#{ones just where everyone is just running around with kick ass weapons and armor in hyrule}

[heaven-s-black-box]

Luck- Wash x Fem!Ex-Freelancer!Reader

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Recovery date: January 8th, 2025

Description: Hiya!!! When I saw your requests were open I just had to as for a Agent Washington from RvB(could be a short scenario or a full fic) because out of the very few writers put there for him I think that you are by far the best!!

Notes: CW Reader is vaguely implied to be suicidal (not wearing her armor in a war zone) This work was recovered in conjunction with an anonymous researcher, we thank them for their contribution. Went for a different route with my freelancer reader this time, she defected with Tex instead of being sent to Blood Gultch.

Word count: 1 181

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Y/n pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long and tired sighed.

She was standing in a doorway of… it didn’t really matter. Nothing really mattered to her in this moment. Not the concerned and questioning stares of the New Republic soldiers as she walked around without her armor, not the strategic questions Kimball bombarded her with, and certainly not the dog pile in front of her.

Griff seemed to be on the bottom, she’s pretty sure she sees his armor peeking out, and Simmons is directly on top of him. She assumes Griff decided to sprawl on the ground in protest of something and this was Simmons’ way of getting him to move, because Tucker is on top of him like they were trying to make it uncomfortable. Then Caboose is on top, and she’s not even surprised.

She pities Kimball, putting her faith in these morons right now. But more than anything she pities them, the reds and blues- No. Tucker, Caboose, Griff, and Simons. The reds and blues includes Sarge, Lopez, Donut, Wash, Carolina, Church, and Doc. They are not the reds and blues, not right now.

Griff continues to yell incoherently, drowned out by the pile above him and everybody else yelling.

“Would you please,” Y/n yelled, shutting them up, “try to behave yourselves.”

Everyone was facing away from her, but Caboose craned his neck awkwardly until he could kind of see her.

“Y/n! Where’s your armor?”

“Being repaired.” A lie. She still had her freelancer armor, it was more durable than anything these guys had and that was why she wasn’t wearing it. “Caboose, get up. Same with the rest of you.”

Caboose practically jumped to his feet and ran over to her, locking her in a strong hug– he’d been doing that more recently since they got separated from the others.

Separated, that’s what she kept telling him. It’s what she kept telling all of them, but she wasn’t sure she believed it anymore herself. Did she ever really? She’d seen so many miracles that maybe her luck had finally run out.

Luck.

Wash did not believe in luck, and if he did his was definitely shit. York was always the lucky one, and he was dead so clearly the well of luck must be running dry. But in this moment, he could only hope that whatever drops might be left land on him.

Him, or her? Y/n. Who really needed the luck right now?

He watched Sarge grill some poor Federal army soldier on weapon maintenance while Donut cheered him on in the background and Lopez seemed to be commentating in Spanish. Was this making him miss the blues? He’s not sure, but he definitely misses Y/n. Or as Tucker so kindly puts it, the other brain cell.

Not only does he miss her, but he’s worried about her. Does she know he’s alive? He hopes she does, but the only way to know for sure is to see her. So he has to get this goddamn rescue mission off the ground.

“Sarge! He knows what he’s doing, let him work!”

“How do you know that? You weren’t there for his training, we gotta make sure this mission goes off without a hitch! We gotta save your princess in a tower! You know, operation rescue Simmons! And if Griff accidentally dies, then that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“La princesa te matará por eso,” Lopez replied,and for once Donut’s translation was on the mark.

“I agree with Lopez, Sarge, I think Y/n might kill you for that.”

“Why? Princess’ can kick ass, you ever seen Xena: Warrior Princess? Or Wonder Woman, she’s a princess! And that Princess from the Italian plumber game, sure she keeps getting kidnapped but when she fights she kicks ass.”

Wash isn’t sure if he’s more baffled by Sarge’s take on princess Peach or just his list of pop culture princesses. He wasn’t even sure if Xena counted as pop culture.

“Just,” Wash sighed, waving his hands in surrender, “leave the poor guy alone.”

How far apart were they, on this strange planet?

They’d definitely been further apart, they’d been so far apart after the project fell. He’d refused to leave, becoming a recovery agent, and she’d been one of the first to defect. He would have left if she’d asked, but that wasn’t her style– in that sense they were the same. They were the worst, the most timid, barely scraping by it seemed while everyone else flourished. Wash only stayed to help Epsilon and the AI, but if Y/n had asked him to leave, to join the fight from the outside, he wouldn’t have hesitated.

That was her strength, always the negotiator, and his strength, she’d always called him a jack of all trades; a strength that had saved them time and time again, whether he realized it or not.

As if bound by an unseen force, both freelancers return to their rooms.

They collapse into their stiff beds, and Wash groans as his helmet bounces off the metal slab of a cot. The back of Y/n’s head hits the sweater she’d folded up as a pillow, and it barely cushioned her from the stiff weave of the collapsible cot. Her armor was piled in the corner of her room, the helmet set on top staring at her.

Wash closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then begins adjusting his radio signal.

“Y/n? Carolina?” He calls into the empty room. He’s on the old freelancer channel, but he gets no reply, so he changes the channel again. “Y/n? I know you’re out there.” Wash stares at the empty ceiling, it’s an old channel that the MOI didn’t monitor. Good for late night gossip with the others, but it had long since fallen into disuse.

In the New Republic base, Y/n rolls onto her side, cushioning her head with her arm and stares at her armor. The dark visor stares back, and the scratches and chips in the paint remind her that they have survived so much already.

“I’m coming for you. We’re, coming for you, all of you. I’m worried about you, you know, so just hold out a little longer, please.”

Groaning, Y/n pulled herself from her cot and dragged herself over to her armor. She picked up the helmet and dropped back onto her cot, holding it above herself at eye level.

Wash took another deep breath, opening his eyes for a moment to make sure no one was in the room. He closed them again and let out the deep breath.

“I love you, and I’m telling you in person when we come save you. I think… I should have told you a long time ago.”

Y/n lifted her head and pulled the helmet on, starting up the systems and watching the hud light up. She flicked through channels until she landed on the old freelancer channel.

“Wash? Carolina? Are you out there?”

There was no reply.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 313: Deku VS Lady Nagant

Previously on BnHA: Hawks’s super-hot badass murder senpai Lady Nagant showed up to fire a cupid’s arrow into my heart, and a bunch of literal bullets into my son. Deku was all “oh shit it’s Hawks’s super-hot badass murder senpai, what do I do, let me think back to Hawks’s advice for a sec.” Flashback!Hawks was all “anyway Deku so if my super-hot badass murder senpai ever shows up you’re basically screwed so you’d better abscond the fuck out of there.” Present!Deku was all “lol idek why I flashed back to that conversation since I’m just going to do the exact opposite of what Hawks said” and charged directly toward Nagant because WHY NOT. Overhaul was all “waah I need to get back to my boss who I put in a coma out of love” and Nagant was all “jesus christ why did I even bring you here” and had a flashback to AFO who was all “ILU NAGANT IMMA GIVE YOU AN EXTRA QUIRK SO PLEASE CAPTURE DEKU FOR ME PLEASE AND THANKS” and yeah. Shit is all over the place right now and I love it.

Today on BnHA: All Might gets attacked by a pair of discount assassins and is all “Call an ambulance! ...BUT NOT FOR ME” and it’s really badass but also I really wish he would stop tempting fate like this. Lady Nagant is all “[casually flies around town shooting shit]” and I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t read an entire chapter of just that. Deku is all, “[gets shot (≥_<)]” and releases a giant Smokescreen which prompts En to show up. En is all, “( •᷄⌓•᷅ ) (⌣̀ Δ⌣́) ( •̀_•́ )σ (¬､¬) (눈_눈)” which I consider to be a high point of both the chapter and of my life. The chapter ends with Deku using the Third’s quirk to launch a bunch of random objects at Nagant so that he can jump up and grab her arm all sneaky-like, and I’m sure this is going to prompt another week’s worth of discourse that I don’t care about at all, but fuck it, I’m having a good time.

OH WE’RE CUTTING BACK TO ALL MIGHT WELL THAT’S NICE I GUESS. CONGRATS ON NOT BEING DEAD

you named your car??

you named it Hercules??

I love you so much??

please marry me you giant fucking dork???

lmao speaking of huge fucking dorks

who the fuck are you clowns. la dee da we’re gonna murder All Might with our synchronized spear attack!! I mean... they’re clearly trying their best... maybe I should just be nice and politely hype them up like All Might is so clearly trying to do

like okay, but we all agree that this is actually the least intimidating attack any of us has ever seen, right?? these guys zipped up their hoodies all serious-like and are trying to attack All Might and Hercules with their Walmart tiki torches, but just, no?? right?? like the only way this could possibly be effective is if they were trying to kill All Might with secondhand embarrassment

“those are assassins” this is a VERY generous assessment, All Might

OH MY GOD THE TIKI TORCHES ACTUALLY KILLED THE FUCK OUT OF HERCULES

[slaps roof of car] this baby can fit so many weaponized festive backyard lighting solutions in it

and yet, even after watching this with my own two eyes, I still can’t take these dudes seriously. idek what it is. anyways r.i.p. Hercules, I loved you a lot but I guess you weren’t actually a very good armored car were you

omg they didn’t know it was All Might??

okay 1) for a moment there I was like “oh hey maybe they’re not so bad after all” but then a moment later it was like “ah nope, they are.” like, that was an interesting .06 second emotional journey there. anyways 2) All Might you have my permission to kick their asses for this disrespect, and 3) anyone else all of a sudden getting “wouldn’t this be an interesting time for Stain to suddenly show up” vibes?? no?? just me???

(ETA: hmm tbh I’ve still got those vibes and they haven’t gone away lol. Stain?? you out there buddy?? do you want to be cool for just once in your life. ball’s in your court pal.)

OH SNAP ALL MIGHT ARE YOU REALLY GONNA DO IT ARE YOU GONNA KICK THEIR ASSES

PROTECTIVE DAD MODE ACTIVATED?? BECAUSE YOU KNOW I’M HERE FOR THAT SHIT, SO YEAH, FEEL FREE

omg he’s shouting at them about how much Deku has suffered lmao and they’re just like falling over from being scolded

so they have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about though, right? “SIR THIS IS A WENDY’S” well whatever, you killed his pet car so he’s in a bad mood now

OH MY GOD

LIKE, JUST SO WE’RE ALL CLEAR, THESE FOUR PAGES SO FAR HAVE MADE ALMOST ZERO SENSE. LIKE MAYBE 2% SENSE TOPS. BUT ASK ME IF I CARE. GO AHEAD AND ASK. I SAID GO AHEAD, IT’S OKAY. ...NO I DON’T CARE AT ALL THANK YOU FOR ASKING

(ETA: also, the more I look at this panel, the more I’m just like, why the hell would you phrase it like that though, sob. way to doubly tempt fate?? are you trying to give Horikoshi a challenge??)

and now back to Deku who is randomly bouncing around the city and narrating it to himself just in case he was confused about why he was doing this

who are you talking to Deku. but thanks we appreciate it

man you gotta love that overconfidence. the smartest guy in the world warned you away from this lady, so SURE, LET’S RUN RIGHT UP TO HER. “I APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT, FLASHBACK!HAWKS, BUT I’LL TAKE IT FROM HERE” well okay then!!

I think it would be funny if RHA.com put little Buzzfeed-style polls in between the chapter pages so they could survey people at random intervals as they read their way through the chapter. like, you finish this page and then there’s a little poll there asking “do you think Deku’s plan of catching up to Lady Nagant and finding out where Shigaraki is will work?”, and you click “no” just like everyone else and then nod as the results show that 97% of your fellow readers also picked “no”, and you chuckle to yourself wondering how many of the 3% accidentally clicked on the wrong option by mistake, and then you keep on reading

ANYWAY, SO

HOW’S THAT PLAN WORKING OUT FOR YOU SO FAR DEKU. nice kick, though!!

omggggggg

ouch

update: Deku’s plan not really working out. sources tell me my boy has been fucking shot. this is an ongoing story and we will keep you posted with the latest developments as they come in

wait what

feel free to explain to the rest of us what all of this “UNLESS...” and “THAT POSSIBILITY...” shit means anytime, Deku

oh lol did he realize she could fly??

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE, CNN’s John King reports that Deku is still fucked. eyewitness reports now coming in that Nagant is doing no-look shots and basically not even giving a fuck. sources described her mannerisms and expression as “sexy, but in like an effortless sort of way.” we will continue to bring you the latest

so now there’s basically an entire page of Deku being all “ah fuck so she’s basically closing in and she could already hit me with impossible accuracy even from Far Away, so if that’s the case then her being Up Close is probably going to be even worse!” making good use of that Big Hero Brain there, Deku

so now what, you’re doing some kind of spiraling kick thing?? how is that going to help

oh lol he’s using Smokescreen to create some cover. aww, good for you Deku you named one of your Smokescreen attacks

OH NO LADY DON’T TELL ME AFO DIDN’T EVEN FILL YOU IN ON THE BASICS

seriously, AFO?? you basically told her what Deku’s exact strategy was going to be but then couldn’t be assed to drop that little, small, barely notable piece of knowledge that Deku is rocking multiple quirks?? is it supposed to be a secret or something?? you dropped the ball here man

damn this is getting intense now

(ETA: the way En is poking Deku’s head in that first panel is fucking sending me, I love this guy so much omg.)

well then what are you planning, Deku?? I’m actually really curious!! I am genuinely starting to be invested in this fight scene not only in the “wanting to see who wins and how that impacts the plot” sense, but also in the “wanting to see how it happens because the choreography and strategy is actually pretty cool” sense, which honestly hasn’t happened for quite a while now! this is fun

anyway so what’s up Deku, are you going to use another quirk?? I’ve been speculating that he hasn’t actually unlocked the last two yet (since Two and Three didn’t exactly seem convinced when we last saw them), but maybe I’m about to be proven wrong

(ETA: well he clearly has Three’s obviously, but Two’s is still MIA, and that’s the one I am of course the most curious about. that’s the one we’re all curious about, let’s be real.)

OH SNAP???

AHHHH I’M HYPED LOL. ANOTHER SHINY NEW QUIRK LOL SHOULD I PUT UP THE USUAL DISCOURSE DISCLAIMER

(ETA: so yeah, after thinking on it, I’m not gonna say “please no Deku discourse on my blog” this week, but I probably will ignore any discourse that does come my way though, just because I don’t have much interest in getting involved in what would probably be a pretty repetitive discussion. like, I can just sum up my opinions (which is what they are) here instead. in fact here they are lol:

1) I like the SIXQUIRKS and I like seeing Deku be a badass.

2) I also don’t think Deku is too OP. more like he’s exactly as OP as he needs to be at the moment, given that we’re approaching the end of the series. I expect the other kids will also be pretty damn OP when we see them fight again. we’re just at that point now where they’re all badasses (as well they should be; they’ve grown a lot and they deserve it). it’s just that Deku’s the one we’re getting to see right now.

3) of course I miss Kacchan and the others, but for me this vibes much closer to the MVA arc where even though I missed them, I was still having a blast (as opposed to the dark days of the Basement arc where I was pretty much losing it lol). like, even though Kacchan’s my favorite, I still love Deku a lot and this arc has been amazing for him getting to shine on his own (for like the first time, really).

4) y’all know I love the OFA plot and I’ve never been shy about that lol. I like all of the Vestiges a lot. Banjou and his over the top personality; En and his “guy you thought would be serious and :| all the time but is actually hyper-animated and ALL OVER THE PLACE” energy; Shiro who actually is a :| sort of guy lol; Three who I still expect will be fleshed out in a more detailed flashback at some point; and of course Two, who, well. you know what I think about him lol. Bakuverse is still on the table and I’m still hyped. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we still have yet to see Two actually talk to Deku (as opposed to talking to the other Vestiges while Deku is distracted). did he lend him his power yet?? or is he still holding out?? either way it’s definitely going to be a Big Thing when it finally happens and I can’t wait to see it.

5) Lady Nagant is Everything and just because Deku grabbed her arm doesn’t mean the fight is over yet lol. Overhaul hasn’t come into play yet either. not to mention that even if the fight is over, the “where do we go from here” part still has me excited either way. her connection to Hawks and the HPSC is very intriguing and we’ve barely touched on that as of yet; she definitely has more of a role to play in this.

6) last but not least, I feel like every week the discussion is all about how much focus Deku’s getting, and how OP he is or isn’t, and OFA this and OFA that, but meanwhile I’m actually so invested in the character development here though?? the way Deku has distanced himself from everyone (except for the Vestiges, because of course they’re already dead so it’s not like they can die again lol)?? the way he’s pushing himself far too hard and we can see the shadows in and under his eyes, and the fact that he never smiles, and even All Might has remarked on how he isn’t taking care of himself at all?? the fact that he’s so single-mindedly obsessed with focused on stopping AFO?? the fact that he’s still the same sweet old Deku despite everything and was so kind to that fox lady with the umbrella, but there was also something so sad about that scene because it felt like a reminder of the type of hero that he wants to be, but that he’s not allowed to be right now?? because the stakes are too high and the world is falling apart?? and he feels like he’s the only one who can do something about it?? and that he has to be?? and that he is putting so much pressure on himself right now, and it’s absolutely too much pressure for any one person to bear, and I feel like no one is fucking talking about this lol goddammit.

anyway so yeah. I have feels about this, and every week that slow-burn angst is getting more and more intense behind the scenes, and I feel like it’s all going to hit a breaking point eventually. sooner rather than later. it really feels like a mirror of Katsuki’s post-Kamino arc. where all that angst was just churning below the surface for like twenty chapters and then it finally was like “okay it’s time” and it all came bursting out and we got the best five chapters of the fucking series (in my admittedly biased estimation lol).

basically, I know that most of fandom is billing this as either the “villain hunt” arc or the “solo Deku SIXQUIRKS fighting arc” or whatever. but for me, it’s always been and still is the Deku Angst arc lol. the cool fights are a sexy bonus (the worldbuilding less so because even though it’s interesting to see society at such a low point, it’s also very depressing and gets old pretty fast), but for me the thing that’s really keeping me engaged chapter after chapter is seeing Deku like we’ve never seen him before. seeing him all quiet and withdrawn and brooding and focused on AFO, AFO, AFO, and seeing that “he just doesn’t take himself into account” mentality taken to extremes. I am invested in that. I’m soaking up that angst each and every week, and I’m invested in seeing what comes of it. it’s a big picture thing. week to week this arc might just seem like a bunch of villain fight scenes, sure. but Deku’s emotional journey is the thread that’s going to carry this arc through from beginning to end, and for that I’m willing to be patient.

anyway that turned into a BIG OL’ RANT there but yeah! so those are my thoughts on the disk horse as it currently stands. and like I said, I’m open to discussion, but tbh I will probably just wind up repeating these same talking points endlessly so just a fair warning lol.)

anyway so Three says Deku has yet to use his quirk at ALL but now he’s trying to combine it with another quirk?? damn. also please check out En’s face here you guys

En launching a sneak attack up my favorite character list by the sheer power of his expressions alone. he really knows how to make the most of his screentime

OH DAMN DEKU

at this point the 3% from that hypothetical poll earlier are starting to feel prettttty damn smug, I’ll bet. well shit

what in the fuck

?? so like releasing his chi or whatnot?? isn’t that basically just like base OFA all over again?? also Deku did you seriously just apologize to Gran’s cape

update: Nagant has turned her eyeball into a gun

hm. hmmmmmmm. ...okay yep, still somehow sexy

anyway so she’s just floating up there building suspense, as one does. lord I sure hope she has good reflexes because something tells me she’s going to need them

OH SNAP HE THREW GRAN’S CAPE AS A DECOY WHAAAAT OKAY THAT’S SOME SMART SHIT DEKU

LOL SHE’S MAD NOW

JESUS CHRIST SHE JUST NEVER TAKES A GODDAMN BREAK FROM BEING AWESOME HUH

DEKU ARE YOU JUST THROWING EVERY DAMN THING IN YOUR INVENTORY

but without the cape and the hood how will you continue to look like an enigmatic badass. you really can’t. which means we might finally be moving on from the wandering nomad part of this arc, stay tuned

LOL YOU MANIAC

I hope he went full Kacchan with the dialogue there. his face sure looks like it lol. popped out of a building all mad fdskljlkj omg

well this was fun, shit. I still have basically no idea what Three’s quirk does though lol. like, can he use it to charge up objects with kinetic energy or something?? but then what was all of that talk about combining it with one of the other quirks?? or was that just because he was using Smokescreen at the same time??

(ETA: having seen and read an additional half-dozen explanations of Three’s quirk, I can say with confidence that I still have basically no idea what it is or does.)

anyway so!! Deku is a badasssssss but something tells me not to count Nagant out just yet even so. also I really enjoy seeing Deku flip out on people like he doesn’t have a fucking hole in his torso because it reminds me of A CERTAIN SOMEONE and I always love to see him channeling that feral energy; I feel like it’s been a while

anyways good luck to you both!! I truly wish that both of you could win. but if not, then maybe you can at least become friends instead. you have so much in common, you both can fly and have multiple quirks and you’re both badasses, and plus it would just be really funny to see the look on Hawks’s face lmao

[fangirlovestuff]

More Than Meets The Eye - Steve Rogers x reader

a/n - hey lovely people!! this one is for @s1utforfictionalcharacters​, who asked for a Steve x reader enemies to lovers a while ago. thank you so much for bearing with me and being patient, and i hope you enjoy!!<3

Summary: Between figuring out what was the Tesseract doing at a Hydra base and if it even is the Tesseract, you need to navigate your relationaship with one annoying, broody Captain. Honestly, you might prefer the Hydra thing. 

this isn’t set in the mcu timeline, but takes inspiration from a few mcu movies. it’s not canon compliant and everyone’s alive:)

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: lowkey angst and some tension, maybe a curse word or two? tell me if i missed anything!

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

"Rogers!" you heard Tony's voice over the comms, "Where the hell are you?"

"Babysitting," you heard Steve's irritated voice, not only over the comms but also behind you, right before you saw him dashing past you to punch the Hydra agent you were fighting square in the jaw.

"Well, get America's ass over here, now," Tony grunted, clearly mid-fight himself, "we need backup."

"Go!" you yelled at him, spinning to take out another agent that was coming up behind Steve, "I got this!"

"You sure?" he asked, his tone sarcastically degrading, jumping while kicking two agents simultaneously. Showoff.

"Yes," you resisted the urge to roll your eyes, "I can handle them, go help the others!"

"Alright," he grunted as he pushed off another agent before running back in the direction he came from, towards the rest of the team.

"Cap, you coming or what?" Natasha spoke on the comms, calmer than Tony, but it was obvious she's just as in need of backup as he was.

"Coming!" Steve replied, before it went relatively quiet.

You finished up disarming the rest of the agents in your wing of the building. No one was calling for you on the comms yet, so you decided to make another round in the perimeter, make sure you didn't miss anything.

God knows captain know-it-all is gonna be on your ass about it if that's the case. And honestly, you have more than enough of that as is.

As you were walking down the hallway, you noticed a strange, glowing light coming from under the doors. Upon finding it was unlocked, you opened it to reveal a room that was entirely filled with the same blueish light you had seen, and it was all coming from a desk in the middle of it.

Approaching slowly and letting your eyes time to adjust, you got closer and closer, realizing the shiny object was a peculiar blue cube. A cube you knew well, perhaps even too well.

"Guys, if you're done over there, you might wanna come to my wing. There's something you're gonna want to see."

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

"Okay, we have to keep looking, maybe they left some blueprints or anything that can indicate how they were planning on using it," Steve commanded, "or already have."

"Wait," you said before everyone split up to follow his orders, "as important as the why they got it is, I think the first question we should be asking is how the hell they got it. I thought it was locked away in the Asgard safe?" you looked at Bruce, who out of all of you had the most contact with Thor.

"It was, the last time I checked," he frowned. "I'll see if I can contact Thor, see if he knows anything."

"You do that," Tony interjected, "the rest of you, follow Cap's order while he and I have a little chat. Shall we Rogers?" he pulled a frowning Steve aside, while you all split up to try and find any information you could salvage.

In your search, you ran into Natasha. As you were both scouring the same desk for clues, working together like a well-oiled machine, you asked, "what did Tony want from Cap?"

"Probably to ask him where the hell was he when we needed his backup," she said matter-of-factly. "Or, you know, where the heck he was. We all know Steve's proper like that," she smiled, and you let out a chuckle at her words.

"Well, that’s good," you remarked, "since he really should've been there for you guys. I don't know what was that all about," you scrunched up your nose. "Nothing here," you added, closing the drawer you were looking through.

"Yeah, here too," Natasha closed her own drawer, "let's go."

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

Later that day, you were all having dinner together as you went over some papers the others found at the Hydra base. Since you were already in the same place, you split the takeout, taking caution not to spill any of it.

"Cap," you asked, seeing the saltshaker was too far for you to reach, "Can you pass me th-" your words were abruptly cut by him planting it in your hand, going back to whatever it is he was reading.

"Thanks," you muttered, going back to your paperwork as well.

This might be the place to mention that pretty much ever since you joined the team, Steve exhibited a certain… coldness to you. Arrogance, indifference, call it what you want – from day one, Steve Rogers made sure you knew he was better than you.

And considering he was literally Captain America, it's not like you thought you were ever better than him in the first place.

You blended in with the rest of the team seamlessly, fighting and training among them. I mean sure, there were jokes about you being "the new kid", but it was just that – jokes. No one, or at least no one but Steve, seemed to view you as inferior.

You still fought well together, it was your job. Hell, he just passed you the salt before you even finished asking for it. Being attuned to each other's actions and attitude in that way made it all the more obvious how much he seemed to covet his leadership position, his place of dominance.

It got on your nerves. So. Much.

You see, if he were like that to everyone else on the team, so be it. But the absolute majority of it was directed towards you – the new girl. And it was clear that's all he ever saw you as. A girl.

Even that salt thing – he handed it over so impatiently, so suddenly, like one would handle an irritating child.

You had hoped he'd get over it at some point, but so far, that didn't seem to be the case. Well, you're not planning on going anywhere, so you'll both have to get over yourselves at some point.

"Hey!" Steve snapped his fingers in front of your eyes, shaking you from your reverie. "C'mon, listen up. Tony found something."

Oh well, that "some point" is probably not today.

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

"So, Hydra wanted to use this," Natasha gestured at the Tesseract, "To power up a weapon they've designed?"

"That's the gist of it," Tony confirmed. "But from the looks of it, this thing is a lot more powerful than it seems. They planned on powering up a whole armored aircraft, plus all of their rifles using this cube. If that's possible, and by the looks of it, it very well might be, it's a lot stronger than you'd think."

"Wait, what do you mean their rifles as well?" you asked, your brows furrowing, "like, split this thing into pieces?"

"No, it looks like they were planning to project its power somehow, like…" Tony trailed off, struggling to explain.

"Like… Bluetooth?" you suggested.

"Yeah," tony snickered, "pretty much."

"Okay, but they didn't do that yet, right? We stopped them?" you looked around to the rest of your teammates before looking back at Tony.

"Seems like we did," Steve answered instead. "Bruce, any update on how they managed to get it?"

"Didn't hear anything back yet," the man in question shook his head, "I'll try again."

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

When Bruce ended up getting an answer from Thor, telling him to come to Asgard, you immediately volunteered to go with him. It was partially because you've never actually been there, and you were very curious as to why Thor would ask Bruce to come.

But also, you could use a break from a certain Captain.

You tried to ask Bucky and Sam what his deal with you was, several times, but they just shrugged and gave you vague, unhelpful answers. You even considered trying to convince Wanda to just tell you what he thinks about you, but you didn't want to give him the satisfaction of bothering you so much that you'd stoop that low.

So lately, you've been just trying to avoid him, which usually worked just fine, since it's not like he was that adamant about being around you either. That is, until you said you'd go with Bruce.

"No way," he immediately objected.

"Why?" you asked, "Bruce might need some backup, and I'd like to visit Asgard. Win-win."

"We need you here, going over the papers."

"C'mon Cap, I think we both know I do better out there in the field than I do with all the blueprints. Tony's way better with that, he's the only one who does it anyway."

"So what, you're just gonna go on a field trip?" he sneered.

"No, I'm going to look out for my friend and teammate." It took everything in you to keep your voice level.

"That's nice. Cause it would be a shame if Banner had to watch your back while you went on vacation."

You scoffed. "Where did you even get that idea? I said I was gonna give Banner backup. That's the first thing I said, cause that's the most important thing. End of story."

"Fine." Steve shrugged.

"Fine?"

