#...i have no idea why i thought i was done with this continuity BEFORE decked out opened i should have known better

[theminecraftbee]

"You know, I kind of get it now," Gem says to Impulse.

"What?" Impulse says. He's nervously playing with a frozen shard in his hands. Come on, Impulse, head into the dungeon, don't be shy, you can do it. Keep hyping yourself up, you didn't die horribly last time. Ugh, he wishes he were a little less into the game, or maybe more uncomplicatedly addicted, like Gem; it would make everything easier if he thought he could either just leave or play.

"I get it now!" Gem says. "Oh, stop debating if you'll go in like that, either do it or don't."

"I'm trying, Gem!"

"Yeah, but if you aren't gonna do it, I want a go."

"You used all your shards."

"In principle!" Gem says. "It's the principle! You wouldn't get it. You don't hang out here nearly as much as I do. You don't understand, understand the vibes." She sticks out her tongue at him for good measure.

"Well, inform me of the vibes, and maybe I'll work up the nerve," Impulse says.

"It's like--I get it now," she says. "When you were complaining earlier this season about Tango not going outside, I was like, aw man, you redstoners and your caves. I'm a sunshine girl. I like trees. And bloodshed."

"Don't see how those things are related but continue," Impulse says.

"I thought you were complaining because Tango is equally lame as you are about stuff like 'going outside' and 'talking to people who don't drag him into it'," Gem clarifies.

"I go outside!" Impulse says. "I go outside all the time! I ran a rebellion! I pranked you and Pearl! I yelled at Grian! I helped cover the perimeter! I have a whole island and a giant shop! I got a job with Scar! I even went through the Rift! I don't know what you want from me, here. It's not like I'm Tango. I did things that weren't my base from time to time."

"The lady doth protest too much," Gem says.

Impulse sighs. Gem laughs and hops into the air and squeezes herself into a gap between the walls near the entrance to the dungeon. Impulse has seen her in there a lot recently; it's almost like she's a gargoyle, or an inlaid relief for the dungeon. Weird thing to think about his friends, but--

"Besides," Gem continues. "Besides. I just said I get it now."

And something about that makes the hairs on Impulse's arm stand on-end.

"You get why we have to work so hard on circuit design?" Impulse asks hopefully.

"No, I don't get the redstone stuff, that's all still stupid nerd stuff," Gem says cheerfully.

"Jock," Impulse says.

Gem smirks meanly. "Script kiddie."

"Ow, that hurts. And it's not even true. Where did you even learn that one, you just admitted you hate that stuff!"

"Lady never tells her secrets," Gem says.

"Well, if you don't understand the redstone, what do you understand?" Impulse asks.

"Just--you really could stay in here forever, couldn't you? It'd be fun while you did it! I even built a tree and everything. Not much I have to leave for anymore, is there?"

Impulse swallows. Ah.

"Except when you run out of shards," he says, after a painful long several seconds in which there's a rock in his throat and he can't breathe and he has to try very hard to find an excuse to refute that.

"Yeah, except for that. Why did Tango have to go and limit how many times we can go in, huh? If I didn't get bored halfway through the week I think I could just move in!"

And Impulse--

Impulse thinks of Tango.

"Yeah," he says. He plays with the frozen shard in his hands. It feels very cold. "I wonder why."

"So? Are you gonna run or not? I want to mock you when you die," Gem says.

"...I might as well spend them all sooner rather than later," Impulse says, and he puts the shard in the barrel. His heart skips a beat as the door opens. Gem cheers. He shakes his whole body to shake off the conversation as he goes inside. It never does, after all, to try to run the dungeon while distracted.

[cokou]

Sharing 共有

Kidd × F!Reader × Law キッド×エ��！リーダー×ロ

event. 100 followers event! Requests all open till 17th of July 2024. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ sum. Fighting over you is useless, you just need to pick which one! Decision is on you! ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tw. No genre mentioned. Reader is a straw hat! Pre sequel to two other stories. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ a/n. I had been delayed because, work and clearly Haven't had enough time to write at all. Hope y'all enjoy this! //Do not translate or transfer my works, this is my only account. Will not be crossposted anywhere. // Masterlist♡

Your eyes slightly open from the sun shining through your face by the opened window of your room on the ship, looking at the direction where light was shining. You slowly get up, you rub friction on your eyes to see much more properly, looking by the wall across the room whilst losing focus.

As you heard the loud arguments outside by the deck, you had figured that the men, Kidd and Law, were still here since last night. Not being able to recall everything that much, all you remembered was that they stayed by the ship drinking with the others involving you as well. You exited your room and was met by the windy weather, you shiver slightly and made your way into the sunny's kitchen.

You take whatever was left in the table and munched on it, proceeding to start the day earlier. Walking into the deck, the argument of the three men became louder to your ears, Luffy, Law, and Kidd. You heard that they were fighting something about what Luffy did.

"The hell's with you ruining everything again?!" Kidd blurted.

"Hah?! I didn't even do anything!" Luffy fought back.

"Coming from the guy who decided that running right through the bandits after stealing from them WAS a great idea." Law chimed in.

You continue to listen to their bickering and fighting across the upper deck, trying your best to not give a single care. But you just happen to want to eavesdrop on them, so that's exactly what you did.

"What? It was i great idea c'mon!" Luffy tilts his head.

"Where the hell is the GREAT idea there?!" Kidd was starting to hold grudges on Luffy based on his tone.

"We might just take (Name)-ya with us for the next next we do the work in the island." You lean on the deck as you heard your name coming from Law's mouth, he was planning to take you with them? You didn't understand why out of everyone he could've picked it was you.

"Right (Name)-ya?" Your eyes widen in confusion as Law looked up to your direction and smiled at you, slightly fixing his hat.

"Might be the greatest idea you got there Trafalgar." You felt even more confused as Eustass agreed on Law's opinion, which obviously never happens at all.

"Me? Why me?" You lean cloeer into the railing as you raise your voice for them to hear.

"Oooh! (Name), she's pretty good at those things!" Luffy smiled at their suggestion, taking on their side to take you with them.

"Eh, you seem like you'll get the fucking job done." Eustass adds. You tilt your head slightly of you could have probably messed up on with the mission.

Thinking about you falling into an endless ravine and not being able to scream for help, or get eaten by alligators, or possibly bitten by a large snake! You shook your head at the thoughts of dangerous, reckless things you could do from destroying their expedition.

"That won't be a good idea at all!" You step back onto the upper deck, crossing your arms as you look at them from the chair you sat on.

"Oh well, you don't have a choice (Name)! I agree with their ide—"

"Who the hell said I'm gonna agree to that?!" You cut Luffy off making him jump from your sudden outburst. But you think about it slightly, getting to spend time with Trafalgar and Eustass, THE Trafalgar and Eustass. You change the perspective of your mind,

"Fine, I'll do it!" You stood up from the chair and make your way to them. Luffy unknowingly smiles at your decision and so does the two. Before you knew it, you three were launched off into the depths of the Island, which was a pretty city. The way buildings and structures were built was perfect, it was definitely one of the prettiest places you've seen out of all the Cities you've been on.

"So what are we doing?" You ask them.

"Eh, just gotta steal some good ol' stuff in here, aye." Kidd answers. You nod at his answer and began looking and admiring the buildings.

"It's pretty much a suprise to get to work with ya, I didn't expect it to say the least." Law looks at you, the same usual straight face he displays. You nod at his remark and bring your hand to rub your chin, thinking of how you guys were fonna steal without getting caught in such a huge city.

As you three wander into the city hoping to find a building that looks like will be stuffed by treasure, you came across two ways around the city, a straight path and a right path.

"We should split into two groups." You suggested.

"Sure, go with me." Kidd grabs your wrists but was immediately stopped on his tracks by Law grabbing your other wrist as well.

"No, (Name)-Ya is coming with me." He pulls you back to him, making you fall into his torso as he moves you out of Eustass' reach.

"Fuck off Trafalgar! She's coming with me!" Kidd pushes Law slightly and grabs a hold of you. You push both of them away,

"ACTUALLY i will decide who'll i go with!"

If you chose...Law ↓

Kidd scoffs at your claim to be with Law and started walking off into the right path, staying on the place with Law. You two continuesly made your way towards the straight pattern of the cities roads. As you two walk along the road, you were met with much more tall structures and people, staring off into the distance, you seem to notice someone being chased off.

"What's with them?" You asked.

"Persons probably a bandit, let's go. We're definitely in the correct way." He grabs you and started running fastly into the same direction the person was being chased off. You two arrived Infront of the gate of the biggest structure in the city. Law decides to break off the lock and conceal the both of you inside.

Inside was definitely a large sum of golden furnitures, searching and ravaging the cabinets and drawers one by one. You two were so busy with taking all the items that it went past an hour inside.

Finally finishing with the little adventure inside, you two went out from one of the structures windows and landed on someones roof, trying the best to not attract any contact with the city people. Unfortunately you two's luck had ran out and you two were chased by Marines since someone had reported seeing you two running on the roofs.

Not only have they grazed your arm a bit but you two had managed to outrun them, successfully meeting up with Eustass into the Sunny once again.

If you chose...Kidd ↓

Kidd smiled widely as you pick going with him instead, mocking Trafalgar and laughing him off. He grabs your wrist and fled with you towards the right side of the city. Inside were homes of different sorts, the road was busy and there were lots of stalls by the road.

Unfortunately, you two had no enough money to buy anything from them, so the walk was pretty boring. Across the seemingly endless road, you two were led into an empty part of the city, being greeted with nothing but the sea. You two were frustrated and decided to enjoy some view first before riding out the main road.

"No treasure here then, that's shit." Kidd scoffs and grunts.

"What about we rob the homes instead?" You suggest.

"Great idea but, eh, no. That's a million times fucking harder, plus our goal is to not attract any attention at all aye." You sigh at his remarks and you gently sat down on the ground. You two first enjoyed the view, not knowing how much time had passed. Eventually Killer had come to get you two and said that he asjed Trafalgar where you two headed into the city.

Killer takes you two out the dity and back into where the ships were docked, sadly you two hadn't found anything at all, on the other hand, Law had brought a large bag full of golden treasures. It's safe to say that Eustass and Trafalgar picked a fight onto each other again.

Eustass calling Law boastful and overproud just because he found them instead of the both of you, whilst Law called him a jealous bastard.

—

Back at the Sunny again, you three decided to end the day with dinner with the Straw hats, specifically you. You two slumped over your bedrooms couch and talked about how the expedition went for each sides, they weren't so bad after all! Thanks to Luffy messing up, you three had gotten clower in a span of the day. Especially with the person you chose to be with.

———

Pre-Sequels; NSFW

More for us //T. Law × Reader

More for you // E. Kidd × Reader

©Cokou 2024, all works belong to me.

[sinsinsininning]

A little bit softer

Chapter 4

Eustass Kid x crew mate!fem!Reader

This includes Kid’s POV of the end of Chapter 3 while the reader is in the shower. 😳

Also to clarify, Badger is a made up character, I didn’t feel like incorporating a cannon character into the reader’s backstory. I spent literally 2 seconds on the name and even less time on a vague description of him which I’ll post later.

