough to see the tell-tale facial expressions that said “no.” “Then in that case, you'll have to take one of the one- or zero-star jobs, and at the moment, this farm job is the best one I have to offer you. Tuesday jobs are first-come, first-serve.”

“Muto think that sounds gr—”

“Come on!” Miyu pleaded, leaning further down and out, yet somehow keeping her balance. “Do you know how long we've been working? How much we've been trying and trying to rank up? We've been grinding for who knows how long! Week after week doing these one- and zero-stars, just wanting a chance at a two star! Just a chance to make an impression, to show how truly amazing we are! Haven't you ever wanted just a chance? And here you are, the only person able to give us – us great adventurers with greater promise – that chance we need. You are the gatekeeper and we are horses, only wanting to get through the doors, wanting to gallop on our way through to the beflowered fields promised to us. We want to truly spread our wings in the skies of—”

“If I give you a two-star, will you stop the monologue?”

“Yes.”

A paper was shoved towards Muto.

“Next,” she called, looking past the pair.

Muto and Miyu made their way out, looking over the assignment.

“M-mee...” Muto sounded out. “...meerk...meer-ka-haynt....”

Finally hopping off his shoulders, Miyu leaned into Muto and dragged her finger along the page. “Merchant seeking protection along road from Gridania to Ul'dah. See, says here they're departing tonight and are looking for at least two guards. Well...with you, me, Twitchums, and maybe some friends, I'd say we have this one in the bag!”

A fairy flew by, making tinkling noises and illuminating the page before flying off.

“Muto did not bring bag....” said Muto bashfully, suddenly worried about his bag-less status.

“No, it's...ahh, nevermind.” Miyu had tried explaining metaphors before, including cracking the joke “I never metaphor I didn't like!” In response, Muto had given the smile that said he had no idea what Miyu was saying, but he was very happy that she was enjoying herself. “Either way, we have an actual two-star! Sheesh, trying to give us farm duty, pff, go eat a chode, we're adventurers, not bloody farmers.”

“Muto sometimes get bloody when doing farm work! Weeds are spiky....”

“That's why you wear gloves, Muto.”

“Muto strong. What does not kill Muto make three mistakes – not kill Muto, make Muto stronger, make Muto angry!” He grinned, showing off his teeth, then punched into his palm. “Muto kill and eat, just to show how tough Muto is! Weeds taste bad, though. And make tongue bleed. But Muto show them.”

“Muto, please don't say not killing you is a mistake.” Miyu rubbed at his arm. “The world would be less without you in it.”

“Oh, Muto not leaving!” He flexed hard and showed off his bicep. “Muto too strong for that! Plus Muto have Miyu!”

“And Enzo?” said another voice.

“Enzo?” Both Muto and Miyu looked over. The Hrothgar immediately reacted upon seeing the dark-skinned Miqo'te. “Oh!! Muto have Enzo today!!”

Enzo was leaning against a nearby building with his fairy Eos fluttering near his shoulder. “Meowdy.” His cool demeanor was quickly replaced by mild panic as the ground shook and a shadow overtook him. The next moment, he found his feet off the ground and himself in Muto's tight embrace. “Hrrk!!”

“Enzo, hey!” Miyu greeted him. “You already go through the line?”

“Hhhhhh...!”

“Muto, let go.”

Muto did. Enzo took a moment to get air back into his lungs and straightened out his coat. “Good to see you guys too. Bit...less tight next time, hey, Muto?”

“Muto sorry.” He grinned brightly, showing off his fangs. “Just happy to see Enzo!”

“Always mutual.” He flicked an ear, then took a boiled egg out of his pocket. “Egg?”

“Okay!” Muto took it and shoved it into his pocket. “Have later.”

Enzo brought out another. “You?”

Miyu lowered an ear. “I'm...fine, thanks.”

Enzo shrugged, then bit into the shell. “To answer your question, no, I haven't gone through the line. I don't need to. Came here to get some help, actually....”

Miyu squinted, suddenly very suspicious. “You didn't 'need' to go through the line? What, did you get a job elsewhere?”

“More or less.” He quirked a brow. “You two interested?”

Muto looked down at the paper in his hands. His ears went back slightly as he concentrated, trying to decide.

“Well, first off, what kind of job are we looking at here?” asked Miyu. “This have a ranking?”

“It's...an independent venture.”

That term – sometimes called an IV – was always a bit scary. Adventurers may come upon a task that needed doing, and instead of going through the paperwork of posting a job and seeking additional adventurers in an officially sanctioned job, they sought to resolve the problems themselves. Once the IV had finished, it was documented, submitted, and appropriate ranking points were assigned.

While in the past, adventurers had said certain troublesome events were “IVs” to give themselves an excuse, the grand companies quickly put harsh restrictions and punishments into place. Extremely foolhardy ventures – such as trying to assassinate a foreign dignitary and potentially starting a war – were punished so severely that getting put to death was an option. Retroactively saying something was an IV as an excuse for causing trouble or damage was severely punished, with it not uncommon to to lose one's adventuring license entirely, or at least a few ranks. The same punishment went with falsified IVs.

IVs were always a gamble, though. While the grand companies could at least guarantee payment and ranking points, there was no such guarantee in an IV. Even if adventurers barely made it out by the skin of their teeth, if they accomplished little or had nothing to show for their time, they would likely get little in regards to advancing their rank. However, the benefit was that IVs were not limited by rank or the number of adventurers allowed to join, meaning a great amount of money and advancement could be open to anyone.

“Go on...” Miyu said slowly.

“Not just yet. This's a hot job, big reward, and shouldn't be too tough, but I first need to know if you want to join me.”

“Sounds too good to be true. Where'd you get this?”

“Long story.”

“Shorten it.”

“I've got sources. Good and reliable ones.” He reached into his pocket, dug around, then made a face. He pulled out a white rat, which looked at him with wide, curious eyes, then handed it to Miyu. “Hold this, would ya?”

“Wh—?”

He then pulled out a rolled-up communique. “A little chocobo told me about a nearly abandoned facility that's ripe for picking through.”

“'Nearly' abandoned?” The rat scampered to Miyu's shoulder.

“A couple leftover guards, they're basically just babysitting the place now. Easy pickings. And you don't have to worry, they're not 'good guys' by any stretch.”

“Mmmmm...”

Enzo motioned with his chin at Muto's paper. “What rank's that mission?”

“Oh!” Muto held out the paper proudly. “Is two-star! Miyu is best ne-go-shee-ater!”

Enzo got a lopsided smile, proud of their accomplishment. “Well look at you! You're moving up!”

The rat climbed up to Miyu's head, where Eos flitted near to investigate. “We're looking at 700 points for this job.” Miyu then snorted derisively. “She was trying to give us something with 50, can you believe that?”

“Yeah.” Enzo shrugged. “It's kinda unfair to us lowbies like that.” He took a moment to look between them with a twinkle in his eye. “...but what would you two say to a four-star?”

“...I'm sorry?”