"Yeah, if Banner's willing to take you with him, go."

"Good," you nodded.

"Great."

Somewhat awkwardly, you shuffled out of the room to tell Bruce to count you in.

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

Natasha was the one to send both you and Bruce off to Asgard, the rest being otherwise occupied.

"Be safe," she told the both of you, holding each of your shoulders with one of her hands, before stepping away.

"We will," Bruce promised and you nodded, and just in time the Bifrost came down, taking the both of you where you needed to get.

Thor was the one to greet you, taking you both in for a warm hug before his face became serious.

"I didn't call you all the way here for nothing," he said, "come with me to the palace."

As you were on your way, he explained. "When you told me you encountered the Tesseract in Midgard, I immediately checked in our vault. Sure enough, there's still a Tesseract there."

"A Tesseract? I thought there was just the one," you frowned.

"We did too," Thor replied, "which is why I wanted you both to come see it for yourselves. Maybe you'd be able to point out some differences."

Getting to the palace, you wasted no time going down to the vault. And there it was – the Tesseract.

"How…" you trailed off. It looked completely identical to the one you had found on earth, the same blue tinted glint lighting up its surroundings.

"That's what I was hoping you might have an answer for," Thor sighed, his brows furrowing. "You said the one you encountered was previously in the possession of a group called… Chimera?"

"Hydra," Bruce corrected him. "And yes, we found it in one of their bases."

"Is it possible that the one we found was a fake?" you asked, lifting your eyes from the Tesseract. "Or maybe this one is the fake? Is there a way to know?"

"The only way to know is to try and use them," Bruce sighed, "but trying to wield the power of an infinity stone can be dangerous and destructive to the one who tries. It's something we should try and avoid."

"Okay," you thought, "can't we try and take this one to earth? See if maybe Tony could run some tests on them both, find us a lead as to which one's the real one?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Bruce agreed, "or at least the best one we've got. Can we take it?"

"Of course. I trust you to guard it," he looked at Bruce fondly.

"Thank you," Bruce's eyes and smile are sincere as he shakes Thor's hand.

You pick up the Tesseract tentatively, putting it in your bag and looking back up at Bruce, whose handshake with Thor was still lingering. You hated to interrupt, but you two needed to go back to earth to fill your friends in if you wanted to solve this mystery.

"Shall we?" you asked, somewhat softly.

"Yeah," Bruce shook his head slightly, "Let's go."

You trailed behind Bruce and Thor as you made your way back to the Bifrost, thinking it over.

If the Tesseract you found on earth was the fake, then why would Hydra have a fake? And if the one that was currently in your bag was the fake, then why would they just leave the real one lying around while the Avengers stormed their base? And at any case, how did they manage to make such an accurate replica?

"Thank you, Thor," you said sincerely once you reached the end of the Bifrost. "We're going to figure this out."

"I know you will," he said, and touched your shoulder affectionately.

You said your goodbyes, and then, you and Bruce started to make the journey home, until suddenly you felt a force push you out of the Bifrost, and before you knew it you landed on dirt, rolling a few times, Bruce landing a few feet away from you.

Hurriedly getting up, you helped Bruce to his feet as well, before the two of you looked around to find yourself in the middle of what seemed to be a desert, but it was like nothing you've seen before.

The sand was orange, red, much darker than it was in deserts you've been to. You and Bruce landed in some sort of valley, surrounded by large dunes of the dark sand, creating a perfect circle around you.

"Have any idea where we are?" you asked, trying to keep your cool, "Or how we got here?"

"I-"

His words were cut off by the sound of a gun cocking behind you. Instinctively, you crouched down and spun around, sending your leg out, taking the man down with a kick to his ankles.

But it wasn't enough. Before you could fully get back up, you and Bruce were already surrounded by agents, and the fight quickly escalated into a hand-to-hand one, having to take on multiple agents at a time. At some point, Bruce hulked out, but even then, you were still fighting them all simultaneously.

You barely managed to take in the glint of a knife from the corner of your eye before the felt the sharp sting of it on your ribs, your hand automatically going to hold the wound. The man started running in the other direction, which was when you realized you weren't the objective of this attack.

Your bag was.

"Bruce!" you yelled, trying to get his attention, as you started trying to run after the agent.

But before Bruce could even notice you, a deep rumble sounded through the air, the prominent crackling of thunder. You turned around just in time to see Thor coming down from the sky, Mjolnir clad tightly in his fist, sending bolts of lightning at your enemies.

You turned back and tried to keep running, but you couldn't do it fast enough, the wound in your ribcage still bleeding, and soon, the agent disappeared from sight.

You were panting when the battle died down, a mere few minutes after Thor's arrival. You didn't turn around, even as you sensed Bruce and Thor approaching you from behind.

"I lost it," you said, still unable to meet their eyes.

"They took it," Bruce said gently. "Now, let me take a look at that wound."

Well, you thought, that's not how Steve's going to see it.

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

"You lost it?" Steve asked, his disbelief clear. His eyes were trained on you, a frown on his face.

"She got hurt trying to protect it, Steve," Bruce answered before you could. "We'll get it back."

Steve's eyes didn't waver from yours, even as Bruce spoke.

"I'm sorry," you said, your voice coming out smaller than you wanted to. You cleared your throat, continuing stronger, "I did everything I could."

"I told you, you shouldn't have gone out there," he sighed, frustrated.

"Really, Cap?" you asked, "is this the time for 'I told you so's? for a hundred-year-old that's really fucking childish," you said through your teeth.

"Watch it," he snapped, "next time, maybe if you listen to me you won't get hurt."

"If I'm that bad of a soldier, Captain," you spat out, "am I not dispensable to you? Why do you even care if I get hurt? I bet it would've been just the same to you if I died but you still had the Tesseract."

Your words rendered him speechless, and you turned to walk towards the med bay. Bruce offered you his arm, but the look you sent him made it very obvious you weren't interested in company.

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

The wound healed well. You and Steve were… civil, to say the best.

You'd admit your words that day you were back from Asgard were harsh. You'd even admit that to his face, if he'd change his attitude towards you. Which he didn't, so really, maybe he deserved to hear them.

Anyways, a few days after the Asgard thing, the wound was fine, and you had an idea.

"Hey," you asked Tony, who happened to be next to you at the moment, "what if we go ask Strange?"

"What?" he looked up from the robot he was currently tinkering with.

"What if we went to Strange to ask him about the Tesseract?" you repeated, "he'd probably know more than us about this stuff."

Tony wasted no time in calling a team meeting, in which you told the others your idea about reaching out to Strange.

"That's a really good idea," Steve said.

Taken aback, you opened your mouth to speak, but before you could, he continued, "I'm coming with you."

Yep, it was way too good to be true.

"Why?" you asked, frowning. "I thought Tony would come, since he's already had a run-in with him before."

"Yes, but I think we can agree he's not the most diplomatic person out there," Steve smirked.

"I'm right here," Tony remarked dryly.

Steve paid him no mind and continued, "And besides, he's pretty much the only one except Bruce that knows enough to figure out Hydra's blueprints, and we still need all hands on deck in that front.  So, I'm coming with you," he finished in a tone that left no room for argument.

You considered objecting anyways, but knew whatever you'd say would sound childish and tactless, so you simply nodded at him.

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

Since the Sanctum Dr. Strange usually resided in was in New York, there was no need for Steve and you to take the Quinjet, but you did take a car from Tony's collection, which Steve drove. The car ride was filled with quite the uncomfortable silence, but at least it was better than arguing, right?

Small victories.

When Steve parked the car about a block away from the Sanctum, you both got out swiftly, blending right in with your civilian clothes, and making your way to the doorstep.

There, Steve knocked on the door hesitantly. You both listened, but there was no answer. You held onto the handle and managed to open the unlocked door easily. You exchanged a look with Steve, both of you on high alert, and entered through the door, Steve closing it behind you.

You both silently stood in the threshold, contemplating your next move. Eventually, you took a tentative step forward, and just then a red object whipped right in front of your eyes, making you stumble backwards, right into Steve. You quickly turned around to apologize, but before you noticed it the red fabric was wrapped tightly around your arms, holding them tight against your torso. Steve was in a similar predicament, and since the cape wasn’t that long, you two were left tied face to face and extremely close to each other.

You tried to wiggle out of the fabric's hold, but it was almost like it tightened with your every move, adjusting itself accordingly. You struggled against it, trying to move even the slightest bit, but it wouldn't budge. You sighed, looking up at Steve.

Oh my god, he was way closer than you'd realized. His wide frame towering over you, you swallowed dryly before you whispered, "What now?"

Before he could answer, the sound of footsteps carried through the halls, and soon enough, Dr. Stephen Strange was descending down the stairs of the New York Sanctum to greet you.

"Hello," he said, his face indifferent, "I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, we weren't expected to get so… tied up, so that makes three of us," Steve remarked, prompting you to chuckle.

"Hello, Dr. Strange," you introduced yourself to him, "the Captain and I were wondering if you could help us with some… Tesseract trouble."

"Sounds awful," he smirked slightly. "Follow me," he started going up the stairs again and you exchanged a look with Steve. "Oh right," he gestured with his hand, and the red fabric detangled itself from the two of you, and turned out to be a cloak as it wrapped around Strange's shoulders. "I almost forgot," the man chuckled, "Now come on."

You and Steve exchanged another look as you rubbed your arm where the cloak dug into it a little, before following Strange up the stairs and into the library, where he offered you two chairs to sit in before sitting down in front of you. In the air. He was sitting down while floating.

Still less weird than the cloak, in your opinion.

"So," he started, "what, uh, Tesseract trouble are you having, exactly?"

Steve and you took turns explaining the situation to him, from finding a Tesseract in a Hydra base to losing the one that was previously in Asgard. Steve, to your relief and wonder, said nothing about it being your fault, but just said it wasn't in your possession anymore.

"So," you summed up, "we were wondering if you knew how anyone could manage to replicate the Tesseract this well, and how can we tell which one's the fake one. Without using them, of course."

"Well, those are great questions. I don't know of another way to determine if an infinity stone is indeed real besides taking the risk and trying to use it, so I can't help you with that. But as for the fake, I believe opening the Tesseracts will provide a good enough answer. You see, the Tesseract isn't that hard to fake. Might be a little expensive, sure, but some lights and plastic and you're set, and from what I understand Hydra isn't exactly struggling financially. But," he sighed, "you can’t fake an infinity stone. For most people, once you'll come in direct contact with it, you'll feel its power, and also its destructive properties."

"So the only way to know if an infinity stone is real is to risk touching it?" Steve asked.

"As far as I know of, yes," Strange nodded.

"Thank you," you said, "for your help. We sure get back to the compound, but we'll let you know if there are any big developments."

When Steve and you got back to the compound, everyone was already waiting for you, and you told them what Strange told you. Together, you all went to open the tesseract you had found in the Hydra base.

"Be careful not to touch what's inside," you warned, and Tony put of his Iron Man arm before breaking the side of the glowing cube, opening it to find…

A bunch of wires and lightbulbs. They didn't even try to make it look like an infinity stone.

"Well, the one in Asgard could've also been a fake," Natasha shrugged. "This doesn't really tell us anything. C'mon guys, we'll continue the search tomorrow," she touched your shoulder comfortingly before slipping away.

You were about to do the same when you saw Steve fidgeting with his sleeve, around where the cloak was wrapped around him. You walked up to him.

"You okay?" you asked, expecting him to brush you off.

"Yeah, I just think this cape held on a little too strong," he chuckled, removing his hand to reveal a stain on the fabric of his right suit sleeve, on you knew all too well was blood.

"Oh my god," you frowned. "C'mon, I'll help you clean it up," you gestured towards the med bay.

The walk there was brief and silent, and when you got there, you told Steve to sit down before ripping his sleeve enough to see the shallow wound.

"You don't have to do this," Steve said, as you looked for some gauze pad and wet it with water.

"I know," you said, "but since I'm the reason we needed to go there in the first place, I am doing this."

"You know it's not your fault, right? You couldn’t have known he'd have a magical cape that ties up people."

"That's not what I was talking about," you mumbled, before cleaning the wound gently.

Steve sighed. "I guess I do owe you an apology for the Asgard thing. I acted like a jerk. I'm sorry."

"No, you were right," you chuckled bitterly, "it's my fault we lost what might've been the real space stone to Hydra. You were just the only one willing to admit that."

"Well, I hope you know what you said about me then wasn't true. I care. You know, if you get hurt. And I wouldn't want anyone to die so I can have anything."

"I know," you said dryly, "you're too perfect for that."

You finished cleaning the wound and started bandaging it.

"That's not- god, I really do have a way with words, don't I? you probably hate me by now."

"I don't hate you, Steve," you looked up from his arm to his eyes, and he smiled at you. "Relax, it doesn't mean I like you all that much either," you smirked, prompting him to laugh.

"Yeah, that's fair, I guess. Thank you," he gestured to his now bandaged arm.

"Sure," you sent a small smile his way before walking away.

Maybe Steve Rogers wasn't that bad after all.

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

Okay, scratch that, Steve Rogers was the worst.

The conversation actually started out civil. Nice, even.

"Hey, Cap," you started, "do you know if Bruce found anything on the wiring in the fake Tesseract yet?"

"Nope," he turned to face you.

"Oh. Well, thanks," you smiled, "I'll just…" you gestured at the exit, but he stopped you.

"Wait. Actually, I wanted to talk to you. Can you…" he gestured at the empty chair in front of him, and you sat down.

"About the whole Tesseract thing," he started, "I think you should consider sitting this one out."

"What?" you frowned.

"I just…" he sighed, "I think it might be better if you sat this one out."

"Steve, I found the Tesseract in the first place," you said, getting angrier by the second, "I'm not backing down from this."

"You found the fake Tesseract," he corrected, "and lost what might have been the real one."

"I thought you said it wasn't on me."

"It's not, but still."

"I don't get it, a few days ago you were telling me it wasn't my fault and now you're benching me because of it?"

"I just… you're clearly very invested in this-"

"Which is why I deserve to stay on this mission," you cut him off, fighting to keep your voice level.

"Which is why I think you should sit it out," he ignored you, "because you don't need to get yourself hurt for this."

"I'm an Avenger just like you," you snapped, "you might get hurt as well. So might everyone else. I don't get why I'm any different."

"I told you, because you're too emotionally invested," he insisted, his tone rising.

"Oh, you're benching me cause I'm 'emotional'? really? That's your excuse?"

"That's not an excuse, I-"

"No, tell me, Steve, what's your problem with me? Just spit it out, clearly you have one. What have I done to you to make you hate me?" you were yelling now, exasperated at his flawed logic.

"I don't hate you."

"That's all you have to say?" you scoffed. "You know what? If you're letting whatever your problem is with me to get in the way of the mission, maybe you're the emotional one."

The charged atmosphere was interrupted by Natasha's frame showing up in the doorway.

"Hey guys," she started, before looking between the two of you. "Is this a bad time?" she waited a second before shrugging, "Doesn't matter. There are sightings of suspicious activity midtown, we think it can be Hydra. We gotta move, be down in five," she stated, before walking down the hallway, leaving Steve and you alone once more.

"I-" he started.

"Let's go," you said at the same time, before simply turning away to go and suit up. You had a battle to win, no matter what he thought.  

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

"So," Tony started once you were all on the Quinjet, "Here's what we know – Hydra is probably in the possession of the real Tesseract, since we just got word of people seeing a big aircraft over midtown. My guess, they wanted to test the new weapons out before using them on a larger scale," he said, "which is why it would be the best thing to stop them now."

You split up into groups, Tony, Wanda and Sam going after the aircraft, Bucky and Steve go one way on the ground, you and Natasha the other. Thanking every god you knew you weren't paired up with Steve, you and Natasha ran and turned into a large square, starting to point people away from the steady stream of Hydra agents that was coming your way.

You and Natasha were both fighting off the agents together, most of the civilians already cleared from the area, when suddenly, they just… stopped, all in unison.

"Avengers," a voice with a heavy accent boomed through the air, presumably from the aircraft, magnified by speakers, "I know what you're here for," the voice chuckled. "Come and get it."

All at once, the Hydra agents in front of you pulled out something from their bags, or the pockets of their jackets, and it took you a second to realize what it is – exact replicas of the Tesseract. Dozens of them, maybe even hundreds.

You looked over at Natasha, who was just as exasperated as you were. "We gotta break these things," she said, and you nodded in understanding, charging at the men and women with renewed energy.

Because this was your chance to fix what you broke, to make things right. To show Steve you're better than your mistakes.

That was the mantra that was going in your head, as you smashed Tesseract after Tesseract, even as you found nothing but wires, you kept repeating it – fix what you broke.

Slowly but surely, you and Natasha tackled and defeated more and more agents, moving closer towards where they were coming from – the aircraft, that was lowering more and more, sending out more agents, in a wave that seemed never ending.

Expect when you got closer, you noticed that there was a staircase going down from it. A staircase that at the top of stood a small an in old fashioned army clothes, holding, how not, a small, glowing cube in his hand.

Your vision zeroed in on him. You had a target.

Barely stopping to disarm the other agents, you quickly made your way through the crowd of agents surrounding you, until you were right at the bottom of the staircase. You looked up to see the man still standing on top, smiling at the chaos unraveling at his feet.

You decided to take advantage of the fact he hasn't seen you yet, and climbed the staircase from the bottom side, hanging on to creases and bumps, to keep the advantage. When you got to the top, you tried to swing yourself over the rails. You would've fallen down if a hand wouldn't have reached out, catching your arm and throwing you back on the staircase, right side up.

"Ah, the new kid," the man snickered above you, "I've heard about you. Were you really the one they sent here?"

"No one sent me," you hissed as you got up. "Now hand over the stone and it'll be much more pleasant for you."

"So much spite," he laughed, "but alas, I don't think I will, sweetheart."

"Whatever you say," you delivered a poignant kick to his knee, "sweetheart."

You tried to punch him, but this time he was quicker, avoiding your blow and landing one of his own on your shoulder. You shrugged it off and continued to try and pry the stone from his hands. The struggle was drawing attention, and Natasha yelled at you to watch out just in time before a Hydra agent from down there shot at you, only missing narrowly.

You continued to fight the man, who was stronger than he let on, considering he was fending you off with only one hand, but you also had getting shot to worry about, which was in his favor.

At last, you managed to knock the Tesseract out of his hand, and it fell to the ground in a shattering sound. Out of the broken pieces, there were no wires to be seen, only a stone.

Bingo.

You heard Steve shout something at you from far down, but you weren't paying attention, instead diving for the stone, grasping it in your hand, along with some shards of glass that cut you, but you couldn't care less, because this was it.

Fix what you broke.

You concentrated with all your might of the stone, its power almost physically throbbing in your hand, along with the excruciating pain, but you didn't care.

Fix what you broke.

Your breathing became labored, the pain near insufferable when you finally did it – opened a portal. You didn't know where it led, but the important thing is, it wasn't here. You threw the stone away with all the power you had left in you, praying it would reach so far you'd never see it again.

Fix. What. You. Broke.

Just in time, the portal closed, and you sighed gratefully. The pain was starting to take over now, your mind dancing on the edge of consciousness when you heard voices coming towards you. You wanted to tell them you were fine, but you found yourself falling to the ground, registering the pain of the fall before everything went black.

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

When you woke up, your first thought was that the light's too bright. It felt almost like a hangover, but way worse, and

"I didn't even drink anything," you said, before breaking into a dry cough.

In a second, Steve was there by your side with a glass of water, holding it to your mouth. You took some small sips until you calmed down enough to remember that while no, you didn't drink anything, you did wield the power of an infinity stone, which means it's a miracle you're even alive.

So really, you should be thankful all you ended up with is an awful hangover. Of sorts. A magical hangover.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, breaking you from your reverie, and making you meet his gaze with yours.

"As much as I can be," you replied, your gaze falling to the blanket that was laid on you. "how long was I out?"

"About 18 hours," he said solemnly, "we didn't… we weren't sure if you'd wake up," he admitted, his voice dropping below a whisper by the end.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," you joked. Despite everything Steve put you through, for some reason you couldn't stand to see him this devastated.

"No, don't-" he sighed, "no one wants to get rid of you. Least of all me. Hell, thinking I'd lost you and it was my fault… hurt more than I could imagine."

"It wouldn't have been your fault, if I, you know," you shrugged, "that was my choice. I had to fix what I broke."

"No, you didn't," he insisted, his eyes snapping up to meet yours once more, "because you didn't break anything. None of this was your fault, and yet you fixed it, alone. You risked wielding the power of an infinity stone to keep earth safe, alone. You shouldn't have been alone."

"It worked out just fine. Besides, what difference would it have made, one more injured person?"

"If I was quick enough… I don't believe the stone could've taken both of us down."

"Us?" you smirked, "I didn't know we were an 'us'. But it's fine, I can deal with that, I guess," you shrugged, and Steve chuckled. You couldn't tell if you were imagining it, but it looked like the slightest of blushes was sprinkled on his cheeks.

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

As a part of getting you back to normal, you started training again, moderately at first. But as you regained your strength, your training was almost as intense as it was before. Or maybe, even more intense.

You see, before that, you weren't training with Steve.

Since you didn't really get off to a good start, you'd always train with the others – Nat, Wanda, Sam… other non-super-soldier humans with a very human self-discipline, meaning that you could take breaks and chat in between reps.

Alas, those days were far behind you. I mean, not that far, that's just kind of dramatic, but you get it; you trained with Steve way more often and it was a nightmare.

You didn't know what standards Steve held for his other friends, but if he's like that with everyone then maybe it was better off not being his friend.

"What was that?" Steve asked, his eyes not moving from the timer, which looked comically small in his large hands.

"I said," you repeated between labored breaths and fast push-ups, "if you're like this with all your friends maybe I was better off not being one."

"Who said you are?" he shot back with a smirk, "and… time!"

You collapsed on the training room mattress, letting out a deep breath. "how much was that?"

"98 pushups in one minute," he stated, "not bad."

"Okay, Mr. captain super soldier," you breathed. "You know, maybe I should go back to doing these with Sam. A human being with normal people achievements," you sighed, faux-dreamily.

"I thought you wanted to get better?" Steve chuckled, extending his hand out to help you off the mattress.

"I'll tell him you said that," you smirked and took his hand, letting him help you up. Your touch lingered for the briefest of moments before you let go of his hand.

"Be my guest," Steve shot back, before taking a couple of sparring staffs off the wall, handing you one. An unusual technique in battle, but you found that practicing them with Steve provided a decent challenge to you both, since you were better with it than he was.

With both of you getting into a fighting stance, you started the match by dashing forward, trying to land one on his shoulder, but he quickly spun to the side, accompanied by a move of his staff that, fortunately for you, was a bit poorly aimed, thus only hit you in the arm.

You continued this back and forth for the next few minutes, one graceful move answered by a steady block from the other side, almost like a delicate dance. After a while, you felt yourself getting a little tired, and knew if you didn't end it now, he'd win.

And well, you just can't give him that kind of satisfaction.

You quickly planted your staff on the ground, using the momentum to jump up and wrap your legs around his neck, using your weight to push him down onto the mattress. You'll have to thank Natasha for that move.

His staff fell from his hand as he hit the floor, and you used your advantage to pin his arms above his head, making sure to lean enough of your weight on his torso so he couldn't move. You were both panting from the exertion of the fight, and you could feel a bead of sweat traveling down your back.  

He smirked up at you. "Did Nat teach you that one?"

"Maybe," you raised your eyebrow in amusement. "But I executed it to perfection."

"You sure?" he asked, and before you could answer he broke free from your grasp, flipping the both of you so your torso was pinned below him, catching your arms the same way you did to him moments ago.

Breathing heavily, your tongue darted out to wet your lips. "Well, maybe not perfection," you murmured, "but I'd say I did pretty well. You're in nice shape for a hundred-year-old," you slowly grinned up at him.

"Just nice?" he mock pouted, not moving from his position above you.

"Yeah," you smirked, "from what I've seen."

"Well, maybe you've seen nothing yet," he suggested with a quirk of his eyebrow, his head lowering even closer to yours.

"Maybe," you said softly, standing your ground. His eyes were boring into yours, you could hear the shallow sound of his breath, feel it even.

Closing the distance between you was almost more impulse than an actual aware decision. Your lips met his soft ones, his momentum pushing you back against the mattress, your head hitting it with a soft thud you paid no mind to. One of his hands left yours, coming to cup your cheek as his tongue hesitantly entered your mouth, continuing eagerly when you let out a hum of approval, one of your hand sneaking around his neck and tangling in the hair on the nape of his neck, pulling slightly.

When you finally parted, your breaths were once again labored, but for an entirely different reason now.

"Okay, maybe you are in good shape," you rasped, shrugging as well as you could.

He chuckled before his eyes met yours. "You don't hate me," he stated incredulously.

"I already told you I didn't. I take it back, maybe old age is getting to you," you giggled.

He groaned lightly, making your laughter grow stronger.

Okay, so Steve Rogers wasn't the worst. Final verdict.

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

i’d love to hear your thoughts!!<3

Taglist:  @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​  @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland @jazbot2000 @anobscurename @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @peggycarter-steverogers @evansphnx12 @starlightcrystalline @procrastinatingsapphictrash

Chris & co. taglist: @patzammit

if you wanna join / be removed from a taglist, comment/message me! much love <3

[moonlit-reveriee]

Hey there Moon, if your requests are still open, could you do a C!Techno x Female! Reader who’s a total badass with weapons? Like she’s quick and agile with a bow and sword?

Hope you have a wonderful day/night! ^^

A Lover, and a Fighter

technoblade x fem!reader

this story was really fun to write, and i think it came out pretty cute. thank you for your request, and your patience. i hope you enjoy!

content warning // SFW, mention of drinking alcohol, description of fighting (no mention of blood or injury)

listen to this while you read: Notos by The Oh Hellos

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***this story takes place during & after the revolution against Dante, with the headcanon that Hypixel takes the form of a medieval kingdom within the same universe as the dsmp***

It had been a long time since Techno had visited Hypixel, and even longer since he had taken the time to observe any of the fighters being trained there. He wasn’t surprised to see many unfamiliar faces amongst the crowds battling against Dante. But one figure in particular grabbed his attention.

As he soared through the air, launched upwards by the shockwaves of Dante’s movements, he noticed someone standing on top of a nearby building. A warrior with bow and arrow held upwards to the sky, their aim remaining steady despite the tremors that shook the earth. They leapt to the ground, swiftly pulling out a sword and began chopping down several of Dante’s goons with a single swipe.

Even in the heat of battle, he couldn’t help but be impressed. There was a deadly accuracy to all of their movements. It showed tremendous skill, and dedication to honing their abilities.

Once Dante had been defeated, Techno stayed behind to aid in Hypixel’s recovery. He walked around the battlefield strewn with debris. He shook the hand of every revolutionary he could find, secretly searching for the warrior he had seen upon the rooftops.

After a while, he was able to spot them in the crowds. A woman helping clear rubble from the destroyed community center, familiar bow and sword strapped across her back.

“Thank you for your aid in the revolution”, he said as he approached, offering a hand for her to take. She accepted it with a grip strong enough to rival his own.

“I would do anything to rid Hypixel of Dante’s corruption”, she spoke with confidence. She released his hand and turned her attention back to the rubble, lifting a wooden beam over her shoulder with ease.

“I noticed the way you fought”, he continued, bending over to pick up a piece of broken cobblestone, “you seem very skilled.”

She glanced at him from the side, mouth curving upwards into a very slight smirk.

“That’s quite the compliment coming from the blood god himself.”

“I understand good fighting when I see it”, he said with a shrug. She squinted her eyes at him, almost suspicious.

“It would be foolish of me to turn down such a compliment”, she said as she walked off towards the pile of discarded wood. He chased after her, watching her drop the beam off her shoulders with a heavy thud.

“What is your name?”, he asked when she turned to face him. She paused, quickly looking I’m up and down. She seemed skeptical of his interest in her, and maybe that was fair.

“y/n”, she said, crossing her arms.

“Would you like to duel, y/n?”, he blurted out impulsively. Her eyes widened, noticing the way he was blushing out of embarrassment.

“Are you flirting with me, Sir Blade?”, mischievous grin spreading across her face.

He sputtered, blush deepening on his cheeks while she laughed boisterously.

“Let’s clean up first”, she clapped an armored hand over his shoulder with a loud metal clank, “meet me at the duels arena in a few days.” She walked past him, leaving him to twist around and watch her back as she left.

Techno ended up seeing her again before their duel. Members of the revolution were meeting in a local tavern to celebrate, and he found her lounging in a quiet corner of the bar. Tankard in her hand, she happily watched the other members of the guild drunkenly trip over themselves. He didn’t approach her, at least not at first.