TW: swearing, voyeurism, masturbating (both male and female)

~~~~~~~

After you left him on the deck, Kid ate slowly, thinking out the details of his next steps. He had no idea where this bastard, Badger, was or even what he’d look like.

Plus the West Blue was crawling with dangerous crews and the notorious 5 Families of the West, headed up by Capone Bege. Not someone Kid was on good terms with and, depending on how deep into the West they’d go, someone they’d likely run into.

While Kid would prefer to just make this a quick mission, so they could double back and enter the Grand Line, he was excited to think of all the practice the crew would get fighting all these other crews. It’d be good training before they entered the New World.

After finishing, he pulled out the maps and started charting again. Wire eventually returned to join him and the two worked quietly. Kid was making a list of things they could get while in the West Blue when Wire spoke up.

“So what’s this Captain’s name?”

“Why’re you asking?” Kid growled. “Just chart the stupid map.”

“I’m nearly done, I just need to know where to find him, then I can finalize the map. Right now I’ve just got it charted how to get there while avoiding marines bases and included supply stops. But I need a specific area to finish.”

“His name is Badger.” Kid said after a beat.

“Is that his first name or last name?” Wire asked.

“The fuck if I know. His name is Badger, he’s in the West Blue, and I’m gonna kill him. Make the map.” Kid blustered for a moment, he felt a little silly, all this effort and he didn’t even know who the guy was. Fuck he didn’t even know if you’d been honest…. Nah you were nearly crying, you wouldn’t lie like that. Wire sighed heavily and Kid nearly smashed the table.

“Ok, I can’t finish it tonight, but I’ll go through some logs and see if I can get more info on him.” Wire relented, knowing the captain was at his limit. “We should be able to make it to the next island tomorrow, I’ll do some more digging then too.” Kid grunted an acknowledgement, head down as he finished his list, pen nearly tearing the paper.

Wire stood and started putting the supplies away, he glanced at his captain.

“Boss… you know-“ He paused and considered himself, Kid glanced at him with a scowl. Better play it safe. “Just let me know if you need anything, you know I’d help.” Kid bristled at that, but just grunted again to dismiss the tall man.

He doodled a few sketches of his projects on the list, trying to clear his head. Eventually he puts everything up and leans against the railing, watching the waves and night sky.

After an hour or so, Heat joins him to take his watch shift, but brought a few beers for his captain. Kid downs his first two quickly, then nurses the next one.

“It’s none of my business,” Heat starts off.

“Then don’t fucking bring it up.” Kid snaps.

“But I think we should get rid of the sniper rookie.” Heat continues, eyes on the coast.

“What? Why the fuck do you think that?” Kid stood to shout at him. “Thought you two were buddy-buddy?!” He could keep the jealously out of voice.

“She’s alright. But she’s soft.” Heat isn’t phased by the shouting. “She won’t make it in the Grand Line. We can’t have that type of weakness.”

“Quincy’s soft. Wire’s soft. You questioning my authority huh?” Kid gulped the rest of his drink and tossed the bottle behind him. “You think I keep a weak crew?! That what you’re trying to say?!”

“The only thing she’s got going for her is she’s cute.” Heat added nonchalantly, Kid was fuming.

“Fuck off like she’d want your ugly, stitched up headed ass!” Kid grabbed his vest, forcing the other man to look at him. “She’s staying, she’s a good sniper and a good crew mate. Fucking question me again and I’ll fucking throw you overboard!” Heat grinned and Kid felt like he’d been caught.

“I get why everyone’s been fucking with you lately,” Heat chuckled. “It’s fun. You’re so biased for her, I’m a little jealous really, wish you’d defend me this hard.”

Kid wanted to shout again but he felt like he’d reveal too much. Well, more than what he’d already done. His face was hot and he felt deflated, but he released Heat with a shove.

“Maybe if ya did your job and not play mind games I would.” He finally says, Heat resumes his watch. An awkward silence falls over them.

“It’s not that bad, Boss. Trust me it could be worse. Imagine you liked Pomp? He’s fucking insane. I heard he sold his ex husband’s kidney for cheating on him in a dream.” Heat tried to console his friend, not his forte, but he felt a little bad at his trick. Kid let out a short laugh.

“Fuckin’ hell that can’t be true…. Can it?” He started on his next beer, sitting back down. They laugh together again.

“I don’t actually think we should get rid of her. Just sayin.”

“I know.”

“Yeah she’s soft, but she saved my ass that last fight, shooting that guy trying to creep up on me while I was taking care of Reck.”

Kid just hummed in response, still hesitant to say anything about her. Heat noticed.

“I promise it’s not that bad.”

Silence.

“I don’t think she’s scared of you, not really at least.”

“I heard what she said to you.”

“I think she’s scared of her ex captain. Should make her sit down with Wire, he’d sort her head out.” Heat lit a cigarette, offering a pull to Kid who shook his head.

“Not a bad idea. Just don’t want anyone knowing how-“ He paused. “She can go to Wire but I’m not gonna make her.” He said finally, Heat nodded in understanding.

“You can’t say it, I gotcha.”

“I can’t say it first.” Kid sighed, finishing his last bottle.

“Makes sense. Don’t worry,” Heat claps his hand on the captain’s shoulder. “It’ll happen.”

“Since when have you gotten this mushy?” Kid sneered. “I hate it. Go back to minding your own business.” Heat laughed as his captain got up. It was past midnight and he was tired.

He made his way down the halls, he needed to return his dishes or else Killer would bitch at him all day tomorrow. He placed them in the sink, then a thought struck him. Quickly glancing in the fridge, your plate was still there, all wrapped up nicely.

You hadn’t eaten since breakfast, he slammed the fridge shut. Fuck, you probably hadn’t finished your shit yet. He stalked down the halls towards your make shift shop room, irritated that you’d not finished yet and had still not eaten.

A small part of him was excited to have an excuse to talk to you, even if it was just to bitch at you. Maybe he’d walk you to the galley personally, to make sure you followed orders. Maybe he’d sit with you as you ate too, couldn’t let you try to skip out. After that he’d grumble at you for making him stay up late to babysit you, even though he chose to do it.

Then he may as well make you go to bed. His bed. With him. Obviously to make sure you didn’t try to sneak back to your project. He’d keep you pressed in his arms all night to ensure you didn’t try anything.

Fuck he needed to stop, he was hard in the middle of the hallway. He adjusted his belt before entering the shop room, hoping it’d hide his arousal. Somehow the shop was empty, all the weapons cleaned and stacked up correctly. He looked around for any mistakes or mess you’d left behind, anything that’d allow him a chance to speak with you.

But the room was spotless, everything put away correctly. Then where the fuck were you? He wondered if you went to bed right away, tempted to check your bunk. He headed toward it, pausing when he passed by the bathrooms, steam pouring out the door.

The doors to the bathrooms all had hatches at the top that opened to allow steam to vent. He was a little impressed that the hot water still worked after everyone’s showers.

With you in the stalls he didn’t have any excuse to bother you, you’d finished your work and unless he wanted to wait until you were out to force you to the galley, he was out of luck for tonight. Kid turned to go when he heard you moan.

Oh fuck.

He glanced around the halls, no one could hear you or see him palm his cock over his pants. You weren’t generous with your noises, obviously trying to stifle them, but some slipped out.

Your groans and whines sounded frustrated, like you couldn’t work how you wanted. He reached his hand inside his pants to grip himself, jaw clenched almost painfully to avoid alerting you. His mind filled in the gaps of what he couldn’t see. He pictured walking in and offering to help you reach your climax, since you still seemed to struggle.

He thought about how’d you’d look right then if he did, wet and naked, probably surprised and shy. Maybe you’d try to cover yourself, until you’d realize what he was offering. Or maybe you already knew he was there, confident he’d join you. Maybe you’d tell him exactly what you wanted from him.

He’d let you boss him around, at least at the start, but after you cum once or twice, then he’d be in control again. He thumbed his slit right as you let out a different moan.

Oh. That one was much more satisfied, he didn’t know what changed to make everything work for you, but he was pleased. He stroked himself faster now, checking the halls quickly, then held his ear to the open hatch. Your whines and moans were breathier, much more high pitched. He squeezed his cock, picturing it was you. When he closed his eyes and really focused on listening, he swore he could hear how wet your pussy sounds.

Your moans are getting faster and he tries to keep up, hand pumping hard to get himself off. Finally you let off a loud moan, cutting yourself off halfway through in a pathetic attempt to be quiet. He’s not quite there yet, so he moves his hand fast, but freezes when you turn of the shower.

Shit you were done. He was fucked.

Without adjusting his pants he quickly walks down the hall, his workshop is closer than his room. It’ll have to do for now, it’s not the first time he’s jacked off in there. He gets the door closed and locked before resuming.

Part of him is irritated, his high was so close just to be edged back. But more of him felt a little proud, you’d gotten off before him, as you should. Yeah it wasn’t like he’d gotten you to cum, but it still stroked his ego. He thought about that as he sat down, hand around himself again, stroking quickly.

He wondered how many times he should make you cum before he did. Hell how many times should you cum before he even fucked you with his cock. At least two times on his fingers and maybe three times of his tongue, that seemed fair.

He rubbed his tip harshly as he thought about your sounds, they were so sweet and full of emotion. Kid could basically read your mind from how expressive you were, so open and honest with your lewd moans. He could tell when you were close, when you were struggling, and even when something clicked. He wondered what it was that made you moan like that, thinking of ways to extract that info.

His climax caught him off guard as he thought about you. He came across his hand and chest with a groan, some of his spend getting on his pants. As he came down, panting as he leaned back in his chair, he could hear you walking down the hall.

Leaping up, he tucked himself back into his pants, grabbed an old rag to wipe the cooling cum from his hands and chest. He knocked over the chair and toppled a few tools in his haste. Your steps were quiet but he was hyper aware of you as you passed the door.

After a few minutes of quiet he finally exited, going straight to his room and laying face down on the bed. He wanted to shout but settled for smothering himself until he finally dozed off.

[sourlemonsprout]

𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

Seth, Alphonse, and Boo play Just Dance.

Word Count: 871

♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。˚♬゚。♫⋆｡

It was a bit of an understatement to say that Seth was excited when Sugar invited him over for game night at their place. It had been ages since he'd sat down and played any sort of video or board game. When Seth arrived at the house, he was greeted by Alphonse who answered the door. Al informed him that Sugar was still busy in the kitchen, but they should be done shortly. As he entered the warm house, Seth could smell the sweet aroma of baked goods and spices that wafted around the air.

"Heya Seth! Make yourself at home!" a small voice called out from the kitchen.

"Oh, wow Sugar, you really went all out, didn't you?" Seth said stepping into the living room, noticing the makeshift bar area they’d set up next to a platter of what looked like mini tapas. He looked up to see Sugar across the house, carefully carrying a deep dished tray.

"You betcha, and desserts are in the oven. I made little crème brûlés for later!" They beamed, taking off apron her and joining the boys in the living area.

Al met them with a drink and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer, "What should we do first?" he asked looking between the two.

"Well let's see, I have a regular deck of cards, Clue, Spot It, Uno, Life, Apples to Apples, and Monopoly." Sugar rattled off.

"I'm sure as hell not playing Monopoly with Seth," Al laughed.

"Yeah, I think the last time we played that game things almost ended in a fistfight." Seth snorted.

He leaned over and loudly whispered, "It's cause that pink-haired boy of yours is a sore loser Sugar."

"Ugh, am not," Al smirked, rolling his eyes.

"ok ok fine," Sugar laughed.

"What about Uno? Or will that start a fight too?" They questioned.

"No that should be fine" the boys agreed.

After a few rounds of drinks, food, and some Uno, Sugar pulled the tray out of the oven and placed the custard-filled ramekins in the fridge to chill. On their way back, an idea shot into their head. They suggested that they boot up the Switch and play some Just Dance.

"Sure thing, I was gettin' tired of beatin' you two at this card game anyway," Seth boasted.

"Ok ok, calm down there 'hot shot'," Al said dumping his hand of cards in the middle of the table.

"Let's see if you can keep up at this game." He said with a smirk as he stood up to stretch.

Seth had never played Just Dance before, and it was fair to say that dancing was not his forte. But why ruin all the fun? The other two seemed excited, so he stood up and helped move the coffee table full of Uno cards off to the side while Sugar and Al set up.

Seth had greatly underestimated how much of a workout this was going to be. After the first few songs, he was feeling the heat and had to take his jacket off. Nevertheless, he was having fun, and it was clear that Al and his Boo were in their element.

"Don't Stop Me Now " was the straw that broke the camel's back. Seth, exhausted and embarrassingly sweaty, retired to the couch. He continued to watch as the couple in front of him continued to kill it song after song.

How the hell are they able to play this long? He thought with a small chuckle

"HA, MEGASTAR! TAKE THAT BOO." Alphonse yelled triumphantly throwing his hands up in the air.

"Nice to see you catching up after such a long losing streak," they replied smugly, jabbing at his side playfully.

"I promise that won't last long, prepare to say goodbye to your crown after this one." They said, readying up the next song.

Before the song even started, Sugar was posed and ready, Al following not too far behind once the characters fazed onto the screen.

Seth's eyebrows furrowed as Sugar effortlessly struck a "perfect" on every move while Al struggled to regain his lead.

"Uhh Sugar… how often do you play this game?" he laughed. With a quick jump and spin, they were facing Seth. He sat up in his seat a little more, shocked (and honestly a little concerned) as he watched the screen while Sugar continued to hit every move on the mark.

"There's a solid chance you could beat me in just about any other video game, but Just Dance is my shit. I can't tell you how many of these I have memorized!" They smiled sweetly, striking a golden "YEAH" pose, before jumping back around to finish off the song as normal.

"It's not fair, you had that song completely memorized," Al complained as he plopped onto the couch next to Seth.

"Alright alright you two, haven't those crème brulés chilled long enough? I think it's time for dessert!" Seth said eagerly.

"Oh yeah! I wanna burn the sugar on the top of mine!" Al said scrambling for the blowtorch on the kitchen counter.

"Ugh we better go watch him before he sets something on fire," Sugar smiled as they followed Alphonse into the kitchen.

♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。♫⋆｡♪₊˚♬゚。˚♬゚。♫⋆｡

The End <3

[maggiedelusional]

Been Here Along (Preview)

Summary: Why are you so good at helping your best friend with his relationship problems? Probably because you've been doing it your entire life. Unrequited love is a bitch, especially if it has spanned several decades. Maybe he'll come to his senses, or maybe its time to give someone else a chance.

Warnings: Angst (but do you really expect anything else from me?), cursing

Length: 1.4k

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x F!Reader, Jake "Hangman" Seresin x F!reader

A/N: The summer is here and for the first time in 4 years I am not studying or working so you better bet my days will be empty and just for writing. This is one of two things I currently have in the works. This one specifically is looking like a one-shot (or two-three shot). The other one is looking like a series, and hopefully I can post the first part in the near future. But here is the preview of been here all along, let me know if you're intrigued and want more <3

“I don’t understand women.” Rooster says with a sigh, plopping himself down on the bar stool next to you. 

You and Phoenix, who was sitting on the stool to the other side of you share a look of light amusement before turning back to the mustached aviator. 

“It’s like they say one thing, and then mean another? Why can’t women be normal?” He groaned into the counter. 

“What do you mean by that Bradshaw?” Phoenix narrowed her eyes at her friend.

You inwardly chuckled before joining Nat in her joking disapproval. 

“Yeah, are you saying women aren’t normal? In our day in age of 2023,you, Bradley Bradshaw have the audacity to say something so misogynistic in the presence of women!”

“You know I always saw you as a friend, but this interaction has me questioning the entire foundation of our friendship.” 

You and Nat were struggling to keep your laughter down as Rooster continued to groan into the counter. 

“Introducing you two to one another has been one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had.” Rooster grumbled as he finally picked his head up from the bar counter. 

“Phoenix is my fucking soulmate, we would’ve been best friends with or without you.” You stuck your tongue out at him.

“I thought I was your best friend.” He pouted. 

“You’re my oldest friend, there's a difference.” You told him teasingly. 

“Sucks to suck Bradshaw, I’m just way cooler than you.” Phoenix poked fun at her fellow pilot. 

“I can’t believe you’re laughing at my misery, you used to love to fix my problems.” He muttered. 

“Okay okay, I’m done. What’s up Roost?” You chuckled, flashing him a concerned smile. 

“It's Abi.” 

“And that's my cue.” Phoenix hopped off her bar stool. 

“It’s time for me to kick Hangman’s ass at pool again.” She announced as she walked towards the other pilots.

“Why does she do that?” Rooster asked as she walked off.

You shrugged in response.

This was a common occurrence, Phoenix often leaves whenever Rooster starts talking about his girlfriend. She seems to do this whenever any of the guys talk about their relationships. Phoenix was very much a free bird and had no interest in the little details of people’s love lives. Even though everyone can definitely see the little flirtation she has going on with Coyote. 

“So what's wrong with Abi?” You asked, turning your body to face Rooster. 

“She’s pissed at me.”

“Again?”

Abigail was a bartender that Rooster met at a bar in the city on a night that the group decided to venture away from the Hard Deck for a change. She was on the younger side, well younger compared to the dagger squad and of course Rooster.

But she was sweet and kind and beautiful and caught Rooster’s eye that fateful night. From there they had a bit of whirlwind romance. They were together every single night and there was a good stretch of time where your group of pilots didn’t see Rooster outside of work.

Can you really blame him though? Abi was the ghost of Grace Kelly, all delicate features with light green eyes that draw you in. 

She had the sweetest voice and the personality to match. You’ve never met anyone who is as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. 

Her and Rooster seemed perfect…if you were an outsider.

“What did you do?” 

“I have no clue! She knows that tomorrow is my only day off for a while and I needed to blow off some steam and get a drink tonight.” 

“Okay..?”

“Then a few minutes ago, she called me asking where I was and I told her that I’m here doing exactly what I told her I was gonna do.”

“she asked why not grab a drink at her bar. And I told her that it’s too far and the guys hate it there.”

“Then she got pissed.”

It made sense now, Abi and Rooster hadn’t been together for a long time and their issues only really started as little tiffs, a few arguments here and there, but the past few weeks have been pretty rough, especially for a newer relationship. 

You suppose it has something to do with the longer hours at work. This new TOPGUN class was definitely harrowing to the crew and there was also having to be prepped for any incoming mission. 

“Brad, you’re an idiot.” 

“Hey! I thought you were gonna help me!”

“I am!”

“think about it…. what was the last thing she got mad about?”

“When I slept through our planned date because of the long hours….oh”

Realization finally replaced the confused look on his face. 

“She thought because I have a day off..”

“Keep going Roost, you’re almost there.”

“That I would spend the night with her.” He finished.

“Ding, ding, Ding! We have a winner folks!” You stood up dramatically announcing with a game show host voice. 