“IS FOUR-STAR?!”

“Shhhh!!” Enzo and Miyu hissed at Muto.

Muto clapped his hands over his mouth, while Miyu recomposed herself. “Okay, this is definitely sounding too good to be true. How is it a four-star?”

He moved the hand holding the communique, showing the emblem stamped beneath. “It's Garlean, but don't let that scare you.”

“Don't let that scare me?! Just the Garlean empire, nothing threatening....” Her sarcasm was interrupted as another thought came to her. “And what's the pay?”

“A third of whatever we find over there.”

“And what should we expect to find?”

“That's all a bit—”

The unseen hand of Hydaelyn nudged Muto's memory.

Muto gasped and clapped a hand heavily on Miyu's shoulder. “Oh!! Muto remember!! Tahro say to get big job! Or Muto have to stop adventuring!” He shook Miyu, making her head bounce about and dislodged the rat. “Is Muto's big chance! Show Tahro! Show Lalinu! Show queen! Show the world!”

“M-Muto....”

“Muto help Enzo!”

“But what about our job tonight?”

“Muto know math!” He was excited to share his academics. “Four is bigger than two!”

“He has a point,” Enzo chimed in.

Miyu looked between the two. They were both looking at her with wide, expectant faces. She gave a heavy sigh, then poked a finger into Enzo's chest. “All right...but we're trusting you! If this IV is a bust, you're going to be the one to pay the gil, all right?”

“Sure, yeah, that's fine! Let's say...500 gil if things don't pan out?”

Miyu squinted. Her shrewdness was kicking in. She knew she could negotiate for something a great deal higher, but Enzo was a friend...and she was curious exactly what they would find in this Garlean place anyways.

“Deal.”

“And you, Muto?”

“Huh?” His attention had gone to Eos, hovering above Enzo's head.

“Is 500 gil acceptable?”

“Okay! Umm....” He held up the paper with the two-star adventure. “Should Muto share?”

“Oh, that?” Enzo shrugged. “Yeah, just pass it along to someone else.” He turned to Miyu. “So...out in eastern Thanalan, there's this Garlean lab....”

While Enzo explained the job, Muto looked down at the two-star adventure, then to the crowd. He saw a frustrated Au Ra wandering away from the company building. It was the telltale sign of a poor adventure...and Muto had the solution. He wandered away, while Enzo continued his explanation.

Its breath was thick, and stank of blood and meat. Its lip were curled back in a permanent snarl, showing every single dagger-like tooth, while ichor-like saliva dripped from between them. Its teeth were literally the subject of horror stories, capable of piercing flesh and bone easily. Its jaws were powerful enough to crunch all manner of alloyed metal, whether it was armor or the side of an airship. Each claw was like a curved saber, able to rend its prey to pieces with a single swipe. Its muscles were beyond natural, fueled purely by aether and pure menace. Its kind had killed countless and would kill countless more. “Nightmare” was not enough of a description for the beast. To be seen by one was to already be counted as dead.

“Smoo-thie!”

It was an odd stroke of fate that a behemoth had ended up in the care of Muto. It was a hassle to care for, but nobody wanted to take it for domestic purposes, Muto refused to give it to those who intended it for battle, and him and Tahro seemed to be the only ones to whom Smoothie seemed to listen.

Pupil-less eyes swiveled onto Muto as he approached, carrying a fresh pig carcass behind him. Smoothie growled, and even in the warm climate, a cloud of breath could be seen.

“Muto got you nummies!”

He tossed the pig over the top of the cage, where it slipped through the bars before falling. Smoothie caught it in its jaws, and bit down, causing a small spray of blood against the side of its enclosure. Muto leaned against the outside of the stall, his tail swishing back and forth contentedly as he watched the behemoth feed.

“Are hungry, neh? No worries! Muto off to do big job! Can get even bigger pig next time!” He reached through a patted one of the behemoth's horns. “But am sorry, is in Thanalanalan. Smoothie is too big to go on airship!”

There was a loud crack of bone and spray of viscera.

“Awww, don't be sad! Muto is sorry, but will definitely try to take Smoothie on next big mission! Will try to get one in Gridania! Muto knows Smoothie likes hunting for deer!”

Smoothie shook its head, flicking droplets of blood across Muto's armor.

“There you go! Now you behave! Muto loves you!” He kissed his fingers, then put them to Smoothie's horn, before absently wiping away the blood.

He walked to the neighboring stall where his chocobo was caged. For some reason, it was always wide-eyed and nervous.

“Hello, Legbird! Time for adventure!”

The desert sun was high, but it barely reached them.

The storm had been sudden and filled with rage. The world was roaring. Wind violently whipped the sand about, shoving them about as their chocobos struggled onward. Enzo led the pack, all while keeping his grimoire open, its pages emitting a barely visible light.

Each of them wore caps that had been customized to fit over their cat ears, while goggles protected their eyes and scarves covered their lower faces. The chocobos had been given similar head protection, with glass shielding over their eyes and an insulated covering that went over their beaks.

Enzo held up a hand to halt. With one hand holding the grimoire open, the other reached into his pocket, then withdrew a scope. He scanned in the distance, tapped a switch a few times, then grinned to himself.

Turning to the others, he gave a thumbs-up and enthusiastic nod.

“You'd think there would've been something in the weather report.”

“What?”

“I said, you'd think there would have been something in the weather report!”

The other man gave a helpless shrug. He only heard half of what was said, but agreed with the sentiment. Things had been miserable ever since the main arm of the Garlean empire had pulled out. Insurgent forces had set up a fantastic base there in Thanalan, which was to be a hub of operations. However, due to a lack of resources – both material and personnel – and with the staff already there, it instead became a self-sufficient laboratory.

It was a risk having a lightly guarded Garlean base so close to Ul'dah, but it was a calculated risk. They were able to glean bits of intel regarding Ul'dah to occasionally send back to Garlemald, while the handful of scientists continued their research.

All the while, they held onto hope that the Garlean empire would make a push into central Eorzean lands once again, they would have a seat of power in Thanalan already ready for them, and everyone there could finally return to their lives in Garlemald.

Admittedly, life hadn't been too bad. It could be boring, even. The guards took shifts in their camouflaged watch box, nestled under an outcrop of rock that disguised the entrance and gave them shade. Cooled air piped in from the main facility made even the hottest days pleasant. All the while, the scientists continued working on...whatever it was they did. Something about crystals...of course. It was always crystals.

This sandstorm had rattled the guards, though, because their schedules depended upon sandstorms. Every time there was to be one, a cart would either leave or return with supplies hours before a storm hit, which would then hide the tracks leading to the base. Sure, someone could follow the cart, but they had had training and tools to help them detect when they were being followed or spied upon. This system had been working for them for years. However, the sandstorm predictions had been inaccurate before. This one, though, was particularly harsh.

One of the guards squinted out through his view port, then turned to his comrade. “I thought I saw movement!” he shouted over the rush of the storm.

“There's a lot of movement!” The man smiled. “It's the sand!”