Later in the evening, a man sidled up to her table. Techno couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it seemed like she was trying to politely shoo him away. Clearly drunk out of his mind, he reached out a hand and forcibly cupped her cheek. Techno stood up from his seat, ready to yank the man back by his collar. Before he could, she grabbed his hand and bent his arm backwards behind his head. The man was sent to his knees, wincing in pain.

“I said don’t touch me”, she sneered, “learn to follow my words when I say them nicely.”

She released the man’s hand, allowing him to stumble away with a steely glare. Once he was throughly out of her sight, she turned her attention to where Techno had begun to approach her.

“I appreciate your help, even though it was unneeded”, she sighed heavily.

“Does this happen often?”, he asked.

“Not really”, she said, “I guess the guys here think plate armor is attractive.”

“It’s probably the only clothes they’ve seen a woman in”, he joked. She chuckled lightly, the sound surprisingly sweet compared to her demeanor.

“Would you like a drink?”, she offered once her laughter had subsided.

“Ah, I would”, he sighed, “but let me cover it, I insist.”

“No”, she said firmly, “I’m sure everyone here wants to buy you a drink. Allow it to be me for tonight.”

He raised an eyebrow, noticing the flash of determination in her eye. He gave her a nod, surrendering to her wishes. She bought two pints of honeyed ale, sweet and subtly floral. They drank in comfortable silence, watching the absolutely wasted tavern goers make fools of themselves.

Time passed, and day of their duel arrived. The damage from Dante’s attack had finally been cleared and construction of the destroyed buildings began. Techno felt calm as he strode through the familiar courtyards of Hypixel’s training grounds, which surprised him. For some reason, he expected to be nervous. But at the same time, there was nothing to be nervous about, right? This was just a friendly duel between friends. Just friends who have only known each other for a few days.

His felt his stomach twist. Maybe he was nervous.

When he entering the arena, he found her already waiting for him, clad in a simpler set of armor than the one she wore to fight Dante. She waved her arm upon noticing his entrance, bright and crooked smile on her face.

“Are you ready to duel, Sir Blade?”, she called across the field. Something about that nickname made his heart glow.

“Only if you are, y/n.”

“Oh, I’m ready to get my ass kicked.”

“Hey now”, he retorted playfully, “I think you will put up a good fight.”

“We’ll see”, she shrugged, stretching her arms to warm up the muscles.

“Standard kit?”, he questioned, “diamond armor, sword and bow?”

“As long as it’s not a crossbow. I haven’t figured those fuckers out yet”, she muttered.

He nodded, donning a set of armor to match hers. They took stances at opposite sides of the arena. She already had a bow in hand, arrow cocked and ready. Techno had dueled one on one many times. Some more stress-inducing than other. The anticipation of this fight made his fingers tingle with excitement. A bell began to toll. Standard practice for training duels: on the fourth chime, the fight began.

An arrow whizzed from its string, narrowly missing him as he strafed right and began moving in a wide curve towards her. She switched to her sword, ready to meet his in a clang of metal against metal.

They traded blows almost evenly. While Techno’s sword swung with immense strength behind it, hers was agile and precise. When she landed a hit, it was because she could aim her sword exactly where the armor was weakest. When their swords became interlocked, she made eye contact and grinned wildly. His concentration fell, and she seized the opportunity to disengage and put some distance between them.

From her newfound position, she returned to her bow and began firing shots with a deadly accuracy. When fighting with others around his skill level, Techno liked to wear them down. Hiding and running away, giving him a chance to recover while they chased. Now, however, his strategy was being challenged. Her skill with a bow was outstanding, even at very long distances. There were very few places he could hide that she couldn’t hit.

Their reached a point where the battle was at a stalemate. They had returned to sword combat, a heavy sheen on sweat on their brows. She parried a blow from him, but he pushed back with any remaining strength he had left, sending her staggering back wards. She gritted her teeth, running forwards suddenly with a ferocious scream. It surprised him so much he barely reacted as she slammed into him right at the waist and tackled him to the ground.

He twisted to land on his side, causing her to fall on the ground next to him. They both panted, making no move to stand up.

“I-“, she gasped, “I’ve never done that before.” He huffed out a laugh, propping himself up on his elbows and offering a hand to help her sit up as well.

“That was a good fight”, he said after they’d both caught their breath.

“Thank you”, she said, removing her helmet and wiping away the strands of hair that stuck to her face, “I didn’t expect to win, but a draw is good enough for me… Thank you for giving me the chance.”

“You fight very different from me”, he said while shaking the hair out of his face, “I was curious to see how it would go. You’ll have to show me some of those sword techniques, they’re great.”

She smiled, puffing up a little bit at the praise. Her hand came up to brush away some of the dust that stuck to the side of his face. She seemed to do it subconsciously, because her eyes widened at the realization and she moved her hand away quickly. In a heat of the moment decision he grabbed her hand in midair, holding it in his own. Her eyes met his and the seconds seemed to stretch.

Something drew him, like a magnetic force, to lean in and press a kiss to her lips. It was relatively quick, but it felt so much longer to him. When he pulled away, she blinked at him. Her cheeks were pink, but he was unsure whether it was from the kiss or the fighting.

“I should have asked first, shouldn’t I?”, he said after clearing his throat.

“No, no”, she replied, still slightly dazed, “you’re fine.”

“I don’t know why-“, he stuttered, “I doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to, we can just forget it happened.”

“I-“, she paused, “… I think I’d like to remember it actually.”

The grip on his hand tightened, and Techno felt butterflies in his chest.

“I think my mind’s going a little foggy”, she continued, “could you remind me?”

It took far longer than it should have for his brain to process her words. When the gears finally clicked, a dry laugh escaped his lips.

“Are you flirting with me, dear?”, he retorted.

She laughed, a joyous and melodic sound. He cut her off before she could finish, causing her to giggle against his lips. Sitting in the middle of an empty battle arena, various weapons strewn around them, they allowed themselves to share in each other’s presence and be happy.

───※ ·❆· ※───

AHAHHAHAHA i just wanna say thank you again for this request because it ended up being such a joy to write. it was so fun to write the reader with this kind of personality

plus, it gave me an excuse to give this story a medieval fantasy aesthetic, which, in my humble opinion, is the superior aesthetic for techno

i can’t stress this enough, thank you to every anon who’s submitted a request for being patient with me! i’m trying to get through them chronologically while still giving myself enough of a break that i won’t get overwhelmed or burnt out. regardless of any wait, i hope you enjoyed!

thank you for reading <3

-moonlight

[mckinlily]

Idea where the Voltron Paladins start to develop elemental powers from their Lions. Except...not the most obvious ones. 

Shiro can teleport. Well. That’s the most visible aspect of his power. What he actually does is warp the fabric of space-time because of course he does that. You know how Shiro basically fights like gravity is optional? Yeah, that just got 100x worse. Shiro essentially floats and drops and moves however he needs, and now he affects space-time for everyone else, too. You can tell when Shiro’s gotten really pissed because there’s this immense pressure and everything is suddenly heavy. Or in a combat, his enemies who were grounded are now bouncing and floating. And if you think “space”= “no gravity”, you’re forgetting this is the star pilot of the Garrison who certainly knows about orbitals and gravitational assists. He doesn’t need any alien robot-lion bond to calculate multi-body trajectories instantaneously in his head even with changing gravitational fields. Teleportation might be flashy and all, but every member of team Voltron knows that’s the least dangerous thing he can do.

Lance is an empath. At first, he’s disappointed he didn’t get anything cool and flashy like Shiro. Actually, at first, Lance didn’t think he got a power at all. This is just a normal part of forming Voltron, right? Right?? Why is no one else so exhausted from all the feelings? Guess I’m just weak... Lance actually has a near breakdown before the rest of the team clocks it and realizes he’s constantly swimming in everyone’s feelings and yeah, no. No one can handle all that. Allura steps him to teach him how to build boundaries, and still, he has to spend a few days avoiding Keith and Shiro (”What the hell, you two?! Do you guys feel ANYTHING that’s not twenty shades of repressed trauma???”). But with time, Lance learns to control and use his power to help the team. His connection is strongest with the other paladins, and he mostly uses his power to look after them and help them out during the down times. Lance has learned the importance of being a support and takes pride in healing his team when they’re down so they’re ready to kick ass in battle. But he also shines on diplomatic missions. His ability to ping what other people are feeling not only helps him smooth over offenses or fears, but he can pick up on inconsistencies and unseen red flags. Not to mention, Lance can nudge other’s emotions. Normally just slightly, but it’s enough to swing things in their favor. Lance might not be flashy, but that doesn’t make him less powerful. And anyone on the other side of the negotiating table quickly learns that.

Keith has precognition. Think Jedi see-things-just-before-they-happen Force shenanigans. His instincts aren’t just on point--he’s often reacting to things just before they happen. Naturally, this makes him almost impossible to face in combat. Incidentally, this is also part of why Keith is so bad at communicating: he’s often thinking in multiple points of time at once and condensing that down to one point to talk about is just...it doesn’t work like that. But slowly, as Keith learns how to work in a team and, if he can’t quite communicate with words, to let the others in so they sense what he’s sensing, Keith’s precognition stops throwing him out of sync with everyone else and pretty soon Voltron has the same too-fast reflexes as Keith. The others have gotten used to the flashes of Keith-thoughts zipping through the Lion bonds and letting him move them when they do. Now not only are the Lions practically indestructible, but Voltron is nearly impossible to land a hit on in the first place. 

At first Pidge is annoyed about the paladins powers because--Green Lion? Of course she’s going to get plants. And Olkarion might have helped her appreciate the natural world more, but she still thinks plant powers are lame. She’s not Poison Ivy. Give her computers and climate control any day. But then she starts talking to Green as she’s coding, and at first she just figures she’s a genius (which she is, thank you very much) but her programs are like nothing she or anyone else has seen before. Especially the viruses she writes for Galra tech. They grow. She can plant a “seed” on one part of system and later she’ll find that code sinking its roots into an entirely different part of the enemy ship. It creeps like vines, breaking through any firewall, tangling up any kind of security, alive in a way even the best AI isn’t. Pidge doesn’t even really need an access point anymore, just let her loose near some tech and like an invasive species, soon she’s overrun it all. Pidge’s code is like vines, like ivy or tangle weed, and once it’s in there, you can try to root it out. But you won’t succeed. Pidge likes this kind of plant.

And finally Hunk can kind of just...bend reality. Normally it’s little things, like cables that shouldn’t work suddenly don’t need an adaptor, the rust jamming certain gears is magically clean, that fuel cell that’s been on empty for the last three varga is still going strong. Of all the paladins, Hunk appreciates that difference little things can make (for good or for really, really bad. You won’t think changing the rotation rate of that star by half a second would make a difference, but turns out that changes the magnetic fields which create solar flares which...). Hunk’s happy making small, manageable adjustments to reality that he can predict the full consequences of. Mostly. But there’s still definitely been a time that someone’s held a gun to one of his teammate only to find--the gun isn’t there anymore? It never was? There wasn’t even a gun in existence in the first place? And occasionally someone will realize that aren’t really limits to what Hunk can change besides those Hunk sets himself. Those people start to back away very slowly as Hunk talks to himself about whether or not he should turn this rock into space chocolate That’s a pretty big molecular change, not telling what side effects with come with that. But if he took something that was already food, now there’s an idea... Hunk doesn’t use his power in combat that much. Or, at least, not in ways people notice (but isn’t it convenient that with Hunk around, armor lasts longer, equipment runs better, no one’s amo ever runs out...)

All these abilities would be chaos to work with, except that the paladins have grown to develop a low-level mind-meld like they have in the Lions. Normally it’s white noise far in the background, but it can flare up when needed and nothing is quite as disconcerting as when Keith pings something and all of them turn as one to look a second before something happens. Sometimes people swear that even when the paladins are outside of their Lions, doing separate things, they still move unnervingly like part of one unit. And in the Lions--

Gone are the days of inexperienced pilots attempting to survive. Pidge is turning your tech against you. Keith is predicting your every move. Shiro and Hunk are wrecking havoc on reality and all known laws of physics. This in addition to all the bells and whistles and impossible weapons they’ve unlocked in Voltron. And while you’re panicking, trying to figure out how the hell you’re supposed to fight this thing, Lance is there cranking your dread to eleven. Suddenly, it’s no longer surprising that Voltron is the most powerful weapon in the universe.

“Don’t they ever scare you?” ask some planetary leaders after witnessing the might of Voltron. Sure, the paladins are supposed to be the good guys, but... “What if they stop listening to you?”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” says Allura, the woman who has the power to heal and destroy planets in her fingertips. She smiles like her teeth haven’t turned sharp and blinding white in the last minute. 

“I am their Princess.” 

[anxious-allie-ren]

Miscalculation

Hey cuties! So, I have started writing fanfiction! I have been posting on both AO3 and Wattpad. Both links are in my linktree in my bio! But, I’d like to share my first one-shot here. Let me know what you all think!

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Let's be honest, The Finalizer is boring.

Not a, "Oh, it's a calm day with nothing to do, kind of boring." But more like, "I'm trapped on a steel death ship in the vacuum less mass of space" kind of boring.

Okay maybe that's because you are trapped. You have been trapped for what feels like months. In reality, it's been a few weeks and you're really close to going insane.

It was a small error that landed you here. A tiny miscalculation that landed you on the path of Snoke's little apprentice. Should you have double checked to make sure you had enough fuel to get back to D'Qar? Yes. Did you? No. Instead you waste your credits on some shitty fried food at the docking station on Coruscant and take off. This leaves you stranded on Jakku. Luck was clearly on your side that day because this was the exact day Snoke's dog sent his bitches out on a mission. There you are, in your X-Wing with what seems like the biggest bullseye on you.

It doesn't take them long to sniff you out. You're ripped out of the cockpit by a knight in an all black mask with long shields placed on either side. The knight drops you to the ground and you can immediately see you're outnumbered. Six large armored men have circled you. Okay, so the blaster you're pointing at the one who man-handled you probably wasn't going to do shit. But that doesn't stop you from holding your ground.

"I am not afraid to shoot. I will blast you all right now."

This earns a chuckle from the group. That first knight speaks up.

"You're stranded on this sand pile with no fuel. I doubt you have enough plasma to shoot half of us."

You huff at his comment but stand your ground, keeping the blaster pointed at him.

"Trudgen, just grab her and let's get back to the mission. Master can decide what to do with her."

You take note of that fucker's name as two of the other knights haul you up by your arms roughly. You're dragged to the ugliest ship you've ever seen in your life and thrown in a dingy compartment.

"We'll be back rebel scum. Don't try anything." Trudgen said as he placed your blaster on his belt. Not like he has enough weapons strapped to his body or anything. You roll your eyes and try to sit in a spot that isn't covered in dust.

"No promises."

And that's how you ended up on the Finalizer. You made the journey here hell for the knights. You did eventually learn the rest of their names after eavesdropping on their conversations. When you arrived Vicrul and Ap'lek placed your hands in binders and led you to an interrogation room. After you were strapped into the interrogation chair the knights made their way to leave.

"Uh, excuse me? Where the fuck are you guys going? You can't just strapped me in to this stupid chair, way too tightly might I add, and then leave without saying anything!"

Vicrul and Ap'lek share a look and then turn towards you.

"We aren't the ones interrogating you, scum. Master is interested in you." Vicrul says, shrugging his shoulders.

"I have no idea why. Not much to be interested in." Ap'lek mutters as he turns to leave again.

You rolled your eyes as both knights leave the room. So you would be getting the honor of meeting Snoke's apprentice. Wonderful. From what you learned being in the Resistance, Kylo Ren was an overgrown toddler with a laser sword. So the likelihood of you coming out of this interrogation alive was small.

You probably sit strapped to that stupid chair for hours before Commander Ren decides to stroll on in. He comes through the door swiftly, feet pounding on the ground loudly. He stops in front of you and gives you a quick once-over. The mask finally meets your eyes.

"Are we just going to stare at each other? Or are we going to get this over with?"

Kylo ball his hands into fists and begins to circle the interrogation chair.

"I don't think you are in any position to ask questions right now. What were you doing on Jakku?"

"Your little boy band didn't fill you in already? I got stranded on that shitty planet. Didn't exactly go there by choice."

He stops in front of you again.

"And why did you get stranded?"

You immediately think back to your little error. You feel even more stupid looking back on it. Admitting to it is not something you were looking to do right now. What the fuck was the point of this? Was he really just going to ask you trivial questions? You figured Snoke would have taught him better than this if he's really so powerful.

Kylo leans down quickly, grabbing the sides of the chair by your head. The sudden movement makes you jump, wrists smacking against the restraints.

"I can hear all of your thoughts. It would be wise to watch what you think. Now answer the question."

Of course he can hear your thoughts. He's a fucking force user. Rookie mistake on your part really. But the idea of him actually hearing every thought you think does unnerve you.

"I ran out of fuel. Had to make an emergency landing, okay? Is that answer good enough for you?"

Kylo finally leans back up. He stares down at you and even though he's wearing that stupid fucking mask you can just tell he's got a judgemental look on his face.

"What kind of pilot runs out of fuel?"

You begin to argue back but he stops you.

"Not a very good one. A good pilot would have checked that they had enough fuel to get to their next destination. A good pilot wouldn't have spent all of their credits."

"Listen you fu-"

"A good pilot would have landed near a fueling station, not in the middle of nowhere. But I guess that's my point. You aren't a good pilot. Another useless member of the Resistance. So breaking you down is going to be easier than I thought."

All you could do was stare at him. He read your thoughts. He already knew everything. He wanted to embarrass you, make you feel small. It worked for a second. But if you were going to die today, you weren't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing your embarrassment.

You square your jaw and look right into the eyes of his mask.

"That's where you're wrong, buddy."

Kylo leans down so his mouthpiece is by your ear and whispers, "We'll see about that, little one."

He stands back up and stomps out of the room quickly. Leaving you feeling shocked, angry, and oddly aroused.

____________________________

So to everyone's surprise you did not die that day. Instead Kylo had you placed in a cell and that's where you've been for weeks. Stormtroopers come and feed you or take you to a refresher to bathe. Commander Ren has stopped by a few times since your original meeting. Nothing much has come of those ones either. Mostly him staring at you and asking trivial questions. Which just agitates you.

You can't seem to figure him out. He hasn't asked anything regarding the Resistance. What is the point of keeping you prisoner if he isn't going to get any useful information from you? It doesn't sit well with you.

When he doesn't visit you're left alone. Staring at the same four walls does get boring eventually. You've taken to sitting near the door and trying to listen to the stormtroopers conversations. Sometimes bucket heads spill some interesting tea. You learned last week that General Hux once got a boner after getting choked by the Commander.

That's what you're doing currently. Listening to the chatter when you suddenly hear the distinct pounding of boots. The last you knew, the Commander was away on a mission with the knights. As the footsteps draw closer you move quickly to your feet and back away from the door. Kylo strides through the door, chest heaving and fists clenched. You can feel the anger rolling off of him. So you're guessing his little adventure didn't go so well.

His hand flies up quickly, using the force to choke you.

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch your thoughts?"

Okay, so he heard you. You really gotta work on monitoring that. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a toddler tantrum.

Just as the thought crosses your mind you're dragged across the floor towards Kylo. Your toes just barely touching the ground as you move. His hand wraps around your throat and he leans his masked face down into your own.

"I've given you far too many warnings. Now you're going to be punished."

Your eyes go wide as you look up into the soulless mask. This is it. This is where you die. You're going to die at the hands of this fucker and even worse, you're turned on.

Kylo spins you around and pins you to the wall. He kicks your feet apart using his boot, shoving his knee between your legs. You feel his thigh rub against your core. It takes all your self control to stop yourself from grinding down on it. He can feel the arousal pouring from your body.

He pulls his hand from your neck and leans back.

"I'm afraid you're enjoying this too much, little one."

You take a deep breath to steady yourself, to no prevail of course. You can feel your heart hammering in your chest. But the anger from this whole situation has begun to build. You're sick and tired of being in this cell. You're enraged by his trivial fucking questioning. And now, he's teasing you. You've had enough of it. You are not going to be his toy.

"I'm not enjoying anything. Im stuck in this stupid cell guarded by bucket heads. You've done nothing but ask me useless fucking questions. What is the point of this? Why keep me around if I have no use?"

You watch as he reaches up quickly and yanks the mask off. You weren't sure what you were expecting. But it wasn't that. When you imagined the Commander of the First Order, you pictured some burnt deformed old man. Not a hot ass guy with perfect fucking hair.

He throws the mask off to the side and glares down at you.

"You've certainly got a use and now you're going to fulfill it."

Suddenly, you feel the most glorious swirling against your clit. You gasp and try to squirm away from him. He pins you harder against the wall and begins kissing up your neck. You begin to feel the pressure building just as he starts to remove your shirt.

"Fuck, I don't know what you're doing. But don't stop." You pant out.

Just as the words leave your mouth the swirling stops.

"What the actual fuck?"

"You didn't think I'd just let you cum, did you? This is a punishment."

That is the final straw. You were so close to ecstasy. So close to release. You have had enough of this little twat. You collect yourself and use all the strength you can to push him away from you.

"Enough fucking games. I'm not some toy to be played with. Either show me the reason I'm still here or kill me already!"

Commander Ren is quick. If you weren't aware of his position, you'd think he was a bounty hunter with how fast he can move. So fast in fact, that he has you pinned face down on your shitty cot before you can think. You're bent over with your hands held in his fist behind you. You try to squirm but only end up grinding your ass back into him. Either that's his lightsaber or he's really excited to see you.

"Who is the general of the Resistance?"

The question catches you off guard. Why the fuck is he asking you his trivial questions now? Of all fucking times. He certainly knows the answer to this one, so what's the point of this?

You must have been stuck in your thoughts for too long, because a strong slap comes across your left ass cheek. The sound echoes throughout the tiny cell and you're certain the stormtroopers outside heard it.

"Answer the question."

"Uh, General Organa. She's your mom, right?"

Stupid response. He grabs a fist full of your hair and yanks your head back. He growls in your ear, "I would advise you shut the fuck up. Stop being a little brat and cooperate or this will only get worse."

Kylo releases your hair and holds you down with the force. He yanks down your pants, revealing your slick soaked panties to the room. Kylo looks down and smirks.

"You're drenched. Bent over and pussy wet for the enemy. What kind of pilot would do that?"

He lands another hard slap to your right cheek this time. Giving it a small kneed afterwards.

"Oh that's right. Not a very good one."

You try to move against the force hold but it's no use. He's got the upper hand here. But you're not going to let him degrade you like that.

"That's rich coming from Snoke's little bitch."

His fist is back in your hair and his other grabs your hip, pulling you back against him. He grinds himself into you and groans out, "You're going to regret that, little one."

Kylo pulls himself away enough to pull down your panties. You feel his gloved finger glide through your slick down to your bundle of nerves. You gasp and wiggle your hips back towards him trying to gain more friction.

"What is your squadron?"

Not this bullshit again. He's playing with your pussy and asking you these dumbass questions? He pulls his hand away and lands a slap to your pussy, causing your legs to shake.

"I hate repeating myself, so answer the fucking question."

Your head is spinning and your pussy is clenching around nothing. You have no clue what the point of these questions are but you'll do anything to get him to touch you again.

"Blue Squadron! Fuck."

Kylo's hand comes back to you, this time bare. He begins rubbing slow circles around your nub, applying the perfect amount of pressure.

"Now that's a good girl. Keep answering your Commander and you'll get rewarded."

"You're not my fucking commander." You gasp as he inserts two thick fingers into your needy hole. "My commander is Poe Dameron."

You realize what you've said after it's too late. It's not exactly classified information. But it's certainly not something you should be sharing with the enemy. You've got to get it together if you're going to make it through this little visit.

"Dameron, hm? Interesting."

You hear the sound of his belt buckle and zipper coming undone. He releases his long, girthy cock from the confines of his pants. It lands on your ass as Kylo grabs hold of both your hips.

"Are you ready for your punishment? I'm going to destroy this little cunt."

You arch your back, pushing your ass up. "I really doubt that. But you can try."

With our warning, Kylo buries his whole length in your wet heat. You gasp as he knocks the air out of your lungs, taking you by surprise. He begins thrusting into you at a slow pace, taking his time. You can feel every glorious inch of him, from tip to hilt.

You moan out and wiggle your hips, trying to get him to speed up. "If you're going to punish me, you'll have to try harder than this."

He snarls at your comment, squeezing your hips and picking up the pace. The little cell is filled with the sounds of your breathy moans, his grunts, and skin slapping. You get so lost in the pleasure you nearly miss him speaking to you.

"Where is the Resistance base?"

You almost answer. You almost let that information slide, forgetting where you are and whose cock is buried inside you. But then it all clicks. He's trying to distract you for information. Nice fucking try Commander Cunt.

"Fuck off."

Kylo grunts and releases one of your hips to instead grab a fistful of your hand. He yanks your head back and forces your back to arch further, making his cock reach deeper inside your pussy. Kylo begins pounding into you, each thrust hitting your sweet spot.

"Where the fuck is the Resistance base?"

Your moans are loud at this point. You couldn't care less about the stormtroopers outside hearing you. This all feels too good. But you aren't going to give in to him this easy. The resistance is counting on you. You are not some weak pilot that gives in to this moody bitch.

"Fuck. Off." You moan out in response.

Kylo's other hand leaves your hip and snakes down your front. He begins rubbing fast circles against your clit. You scream as you feel the pressure beginning to build again.

"Tell me where the fucking base is, pet."

You scream out in pleasure and frustration. You're so close. Just teetering on the edge. You so badly want to let go. So you crack.

"Fuck! Fine! D'Qar! The resistance base is on D'Qar! Please just let me come! Please!"

Kylo smirks, knowing he's won. He picks up the pace on your clit and groans out, "That's right, now be a good girl and cum all over my cock."

That was all you needed. You screamed in ecstasy, "Yes, fuck Kylo!"

Your pussy clenched around him as you came, your juices covering him. Kylo grunted, fucking you through your orgasm.

Soon after you came down from your high, you felt his cock twitch inside you. Kylo quickly pulled out of you and yanked you up by your hair.

"On your knees and mouth open, rebel bitch."

You quickly dropped to your knees and did just as he said, closing your eyes. Kylo pumped his cock over your face, using your slick and cum as lube. He threw his head back and let out a feral groan. Strings of his milky seed covering your face.

Once he was finished, you swallow what had gotten in your mouth and began wiping the rest off your face, licking it from your fingers. Fuck he tastes delicious. When you could finally open your eyes, he was already by the door. He had tucked himself away and put his glove back on. Kylo grabbed his helmet and looked back at you.

"Just as I thought. You're a useless Resistance member. So easy to destroy."

You sit there stunned by his words, letting everything that had just happened sink in.

"It has been fun breaking you, little one."

With one last look, Kylo places his helmet back on his head and walks out of the cell.

You stare at the door and replay his words. Maybe you were a shitty Resistance member. Others probably wouldn't have broken that easily, or at all. But with some of his cum drying on your face and a satisfied feeling, you can't find it in you to care.

You're secretly hoping Commander Ren needs more information. You might come to enjoy his little visits.

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

I hope everyone enjoyed! If you all are interested, I can post on here more. Let me know! 

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 82: As The Land Relinquished Her Ghost

Lance touches down on Daibazaal, and Iverson touches a nerve.

I'm not saying the title can lead you to foreshadowing but...

First  Previous  Next

When the ship lands on Daibazaal, Lance is first out of the craft. He can tell immediately where his loyalties should lie. The civilians are in chaos, frightened, running. He can hear children crying, wolves howling, elk shrieking. He can see that some of the citizens have weapons, but there are people in unfamiliar armor running around too.

“Okay.” Lance leans over the back of his father’s chair to get a better view. “Ally with the civilians, get inside the compound, rescue Allura, Lotor and possibly Zarkon and Honerva if they’re not the ones screwing us over and if we feel like it, destroy Honerva’s new toy, and get this shit under control. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it?”

A shot from a craft blows up a den in front of them, sending a family fleeing from their cellar.

“This is a damned mess,” Alfor grumbles.

“Agreed. Let’s see what we can do. The guys in armor are the enemy. Kill them.” Lance’s bayard morphs into a bow, an arrow already knocked and ready to go. He always preferred bows to firearms. It feels more controlled. More deliberate.

His actions are always his own.

“I’ll follow your lead, son.”

Lance takes off, trusting his father to follow, bow pointed at the ground. Ahead, he sees a dark-armored figure bearing down on a civilian, and fires his weapon. The arrow goes right through the enemy’s skull, diminishing in a ray of light. A new arrow is immediately knocked.