You held an invisible microphone up to your lips. 

“Attention folks! It was a toss-up there for a second. But I am proud to announce the winner of “Why is your girlfriend mad?”... BRADLEY “ROOSTER” BRADSHAW!!”

Your gaggle of pilots cheered from the other side of the bar, whooping and hollering at your bit, receiving raised eyebrows from the other patrons but mostly indifference as they have grown accustomed to your regular hijinks. 

“Congratulations sir, any words from the winner?”

You held an invisible mic to to his face, Rooster leaning into the imaginary mic. 

“Hello yes I would like to thank my parents, my uncle, the bartenders, my fellow pilots, and this beer from the tap, all of which have contributed to my cluelessness towards women. WIthout you all I would not be here.” 

“No thank you for me?” You raised an eyebrow. 

Rooster chuckled at your antics as you sat back down on your bar stool. 

“So what am I supposed to do?” 

“Bradley please don’t make me spell it out for you. Its right there.” 

You pointed your eyes at the phone sitting in his pocket. 

“Oh, okay. I should call!”

“Yesssss and do what???.” 

“Apologize?” 

“You got it! Finally I was getting tired over here. Hosting this game show is hard work.” You whistled wiping a fake sweat off your forehead. 

“Thanks, woods!” He exclaimed as he quickly stood up and made his way out to the back deck to call Abi. 

You watched his retreating figure enter the darkness of the night as you sighed into the back of your hand propped up by your elbow on the bar. 

“So are you some kind of masochist?” 

You quickly jumped, surprised at the sudden presence coming from the bar stool that was occupied by Phoenix several minutes ago. 

“God Bagman, please refrain from giving the host a heart attack.” 

He chuckled at your reaction. 

“Game show host huh? Bit of the week?”

“More like the night, I’m gonna workshop a few things before I make my final decision.”

“Is that so?”

“Gotta keep y’all dorks entertained somehow.” You shrugged. 

“That you do Woods.” 

“So what do you mean about me being a masochist?” You raised an eyebrow. 

“That” He pointed at Bradley on the back porch passionately talking into the phone, you couldn’t tell if it was a negative or positive emotion but it looked intense. 

But despite that he looked radiant against the light that emanated from the full moon tonight. He never failed to take your breath away. 

“What about Rooster?” You turned back to Hangman. 

“Come on dollface, I’m not blind.”

“You know Bagman, I’m surprised you’re capable of seeing things outside of your personal radius.” 

“See? If even I can see it then that tells you how obvious this little crush is.” 

His statement left your mouth hanging open. 

“I.. I can’t believe you-- how dare.” 

He kept an amused smirk as you stumble over your words. 

“You know you only make it harder on yourself when you fix his relationship problems for him.”

“I don’t-” 

He cut you off with a chuckle as he turned away back to the direction of the pool tables.

“Its okay Woods, i get it, just make sure you know what you’re doing.” 

He left with you that last piece of advice as he walked away. 

As much as you denied it. Hangman was right. You probably have loved Bradley your whole life.

Will be creating a new taglist for this work :)

[goldvenuslvrs]

Mission: Get Kiara a Girlfriend

Summary: Kiara Carrera and Y/N Y/L/N are in love, but they seem to be the only ones that aren't aware of that fact. thankfully, Sarah Cameron is a woman on a mission - get Kiara a girlfriend

Pairing: Kiara Carrera x fem!plus sized!reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: jealous!kie, the pogues in their scheming era

Author's Note: my old writing was legit ass so i decided to rewrite this and just fyi all reader characters are plus sized, might rewrite a few more of my early imagines bc i reckon i can improve them a bunch <3

GIF by obxfix

Sarah Cameron loved her friends.

She especially loved Kiara Carrera. 

During their time apart, Sarah had forgotten what it felt like to have Kiara Carrera as a friend. She was fierce and determined and, most of all, stubborn as a mule, which is why the current status of your and Kiara’s relationship didn’t come as a shock to her. 

If there was one thing she knew about Kiara, it was that she never wanted to risk a friendship for the possibility of romance. It was the reason she enforced the ‘no pogue on pogue macking’ rule so heavily. 

Sarah hopped off her bike and made her way to the deck of John B’s. She rolled her eyes affectionately at the pair of girls on the couch. They were completely wrapped up in each other and it didn’t seem like you noticed the boys sitting around you, let alone Sarah’s entrance. It was only John B’s happy exclaim of “Sarah!” that brought the two of you out of your little bubble.

You pulled yourself out of Kiara’s arms and moved to sit next to her instead to give Sarah room to sit, although neither of you seemed happy with it. 

John B had been more than happy to fill her in on the kiara-and-y/n situation as soon as they had started dating; according to him, the two of you had been lowkey flirting and tiptoeing around each for as long as he could remember.

After she had been subjected to watching the longing looks and quick glances when you thought the other wasn’t looking, Sarah had officially had enough.

Sarah decided that something needed to be done. It was tiring and, frankly, sad to watch you and Kiara pretend you didn’t have feelings for each other. 

An idea came to her as she watched the pair of you attempt to keep yourself from holding onto each other.

“I’m getting a drink,” Sarah announced out of nowhere, standing up and pointedly ignoring the doubtful look her boyfriend was giving her. She caught JJ’s gaze and tilted her head towards the door, “Give me a hand.” It wasn’t a request.

“Yes, ma’am,” He muttered.

“JJ-”

“You’re hot Sarah but I can’t do that to my boy,” He said as soon as they entered the kitchen. He jumped up onto the countertop and picked up a day-old piece of pizza, wolfing it down. “Has he pissed you off or something? Is it your birthday present? I told him not to get you that-”

“There’s nothing wrong with John B!” She scolded and crossed her arms. 

“Debatable but continue.”

“JJ!” She shook her head and sighed. “We need to do something about those two.” She pointed towards the door. They could see through the window that you had returned to your place in Kiara’s arms and you both looked content with the arrangement.

He huffed in response. “You think we haven’t thoughts of that already? I’ve tried, Pope’s tried, even John B has but nothing gets through to them. It’s better to just leave them to it, they’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Not good enough,” She insisted. “If we don’t do anything about it, they’ll be in their thirties and still pining over each other. Besides, when you tried before, you were missing one very important piece.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“Me,” She said, a strong undercurrent of ‘duh!’ in her tone. “I’ve played matchmaker for tons of people and I have a 100% success rate. Don’t you want them to be happy?”

JJ jumped off the counter and swung the door to the fridge open, pulling out a small bottle of water. “Obviously I do but I’m telling you that it’s not gonna work.”

“What did you guys try last time?”

“We basically did what we did to you and Kie but that didn’t do anything really, they just hung out. John B suggested that we set them up on blind dates with each other but when they saw it was just them, they invited us along and we couldn’t exactly say no. I tried the whole ‘hitting on Kie in front of Y/N’ thing but she just got all quiet and didn’t talk to me for like a week,” He pouted. “Longest week of my life, by the way.”

Sarah nodded, pursing her lips in thought. “Alright then, so we’ll try that last one again. We’ll just have to switch it up.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Huh?”

She pushed herself up onto the kitchen counter, opposite where JJ was sitting, and continued to detail the plan, “Last time, you tried flirting with Kie, right? That’s where you went wrong, Y/N got jealous and insecure but she’s not the confrontational type but Kie is so this time, flirt with Y/N instead but make it more believable, no corny pickup lines.”

“Corny?” He was indignant. “I never say corny-”

“Just,” Sarah said, clearly impatient. “Make a few flirty comments here and there. The rest of us will work on Kie.”

“What are we working on?” John B, Pope and Cleo were in the entrance to the kitchen, looking particularly perplexed. 

John B narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend and raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed, “Are you scheming again?”

“No!”

“Yes, she is,” JJ huffed and jumped down from the counter, “Control your woman!”

Sarah couldn’t bring herself to sit still, instead choosing to swing her legs and tap her fingers on the tops of her thighs, “We were just-”

“She! She was just!” JJ interrupted frantically, pointing at her and crossing his arms over his chest, “ I want no part of this, I’d rather not face Kie’s wrath again.”

“We,” Sarah maintained whilst sending JJ a loaded stare. “Are planning what we’re going to do about the two love birds in there. It’s going to work, I promise, I’ve done this plenty of times.”

“Oh, really?” Pope asked sarcastically. “You’ve set up one of the most stubborn people on the island with one of the most oblivious people on the island before, have you? What makes you think this time is going to be any different? It’s just going to end up with them being pissed off at us again, the only difference is that you’ll have to suffer through their moping as well.”

Cleo shook her head at her boyfriend’s dramatics, pulling a beer can out of the fridge, “The man’s got a point.”

John B nodded, “They don’t like people meddling in their weird relationship, especially Kie.”

“I know what I’m doing,” She turned to face JJ, “I need you to up the flirting with Y/N, not just when Kie’s around, make sure you do it all the time so she doesn’t catch on.”

The others exchanged a series of sceptical looks. Sarah’s plan seemed pretty solid in theory but none of them had the desire to risk the anger of either of the girls. Even Cleo, who hadn’t been around for the previous plans, could tell that there would be pretty dire consequences if they failed. 

While your anger was more of the silent-whilst-plotting-a-murder type, Kiara was more likely to drown them and/or restrict their joint and alcohol consumption, which in JJ’s eyes was just as bad, if not worse.

“Sarah-” 

“Just, I don’t know,” She sighed, exasperated. “Follow my lead or stay out of the way and JJ, do your thing,” She clapped and rubbed her hands together devilishly before walking past them into the living room.

The sight she was greeted with when she entered made her heart melt.

The two girls were no longer where they had been left, they had migrated from the floor in front of the couch to the couch itself but they were still too wrapped up in one another to notice that the others had left to begin with, let alone that they had returned. 

“Are we watching this or not?” You asked, nodding towards the TV which had the menu screen of ‘The Black Phone’ loaded up. 

“Depends,” JJ launched himself onto the couch next to you with a grin on his face and threw his arms around your shoulder, “Can I hold you if I get scared?”

Kiara pursed her lips in annoyance and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary, JJ, just cuddle Pope instead.”

“Um, dude,” John B announced, “Go get them, you might want to take Y/N with you.”

Sarah inwardly groaned, they needed to work on his lying abilities because this was just painful.

Kiara’s head shot up from where it was tucked into your neck, and her arms wrapped around your waist and gripped you tighter. Her eyes were set in a glare that landed on John B, making him fight back a flinch. “Why can’t you or Pope go with him? We’re comfy.”

“I’ve, um,” John B. stuttered and looked to Pope for help, which ended up being futile since his fellow pogue decided that staring at his phone was a better use of his time. “I’ve got to set up the TV, it’s gotta be done a specific way, and Pope is waiting for a phone call or something, I don’t know.”

“Real convincing,” JJ scoffed under his breath. He stood up and pulled you to your feet, ripping you out of Kiara’s grip. “Come on, Angel, let’s go.”

“Angel?” You and Kiara chorused. Your facial expression was one of pure confusion whilst Kiara’s was one of pure disgust. 

“I don’t know, I’m trying something,” He shrugged. “Come on, I need a beer if you’re planning on making me watch this.”

As soon as you and JJ were out of sight, Kiara turned to face the remaining pogues that were left looking out the door after them. “I thought you were getting snacks, John B,” She laughed sarcastically and raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to do with those two anyway? She’s not interested.”

Pope tilted his head in faux confusion and shrugged at her. “What do you mean? We just figured that maybe it was time for JJ to, you know, have a relationship that lasted more than one night before he ended up with an STD and who better than Y/N?”

Kiara pressed her lips together and clenched her jaw. “Why Y/N, though? Doesn’t she deserve better than just being someone to stop JJ from sleeping around, besides doesn’t he have a date tonight? He was bragging about it all day yesterday.”

Kiara was the only one he had mentioned the impending date to which briefly threw them for a loop. John B met Sarah’s gaze with an imploring stare, practically begging her to come up with someone as quickly as possible. Pope and Cleo had become extremely interested in Pope’s phone, actively ignoring the rest of the people in the room. 

“Well,” Sarah began, settling into your previous place next to Kiara and she made a point to keep her gaze on anything but the other girl in an attempt to seem more nonchalant, “JJ was just telling us that things have changed between them lately, I guess? You should have heard him last night. Apparently, they went surfing the other day and got pretty close, he reckons she’s gonna say yes if he asks her out and he’s asking her out now.”

Kiara’s gaze whipped towards the door of the Chateau, a sour expression taking over her features, “It’s like she gonna say ‘yes’,” She scoffed and shook her head, “She’s never brought him up like that once and he’s not her type anyway.”

“Well,” Pope remarked, looking up from his phone to meet her gaze. “You are pretty intense about the whole no-pogue-on-pogue-macking thing, maybe she was scared you’d be mad if she mentioned it.”

“I mean,” Cleo said, clearly catching on to Pope’s thin of thinking, “Rudeboy isn’t my type but I’m not blind.”

Kiara folded her arms across her chest and tucked her legs underneath her body, taking turns to glare at each of the remaining pogues, “She wouldn’t, he’s too… JJ for her.

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive.

As she muttered those words, JJ walked through the door, carrying two cases of beer, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He chuckled, dropping the cases onto the coffee table. 

“Nothing,” The others murmured. JJ looked suspiciously at the annoyed look on Kiara’s face and the almost identical deer-caught-in-the-headlights look that the rest were sporting.

John B clapped his hands after worryingly glancing around the room, “Okay so the movie’s all set up and snacks are ready. There’s no more need to talk about anything. JJ, get the curtains and Pope, get the lights, and we’ll get started then.”

Kiara nudged Sarah in her side to move further away from her in order to make room for you, who quickly and quite happily turned to your position in her arms.

Sarah and John B made themselves comfortable on the old, worn-out armchair beside them. Pope claimed the last space on the edge of the couch, with Cleo lounging on the floor between his legs. JJ, once again, launched himself onto the couch beside you, which was quite a tight fit given that the aforementioned couch was certainly not made for four people.

It took Kiara roughly ten and a half minutes before she was completely fed up and called it quits. JJ had somehow found plenty of opportunities to flirt with you, more than Kiara would consider appropriate.

“I’ve changed my mind,” She declared, her tone was harsh and her lips pressed into a thin line, and untangled herself from you to angrily storm out the door, trying and clearly failing to keep her anger at bay. 

You glanced around in confusion, trying to meet your friends' gazes to determine the reason for Kiara’s sudden departure but came up empty. You weren’t completely oblivious, you saw the stoney glares that she had been sending to JJ but you figured that was just typical jj-being-an-idiot glares rather than anything else. You frowned, glancing between the TV screen and the door a few times before making up your mind; jumping up from the couch, you walked outside with clear purpose in your strides.

The pogues shared a triumphant look and ran towards the window, pulling the curtains open and preparing to watch their work come to fruition. JJ was relieved when they watched you join Kiara on a hammock, he’d had enough flirting with his best friends for a lifetime.

You and Kiara were far enough away that they couldn’t quite catch what you were saying but they figured that it was positive based on your and Kiara’s matching smiles. They cheered amongst themselves when they saw you lean over to pull her closer and watched as she laid her head in the crook of your neck. 

Sarah turned around with a smug look on her face, “Told you.”

Kiara couldn’t but smile into your neck and run her fingers up and down your side, playing with the hem of your shirt, “Did JJ ask you anything when you guys went to get the beer?” She wondered out loud.

You paused, pulling your fingers from where they had been in Kiara’s hair, untangling some of the strands, “Kind of, we talked about his tonight and he wanted fashion advice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” You chuckled, shaking your head, “He’s really excited, it’s adorable.”

Kiara’s tilted her head up and pouted at you, “Not as adorable as your girlfriend, though, right?”

You gave her an unimpressed look and pressed your lips to her forehead, “As adorable as JJ is, he doesn’t compare to you. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

“No one else could deal with listening to your stupid ass conspiracy theories all day,” She joked, wrapping her arms around your waist and burying her face in your neck again.

“Well, that’s rude.”

“Still love me?”

“Duh.”

“You know, they’ve been trying to get us together all day,” Kiara noted, staring up at the clouds through the tree branches.

“I know, they’re not exactly subtle about it, are they?”

“Should we have told them?”

“Nah.”

an: i'm terrible at endings but what do you think? let me know in the replies/reblogs and send me any requests you have <3

[tinynerdz360]

Future Ghost chapter 6

Danny, in short, was screwed. He stared down at his communicator message. His hack job into his medical files didn’t fool the CMO. Dr. Mccoy was demanding he report immediately to sickbay.

Danny felt almost sick to his stomach…. he couldn’t do this. Maybe if he pretended, he never saw the message, he could avoid this until he had some sort of plan. On one hand, he could just try to overshadow the doctor and make up his medical data that way.

But the idea of overshadowing ----basically possessing anyone on the ship, didn’t sit right with Danny. A huge part of him felt like that would blow up in his face if he were discovered. Nobody liked the idea of something being able to take away one’s free will.

Danny knew that it was probably just a matter of time before something happened where the truth would have to come to light, but he couldn’t bring himself to face it. He felt too scared. How could he ever begin to explain? He never had to explain it to someone before.

Danny wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. To distract himself from his anxiety and fear, he ignored the message and headed to engineering. Maybe getting some work done would help calm his nerves.

*****

"Ensign Fenton!" Scotty's voice rang out across the engineering deck as Danny tried to slip quietly to his station. "A word in my office, lad."

Danny's heart sank. He reluctantly followed Scotty into his office, the door hissing shut behind them. Scotty gestured for Danny to take a seat and leaned back against his desk, arms crossed.

"I just got off the comm with Dr. McCoy," Scotty began, a hint of amusement in his voice. "He sounded mad as a hornet. What did ye do to get under the good doctor's skin?"

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I... I might have missed a medical appointment."

"Aye, that'll do it." Scotty chuckled. "Listen, lad, I don't know what transpired between you two, but the doc's just lookin' out for your well-being. He's got the crew's best interests at heart, even when he's spittin' fire."

Danny nodded; his gaze fixed on the floor. *I can't let them find out. They'll kick me off the ship for sure. *

Scotty's expression softened as he noticed Danny's nervousness. "I know nobody likes gettin' poked and prodded, but these check-ups are necessary. It's part of keepin' a healthy crew, and it's regulation."

"I understand, sir." Danny's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Medical needs to keep proper records on everyone, Ensign. It's for your own safety and the safety of the crew. We can't have you workin' if you're not fit for duty."

Danny's mind raced. *I have to come up with an excuse. Something believable. * "I... I'm just not comfortable with doctors, sir. Bad experiences in the past."