He just got a flat glare in response.

A Miqo'te stumbled through the sand to the shelter of the overhanging rock. It wasn't much, but it was at least some kind of shelter. Her face was bare and grimacing, and she held her hands over her ears to prevent sand from getting in. She drew close against the wall and tightly pulled her knees to her chest with her eyes closed.

The two guards looked to each other. This was a problem. They could wait out the storm and hope she left once it had passed. However, if she stayed there long enough, she might take notice of the disguised doors. They had done what they could to keep up maintenance, but years with only what scant supplies they could get from Ul'dah without raising suspicion had left some telltale chipping, uneven edges, and a silhouette if you knew what to look for.

The guards pantomimed to each other about what to do. One was silently saying they should kill her, while the other one was pleading to leave her alone. Their silent argument was becoming more heated, until they heard her speaking.

“Please...! Please help...!”

Their hands froze mid-conversation.

Was she talking to them or praying?

A large stone punched through the wall of the watch box, hitting the one guard in the face, rocking his head back and into the wall, where he slid to the floor.

“Witch, you're about to—!”

The remaining guard took up his rifle, wrenched open the door, and ran into a wall of armor and muscle. Muto picked him up by the face, slammed his head into the rock wall, then let him fall.

Twitchums was low the ground, wearing his own pair of custom goggles. Flecks of energy came off him, fresh from manipulating the earth. Miyu walked over and eagerly petted him. “Good boy...!” He eagerly twitched his tails, then sneezed, sending out sparks.

Within moments, the sandstorm was gone, revealing Enzo in the midst of it. He brought up the grimoire, blew off the remaining sand, then clapped it shut. “That's always a fun spell...!”

He opened a pouch, allowing Eos to fly out and perch on his shoulder. Muto, meanwhile, raised up the goggles and lowered his scarf, then looked to the body at his feet. “Muto hit harder than meant to....”

“They're bad guys,” Miyu said, doing her best to empty out all the sand that had collected in her robes. “It's okay.”

“Should Muto kill?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” said Enzo disinterestedly.

“No!” Miyu shot him a glare, then looked up to Muto. “Only kill if you have to.”

Enzo sighed, looking up. “You know they're gonna wake up eventually....”

“Yeah, but we don't have to be murderers! We're better than that!”

“And what would you suggest?”

Miyu thought a moment, then snapped her fingers. Not even a minute later, thanks to Twitchums manipulating the sand, the two unconscious guards were buried up to their necks in the sand, and thanks to a magic marker, each one bore three whisker marks on their cheeks.

“Perfect!”

“Happy?”

“Very.”

Miyu handed the marker back to Enzo, who put it back in his pocket. Enzo procured an egg from his pocket, did his best to dust off the sand, then bit into it. “So inside, there'll likely be a small leftover contingent of guards, but they're not on active duty, so we hit them hard...and after that'll just be the scientists. We should be able to deal with them.”

“'Deal' how?” asked Miyu, squinting at Enzo.

“Just trust me.”

“No killing.”

“Trust me.”

“Muto trust!” offered Muto.

“Muto trusts me,” repeated Enzo.

“Mmmmm....” Miyu stayed squinting for a long moment, pointed to her eyes, then pointed to Enzo.

“Oh, stop that,” he said, carelessly waving her away and stepping past. “I'm not a monster.”

“Muto is not monster either!” He seemed eager to share that bit of information. “Am beast. Is like monster, but with better manners.”

Going inside the wrecked watch box, Enzo found a keypad. He unrolled the communique, then tapped in the code.

“Anything complicated?” asked Miyu.

“Just an alphanumeric code,” shrugged Enzo. “It's literally 'G1234.'”

Hitting the final key, there was a heavy “ch-chunk” from the outside wall, a hiss, then the rock face slowly slid open, revealing the way inside. The interior was a mix of rock and metal with bright lights evenly spaced along the ceiling, with occasional signs marking the way to various areas.

“You take point, Muto,” instructed Enzo.

“Huh?”

“You stay in the front and protect us,” Miyu clarified.

“Okay!”

Muto unsheathed his axe, Miyu and Enzo opened their grimoires, and slowly they started down the hall. They froze as they heard approaching footsteps.

“Nar,” came a sleepy grumble, “I swear, if you're coming in to use the can again—”

She emerged from a side door, where her eyes met Muto's.

Muto smiled.

The lady pulled her head back just in time to avoid the axe swinging down. Se turned and started to run towards a security alcove. Muto grabbed a hand axe from his belt and lobbed it at the retreating woman's head. The axe whirled end over end, before it impacted into her head...with the handle. She stumbled, which was further exacerbated by rising stones. Twitchums was at Miyu's feet, hunched down, glowing, and growling.

The guard recovered just in time to see a charging Muto bearing down on her, and the last thing she saw was a fist the size of her head flying right at her face. She was knocked back into a rack where a number of cards were hung, knocking them all to the floor, then fell to the floor herself.

There was a door next to the rack. The large squad of guards within and the three adventurers saw each other.

“Uhh....” said everyone.

The guards grabbed their rifles and Muto slammed the metal door. He pressed himself hard against it, while feeling the guards behind it hammering on and slamming into the door.

“Muto cannot hold forever!” There was the sound of gunfire and divots appearing on the door. “Muto does not want to get shot!”

Enzo's eyes went to the pile of cards on the floor. “Help him with the door!” he ordered Miyu.

“Twitchums, go!” Her command sounded in the carbuncle's mind. Twitchums turned red, a chunk of the bare rock wall came loose, then flew forward to help pin the door in place.

Sifting through the keycards, Enzo found the one he was looking for, slotted it into a nearby console, and his fingers danced across the keys.

Deet. Click-ck.

“There. You two can stop.” He looked flatly to Miyu. “And without killing.”

“Thank you,” she chirped. Twitchums went from red to a light topaz, twitching his tails gleefully.

Enzo rolled his eyes, then began sifting through the pile of cards. “You know, trying not to kill anyone is going to make going through here that much harder. We're here to finish a mission, not make friends with literal villains.” He turned his mouth. “...and how many bloody duplicate cards are there?!”

“Muto wouldn't mind making friends....” He crouched near the unconscious lady. “Should Muto take her back?” He started contemplating if it would be easy to add a new friend to the loot they would be taking back.

“Don't,” Enzo said, distractedly, “she probably has diseases. There!” He was finding card after card with A, B, and D, but only then did he find C.

There was a lot of yelling behind the locked door. Muto looked to it, then pointed his thumb to it. “Should Muto open door and quiet them?”

Enzo groaned and started off. “Come on,” coaxed Miyu, gently taking his wrist and leading him on.

As they walked the halls, it was rather obvious the place was unfinished. Garlemald had sent what supplies they could, but when the supply route had been disrupted, those who were left there made due with what they could. The base had seemingly been integrated into a cave system, and many walls had been left exposed to the rock surfaces beneath. A surprising number of halls ended up going to dead ends.