“Are you alright?” Lance asks, helping the civilian to their feet. He blinks, recognizing them as the Galra whose wolf died in their arms, the wolf Lance couldn’t save.

“I am fine. They are trying to get into the compound. We are making it difficult.”

“Good! We are here to help you!” Lance grins, wild and roguish. “My father will follow my orders; you needn’t worry about him.” The grin turns downward. “Is there any word of my sister? Prince Champion Elect Lotor?”

The hunter blinks at him, shakes their head. “None so far. Maybe someone closer to the Compound could tell you.”

Lance nods. “Find your companions, start sending people toward me. I will rally people in the square. We need to organize as best we can. The Blades are in the Compound, and they will help us.”

“How can you be certain?” the hunter asks.

“Because their leader is my mate’s littermate, and the Advisor is his mother. They know what will happen if they fail.”

The hunter nods, runs off to gather their companions. It occurs to Lance that he never bothered to learn their name. A thought for later if later comes.

“Right. Follow me!” Lance pulls his father in the direction of the square. All of the screens are down, more fighting here than on the side alley where they started. Lance shoots a few more rebels, beheads one of them with his sword. He has his father at his back, his voice in his ear.

Thank the Ancients he let Keith teach him how to fight because he would have died six times by now without it. He gets his shield up just in time to block a shot to the face from a ranged fighter across the square. Seven.

Keith. Keith and his child. Their child. Lance, Keith, and their unborn child.

The hunter wasn’t lying about making it difficult for the rebels. The few scattered teams of civilians were the closest to organization Lance had seen so far, and they were mostly holding their own.

All he can think of as he tries to find a way to sort through the chaos is that Keith could do better. This was Keith’s thing. Lance handles policy, Keith kicks all the asses-

Except when has Keith really gotten to do that? Here and there over the last decaphoeb? And obviously Lance knew that was a problem and has been ignoring it the whole time but he has a feeling that’s been munching on everyone’s asses this whole time-

“Everyone with a ranged weapon, take high ground or flanking cover! Long weapons to the front! Then swords and maces! People with small blades, do what you do best!” Lance points toward the compound. “We’re getting up there, and we’re going to rip them apart!”

-Where in the fuck had that come from? Glancing at his father for some approval, Alfor doesn’t look surprised by him at all as he helps the Galra fight their way into a formation. He does, however, send small weapon experts running to retrieve their scattered comrades. Lance nods whenever he catches someone looking at him for consent.

It’s a surreal thing, being looked to above, before, and after his father, but it also feels… natural. It feels like Lance has been given the room to grow for the first time, and he actually can fill the enormous space left for him.

Left for the heir of an empire.

Alfor himself is only somewhat surprised as his beautiful son in gilded armor takes charge of the situation with grace and tact, poised to support the citizens in their quest. The Galra only seem somewhat hesitant to follow him, probably more suspicious of Alfor than anything else.

His boy plants himself in the middle of the chaos, scaling one of the dens for a vantage point, down on one knee, bent low, bow angled sideways. Someone fires a shot at him, and he ducks, fires back.

The brief glint of satisfaction, a spark of vicious glee, then a downward twist of the boy's mouth, and quite suddenly all Alfor can think is that he himself does not belong. He is out of line, has no right to be here. Lance does have that right, has worked to build a place for himself among the people who live here, hates to be here, raising arms against his husband's race.

His unborn child's race.

As more Galra gather in the square and they begin to press forward toward the Imperial Compound, Lance keeps himself centered, communicating with those around him as best he can. And Alfor watches. And he kills.

And as awful as it is, he holds onto this moment: his second child, the most beautiful one, the bravest one, his final gift from his dearest friend, his pride, his joy-

The greatest thing he ever did becomes what Alfor never could.

After saying goodbye to Lance, Keith ran straight back to the situation room, trying to figure out how to stem the flow of Galran rebel battleships heading toward their planet. He's still there now, trying to get a handle on the situation while the floor shakes beneath his feet. The adrenaline pumping through his system is all that's keeping him from crumbling into a nauseous, exhausted, sobbing mess.

“Send in the drones. Form a blockade so we can keep the Galran force away from civilian areas,” Keith orders, eyes narrowed in concentration. Adam has a map up for him as he continues getting organized in the square. He’s keeping the majority of their men on standby. He’s keeping himself out of the way.

His subordinate team stares at him skeptically.

“I don’t expect our drones to handle the entire force coming at us, so we need to funnel them into the courtyard. Drive them down, and into a narrow path. There, our ships and grounded troops will be prepared to meet them. Once they realize what we’re doing, it’ll only be a matter of time before they start breaking through the blockade, but it’ll give us time until our reinforcements from Arus arrive. We just have to hold our own until then.”

“How long will that be?” Griffin asks, following the drones’ progress on their screens.

“Six vargas.” Keith grimaces. “We might be cutting it close. Ideally, the Blade of Marmora will send reinforcements first, but I don’t know if they can spare them. Communications with Daibazaal have been dark since initial correspondence. We should not expect assistance. Communication with Arus just collapsed.”

“This is quiznaking shit!” Iverson pounds his fist on the table, making the maps flicker. “The only reason you are here at all-” He jabs a helpful finger at Keith. “-is so this wouldn’t happen. And now look! You’ve brought us nothing but war!”

“Yeah and a laundry list of new, helpful policy, but fuck that shit, right?” Keith glares, ears pinned back, teeth bared. He presses a button on the console to send another flight of drones to flank left. When Iverson draws another breath, and the situation room shudders at the same time, Keith’s reserve snaps a little. “One more word out of your mouth and I’ll have you jailed until this is over. I am not in the mood.”

“Your Majesty-,” Adam murmurs.

“The next person who opens their mouth and wastes my time with something useless, offensive, or otherwise asinine will get their ass beat by yours truly. Understood?”

Everyone stares, unaccustomed to Keith’s temper, but Keith doesn’t particularly care. They’re in the beginning of battle, he’s out of patience, and if it weren’t for the adrenaline downing out his hormones, he'd be strangling Iverson with his own bare hands.

Instead of strangling Iverson, he tries once again to reach their contacts on Daibazaal. When he can’t reach anyone, not even Lance, he has to take a moment to compose himself. “It would seem the comms are out of commission. We’re on our own.”

“Can we reach Coran on Arus yet?” Adam asks.

Keith tries the code. Nothing. He narrows his eyes. “Our comms are the ones down. I need a technician to-”

“On it!” Pidge scurries into the room. “Also, we already have contingencies in place you should be looking at.”

“There’s literally nothing in here,” Griffin argues, gesturing to the bare bones files on screen. “This is all we’ve got.”

“Yeah, here . But Alfor has a secret war room, which is exactly where Keith should be.”

“The one attached to his alchemy chamber across the courtyard where the majority of the on-ground violence is taking place?” Adam deadpans.

“...Right. That could be a problem.”

“We’ve got lots of problems.” Keith draws his knife.

“True, but you dying is kind of a big one.” Griffin frowns. “It’s getting ugly down there. We could act as an entourage, but it also might be better if you go alone. You’re small, and fast. If you’re up for it, you could probably dart through all on your own.”

"That's out of the question." Adam adjusts his glasses. "His Majesty is-"

"Capable of making his own decisions," Keith states. He stares at the maps. Crossing the courtyard under any circumstances is unwise, and probably goes under the "unnecessary risks" column of decisions he could make. Probably near the top, actually.

He can't reach anyone, doesn't know when or if he'll be able to. He shouldn't leave this room…

"Pidge, how many projects do you think you can handle at once?"

"Multiple. Why?"

"Can you transfer Alfor's database here while you patch the comms?"

"Hm. It’s actually an isolated storage unit, but I can crawl through the vents and get it for you. Not sure about the comms. Comms are trickier because I can fix ours, but I can't fix theirs if theirs are also down. It's kind of a crap shoot, honestly."

"Right. Bring me the data first, then-" The room shudders around them. A crack appears in the floor. Keith takes a deep breath. "If you can, and if it's not more risk than it's worth for you, see if you can't patch my personal comms through to anyone on our approved contacts list for Daibazaal, and then to Coran on Altea."

"I'm on it!" The Olkari kit promises, latching onto the wall with their grippy fingers and bare toes.

"Hey." Keith waits for them to meet his gaze. "Be careful. I'd rather have you than have comms. I can do without."

The little kit nods, their feelers reaching toward him curiously, but already out of reach from their spot on the wall. "I'll be careful… You be careful too."

Keith nods, turns back to the table without a word. "Iverson, I want you in the courtyard. Assess the situation and act accordingly. At this time, I see no point in practicing restraint. These Galra fly no colors I know of, and their symbols are of an unfamiliar design, though problematic in origin.” He brings up an image from one of the droids. “‘The Fire of Purification’. No historical context, but it’s pretty lame and presumably inconvenient all on its own.”

“Yeah, it does sound a little on the nose,” Griffin mutters. “I think we can assume they’re here to exterminate, not conquer.”

“Agreed.” Keith straightens up. “But we’re not going to allow that to happen. Griffin, I need you out in front of this. Keep Iverson in line, and lead your battalion as you see fit. You have jurisdiction over them and Iverson knows it. Adam will remain here, with me.”

“Shouldn’t you be fighting too?” Iverson asks. “You’re constantly bragging about how capable you are. Let’s see you put your sword where your mouth is.”

“I will remain here,” Keith grits. “This is where I need to be right now.”

“Yes, here, where you’re well protected and out of the line of fire.”

“Exactly.” Keith levels the commander with a piercing stare. “And so are you, despite my orders. Get moving. Now. ”

Iverson glowers on his way out, Griffin nods like he understands exactly what’s happening. Keith seriously doubts that he does.

“I am at your command, '' the young officer says.

Or maybe he does understand.

Lance grits his teeth, crouches behind his shield again. He wants to get to the Compound, to his sister and maybe Lotor. Unfortunately, the rebels really don’t want him making it into the castle. Constantly in the way, and despite however many villagers and hunters he manages to pull, Lance and his allies are struggling to push their enemies back or make any progress toward their goal.

“LANCEL!!!” Alfor’s voice screams in his ear just as a beam of light from above collides with the base of the den he’s perched on.

Lance goes flying as the building implodes beneath him, sending him into an adjacent den, thrown harshly up against the side. A blurb of text appears on his visor screen:

Suit Integrity: 89 Percent

“Uncle Lance?”

Lance groans, blinks past the text to see- “Mashan?”

The girl shrinks away from him, and Lance realizes she doesn’t know if he’s here to hurt her or not. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m trying to help.”

She eyes him carefully, retreating further into her den, where Lance knows her siblings are hiding. “Where’s Uncle Keith?”

“He’s on Altea, defending us. They’re attacking us, too.”

“But why isn’t he here?!”

Lance licks his lips. He needs to get these kits somewhere safe. “Keith is pregnant. He’s going to have a kit. It’s not safe for him to be here.” He forces himself to be patient, to meet the girl at her level. “Listen to me, okay? Do you have somewhere safe you guys can go? Is Raj here, the little one?”

Mashan wavers, nods. “Underneath.”

“Under- Hey, Papa. Underneath?”

Mashan eyes Alfor with terror as he comes up.

“Lancel, are you alright?”

“My armor’s a bit damaged, but I’m fine. Mashan, what do you mean, ‘Underneath’?”

“The cellar has a tunnel. We can’t lift the stone.”

“A tun-” Lance gasps. “Where! Show me where!”

“Lance, what-” Alfor yelps as Lance drags him into the den.

“There are warrens of tunnels all under the mountain, leading to and away from the Compound. This is our way in!” Lance turns back to his father, suddenly hesitating. “We can trust the citizens to keep fighting without us, but go send the message of where we’re going.”

Alfor nods, leaves. Lance turns back to Mashan, who points to a slab in the floor. “Go get your littermates. I’ll lift it.”

Mashan scurries deeper into the den, and Lance transforms his bayard into a sword, wedging the blade into the slot in the stone and prising it up out of the floor. It’s way heavier than Keith’s, much bigger and thicker, and when he bends down to peer inside, feeling the vibrations of battle in his hands and knees, he sees the family’s stored goods piled against two walls, a very old ladder, and then darkness in two other directions. It’s a tunnel.

He drops down, peering into the darkness, spying carvings and glyphs in the old stone. At the patter of little feet, Lance looks up to see a little girl, a littermate in each hand and another holding onto her tail. Raj is strapped to her chest with a wide strip of cloth.

“Okay, kittens, listen to me. I’m going to help you down one at a time. You first Forenz.” Lance holds out his arms, and the young triplet leaps down into them. Lance catches them easily, ruffling their hair as he sets them down. They immediately huddle against Lance’s leg, chirping nervously. “I know, kitten, I know.”

He catches Bimesa next, and then Lorna, all of whom keep close to him.

“Your turn, Mashan.” The kit hesitates, holding her newborn littermate close to her chest. She’s so little, so visibly afraid. “Be brave for me, kitten. I’ve got you.” She shakes her head. Lance licks his lips. He can see the kit trembling.

“Mashan?” The kit's huge garnet eyes find his. “You’re the big sister. You have to watch over your littermates. I need you to, because I have to go into the Compound, find your dads, find the prince and princess, stop a big scary weapon from being used, and hurt some people before they hurt us. And I have to get you guys away from here.

“Please, kitten? Please can you come down?”

Shaking, one hand still on the newborn tied to her chest, Mashan kneels, lets her legs dangle over the edge of the hole.

“That’s my brave girl.” Lance presses the button on the side of his helmet, opening his visor so he’s not so scary. He holds out his arms. “Come here, kitten, I’ve got you.”

With a terrified squeak, Mashan leaps, and Lance catches her, scooping her out of the air and catching her bridal-style so Raj won’t get hurt. He spins her out of it, sets her down on her feet.

“Now.” Lance turns her to face him, taking a knee as the triplets surround their older sister. “The tunnel behind you goes down, and I want you to follow it until you reach the foothills. From there, stay hidden, and stay safe, understand?”

The kits nod. He turns his eyes to Mashan. “You be brave for us, okay? Promise?” He smiles, pushes Mashan’s bangs out of her forehead. “I know you can do this, sweet girl. I know it.”

Mashan takes a deep breath, whispers, “Okay.”

“Okay.” Lance turns her around, hands gentle on her shoulders. “Now, you’re going to go this way. Feel the floor beneath your feet and don’t stop until it starts to level out. Find an opening, and hide in the fields. Understand?”

“How will I get the hole open?”

“Ladders.” Lance takes her hand, points to an old ladder against the walls of the tunnel. “See how old it is? It’s been down here a long time. I bet there’s one by every exit.”

“Find the ladder. Open the hole, hide in the fields,” Mashan whispers.

“Yes! Good girl! You go find a safe place to hide; I’m going to go find your dads.” Lance removes one of his gauntlets, passing it to Forenz. He shows the kit how to activate the flashlight. Mashan gathers up her siblings, passing a waterskin to Lorna and a bag of food to Bimesa. Lance waves as they scurry off into the dark. He takes a deep, shuddering breath. Ancients help them.

Alfor drops down as soon as they’re gone. “You spent a lot of time on that.”

“I know. I hope it was worth it.” Lance sighs, pulling his father in the direction of the Compound. “Rushing her would have only made her more scared. I won’t be responsible for their deaths if I can help it.”

“You know them.”

“Yes. I know a lot of people here.” Lance stares deep into the tunnel, at the carvings at an intersection up ahead. “If you can read Galran, good. If not, don’t fall behind.”

“Don’t fall behind. Got it.”

Lance takes off at a sustainable run, his father on his heels. Every tick they’re here is borrowed, and the Ancients always collect what they are due.

[itsclydebitches]

Y’know, the more I think about Ghira and Kali’s existence, the more I realize how much of shit parents they are.

Like, Blake ran away when she was like, what? 12? Did they even bother bringing her back?

On the one hand, yeah, from a real world perspective Blake joining a more violent faction of the White Fang, signing up for Beacon, and generally just doing her thing while her parents waited to see if she’d ever return is... not great. From a RWBY world perspective though? I don’t think Ghira and Kali are any worse than everyone else. Between Qrow’s solution to, not drag Ruby home after she went after Cinder, but rather help out from the sidelines until he was forced to reveal himself, and Oscar running away with, as far as we know, his aunt doing nothing to try and get him back, it seems like this is just A Thing that parents sometimes have to deal with. It admittedly makes a certain amount of sense. From what we’ve seen with flashbacks like Cinder, it doesn’t seem like Remnant has anything resembling a child protective services, or even a reliable police force to call and say, “Hey, my kid is gone.” The world isn’t just the world, it’s a world populated by incredibly dangerous monsters, meaning that not everyone (like Oscar’s aunt) can just waltz across the kingdoms looking for them. And the kids aren’t really kids as we understand them. At fifteen Ruby was allowed to wander around the city with Crescent Rose on her belt. This teenager is allowed out on her own with a dangerous weapon and her instinct when threatened is not, “Call for help from an adult/authority” but rather, “Kick their ass myself.” Something Glynda does criticize, but on the whole Remnant treats kids as pretty self sufficient, especially the fighters. If Ruby was fifteen when she went to Beacon and was moved ahead two years, that means that Signal training starts at 13. You likely start training at home even younger than that, especially someone like Blake who was born into a world where, according to her, you learn to fight or you die. To us, a 12-13 year old is a kid who (depending on your culture) needs to be under their parents’ supervision. To Remnant, a 12-13 year old fighting kid is someone who, very soon, will be building their own weapon and be allowed to traverse the world with it. If they decide to run away... how much can you really do about it? How much is that considered necessary when kids are already given so much freedom and autonomy? 

Frankly, details like that are one of the reasons why Volume 8′s “I can’t believe these 19 year old kids are fighting :( ” take is so frustrating. We started this series with a fifteen year old stopping a robbery, and three seventeen year olds destroying a club, stealing from a train, and facing off against a possessed suit of armor that could have killed her! RWBY kids clearly don’t get the same treatment that real world kids do, no matter what Ozpin might say about preserving their innocence. I mean yeah, the real answer to all this is “The writers never considered how the Belladonnas’ actions would come across because it doesn’t seem like they were invented until Volume 4,” but I’m personally inclined to cut them some slack here. 

[hoe-for-yukhei]

SUICIDE MISSION

captain yuta - lieutenant reader

kinda long drabble

au: attack on titan, comrades

warnings: character death, self harm, expletive, blood, violence, [unedited and badly written]

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!” Gisselle cries as she landed on the top of one of the roofs where you’re standing. She’s sobbing horribly and traumatized. “GISELLE! WHAT HAPPENED?! LOOK AT ME!” Gisselle are one of the newly recruits of scout regiments. The 6 of them Shotaro, Ningning, Winter, Karina, Sungchan we’re very skilled and has potentials but you have to be emotionally strong too. “L-lieutenant we we’re on near the river and the number of titans were slimming down but then...but then they started falling from the sky! and W-winter and Sungchan we’re-” Gisselle can’t finished her sentence. she just cried and cried. can’t accept the fact that her dear friends became titan food on their first mission. “L-lieutenant... your brother... Mark’s is still unconscious, still healing but the armored titan got him.”  In your 4 years of service of being a Scout you learned many things, and one of them are ‘people like you don’t deserve to grieve’. you took a deep breath and kept the stoic face you always have. How dare that fool step in your work?! The overwhelming anger in you starts to intensifies and your mind went black. 

“Lieutenant?! Stop there’s over 50 titans over there!” 

Ignoring your junior’s words; you didn’t stop swinging from houses to houses, tree to trees. you took out your blades and automatically sliced the napes of the titans you passed by not missing one of them. you can’t afford to lose your brother. you can’t afford to lose your only family. you can’t afford to lose the beast titan. Unlike the previous owner mark’s beast titan is far from an ape. He has long and slim body, four paws, covered with spots and really fast making him invisible to enemies. Unaware that your gas emptied while you’re having 1 to 1 combat with pure bred titans you started falling taking out your knife ready to unleash the female titan in you a black haired man killed the titan faster than the speed of light while wearing his infamous smirk. “I believe we don’t need the female titan for now” “that’s what you thought captain. Out of 400 we only have 7 men left, were running out of gas, supplies, and ammunition and they have mark.” Yuta quickly erased his teasing smile he had on his face. you’re right there’s no time for leisure and jokes right now. Because this clearly isn’t good since the commander is dead now  so it’s all up to him   “Shotaro!” “Captain!” Shotaro quickly landed on the wall as the Yuta called him. “check for the wounded, and other comrades! i want to see them at the tallest tower at the middle of the town”

-

“Captain, Eric and Kevin are inside the walls they have mark! they’re heavily guarded and looking at the amount of gas we have we’ll not make it and not to mention they’re still dropping titans. this is clearly a suicide mission.” Doyoung stated. he’s right. but still we can do something. Donghyuck just came up with a look on his face and his pants are quite heavy “Donghyuck. what did you find?” “Captain I-i found our cargo but they’re on the titan’s base. they’re eating the- our horses. it has all things we needed including the thunder spear...” upon realization you all met each others eyes coming up with a plan.

-

you jump off the tower taking out your knife and slitting your wrist followed by a flash of bright light appeared indicating a titan just transformed. Your comrades jumped on your body as you take them to the other side of the town to retrieve your cargo, killing all the titans you all encounter. as you got hold of all your weapons you threw debris and explosives where the titans came from. Everything is going as plan until Eric transformed into an armored titan. buying time to let the jaw titan escaped with mark.

Eric and you fought hand to hand throwing punches and kicks to each other. you turn around and kick him in the face performing a back roundhouse kick which results to him falling down exposing his nape, Giselle quickly aimed for it but the armored titan stands up immediately which cause us to miss his weakest part. 

Looking back you saw mark tied up to Kevin getting away, and other comrades being eaten. you lost composure and fell to the ground due to armor titan’s hard punch. the armored titan quickly hovers you, you grabbed his nape, pulled it and locked his legs and rolls to the ground now hovering him. you hardened your fists and threw punches at him. slowly moving your hands northward exposing his nape. Donghyuck and others fired thunder spears at him penetrating to his hard armor not giving him enough time to switch consciousness he almost died on the spot. 

“to the last man if that's what it comes to! Mark mustn’t reach the gate! I don't like a single titan anywhere near him!”

Done with the armored titan you came for the jaw titan with a tied up mark in it’s hands. you hopped on it’s back causing the titan to fall. but it’s so agile it slept through your hands and had quite a hard time to catch it. you’re also careful that you wouldn’t hit mark with your punches and attacks, but as you throw debris at the jaw titan a metal cut through Mark’s shoulder causing an injury. worried left you as your attack suddenly awakened his titan form.

blinding lights and hot steamed surrounds the area.

Mark has turned into his beast titan.

A cheetah.

Fighting a Jaw titan was quite hard for a four foot fur titan that has no hands. but it’s pace, size, large mouth, sharp teeth and sensitive ears & nose gave him so many advantages. 

You left them and went for the walls with cracks. pure bred titans instantly came to you they’re too many of them but thankfully 6 of them synchronously fell down as they were hit by yuta’s swift moves using his odm gear. “go on! i got you!” running for the large wall crack much bigger than it’s gate. you got several houses stacking it up to form as a base then you hardened it with your ability

You all rest at the roof of the tower you came to earlier. With heavy pants yuta just stares at you while you’re drinking water watching your comrades clearing the vicinity. Mark and Donghyuck came flying with their ODM gear while carrying two barely alive personages.

“Armored titan.”

“Jaw Titan”

Mark stared at you with a large smile at his lips. everyone might be thinking ‘he’s so happy we won’. well in fact you and mark are far from happy.

“Thank god you saved my ass back there, Kevin said they came for us. they want us to retreat. i don’t want to go so they tied me up.”

“Are you insane why would i let you? they’re obviously tired of waiting and thought we’re doing nothing that’s why they want us to go back. we all know they’re going to take our titan if that happens.”

“should we continue though? i mean this?”

“remember what we have in line mark. we’re not the type of people to grieve, to love or to have any emotional attachments to any eldians.”

You all had retrieved  4 out of 9 titans. by the time the Eldians got the grip of all all 9 of it you and Mark can go back home successfully bringing glory to the nation.

“Wall Maria retrieved! Mission accomplish”

or was it captain nakamoto?

Yuta is unknowingly falling for an enemy who’s responsible of her squad’s death. this is clearly a suicide mission that’s he’s getting himself to and he’s more than willing to die for her.

[archetypal-archivist]

My Beloved, Penis

Fuck it. I was infected by Penis SMP by @demonboyhalo reblogging a bunch of it and the lack of consistent lore bugged me, so I somehow banged out 2000+ words of fanfic about the Penis SMP and how it got started. Lots of internet humor and classic MInecraft shenanigans in this one folks. *slaps roof* This baby can fit so much crack treated seriously, lol. This is also up on my AO3, Zazibine, if you would prefer to read it there.

_-_-_-_

It was never supposed to get so big. It was just an SMP with a couple friends of his he had met from the Hypixel discord server, where he had logged on simply to trash talk the absolute asshole who had dared to kill him last minute in bedwars, only to stumble upon said asshole- going under the name shittyfartbaby69 of all things- complaining to his girlfriend(?) Milfboss in the voice chat. Thirty minutes later of awkward hellos and the manliest of bitching at each other (with Milf chiming in every once in a while to roast them both), and PenisUnavailable had perhaps his first Minecraft friend in, like, forever.

Then Admiral_Anus had entered chat, bitching about his competitor in ABBA Mining and his bullshit bad luck and the whole process repeated. By the end of the day, Penis had three new friends, a private discord server for the four of them, and a promise to meet up with them in Hypixel next Sunday for the ultimate round of bedwars.

The game went spectacularly. Somehow, Admiral had some of the best bridging skills any of them had ever seen, and between Milfboss' terrifying Scottish screaming and pvp and Shitty with his clutch TNT skills, the three of them almost made up for Penis' awful depth perception. They still lost around forty percent of their games, but that was certainly better than Penis' own abysmal record, not helped with his habit of walking off the edge at inconvenient times.

And it was... fun. Usually bedwars was just him playing in his bedroom alone for an hour before he rage-quit and went back to survival for a bit before he died to fall damage and rage quit that too. But shittyfartbaby69 would crack dirty jokes that he'd never even heard of before, and Milfboss would roast him for looking it up on reddit and Shitty would cuss her out as he tried to prove that no, he was being original- all while Admiral would comment of them as if they were a sideshow display. Then Admiral_Anus would turn around and knock an enemy player off their island with some clever pvp and they would all hoot and holler and swear for a while before going back to their conversation, joking about forgetting the topic and starting up a running gag about something new.

And their accents, mmm. PenisUnavailable would never say it, but he really was as American as white Wonder bread and Milfboss' Scottish brogue, Admiral's smooth British snark, and Shitty's shrieking in Australian, well. Ear candy, you know? Even if he teased them mercilessly for pronouncing shit wrong, like "buhguhr". Ppffttt, it still cracked him up how Milfboss had threatened to murder him after the dictionary app on his phone had proved him right that it was actually "Bur-gur", even if Admiral kept insisting it was pronounced "bruh-girl".

Four hours and twenty-eight wins later, they had agreed to meet up the next day to play again, preferably at an hour that wasn't two am for Shitty again. (It was two am for Shitty again, although that was because they played for six that time.) Eventually, it just became a regular thing, them playing bedwars and competing at ABBA Caving- the one game Penis was unnaturally good at, much to Admiral's annoyance- to the point where they ran out of funny jokes about their competitors and the game itself and started talking personal anecdotes.

Milfboss owned a motorcycle. Admiral, entirely independently, also owned a motorcycle, as that was the only vehicle of reasonable speed and style that could actually handle the London traffic. Shitty couldn't drive at all, something about never passing his driving test. Admiral ate cheese at breakfast. Shitty liked to burn his garbage in a metal oil drum in his backyard. Milfboss posted herself singing covers of shit over on Youtube. And it wasn't just real life stuff either- their minecraft skills were also on the table for them all to collectively roast.

Admiral had never seen a single Minecraft Championship. Milfboss thought a flat cobblestone roof was entirely acceptable. Shitty's favorite block was the flint and steel. (That's not a block, sixty-niner. Shut up, is too. OoOh, real clever, 'shut up'! Uh, how about no? How about I fuckin' make you, ever think 'a that? No nono nonono, I'm on two hearts! I'm on two hearts, stop!) It made him curious, honestly. He wanted to see Milf's builds for himself, get revenge on Shitty, see if Admiral really could beat the Ender Dragon with a knockback stick like he said he could.