Scotty nodded sympathetically, his eyes drawn to Danny’s electrical scares and Lichtenberg figures that adorned his wrist all the way up his arm; Scotty always wondered why the lad didn’t get dermal treatment for those. "Aye, I can understand that. But Dr. McCoy's a professional. He'll take good care of you."

*If only it were that simple. * Danny thought, his stomach twisting into knots.

"I'm afraid I can't let you back on shift until you've gotten a clean bill of health from sickbay," Scotty continued. "Them's the rules, lad. I'm sure whatever's got you worried, Dr. McCoy will handle it with discretion."

Danny forced a smile, knowing he had no choice. "Yes, sir. I'll head to sickbay right away."

Scotty clapped him on the shoulder as he stood. "That's the spirit, laddie. Remember, Dr. McCoy's bark is worse than his bite. He's just lookin' out for you."

As Danny left Scotty's office, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that settled in his chest. *I’m not ready…... I don’t know if I can do this.*

Danny walked through the corridors of the Enterprise, his mind consumed with worry. *What if they find out I'm half-ghost? What if they realize I've been lying about my age? * The thought made his palms sweat.

Lost in thought, he nearly collided with a crewman carrying a stack of PADDs. "Sorry," Danny mumbled, sidestepping the officer.

*I need to calm down, * he told himself, taking a deep breath. *Panicking won't help. *

Danny's heart raced as he approached the doors to the sickbay. He hesitated, just out of the door scanner to grant entry. *I can't do this, * he thought, panic rising in his chest. *They'll never accept me. *

He stepped back, running a hand through his messy black hair. *Scotty said I can't return to duty until I get cleared by Dr. McCoy, but...* Danny glanced around, making sure he was alone. *Maybe I can just hide out for a while, pretend I went to the checkup. *

Danny turned on his heel and hurried away from sickbay, his mind racing. He couldn't risk exposure and couldn't bear the thought of being sent away, hunted, or experimented on.

As he walked, he tried to come up with a plan. *I just need some time…...I need somewhere to clear my head. *

An idea slowly formed in Danny’s mind. *That will help…...* With a new purpose in his step. Danny set forth to his new destination.

**** Danny's breath misted the visor of the space suit as he fiddled with the tether, securing it to his belt. The vastness of space beckoned him, an ocean of darkness speckled with distant suns. His heart raced with the thought of what he was about to do—no one had ever tried to swim in the void as a ghost. But his core sang with happiness, and he felt his space obsession delight in what he was doing. He felt his worry and fear melt away. He felt happy and full.

"Okay, Fenton," he muttered to himself, checking the seals on his suit one last time. "Time to see what you're really made of."  Danny allowed his ghost side to wash over his human form. Triggering his transformation into Phantom. Before doing this, he had made sure to mess with the security footage in this room.

He hesitated at the airlock door, but with a deep breath he didn’t need, he turned his body intangible and phased through the door. No need to alert anyone to his presence by triggering an alarm with the opening of the airlock door.

"Here goes nothing." With those words, he floated out. His legs merge into this ghostly tail. He felt the light as a feather. His ghost side gave a sigh of relief. It felt like he could finally stretch his legs after being cramped for so long. Before really getting into his space swim. He made sure to latch his tether to the handle on the ship's side. The last thing he wanted was to get stranded out in space. For the starship to leave him behind. Danny did not want to imagine getting lost in space. He was unsure how long he would last or if it would lead to a second death for him.

He pushed off into the nothingness, the tether his only lifeline to reality.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he floated away from the ship, his ghostly form shimmering like a mirage. Danny looked down at his hands, now translucent and glowing with an eerie light, and then up at the stars. They seemed so close he could almost touch them.

The silence of space was profound, but Danny's excitement filled the void. He twirled and dove, the tether spiraling out behind him. For a moment, he forgot about sick bay, McCoy's relentless pursuit, and the hunger that gnawed at him endlessly. Danny had found that he was also struggling to have a proper diet. It was so hard to balance his ghostly and human needs. It felt like his ghostly side was slowly starving. Danny felt like it was the lack of ectoplasm to eat. Which meant he had to work harder to feed his obsessions and eat more in his human form. But it was harder to get approved for more in his meal plan. And it would set off red flags with the amount he would need to eat.

*I’ll be fine; I’ve survived worse……. * Danny reassured himself.

He spun around, taking in the panoramic view of the universe that sprawled before him, a frontier vaster than any sea. The stars twinkled each one a secret, each one a story waiting to be told. Danny let himself relax and his thoughts quiet down.

With a contented sigh, he reeled himself in, the tether guiding him back to the ship. Once inside, Danny phased back into his human form.

As relaxing as that was, it did help calm his nerves. Danny still couldn’t make himself go to sickbay. *I need more time……I guess I better find another distraction. *

*****

"Dammit, where is that boy?" Dr. McCoy grumbled under his breath as he navigated the labyrinthine corridors of the ship. The Ensign had managed to avoid him for three days now. Scotty offered to enact disciplinary action if this continued but also shared with Mccoy how nervous the boy seemed. Mccoy had declined, saying they could chew the ensign out once he dragged him to sickbay.

At this point, McCoy took this whole thing as a challenge. He would drag that boy into sick bay by the scruff of his neck if he had to. This also confirmed to Mccoy that the ensign was hiding something. And likely violated multiple Starfleet regulations. The only reason McCoy didn’t just wash his hands of it and bring this to Jim and court Marshall the kid was because something in his gut told him to handle this personally first, and the kid hadn’t done anything maliciously.

Mccoy mumbled to himself, "That kid's dodging me like I'm a rogue comet."

Currently, Mccoy is heading to the mess hall. The last location the computer listed the ensign to be. It was driving Mccoy up the wall that the computer kept malfunctioning as well when asked about the ensign. It also puzzled Mccoy how Fenton’s been able to slip out without him noticing, especially in places with only one exit. Mccoy tried really hard not to be impressed by that. He would not be outdone. Also, Jim would never let him live it down that he let an ensign pull one over him.

***

"Checkmate in four moves, Danny," Tina declared with a triumphant smirk, sliding her knight across the chessboard.

"Are you sure?" Danny quipped, hovering his hand over a bishop as he scrutinized the board. "Because I think you missed—"

"Missed nothing," Tina interjected with confidence. "I've seen Chekov play; trust me, I've learned from the best."

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair, exaggerating his bow as he conceded the game. "Alright, alright, Yeoman Lawton, I yield to your superior strategy."

"Better luck next time," she said, beginning to reset the pieces for another round.

"Actually, Danny," Ensign Kas Th'qaakress interrupted, her antennae twitching with concern, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's up?" Danny asked, turning towards the Andorian ensign, hoping to steer away from any serious topics.

"It's about sick bay," Kas began hesitantly. "Dr. McCoy is really worried about you. You've been dodging him for days now.”

"Is he?" Danny feigned surprise, knowing full well the cat-and-mouse game he'd been playing with the doctor. "I'm just not a fan of sick bays, that's all."

"Look, I get it," Kas reassured him with a gentle smile. "But he's only trying to help. And between us, you're driving him a little insane, which, as my boss, makes my life harder."

"Me? Drive someone insane?" He tried to keep his tone light, but a flicker of guilt was behind his eyes.

"Ha, yes, you," Kas replied with a soft laugh. "He really cares, you know. Despite the gruff exterior, Dr. McCoy is one of the kindest souls on this ship. And, well, if you're scared, I can go with you. Moral support and all that."

"Actually, I've always had this... phobia of sick bays," Danny stammered, watching Kas's antennae twitch ever so slightly—a sign, he'd learned, of her concern or curiosity. "Sterile rooms, weird smells, it just freaks me out."

"Phobia?" Kas tilted her head, her blue skin catching the light from the overhead lamps. "You know, phobias can be treated in sickbay—"

"Which is ironic, isn't it?" Danny cut in with a nervous chuckle.

"Listen," Kas leaned in, her voice low and earnest. “You could get into a lot of trouble if you keep doing this…... I don’t want to see you get in that kind of trouble. You’re really pushing McCoy’s buttons here, and he’s giving you a lot of chances here. Can you at least think about going in today? Like I said, I’ll go with you.”

"Thanks, Kas," Danny said, a genuine smile touching his lips. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Promise?" she pressed, her black eyes locking onto his.

"I’ll try," he replied, but he couldn’t see himself walking into sickbay by himself.

Before Kas could reply, Daryl Mcdonnell approached their table with a half-eaten plate of food. "Mind if I join you guys for a bit?" He asked, already sitting down.

"Of course, Don," Danny replied, scooting over to make room.

Kas greeted Darlyn with a bright smile, and they quickly fell into conversation about the latest scientific readings from the ship's scanners. Danny joined where he could, but his gaze drifted to the untouched portion of Daryl's meal. He felt the gnawing hunger inside him intensify—his ghost half was hungrier than he'd anticipated today.

"Hey, kid," Daryl suddenly said, pushing his plate toward Danny. "I'm not going to finish this. Why don't you help yourself?"

Danny hesitated, knowing full well that eating too much would raise questions he wasn't ready to answer. But the instinctual pull was too strong, and he found himself nodding gratefully. "Thanks. I'm actually really hungry today."

Daryl hummed in response and then said, "I missed you in Engineering these past couple of days. Have you settled that issue with sickbay yet?"

As Danny ate, the relief of satiating his hunger was overshadowed by the sharp spike of anxiety at Daryl’s question.

“What? How do you know about that? OMG, how many people know about that?” Danny stared in dawning horror, thinking the whole ship might be aware of his avoidance of sickbay.

“Well, I don’t know how many people know, per se; engineering knows, probably all of medical…. I will say this is really feeding the rumor mill.” Daryl remarked.

“WHAT!? Rumor mill……what do you mean?” Danny stuttered with clear panic in his voice.

“Hey easy there, it’s nothing bad…...Look kid, we’re all stuck on this ship in the middle of nowhere, there are rumors for everyone and…...gossip and news travels fast.”

Before Danny could give a snarky remark or demand answers in a calm, totally not panicked way. He stiffened. He felt the familiar presence of the ship's CMO. Over the past few days, Danny has been honing his ghost senses to pick up on Dr. Mccoy’s essence and emotional output. This had given him the time to run away.

“I…...never mind…...I’ll be right back.” With that, Danny hastily got up and moved quickly to the replicators. He couldn’t go to the exit, the doctor felt close, and there wouldn’t be enough time to turn invisible without being spotted. In panic, Danny crawled under the nearest table. He couldn’t afford to worry about how many people may have witnessed him hide under a mass hall table like a weirdo.

Kas shifted uneasily. She'd glimpsed Danny diving under a table across the room seconds before Dr. McCoy strode in, brow furrowed and mouth a grim line.

McCoy halted at their table. "Any of you seen Ensign Fenton?" His glare could melt hull plating.

Tina and Daryl exchanged glances. Kas bit her lip. She couldn't lie to McCoy. But Danny was avoiding sickbay for a reason...

McCoy's eyes narrowed. "Well?"

Kas's antennae twitched. She had to say something. Slowly, she pointed to the table. McCoy raised an eyebrow.

"He's under there," Kas mouthed.

Daryl shot her a look. Tina scowled.

Kas's stomach knotted with guilt and worry. *What was Danny hiding? He needed help, even if he refused to admit it. *

Danny held his breath under the table, invisible. His heart hammered against his ribs. McCoy knew.

McCoy stomped over to the table, his face like a thundercloud. "Ensign Fenton!" he barked. "If you think hiding under there will work, you've got another thing coming!"

Danny flinched at the fury in McCoy's voice. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"If I have to bend down and drag you out myself, there will be hell to pay!" McCoy growled. "I'll make sure your physical is extra unpleasant!"

Danny hugged his knees tighter to his chest. Maybe if he stayed perfectly still...

McCoy's foot tapped an impatient rhythm. "I'm counting to three, Ensign. One..."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut.

"Two..."

His muscles tensed, ready to bolt.

"Three!" McCoy dropped to his knees and ducked his head under the table. "All right, you little--"

He froze. Blinked. Staring at the empty space.

Danny held his breath, invisible, hardly daring to move.

Slowly, McCoy straightened up. He whirled to face Kas, eyes blazing. "Well?" he demanded.

Kas's antennae quivered. "I swear, Doctor, he went under there! I saw him!"

"It's true," Daryl chimed in. "Impressive, really. Kid gave us the slip."

McCoy's jaw clenched. He clearly didn't believe them.

Whipping out his communicator, McCoy snapped, "Computer, locate Ensign Fenton."

"Ensign Fenton is in the Mess Hall," the computer replied.

McCoy threw up his hands. "Blasted useless technology! Been on the fritz all week." He looked back at Daryl and Kas; Mccoy took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He did a quick count to ten, calming his temper. “If you see him, please tell him to go to sickbay.”

As McCoy stormed out, Danny let out a shaky breath. That was close. Too close.

He couldn't keep this up forever. Sooner or later, his secret would come out.

He just needed a little more time.

Hours ticked by. The Mess Hall gradually emptied out as crewmembers finished their meals and headed off to their duties or leisure activities.

Danny remained hidden, invisible, under the table. His legs were starting to cramp, but he didn't dare move.

Where could he go? His quarters weren't safe. McCoy might come looking for him there.

And then there was Weston. Danny's roommate had been suspicious from the start, always watching him, asking probing questions Danny couldn't answer.

"You're not human," Weston had accused last night, eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you are, but I will find out. And when I do..."

He'd left the threat hanging, but the message was clear: If Weston discovered the truth, it wouldn't end well for Danny.

Danny shivered, hugging himself tighter.

****

"I'm tellin' ya, the lad's been avoidin' me like the plague," Dr. McCoy grumbled, pacing in Scotty's office. "It's been days now, and he still hasn't shown up for his medical clearance. Can't let him back on duty 'til I give the okay."

Scotty leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Aye, the wee ensign hasn't been any trouble in Engineering though. He seems to look up to me as his commanding officer. Tell ya what, Doctor—I'll comm the lad and have him report to my office. You can be waitin' here for him."

McCoy stopped pacing and fixed Scotty with a shrewd look. "And if he still refuses the exam after that?"

"Then we take it to the Captain," Scotty said firmly. "The boy has to follow orders or face disciplinary action, maybe even court-martial, for violatin' Starfleet regs. But let's give him one more chance to come 'round on his own first, eh?"

McCoy nodded slowly. "Alright, one more chance. But I've got a funny feeling about this one, Scotty. Kid's hidin' something; I can feel it in my bones. And I aim to find out what..."

Meanwhile, Danny hurried down the corridor toward Engineering, his heart thudding in his chest. The message from Mr. Scott had sounded urgent—his boss wanted to see him in his office right away. Danny knew it had to be about him avoiding his medical exam...

Danny froze, heart leaping into his throat as he sensed a familiar presence inside Engineering. Dr. McCoy was in there waiting for him. This whole thing had been a trap!

His hands shook as he stared at the closed doors, mind racing for an escape.

Danny nearly jumped out of his skin when a large hand landed on his shoulder. He spun around to find Lt. McDonnell looking down at him, brows knitted with concern.

"Easy there, lad. You alright?" the older man asked. "Looking a mite peaky, if you ask me."

"I-I'm fine," Danny stammered, trying for a smile that felt more like a grimace. "Just heading to see Mr. Scott about...about a project."

Daryl's eyes narrowed. "This wouldn't have anything to do with you dodging your physical, now, would it? Because the CMO is madder than a wet hen over in there."

Danny blanched, mouth opening and closing like a landed fish. "W-what? No! I mean, maybe? I was gonna go, I swear, but I... I got busy?"

The engineer sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I can go in there with you if you need moral support. But you gotta stop running from this, Danny. It's not gonna end well."

Danny looked away, feeling his face heat.

"Is it 'cause you lied about your age, son?" Daryl asked quietly.

Danny's head snapped up, eyes wide with shock and fear. He stared at the lieutenant; mouth suddenly bone dry. After a long moment, he managed a shaky nod.

Daryl huffed, muttering something that sounded like "I knew it" under his breath. He fixed Danny with a sympathetic look.

"I get it, lad. You're scared. But this stuff...it can't stay secret forever. And trust me, the brass? They're a decent bunch. They won't just kick you to the curb the first chance they get."

The older man gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We take care of our own here, Danny. No matter what. You hear me?"

Danny swallowed hard, blinking back the sudden sting of tears. He wasn't used to people actually giving a damn about him. Maybe...maybe it would be okay? If Daryl said, he could trust them...

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Danny squared his shoulders and hit the door control.

Here goes nothing...

Danny barely had time to process Scotty's disappointed frown before Dr. McCoy descended on him like an avenging angel.

"And just where the hell have you been, Ensign?" the doctor growled, already waving his tricorder over Danny's tense form. "I've been trying to track you down for days! You can't just skip out on mandatory physicals, kid. It's against reg-"

McCoy trailed off abruptly, his scowl deepening as he glared at the tricorder readings. He gave it a sharp smack as if that would change the impossible data scrolling across the screen.

Danny's heart hammered against his ribs. Oh god, this was it. McCoy knew. Any second now, he would start demanding answers Danny couldn't give. He'd be kicked out of Starfleet, shipped back to…...who knows where…. what if they just tossed him on a random planet…. deeming him a danger to the crew?

Danny sucked in a shuddery breath; his traitorous eyes kept darting to the door. If he could make a run for it...

Strong fingers wrapped around his upper arm in an unbreakable grip. Danny flinched, head jerking up to meet McCoy's piercing gaze.

"Oh no, you don't," the doctor said, his voice low and intense. "I know that look, Ensign. You even think about rabbiting on me, and I'll have you in restraints before you can blink."

Danny blanched, knees going weak. McCoy must have felt him wobble because his other hand came up to steady him, and his hand on his arm was gentle, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into Danny's bicep.

"Aw hell, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you," he sighed, the fire bleeding out of his tone. "I just want to help. But I can't do that if you keep running from me."

Danny bit his lip, blinking hard against the sudden sting of tears. He was so tired of running, of hiding. Maybe...maybe it was time to stop. But how would he explain any of this?

"I’m sorry," he whispered, his voice small and shaky. "I... I’ll go with you. To sickbay. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble….”

McCoy's face softened, relief etched into the lines around his eyes. "That's all I ask, son. Come on, then. Let's get you checked out properly."

As McCoy led him out of Scotty's office, one strong arm wrapped around his shoulders, Danny was lost in his own mind. He felt weak and scared. What if they hated him, or what if he was too much of a freak? Where would he even start? Would they even believe him? Lost in thought, Danny didn’t notice that he was leaning into Mccoy and the support his hold provided.

Chapter 7

[therealmsdelulu]

Imposter

Prince Eric Masterlist

Summary: You run away after a big fight with your mom, having no other way to escape, you decide to sneak onto the Prince's ship. A little angst if you squint but mostly fluff. Prince Eric x F!Reader.

"Mom," you sighed in frusturation as you attempted to make a point to your mother," would you just listen to me for once?"

"Excuse me," she exclaimed, "but I've tried listening to you time after time but here you go doing it again.”