It helped with navigation, as construction had prioritized lighting in areas where people worked or traveled. There were occasional maps posted, though most had been minorly vandalized, both because many of the places on there had never been built, the staff did get bored, and it wasn't like any Garlean officials were there to stop them.

“We're aiming to go...here.” Enzo pointed to a large circular room. “This's where their main project should be.”

“Wait, there's a project?” Miyu guffawed.

“Well, yeah.” Enzo raised an eyebrow. “What, you thought it was just a no-name lab we were going to loot? Take some cool science equipment, take the Garlean empire down a beg?”

“You didn't specify!”

“You didn't ask.” Miyu made a strangled noise of frustration, with her tail shooting up behind her in annoyance, while Enzo went on unabated. “It's a little bit of navigating, as you can see, but that shouldn't be too bad. Thanks to my friends—” He fanned out the key cards. “—it'll be a straight shot through. Here, though...we'll be passing by the main lab. We'll likely be dealing with quite a few scientists then.”

“Muto need to deal with?” He looked between Enzo and Miyu, unsure how he should define “deal with.”

“I've got this,” Enzo said coolly before confidently walking on. Miyu squinted judgmentally from behind him while Muto looked about wide-eyed. He'd never been in a secret base before!

Eventually, there was noise ahead. Enzo looked around the corner, then sighed in frustration. There were so many more down there than he had anticipated.

“The scientists?” asked Miyu.

“The scientists,” confirmed Enzo. Miyu crossed her arms in thought, followed by Muto doing the same, imitating her.

“It would be a bad idea if we were to go in with weapons swinging,” Enzo sighed. “They could trigger an alarm or could fight back. I'm sure there's plenty of Garlean fighting tactics in their heads....”

“Muto fight them all?” offered the Hrothgar. “Muto is best at fighting!”

“No,” Enzo and Miyu said at the same time.

They stood there together in silence, thinking on how best to proceed. As they did, Enzo noted Eos floating past his vision.

“Hmmm....”

Miyu was looking down at her feet and saw Twitchums staring up inquisitively at her.

“Hmmm....”

Muto looked between his companions, confused.

“Hmmm?”

It was an average day for the Garlean scientists. They had several crystals hooked up to various electrodes, screens with graphs, and nearly incalculable amounts of data pouring through their system. It was entirely normal. Almost boring.

“WHY IS THAT IN HERE?!”

And then there was a fairy riding a carbuncle through the lab.

Twitchums burst through the door, running as hard as he could, while Eos did her best to steer him. They specifically darted between and near people's legs, leaving a trail of chaos. Under chairs, over tables, through carefully calibrated equipment. One scientist went to bar their way, but Twitchums jumped on his face, then springboarded over a handful of others behind him.

Twitchums was having the time of his life.

Eos looked bored.

While the scientists had been going about their business in labs and walking in the halls, they were now clustering together, trying to capture this wild animal. People were crowding into the lab, aiming to block the doors or to help catch the carbuncle.

Eos piloted Twitchums for the door, and with a kick of her heels, urged him to ride as hard as he could.

“Ready?” someone asked. They had a labcoat spread out, ready to use as a makeshift net. Twitchums and Eos drew closer, and they weren't stopping.

“Now!”

There was a fierce roar behind them. They stumbled and turned back to see a Hrothgar towering over them, fangs bared, eyes fierce, and axe in hand. Twitchums jumped over the startled scientists onto Muto's shoulder. Looking to the crowd of people, he twitched his tails in satisfaction.

Deet.

The fire shutters slammed down across all windows and doors, trapping all the scientists within the lab.

Enzo shoved the keycard in his pocket, withdrew another hardboiled egg, then popped it entirely in his mouth. “Tha' wash ee-ee....”

“Twitchums, you were so good!” Miyu cooed, walking over to him perched atop Muto's shoulder. Eos took flight, dutifully resuming her place by Enzo's side. Twitchums hopped down from Muto's shoulder to Miyu's awaiting arms, then eagerly licked her face. Enzo, meanwhile, nodded to Eos and she nodded back.

After that, it was no problem continuing through the facility. Behind the fire shutters, the trio could hear the trapped scientists banging and shouting. Twitchums walked alongside Miyu with a proud step, satisfied with the chaos he had caused, while Eos hovered along stoically. Muto followed along, though occasionally stopping and pressing his ear against one of the shutters.

At one point, he pulled back his fist, about to bang back, but Miyu caught his arm and lead him on. “Leave them alone for now,” she gently goaded.

Cables and general wiring grew more and more condensed as they continued along the hall. Enzo's pace picked up as they grew closer.

“You never told us about what we're specifically trying to find....”

“It's condensed aether,” Enzo casually said. “Pooled and experimented on. Basically, a certain crystal. All I want from here is that, and literally everything else here can be yours.”

“Ohhhhh...!” Muto's eyes were wide. “Muto get secret base...!”

“Probably...not,” Miyu corrected. “Ul'dah is more than likely to come down hard on this place. This is in their jurisdiction and is a matter of national security, so they'll likely have their army take it over and conduct a thorough investigation.” She quirked a smile. “However, before they get here, there's nothing saying that if it's not nailed down, you can't take it...!”

“It's mostly rivets here anyways...” Enzo observed.

“Muto get so much stuff...!”

The hallway wound around, until they arrived at a heavy industrial door with a console to the side. Above the door in large, block letters was “INCUBATION CHAMBER.”

“In...in...innnnkoooo....”

“What...form is your aether?” Miyu asked hesitantly.

Enzo slid the D card through the console, his fingers danced across the keys, and the door hissed open, followed by two more doors.

The chamber within was enormous. It was a large concrete dome. The floor of the chamber was almost entirely sand, with raised platforms going around the perimeter and a walkway leading straight into the middle.

“There we are....” Enzo said, smiling to himself, confidently walking in and starting down the central walkway.

“Enzo, what's going on?” Miyu demanded.

“Just here for the aether is all.”

At the end of the walkway in the center of the chamber was something organic. As they drew closer, they found it was...a creature. It was short, fat, large, and fleshy. It was reminiscent of a large brown toad, in that it's head seemed to take up most of its body. In fact, the party wasn't sure where its arms and legs were. It had brown skin, four deformed horns that wound about in random directions, and large bulbous eyes that stared in different directions. It looked incredibly dumb.

“Hack!” it noised.

“What...is that?”

“Hack!”

“A massive repository of experimental aether,” Enzo said matter-of-factly. “Drawing upon the streams deep within the planet, they twisted and gave the energy form, and it's what you see here.”

“They created a creature?” Miyu leaned over, trying not to step on the sand.

“In a sense.”

“Hack!”

Twitchums leaned in and sniffed eagerly at the thing, nose to nose. One eye briefly looked to the carbuncle, then back to staring at nothing in particular.

“Wait....” Miyu squinted at him. “You want us to take this thing with us? It's huge! And, y'know, alive!”

“Oh, that won't be a problem.” Enzo motioned to the creature. “Muto, please kill it.”