So he made a minecraft server. And they all joined it. (And stuck PenisUnavailable with the bill, suckaaahhh~!)

Predictably, it all went to Hell in a hand basket pretty quick.

See, it's one thing to play with nutters like his friends in a structured set up like Hypixel games, it's quite another to try and keep a semblance of order in an open world survival server like the Penis SMP. The first five minutes had been him trying to explain the rules and teleporting everyone back to spawn over and over as they tried to "escape the cops," ie, him. The next five minutes was Shitty scream-laughing "scatter!" and other John Mulany references down the mic as everyone ran off to start their houses. Penis, as he was still "god" at that moment, used admin commands to find the closest flower field biome to settle into, hoping for some- ha- peace and quiet.

Shitty, inevitably, ended up trying to settle in the fucking Nether. Like a mad lad, you know, as you do when you are apparently obsessed with all things lava. Milfboss ended up making an oak plank box of a "tree house" in a dark oak forest, while Admiral_Anus picked a nearby swamp for his starter base. Outside of that, they just kinda vibed in discord as they tried to fend off the mobs and get enough resources to try and build up houses that were a bit more than cobblestone towers and wood boxes- er, mostly. Milf kinda just fucked off to go mining, found a skeleton spawner by chance, and made a set of iron gear to stand in the dungeon room with to just chill and kill mobs for a while. She ended up with something like 45 levels and burned her only diamond on an enchanting table so she could buff the Hell out of her iron weapons and armor.

Penis, rather typically, he though to himself, put together a basic sheep farm and started work on a cute little cobblestone cave base. He managed to get a whole twenty by twenty block room done and fully furnished before he noticed the chat full of Shitty's death messages and went to go investigate. After nearly dying in lava twice, he managed to find Shitty's pile of items floating on a basalt pillar about a hundred blocks out from his... base?

It was a soccer ball. Shitty's base was a perfect fucking spherical soccer ball made up of quartz blocks and basalt. Just. What. The Fuck??? Then out popped shittyfartbaby69 and it was PenisUnavailable's turn to misjudge a jump and plummet right into lava. Fifteen minutes and much shrieking later about losing his diamond pick, and it turns out that Shitty didn't really care about his lost items, as he really only had four gold picks, a stack of dark oak, two furnaces, a bucket, and thirteen cooked mutton to his name. Not even a bed, the fucker. He just ran back to his portal from spawn every time he just burned to death, taking the chance to gather resources on the way back each time.

And no, he wasn't following a tutorial for his "football" base. Jerk. (Although Penis did have to admire his determination...)

The day ended on Milfboss, Shitty, and Penis reconvening back at spawn to try and hunt down Admiral_Anus, who they found later having built a thirty block tall castle of all things. Out of cobble stone and the windows weren't quite even, but still, it was pretty impressive. And of course, when presented with a castle, what can what do but siege it? So they lay siege to the castle and Milfboss curb-stomped Admiral in pvp and laid claim to the throne, crowning herself queen before summarily throwing the rest of them out. It was a good day.

And the day after was a good day. They played dodge ball crossed with hide and seek in forest around Penis' house with arrows supplied by Milfboss. And the day after that, too, where they had a building competition using nothing but cobble stone, specifically to spite Milfboss, who had kicked all of their asses the day before. In fact, three wonderful weeks passed of doing normal Minecraft shit and being friends passed by, and every bit of it was great fun.

And then came the fucking role play.

PenisUnavailable would have liked to preface that with he only participated under duress, but really, Milfboss had been queen for too long and nobody wanted to risk TNT cannoning any of Shitty's nice builds, so. Well, the castle was better than his drafty cave, alright? It was cold and wet and didn't have a proper door because aesthetic (and because it usually took him several tries to work an iron pressure plate door), so there were far too many mobs wandering in at night and spawn camping him. He and Shitty had almost the same number of deaths and Shitty lived in the fucking Nether.

So yeah. Castle time, baby! Daddy needs a new home! And Admiral obviously wasn't happy living out of Milf's awful tree house hot box where they all did drugs together on day fifteen and it still smelled of burnt wheat seeds, aka "weed." It was only obvious that they teamed up to try and take back the castle.

The battle itself didn't exactly go great, but it wasn't exactly horrible either. A lot of shouting shit at each other for fifteen minutes, the majority of which he wouldn't remember until it was too late- something about server unity?- only to find out that it wasn't two on one girl boss, it was two on a girl boss and her "baked out of his mind" henchman, also known as Shitty in a squirrel furry skin.

The ears man. Those stupid (cute) ears.

And then they were running for their lives because Milf had somehow gotten her hands on a flame bow with infinity enchants.

It all culminated in a dramatic stand-off in front of Shitty's Nether Soccer ball, Milf on one side, diamond axe in hand, not a bit of armor on because of an unfortunate run in with lava, Penis and Admiral on the other, picks in hand, threatening to tear down shittyfartbaby69's base. Shitty wasn't online just then to comment, but they could all hear him click-clacking away on his keyboard so he obviously hadn't gone to sleep just yet like he said he had. At an impasse, and unable to justify letting her teammate's home be used as collateral, Milfboss stood down and gave up her "crown," an enchanted golden Prot IV helmet she had gotten off a skeleton from her spawner.

Then the great betrayal, the beginning of the end. Shitty came back online. 96-Cam joined the game, not that they noticed in the chaos. Admiral-Anus cackled wildly and PMed Milfboss the message that Shitty had sent him, giving Team Gay Sex permission to tear down his base in the name of winning the war if it came down to it- making Milf's sacrifice worthless in the end. Penis gave another dramatic speech, circling around Shitty, who was acting weirdly apologetic to Milf about betraying her and still wearing that fucking squirrel furry skin.

"You see Milf, there's one thing more powerful than a girl boss, and when it comes down to wars between kingdoms, there's something you need to remember!" Penis got out his golden ax, helpfully labeled 'Piss Off'.  "And that's a dilf with something to lose!" An enderpearl in his off hand and he teleported behind Milf, catching on fire from the lava but still landing the last hit needed to finish her off. She puffed into a cloud of EXP, swearing up a storm, and then Admiral and Penis turned their gaze to the cheering Shitty.

"AAAAAYYY, LET'S GO DADDY!" the squirrel man screeched, wild laughter shorting out the discord voice chat, making him go quiet in patches when the volume overloaded the client. Behind him, Admiral quietly started building a chair out of birch fence posts and slabs.

"Not so fast, shit-ty-fart-baaaaa-byyyyy~, this isn't quite over yet!" Penis fucking chirped, barely holding back his laughter. "You're still a fucking traitor and we can't have you backstabbing us too. Get in the chair for Daddy, okay baby?"

Admiral finished the chair just in time for Shitty to turn around and see the completed monstrosity, shrieking dying off immediately. "Oh screw you, that's just mean. The Hell man? That's not a chair, that's illegal. If you want an electric chair or some shit, just ask. That's just sad." Mentally shrugging, Admiral lit up his work with a flint and steel while Penis pillared up above where Shitty was building an electric chair out of iron bars and trap doors. Admiral nudged Shitty into the chair, Penis dumped a bucket of lava over the edge of the pillar so it flowed over him, and Shitty started giving a soliloquy about how betrayal and how his love for his "Daddy" still "burned strong".

Like his dick. Apparently.

By the time the lava finally hit the floor and burned Shitty to death, Penis was crying with laughter, shrieking down the mike and banging on the desk hard enough to make him forget that his was still on the mouse, making him mine the block under him with the bucket and sending him hurtling to his fiery death too.

It was a good day... almost.

Because, as it turned out, shittyfartbaby69 was actually a tiktokker of some renown and his cam account had record everything. And he had uploaded the bit to tiktok, as you do, where it went viral, where it wasn't supposed to. And Milfboss, who had recently been uploading covers of herself singing old classic Minecraft songs, had attracted the Minecraft fandom kids to her twitter, where she had gone to post her rage about the events of her dethroning and Shitty's execution.

Penis SMP had gotten on. Fucking. Trending. And now everyone was demanding the full clip, their names, their Twitch streamer handles, their characters' backstories.

The masses wanted lore.

Penis watched in disbelief, head in his hands and mouth agape as sugar crash played over a clip of him killing Milf on loop.

They were making memes.

...Oh god. They were screwed.

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

JNPR Berries Week 2020

Day 6: Alternate Universe

Okay guys i hate aus and i always avoid au days for ship weeks but i actually have so many Pyrrha Lives/Fall Maiden!Pyrrha AUs and i got carried away i wrote almost 2k in bullet points

@jnprberriesweek

After Fall of Beacon Pyrrha has two options: 1) enroll at Haven with JNPR and continue to chase her Huntress dreams while paparazzi continue to make most things she does public, indirectly informing Salem where she is at all times. 2) drop off the face off the Earth both to avoid Salem/Cinder and to continue the Fall Maiden's job

Pyrrha being Pyrrha (self-sacrificing) goes with option 2

JNR decides there’s no way they’re going to let (a freshly discharged) Pyrrha go running into unknown with no friends or backup

She’s worried about putting them in danger (even though that’s the Hunter job description) but Goodwitch reminds her that she’s only at half power so she should accept the extra protection, and friends since she’s about to leave her whole life behind to live as a nomad which makes making friendships difficult to create and maintain

(Pyrrha doesn’t mention that she’s pretty sure she sees all of them in the more romantic light)

JNR help Pyrrha change her whole appearance. Which is very important since she’s also famous

She looses her iconic armor and has to leave her weapons behind

JNR tries to convince her to cut her hair but she’s worried about not being pretty

Jaune unhelpfully reminds her that that’s probably a good thing considering they’re trying to make her as non-noticeable as possible (poor boy just meant she’s so pretty already she'll probably never be able to blend into the background of any crowd)

Ren is actually the one who has to go "Pyrrha you’re gorgeous shorter hair isn’t gonna change that at all"

Then Ren goes "look at Nora she has short hair and she’s stunning for all we know you’ll look even better with short hair"

Pyrrha and Nora are practically speechless because Ren thinks they’re beautiful

Pyrrha is like okay but I won’t let you cut it any shorter than here (gestures to mid-chest level). (JNR tries not to look at her boobs)

Nora then tries to get her to dye it. Pyrrha holds out

JNR end up in Vol 4 outfits

Pyrrha makes the difficult choice of deciding to fake her death. She makes sure her friends (she unfortunately is unable to contact Blake or Weiss) and family still know she’s alive (but they still grieve her as if she’s dead. They most likely will never see her again. The only ones likely are her parents) but to the world Pyrrha Nikos is dead, killed in the Beacon Massacre

JNPR sets off through Vale (Fall Maiden's territory)

Pyrrha has a hastily made vaguely similar weapons to her last set. She may be a professional but she’s a professional with her chosen weapons and semblance, not most other weapons

JNR sees how Pyrrha dies inside every time a little kid or random citizen tells her "did you know you look a lot like Pyrrha Nikos?"

Pyrrha is also now getting hit on without her celebrity pedestal to keep people at bay

The first few times its truly pathetic how Pyrrha responds

JNR doesn’t intervene because they remember how sad she was about no one asking her to the dance

What JNR thinks is they’re coming into rescue her only occasionally. The truth is Pyrrha is getting rescued every time by a different member and lots of times one of them will step in before anyone even approaches her

Most of the time she’s happy one of them intervened

Some times she’s mad that no one will let her handle this herself (no one has realized that yet)

A lot of the time she feels all warm and fuzzy because for a few moments she gets to pretend. She’s given a free pass to slow dance with Nora, or to lean into Ren when he puts a arm around her waist, or get away with kissing Jaune on the cheek

(JNR are also very happy when they get these excuses.)

Jaune typically intervenes because he’s a nice guy and watching Pyrrha flounder is horrible. Ren and Nora always intervene because they’re either being protective or jealous (Ren has perfected the evil eye. People will back off before they even finished crossing the room)

They almost always camp out but when they stay in town they usually share beds to save money

Originally they were doing girls in one bed boys in the other but Nora is the whole kicking, sprawling, blanket snatching package so they typically pull straws on who gets to share with her

Sometimes even her bed buddy will leave in the middle of the night and see if they can squeeze in with the other two

On the other hand Jaune drools, Ren sleeps like a vampire, and Pyrrha snores

With Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren all pushing six feet whenever two of them pair up touching is unavoidable

Most of the time everyone but Nora (who can fall asleep instantly) stay up freaking out about being so close to their crush. Ren actually freaked so much the first time he moved to the floor and activated his semblance just so he could sleep

Pyrrha is a side sleeper so she always ends up tangling her legs with her bed buddy. She’s always embarrassed but tries to stay in that position as long as she can (its the only selfish thing she allows herself)

Winter however quickly forced JNPR to start sharing sleeping bags

They always zip both bags together but all decided spooning is the way to go after too many cold nights. They also bought a tent just big enough for the four of them in order to trap escaping body heat

Jaune is dying from so much close contact. Was it not bad enough he has to see all of his (recently discovered) crushes get changed twice every single day? Was accidentally seeing Nora's abs and walking into a door frame in Beacon not enough?

Nora and Pyrrha on the other hand are loving it (when its not absolutely freezing)

Ren has caught all three of them arguing over who gets to sleep with him that night several times. Apparently he’s the best big spoon

A pack mule joke turns into them actually looking into getting one

Originally they wanted a horse, but when they actually were looking they ran into the problem of 1) its too tall for Nora to pack the bags 2) horses are massive and JNPR quickly realize they're scared of them

So that leaves either a pony, donkey, hinny, small mule, or llama

They end up with a donkey and name her Betty. Nora wanted "Bessie" but Ren refused to give in on the basis that she’s a donkey and not a cow

They also take this opportunity to purchase more bulkier items that would make their life more comfortable that they were unable to carry by themselves before (tents, pots and pans, extra shoes, more jackets, books)

They're over a year in when Ren of all people gets high and talks about his feelings

He thinks he’s talking to Betty but really he’s been talking to a tree stump for the last hour

He got high by taste-testing the mushrooms he was cooking

The team came back from getting firewood and unpacking Betty to find him laying in the mud giggling at the sky with their questionable mushrooms burning on the fire. It was pretty clear what happened

JNP have been making sure he wont hurt himself but mainly they’re enjoying the show

"Psst Betty. Betty. You wanna hear a secret?" JNP lean in "I’ve managed to fall in love with my entire team. You can’t tell anyone though. I don’t think I’ll ever tell them either. Im not good with feelings, and that would probably make me a terrible boyfriend"

He then goes on about what he likes about each person. He goes off on a tangent about someone’s eyes for seven minutes. He talks about his favorite facial expressions everyone makes and the best parts of their personality. Nora's been red for awhile now, Jaune is leaning so far forward Pyrrha's worried he’s gonna catch on fire, and Pyrrha is actually tearing up

He says how he feels guilty whenever he cuts in on whoever is moving in on Pyrrha, that he feels guilty about being jealous but also about sending someone away when he knows Pyrrha wants that experience, and how he doesn’t realize he’s already moved in to stop the person until they’re walking away

That he feels like he could mess up everything he has with Nora, not by going into a relationship with her but by being unable to open up any more emotionally than he is now which he knows she'll expect (they’ve talked about being “together-together” before)

He laughingly mentions that one time Pyrrha said she wanted a guy taller than her because Ren gets it now because when he’s bunking with Jaune in the winter he’s found he really likes being held by someone taller than him

Ren then goes "oh no. No no no its bad enough I’m talking about my feelings out loud I’m not going to tell you who has the best ass. Aren’t donkey's also called asses? What’s it like being a donkey?" And everyone is laughing

Pyrrha is the first to break after they fall back into listening. She looks at the fire the whole time. She admits she feels the same way about all of them, that she also planned on never saying anything.

Then Jaune pipes in that he just figured it out for himself pretty recently. That at first he was worried it was either teenage hormones or that he was reacting to a vastly shrunk dating pool and therefore the feelings weren’t real. (Unlike Ren and Pyrrha his feelings didn’t begin romantic and then expand his started sexual until realized what he thought was strong platonic feelings might actually be romantic)

Nora is still red with her hands over her face but eventually she says that she’s been attracted to all of them since team JNPR formed and "since we all clearly feel the same way about each other can we stop with the super embarrassing love confessions and makeout already"

When Ren wakes up that morning he remembers very little since he doesn’t know what were dreams and what were hallucinations. He has a dehydration headache and rolls over but Pyrrha sees he’s awake and she comes sits next to him. Ren doesn’t uncurl until she started playing with his hair. "How much of last night do you remember?" "Mostly just colors." "Ummm okay. Remember anything anyone said?" "I think I had a conversation with Jaune about rocks." "That was to Nora actually. But you did think she was Jaune." "Mmhm." "So last night there was a development, but since you were high I wanna ask you again now that you're sober." "Okay." "So ummm, we're kinda all dating now? But if you wanna back out now that you're sober you totally can." "What do you mean by 'kinda all'?" "All four of us." "And you all want to date me?" "Yeah, you don’t remember all the love confessions that happened last night." "Oh. Did my rock conversation interrupt all that?" "No. You actually confessed first." "I WHAT."

[jacks-wylan]

I forgot to post it here! As always, thanks to this site, I have to link the story on ao3 in the reblogs as I did last time. Beware of foursome/voyeurism with Jaskier taking all the dicks. sorry.

Eskel gets hurt during their contract. Nowadays, Geralt doesn't take part in hunts anymore, having retired quite long ago and enjoying his relatively new life as he works in his winery in Toussaint, strolling in the woods around while taking Roach for a ride, and fucks Jaskier when he wants, as he wants, without a care in the world.

But now, fretting at Eskel's wound on his sternum while Lambert tries to stop the pouring blood flooding out of it, he can't find himself to regret joining them when they asked for his help – the place of their contract is so close to Corvo Bianco, after all, and what if one of the creatures lurking in the shadows gets too close to his propriety, and consequently to Jaskier? He had to go with them, even if it's been years since he last saw his brothers. As he helps Eskel drink Swallow, he is so glad he's here with them. He doesn't even want to think of what might have happened to Lambert, especially to Eskel, alone and surrounded by danger.

“He won't die.” Geralt says, as he watches Eskel slowly losing consciousness. Lambert is snarling at the bandages, tightening them against Eskel's wound. They both hope that this and the potion would be enough to stop the blood loss, because they really have no time to patch him up. “But we can't stay here any longer.”

“Can't we? And here I wanted to take the fucking tent out and roasting some pheasant for old time's sake.” Lambert snorts, passing his hand on his head, not caring to leave bloody fingerprints on his forehead. “Yeah, good, let's take him the fuck out of here.” he then says, raising Eskel up his shoulder. Their brother shallowly exhales, but he doesn't wake up at the rough movement. “Lead the way.”

Corvo Bianco is closer, obviously, than the town they reunited before going on with the hunt – and just for Eskel's sake, Geralt knows that the best thing for him is to bring him home. That's why he takes a different road, but the stench of blood and death is lingering so much in Lambert's mind, probably, that he doesn't acknowledge that immediately. He does, though, when he starts to see a more lively town down the Path, and he makes sure Geralt knows that he knows by kicking his shin while they run. “Wrong way, idiot!”

“I'm not bringing him into a shitty inn where they wouldn't even give us hot water to clean his wounds. I'm bringing him home.” Geralt explains, taking a turn so they won't go across the little village with a half–dead bloody body with them. He follows the road in the forest nearby, that leads towards the back garden where Jaskier loves sunbathing naked during the hot summers – as no one even pass from there, because that is just theirs, their little piece of heaven.

“Home? You mean, the tiny hole you disappeared into years ago without caring to give us a notice? Eskel should feel honored. Hey, Eskel, feel honored, Geralt is bringing us into his hiding because you almost died.” snorts Lambert, nudging at the sleeping body on his shoulder, and Geralt doesn't miss the tiny hint of bitterness in his tight voice.

Guiltily, Geralt just grunts, “Fuck off, Lambert.”

“And, really Geralt? Toussaint, of all places? I thought you to be more of a crawling–into–a–swamp type, surely not a–” he shuts up for a second, after crossing the back corridor until Geralt stops in front of his house's door. “–an actual house, with walls and all.”

“Lambert, please.” Geralt begs, opening the door and showing his brother the way inside. He faintly hears a quiet heartbeat upstairs – Jaskier is probably sleeping in their bedroom, fallen asleep maybe waiting for his return, even if the moon isn't even up in the sky yet. “Later. Now, let's think about Eskel. He's bleeding out on your shoulder.”

“Yes, and it's fucking disgusting. He's better going to buy me another armor after this.”

Geralt points Lambert to drop – “carefully, Lambert, please.” – Eskel on the couch. Immediately Geralt unties Eskel's broken armor, wincing when it hits the ground with a loud clank, hoping that it hasn't woken Jaskier up. He searches in his satchel and grabs threads and a needle, and he almost orders Lambert to go and fetch hot water to clean Eskel's wound, when he is interrupted by a loud gasp.

He turns his head towards the stairs, and Lambert unsheathes his sword and points it at Jaskier. He almost snarls and punches Lambert in the guts just for daring even doing that to Jaskier, but the boy points his feet on the ground and puts his hands on his hips, “Lower immediately your weapon, gentle sir, as you have no rights to threatening me in my house! Geralt, please, explain.” he adds, when he catches Geralt kneeling on the ground next to the couch. Then, he widens his eyes when he spots Eskel, and pales, “Sweet Melitele, what the fuck has happened?!”

“Jaskier, can you go fetch water and as many cloths as you can find?” he asks, softly, trying to tell him to stay calm, that it's everything under control, that he's fine and everyone is fine. Jaskier's always been so good at reading his expression and his silences, and now it's not different.

Jaskier blinks, and fidget with a hem of his shirt – Geralt's shirt, he's wearing just that – as he nods and mutters, “Yeah, yeah. Sure, I go immediately.” then, he disappears towards the kitchen.

Geralt sighs, and turns his attention to Eskel again, ignoring as much as he can Lambert's heavy stare. “So. You live with him?” Lambert asks, joining him on the floor and tearing off Eskel's undershirt, seeing the gravity of the wound as it seems to be way wider than they thought. They didn't even bandaged the entire wound, Geralt muses as he grimaces. Lambert, with a shrug, tears off the bandages too.

“Yes.” Geralt answers, “He's my...”

“Housekeeper? It's strange that he wears your clothes though.”

Geralt growls, “Lover.”

Lambert raises both his eyebrows, and whistles. “Never expected that.” then hums, amused, “Makes sense, kinda. I mean, for him to be wearing your clothes, not for much else. You really surprised me here, pretty boy.”

Jaskier arrives in that moment, wobbly a bit bringing a large bowl with both hands and with some pieces of cloth hanging from his shoulder. Silently, he lays the bowl and a cloth on the ground beside Geralt, fidgeting with the other, than stands up and, biting his lower lips, looms behind his back, frowning at the sight of the blood still poring off Eskel. “Is he... fine?” he asks.

“He is going to be.” Geralt reassures him, “Why don't you go back upstairs? You will avoid the gruesomest part.”

“Uh, you don't...” Jaskier frowns more, eyeing Lambert, “Need anything? More cloths, more water? Any help?”

“We don't need vomit all over the wound, so no, boy, you can go.” tells him Lambert, waving an hand towards Jaskier in a clear gesture of dismiss.

Jaskier gasps, “He's even more rude than you've ever been, Geralt! How's that even possible!” he whines, outraged. He seems that he wants to add something else, by the way he puffs his chest, but then he deflates and touches lightly his shoulder, “You're sure you don't need anything?”

“He's a Witcher, Jask. Don't worry, he'll survive. He had worse, now he just needs to rest.”

Jaskier winced, unconvinced. But then he nods, and Geralt is pretty sure that he's trying not to stare at Eskel's scarred face. “Alright. Call me if you need anything?”

“Please, tell us again if we need something, maybe the thirteenth time is the right one.”

Jaskier just throws the remaining cloth in his hands to Lambert's face, then he touches again Geralt's shoulder one last time and, under Lambert's spluttering, he turns back towards the stairs. Geralt looks at his back until he disappears into the dark, while Lambert, complaining about his lover being a pain in the ass, cleans Eskel's wound.

Then, Geralt closes the wide gash – that, thankfully, it's already starting to close itself where the muscle isn't cut too deep; Eskel's is lucky that no organs tried to crawl out of his belly while he was on Lambert's shoulder. Then he sighs, tiredness finally taking a toll on him: he's not used to this anymore, fucking hell. “He'll need to rest for a couple of days, at least. Or the wound will reopen.”

Lambert snorts, “Oh, you know. He's the responsible one, he won't try to go fucking a succubus in this condition.”

“And yet, he's the only one who has ever done that.”

Lambert playfully – and lightly – shoves Eskel's shoulder. “He did, this bastard!” he grins. Eskel, in response, just snores. When the moment passes, Lambert frowns and scratches the back of his head, “We will go away the second he's fine, don't worry. We'll leave you to enjoy your honeymoon or whatever you are doing here.”

Geralt winces imperceptibly, and bites the inside of his cheek – an habit he gained from Jaskier, one of the many signs he has to show his nervousness, “You can stay as long as you want, Lambert. You know that.”

Lambert snorts, “Do I?”

They don't say anything anymore, after that.

Geralt jolts awake the moment he feels something soft covering his shoulders, and immediately Jaskier hushes him with a soft murmur, “Shh, love, it's me. You both fell asleep on the floor, so I brought you covers. You must be freezing.”

The only possibility they're going to freeze is just if they fall into a frozen lake, or something colder than that, but Geralt doesn't reprimand and thanks him nonetheless. Looking around, he sees Lambert sprawled on the floor, snoring loudly; Eskel, still on the couch, has already some furs atop of him. Another blanket is on Jaskier's arms, probably meant for Lambert, but before he gets up to go closer to his brother, Geralt grabs his arm and nuzzles against his neck, inhaling his flowery scent there where it's most fragrant.

“You've done well, darling. He seems to be so much better already.” Jaskier whispers, cradling his head in his palms. “Bringing him here was the right thing to do.”

And Gods, that is exactly what Geralt needed to hear. He kisses the soft spot under his ear, where the blood flows faster and stronger, so much that he almost feel it running under his lips. “I'm just sorry that you had to see it.” he says against his skin, and Jaskier chuckles breathlessly – probably because Geralt's beard made him ticklish. Inhaling again, Geralt smells something else beside his usual scent, “Hm, chamomile.” murmurs.

“Yes, I drank a bit of it. I needed to calm down.” Jaskier explains, sheepishly.

Geralt rises from the crook of his neck and looks out the window. A timid light comes in, but not much to lighten all the room. “Couldn't sleep?” he asks him then. It's rare that Jaskier wakes up before the sun is shining up in the sky, for he loves to linger all morning under the soft furs, but it's not a thing that never happened before. Before, though, Geralt was with him helping him get through his anxiety – this time, he woke up alone.

“It's fine. The chamomile helped. Do you want some? It's early, after all, it might help you sleep more. I'm sorry for waking you up, love, it wasn't my intention. Gods, you must be tired.” Jaskier says, frowning as he touches, lightly, the black under his eyes.

“Fucking tits and cocks, can you two just shut the fuck up?” Lambert suddenly shouts, growling at them as he turns to the side, covering his ears. “I feel so nauseous being waken up with this disgusting demonstrations of affection from Geralt of all people, ugh.”

Jaskier adorably flushes red at Lambert's words, and Geralt laughs under his breath, caressing his flaming cheeks. “I don't mind some.” he says at last, getting up and bringing Jaskier with him. Jaskier, still red but with also an adorable glare on, throws almost grudgingly the furs on Lambert.

Reaching the kitchen, Jaskier grabs a mug and pours the chamomile in it from a teapot. “It's gone cold,” he says, handling him the mug. He smiles, showing him his teeth, “but I guess you can warm it up on your own, am I right?”

Geralt raises his eyes to the sky, and with a weak igni, it makes the chamomile hot again. Jaskier's scent of arousal hits him almost immediately, as it always does whenever Geralt uses his signs. He takes another mug from the cupboard, fill it quickly, and nudges him to warm up that too.

Of course, Geralt indulges him.

They sit at the table, sipping the chamomile in silence. It's Jaskier, as he always does, that breaks it, “Uh... Geralt, who are they? It doesn't seem so important yesterday, but now I can't help but wonder. All I know is that they are Witchers, but why were you with them?”

“They're my brothers, from the Wolf School.”

“Oh,” Jaskier frowns, looking into his chamomile. “I didn't know you had brothers.”

“We're not... related, if that's what you mean. We are more brothers in arms than anything. We grew up together,” says Geralt, omitting the suffering and the Trials and the Path that ties them together. He doesn't need to know that, even if he probably imagines something, considering that some of the stories he told him during these years together he may have mentioned a thing or two. “Actually, Lambert is younger.”