“For God’s sake mom,” you exhaled, “could you just try to understand me for once?”

“What is there to understand,” she shouted. “That my daughter’s a dissapointment,” she asked rhetorically, “ ‘cause I already knew that."

‘Ouch,’ you thought to yourself as you walked to your room.

"I'm not done talking to you," your mom shouted after you.

"Well I’m done listening ," you rolled your eyes and continued to walk to your room as she shouted after you. You slammed your bedroom door behind you and locked it. Your mom came to the door and begin to aggresively knock demanding that you open it immediately.

You shed a hot tear of frustration as you unlocked your window. You packed a few clothes and hygiene products and snuck out of your window. You listened from outside the house as your mom shouted your name and banged her fists on your bedroom door.

You didn't think this through very much so you were coming up with a plan as you go. You walked down to the shore and noticed that the Prince's ship was being prepared for use.  And then it hit you, the best idea you've ever had,"Im going to get on that boat," you thought out loud. 

You hid your bag behind a rock and quickly ran down to the nearby 'Sailors Shop' and bought some clothes that looked similar to those of the crew and a hat you she could use to hide your hair. 

You went into the bathroom, changed, and pulled your hair back into a low bun and covered it up with a hat. You looked into the mirror and examined yourself closely,' do i look like a man?' you thought to yourself, 'if the men find out I can shapeshift they're going to tell the church' You breifly laughed at your own joke and quickly rushed outside the shop before another woman saw you, who appeared to be a man, in the Women's restroom.

TIME SKIP

You came back to your bag and put it on your shoulders. You grabbed the back pack and sneakily walked up to the deck. You watched carefully as the crew turned their backs to the area you were near. 

You took the oppurtunity and snuck onto the boat and tried your best to blend in. "Hey you," a voice called out , you looked in the direction of the voice and saw the prince. “What are you doing over here?” You resisted the urge to tilt your head in confusion, not wanting to out yourself.

“You’re supposed to be on look out,” he pointed at an area of the ship that had a built in set of binoculars.

“Right,” you agreed and pretended to clear your throat.”I knew that,” you said in an overly deep voice.

“Are you feeling alright,” the prince asked genuinely as he furrowed his brows at you. 

“Im feeling great, captain,” you spoke in the same ‘manly’ voice, “why do you ask.”

“You sound a little bit hoarse,” he commented but eventually left it alone and walked away. You sighed and took a deep breath. 

‘That was close,’ you thought to yourself as you walked towards the look out area, ‘I obviously didn’t think this through.’ You sat at the seat and looked out the binoculars ‘looking’ for any future problems.

MINI TIME SKIP

You abruptly woke up to a gentle tap on your shoulder. “Ah, shit,” you exclaimed in shock quickly covering your mouth and apologizing,” sorry, you scared me”

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” the prince whispered softly. “You appeared to have dropped this,” he stated as he picked up the hat that was covering your hair from off the ground.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself as you realized your cover was blown. “Look, I can explain,” you started as the Prince stared at you expectantly. “Actually theres nothing I can say to validate this,” you said as you realized that you accidentally commited a crime. “I really need to start thinking about the consequences of my actions,” you self evaluated.

“Don’t worry about it,” the Prince assured you as he handed you the hat and your fingers breifly touched as you took the hat and quickly put it back on. “I’ll keep your secret,”

“Thanks,” you sighed in relief, “thats very kind of you”

“I’m sure anyone else would do the same,” he remarked.

“A lot of people aren’t as nice about people trespassing on their property,” you chuckled watching his face in amusement as he realized that you did techincally commit a crime.

“You’re quite the troublemaker, arent you?” he asked rhetorically as he looked at you and laughed with you.

“You’ve caught me,” you sighed sarcastically as you put your hands up as if to surrender.

“So what brings you here,” the prince asked looking at you curiously.

“Uhm,” you hesitated.“How do I word this so that I don’t sound like a total teenage dirtbag,” you thought out loud. "I guess thats inevitable,” you concluded. “I ran away from home,” you whispered embarrassed.

“What was that?” the Prince asked and put his hand up to his ear as if he didn’t hear you.

“I ran away from home,” you spoke up and cleared your throat as the Prince tryed to hold back his laugh. He eventually let it out and covered his mouth to stop it from seeming as if he was making fun of you.

You began to laugh with him as you reflected on your action.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, what could have possibly been so horrible back at home that you felt the need to act on your impulsive thoughts?” the Prince asked once he recovered from laughter.

“Don’t even get me started,” you exhaled as you recalled the events of that evening. “My mom is so annoying.”

“Hey, don’t talk about your mom like that,” he teased as he poked you lightly, “I’m sure she cares about you a lot.”

“Well she has a very funny way of showing it,” you whispered but the Prince heard you and raised his brow at you in dissaproval. “Right, sorry” you apoligised. “You know, I never caught your name,” you noted trying to change the subject.

“Eric,” he told you, “What about you?”

“Y/N,” you told him thinking you successfully diverted his attention.

"Nice to meet you Y/N, now back to the story,” he encouraged you to get back to the topic.

“Right,” you muttered as you realised that it wouldn't be that easy, “We got into a little argument, no biggie,” you shrugged it off.

“Well it has to be a bit of a biggie if it motivated you to run away,” he replied and furrowed his brows feeling that you were leaving out a few details.

“Well apparently, I’m a dissapointment,” he frowned as he listened to your explanation, “But you know what they say, it is what it is,” you declared as you shrugged your shoulders

“I don’t think thats what they say,” Eric commented.

“Oh, well thats what I say,” you replied and smiled at him. 

“Well I say you look like you could use a hug,” he commented as he looked at you.

“Nah, I’m not that much of a hugger,” you lied but quickly found yourself in the Prince’s arms. “Okay, never mind,” you muttered as you hugged him back.

“Better?” he asked as he pulled away.

“A little,” you revealed, “but I can think of something that would make me feel a whole lot better.”

“Please, enlighten me Y/N” the Prince smiled and encouraged you to elaborate.

“Hmm, I think a kiss would do the trick,” you hinted as you tapped your chin pretending to think.”I dont know though,” you added just in case your boldness backfired.

“Is that so?” he asked as he glanced at you. You simply shrugged your shoulders in response. “Well I guess you never know until you try right,” he suggested as he gently cupped your face with one hand.

“I guess not,” you whispered as you both slowly leaned in.

“Well, I guess we should give it a try huh,” the prince suggested as he leaned in even closer.

“Yeah that seems like a reasonable approach to me,” you replied quietly before your lips connected in a soft yet passionate kiss.

“Did that work,” he asked as he pulled away and took in your slightly flustered state.

“I’m not sure,” you said, “Let’s try again,” you suggested and he chuckled before kissing you once more, fireworks bursting in the sky.

THE END

A/N: please ignore my terrible sense of humour throughout this lol.

Taglist: @papichulo120627

[mafuluzx]

AHHH I love your Wattpad FICS they bring so much joy 💖💖

Idk if your still doing request or not but can I request jay x male reader where the readers comforting jay after he got hurt during a battle ( reader is also a ninja please)

And I'll probs ask one for kai later if you don't mind

Have a lovely day/night

AHH THAT'S SO NICE TO HEAR!!!! I PUT ALL THE FLUFF IN MY HEART TO THIS!!! I think I succeeded. :3 It's a little short, but I believe quality > quantity, so this is it for now. I'm also very sorry I posted this so late, I have no good explanation, my dumb brain just forgot tumblr existed or something! I'm so sorry!

WARNING! Needles, I know people who can't handle needles so I'll put a warning about it here!

Jay x male reader oneshot!

Takes place in some of the newer seasons.

Comfort

"...It hurts... Am I going to die...?" Jay let out weakly as he laid his head on (y/n)'s lap.

"No you aren't, silly." (y/n) answered with a calm voice and a comforting smile as he brushed through Jay's hair with his fingers.

"...Am I going to-"

"Jay, ask the same question ONE MORE TIME, and I'm leaving." Kai scoffed as Jay glared at him with tears in his eyes.

"But it hurts!!!" Shouted at Kai before recoiling in pain. (y/n) placed a hand on Jay's cheek comfortingly before trying to soothe the blue ninja with a small "There, there..." Kai rolled his eyes before continuing to sanitize the stab wound on Jay's stomach. Three hours ago, the team were actually worried if Jay would die or not, but thankfully the lightning ninja was tougher than the spear that had pierced through his body a few hours ago.

"It'll only hurt for a bit." (y/n) said as Kai pulled out a needle and thread, ready to stitch Jay's wound closed. Upon noticing the small and sharp object, Jay tensed up and looked up at (y/n).

"Why is Kai helping me?! By the time he stitches this wound up I'll have ten more on me!" Jay raised his voice as Kai glared at him.

"I can still hear you. Ugh, I don't know why i'm here either." Kai said before gently pushing the needle through Jay's skin. Jay gripped your hand tight as you squeezed his hand back just as tightly. Jay looked like he was about to die any second now, tears of pain gathering in the corners of his eyes, so (y/n) couldn't help but feel really bad for him.

"...I'm done." Kai finally said as Jay let out the biggest sigh in existence.

"Thank you, Kai. I didn't trust my own skills enough to treat to a wound this big, I'm glad you did it for me." (y/n) thanked Kai in Jay's stead. Kai rubbed his neck bashfully and nodded before hurrying to leave. He had to get back to the deck to talk about the teams next move, but Jay had to rest under the deck due to his wound, and he had forced (y/n) to stay with him. There was a long silence as (y/n) pet Jay's hair, and the blue ninja laid perfectly still and accepted the treatment.

"...I love you." Jay suddenly said as (y/n) chuckled a bit.

"I love you too." He said back as Jay smiled hopefully.

"Can you make me something to eat?" Jay asked as (y/n) chuckled again, before pinching Jay's cheek.

"Ahaha, don't get ahead of yourself. I'm only babying you because you got hurt. And you are in no condition to sit up, much less eat anything."

"You're so cold!" Jay sniffled as (y/n) sighed and continued brushing through his hair.

"I thought you loved me?" (y/n) questioned Jay.

"I do, but you know what I mean!" Jay said and tried to stretch his body, but it only ended up sending a shot of pain through him, and he dug his nails into his arms to relieve the pain. (y/n) quickly swatted the hand away.

"...I'll cook you something tomorrow, how about that?" (y/n) offered after a small silence. Jay's eyes lit up, but he didn't move.

"Really?! Yay!" Jay celebrated before continuing.

"Can you bake a cake?" He asked as (y/n) chuckled.

"Cole can bake a better cake than I." They both knew what level Cole's cooking was on, so Jay gave up the idea almost instantly. He frowned and sunk his head into (y/n)'s lap.

"Come on now, don't sulk." (y/n) said, but got no answer from Jay. (y/n) rolled his eyes before speaking once again.

"How about egg rolls? With any fillings you'd like." Jay turned his head just a little so he was looking into (y/n)'s eyes, before burying himself back in his boyfriend's lap with a:

"Yes, please."

[cosmicjoke]

You know, it always stayed with me, when I first read “The Vampire Lestat”, the end, when Lestat reveals what happened to him in Paris with Armand, and reading it once again, I’m reminded of why it never left me.  It’s maybe the most heartbreaking thing in the whole book, and that’s saying a lot, considering all the tragedies of Lestat’s life up to that point.  Armand’s cruelty to Lestat here is breathtaking, the way he manipulates him, and then imprisons and starves him in order to place him in a desperate enough state to give testimony against Claudia and Louis, when already Lestat was in such horrifyingly dire straits.  Making it all the more heartbreaking is the way Lestat holds no ill will or grudge towards either Claudia or Louis for what was done, how he even feels he deserved what they did to him, and the way he had no intention of revenge, or even knowledge of their presence in Paris, but how Armand uses him to exact his own revenge for Lestat’s rejection, a thing Lestat never even conceived, and a thing even if he had understood, he couldn’t have given to Armand anyway.  It’s just so awful, and sad beyond words, the final blow being when Armand pushes Lestat from the roof of the tower.  God, it’s brutal.

And the sadness of it is really driven home all the more when so many years later, Armand finds Lestat again, and Lestat is rotting away, cut off so completely from life and the world and humanity, with no real will to live, and we see the tragedy doubled in Armand’s own loneliness and despair, the way he’s wrought his own ruin too, deserted by Louis, his duplicity and manipulation and assault of before rendering any kind of genuine reconciliation with Lestat impossible.  The way he tries one last time to win Lestat’s love and companionship, only he uses the same methods of deceit as always, conjuring illusions to win the love he craves.  And it’s far too late, too much bad history between them, too many mistakes made, and Lestat is too far gone at that point for it to have ever worked.

I think what really drives these scenes home in their tragedy too is the kind of juxtaposition of Lestat and Armand, the way their roles have in a way reversed, with Armand decked out in the modern finery of the 20th century, moving among the modern world, while Lestat lies in ruin beneath the foundations of a rotted out relic of a house from the 18th century, clothed in rags and lost in despair and physical degradation.  But both of them are totally alone still, cut off and outcast in their own ways.  Armand’s strange obsession with Lestat, continuing to hang about near to him, and Lestat’s consuming despair at last driving him under the earth.  It’s just such a powerful and poignant and heartbreaking study of loss and aloneness and what it means to be truly outcast.  I felt so deeply for both of them while reading this, even with the horror I felt at Armand’s cruelty. 

I think the paragraph that got me the hardest was this:

“The earth was holding me.  Living things slithered through its thick and moist clods against my dried flesh.  And I thought if I ever do rise again, if I ever see even one small patch of the night sky full of stars, I will never never do terrible things.  I will never slay innocents.  Even when I hunted the weak, it was the hopeless and the dying I took, I swear it was.  I will never never work the Dark Trick again.  I will just... you know, be the “continual awareness” for no purpose, no purpose at all.”

It speaks so hauntingly and with such sadness to Lestat’s true tragedy.  That he feels so lost in the world as this being with no purpose, no use, no point. 

His one and only consolation in life was this idea that he could give his life meaning through doing good in the world, and he’s left now an immortal who can give his eternal life no meaning at all.

Ah, I weep.

How can one not feel for Lestat?  How can one ever accuse him of being a shallow or frivolous person?  I’ll never know.  He’s anything but.

[rising-volteccers]

Work and life has been occupying my time but I'm happy to at least write this idea out. A self indulgent piece where Friede ruminates about the events post HZ025. Feels like I'm a bit rusty with writing so hopefully this is still an enjoyable read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Murdock (minor)

--

Once the adrenaline wore off, it took considerable effort for Friede to not sway on the spot. The danger had passed now that the Brave Asagi steadily flew away from the destroyed castle. The past hour of vigilance showed that the Explorers were not pursuing them, likely out of Pokemon to face the entire crew in battle if it came down to it. 

Having caught a glimpse of other members aside from Amethio and the person that ambushed him way back in Levincia, the Explorers were proving to be more dangerous than ever. It truly was a close call that Charizard still had the speed to escape from Glalie's Self Destruct even with the damage done to its wings.

Friede took over steering the ship from Murdock earlier while Mollie gave the kids and all their Pokemon a check up. In his mind, ensuring the safety of his crew took top priority. He wasn't hurt anyway. Just… tired.

"Hey, why don't I take over while you get some rest?" The gentle touch on his shoulder slowly drew Friede's attention from the wheel, turning bleary eyes towards Murdock's worried visage.

"I'm fine."

"You'd be more convincing if you didn't look like a strong breeze would knock you over," Murdock countered, raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, you look exhausted."

Whatever response he had died the moment Friede hastily covered a yawn that slipped out. Now that Murdock pointed it out, he couldn't pretend that his body wasn't craving rest after such a stressful night. This was different from burning the midnight oil back when he did his PhD, nor pulling all nighters where he piloted the ship through rough weather. 

Things could have ended up differently. The possibilities ran rampant in his mind, refusing to quiet down. That in turn pushed him to power through in hopes of keeping himself distracted. Friede knew it was a temporary solution as eventually, he could no longer ignore his body's want for rest. 

"Really, get some rest. I'll handle the ship for now. Promise I'll let you know if something changes, okay?" 

Arguing otherwise would use up energy he didn't have so Friede eventually dipped his head, slowly pulling away from the wheel to give Murdock access. It was quite the feat to not stumble his way out of the Captain's deck and down the small steps towards his room.

Once he closed the door behind him, Friede heaved out a deep sigh, shoulders drooping. He briefly closed his eyes whilst leaning against the door, then pulled away to shed off his goggles, jacket and boots. Ordinarily he'd take a quick shower to wash off the dust and grime from his body but…

Friede haphazardly dropped everything on the chair before crashing in his bed, burying his head in the pillow and not bothering to lift his feet from the floor initially. After a few minutes of simply staying in that position, Friede eventually dragged himself into lying properly on his bed. 

Within the dim room, tired eyes stared at the ceiling. Friede hated that despite how exhausted he was, sleep wasn't coming easily. He thought he'd passed out the moment his head hit the pillow but his mind continued to buzz incessantly about today's (yesterday's?) events.

Friede thought they covered their tracks pretty well. Taking the train instead of the airship, going through the secret entrance towards the Old Castle; essentially leaving little trace of their presence for the Explorers to track. Then again, Amethio and his grunts did pinpoint their location back in the Galar Mines. Their persistence was commendable, if annoying.

Speaking of Amethio…

That expression he made after Ceruledge fell to Charizard's Tera Blast kept popping up in his mind. Friede never saw him look like that before. Throughout their various clashes, Amethio rarely showed emotions aside from the bursts of annoyance whenever he thought that Friede didn't take him seriously.

See, that was the thing that confused him. Friede did take him seriously. Amethio proved to be a formidable opponent, one that pushed him and Charizard to perform their best. Deep down, he enjoyed their battles as it showed him that he always had room to grow and improve. Friede might have trouble remembering things but he never forgot the stuff he learnt from their battles. 

All their previous matches got interrupted in some manner or shape, resulting in no clear victor until now. Friede always battled with the intention to win but he wasn't hard pressed if he lost either. Had the circumstances been different, where Amethio wasn't an enemy…

"It wasn't a battle I could afford to lose," Friede muttered, throwing his arm up to cover his eyes. If he lost to Amethio at that moment, Liko and Roy would be in danger. Sprigatito and Fuecoco were getting stronger but they were no match for Ceruledge. Their safety was his number one priority, thus Friede had no choice but to pull out his trump card.

Friede knew from the get go that Tera Dark Charizard had an advantage over Ceruledge. He never used it in their battles up until then due to the finicky nature of the Tera Orb being a one time use item until he could get it charged again in Paldea. He trusted Charizard's strength to match up against Ceruledge regularly. 

At that moment, when he saw that Charizard was going to lose under Ceruledge's charged up Psycho Cut, Friede knew he had to use it. Charizard had to surpass its potential. 

In his eyes, anyone that was able to push Charizard that far deserved respect.