“Okay!” Muto eagerly agreed.

“What?!” Miyu protested. “No, don't!”

“Okay!” Muto eagerly agreed.

Enzo sighed, then turned to Miyu. “I can tell you for a fact it's in pain. It's not sentient, it's not a person, it's a thing that would be best for everyone if we were to end it here.”

“How do you know—?”

“You'll do no such thing!” came a voice over the speaker system.

The three immediately readied their weapons and looked around.

“Up here...up here...!”

“Oh!” Muto eagerly pointed to an observation room high up with large windows. Inside was a tall Roegadyn lady in a lab coat speaking into a wall-mounted microphone. Muto happily waved to her.

“What you're doing here is wrong,” Enzo shouted at her.

“Who are you to decide what is right and wrong?” the lady snarled. “We gave PP0 life only technically speaking. It has no idea what it is, nor does it care. It knows nothing, feels nothing, except what we tell it to. Sentient thought is beyond us to create anyways...which works out well for you bleeding heart types, doesn't it.”

“PP0?” Miyu asked Enzo.

“Oh...wait, you don't even know what it is?!”

“Not...exactly,” Miyu responded.

“Well!” The scientist paused, then hit a few keys on the nearby console. The multiple doors at the entrance slammed shut. “In that case, I need to tell you! It's really exciting! We haven't had visitors in years, so this is actually pretty nice to get to see somebody new for once!”

Enzo glared flatly at the Roegadyn, then sighed to himself. He gestured for Miyu and Muto to come with him, then hopped off walkway to the sand and started towards a door at the opposite end of the room, presumably which led up to the Roegadyn.

“See, we were kinda stuck here, since Garlemald kinda got cut off from us, and we're all, 'What do we do?' But then we found that with our set-up, we could hypothetically infuse aether energy from our reactor into something! Wasn't tough at all! So at that point, it's like, 'What can't we do, y'know?' Well...I mean, not much, we're all stuck here, but then, then we get this super cool idea, right? And we sent out a secret communique back to the empire asking for this one thing, and we didn't think they were going to, but they did!”

They got to the walkway in front of the door, then Enzo swiped a cardkey through the console. He blinked when the display came up with the error “INCORRECT CLEARANCE.” Confused, he tried again. That was supposed to be the maximum clearance card.

“Things...okay?” Miyu asked.

Enzo just furrowed his brow and tried another card. INCORRECT CLEARANCE.

“I mean, it took awhile, but they delivered it, and we were super excited! A scale from Bahamut! Like, who'd have thought, right? But, I mean, doing genetic stuff with Bahamut isn't anything new, but now we get to!”

Miyu's eyes went wide. “Wait...Bahamut?!”

While Muto didn't entirely understand everything going on, he understood at least that. “Uh oh....”

INCORRECT CLEARANCE.

“So we have some cloning technology, which was kinda-sorta based off the Allagan process, and, c'mon, that stuff is ancient, and we only kinda-sorta understand it, but we were able to modify it and use the modified aether to infuse into Personal Project 0 – or PP0 – and that's where its nickname came from – and I know it's not the best acronym, but Garlemald isn't exactly here watching over our shoulders for the best naming conventions – but I guess he also has those giant peepers – but anyways—”

A small pile was forming at Enzo's feet. There were a few suspiciously large money pouches, three full-sized books, a collapsible staff, a surprising number of keys, a melon, three cartons of boiled eggs, a light back-up robe, a few squirming malboro hatchlings, several keycards, a unicolt figurine, a wind-up soldier, and a few flowers with attached tags labeled “Corpse.”

“WHERE'S THE BLOODY KEY?!” he snarled.

The guards continued banging on the door of their barracks, hollering for help, shouting threats, and making noises of utter frustration.

In front of the door was the pile of keycards. Towards the bottom was a key labeled “E.”

“—but anyways, it was nice to have visitors, but it's kiiiiiinda our policy that intruders aren't allowed to leave, or at least leave alive, and PP0 has never had proper combat testing, so this is probably where you're going to die. I'm sorry, but not really, but also am.”

She tapped a few keys and the entire room began to hum. Moments later, the sand began to bubble. Large amounts of air were getting pumped in beneath the sand, causing it to go from being a settled, solid mass to a liquid. Muto had been standing in the stand, quickly began sinking, then jumped up to the walkway.

His axe was immediately readied. “No worries!” he said with an eager swish of his tail. “Miyu and Enzo are safe! Muto protect you all!��

What they thought had been a whole creature ended up being only its head. It began to raise, attached to a long neck. Massive claws burst through the sand, struggling to raise up its large body in full. The tips of the wings were visible next, with one wing much smaller than the other. Thick cables emerged from the sand as well, plugged into the creature's arms and back. The dragon's proportions were all wrong, with some muscles incredibly large, while others were noticeably underdeveloped. Once it had climbed to the top and its body was fully visible, the sand stopped bubbling. The artificial dragon stood nearly as tall as the dome.

The three stood there wide-eyed, ears lowered, and with bushed tails jetting out from behind them. Twitchums had gone from growling and being a deep red to whimpering and turning white.

“Muto...maybe not able to protect...from that.”

Without the body moving, the head spun around on its neck to look down at the adventurers. Its body then slowly lumbered around to face them. Energy flowed through the cables and its bulbous eyes went red.

“Behold!” the scientist bellowed into her microphone. “PEEPO!!”

“HAAAAAAAHCK!!!” it roared, then blinked an eye.

“Mew...!” mewed Miyu.

“This could get messy, so if you'll excuse me.” A fire shutter slammed in front of the large window. A few cameras positioned around the room blinked to life. “Make sure to have good deaths. This is all getting recorded for our records! PEEPO, KILL!”

“MOVE!!”

Peepo's neck glowed before letting forth a jet of flame. The group scattered, feeling the white-hot heat on their backs. The wall where the flames had hit had partially melted the metal and crystallized the scattered sand.

“I can't believe we're about to get killed by something so stupid-looking!” Miyu yelled in aggravation.

“If you had just let Muto kill it, we wouldn't be here!” Enzo snapped.

“Whatever Muto did, Muto sorryyyyyy!” Muto wailed.

They were running across the sand for the exit door. The exit may have been blocked by several locked doors, but with Enzo's keycards, they could at least escape.

Muto gasped. “DOWN, NOW!!” He palmed the backs of Miyu and Enzo's heads, then fell forward, making them faceplant into the sand. Peepo's tail whooshed just over them, then impacted heavily into the wall. Enzo rubbed the sand out of his eyes, then his ears went limp. The console in the wall near the door had been destroyed.

“It's him or us right now,” Miyu sighed defeatedly. She looked back up to Peepo and whined to herself. She always hated fighting dragons. Twitchums pressed himself up against Miyu's side, both for comfort and seeking instruction.

“Muto choose us!”

Muto got to his feet, axe in hand, then charged Peepo.

“Muto, wait!” Miyu looked agog to the Hrothgar, then to Enzo. “Does he seriously think he can beat that thing?!”