Jaskier chuckles, “Yeah, he has the attitude of a younger brother. Not that I know this personally, I've never had siblings – thank the Gods for that, or it would have been worse running away from Lettenhove.” he clinks his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head. His fingers, though, tighten where they are pressed against his steaming mug, a nervous gesture that Geralt has seen him doing almost every time he mentions his family. “Anyway, I'm happy to know that you have a family, somewhere. That you aren't alone, in this world.” he says then, more cheerfully.

“I am not alone, Jaskier. I have you.”

Jaskier's cheeks colour of a cute pink again, illuminated by the soft light of the newborn sun from the window, “Yeah, I... yeah.” he sniffs, “I'm just happy that you have someone else beside me.” the words unlike me rest unsaid, but Geralt hears them the same.

Geralt takes his hand into his, and raises it in front of his face. He kisses his knuckles, one by one, looking at his face, at his blush and at his big, shiny eyes, happy as he always is every time Geralt shows him with this kind, small gestures how much he loves him. Jaskier should know that, without having any doubt, but sometimes he understands him perfectly, when he feels so in peace with himself as Jaskier murmurs words of love into his ears.

“Ugh. How can I unsee this?”

Jaskier jolts, and Geralt smiles against the skin of his hand, “You can't, Lambert.”

Lambert grimaces, disgusted. Geralt knows him, though, and he can see under the rudeness that Lambert is actually happy for him, he just has a shitty way to show it. All the three of them – and Vesemir, for that matter, and Lambert himself knows that perfectly – are aware that Lambert is the one that feels the most. Mostly anger, but he never tries to hide his discomfort, nor his displeasure. Vesemir is the usual target of his complaining, and Geralt has been on the cutting side of his weapons more times than he can actually remember, but it's Lambert's coping mechanism to what they all went through, and they still go through every single day on the Path.

Lambert is actually the most sane of them all. Well, was. He is not anymore, now that Geralt has found his peace, that is.

His brother falls on the chair in front of him, and frowns at his and Jaskier's entwined hands. He has the fur Jaskier brought him on his shoulder, put there as a shawl – he took off his armor, Geralt can clearly see the black of his undershirt under the fur. That means that Lambert feels safe. “I will have to wash my eyeballs, now. Thank you, bastards.”

Jaskier shrugs, “You're welcome!”

“I guess introductions are in need.” Lambert passes the palm of his hand on his head, rubbing the short–cropped hair. Even if the night before they washed the blood off their hands, dry stains persisted. “But you know what? Let's do that when Eskel wakes up. He's the nice one, with him it won't go all shit.”

“I sure hope that at least one of you Witchers is nice from the start.” Jaskier rolls his eyes, then he gently lets go of his hand as he stands up. “Hey, Lambert, do you want something to eat?”

“Meat is perfect. And I want ale.”

“It's, uh.” Jaskier blinks, and looks outside the window, “It's barely dawn.”

Lambert stares at him, cocking his head to the side.

Jaskier rolls his eyes again, and heads to the door. When he closes it behind his back, as Geralt hears his soft steps getting farther from them, Lambert grunts something and a foot kicks his shin under the table. “Fucking hell, who would have thought you'd be this saccharine.”

“Gods, Lambert.” Geralt hisses, without any bite in his voice though. “I missed you.”

Lambert's mouth twists, “Hard to believe. Look at you, living in Toussaint, in a nice house, with a man that loves you despite your flaws, with probably a stupid, not dangerous at all job just to do something. Why would you miss me? Oh, please, pretty boy. Spare me shitty excuses, your disappearance said enough.”

Geralt lowers his eyes, guilt flooding into his stomach. He wasn't about to tell excuses, because there aren't: they never had a relationship too close, after all, if not during the cold winters passed in Kaer Morhen, getting drunk with the White Gull Lambert distilled, playing Gwent as they tell stories of their travels. With Eskel, is a bit different – but the times they were trying to find warmth into each others are long gone. They stayed years without seeing each other at all, but somehow they always, always tried to tell the others that they are fine, and alive.

Geralt, this time, didn't. For five, long years, they probably thought him dead, until they finally reached him for the hunt of the night before. He would have been bitter too, if he was in their place, if he has to be honest.

So no, he won't find any excuses. He will just tell them – Lambert more than Eskel, because probably Eskel already understood the real reason the second he rested his eyes upon him the night before, with his now cured beard and hair, and clearly unused armor – the truth. “I have. All you said, I have it. That's why I–” he swallows, guilt and shame crawling up his back. “I was afraid to lose it all. Reaching out to you, it would have meant to leave Jaskier behind and force myself to return to the Path.” as I did yesterday, he almost says, but he doesn't.

Lambert stares at him for interminable minutes, until Jaskier comes back with dry fruits in his arms. He drops them on the table and points a finger at Lambert, glaring, “This is what you'll get, Witcher. And,” he turns, grabs a mug and fills it with the chamomile, “this is what you'll drink.”

Lambert takes the mug and sniffs its content, “What is this, tea? I'm not in my fucking deathbed!”

“My house, my rules.” Jaskier says, not impressed at all by Lambert's shouting. He crosses his arms against his chest, “And one rule is, no ale before midday!”

Lambert looks incredulously at Geralt, “This boy is a pest!”

Jaskier gasps, “Excuse me?”

As Lambert grabs some fruits and stuffs his mouth with them, Jaskier sits graciously on his chair, winking at Geralt as he passes him a piece of dry apple. While they eat, Lambert mumbles something not quite comprehensible with his mouth full. And Jaskier doesn't understand what he said, by the look he's giving him – but Geralt does, almost perfectly.

“You won't be forced, pretty boy.”

Eskel keeps sleeping throughout the day, just as he has to. Jaskier damps a wet cloth on his lips, and Geralt is pretty sure that Eskel doesn't need that to survive, as he is a Witcher that surely has gone dehydrated more times than not, but it's clearly helping him feel better. Geralt looks at the care Jaskier has for a Witcher – for his brother – and he feels like the luckiest bastard on earth.

As the day goes on, he and Lambert decide that the supplies he has in the house aren't enough to feed three Witchers and a healthy human, so Geralt gives a kiss on Jaskier's eyebrow and tells him that they'll come back before the sun will set, with whatever they catch in the forest nearby.

Gaining Lambert's forgiveness is never easy, but Geralt thinks that considering he is hunting there with him without making too much of a fuss, he is probably already half forgiven. Also, passing some time together and letting Lambert steam off the anger from the night before might be good, for the both of them.

When they come back with a deer on Lambert's shoulder – funnily, they both commented that the carcass is in the same position as was Eskel hours ago – Geralt finds Jaskier where he left him, next to Eskel: now, though, Eskel is awake, and he is telling him something that Jaskier is hearing with exciting and curious eyes. When they spot him, Jaskier gets up to greet them and says, “Lambert, you were right. He's nice!”

“Glad you found your favourite.” Lambert says, not surprised at all.

“Silly Witcher, Geralt is obviously my favourite. But you, Eskel, are right behind him!”

Lambert scoffs, and lets the carcass fall into the floor at Jaskier's feet, who squeaks disgusted, “But what the fuck is wrong with you?!” he cries, moving away from the dead deer almost tripping with his feet.

“I'm your least favourite, I don't have to be nice. Take this and go cooking this shit, my stomach is growling.”

Jaskier opens his mouth in an outraged expression, “Excuse me, are you perhaps giving me orders? No can do, sir. Pick this poor animal immediately from my house's floor and bring it into the kitchen. Now!” he stomps out the couch room, “Come. On!” he adds, when he sees Lambert not following him.

With an amused grunt, Lambert does as said and they both disappear towards the kitchen, leaving Geralt and Eskel alone. The latter breathes out a laughter, still placidly laying on the couch, naked chest covered by the furs. “They seem to get along well.”

“Lambert likes him because, uh, because Jaskier likes Witchers, I think.”

“I don't think that's the only reason.” Eskel is smiling knowingly, looking straight at him. He has always been the most understanding of them all, Eskel – when they were barely teenagers, he had been the one Geralt has gone to anytime he needed comfort, a gentle touch, a gentle word. Eskel has always been there for him, even when Geralt hasn't done the same for him. “Jaskier said he's your lover. Were you with him all this time? Does he makes you happy, wolf?”

“Yes.” Geralt answers, without waiting not even a beat.

This is not what he wanted, but now that he has it, he can't live without. Eskel probably reads that in his face, because he just shakes his head and shrugs, “Then it's all okay, Geralt. Take that martyr expression off your face, now, there's no need.”

Geralt's shoulders drop, as if a weight has been lift from them. He doesn't even acknowledge that he was waiting for some harsh words, for disdain or, worse, disappointment that he has left the Path – them – behind – even if he should have known that it's never like that with Eskel, after all. He sits on the couch next to him and pats lightly on the bandages at his belly. Eskel, for that matter, doesn't even flinch at the contact: the wound must be already almost healed. “Good.” he says, with a hum.

Eskel hums too, in response. “I'm glad you're fine.”

Somehow, Geralt knows that his brother isn't referring to whatever attacked them the night before. Especially since he's been the only one wounded, that is. “Hm. How're you feeling?”

“Well rested. You have a comfortable couch, wolf.”

Geralt grins, ignoring for now the shouts he hears from the kitchen. “Jaskier is an expert in luxury. The bed is even better. You and Lambert can stay in the spare room for... as long as you want.” he then indicates at his bandages, “And need.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it. It is pretty...” something glassy breaks in the kitchen, and loud gasps follow the noise, “Quiet here.”

“It's just a winery. Nothing special happens here.” at this point, the smell of burnt meat reaches their nose.

“Seems your thing. You've always liked the quiet.”

Jaskier screams something at Lambert, and Geralt sighs fondly, “Silence is a curse, now that I have the loudest man that has ever walked on this earth next to me. Sure, it's not like a succubus,” he wiggles his eyebrows and shoves lightly at Eskel, who cracks a laughter. “but he's quite close.”

“Lucky you, then.” Eskel's eyes are soft.

“Hm.” the burnt smell becomes more pronounced, “Should I go see if none of them died?”

“I can clearly hear both their shouts, they are having fun. Let them be, they're fine. Oh, wait, here they come.”

Like this, Jaskier appears at the door, blood splattered on his face and fire in his eyes. Geralt remembers the same, combative eyes when they still were walking together on the Path, and he was smashing one of his beloved lutes on a bandit that wanted to steal from them, or when he was threatening to punch the faces of a tavern's customers just because he said some bad things about Geralt. Feral, and strong. It's been a while since Geralt saw that eyes. “Geralt, your brother has skinned the deer on the table where we eat and set it on fire! He set it on fire, Geralt!”

“This is how I cook, alright?” says Lambert, appearing behind him with bloody arms crossed against his chest. “Cut off the bed parts, then roast the meat on fire.”

“That's not at all how it works! Geralt didn't cook like that when he traveled! I mean, he actually skinned the meat with his bare hands too, but he never put that on fire! Now it's burnt. It's completely inedible!”

“Well, burnt means that it will have a flavour. Better than nothing!”

Jaskier blinks, “Do you know that we actually have seasoning here, right?”

Eskel bursts out laughing, and Geralt follows him not much later. He wants to get up and take Jaskier in his arms and wipe away the blood on his face, but he really likes his cheeks flushed red in anger – and excitement, as he can smell in his scent, he really is having fun.

There's also a spicy hint in his scent that Geralt knows very, very well.

Hm.

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Read the rest on AO3! Link in the reblogs!

[mell-bell]

Fight so dirty (but your love so sweet) - Part III

The Mandalorian x Reader

Part 1 / Part 2  / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8

Words: 5135                      

Series Summary: You are sent to hunt down a Mandalorian, the odds aren’t exactly in your favor

Chapter: 3/8

Author’s notes: You guys are seriously the best thank you for reading!!! I love you all. When I first wrote this I thought it was gonna be short but once again it kinda imploded and thus 5000 but such is life. So sorry if there are spelling mistakes or such I’ve edited so many times I’m going crosseyed. I think I tagged everyone who asked, if not please just drop me a message! Hope you guys enjoy!!!!!

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“Hey, no! Put that down!”

A gruff shout pulled you from sleep.

With a groan, you rolled over burrowing back into the warm blanket, pulling the long sleeves of the shirt you had stolen over your frozen fingers.

That infuriating man refused to pay for any type of heating system on this ship, claiming his armor and your clothes would be enough to keep you both warm.

“Stop!”

A crash echoed from the front of the ship as if something had slammed into the front window.

Your eyes shot open, squinting against the sun shining into the room. You focused your eyes at the clock, groaning at the blinking numbers. You had only slept for two hours.

Ever since you had escaped from the Imperials and Stormtroopers almost a month ago, you had been jumping from planet to planet.

Two weeks ago, you had thought you found a safe place. But four days after your arrival, a mercenary had broken onto the ship, slipping through a panel in the dead of night. Mercifully, the Mandalorian had dealt with him quickly before any harm could be done. But when he showed you the fob, you knew they were still tracking the little green child.

It was then that you both decided someone should guard the ship at night. At first, the Mandalorian had claimed he would take every night and even though you knew better, you let him try. It wasn’t until two days later when he fell asleep in the middle of eating lunch that you told him you would be alternating nights.

And you had been on guard duty last night. The man and child sound asleep inside while you froze your ass off sitting outside the ship staring into the dark forest.

You landed here three days ago and although everything seemed quiet, you both knew not to risk it now.

Risk wasn’t in his vocabulary anymore. Your Mandalorian had basically become your shadow. Anytime you left the ship, he would be at your back.

At first, you found it annoying, but one day in a market, a stranger had grabbed onto your arm. And you almost snapped. If he hadn’t stepped between the two of you, you would have shot the innocent man. Now knowing that he was always just a step behind you was a weight off your chest.

Rolling out of bed, you pulled on some heavy socks grumbling at the fact that he had picked the one planet where it was heavily snowing. Running your hands over your eyes trying to rub the sleep from them, you began to make your way through the ship. As you grew closer to the cockpit you could hear muffled curses and continuous bangs.

“What on Hoth is all this racket-“  You froze, the words catching in your throat at the sight before you.

The Mandalorian was sprawled on the ground, tangled up in a net, his finger pointed sternly at the little green child perched on the pilot’s seat, who chirped excitedly when he saw you.

Your face broke out into a wide smile but before you could make a noise, the warrior moved his gaze toward you.

“Don’t even think about it.”

You nodded solemnly fighting back laughter, a small snort escaping before you turned on your heel and left the room.

Stepping to the side, out of sight, you listened quietly as the man continued to reprimand the little child quietly before explaining how to be safe around his weapons.

Still chuckling quietly to yourself, you made your way to the back of the ship where you had created a makeshift kitchen and dining area.

There was no way you were going back to bed now.

Life together had become somewhat of a domestic thing. This ship had become home. You had argued with the Mandalorian for days when he stated he was giving you his room. You had even slept in the cockpit one night just to spite him. But when he promised to build himself his own room, you finally relented.

Things between the two of you had taken some time to get back to normal. The guilt that had been eating away at the Mandalorian had faded. He didn’t tiptoe around you anymore. But you could see it in his movements and actions.  He purposefully alerted you when he was around or how he never let you out of his sight. You were slowly moving on from what had happened to you. And for the most part, you had. But the lingering trauma was still there.

A quiet shuffle sounded behind you, alerting you to the child who waddled through the door. You reached down, passing him a bowl of soup. The child began to slurp happily, as you grabbed him placing him up on a chair at the table before turning back to finish cooking.

The little child had become a fixture in both of your lives. The child loved to hear you babble on about nothing. So, when you would work around the ship you would tell him what you were doing. Even the quiet warrior had begun to talk to him. Though it seemed like most of the time he was reprimanding him for touching things he shouldn’t.

“…Is that my shirt?” You heard a soft voice behind you.

Throwing a glance over your shoulder at the Mandalorian in the doorway, you chuckled, “That it is.”

“Why?”

Your brows furrowed confused at his statement, “What?”

“The shirt. Why are you wearing it?”

“It makes me feel safe.”

After a beat of silence and a slight tilt of the man’s head, you realized what you had said.

Stumbling over your words, you frantically sputtered out, “Nope, I mean the cold- uh, do you want some soup?”

You continued to babble about random things, making the small child chitter, all while ignoring the man who hadn’t moved an inch since you had spoken to him.

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

“I need you to spar with me.”

You leaned against the opening of the back of the ship, looking down the ramp as the Mandalorian tinkered on an outdoor panel. He turned around and slowly looked you up and down. Instinctively, you stood up straighter.

He nodded, “Get dressed and let’s go.”

You had healed nicely. Your hands had healed rather quickly, barely scarred, the salve the Mandalorian rubbed on it each night saw to that. The scar on your stomach was no more than a fleeting memory. Your ribs, on the other hand, still tweaked here and there. But after a month of rest, you were getting antsy.

You hadn’t been able to keep up with your usual regime without injuring yourself further. You had ripped your stitches more than once lifting something too heavy. And you had even tried to do some pushups one day, but when the Mandalorian walked past just in time, he lifted your whole body up and placed you back on the bed with a stern warning to rest and heal.

But it had only been a month. You should be back in fighting shape in no time.

Five minutes later, you hit the ground with a thud and groaned. The Mandalorian gently kicked your side, prompting you to get up.

He held out his hand and you raised yours to his. But when you saw it shaking, you curled your fingers into a tight fist trying to brush it off and instead reached down to the ground to push yourself up.

As the Mandalorian put you through the motions, he did so slowly. You expected your muscles to do what they were used to. But your body was stiff and too slow.

As you tripped, and fell, and missed, you grew frustrated. You slammed to the ground again and again. Your body was screaming and when the man before you asked if you wanted to stop, you ignored him. You got to your feet, wiped the blood from your nose, and raised your arms to start again.

He hesitated.

But when he saw the determination in your eyes, he sighed and started back up.

He reached out to help every time you fell, but when you didn’t take his hand, he pulled back with a sigh and continued to attack you knocking you down over and over.

After completing the first few exercises, he chucked you a baton as he held out his own.

You started slowly as you felt your muscles begin to remember the exercises that had been drilled into your head. But you could feel him holding back. He wasn’t hitting you hard. And you purposefully gave him opportunities to take you down. But he didn’t.

You pushed him, “Come on, hit me. I can take it.”

“Stop.” He warned as you swung out at him wildly.

“I can take it.” You growled.

He shook his head, taking a step back as he dodged your aggressive attacks, “You just started training. You need to take it easy.”

You let out a grunt of annoyance as he easily ducked your baton again.

“You never had problems attacking me before. Don’t go easy on me now, I’m not gonna break.”

He shook his head as he slammed the baton down at you again. Your arm screamed under the pressure but you still pushed back at him.

“Come on.” You shouted, reaching out and shoving him back.

He swung out and soon you were going faster and hitting harder. Right. Left. Right. Duck. Jump.

You smiled as you landed a blow. And then another. But you had been overconfident. Without warning, just like he had done before, he kicked out your legs from beneath you.

You slammed to the ground and looked up just in time to see the baton coming down at your head.  

Only you didn’t see the baton. You saw a stormtrooper’s gun. Your eyes slammed shut, and you flinched back, as you tried to sink into the ground. When nothing hit you, you relaxed minutely.

A gentle hand touched your arm and you shot to your feet, quickly backing away from the Mandalorian. He held out his hands in a peace offering, gently placing the baton on the ground.

“I don’t need your pity.” You spit out.

He took a step forward reaching out, but you pulled away and took off down the hall.

It wasn’t until a few hours later, when you were lying on the roof of the ship, looking at the stars, that he came to you.

He laid silently next to you, giving you the choice to start the conversation for yourself.

“I thought I was ready.” You whispered so quietly that when he didn’t respond you thought he hadn’t heard you. You sat up pulling your legs into your body, holding you shaking hands in tight fists.

“It’s going to take time.”

You pressed your shaking hands to your face, “We don’t have time. I need to be strong, not weak.”

He reached out, gently pulling your hands away from your face, covering your smaller ones in his, “You will be.”

You smiled, “Stronger than you?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He chuckled.

“You know one of these days I want to spar you without your armor and see how you hold up.” You teased pulling a hand back to poke at his chest plate.

“You couldn’t handle me.”

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

As the month drew to a close, you sat down to shift through the food and supply rations you had left. Jumping from planet to planet this past month, you hadn’t had time to check what you were low on.

You sat propped against the wall as you checked off the last box of supplies. Frowning down at the numbers in front of you, you quickly counted and rechecked finding that it hadn’t been an error on your part.

Dropping the pad to the ground, you groaned closing your eyes.

A soft coo sounded next to you, and you peeked, seeing the green child chittering in front of you.

“Hey, go get your dad will you?”

The green child chirped as he began to waddle away.

A few minutes later, footsteps echoed in the ship as they grew closer. You were still leaning against the ship, your eyes closed.

You didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“We need money. One of us needs to take a client on.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“We’re running low on food. And supplies. We’re not going to last another month. I know it’s a risk but it’s one we have to take.”

The man sighed. And you opened your eyes, smiling when you saw the child resting happily in his arms.

“Fine.”

“Great!” You smiled jumping up, “I know just the place to go.”

A few hours later, the Mandalorian landed the ship on the outskirts of a forest.

Pulling on your red cape, you skipped happily past the warrior and child on the way down the ramp, “It’s nice to be back.”

This planet was a happy reprieve to the desolate snow planet you had just been on. The forest was in bloom in colorful flowers, the green of the trees brightening up the world around you. Taking a deep breath, you walked slowly along the trail, smiling at the chirping animals in the trees. The Mandalorian was on edge as he followed behind you, looking left and right as if he expected an enemy to come flying out of the trees.

“You said you had contacts here.” His voice steady, but you know he was wary of trusting anyone.

You nodded, “When I worked with Commander Trax, she sent me here for a long mission, I lived here for a month helping the citizens.”

Stopping at a tree abloom with bright yellow flowers, you smiled pulling a few off the twigs. You turned with a smile and bent down passing one to the little green child, motioning that he could eat it. And soon he was chomping down making happy little sounds, as you all continued along through the forest.  

“Where are we going?”

“The cantina. If there’s any work under the table, it will be there. And hopefully, we’ll find my contact there. Easier than having to knock on every single door in town.”

As you reached the end of the tree line, the Mandalorian passed you one of his blasters. You rolled your eyes but shoved it in the back of your pants before you took off down the street.

It looked exactly the same. The town was small but homely. The market place bustling with merchants and buyers. You had loved living here.

As you continued down the street, you waved at the citizens you passed by. A few recognized you and greeted you by name, welcoming you back.  

The Mandalorian walked slowly behind you, the child at his side. People passing by said hello and he offered each of them a solemn nod.

When you reached the door to the cantina, you waved back at the warrior silently telling him to remain behind. But when you walked through the door and all the blasters went up, you sighed.

The Mandalorian stepped in front of the small child and pushed you behind him, his own blaster raising as his gaze scanned the bar.

You moved around him, pushing his blaster down, “He’s a friend. I promise. I’m looking for Nyko.”

Murmurs echoed through the crowd of people before suddenly everyone parted and a woman walked toward you.

You smiled and the older woman smiled widely in return, “Well look who it is!”

She waved at the other’s to drop their weapons. Everybody obeyed and immediately turned back to their own conversations, though they were still throwing wary glances at the Mandalorian, who had moved to stand silently in the corner.

The woman walked right up to you, pulling you into a hug.

“Long time no see. What are you doing here? With a Mandalorian no less.”

You nodded toward the back corner, and she responded by placing her arm around your shoulders leading you to the furthest table in the back. Your Mandalorian followed behind you like a shadow.

“We’re looking for work under the table.”

Nyko nodded solemnly, this was business, “I’m assuming it has to do with that little green fellow.”

The Mandalorian started forward but you held up a hand.

“Yes.”

Nyko nodded, “I can probably find you something, but I’ll warn you things in the underworld work differently then you’re used to around here. You’re going to need to Compete if you want to work.”

You stiffened slightly and the Mandalorian stepped closer to you.

“Got yourself a watchdog here.”

“More like a partner.”

Nyko eyed the man curiously before she waved her hand, and people appeared out of the woodwork, joining you at the table.

Papers were passed around and introductions were made.  

The Mandalorian watched in amazement as all the citizens looked and talked to you with respect.

You seemed to fit in nicely here. You looked happy.

You nodded one more time and gathered all the intel of the table, holding out your arm you waited and Nyko grabbed yours.

“Don’t wait five years next time you stop by to say hello. I wish you luck in the Competition.”

You smirked and her eyes glinted as she knew it was all but a joke to you.

Stepping out of the cantina, you began to walk back toward the ship, the Mandalorian and green child following behind. As you walked, you passed him the map Nyko had given you.

“We’re going to meet here. Gather your weapons. I will meet you once I stop by a few places to grab some supplies.”

You went to step away but a hand grabbed onto you.

“Be careful.” His voice was deep with worry.

You knew he had heard Nyko mention the Competition.

“You don’t need to worry about me here.” You offered him a sad smile.

You walked down the street missing the soft, “But I do” that fell from his lips.

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

You hadn’t been out of sight from your Mandalorian since you got back, and it put you on edge. Although you knew this was a safe town you couldn’t help the lingering feeling that someone was going to come out of the shadows.

As you reached the outskirts of town, you reached back making sure your blaster was easily accessible. With a deep breath, you followed Nyko’s directions through the trees. Left. Left. Right. Over the bridge. Right at the yellow tree.

The Competition was infamous around here. Hunters would step forward to compete. To decide who would be given the bounty. The winner’s reward was the puck.

Your red cape swept behind you as you pushed your way through the crowds of people. There was a reason you didn’t want him here with you. Didn’t want him to see you this way.

You shouldered another person out of the way, growling when they turned around to look at you. This was a big event. Bets were placed. Winners were rigged.

But you were here to win.

You stalked up to the table in the center, people moving out of your way when they saw your red cape float out behind you.

With a grin, you shoved your way to the front of the line, pushing the man in front out of the way you slammed your hand down on the table, “I’d like to enter.”

The man behind the desk sneered at you, but that quickly changed when you placed a heavy bag of coins in front of him.

Passing you a number, he took your coins testing the weight in his hand, “Good luck.”

“I won’t need it.”

You had only competed in a Competition once before, but this one was different. There weren’t any rules. People died here. You could kill, maim, and still win.

As you stood in line with the nine other contestants, you found maybe one or two that would cause you some trouble. A man twice your size, with a knife peeking out from his sleeve. And a woman small and slim, with a wicked grin on her face, you knew a mercenary when you saw one.

The first task was easy enough. Target practice.

Top five moved on.

You took your turns throwing well, until the last shot when you purposefully missed a target.

The man next to you snorted and you feigned defeat.

Next was an agility competition.

You had never jumped on these so-called agility poles before, but your quick footwork from the workouts the Mandalorian put you through helped you fly through.

It was down to two.

You and the man with the knife.

The last task. The cage fight.

You swallowed as the mixture of cheers and boos echoed throughout the cold room, the cage closing in around the two of you.

Pulling off your cape, you quickly wrapped your hands before facing the man who stood in the way of your bounty puck.

The bell rang and with a feral grin, you launched yourself at your opponent.

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

You arrived back at the ship, limping slightly, sporting a wide grin on your face.

The Mandalorian looked up and when he caught sight of you, stood quickly walking over, lifting your chin so he could see the growing bruise on your cheek.

You waved him off, “I’m fine.” You pressed the puck in his hand. “I’m gonna go clean up, you look into that.”

The man watched worriedly as you limped your way up the ramp.

After cleaning up, you met the warrior at the base of the ramp, he was packed and ready to go. Grabbing your pack from him, you swung it over your shoulder before following him back into town.

He worked quickly. In the few minutes you had taken to get ready, he had already scouted out where your bounty was located.

Motioning for you to do the honors, you kicked in the door. The dozen people in the room began to scatter, tripping over each other to reach the door. Pulling out your baton \, you began to knock their legs out from beneath them, only moving on when you didn’t see the face from the puck.

You grabbed the shirt of a man, hauling him to his feet, “Where is the man named Ronzan?”

The man frantically motioned to the back door. The Mandalorian shuffled over silently, his blaster raised as he kicked open the door. A scream sounded from inside and you grinned, letting the man from your grip go.

The man, known as Ronzan, was on the ground pleading with the Mandalorian standing over him.

Ronzan froze when he saw you,  “I have money please.” He begged.

You rolled your eyes before reaching out and shocking the man, who fell back to the ground unconscious.

“You’re carrying him.” The Mandalorian stated, prodding the man’s body with his boot.