Sorry, you forced me to stop holding back. Friede meant it as a compliment but in hindsight, it sounded pretty disrespectful to his opponent. With all the comments Amethio made about him not taking him seriously, that probably cemented that belief. 

Friede might enjoy a little teasing and banter to rile Amethio up but he never meant to genuinely make the teen feel… bad? Sad? Whatever emotions he wore at that moment. 

Once again, Friede can’t help but wonder. Why was someone like Amethio a part of the Explorers? He didn’t look that much older than Liko. Seeing those two grunts defer to him for orders meant that he ranked decently high in the Explorers, which begged the question: why?

Why was Amethio so persistent with this mission? Whose orders was he following that he followed them across multiple regions? From Friede’s personal observations, he didn’t seem like a bad person at all. He had better morals than some adults Friede met in his life. Never ganging up on him despite having the advantage. Cared for his subordinates if their loyalty told him anything. 

Honestly, if Amethio wasn’t on the Explorers side, Friede wouldn’t mind having him be a friend, or at the very least an ally. 

Yet so long as they stood on opposite ends when it came to Liko and her pendant-turned-Pokemon, they’d continue to clash. 

Friede heaved out a deep sigh, dropping his arm. Half lidded eyes stared at his ceiling again. Thoughts about Amethio aside, he really should try and get some sleep. Murdock won’t let him pilot the ship if he didn’t, and the last thing he wanted was for him to sic Mollie on him.

Friede turned onto his side facing the wall, closed his eyes and willed his brain to quiet down until he fell into an uneasy slumber.

[ironwoman359]

The Secret History of the Invincible II

Chapter 1: Seams Pull Apart

Summary: “How much do you remember?” he asked suddenly. “About…you know.”

“About the wormhole,” you said, because one of you had to say it, and it may as well be you.

It's been months since the Invincible safely landed on a new planet to build humanity's first colony among the stars, and the Captain has been working very hard to ensure that the colony has everything it needs. But now that everyone's getting settled, it's time to sit down with the colony's official historian and give a report to send back to earth about the Invincible's voyage...and the Captain must choose how much to reveal about what really happened

Ships: Platonic the Captain and everyone, with an emphasis on the Captain & Mark.

Content Warnings: Just a lot of discussion of everything that went on in ISWM itself, and hurt/comfort as the characters try to process that and work through it. And guilt. SOOOOO much guilt. Fun!

Word Count: 2,857

A/N: I've had this idea in my head for a long time, of how the Captain and Mark would move on with their lives after everything they went through in the wormhole, and I'm excited to finally start posting it. Enjoy!

*If you like to read on AO3, check the notes for a link!

--- --- ---

With a sucking whoosh and a swirl of blue energy, you suddenly found yourself back in your cryopod. You looked around, heart sinking as the pod’s interface whirred to life in a painstakingly familiar sequence.  

*Software update complete*  

“Good morning, Captain! We are currently *error* years into our journey. Coffee is en route. Current ship status is absolutely catastrophic. In-in-initializing emergency wakey-wakey protocol.”  

The cryopod spat you out and you crumpled your hands and knees on the deck of the bridge. The alarm lights flashed an incessant red and the ship’s emergency klaxons blared in your ears, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You couldn’t even bring yourself to stand up. It wasn’t over. It would never be over. You’d thought that maybe this time, you’d actually done it, but who were you kidding? This would go on forever. 

“Reviving head engineer.”  

“Captain?”  

You looked up at Mark, who was stepping out of his pod with a frown on his face.  

“Does this feel-”  

The air warped around him and his form glitched between different versions of himself, settling briefly on one with a tattered uniform, skin marred by burns and his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. 

“You let us die, Captain,” he said, his voice low and distorted, before he glitched back into his normal self.  

“-familiar to you?”  

“Mark-” you staggered to your feet, but before you could speak, he glitched again, and Celci stood in his place. 

“It never ends, Captain,” she said, her face covered in frost and her goggles glowing blue. “No matter what you try, nothing can save us from this nightmare, and it’s your fault.”   

“Celci-”  

Her body warped and it was Burt now, digital rain running down his face.  

“I'll tell you what I know,” he said. “Storm clouds are gathering... the wind is gonna blow... the race of man is suffering .” 

“This is why we shouldn’t have trusted you,” Gunther’s voice said from behind, but when you turned, it was the alien from the Universal Stability Agency standing there, her clothes torn and blood pouring from her mangled eye socket.  

“It all comes down to bad leadership ,” the alien said in Gunther’s voice, then they continued in their own.  “All those worlds...all those people...gone. Because of you.”  

“Seeing things, Captain?” 

The voice was low in your ear and you whirled around, just in time for the bridge’s main control console to burst into flames. 

“Fire on the bridge! *Error* Life support systems failing. *Error* Automatic fire suppression system offline. *Error* Failsafes offline.”  

Instinctively, you turned towards the fire extinguisher, but found yourself stuck to the floor and unable to move, ice slowly creeping up your legs.  

“*Error* Captain offline.”   

A wall of fire and shrapnel barreled towards you as the console exploded, engulfing the bridge in flames. As the heat swarmed around you, you felt a deep despair settle in your heart, like a physical weight. It didn’t matter that the explosion would kill you. Nothing mattered anymore.  

Not even death could save you from your fate.  

--- --- ---

Your eyes flew open and you gasped, lurching upright to find yourself in your bedroom, safe and sound. Cool night air filled your lungs, a stark contrast to the blazing fumes from your dream.  

Dream? Or memory?  

You pushed the thought away and swung your legs over the side of the bed. You knew from an unfortunate amount of experience that there was no point in trying to get back to sleep after one of these dreams. You slid your feet into your slippers and made your way into the kitchen, overriding your coffee machine’s programmed start time to brew a pot right away.  

“Coffee always helps,” you muttered to yourself as you grabbed a mug from your cupboard.  

And it really did.  

True, coffee couldn’t keep the nightmares (or the memories) from rising up and plaguing your mind, but the strong scent and bitter taste was grounding, as was the gentle *drip drip drip* of the machine in the quiet hours of the morning. The caffeine boost didn’t hurt either, and throwing yourself into the next day’s work was typically enough to silence any lingering thoughts floating inside your head.  

Tonight, however, was anything but typical. 

Normally, you’d instruct your computer to read out tomorrow’s schedule for you, but there was no need; you already knew what it would say.  

*Senior Crew Meeting with Colony Historian – All Day* 

You cupped your mug in your hands, letting the warmth seep into your palms as you leaned against the counter.  

The historian had been nothing but cordial, assuring you that while they’d blocked out the full day for the interviews, it would most likely only take a few hours out of the morning, if that. You hadn’t argued the point, unsure of how to even explain why it might take longer to chronicle the Invincible’s journey than the historian expected. That was if you even decided to give the full, true account of what had happened.  

If, indeed, it had even happened at all.  

You shook yourself and rubbed your eyes. Suddenly, stuck within the confines of your apartment walls was the last place you wanted to be while you waited until it was socially acceptable to be out and about. Still holding your coffee in one hand, you grabbed a jacket from where you’d draped it over the back of a chair the day before and slipped out your front door.  

Your apartment building was one of the first permanent residences that had been built after the initial groundwork of the colony was laid. It stood near the center of the settlement and housed most of the Invincible’s crew, including her entire senior staff. As Captain, you’d been given a large unit on the top floor, which conveniently meant that you were only one flight of stairs away from the roof. 

The rooftop was little more than a barren expanse of concrete and loose gravel, though eventually there were plans to plant a garden, and you could see why. You’d only come here once or twice before, but the view of the colony below and the sweeping landscape of your new planet stretching out beyond it made it the perfect spot to create a cozy little gathering space. For now, though, it would be a decent enough place to wait out the rest of the night alone. 

Or at least, alone in theory. 

Illuminated by the dim glow of the streetlights below, a single figure sat on the edge of the rooftop, their legs dangling over the edge of the building. 

“Mark?” 

He turned, surprise written on his face.

“Captain? What are you doing up here?” 

“I could ask you the same thing,” you said as you approached. “It’s nearly four in the morning.”

“Is it?” He asked, and you nodded. “Huh. Didn’t realize it’d gotten that late. Or, early, I guess.” 

“How long have you been out here?” 

“Oh...who’s to say? It’s easy to lose track of time with a view like this.” He gestured, but not down at the colony or the dense woods surrounding it. His eyes were fixed upward, and when you followed his gaze it was easy to see why. 

Thousands upon thousands of stars dotted the night sky, with nary a cloud in sight to obstruct them from view. The largest of the planet’s three moons was also fully visible, and one of its smaller sisters was just beginning to poke over the horizon. 

“Wow,” you whispered. “They’re so much brighter here than on Earth.”

“No major cities here yet,” Mark responded. “No light pollution to obstruct our view. And it’s gonna stay that way, if I have anything to say about it. What’s the point of a new planet if we treat it just like the old one?” 

You hummed in agreement, before folding your legs beneath you and sitting beside him.

“Yeah...it would be a shame to waste this second chance,” you said quietly. 

Mark glanced over at you for a moment, something unreadable flashing in his eyes before he looked away again.

“You never did say what you were doing here, Captain.”

“You didn’t either,” you countered, and he pressed his lips together in a firm line. 

You were both quiet for a moment, one beat of silence that threatened to stretch on into infinity with barely an acknowledgement before Mark sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said with a shrug. “That’s all.”  He looked over at you again, and this time he let his gaze linger. “...could you?”

“Not really,” you admitted. “Too many…thoughts in my head, I suppose.” 

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” he said with a nod. “Have you…” he hesitated, then seemed to steel himself. “Have you been having that problem often, since we…since our voyage?” 

The unspoken question hung heavy in the air between you, and you swallowed down your nerves.

“Fairly often,” you said quietly. “You?” 

“Yeah,” Mark said, sighing again. “Same here.” 

You fidgeted beside him, unsure of how to proceed. It wasn’t like the two of you had been avoiding each other since you landed, you worked together nearly every day of course. But aside from Mark’s quiet “ thank you” when you’d first arrived here months ago, neither of you had even remotely acknowledged what had happened between you in the warp core. You weren’t even sure how much he remembered, and aside from that brief moment on the bridge, Mark had seemed completely fine, throwing himself fully into building the colony without a single sign of discomfort. 

Though maybe , you thought now as you took in the tension in his shoulders and the tightness at the corners of his eyes, he was just very good at hiding it. 

You knew you should say something, you needed to say something; not only were you Mark’s captain and therefore responsible for his well-being as a member of your crew, but you were his friend. Or at least, you hoped that after everything, you were still friends. 

“Mark, I-”

“How much do you remember?” he asked suddenly. “About…you know.” 

“About the wormhole,” you said, because one of you had to say it, and it may as well be you. Mark winced, and you took that as a sign to continue. “Everything.” 

“ Everything everything?” Mark asked, and you nodded. “So…you remember what I did then,” he said, pulling his legs up and leaning his arms on his knees. 

“What you did?” you repeated, and he rolled his eyes. 

“If you’re trying to spare my feelings then I appreciate it, but you don’t have to bother. We both know that I...I caused all of it.”

"Mark, it wasn't-"

"Don't you dare say that it wasn't my fault," he interrupted, shooting you a glare. " I went back in time, I sabotaged both ships, I built the warp core. It was my fault." He laughed, hollow and empty, and for a moment you were back on the Invincible II , watching him fall apart in front of you all over again.

"You were just doing what you thought was right," you said slowly. "That's all any of us were doing. You had no way of knowing-"

"I did though," he insisted. "You told me, remember? You told me not to use the warp core, not to go back. But did I listen? No. I lost faith in you, trusted the word of that alien lady over yours, and I nearly destroyed everything."

It’s not like I gave you a good reason to have faith in me in the first place, you wanted to say, but you thought better of it. As much as you wanted to stew in your own guilt, trying to shift the blame onto yourself wouldn’t help Mark feel any better about his part in it all. 

"Do you know why I told you not to go back?" you asked instead. "How I knew that you would even try? You told me not to let you. You said that you lost hope, but you never stopped trying to fix your mistakes, right up until the very end."

Mark opened his mouth to speak, but he froze, confusion written across his face.

"I...I told you?" he looked down at his hands and nodded carefully. "I…I did tell you."

"Mark…” You frowned. “How much do you remember?"

“Um…everything,” he said slowly. “Or at least, I assume it’s everything. It’s strange…sometimes I can’t pin the memories down quite right. Almost like I’m trying to remember a dream.” 

“I almost thought it was a dream,” you said, leaning back to look up at the sky. “When no one acknowledged it when we landed, I thought maybe it was some side effect of the cryosleep. I asked Celci though, and she said that the brain doesn’t enter REM in cryo. So I just figured I was the only one who remembered.” 

“That’s what I thought too,” Mark admitted. “And it’s not like I could tell someone about it without them thinking I was crazy.” 

“It’s not the easiest thing to explain,” you agreed. 

“ Right? ” he said, so loudly and suddenly that you jumped a little. “How would you even do that, like, ‘oh, guess what, I was transported through a wormhole across space and time and can remember living and dying over and over and have the memories from a dozen different universes all jacked up in my brain! Take me to the looney bin!’” 

He grew more and more animated as he spoke, arms waving around before he finally let them fall back to his sides with a huff, and you swallowed. 

“Mark…you’re not crazy. You know that, right?” 

He hesitated, for just a bit too long for your liking before he answered. 

“I know. It just…it feels crazy. I don’t even know how to begin sorting through everything in my head.”

“I understand,” you said quietly. “Believe me, I do. I’ve been trying not to think about it, but lately I can’t help but wonder…” you trailed off, your gaze slipping from Mark’s face down to the mug of coffee cooling in your hands. 

“Yes?” he prompted, and you sighed. 

“The historian interviews are tomorrow,” you said bluntly. “And I’m not sure whether to tell them the truth.” 

Mark let out a breath, and you glanced over at him just in time to see him rest his chin on his fist. 

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” he admitted. “Until tonight, I wasn’t sure that it was worth the risk. I didn’t want to lose everything I’d worked so hard to build…not again.” 

You opened your mouth to reassure him that he wouldn’t, but you couldn’t quite make the words come out. After all, how many times had the two of you lost the ship, the crew, the colony? How many times had you lost each other? 

“But you know what I think now?” Mark continued, looking over at you. “I think that that’s exactly why we need to tell them what really happened. To try and stop it from happening again, to somebody else.” 

“To somebody else?” you asked.

“As far as command back on Earth is concerned, this mission has been one hundred percent successful,” he explained. “I mean, it sure looks like it on the outside. Everyone is alive and healthy, the ship made it here safely, the colony is thriving. And the Invincible herself was a prototype...if she was successful then there were plans to fully reverse engineer the warp core for other ships, other missions…” he trailed off as your eyes widened, the full impact of his words settling over your shoulders. 

“We can’t let that happen,” you whispered, and he nodded.

“We have to tell them. We can’t…. I can’t let my mistakes be repeated. No matter the consequences.” 

He wrapped his arms around his legs, shrinking in on himself, and you swallowed. Slowly, you reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. 

“Our mistakes,” you corrected quietly. Mark shot you a small smile, and you returned it as best as you could. “I’ll be there to back you up, one hundred percent,” you continued. “And…”

You paused, unsure if you should complete your thought, but Mark made the choice for you, reaching out to return your gesture, taking your arm in a steady grip. 

“And I’ll do the same for you,” he said. “I’m behind you all the way, Captain.” 

You looked at him, his face illuminated by starlight, and for a moment all you could think of was all the times you’d failed him, all the times he’d suffered because of you. But his gaze held none of that anger, that resentment that you’d seen from him before. And if you could trust him, after everything, was it really so inconceivable that he could still have faith in you? 

“We got into this mess together,” you finally said, squeezing his arm. “And we’re going to get through it the same way.” 

Mark nodded as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the planet’s new horizon. 

“Together.” 

--- --- ---

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider reblogging, it means a lot to me <3

[something-tofightfor]

Ooohh I got one. Dieter Bravo & happiness 😊

This one took me a minute, because I wanted to give Dieter something VERY happy... and I think I figured it out.

Thank you for sending it and making me step back into the Locked Down universe ... which will have an update coming VERY soon.

WC: 1,650

You’d never seen him so happy - and you’d known him for years. 

You’d seen Dieter in various stages of his life - highs and lows, periods of extreme sadness and depression, the man level but struggling, times when he’d been content and satisfied … but none of those things could have prepared you for the man’s reaction to the trip that you were currently on. He’s like a different person. 

It wasn’t the first time that either of you were on the East Coast since the truth of your relationship had come out, but it was the first time that the two of you were there together for something that wasn’t work related. And it’s definitely the first time we’re here. 

He was standing with his back to you, the man’s forearms resting on the railing of the upper deck of the boat you were staying on. You watched for a few seconds, the breeze making the skirt of your maxi dress flutter around your ankles, salt-scented air warming your face.

But the fact that those things felt so good was nothing compared to what watching Dieter made you feel, and you knew it never would be.  He’s different here. “You can come over here if you want.” Turning his head so that you could see his profile, you watched the man’s smile widen. “You’re not bothering me.” 

Stepping closer, you laid your head against his arm, eyes on the coastline in front of you. “I’ve never stayed on a boat like this before, Dieter.” It took him a few seconds but when he laughed in reply, you heard the lightness in it, the arm you leaned against extending so that it could wrap around you from behind. “Why are you laughing?” 

“Because … I didn’t even think of that.” He waited until you met his eyes to continue. “We can move to a hotel if you want, but I thought … I thought it would be nice for it to just be …us.” 

“It is.” You assured him, quickly nodding. “Dieter, I love this. I’m just surprised because you wouldn’t tell me anything before we got here.” 

“Wanted it to be a surprise.” He ducked his head, kissing the top of yours. “We  deserve it.” And you did - both of you did. 

He’d been working constantly since he’d been filming in England for Cliff Beasts - going straight from that and into Valley of Shadow, a couple commercials, the guest spot on the TV show, a few days on some indie movie in the spring of 2022, voiceovers, press … he’d done so much in a relatively short period of time. 