“Maybe....” Enzo took in the room. “...but more importantly, he's keeping its attention off us.”

“HRAAAAAAA!!”

Muto rolled out of the way as Peepo went to smash down with its claws. Muto swung down, his axe biting in deeply in the back of Peepo's hand. In return, the artificial dragon's neck glowed again, then spewed down fire at Muto. The Hrothgar knew the creature had limited mobility when using its breath weapon and darted for Peepo's legs. The stream of fire followed him, until it started to cook Peepo's feet. Being right by the artifical dragon's backside, Muto swung back and took a couple hacks at Peepo's tail. In response, the dragon went to heavily sit down, aiming to crush Muto.

Sand was tossed up and hung in the air briefly. Silence had descended upon the cavern...until a fierce battle cry pierced the din and Peepo bucked. Muto had climbed several cables and was hacking at its back.

Enzo stood with Miyu, Twitchums, and Eos against the wall watching the fight ensue.

“Kinda impressive...” he mused.

“That's what you're thinking during all this?!” Miyu snapped.

Peepo flapped its mismatched wings desperately, trying to dislodge the attacker. It craned its neck to see and possibly bite Muto, but couldn't quite reach. It finally settled with launching itself back and slamming its back into the wall of the dome. The room shook violently, with dust falling from the ceiling.

“Muto!” Enzo called. “Are you alive still?”

Peepo did not seem in distress anymore, and was repositioning itself to try and get a better view of what happened to Muto.

“Enzo, Muto hurt!” the Hrothgar called. “Muto...really hurt!”

“Go.” Eos flew.

The Hrothgar was lying in the sand, with his leg badly damaged. His axe was just out of reach and he looked terrified. Peepo, meanwhile, was waiting for the dust and sand in the air to settle, trying to spy Muto.

Eos found Muto, then flew in front of his face.

“Mmm?”

Eos slapped Muto across the face. It was a tiny fairy, but she hit hard.

“Ow!” He rubbed his face. “Was mean!”

“Are you still hurt bad?” called Enzo.

“Huh?” He looked down. Any blood and damage to his leg was now gone. Eos had channeled her healing energy when she had made contact. “Ohhhh....”

“Keep fighting him!” Enzo called.

“Okay!”

“And don't die!” Miyu added.

“Okay!”

He grabbed his axe and rolled out of the way as another jet of flame scorched the sands.

“Its aethereal energy is too complex to hold steady on its own,” Enzo said, rubbing his chin. “So the cables—”

“Attack the cables?” Miyu interrupted.

“Go for the connection ports.”

As Muto and Peepo battled, they could see that when it had rammed itself against the wall, several ports had been damaged and cables had fallen away. They briefly spewed aethereal mist before the emergency shut-offs initiated. While the cables had been heavily insulated to keep in the aether, the ends were less so to allow for flexibility and movement.

“Get 'im, Twitchums!”

The carbuncle, while still scared, was bolstered by Miyu's command. It gave a fearsome squeak before launching itself forward. Sand began to gather in the air, hovering next to him, and coalescing into crude spears.

Muto was flung across the room and hit the wall hard enough to leave a crater in the concrete before falling to the sand. He lied there groaning, bones shattered, life leaving him.

Eos flew over and kicked him.

Healed, Muto grabbed up his axe and charged again at Peepo.

Twitchums drew upon Peepo. It was so, so much bigger than expected. Miyu's voice directing him in his mind steeled his courage and pushed him on. With the artificial dragon's attention on Muto, Twitchums had a clear shot along Peepo's arm. The sand spears launched forward. Several missed, impaling into Peepo's arm, but a few hit home. Cables came lose, briefly spewing aethereal mist, before stopping.

Peepo's head swiveled to look to Twitchums before a thrown hand axe hit it in the face.

“NO!” Muto scolded. “Fight Muto!”

“HAAAAAAAHCK!!”

“Stop! STOP!!” pleaded the voice over the speaker system. “You don't know what you're doing!”

“We're winning,” Enzo observed with a smirk.

“No, you don't understand!” The Roegadyn was in a panic. “This is years' worth of research and experimentation! You'll destroy everything! And if you—”

Muto was airborne and Peepo plunged its hand at him. The Hrothgar just barely missed it. The artificial dragon's sword-like claws thrusted deeply into the concrete dome. Unsure if it had grabbed him, Peepo squeezed, then yanked back, ripping out a huge boulder of concrete and wiring. The room's speakers went immediately silent, all camera lights dimmed, and the lights about the room began to flicker.

“Hit it faster!” Enzo instructed. “Burn it down!”

Twitchum heard Miyu's command in its mind, and gave a mighty squeak. Sandstone spears materialized and flew in violent waves at Peepo's back. The creature's attention was divided between what was happening behind it and the very loud and angry Hrothgar. Peepo's actions were also becoming more and more sluggish, as less aether was pumped into it.

A jet of flame followed Muto as he charged directly for Peepo. He was barely staying ahead of it.

“Muto also have flame!” Muto roared. “Flame is inside!”

Cable after cable was severed from Peepo's back.

“Flame is Muto!”

He jumped.

“Flame is friends!”

The final cable was severed.

“Flame is hotter than dragon's!”

His axe went straight into Peepo's chest. The artificial dragon stood there stunned and wobbling as the last of its aether had dissipated. Muto's axe was lodged deeply in Peepo and refused to come out. Muto took the opportunity to push his feet off the creature's chest, pivot off his axe handle, and launch himself upwards. He reared back his fist and uppercutted Peepo in the chin.

The artificial dragon dissipated into aethereal mist. A moment later, Muto's axe hit the sand, followed by Muto, landing in a crouch. He stood to his full height, thumped his chest, then gave a bestial roar of victory.

“MUTO!!” he announced. “WIN!!”

As the echo died down, Enzo muttered, “It was technically Twitchums who killed the thing....”

“Shhh,” Miyu whispered back. “Let him have this....”

Enzo's attention went to the aethereal mist. He squinted, waiting for it to start...and there it was. It all began to come together to form a crystal.

...and then the lights went out.

“Ehh?” Miyu looked around. “Twitchums! Light!”

The carbuncle's forehead gem lit up. It was in the middle of the room, looking around confusedly.

“Everyone okay?”

“Muto is fine!” announced Muto, somewhere in the darkness. “Muto and friends have great victory! Oh!! So many stars!! Muto and friends level up for sure!”

The dome lit up in red.

Enzo was crouched in the middle, holding a crystal. Miyu was against the back wall. Muto was on his hands and knees, looking in the sand for a trophy from the fight.

“That...can't be good,” muttered Enzo before shoving the crystal into his pocket. Miyu found herself wondering exactly how he had so much space in that pocket.

“AETHEREAL OVERLOAD,” came an announcement outside the room. “UNABLE TO CONTAIN. 200 SECONDS UNTIL MELTDOWN.”