You looked down at the man and sighed. Reaching down you were about to haul him up when you heard a whimper echo in the room.

Furrowing your brow you began to look around the room. Pushing a desk against the wall, you pulled back the rug to find a hatch in the ground. With a quick whistle, you motioned to the Mandalorian in the corner to help you pry up the hatch.

The hole that opened up was dark and deep, the whimpers you had heard echoing from below. Reaching out, you grabbed onto the Mandalorian’s hand before stepping over the edge. The man slowly lowered you down into the dark hole. When your feet still didn’t touch the ground, you braced yourself.  You squeezed his hand once and he let you drop.

You fell far, rolling once, twice, before pushing yourself to your feet. Reaching for the walls, you began to walk slowly, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness around you.

“Hello?” You called out.

You continued walking when you suddenly tripped over a chain on the ground. Reaching out to grab it, you held it as you followed it. And at the end, you found a young girl.

“Hey...”

The girl flinched backward as you reached out. You hesitated. Reaching down you pulled a tool from your pack using it to snap the chain off.

“He can’t hurt you anymore. We need to go.” You pulled the girl up, she was freezing. She wrapped her arms around you and you held her close as you led her down the cold hall.

When you made it back to the hole above, you saw the Mandalorian looking down. He vanished from view and a second later, dropped down a rope that had knots tied in it.

Placing the young girl's hands on it, you prompted her to start climbing.

When she was close enough to the top, the Mandalorian above reached down grabbing onto the girl, pulling her up easily.

The young girl looked up at the warrior in awe, her hands hesitantly reaching out to touch the cool metal of his armor.

You pulled yourself to the surface just in time to see the young girl reach up to touch the Mandalorian’s helmet. The man flinched back and the girl shot back cowering in on herself.

You rushed forward, pulling the girl over to a bench, where you kneeled down in front of her.

“He’s a friend. A Mandalorian. Do you know what that is?” You prompted.

The girl shook her head, throwing a nervous gaze at the armored man.

You offered her a smile, “Well, he’s one of the best warriors in the galaxy. He can’t take off his helmet because if he does he won’t be allowed to put it back on. And doesn’t he just look dashing in it?”

You waited for the girl to nod her head.

“Alright, well I think it’s time to go.” You held out your hand, waiting for the girl to take it.

You motioned to the man in the corner, and you could feel the glare the Mandalorian gave you underneath his helmet as he lifted up throwing the unconscious man over his shoulder.

The trek back to the underworld was long. But a little less than an hour later, you had dropped off the unconscious male and received notice that the credits would be transferred to you.

On the way back to town through the forest, the young girl began to chitter on in a different language, you nodded your head along with her every time she looked at you.

When you reached the bustling town, you leaned down to the girl, “Do you recognize this place? Does your family live here?”

The girl nodded and began to drag you through the crowds. When she reached a small hut at the edge of town, she burst through the door. Inside you heard the clatter of objects and multiple gasps and shouts.

You cautiously stepped through the doorway to find the young girl in the arms of an older woman. You stepped forward, startling the woman, but when the younger girl began to speak in a different language to her mother, she relaxed.

Reaching out, she grabbed your hand tight, “Thank you, for saving my daughter.”

You offered her a smile, as you gazed around the small hut, the open room scarce of belongings, a cluster of young children crowded together on a bed in the corner.

Clearing your throat, you motioned to the older woman, “If you wouldn’t mind, I have something I would like to show you.”

The woman nodded slowly confused, but quickly gathered her children and followed you out the door.

On the other side of town, you unlocked the door to a small house that had long since been boarded up. The woman and her children stepped through the doorway. The youngest took a step forward, throwing a glance back at you, but when you just nodded at him he smiled before taking off to explore the new house.

“What is this place?” The Mandalorian wandered around the room, his hands drifting over knickknacks on the tables. He stopped in front of the fireplace when something caught his gaze. He stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing a photo propped on the mantel. It was you.

“This is where I used to live.”

You looked down at the key in your hand before turning to the young girl beside you, “This is yours now.”

The girl wrapped herself around you thanking you profusely. Her mother tried to resist but you assured her that you knew it would be in good hands. She promised to keep the door open if you ever wanted to come back.

You nodded as you slipped a piece of paper with your contact information into her hand, “If you ever need anything.”

She nodded tears in her eyes.  

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

“How did- why-“ The man was at a loss for words as you walked back to the ship.

“After my parents died, before I worked for Commander Trax, a man like that owned me. I got hired to do some work at a young age and got in too deep before I realized he had complete control of me. Commander Trax saved me.”

The man nodded, “You changed their lives.”

You knew.

“I never told you about my helmet, how did-?”

You cut him off, “I worked with a Mandalorian in the past. I learned a lot from him. He told me about many of your beliefs. That’s why I never pried. It’s your right.”

The rest of the walk was made in silence.

When you finally made it back to ship, you paid the woman Nyko had hired to watch the little green child.

She happily passed him over, claiming he had caused too much chaos and that she was sorry for the mess he had caused on the ship.

The child settled comfortably in your arms as he chittered excitedly. You spoke softly to him in return.

As you began to climb the ramp, the Mandalorian reached out grabbing your arm, “Thank you.”

You shot him a smile.

Later that night, you were lying on the top of the ship staring at the stars. The transfer had gone through, the credits now officially yours. You had been paid handsomely.

Soft footsteps vibrated against the metal of the ship as the man settled beside you, “You could be happy here.”

“I could.” You agreed.

“You could s-“

You sat up abruptly before he could finish his sentence and he followed. Turning to look at him, you leaned over pressing your lips to the cold metal of his helmet.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going anywhere.”

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

Tagged: @sargesbestgirl @abysswhiskey11 @yourfavoritearchangel @pedro-pascal-online @x-wingwarriorbbpoe8 @damnittjim @trickei @countessren @fun-sized-widow-bites @thefandomzoneisdangerous @ichigomiluku @bakerstreethound @clonesdeservelovetoo @bananyaaa @loveleah @javert-delacour @zoogrl05 @live-the-beautiful-game @maryan028 @ignimbritetcax @kaidad @kaimoar @yana-versio @peitromoximaff @alittleraincloud @fuckhead-writer @dottie-witch @nowheredreamer @pandalandalopalis @loveharrington @sw0rd-girlfriend @lex0h @piquantbarnes @go-commander-kim @finefangirl @lmao5sosimagines @bandofmarvels @nayploonthedoon @tchallaudakux @allthosepacheeks @i-think-of-dean-moriarty @otherthingsinhead @songofcosplay @cloudykooks @spooky-nob @takemebillyhargrove @flyingowls @funkygreensucculent @andromeda-sighs @audiblesmirk @out-worn @lessthancooljay @whtvrwhizzer @banana-batman @panic-monsters  @vamprlestat @clevervast @ghelp0 @just-another-fangirls-posts @jinthusiastsss @c1996 @maldo559 @yelenasnatashas @chewymoustachio @heyo--its--mo @hexqueensupreme @ozzy-bozzy @spideydobrik  @t-rexmoreliket-flex @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @teenagememetonight @salted-barbed-wire​

[legolaslovely]

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A/N: Hello friends! Happy happy Fili Friday! I am very excited to share this story based on this ask that took on an insane life of its own! Thank you to the anon for sending the lovely idea in and for giving me permission to run with it! The Fili heart wants what the Fili heart wants.  This is based on this video = the dance scene from Tangled! I listened to this while writing if anyone wants to know! It’s fun!  Listen guys, my impatient ass is counting this as a slow burn because the end is just so comfortinggggggg and fluffffyyyyyy so I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Pairing: Fili x Reader

Word Count: 4,270

Warnings: ... none?

Summary: Based on an ask! I’m not telling any more!

Link to the photoset below

It was only after months of rough traveling that Thorin decided to stop and spend a full day and night in a village along the route of the quest to Erebor. This much needed break came just in time for you, and more specifically your pack, which had continued to wear with every step you took and at this point, started to look as though a warg’s teeth had got a hold of it. You had been waddling around with its one serviceable strap slung over your shoulder for days and if you didn’t buy at least a replacement strap soon, you were sure you’d end up shrinking- hunched to half your size by the journey’s end.

Luckily, though this village was quite small, it did have a rather extensive market. As soon as Thorin made clear the details of the company’s overnight plans, you set out to comb through the many tents in the square. Most of the crafters fawned over the princes and king, leaving you free to browse without distractions. It didn’t take long for you to find a leather shop that boasted gorgeous weaponry, armor and tools. 

You were running your fingers over a strong leather strap, enjoying the geometric designs so common in classic dwarvish craftsmanship, when Fíli spoke from just over your shoulder.

“Will this do? I know it’s a bit larger than the one you have, but I think it will serve you well.”

The pack he was holding was extremely fashionable and even from the outside, it was clearly quite handy. Though it was currently empty, the sturdy leather still held it’s strong boxy shape. From the top and sides fell straps and hooks for your bedroll, canteens, weapons, and tools and what’s more, the design almost perfectly matched the strap you’d been admiring. The leather was tastefully embroidered and stamped with sharp triangles that weaved and folded into one another to wrap all around the body of the pack. Such a commendable creation was overwhelming and left you silent. 

“I should have asked first,” he said. “I’m sure I can return this one and we-you can pick out one you’d like. I shouldn’t have-”

“Fíli,” you said, taking the pack from him. Despite its size, it was light in your hand. “It’s beautiful. But I’m sure it was expensive- I mean, not that you don’t have the... I just... you didn’t have to- oh! I’ll pay you back. Here.”

You wanted to crawl into a whole. Who were you to talk money with the prince of Durin’s Folk? All the same, you were sure he expected you to pay for it. Maybe he’d merely grabbed the best pack for you before it was gone, bought by someone else. He was simply doing you a favor, watching out for you as company members do. You dug into your ripped pack for your coin purse, though you knew you wouldn’t have enough money. Mortification was rolling through you and if you allowed it, tears could have gathered in your eyes.

Then a hand covered yours.

“No, (Y/N). I don’t want anything from you. This is a gift. Come over here, we’ll transfer your things.” He led you over to a bench on the edge of the square.

“I can’t accept such a thing,” you said, sputtering. “I- really, this is too much-”

He took your torn pack from your shoulder and set it open on the ground before he moved to the new, pristine one, holding it still for you. “(Y/N), you need a good pack. We still have a long journey ahead of us.”

“I can go buy one. Actually, I was just going to buy a new strap to mend this one-”

“(Y/N),” he said, lifting your fallen chin with gentle fingers. “Please accept my gift, hm? I want to do this for you.”

“Thank you,” you nodded, accidentally shaking away his touch. 

He hummed and gave you the soft smile he so often sent your way. As you transferred your belongings into your new pack, you marveled at the many pockets and layers you found inside. There was a place for everything you’d brought with you- food, bathing and eating utensils, blade sharpening and repair tools. Apparently, Fíli was entertained by your ogling and when you looked up to the sound of his low chuckle, he was shaking his head at you. But you knew it was fond.

“I suppose I’ll see you at the inn then,” he said. “I have a few more things to look for in the market, so-”

“May I come with you?” you asked. “Everyone else is driving me mad. Even your brother is haggling with the archery merchant! I can’t bear it.”

“Of course,” he said, holding a hand out to you and lifting you to your feet. “Did you hear Dwalin at the ax vendor earlier?”

“ ‘What am I meant to do with this blade? Do they think I have time to hack through a warg’s leg?’ ” you mocked.

“I said it would be a good challenge for him,” Fíli said, leading the way back to the tents. 

“What did he say to that?”

He leaned to your ear. “You don’t want to know.”

As Fíli studied the tables of the shops, running hardened fingers over knitted scarves, lifting bars of soap to his nose for a sniff, taking in the shine of intricately decorated blades, your attention was pulled to the other end of the market. A fiddle in the corner slowly creaked into tune before erupting into a jig that was wealthily accompanied by a lute, a whistle, and a cajon drum. The shoppers barely paid the musicians any attention, but your feet couldn’t help but tap to the deep thumping of the hand drum. 

The music reminded you of home, but instead of sending you into a bout of homesick blues, the tune lifted your spirits and brought back fond memories of dancing around a crackling fire during crisp summer nights. Even the dance steps that you hadn’t performed in years came flooding back to your mind and soon, your feet. Heel, toe, hop ‘n turn. Kick, ball change, circle round. Not a soul in the small village’s plaza around you seemed at all moved by the music and though you itched to dance, you turned your bopping head back to the tables.

It seemed your yearning to enjoy the music hadn’t gone unnoticed.

You let out a surprised noise when an arm wrapped around your waist and a hand yanked you to spin around. Only when the tents stopped revolving around you were you able to focus on a bright grin and messy, brown hair.

“Kíli!”

“I know you want to dance, lass. Come on.”

He led you, hopping in time with the speeding fiddle, to the center of the square. Together you circled through the gathering crowd with precision and speed like a pair of bumblebees through a lush garden.

“Kíli!” You heard Fíli’s voice. “Not so fast!”

But Kíli spun you around him, yelling, “She doesn’t need your protection all the time, brother!” 

You laughed- even now the brothers bickered! But it added to your amusement. However, as Kíli lost himself in the fun, he also led you too close to the market tables and captivated audience members and you soon wished Kíli would heed his brother’s advice. 

You squeaked his name in fear as the fabric of your trousers caught on the corner of a display table of glass trinkets. It was clear he paid your worries no mind. Instead of slowing his lead, he chuckled lowly in return and tightened his grip on you, balling your tunic in his fist before he whirled you around him once more.

“I gotcha, (Y/N),” he said. 

Then the music shifted. You raced out of his arms into the open, unobstructed space where he could stand across from you like an opponent ready to lunge. 

“I love this song!” you cried as the fiddle weaved into a familiar tune- one that filled your heart with melodies and memories of adolescence. Your nerves seemed to disappear, as did the years since you’d learned the traditional dance of the dwarvish culture, and every nuance of the jig came flooding back to your memory. 

“Kíli! Remember the steps?” you asked as you hopped around him, hands on your hips and head turning side to side. 

“Not a bit!” he said, attempting to keep up with you anyway. 

Your sight grew blurry with laughter as you watched his stuttering feet, but when you looked up, you saw you weren’t alone in the dance. Others from the village had joined in. You were now surrounded by a hive of hoofers, some forming graceful and evolving formations, others giggling and stepping on unsuspecting toes. All was just as it used to be when you celebrated feast days in your own home town.

The musicians played louder and faster, encouraged by the participation and indulgence they saw before them. The sound of echoing claps brought your attention to the edge of the crowd while you continued your dance with the well known steps. There, Gandalf was grinning at you, lifting his hands to applaud you. Beneath him stood Bilbo, hairy feet tapping, hopping, and stepping in place so as not to get trampled by the sturdy, and quite passionate dwarves. Even Thorin and Dwalin seemed a bit beguiled, but as your head swiveled round you couldn’t find the dwarf you were looking for. 

You leapt on top of the large stone fountain in the center of the square, skittering around its edge and looking for a golden head of hair. But it was nowhere to be found. Even your frolicing heart sank a bit at the thought of Fíli missing this fun. 

“Kíli!” you cried as he bounced past. “Where’s your brother?”

He gave no answer and instead knocked at the back of your knees, plucking your legs out from under you. You fell from the high fountain, too startled to scream, but not too surprised to give Kíli a good smack on the shoulder when he caught you. Through the village plaza he raced, carrying you in his arms like a dangerous bird through the whirlpool of bees. You hid your face in his vest as he narrowly missed a few of the villagers, only opening your eyes when he set you safely on the ground. Before you, Thorin and Dwalin shook their heads, sporting deep smirks and cocked brows. 

Lucky for Kíli, by the time you turned around to catch him, he had vanished, safely hidden in the crowd of dancing dwarves. A bright pat pat came to your ears, sounding just over the music and when realization of its origin dawned over you, you grinned. “Are those… tapping toes I see, Mister Dwalin?”

Dwalin shared a look with Thorin. “I see no such thing, little lass.”

“Come and dance,” you said. You took his hand, finding it before it could disappear behind his back, and pulled. He didn’t budge. 

“Find yourself a different dance partner, (Y/N). There are many here,” he said, sliding his hand from your grasp. 

“Come now, Mister Dwalin,” you said. There was a twinkle in your eye that he recognized. It seemed you had learned a few things from Kíli in your weeks of traveling together at the company’s caboose. “Don’t be boring.”

“Oh, I’m boring, am I?”

“Yes!”

You had no time to run from him. One moment you were standing firm on the ground, the next you were in his arms being spun like the wheel of a wagon. The sky reeled, puffy clouds blurring into long white circles and dancing dwarves into blears and blobs of color. You screwed your eyes shut to save your frenzied mind, but it plainly made the dizzying effect worse. 

“Dwalin!” 

You screamed over the music, but the sound seemed to evaporate into the swirling air around you. Even when your feet eventually touched the flat ground, you were still twirled by your hands, shoulders, and waist. Just when the tormentor had finally relented, a familiar, smooth voice distracted you just enough for one foot to trip over the other and send you hurdling to the ground. Luckily, someone caught you.

“Are you all right?”

You opened your eyes to a blur of gold. It was Fíli who had caught you and you now lay in his able arms, helpless to stand. 

“I called Dwalin boring.”

“Oh, not your smartest idea, lass,” Fíli said, slowly moving you upright. 

You held his shoulders as your head continued to spin. “I think I may need a moment,” you said.

Fíli chuckled. “Let’s go sit, hm?” He led you to the fountain, watching just one of your wobbly steps before deciding to lift you in his arms once more and carry you to the stone seat. It was a smooth wave of movement you didn’t at all mind enduring. Once sat, he smoothed your hair behind your ear, marveling at your lips that were still grinning, even as you rocked back and forth in the aftermath of Dwalin’s “dancing.”

“Where were you?” you asked him. 

“Why? Did you want a better dance partner than Kíli?” he asked. You just saw his wink.

“Your brother is a good dancer!” you said with a slap to his shoulder. “He just dances to his own beat.”

Presently, Kíli was arm in arm with Bofur, skipping and hopping through the other dancers with precious little grace. You waved as they passed. Bofur barely made it past the fountain with Kíli’s dangerous lead. You couldn’t help but laugh. 

“If you can call that dancing,” Fíli chuckled. His form had finally stopped swaying in your vision. “When you can stand on your own again, I’ll have to show you how it’s really done.”

You nudged his shoulder with yours. “Why do you think I was looking for you in the first place?”

As the afternoon passed, other members of the company shopped through the market with notably lifted spirits. However, as the sun slid through the sky, it stretched gangly shadows of the pair who still made their perch on the fountain in the middle of the village plaza. Though you protested, sure Fíli had many other things to do rather than sit and listen to the music with you, he remained by your side, clapping to the beat as his feet collided with your swaying boots every once in a while. 

It wasn’t until the sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon that Kíli ran back into the square calling for his brother.

“Fíli! Have either of you moved all afternoon? We’ve been waiting for you at the inn.”

Fíli sputtered and stood, pulling you to your feet. “No, I lost track of time.” He sandwiched you between him and his brother as you followed Kíli through the small streets to the inn. A heavy hand on your new pack kept you close when dwarves filled some especially crowded pathways. 

When the inn came into view on the far end of the lane Kíli turned over his shoulder and said, “There are taverns full of beer and food all over this village and you two spend the entire day sitting on a rock in the sun!”

You shook your head. “I would much rather spend the day outside in the sunshine than in a dark bar, getting a sore belly from too much ale and smelly dwarves.”

Kíli, of course, had something to say about your reaction but you didn’t hear his reply. You were too distracted by Fíli leaning to your ear and running his fingers past your hand. 

“And I’d much rather spend the day with you than anyone else,” Fíli said.

Before you could discern his exact meaning, his hand found your back and led you through the door to the tavern. The moment you stepped through the threshold of the bar, he seemed to disappear, joining his uncle and helping to make the arrangements for the company’s overnight stay.

He stood tall next to Thorin- shoulders back, hands on his belt before one rose to shake that of the inn owner as Thorin dropped a few coins on the counter. Despite the months of travel, his clothes and hair were neat, even shining in the low light of the dark tavern. He turned over his shoulder and immediately found you watching him, giving you a high browed look as if he caught you stealing a treat from the kitchens. 

“That’s a nice pack, (Y/N).” Kíli’s voice interrupted your long distance facial feature conversation with Fíli. 

You hummed. “Thank you.”

The first thing you did when you reached your private room was bathe. You were given a large tub full of steaming water and fresh soap- no fish, plants, sharp rocks or sweating dwarves in sight. It should have been the most soothing event to occur in the past weeks. However, instead of relaxing and sinking deep into warmth and peace, your mind whirred and your body remained tense. Before the water had even run cool, you leapt out of the tub and dressed to run across the hall.

The hair by your neck was still damp and curling by the time you knocked on Fíli’s door. But it was Kíli who answered. You should have known they’d be sharing a room.

“Is Fíli in here?”

“Yeah, he’s in the bath. You want him?”

“No,” you said, jealousy rising and peaking above even your frustration at your endless jitters. “Will you just tell him I wanted to speak with him?”

“It’s not about the pack, is it?” Kíli asked.

“What? No-”

“Because he just wanted to give you something he knew you needed. It doesn’t even really count! He’s told me how badly he wants to make your gift, but there aren’t exactly any forges he can take advantage of while-”

Fíli’s voice stopped him. “Kíli! Who are you talking to, brother?”

“(Y/N)!” Kíli answered.

“(Y/N), our (Y/N)?” On the other side of the open door, you could hear water slosh onto the floor accompanied by Fíli’s incomprehensible grumbling. Then he peeked around the door with a sheepish smile. You could just see the soaked ends of his hair sending streams of water down his bare chest. “What were you two talking about?”

“The pack-”

“I just wanted to speak with you,” you said over Kíli. “Not right now. Later. When you’re… ready. I’m across the hall.”

Fíli nodded, forcing a smile that looked more like a wince. It didn’t reach his now stormy eyes. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

“Take your time,” you got out as he slammed the door shut.

Before you stepped back into your own room you heard Kíli cry out, “What! What did I do?” 

You closed your own door quickly, not wanting to eavesdrop any more. But it didn’t stop you from thinking about what Kíli had said. Had Fíli wanted to make you a pack once Erebor was reclaimed? Why would you need it then? Maybe Thorin was planning to ask you to travel back to Ered Luin once it was safe to lead the people back to the mountain. Imagine a trip free of wargs and orcs, you thought. 

You jumped when the door vibrated with his knock. 

“Come in, Fíli.”

You had never seen his hair loose and untied before. Its waves fell around his face like sweet rays of sun and the dripping ends left sheer wet clouds on the chest of his tunic. Did Kíli usually braid his hair? Had their mother taught them the traditional styles? Or did Fíli do it himself, never needing to ask for help with something so trivial? You were sure you could manage it. The braids weren’t so intricate and they were similar to yours if you thought about it. Which you often did.

He was looking at you with that “caught ya” grin again. “What did you want to talk about, lass?”

You turned, digging through your pack that was laid out on the bed. “Not so much talk,” you said. “I wanted you to have these.” In your hands sat the strap you had been admiring from the market. While you were alone in the morning, you’d paid to have it fashioned into a scabbard and a matching pair of bracers. It was simply coincidence that the pattern on your new pack happened to match these gifts you’d picked for Fíli. “I saw the engraving and immediately thought you’d like it. I know your bracers were torn by the trolls a few weeks back.”

He looked at you before he took the gifts. You couldn’t quite place his expression, you were sure that even after months of traveling together you’d never seen it before. He flipped the bracers over and could have seen his reflection in the shine of the buckles. They were immaculate and new- obviously made this morning- however they seemed comfortably broken in as if they’d been worn for days previously. He could imagine what custom gifts like these would have cost you.

“I can’t take these.”

You waved his hands away. “Fíli, please accept my gift,” you said, repeating his words from earlier in the day.

He ran his rounded fingertips over the familiar triangular etchings and hummed. “Thank you, (Y/N). They’re perfect.”

“You like them?” you asked. Your nerves were starting to build again, as you took one of the bracers from him. “Are you sure? I was wondering if these straps were long enough. I can go back to the seller in the morning and get them adjusted-”

His hand covered yours. “They’ll fit fine.”

“And you like them? They’ll be of use?”

“I love them.” He set the leather pieces in the seat of a chair by the door. “However, I believe there is still one thing you owe me.” His eyes shined. Mischievous. He too had learned a few things from his little brother.

“Oh?”

You let him lace his fingers in yours and wrap an arm around you. “I never got my dance.”

“Ah,” you said, melting into his embrace. “And I suppose you’ll tell me we don’t need music?”

“You read my mind.” You could just feel his thumb waving back and forth against your tunic as he seemed to tuck you into the crook of his elbow. “And just for you, I’ll go very slow. Can’t have you getting dizzy again.”

“My hero.”

He hummed and held his cheek to yours. His skin was so warm- not from the bath, not from his soft, thick beard blanketing the side of your face, but just from Fíli. He glowed. Finally, you were close enough to feel the beams radiating from him and you couldn’t stop yourself from burrowing into the heat, eyelashes tickling his skin, nose nestling into silky, clean hair. You bathed in his sunlight, blinded to anything other than his arms around you and chest supporting you, his lips caressing the side of your head. 

“Dizzy?” he asked.

“A little.” 

“Me too.”

He only just rocked you back and forth, barely swaying as if to merely keep up the pretence of dancing. Safe in his arms, he led you along to the melodies of your beating hearts, steady breaths and unspoken confessions. You leaned your head on his shoulder and that tiny movement seemed to break a spell. Fíli’s voice, however, brought a new kind of magic.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what Kíli meant?”

You breathed out a laugh, sending cool air over his neck that made him shiver around you. “I was going to let you tell me when you were ready.”

“(Y/N), I’ve been ready.” You lifted your head, but he tightened his grip on you, keeping you close to him. “The pack was meant to be a courting gift- a proposal. But you deserve much more than that. I want to make something for you with my own hands. Something grand and gorgeous that you could love forever and would possibly begin the greatest adventure of our lives.” He swept tender fingers through your hair and held your cheek, feeling his own warmth still radiating from your skin. “But I don’t know how long it will be before I can do that for you and I don’t want to wait that long. I don’t want to wait another moment, so I’m asking you now. Will you allow me to court you?”

“Yes.” You nodded. “Yes.” You turned your face into his hand and kissed his palm. “But Fíli, of course I want to treasure something you’ve made for me and have it with me always, but what matters to me is being with you. I don’t need gifts. Only you.”

You saw his radiant smile before he pulled you close, pressing his forehead to yours. The tip of his nose nuzzled yours and then settled. The two of you shared the same air for long, peaceful moments, before he went digging into his trouser pocket. 

“Wait,” he said, drawing away. He pulled out a hair piece, the one he wore on the bottom of his backmost braid, and held it flat in his palm. “I have this. I can secure a courting braid with it, though it’s a tad unusual.” He took your chin in his fingers, running his thumb back and forth. “It can be a placeholder.”

Pride bubbled in your chest. You kissed him. “A placeholder.”

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[tigerkirby215]

5e Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

K-POP IS TEMPORARY; IRON STANDS ETERNAL!

Guess I just don’t really want to make nothing but K-Pop builds. Been playing Morde a lot and he’s fun, and Morde in D&D is actually a build I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I don’t have to use Tasha’s content either for this build so I figured I’d make something other than eGirls in anticipation for Pentakill’s comeback album.

Please for the love of god give us a new Pentakill Mordekaiser skin, and actually turn his mace into a guitar!

GOALS

Shed the frailty of flesh; embrace the cold edge of iron - The iron revenant needs iron, with a giant mace and armor that can block even the strongest sword. For iron stands eternal.

In my clutches! - Those who try to flee will be brought back by Death’s Grasp. There is no escaping fate.

Accept your demise - Tired of your foes running? Bring them to a Realm of Death where they’ll have to fight.

RACE

I know that Mordekaiser is technically a revenant but in my continued attempts to make my builds “Adventurer’s League legal” while not using Adventurer’s League rules we’re going to go with a Warforged, because of course we’d pick the race made of metal. As a Warforged your Constitution increases by 2 and you can increase another stat of your choice by 1: bump up your Charisma to be just a little bit scarier.

As iron stands eternal you have Constructed Resilience for advantage against being poisoned, resistance to the poisoned condition, immunity to disease, and no need to eat, drink, or breathe. You also don’t need to sleep and can’t be put to sleep by magic: instead to sleep you enter a Sentry’s Rest, where you stand motionless for hours but are still fully aware of your surroundings.