But so have I. You’d worked on Cliff Beasts. You’d filmed for Informal Eats. You’d edited your Beasts of the Bubble documentary, done press for that, appeared in Austin, negotiated a new contract, filmed more, applied for positions on film crews and TV shows … And the promo tours for Valley of Shadow and Beasts of the Bubble have been …  exhausting. 

The truth was that you and Dieter needed the break. You’d needed it for a long time, but when he’d told you that he would organize everything, (meaning that Jenna would probably be helping to organize everything) you’d expected to leave the country - not just go to Florida. 

But if being here makes him this happy? Glancing up, you saw that Dieter’s eyes were back on the water, his smile content. I’d stay here forever. 

“I spent a couple years here as a kid.” Dieter’s voice reached your ears, the man sighing. “My mom and grandma and I lived in a little house in Hastings when I was … 7?” Dieter stood up straight. “We’d come up here on weekends, spend time on the beaches and walking through the streets. I thought it was cool as shit back then, and it’s even cooler now.” You what? I didn’t know that. “We were poor as fuck, but I had no idea because it never felt like it.” 

He stepped away from the railing, motioning for you to follow him. And you did - the man taking your hand and leading you to the gangway that reached from your boat to the dock. “I didn’t know you lived anywhere in Florida that wasn’t Miami, Dieter. You never said anything about it. I thought that -” 

“I didn’t. We don’t … I don’t like talking about it.” Why. though? If it brings back such good memories… As you walked with him, though, you realized that that was exactly why he’d kept it hidden for so long and from the masses. Because it means so much. Because he doesn’t want people to know and ask questions. 

“Thank you for telling me, Dieter.” You squeezed his hand harder, the man’s palm warm against yours. “Thank you for trusting me.” 

“There’s no one I trust more.” He cleared his throat. “No one else I’ve ever wanted to…” That hit you hard, and as Dieter stopped speaking ,you realized that you wanted to start - but you didn’t know what to say. Because what could I even say? How could I … 

“Tell me about living here.” Gesturing with your free hand, you indicated the buildings stretching out in front of you, the architecture some of the most beautiful you’d ever seen. “I know it’s old, but -”

“Oldest city in the United States.” He paused. “Technically, Pensacola was founded first, but people haven’t consistently been there since the first day, so it doesn’t count.” He pulled you closer, leading you down a narrow side street. “But ever since this place was founded, there’ve been people here. It’s a lot of history.” It was, and as he spoke, you realized that you’d never seen this side of Dieter before - that you’d known it was there, but he’d never let it free. Until now. 

“Ok, but…” Squeezing his hand, you looked over at him. “I mean tell me about what you liked about living here. Why’d you like it so much as a kid? It’s great for adults that are looking for sightseeing and wine and -”

“Because it just felt cool. In Miami, there was nothing to do if you couldn’t pay, and we … couldn’t.” He sighed, the two of you stopping in front of a cafe. “Aaron was living with my dad then, because my parents were separated and my mom couldn’t … afford to keep both of us with her.” He ordered for both of you, reciting yours as though he’d been doing it just as long as you had. While you waited, Dieter tugged on your hand and pulled you a few steps back, freeing up the window for other orders. “I missed him, but the thing that really made me happy was when he came to visit?” 

You nodded, your thumb stroking slowly over the back of Dieter’s hand. Whatever he’s going to say is important. So important. He was staring down the street, a fond smile lifting his lips. 

“When Aaron came to visit in the summer and for Christmas break, I’d have stuff to show him. Places that I knew he’d like to go and things I’d found that I wanted him to see.” Oh. Oh, that … “I’d go out to see him and my dad, and we’d spend all this time doing shit like going to movies and out to eat and … it was alright, but it wasn’t…”

“It was just going through the motions.” He nodded as your name was called, the man stepping forward to grab your drinks before he handed one off to you and then took your hand. Dieter stayed silent for almost a minute, the two of you heading deeper into the city. 

“Yeah. I loved spending time there with them, but it wasn’t any different than it had been when my parents were together.” Sipping his drink, Dieter sighed. ‘Here, I got to show Aaaron something new. Here, I got to be the cool brother. We had so much fun running around and seeing the parks and the ocean and all the old buildings. Everything in Miami and in Texas was new, so it wasn’t anything special, but …”

“I understand, Dieter.” Your grip on his hand tightened, chest expanding with a deep inhale. “I understand completely.” 

It wasn’t the fancy parties or awards shows that made Dieter happy. And it wasn’t the designer clothes or high-profile roles that he took, either. It wasn’t even the ability to spoil the people that he cared about that brought him true happiness. It’s getting to show people the things that mean something to him. That meant something to him, before he had … anything. 

The two of you walked together, the sun shining down on your shoulders as Dieter pointed out stores and streets, a park that he and Aaron had spent hours in, and the taffy shop that had been very generous with samples for the two of them. “What are we waiting for then?” You shrugged, using your cup to point. “I like taffy, too.” 

It took a second, but then Dieter’s eyes lit up and he surged forward, barely giving you enough time to move your drink out of the way before he was kissing you, his arm wrapped around your back. “Love you.” He mumbled the words when he pulled away, the man’s eyes half-closed and the smile still on his lips.  “So goddamn much.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Pushing the hair from his forehead, you wrinkled your nose. “Love you too, Dieter.” 

A few seconds later, you were crossing the street toward the shop - Dieter’s grin contagious. 

[callsign-magnolia]

I Hope You Dance // Ch. 50

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

The songs mentioned in this chapter are Dethrone & Concrete Jungle both by Bad Omens! (Give them a listen if you like metal)

Word Count: 7.3k

Chapter 49 | Masterlist

It’s been a few weeks since the pictures started. Six in fact, which puts us two weeks before Rooster’s birthday. I was still debating on what to do for him. Maybe a night out at The Hard Deck? But we do that so often. I want to do something different for him. But I had no idea what. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out myself. With these pictures going around, I get looks everywhere I go. Mav even had to make an announcement on base that no one was allowed to talk about it. Whoever was posting these pictures was smart, they would wait a while between posting at this point, like they were waiting until we let our guard down and then they would post another. It was mentally and emotionally draining and most nights I went straight to bed after dinner and fell asleep. I know Rooster is worried about me, but it’s so hard to have any motivation to do anything. I’ve done well to keep it from affecting me at work, but as soon as we were in the car to go home, it’s like I deflated like a balloon. Slouching in the passenger seat as Rooster reached for my hand, kissing it and resting our intertwined fingers on the console. 

I stood washing the dishes from dinner when Rooster’s arms wrapped around my waist, his lips pressing to the spot just below my ear. “You okay?” He asked, resting his chin on my shoulder, his hand splaying over my belly, a warm feeling flooding me. It’s been weeks since Rooster and I had sex. With the photos being out I hadn’t felt like it, and Rooster has been great at hiding how it’s affected him. I know it has, because he’s been spending a lot more time in the shower and I can hear him. I took a deep breath leaning back into him. “I’m okay.” He smiled into my neck, holding me tightly. I bent down to reach into the sink for the pan and accidentally brushed against him. He let out a quiet groan and I could tell he was seriously holding back. I remembered one of my sessions with Dr. Lender that I had recently. He told me that I need to keep up my normal routine. With everything going on it’s easy to fall into isolation, and to distance myself from everyone. I needed to do everything I could to live normally and that includes, fucking my fiance. I had lingerie in the closet I’ve never worn, the ones I bought months ago. 

Once I finished the dishes I went upstairs, but I was surprised to find Rooster laying on our bed, nothing but boxers, rubbing himself through the black material. “Fuck, Mags.” He whispered and I grinned. I didn’t say a word as I crossed the room. He jumped up as I startled him. “Mags.” He said and I kept walking until I walked into the closet, closing the door behind me. “What are you doing, Mags?” He asked. I ignored him, slipping on the white crotchless panties as well as the baby clue corset. I tightened it and took a deep breath, turning to the door. I was nervous for some reason, wondering if Rooster would like it. But I mustered up the courage and swung the door open. Rooster was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. “Oh. My. God.” He whispered. “Like what you see, Lieutenant?” I asked, giving him a slow spin. “Oh, honey. You have no idea how much I love it.” He said as I stepped closer. He raised one hand, skimming it over my bare thigh. He continued to stare, taking in every inch of me, and it made me feel sexier than I had felt in weeks. “You look ethereal.” He mumbled, one finger hooking into my panties. “Yeah?” I asked and his eyes met mine. Warm and brown, full of love. Love that was only meant for me. I reached out, caressing his cheek before dragging my hand along his shoulder, then to his chest. I took another step forward, gently perching myself on his lap. I could feel how hard he was through his boxers. “I’ve missed you.” I said, leaning in, my nose nuzzling his jaw as his hands grabbed my waist. “I’ve been right here pretty girl.” He said as he turned to me, kissing my cheek, just below my eye, before kissing my nose, then my lips. It was gentle, sweet even. I dragged my hand down his chest, slowly trailing to the waistband of his boxers and he groaned as I dragged a nail over the bulge in them. 

“Oh, pretty girl.” He moaned as he pulled back from me. “You want it?” He asked, his hand gently gripping my chin, keeping my gaze on him. I could only whine in response and he smirked at me. “Then take them off.” He said and I stood, grabbing his boxers and slowly pulled them down his legs. His throbbing erection, resting against his stomach as it sprang free. I sat up, placing a kiss to the swollen head as I did before reclaiming my place on his lap. I rested my hands on his neck, pulling him into another kiss as he palmed at my ass. I was soaked, leaking onto his thighs as I rutted against him. “I need you out of these.” He said, looping his fingers through my panties. “No need.” I said. I stood again, taking his throbbing dick in my hand, pumping him a few times, making him moan for me before I straddled him once more, lining him up with my entrance. I slowly sank down on him, reveling in the way his thick cock stretched my walls. It hurt in the most delicious way and I whimpered when he was fully seated inside me. He groaned, looking at where our bodies met, and I leaned forward. “They’re crotchless.” I said and he moaned again. “God I love you.” He said with a chuckle. 

“Not god, but you can worship me all you want.” He groaned, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me flush against him. My hips shifted and the head of his cock nudged against that spongy spot inside me, making me moan. He pressed his lips to mine, swallowing any noise I made as my fingers weaved into his hair. His large hands moved to grab my ass, slowly rolling my hips against him. “Bradley.” I whined and he smirked at me. “What is it, pretty girl?” He asked, rolling his own hips into mine. “‘m so full.” I moaned out and he chuckled. “Yeah? You like being full of my cock?” I could only nod as his cock kept nudging that one spot, my clit dragging across the coarse hairs at the base of his cock. “Mm, my pretty girl all dumb on my cock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so stupid for me.” I felt dumb. Something about not being with him for so long, made him feel a thousand times bigger and better. He scooted back on the bed with me in his lap before laying back, his hands resting on my hips. “Go on.” I knew what he wanted, so I leaned forward slightly, resting my hands on his chest before lifting my hips. I rode him slowly, trying to keep myself from cumming so quickly, but it was so hard. He felt so good and I was a moaning mess. “My pretty girl is so dirty for me, isn’t she?” I could only nod as I moaned. “Wants nothing but my cock inside her. God, I could stay buried in this pretty pussy for the rest of my life.”

My hips stuttered, my legs growing tired from the constant motion and Rooster noticed. I squealed as he flipped us over, me now under him, just how I liked it. “Look at you, all pretty in your little corset. All for me.” He said, leaning down to kiss me before he thrust his hips into me at a brutal pace. “Oh fu-u-u-u-u-ck. Yes, Bradley! Yes!” I cried out, my nails dragging down his back as he fucked me. He grabbed my knees, tossing them over his shoulders. He pushed till my legs were flush against my chest, kissing the tops of my breasts that were spilling out of my corset top. “You like that, Mags? You like when I fuck you like my own little slut?” A shiver ran up my spine at his words. He’d never spoken to me like that, but goddamn did it turn me on. “Yes! Fuck! Bradley, make me cum, please!” I begged and he smirked, his hand coming up and wrapping around my throat, squeezing slightly. “I will. I always make you feel good.” He said, as he thrust into me with long languid strokes. A tingling sensation started in my toes, working it’s way up my legs until that sensation in my belly washed over me and sent me spiraling into my orgasm. “Bradley! Fuck yes! Don’t stop, Roo!” I begged as I held him tightly, not wanting him to stop. His head was near my lips and I smirked. “Cum inside me, Roo.” I whispered and he groaned. “Fill me up with your cum, Roo. Need to feel it inside me. Wanna watch it drip down my thighs.” He thrust into me quickly before he suddenly stopped, cock buried inside me completely and his ropes of cum filling me to the brim. “Fuck, you like when I cum inside you?” He asked, still holding my neck and making me look at him. “Yeah. I can’t wait till we’re married. I’m gonna walk around constantly stuffed full of it.” He groaned, bringing his head down to rest on my shoulder. “You’re making me hard again.” I smirked, tilting my head to whisper in his ear again. “Then fuck me again. I am your personal little slut, aren’t I?” With that he rolled me onto my side, his chest pressed against my back as he lifted my leg and fucked me hard. Bringing another orgasm down on me. “Have you lost weight?” He asked and I sat up, nodding. “A little, why?” I asked. “I noticed it physically but you just felt lighter when you were in my lap.” My eyes lit up and my smile widened. “Really?” He raised a brow, chuckling at me. “Yes.” He said leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips. 

We easily fell back into our routine, and the bed together, and after a few days it was like everything went back to normal and I felt more myself than I had in awhile. That is, until the worst hit. “Fuck! Yes! Yes! Bradley, don’t stop!” Bob and I were walking by a group of Ensigns who were staring at a phone. It was distorted but I could pick up my own voice anywhere. I turned to face them, listening to some very familiar voices. “NICE TITS!” I knew exactly what they were watching. “Ensigns.” I called and they all looked at Bob and I before standing at attention, a blush covering most of their cheeks. “Phone. Now.” I was handed the phone and I looked at the video at this point Rooster and I were getting dressed. I clicked out of it to see who originally posted it, and sure enough it was a guy standing on a catamaran, shirtless with a douchey smile on his face. The caption? Since the photos are going around, thought I’d treat everyone to her sex tape. I took down his name and twitter handle before handing the ensign his phone back. “Admiral Simpson's office. Now.” They immediately turned and headed that way. 

Bob followed behind and I walked into Cyclone’s office first. “Sir,” I addressed and he raised a brow at me. “We have a problem.” I filled Cyclone in and he yelled and he threatened those boys. But ultimately he had to talk with their commanding officer. They were docked here for the week and would ship out at the end of this week. He sent them off before sitting back in his chair, sighing. “Lieutenant. We have to get this under control.” I nodded. “I’ve already gotten his name and I’m calling my PI as soon as I walk out of here.” He nodded. “Was this man the one posting all the other photos?” I shook my head. “The caption insinuated he didn’t do it, but there will probably be an investigation into that. We’re still trying to catch the guy who’s originally posting these.” He hummed just as my phone dinged. I looked at it, seeing I was tagged in a photo on twitter. My heart thudded wildly in my chest as I opened it, but I felt sick at the picture in front of me. It was one Rooster sent me after I was deployed. He was sat in the chair in our room, facing the mirror. He was completely nude, cock hard and resting against his stomach as he took the picture with a wicked smirk on my face. “Magnolia?” Cyclone called and I turned to him. “What is it?” He asked and it took me a moment to respond. “I-it’s Rooster. It wasn’t my picture this time, it was his. Oh my god.” I gasped as I saw the caption below the picture. Call off the wedding and I’ll stop posting them. “What does it say?” He asked. “Someone wants me to call off my wedding.” I said before turning and sprinting out the door, bumping into Bob. “What’s wrong?” 

I explained everything to him as we rushed to the hangar, I had to find Bradley and tell him before someone else showed him. But I seemed to be too late as I heard him shouting through the hangar door. “WHAT THE FUCK?! I’M GONNA KILL THIS SON OF A BITCH!” I rushed in and the sound of the door caused everyone to look at us. “Bradley-” “Have you seen it?” I nodded as he came over, his hands tightly gripping my biceps beneath my flight suit. “Bradley honey, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. But this fucker is going down. First that video, now the pictures of me and asking us to call off the engagement? I’m done playing his games, I could… I could…” His grip tightened with every word, so much so it was painful. “Roo, you’re hurting me.” I whispered. He looked at his hands on my arms and quickly let go. “Mags, honey. I’m sorry, I didn’t-” I nodded, taking his hands in mine. “I know. I know you didn’t mean to. This is incredibly stressful and we have to figure out something soon.” He nodded. We agreed to talk about everything at home, but the rest of the day was tense. So many people had seen the video at this point that whenever people saw us, they would stare and a few were even bold enough to make gestures. A few men motioning to their laps was enough to have Rooster raging. But finally, we were done for the day so we showered and climbed into the bronco to head home. After a windy ride home we walked into the house, sighing in relief from being done for the day. 

Rooster set our bags by the door and walked towards the kitchen. I grabbed our bags, taking them up to our room and setting them by the closet. As I set them down, the light hit my engagement ring, making it gleam. If calling off the wedding would make this all stop, then perhaps I should do it. I paced the bedroom for a little bit, thinking of the pros and cons. Hundreds of cons and one pro, the pictures would stop. But we only have to call off the wedding, we can still get married at the courthouse and have a wedding later. Making my decision I grabbed the navy felt ring box, placing the ring inside and starting downstairs. I walked into the kitchen, seeing Rooster leaned against the counter, Dahlia standing on her hind legs, leaning on him as he pet her. I couldn’t help but smile at them, watching as he rested his forehead on Dahlia's, looking up at her, seeing as she was a head taller than him on her hind legs. “What are you looking at?” He asked, smiling at me. Dahlia immediately left him, coming over to me for some love. “Just you two.” I said, stepping closer. “So, we need to talk about this picture business.” I nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about that too.” I said, setting the box on the counter and sliding it closer to him. He stared at it a minute before he started laughing. “That’s funny, Caila.” I bit my lip and his laughing stopped. “Mags. That ring better not be in that box.” He said as he snatched it, opening it up. “Listen to me-” “NO! NO! THE ONE THING I’M NOT DOING IS CALLING OFF THIS ENGAGEMENT!” He yelled. “Rooster, don’t yell at me.” I said sternly and he scoffed. “WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO WHEN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE WANTS TO CALL OFF OUR ENGAGEMENT BECAUSE SOME SICKO IS POSTING PICTURES OF US?!” “STOP YELLING AT ME!” I screamed back and we both stopped, chests heaving. “I won’t wear the ring. We can still go down to the courthouse and get married, we can have a wedding once this is all over. I just think for now we just need to play along.” 