Something that many of the base's workers had feared was that many basic safety features had never been implemented into the base's hasty construction. For example, there was the matter of being unable to access overrides for locked doors and fire shutters from within the affected rooms. Another big issue was that of the base's power. Since the aether was not being pumped into the PP0 project anymore, it was instead getting pumped in massive quantities back into the reactor. It couldn't handle it...and there was no way to either stop the flow of aether or shut down the reactor.

“Uhhhhhh....”

The exit doors made a noise, then despite being damaged, partially opened. It was big enough for all of them to get through, if barely. At least it had been built in the emergency systems that in the event of a catastrophic failure, everything would be automatically opened.

“GO GO GO GO!!” shrieked Enzo, making a mad dash for the exit.

All of them ran across the sand, kicking up clouds behind them. Enzo, Miyu, Eos, and Twitchums had no problem getting through the gap. Muto threw his axe through first, then went to squeeze past...and became stuck. He struggled, but barely budged. Instead of fear, he looked confused.

“Is Muto getting fat?”

Enzo had been running ahead, but stopped to run back. He and Miyu grabbed Muto's wrist, and pulling together, got him dislodged.

“120...119...118,” counted the speakers.

Down the halls they ran, with Miyu glaring at Enzo. “You have so much explaining to do,” she demanded.

“I didn't know this would happen!” Enzo insisted. “In case you haven't noticed, I'm also fleeing for my life!”

“You're paying us double!” Miyu snapped. “If I die, it'll be triple!”

“Oh!!” Muto had a revelation. “Loot!!”

“Please, Muto, now is not the time for—”

He skidded to a halt in front of a computer console.

“No, leave it alo—!”

He grabbed the sides, groaned, and pulled. Nothing happened...then with a terrible shriek of protest, the metal ripped from the wall. He held the console over his head and started running again. “Okay, Muto good!”

“70...69...68....”

Down the halls they ran. Emergency lights pointed the proper directions to the exit. They passed the labs, which were now empty, as the shutters had retracted and the scientists had escaped. A few tried to remain behind to rescue their data, but others had pulled them along, telling them their lives were worth more.

The halls wound round, until they could see daylight ahead, blocked partially by the last remnants of fleeing scientists. “There! There!” Miyu eagerly pointed forward. “We're gonna make it!”

“15...14...13....”

“It's them!!”

Some scientists stopped, considering trying to fight them off in revenge for ruining all their research. However, the prospect of remaining in an exploding base urged them to quickly leave.

Catching up with the scientists, the crowd fanned out into the Thanalan desert.

“4.”

People were running as hard as they could.

“3.”

They couldn't put enough space between themselves and the base.

“2.”

There was no shelter.

“1.”

Sand dunes were the best they could find.

“MELTDOWN COMMENCING.”

There were screams. Some dove for the ground and covered their heads. This would be huge.

...

And then nothing happened.

What was to be anxiety and fear for their lives turned into confusion, then frustration. There wasn't going to be an explosion. The countdown system had been implemented, but must have been faulty. There was no danger. And it was a bit too perfect for there to have been a countdown with a round number like 200 seconds. Everyone was safe.

And then all attention drew focused on the small party of adventurers in the middle of all of them. Muto was still holding the ripped-out computer console above his head. Then there came the noise of several rifles cocking.

Miyu nervously laughed, “Eh heh...!” then raised her hands.

Enzo, meanwhile, squinted at everyone. A dark expression came over his features.

Miyu elbowed him, then hissed, “Do you wanna die today? Put them up...!”

“No....”

“Muto's hands are up!” declared Muto cheerfully, still not putting down the console.

“Do you have any idea...” said a guard approaching them, gun pointed at them, “...what you have done?” His cheeks still had the drawn-on whiskers.

“To be fair,” Miyu squeaked, “we were kinda hired to? I-it was nothing personal?”

“Ready!”

Rifles were raised, safeties were removed.

SHOOM!!

A mushroom of fire erupted from the base, shooting debris and sand into the day sky, blocking out the sun. A visible shockwave went out, kicking up sand and knocking a number of people over. There was a climbing roar, which was then followed by an explosion of blue flame that erupted from the base's entrance.

Chaos had taken control of the crowd once again, before everyone had calmed once again.

“Wait...where—?”

“Buh-bye!” Muto was up on his chocobo, alongside the others on theirs. The console had been awkwardly shoved into the chocobo's pouch.

Enzo looked over the group and gave a smirk. Not saying another word, he put on his goggles, pulled the reins, and headed off into the desert.

“You can fake your own deaths here if you want!” Miyu said with a wave. “Start new lives!”

“Wait!!”

They didn't stop. The chocobos were running. Moments later, Enzo began the spell to again create a sandstorm. Their tracks would be covered and hopefully, they would never see anyone from the base ever again.

Silence descended over the base's staff.

“I forgot my Triple Triad deck in there...” lamented a guard.

Standing in Ul'dah at the airship station, they gathered around their pilfered crystal. The sky was darkening, as the sun was just disappearing behind the horizon.

“So in the end...it wasn't anything special,” lamented Enzo.

“It's just a normal fire crystal?!” groaned Miyu.

“Ehhhhh...yee-eahhhhhhh....”

“Anything special about it?” she demanded.

“I mean...it might have a bit more of aethereal concentration?” shrugged Enzo. He passed over his scope. “But if you look at the aethereal mapping on it, there's literally nothing out of the ordinary. You could find this in anything.”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said,” he grumbled in aggravation, “but despite them altering the aether they were pumping into...that thing...it ended up having absolutely no effect on the crystal it left behind.” He wiped his face frustratedly, then pushed the crystal away. “Honestly, you two can keep it and turn it into the grand company, have more 'proof' of this whole misadventure. Put it right beside that console Muto grabbed.”

“Thank you, Enzo,” Miyu said quietly. “But you really don't have to.”

“I'm going to,” he insisted, “and I'm going to pay you too. Just as agreed.” He rolled his eyes. “Though...that might take a bit. All my money was kinda left in the base....”

“Take whatever time you need, all right?” Miyu gave a consoling smile. “I'm sorry this all happened like it did, but we...made some kind of difference, right? And this should get us some advancement, at least! I mean, once we document it all. Right, Muto?”

They both looked up to the Hrothgar, who was standing with the biggest smile on his face.

“Why're you so happy?” asked Enzo.

“Muto go on adventure with bestest friends!” declared Muto, barely able to contain his glee. “Muto and friends fight bad guys! Muto and friends defeat dragon! Muto and friends—” He made an enthusiastic explosion noise. “—blow up secret base! Muto and friends real adventurers! Real heroes!”

Enzo, despite his disappointment, smiled. “Well...I'm glad you guys had such a great time. Sorry you missed out on your other mission.”

“Is okay!” Muto said with a bright smile. “Muto helped Au Ra! Muto help community! Oh!” He remembered something incredibly important. “Muto now can have egg!” The hard-boiled egg Enzo gave him hours ago had been sitting in his pocket the entire adventure...and was likely destroyed, but that didn't stop Muto's enthusiasm. He reached in, then looked confused. Grabbing a hold, he pulled out a wadded piece of paper.