But most importantly to resist all blows you have Integrated Protection. It flat out increases your AC by 1, and also makes it so that instead of “wearing” armor you integrate it into your body. While the armor is integrated into you it can’t be removed by any means.

Finally you have Specialized Design for a skill, tool, and language of your choice. For your skill I opted for Performance to show that you’re the chosen: you are the guardian, the guardian. (But feel free to take something more practical.) For your tool a Lute is the closest you’ll get to a guitar to lead a Yordle city destroying band. And for your language choose whatever you think the spirits of the dead would speak: I opted for Abyssal personally. Definitely not because Abyssal is the first option alphabetically.

ABILITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.

14; WISDOM - Morde speaks in very sagely ways, and this is a rather big requirement for one of our classes.

13; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied directly to being the scariest revenant around, and indirectly tied to kick-ass guitar solos.

12; CONSTITUTION - Twice slain and thrice reborn doesn’t happen if you’re not a sturdy fella.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Being alive for eons means that you would know a thing or two about history.

8; DEXTERITY - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.

BACKGROUND

There’s a lot of potential backgrounds for Mordekaiser (I honestly really like the Knight background because Retainers are fun) but the most accurate one for abilities and lore would be a Soldier. You gain proficiency in Athletics but I’m going to suggest swapping Intimidation out for History proficiency, since you’re an ancient being who was around for many wars. You also gain proficiency with land vehicles and a gaming set of your choice, both of which don’t matter much: see if you can maybe grab another metal instrument instead.

Your background with a Military Rank means that your followers recognize you as their general (or possibly a lower rank if your DM isn’t a fan of OP level 1 backstories.) They defer to you if they are of lower rank, and you can use your military influence to requisition supplies as needed.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

An oath sworn to death is still an oath. Paladins get proficiency in two skills from the Paladin list: this is where we’ll actually be grabbing Intimidation, and we’ll also take Religion. Yeah turns out that Morde’s obsession with death is actually a religion.

Regardless Paladins at level 1 have Divine Sense. You can spend an action to sense any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type of being but not its identity, and you can also use this ability to determine if an area has been consecrated or desecrated. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier plus one, and regain all uses at the end of a Long Rest.

You also have some healing for your Indestructible body with Lay on Hands. You have a pool of healing power equal to five times your Paladin level that you can spend to heal anyone you touch (including yourself.) You can spend any number of your remaining hitpoints on the heal, or you can spend 5 hitpoints to cure a disease or neutralize a poison. You can stop multiple poisons and diseases at a time (spending 5 hitpoints for each) but seeing as iron resists poison and disease you should be fine. Your puny allies however may need the help.

Now may also be a good time to mention what weapons and armor to take. For a giant two-handed mace take a Maul, and for heavy armor take heavy armor. For now that will just be Chainmail (granted by default with Paladin starting equipment) but you can transition to Platemail in the future hopefully.

LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins get to choose their Fighting Style to augment their non-abilities. To be completely unbreakable take Defense for another +1 to your AC.

You also get access to Spellcasting. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down.) The main spell we’re here for is Compelled Duel to force foes to face you and make it a lot harder for them to fight. It’s not a full 1v1 dimension but it works pretty well. Other than that if you want some Nashor’s Tooth damage Divine Favor will make your strikes a lot more painful, and if you want even more defense Shield of Faith will block any blow that may come your way.

Of course you can ignore all this and Obliterate your foes with Divine Smite, spending a spell slot and turning into magic Radiant damage. A smite with do 2d8 for a first level slot plus an additional d8 per slot above first, up to a maximum of 5d8 with a 4th level slot. If you hit an undead or fiend however the damage increases by another d8, for a maximum of 6d8.

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get Divine Health which literally doesn’t impact you since you’re a Warforged, so instead we’ll talk about your Sacred Oath. As fun and flavorful as an Oathbreaker would be that subclass is kinda... bad? So instead look to the Oath of Conquest to shatter your foes!

You get the Armor of Agathys spell for some Thornmail, and the Command spell for Death’s Grasp. Telling someone to approach doesn’t have the same impact as grabbing them with a spooky ghost claw but it works just as well. You also get two Channel Divinity options. Conquering Presence will make everyone near you frightened, and Guided Strike will let you add +10 to an attack roll which will guarantee that you’ll hit in most if not all situations.

LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get an Ability Score Improvement: seeing as our Strength is uneven we can take a Feat like Heavy Armor Master, increasing our Strength by 1 and making it so that our foes’ puny non-magical weapons bounce off us like nothing.

You can also prepare another spell but we’re going to wait a bit on that.

LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins get an Extra Attack, giving you enough attack speed to swing Nightfall twice before your opponent starts to run.

You also get access to second level spells. Oath of Conquest gives you Hold Person to keep your foes in place and Spiritual Weapon for a ghostly soldier to fight alongside you. You can also prepare a spell like Aid to further boost your health, making it even harder to slay you once more.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - CLERIC 1

Despite being a big metal man Mordekaiser is an AP champ, but he also hits people quite a lot with his mace. Hence we’re going into the AP class that also hits people with a mace. Now you may think that we’d want to go into Death Cleric for a revenant... THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG FOOLISH MORTAL! IRON STANDS ETERNAL! FORGE DOMAIN! At level 1 you get Blessing of the Forge allowing you to turn a weapon or piece of armor into a magical +1 weapon or armor. My tip? More armor. Iron stands eternal.

As a Cleric you also get Spellcasting that relies on your Wisdom instead of your Charisma. You also actually get cantrips! You are the master of death and you choose when people die, so take Spare the Dying to make them not die. To make sure your subjects hear your words Thaumaturgy will let all hear you. And just because Mordekaiser is a melee champ doesn’t mean you can’t have a ranged damage option, so take Toll the Dead so none can escape what comes for all.

Check page something-or-other to see how many spell slots you have, but what’s important to know is that you can prepare a number of spells equal to your Wisdom modifier plus your Cleric level. As a Forge Cleric you also get Identity to find the perfect weapon, and Searing Smite to seal your foes away with Nightfall’s Kiss. To keep usurpers away Protection from Good and Evil will make it nye-impossible for them to harm you, and to command your allies as an army Bless will strengthen their weapons and resolve. Other than that? I mean someone should probably have Detect Magic. Truthfully there isn’t much we need from first level spells.

LEVEL 7 - CLERIC 2

Second level Clerics get Channel Divinity options that use the same Channel Divinity charges that your Paladin Channel Divinity uses. Luckily these ones are a little more situational: Turn Undead lets you... turn undead. (Please just read the ability’s description as I’m sick of explaining it in every Cleric build I make.) Artisan's Blessing meanwhile lets you craft something from eternal iron... or whatever other metal you may have. The cost can’t exceed 100 gold, but you can arm your soldiers with weapons and armor... within reason.

You can also prepare another spell but we’re going to wait for...

LEVEL 8 - CLERIC 3

Third level Clerics can prepare second level spells. As a Forge Cleric you have Heat Metal innately prepared, as well as Magic Weapon. This is why I suggested you use your Blessings of the Forge on your armor, because Magic Weapon will let you improve Nightfall. And Heat Metal is surprisingly one of the best spells to counter you, so good thing you have it in your arsenal.

Speaking of arsenal: for the power to carry all that iron Enhance Ability will make you the perfect being for anything you may wish to do. Warding Bond is perhaps not as useful for you, but strengthening your allies strengthens you through relation.

LEVEL 9 - CLERIC 4

4th level means more Ability Score Improvements. Strength is tied to just about everything we do currently (and is notably needed if we want Platemail) so increase that by 2, making Nightfall all the deadlier.

You could also prepare another spell but there isn’t much to take from second level either, so it would be good to wait for third level spells. You do get another cantrip though and even the strongest warriors can use some otherworldly aid, so take Guidance for that aid.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - CLERIC 5

5th level Clerics can Destroy Undead of CR 1/2 with their Turn Undead Channel Divinity. Perhaps it’s odd for a revenant to destroy undead, but I’d rule it as culling the weak.

But more importantly you can prepare third level spells! Forge Clerics get Elemental Weapon for an upgrade to Magic Weapon, and Protection from Energy for an Adaptive Helm. May you rest in peace in Season 11. We’ve yet to get our passive yet, so to make Darkness Rise take Spirit Guardians to damage foes near you. And you know what we don’t have a lot of as an undead revenant? Undead minions. Animate Dead will bring forth your legion, so they can’t bring you down easily.

LEVEL 11 - CLERIC 6

6th level Clerics can use their Channel Divinity twice per Short or Long Rest, which is nice because this also affects your Paladin Channel Divinities. Additionally Forge Clerics get the Soul of the Forge for resistance to Fire damage and EVEN. MORE. AC!

And you can prepare more spells! Want to keep your domain safe? Glyph of Warding will deter anyone trying to stop you before you can awaken again.

LEVEL 12 - CLERIC 7

Level 7 in Cleric? Level 4 in spells. Forge Clerics get Fabricate to craft tools of war. But more importantly you can stop people from interrupting your 1v1s with a Wall of Fire! People can still butt in, but being surrounded by flames definitely makes it harder!

Additionally you can grab Death Ward, to stop anything from taking you down... at first. You may crack iron, but you can never break it.

LEVEL 13 - CLERIC 8

Level 8 gives another Ability Score Improvement which means it’s finally time to max out your Strength! This is great because you now also have Divine Strike to make Nightfall do an additional d8 of Fire damage on hit!

And how about more spells? Banishment is like your ultimate but you can’t join them in the Death Realm. And without you there isn’t much death. It’s honestly fairly harmless. But at least if they don’t belong in this realm you can hopefully lock them away for good.

Oh and your Turn Undead now can Destroy Undead of CR 1 or lower. So mind your minions.

(Artwork by Teddy Tarnando.)

LEVEL 14 - CLERIC 9

Who likes 5th level spells? As a Forge Cleric you know Animate Objects to bring unholy life to iron, and Creation to create said iron. For a burst of darkness that does Radiant damage Flame Strike is a good tool to level any battlefield.

LEVEL 15 - CLERIC 10

10th level Clerics may be blessed with Divine Intervention. You may pray to the god of death (or I guess the god of the forge too) for assistance before rolling on a percentile die. If you roll a number equal to or lower than your Cleric level, the gods intervene. If you receive aid you can’t use this ability for 7 days. If you aren’t heard the ability comes back on a Long Rest.

You know what else comes back after a Long Rest? Spell slots. You know what doesn’t come back after a Long Rest (normally)? The dead. So grab Raise Dead to bring the dead after a notably Long Rest. You can also add another cantrip to your list, and for times when iron doesn’t stand eternal you may want some Mending.

LEVEL 16 - CLERIC 11

11th level Clerics can prepare 6th level spells. Blade Barrier is perhaps not the most practical spell but it’s metal as fuck in more ways than one, blocking your foes with whirling death. Say it with me now: iron stands eternal! You can also now Destroy Undead of CR 2.

LEVEL 17 - CLERIC 12

At level 12 you get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat... hey wouldn’t it be funny if we literally completely ignored our spellcasting modifiers in favor of just hitting things harder with our mace? This perhaps would’ve been stronger to take earlier but we’re finally grabbing Great Weapon Master for the hardest, most deadly strikes with Nightfall’s Kiss.

And more spells prepared? Well it’s perhaps not the most practical more undead minions from Create Undead will serve you well.

(Artwork by Sunny Pandita, Concept Artist at Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - CLERIC 13

13th level presents you with 7th level spells and damn there are a lot of good ones, but I’m actually going to suggest Regenerate to keep you or any allies in the fight.

LEVEL 19 - CLERIC 14

Another level, another spell. Even though there’s some really great stuff at 7th level you don’t have many spell slots there, so I’d instead suggest going back to fountain to resupply. Word of Recall (a 6th level spell) can help in a pinch to escape from danger and retreat to regroup.

Your Turn Undead now can Destroy Undead of CR 3 or lower. But most importantly: your Divine Strike now increases to 2d8 fire damage! So if Nightfall is a regular maul it’s doing 2d6 bludgeoning and an additional 2d8 fire damage on your first hit!

LEVEL 20 - CLERIC 15

15th level gives you an 8th level spell! You’ll only have one of these so make sure it counts! Clerics don’t have that many 8th level spells to choose from but you may be surprised to hear that I’m suggesting Holy Aura. Why? It’s the ultimate spell to stand eternally, making your foes attacks bounce off you like nothing while the weapons of your legion strike hard and strong!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Flesh constrains; iron liberates - You know what’s fun? Having 20 AC with just (+1) Chainmail, and up to 22 AC with standard (+1) Plate! All I can say is that your DM will be thanking the gods that you didn’t decide to grab a shield.

Thus begins the slaughter - Ha ha Nightfall go bonk. If your sick of hearing people say that Martial classes don’t do a lot of damage show them a Martial character with Smites, Divine Strike, spells to boost their weapons, and Great Weapon Master to add a flat +10 to your damage! Not to mention that Guided Strike practically guarantees that you’ll land your blows, and you have two Channel Divinities per Short Rest!

I’m actually making a second paragraph for this: the most damage you can do in a turn (using two fourth level spell slots on Smites, a 7th level Elemental Weapon spell applied to your weapon, and assuming you use Great Weapon Master on both attacks) is... 4d6 + 36 Bludgeoning damage, 2d8 Fire damage, 6d4 Elemental Weapon damage (of your chosen damage type), and 10d8 Radiant Damage. This, on average, will do 130 damage! (Not accounting for Resistances.) To put this into perspective: Tiamat has 615 HP. A lot of resistances too yes, but not accounting for those resistances you in-theory are doing 20% of Tiamat’s health in one attack!

Power eternal - You may not have 9th level spells but you have 9th level slots, and tons of spells that will level the battlefield no matter how likely they are to hit. Buffing spells work regardless of your spellcasting modifier, and do so to great effect.

CONS

A fleeting delay of the inevitable - Hey you know what’s good to do as a spellcaster? Cast spells. Both your spellcasting modifiers are at the bare minimum required to multiclass. Perhaps see if you can build this character with Point Buy so you can dump every stat except for Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma. (Well Constitution is still good too.)

Such meaningless struggle - Dumping ability scores also means that your own saving throws are subpar, and unlike usual with Paladins you don’t have Aura of Protection to save you. Notably a -1 to DEX means you won’t be dodging any skillshots anytime soon.

Enter the crucible of anguish - You are a big, slow, bulky lad who needs to rely on a big smacc sticc to do just about everything. Anyone who can outrun you will quickly make you useless as you have to get closer to beat the shit out of people.

But you needn’t come to them: death shall befall them either way. They can stay away and hide from the inevitable, or approach and accept their fate. Nothing will break you, nothing will stop you. Twice slain, thrice reborn, you are Mordekaiser, and you stand eternal. Along with your kickass metal album.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

[lyranova]

A Fractured Diamond

Episode 6: Star Festival

——

Hi guys~! So I know I said i was taking a break and I did! I really love this chapter so much guys you have no idea 🥺! I hope you all like it too and I’m sorry it’s not very canon compliant! Also this is my longest chapter I’m so proud 😭!

Word Count: 3,129

Warnings: Language

It had been a week since they had gone to the dungeon, or was it a few days? Neva couldn't remember at this point. All the days seemed to blur together. The day after they had gotten back they were sent to visit the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono, and she had to admit he wasn’t what she was expecting. He was a total magic nerd, it was quite amusing. But she couldn’t shake the feeling she had met him before, many years ago, she had pushed that thought away when she figured it was because she had seen him walk through the Capital on occasion. Then the Capital was attacked by the undead and she ran into someone she really didn’t want to see ever again.

Neva sighed as she created more spiked Diamond pillars to pierce the undead with, she had been quite proud of herself at that, she didn’t want to use any of her close range weapons and didn’t have many long range spells, so this was quite the achievement. She was only able to make the spikes come through the ground but hey, she’d take anything at this point. Neva had created a dome around some civilians she was protecting but she knew it wouldn’t hold much longer and the dead just. kept. coming.

“ Why couldn’t all of you have just stayed dead?!” She shouted when suddenly, she saw at least half of the undead be sliced through with spacial magic. ‘No. No way, why is he here?!’ Neva thought with dread, she looked up to her right and saw the one person she disliked the most. Langris Vaude. Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn. He was smirking down at her as usual, and all she could do was glare up at him.

“ Need a hand?” He asked before using another spell to get rid of the rest of the undead. Neva huffed before snapping her fingers to get rid of the Diamond Shell.

“ Here, this way should be safe now. If you all keep going this way, you should find some more magic knights that can help you escape.” Neva instructed, the people quickly thanked her before going into the direction she described. Langris floated down to her and walked over to her, his smug smirk on his face, she instantly rolled her eyes.

“ So, I heard the teacher's pet is in the dog house.” He commented, Neva glared at him and crossed her arms.

“ I heard you were in Kiten, looks like we were both wrong.” She snapped, causing Langris to scoff and place a hand on his hip.

“ Uh-huh, sure. Anyway, I also heard you explored your first dungeon. Congratulations.” Langris told her, she narrowed her eyes, knowing there was more. “ and you got your ass kicked by someone with the same magic as you, that’s gotta sting.” He added, there it was, Neva thought with a shake of her head.

“ Don’t you have more important places to be right now, Vice Captain?” Neva snapped as she began to walk past him, Langris grabbed her upper arm to stop her.

“ I do. But I thought I’d come and say hello to the teacher’s pet first, since y’know, the Captain gives you all sorts of special treatment.” Langris looked at her. “ You might want to be careful about how you stalk Captain Vangeance, before people begin to talk.” He added before letting her go and walking away.

Neva shook her head to clear away the memory that had been a horrible day. The Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings was found with his arm torn off, bleeding, and unresponsive. From what she had heard he was still alive, which was good, but it had made her angry that Captain Vangeance hadn’t been there to help. She stopped training for a moment as the memory popped into her head, unwanted.

Neva was beyond angry, she was livid. The Captain was supposed to be there, was supposed to help protect the city, but instead he left on ‘urgent business’, which she noticed he was doing a lot of recently. She walked into his office, not bothering to knock, and slammed her hands onto his desk.

“ What the hell Captain?! Where were you today!” She shouted. Vangeance looked at her calmly before leaning back in his seat.

“ As I told the Wizard King and everyone else; I was away on urgent business-.” He started before she cut him off.

“ Liar! You left us high and dry! What business was so urgent that you needed to leave us at that moment?!” She shouted again, she noticed a flash of annoyance in her Captains eyes before he leaned forward.

“ You’d best remember who you are speaking to, Neva. Unless you want to be reported for insubordination. Again.” He warned, she blushed and moved her hands off his desk and crossed them.

“ Apologies, Captain. But you’re always gone, and it’s always when something major happens.” She finished softly, she noticed a shift in his eyes, like his mood suddenly changed, it even felt like the mana had changed.

“ Are you accusing me of something Neva?” He asked in a dangerously low tone, Neva felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and a chill run down her spine, her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, her palms began to sweat; she was terrified of the person in front of her. This wasn’t her Captain. This wasn’t the person she had known most of her life. This was someone else entirely. She swallowed the lump in her now dry throat before attempting to speak.

“ N-No sir I…” she paused, that’s exactly what she was doing, or at least, what it sounded like she was doing. “ I’m just worried about you Captain.” She added softly as she looked away, all the anger being replaced with defeat.

“ There’s nothing for you to worry about, I promise.” He told her softly before going back to his paperwork. “ Now if you don’t mind, I have some work I need to finish.” He added, effectively ending the conversation. Neva nodded before turning around and walking away.

“ Oh one more thing; it’d be wise if you stopped stalking me whenever I am in the base. Rumors are being circulated and people are starting to get the wrong idea, and I’d like for all of it to be squashed before it reaches other squads' ears.” He told her, Neva only nodded and closed the door behind her.

“ Dammit!” She shouted as she accidently sent a sharp diamond blade soaring through the air, effectively cutting off a tree limb. Neva leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees, sweat was almost pouring off her in buckets at this point. She was so angry and so frustrated this was the only way she could think of to get rid of it. If she had stopped and looked to her left, she would have noticed three people watching her from afar.

“ S-Should we get her to stop? She’s going to be completely drained at this point.” Mimosa asked with uncertainty, she, Yuno, and Klaus had been watching her for the past hour. She had been trying to either work on her armor spell, or long range offensive spells. Klaus shrugged.

“ I’m not sure, I mean, we might accidentally get caught in the crossfire.” He said, uncertain himself. He looked over as Yuno sighed next to him.

“ I’ll go over there then.” He stated in his usual monotone voice. He even had to admit, he was worried about her, he only knew her for a few months but in those months he felt like he knew what kind of person she was and this was not her.

“ Wait a second; let her get a few more spells done then you can talk to her.” Mimosa whispered, as though Neva could hear them, and she looked over at Klaus. “ By the way, what’s the deal with her and Langris? From what I heard, they were at each other's throats during the invasion.” Yuno looked over at Klaus as well, he was very curious about it too even if he wouldn’t admit it.

“ Well, Langris used to be Neva’s mentor-.” Klaus started before Mimosa gasped in shock and even Yuno looked surprised.

“ Seriously?! The Vice Captain was Neva’s mentor!” Klaus nodded.

“ Yes but please don’t interrupt. He was her mentor for two weeks before the Captain decided it would be best if they no longer worked together, from what I remember, they almost killed each other.” Klaus stated before turning back to watch Neva. She seemed to be all tired out. “ I think you can go talk to her now.” He added, Yuno nodded before walking over to her.

Neva was trying to catch her breath when she heard footsteps approach, she looked over and saw it was Yuno. She smirked.

“ Are we being sent on a mission?” She panted, she hadn’t realized how out of breath she actually was until she stood up straight, she looked over at him and saw him shake his head.

“ No. I was just wanting to make sure you were ok.” Yuno told her honestly, she shrugged a bit.

“ I’m fine. No need to worry.” She muttered, clearly, Yuno wasn’t buying it as he pointed to the tree that was missing a limb.

“ I think that tree would disagree with you.” Neva looked and was very thankful her pale face was already red from training.

“ Yeah, that spell got away from me.” She admitted before looking at him. “ Are you going to the star festival tonight?” She asked, changing the subject.

“ Yeah, and so are you.” Yuno told her, not missing that she was trying to change the subject. He watched her eyebrows raise in surprise.

“ Who says I am? You’re not the boss of me!” Neva argued as she crossed her arms. Yuno nodded before turning around.

“ I know. But I think it’d be good for you. All of us don’t get to hang out outside of missions very much, besides, if I’m being forced to go against my will so are you.” He told her before walking away, the first part about them all hanging out was what Mimosa told him to say, whereas the end was what he wanted to tell her. Plus, Yuno wanted to get to know Neva better, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone that.

“ Who does he think he is? Telling me what to do.” Neva grumbled as she followed behind him, if she wanted to go then she would, if she didn’t then she’d stay home. ‘Buuut,’ that little voice in her head started. ‘It gives you the chance to get to know him better!’ The little voice whispered, Neva smirked to herself, she was finally agreeing with the stupid voice for once!

——

Neva couldn’t stop grumbling that night. After her talk with Yuno she left and took a bath, cleaned up, and was ready to go by the time the others were. She had to admit, the Star Festival was one of her favorite things about the city; good food, good music, games, it was pretty nice. The only thing she didn’t like was the stares people gave them because of their Golden Dawn robes. It made her uncomfortable. Some of the looks these noble people gave them just irritated her, it was like they were looking at them as their own private security or something. She huffed a bit.

“ Something wrong?” Yuno asked as he turned to her, she shook her head, Mimosa and Klaus had wandered off some time ago so now it was just the two of them and it made her very nervous. Even if she didn’t show it.

“ No, it’s just the stares. I don’t like them.” She muttered, Yuno tilted his head a bit before shrugging.

“ Ignore them. They’re not worth your time and energy.” He told her bluntly, she looked at him in surprise before a small smirk appeared on her face.

“ Easy for you to say, you’re amazing with your magic and everyone knows it, you even have a four leaf grimoire. So they don’t give you the same looks as me and the others.” She muttered, Yuno looked at her with a confused look.

“ You’re amazing with your magic too. You should really stop putting yourself down so much, you’re one of the few people that actually has an armor spell. Something like that takes time, hard work, and dedication. You know your magic inside and out, you know what it’s made of, how it works, and what your limits are. Not everyone can say that.” Yuno stopped in his tracks as he spoke. Neva couldn’t stop the small blush from appearing on her face, she wasn’t very used to receiving compliments from anyone other than the Captain so it was a little surprising.

“ Please stop trying to make me feel better. It’s not going to work.” She muttered, looking away from him. Yuno stepped closer to her and had the most serious look on his face.

“ I’m not. I’m just being honest.” He told her deadpan, Neva couldn’t help but let out a small laugh before she looked up at him, well, she looked around him. Something caught her eye and her face instantly lit up.

“ Ooh a desert stall!” She almost squealed as she quickly ran around him and to the stall, Yuno blinked in surprise. ‘What the hell?’ He turned on his heel and noticed where she had gone, giving reason to her sudden change in demeanor, he scoffed before following her over and standing next to her. He looked over the deserts and had to admit, they all looked very tempting, he wished he had just a little money left over to buy him and Neva something from it, but he gave all his pay to the orphanage in Hage village, they needed it more than he did.

Yuno then looked over at Neva and his eyes widened slightly; her face was lit up more than he had ever seen it, a smile he had only seen once before was currently gracing her delicate features, he noticed the way her eyes scanned all the deserts as though she couldn’t make up her mind on what she wanted. His smirk turned in a warm smile, he liked this look on her, it made her look like a completely different person. ‘Hm, I wonder if this is how she normally is, not how she tries to portray herself as.’ He wondered to himself, if this was her true personality shining through, he wanted to see more of it.

“ Hey Yuno, can I ask you something?” Neva asked softly, her head suddenly bowed down to hide her face. When he nodded she continued. “ Are there rumors circulating about me and the Captain?” She asked, catching him by surprise. Yuno rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“ Yea. There are.” He confirmed softly, Neva’s head lowered even more and she bit her lip. “Mimosa told me she doesn’t know where or who started it, but they’re trying to say you have a crush on the Captain and that you’re in love with him.” He added, Neva shook her head.

“ None of that is true. It’s actually pretty gross people think that, I don’t even remotely think of the Captain that way. He’s a mentor, a trusted ally, someone I can count on to have my back. Nothing more.” She told him seriously before raising her head and looking at Yuno. All the warmth and happiness from just a moment ago were completely gone, and in its place was a cold and harshness, she had reverted back to her ‘normal’ self, the one everyone saw. Yuno noticed he was a little disappointed, but he didn’t dwell on it much as they were suddenly pulled away by Mimosa and Klaus, saying the Stars were about to be handed out.

——-

Neva was suddenly bored as the Clover King began speaking, she honestly couldn’t understand why he was needed, he didn’t really do anything for the kingdom did he? She didn’t think so. But she watched as the Wizard King and King Kira began to have a small discussion and it was slightly amusing how everyone preferred Julius Novachrono to the Clover King. She watched as the stars were handed out, she didn’t recognize the new Captain of the Crimson Lions until Mimosa explained to her that she was Captain Fuegoleons sister Mereoleona, even from a distance Neva knew she did not want to mess with that woman. She seemed to be very powerful.

Neva couldn’t stop the smirk from appearing on her face as Yuno and Belle began to show off to the nobles, after the nobles tried to rag on him and Asta for being commoners that is. Even though Neva thought Belle was a little annoying, she had to admit she was a very powerful spirit. Neva could hear all the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the crowd and it made her very happy. Until she heard a few feet behind her.

“ He’s very cute isn’t he?” One woman giggled.

“ Who? The blonde one?” Another asked, they were speaking in hushed voices as though trying not to draw attention to themselves.

“ No the dark haired one! He’s so cute and powerful, he even has a four leaf grimoire!” The first one giggled again, Neva glanced over her shoulder and noticed the two girls looked around her age or maybe a little older.

“ Hehe maybe you should try and ask him out when he gets off stage!” The other suggested causing Neva to straighten and clench her jaw, these girls were getting on her nerves.

‘Ooh is somebody jealous?’ That little voice teased causing Neva to blush and shake her head, nope, nu-uh, no way was she jealous! She wasn’t going to be like Belle and think Yuno was hers and nobody else’s! She wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t!

Suddenly Neva’s ears picked up a few key words that quickly grabbed her attention; Midnight Sun, Royal Magic Knights, and an exam to enter. She smirked a bit, this was payback for the invasion on the Capital, it also sounded like fun and it was a way for her to prove to herself and to others that she was one of the strongest in her squad.

Neva was definitely signing up!

——-

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter I love it so much 🥺! If you don’t I apologize and I will try and do better next time, anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!