While Enzo explained the job, Muto looked down at the two-star adventure. If they were doing something else, then it would be a waste to hold onto it. He saw a frustrated Au Ra wandering away from the building. It was the telltale sign of a poor adventure...and Muto had the solution. He wandered away, while Enzo continued his explanation.

“Are okay?” asked Muto.

“Ehhhh....” She shrugged. “My fifth week in a row with a zero-star.”

“What is rank?”

“I'm almost to my first level,” she shrugged, “which kinda is awful, because I was doing adventuring for years before. Just...it never got documented and there's such a backlog with level appeals.”

“Oh!” Muto held out the paper with the two-star adventure. “Muto have solution! Au Ra friend can have adventure! Is two-star!”

She blinked, taken aback. “Wait...really?”

“Uh huh!”

“You're sure?”

“Uh huh!”

“Because I know how hard it can be to get these kinds of missions if you're not leveled up...a-and if you don't want to, you really don't have to, it's okay! I mean, of course I want the mission, but it's fine if you'd rather not—”

“Muto!” called Miyu. “We're leaving!”

“Oh!! Coming!!” He absently shoved the mission in his pocket, then ran after the others, leaving a confused Au Ra behind.

“Umm....”

“Muto...have mission.”

“I'm sorry?” asked Miyu.

“Muto still have mission.”

“You what?”

“Muto still have two-star mission.”

“You what?”

“Muto not mean to!” He held out the paper, crumpled up, covered in smashed hard-boiled egg and eggshell shards. “Was accident!”

“That's—!”

“Muto screw up again?!” He looked absolutely terrified.

“No, no!” soothed Miyu. “It's okay! Just—”

“Where is the mission again?” asked Enzo.

“Ummmm!!” He opened the paper and did his best to read. “Um...um—”

“Gridania!” cut in Miyu.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“I think so?”

“Are you sure?”

“Um, yeah, sure! Wh—?”

He shoved the fire crystal towards Miyu, who took it confusedly. Enzo's grimoire was thrown open. He channeled his magic, then uttered the words, “Oovoo javer!”

Space folded around Miyu and Muto, and not even a moment later, Enzo was there on his own at the table.

They were only a little late. Not even twenty minutes later, the two adventurers were on the merchant's carriage with Muto blowing a melody into a bone flute, serenading his companions and the darkening sky. The mission was only beginning.

It was utterly still and dark. There wasn't a single noise in the house. It wasn't because it was abandoned, but because he chose for his footsteps to be silent.

A light source was approaching, illuminating the neighboring room. Instead of trying to hide from it, Enzo waited and crossed his arms confidently.

A young dark-skinned lady entered the room holding a lit lantern. She saw Enzo, then deeply frowned.

“Thanks for letting me know you're home...” grumbled Emory. “Where were you?”

“Oh, out,” Enzo shrugged. “Nothing big.”

Emory scowled at him. “I know that look. What did you do?” She sighed with frustration. “Who did you kill?”

He put up his hands, palms out. “Nobody this time!”

“Don't you lie to me! How many was it?”

“Seriously, Em, it's not actually not a lie!” He gave a wide grin. His teeth were pointier than they had been earlier. “You should tell your brother what a good boy he's been!”

“Oh, shove it...” she grumbled. “What did you do?”

“Wanna see something amazing?”

She just raised an eyebrow.

He reached into his pocket, where he had a small portal to the Void, and withdrew a crystal, then set it on the nearby table. It glowed a dull red and was lined with veins. Emory looked at it, and moments later, recoiled. The shadows cast behind her from the lantern twisted for a moment before resuming that of a normal lady.

“What did you do, Enzo?” she snapped. “What is this?!”

“Aether!” His grin widened. “Can't you tell?”

“You know exactly what I'm talking about!” she snarled.

“Oh, come on, Em!” He nudged the crystal, making it spin in place. “Just a little crystallized aether!”

He noted the shadows behind her were growing and darkening. Spiky protrusions were twisting and forming in the dark.

“Fine, fine,” he lamented. He flicked the crystal to spin it the opposite way. “So I have to say the people of this plane can be absolutely brilliant and incredibly stupid. They had no idea what they had. They were taking aether from the planet and corrupting it. Corrupted aether is nothing new, sure, but the way they were doing it was...certainly unique. They absolutely ruined it, depriving it of being aspected, while maintaining the energy and refusing to adapt to any other aspect. And then they channeled it through a remnant of Bahamut, who was able to amplify it so much more than I thought possible. Even with just one of his scales.”

“How'd you get it?”

“Ohhhh, you know....” His tail flicked playfully.

“Do not make me ask again.” Emory glared. “Or I will make you tell me.”

“My friends just helped me get into a Garlean base is all!”

“We don't have 'friends,'” she stated flatly.

“I like to think Miyu and Muto are.” He received a withering glare from Emory. “Oh, come on, I don't consider them as equals! They're just useful! Entertaining too.”

He picked up the crystal and turned it about, so that both he and Emory could get a better look at it.

“Anyways, I don't entirely understand everything those mortals did to the crystal, but long story short, they basically created something that is outside the six elements. And I'm not even talking about unaspected aether. I'm talking about technically a seventh element....” His smirk grew wider. “...which should provide for some interesting possibilities.”

“Do whatever you want with it,” grumbled Emory. “Just keep that thing away from me.”

“Oh, this thing?” He held it out just a hair more.

Emory glowered at him, then turned and left in a huff, leaving the room. It was pitch-black in the room once again...save for a glowing pair of red eyes.

Thanalan Desert.

“I have a suspicion...” murmured the gentleman to himself.

“What kind of suspicion?” asked an eager Miqo'te.

“I believe....” Hildibrand suddenly gave a wide sweep with his arm. “...that there was an explosion.”

The two of them were standing at the bottom of a crater, surrounded by debris.

“And where there are explosions, there are crimes.”

“What about Bahamut?”

A finger was thrust into the sky. “He is the greatest criminal of them all!”

Some of the debris moved. The finger was lowered and pointed to it.

“A clue!” both of them said together.

A hand eventually came forth from under the rubble, followed by a ragged sleeve.

“Nashu!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We must assist!”

They crouched next to the hand and pulled away concrete, stones, and all manner of debris. A Roegadyn lady in a torn white lab coat lied underneath.

“Who...?” she croaked. “What...?”

“My lady, you have stumbled into the authorities!”

“We have authority?” asked Nashu.

“Absolutely! All of Eorzea is ours to patrol and to bring justice to! And you, my lady!” He dramatically pointed down to the scientist.

She just stared blankly at him.

He knelt next to her, then reached for her hand. “...are most obviously the victim of a terrible, terrible crime. Pray, tell me...who did this to you?”

The Roegadyn looked at him blankly as her thoughts started to come together. What were the names the Hrothgar said?

“Muto,” she finally managed. “Muto, Miyu, and Enzo.”

Click!

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