“Going down to the courthouse is not what either of us want. Mags, I want to see you in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards me. I want to say our vows in front of everyone and kiss you when it’s all said and done.” I sighed as his hands came up, cradling my face softly, a sharp contrast to the grip he had on my arms earlier. “No. I’m not letting some smart guy whose probably sitting in his mom's basement with cheeto dusted fingers keep me from marrying you in December. We will figure this out, Mags.” He said, kissing my forehead. He opened the ring box, and pulled it out, grabbing my hand and slipping it on my finger. “I swear to god, Mags. If I have to slip this on your finger one more time.” He joked, making me laugh. “So… we’re not calling off the wedding?” He asked and I shook my head. “No. We’ll figure this out.” I said, leaning up on my toes and kissing him. After that we called my mom and she had Chelsea write up a press release for us, which would be announced on the day of Rooster’s birthday. In the meantime I tried to figure out what to do for him, or even what to get him. I thought and thought and thought as the days went by and I struggled. I felt bad because he knows me so well, and I feel like I barely know him since I can’t come up with anything to do. A few days later Phoenix called me after work. I was lounging on the couch while Rooster was in the shower. “Okay, wait till you hear this.” She said before I could even say anything. “Okay.” I said. “That band that we love? The one we found when you stayed with me?” I nodded. “Yeah?” 

“I know I mentioned it before, but they’re gonna be in San Diego on the twenty-eighth.” That sounded so fun. “I would love too, but that’s the day after Rooster’s birthday and I’m still trying to figure out what to do for him.” She hummed. “I forgot about that.” I laughed. “Don’t tell him that.” She joined me in my laughter. “That sucks, I was hoping we could go.” She said and I sighed. “I know. But I can’t drag him to something I want to do on his birthday.” I said. “What did you want to do?” I jumped up, a scream escaping my throat as he startled me. “Bradley!” I whined, smacking his arm as he came around the couch, sitting in front of me and pulling my legs into his lap. “Sorry. What did you want to do?” He asked. “Nothing.” I knew if I told him he’d go just because he wanted to please me. “A concert for a band we like.” Phoenix said loudly, loud enough for Rooster to hear. He hummed, “Which band?” He asked. Phoenix gave the name and I yelled at her. “Phoenix! Stop telling him!” He just laughed. “Is that the metal band you keep listening to?” He asked and I nodded, a blush on my cheeks. “Yes.” He smiled at me. “They’re actually really good.” I rolled my eyes at him. “So let’s go.” I huffed. “Phoenix, let me call you back.” I said and she agreed before I hung up. “Do you actually want to go, or are you just saying that because I want to go?” I asked and he grinned at me. “No, I actually want to go. A concert sounds fun.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s standing room only, so we’d be on the floor.” I said and he nodded. “Okay.” He said with a smile. “Okay, but we’re staying to either the left or right side. I’m not dealing with the mosh pit and I am sure as hell not spending my night lifting crowd surfers.” He just laughed as I grabbed my phone. “Of course, honey.” He said as he leaned forward, kissing me. With that I called Phoenix and told her to book the tickets. 

I still hadn’t figured out what to do for Bradley’s birthday. He said he wanted a simple dinner with just me and him with no gifts. He didn’t want to go to The Hard Deck, he didn’t want a small party. Just me and him. I loved the idea but I still had to figure out what to get him, whether he didn’t want a gift or not. It took some searching but finally I came across something. I immediately grabbed my phone. I googled phone services in Virginia before I started dialing. I called many services, explaining the situation before I finally found it. “Yes, ma’am we do have Carol Bradshaw in the system.” I nodded. “I know it’s a long shot, but do you have any old voicemails saved on the server?” I heard clicking on the other end before she answered. “Yes, ma’am. We have them as far back as nineteen eighty-one.” I bit my lip, smiling. “Great. Can I have the access number?” She had to email me some forms and because neither of Bradley’s parents were alive I was able to get a hold of the number pretty easily. Now I just had to listen them all and find the one I needed.” 

I woke up about twenty minutes early on Rooster’s birthday deciding to get up and make french toast for him. Once that was done I went back upstairs, smiling as I saw him in bed. I quickly shut off his alarm before it could wake him and crawled onto the bed, managing to slip under the covers. Thankfully he was already laying on his back, making it easy for me to gently slip his boxers down, morning wood almost smacking me in the face as I did so. I smirked, gently wrapping my hand around him, giving him a few teasing strokes until precum beaded on his tip. I kitten licked the head of his cock before taking it into my mouth, sucking gently. His chest rose as he took a deep breath, a sign he was starting to wake. I took more of him into my mouth, struggling a little as he stretched my throat. A moan escaped his lips and his legs shifted as I sucked on his cock. “Mags?” His morning voice alone made me wet, my legs rubbing together for friction as I started bobbing my head along his cock. My hands rested on his lower stomach as I took him down to the hilt, gagging as I did so. Sudden;y the covers were tossed off of me and I looked up, meeting Roosters eyes as he stared down at me. “Best birthday ever.” He said, hand coming up cradle my face as drool fell from my mouth, coating his cock. “You’re so pretty with my cock in your mouth.” He said and I brought my hand up, fondling his balls as I sucked him off. 

“Oh fuck, Mags. I’m gonna cum.” He was always so much more sensitive in the mornings. I quickly took him all the way into my mouth, my nose brushing against his trimmed hairs at the base of my cock. Hot ropes of cum shooting down my throat as I looked up to him. His head was thrown back, one hand buried in my hair, holding me in place until he was done.Soon he was and I sat up, smiling at him. “Show me.” I smirked, holding my tongue out so he could see the last bit of his cum that rested on it. “Swallow.” He said as he reached forward, gently gripping my face. I pulled my tongue in, swallowing and he smirked, pulling me into a kiss. He pulled my naked body onto his lap, my arms wrapping around his shoulders. “Happy Birthday, my love.” He smiled into the kiss, pulling away slightly. “You’re amazing, you know that?” I smiled at him. “You may have told me once or twice.” I said. “I hate that we have to work today. I’d rather keep you in bed.” I chuckled. “Well, I made french toast for you.” He laughed, standing with me in his arms. Once downstairs, he put me down and I made him sit at the island. We were both naked as I grabbed the french toast and walked over. I straddled his lap, smirking as he groaned. “I know of a way to make this better.” I raised a brow. “Oh, you do?” He nodded and raised me slightly, grabbing his cock and lowering me onto him. “Oh…” I moaned, feeling so full of him. “Feed me?” I smirked, grabbing the fork. “Whatever you want, my love.” He made it three quarters of the way through the food before he took the plate from me, setting it down and fucking up into me. 

Soon we had to get ready for work and I handed him a card before we left. It was a birthday card but it had a slip of paper inside. “The holder of this card may get a blow job at any time on his birthday.” I smiled as he smirked at me. “I just suggest you be careful about it. Don’t wanna get caught on base.” I said and he just stared at me before yanking me into him, kissing me intensely. “I absolutely adore you.” He said, backing me into the wall. “Wanna make use of that card?” He leaned back, a grin on his face before looking at me again. “In uniform? Hell yes.” He said and I smirked, reaching for his belt. “Better make this fast then. Don’t wanna be late for work.” I grinned, pulling his cock from his boxers. Good thing I decided to forgo makeup today. I made quick work of him and we were on our way to work. Once we got through our briefing and got into our flight suits before we walked into the hangar. “Happy Birthday!” Everyone cheered and he turned to me. I put my hands up. “I had nothing to do with it.” I said and he turned back as Phoenix held up a single cupcake. “You only wanted dinner with your fiance and no party, so we thought we’d at least give you this.” She said and he smiled at her. “Happy birthday to you-” Mav started and everyone else picked up, finishing out the song with a loud cheer. He blew out the candle and offered me part of the cupcake. I just swiped my finger through the icing and dabbed it on his nose. “It’s yours, eat it.” 

We were busy today but he asked for another blow job during our lunch, in a very specific place. “Gotta make this fast.” He said as he sat in the cockpit of his super hornet. He unzipped his flight suit, pulling his cock out as I knelt down in the floor by his legs. I had to move around the joy stick which proved difficult but I still managed to lick a stripe along the large vein on the underside of his cock. “I only thought this would happen in my fantasies.” He groaned out as I took him into my mouth before releasing him with a ‘pop’. “How long have you been fantasizing about this?” I asked before bobbing my head along his cock. “Oh fuck,” He moaned out. “Since I first saw you. It was the first place I ever imagined you sucking me off.” I released him again and smirked at him. He was struggling to find something to do with his hands, seeing as he can’t grab my pristine bun. “Since you first saw me? My, my, how dirty.” I said with a wink before sucking him off again. It wasn’t long before he was coming down my throat, trying hard to contain his moans. “Let’s get out of here before we get caught and get in trouble.” He said, climbing out before I followed suit. The rest of the day was normal, study flight maneuvers, sit in meetings, do some paperwork and soon we were headed home. I showered and slid on Bradley's favorite sundress of mine. It was white with little pink flowers, spaghetti straps, it came to mid thigh. It was fitted, but since I had lost weight and continue to lose weight, I feel so sexy. I grabbed my bag, hoisting it onto my shoulder and stepped out of the locker room. 

Rooster was faced away from me, talking to Payback and Bob as I walked up behind him. “Hi, honey.” I said in a sultry tone and he turned to me, eyes practically bulging out of his head. “We’ll leave you guys alone.” Payback said and they walked away. “Hi, pretty girl.” He said, his large hands gripping my waist and pulling me close. “You like it?” I asked and he nodded, his fingers scrunching my dress slightly. “I may not make it home.” He said and I giggled. But of course, he couldn’t wait. So here we are at a red light, his cock in my mouth as one hand lifted my dress, palming my ass. “I can finally mess up this bun.” He said, taking my hair down and running his fingers through all the hairspray I had in. It felt nice as he massaged my scalp and after a few more minutes I was swallowing more cum. I gasped as I popped him from my mouth, looking at him and wiping drool from my lips as he pulled into the driveway. “Messy head has got to be my favorite.” He said, smirking at me. “Enjoying your birthday so far?” I asked and he nodded as he reached over, caressing my cheek. “I am. This is one of the best birthdays ever.” He said, I turned nuzzling into his hand before kissing his palm softly. “Are you sure your jaw doesn’t hurt?” He asked and I couldn’t contain the giggle that bubbled up my throat. “No. Honey, I’m fine.” I told him. He didn’t really believe me, but that all went away when I cooked his mom’s recipe for marry me chicken. “God this is amazing.” He said, as he put a bite in his mouth. “Marry me.” He said and I giggled. “Already taken, honey.” I said as I wiggled my ring finger. 

After dinner Rooster sat on the couch and I told him to stay there. “Honey! I told you not to get me anything!” I ignored him as I grabbed the wrapped box from the closet, taking it downstairs. “I know. But you’ll love this.” I said as I handed him the medium sized box. He stared at it for a moment before he looked at me. “Go on! Open it!” I said excitedly. He just chuckled, ripping the paper off and opening the box. “O-oh. Mags you shouldn’t have.” He said as he pulled out the fuzzy bear. He stared at it, flipping it around, not looking all that pleased. “Do you not like it?” I asked and he looked at me, questioning his next words carefully. “Oh, ye-yeah. Of course. I always wanted a teddy bear for my thirty-ninth birthday.” I just giggled. “Look down in the box.” He did and pulled out a photo. It was him and his parents and in his hands was the original version of the teddy bears I gave him. “Wait… Is this Mr. Snuffles?” I nodded. “Not the exact same one, but yeah, it is.” He smiled, leaning back into the couch. “My dad gave me this just before his first deployment after I was born. I carried this thing to college with me. Hell, it’s probably in one of those boxes Tilly gave me.” I smiled, laying my hand over his and his eyes snapped to me. 

“Squeeze the left paw.” I said and I couldn’t hold back the tears that lined my eyes. He kissed my temple before squeezing the paw. “Hi buddy!” It was his dad’s voice and immediately tears fell from his eyes. “You’re one today! God this year has flown by and I wish I was home more to see you grow. But I have a few weeks of leave coming up and I can’t wait to spend all my time with you and your mama. We’re gonna go to the beach, and spend all our time playing in the backyard! I know you’re only one, but I’m even gonna get started on that treehouse for you. You're the greatest gift your mom ever gave me, and I hope I can be as good of a dad for you as your grandpa was for me. I love you, Bradley. To the moon and back, as far as the universe stretches and I can’t wait to see you grow up and become an amazing person. I have to go, but I promise we’ll have so much fun when I get home. I love you, buddy!” As soon as it cut off sobs racked his body and I pulled him into me. “Bradley-” “Thank you.” He cut me off and I smiled, kissing his head and running my fingers through his hair as he clutched the bear to his chest. “I figured you’d cry but I didn’t expect this.” I said and gently soothed him until his sobs turned into little hiccups. “I forgot what his voice sounded like.” My heart broke. I could never imagine not knowing what my daddy’s voice sounded like. “Oh, Bradley.” I pulled him down till I was laying flat on the couch, his body on top of mine. “This is the best gift you could’ve given me, Mags. Thank you.” He sat up, wiping his eyes just as Dahlia came over, licking his face and making him laugh. “Thank you, big girl.” He said, leaning over and kissing her head. “So, you like it?” I asked and he listened to the message one more time. “I love it.” 

The next day we spent most of our time lounging around before we got ready for the concert. “You sure you want to go?” I asked as I finished straightening my hair. He nodded as he slipped on another Hawaiian shirt. “Of course. I’m really excited.” He said smiling at me as I stood in the bathroom in nothing but a black bra and thong. He groaned, sitting in the chair in the corner, looking at me with a devilish smirk. “What I wouldn’t give to have you on my cock just one more time.” I giggled as I walked over to the closet. “No time. We have to meet Phoenix and Hangman at the venue. So save it till we get home.” I said and he groaned as I tossed on a simple blue dress. I usually wouldn’t wear a dress to a concert, but I know Rooster will be behind me the entire time so I wasn’t worried about creeps sticking their hands up my dress. Once I was dressed, I slipped on some flat sandals and pulled my ID and my card from my purse. “Put that in your pocket?” He nodded, taking them and putting it in his wallet. “Ready?” He asked and I nodded. The drive the venue was easy, parking was a bitch and we wound up walking for twenty minutes before we arrived at the end of the line. “Are they here yet?” Rooster asked and I shrugged. “Let me text Phoenix.” I said. “No need. Hangman!” He yelled and a blonde head snapped around to him. After a minute they stepped out of the line and came back to meet us. 

“Was parking bad for you too?” Phoenix asked and Rooster scoffed. “You have no idea.” He replied. We talked until the line started moving and finally we were able to hand over our tickets and walk inside. “Want a beer?” Rooster asked and we all agreed. It took a minute but we found a space on the left side close to the bar and the bathroom and out of the path of the crowd surfers. We enjoyed the openers but now it was time for the headliners, the entire reason we were here. The lights turned down and the music started causing Phoenix to grab my hand tightly. The mood in the crowd shifted and the mosh pit grew, pushing us a little but nothing too bad. I couldn’t help but scream the lyrics as Phoenix and I bounced. “Here am I! Take me to the pearly gates! Don’t let ‘em hit you on the way out when I take your place!” Rooster and Hangman had to take a step back from us, seeing as we kept bumping into their chests. I was sure my voice would be gone by the end of the concert, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I was having the time of my life, especially when Rooster would wrap his arms around my waist, holding me close and swaying with me. He even knew some of the lyrics. “I said it’s enough! I begged and I ran in circles! I climbed to the sun and fell in a concrete jungle!” By the end of the concert we got into the merch line, waiting forever before we were all leaving with shirts tossed over our shoulders. “We should hit up The Hard Deck.” Jake suggested and I smirked. “I don’t know man-” “Please, Roo? Just stop by and say hi. Then we can go home and we can do what you asked about earlier.” He sighed, knowing we wasn’t about to say no. “Okay. But we aren’t staying long.” I cheered, grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. “Yay!” I cheered, grabbing his hand as we all walked towards our cars. “See you there.” Hangman said as Phoenix and him veered off. 

Rooster helped me into the bronco before getting in himself. I smirked, sliding myself into the middle seat and leaning on him. “Did you have fun?” I asked and he nodded, kissing my head. “One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.” He said, backing out of the parking lot. “You know, I was listening to that one song and they’re right. Love is the death of peace of mind.” I hummed in agreement. “I worry about you a lot Mags.” I smiled up at him. “That’s okay. I worry about you a lot as well.” He chuckled and soon we were pulling into the sandy parking lot of the beloved bar and Rooster dragged me out through his door. I was caught off guard when he pushed me up against the side of the bronco. “Let’s get this over with,” He said as he kissed my neck, his fingers reaching around to grip my ass through my dress. “That way I can get you home and naked in my bed.” I giggled, pushing him away slightly. “Then I guess we better go in.” I dragged him inside and immediately everyone was yelling. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” There was a banner above the bar and Penny had a cake set up. “I thought I said no party.” I shook my head. “No party. Just a typical Saturday night at the bar. But tonight we have cake!” I said, pulling him towards the bar for a beer. “Happy birthday, Bradley.” Penny said, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks, Penny.” Mav came over, hugging him as well. “So, how was yesterday?” He asked and a blush crept up my cheeks. “Amazing! You should see what she got me!” He said, pulling out his phone and pulling up the picture of the bear. “Is that Mr. Snuffles?” Mav asked and Rooster nodded. “She even managed to get an old voicemail dad left for me on my first birthday and put the recording in the paw, so when I press it, it plays.”“How did you get the voicemail?” Mav asked. “I called almost every phone company in Virginia and finally found the one that had Carol’s name. Then I filled out some papers and got access to the voicemail box.” Mav seemed shocked as Bradley tucked me into his side. “That’s amazing. When I come over you’ll have to play it for me.” Rooster agreed and we walked off, grabbing some cake from Penny. We spent about an hour playing pool and catching up before Bradley was ready to go. “Bye guys!” He called and everyone waved. We were halfway to the bar when he stopped, turning me to face him. “Thank you. For the past few days, you have made me so happy.” I smiled up at him. “Good thing I get to make you happy for the rest of our lives.” He smiled, hands coming up to hold my face before he leaned down, kissing me sweetly, making butterflies build in my stomach. Suddenly, a loud bang went off, scaring everyone. The sound of glass shattering filled the room as Rooster grabbed me, something splattering against my face as he pulled me to him. Something whizzed by my head and soon, everything went quiet. Roosters fingers dug into my skin, scrunching my shirt in his grasp. I pushed away from him, standing straight, and looking around. Everyone else was looking around in confusion and standing from the floor. I turned to Rooster, looking up at him. “Are you…” My voice trailed off when I noticed how pale he was. I had never seen him this pale and he had a look of fear in his eyes. “Roo?” He gripped me tightly and stumbled a little. My eyes trailed down to his chest, the white tank top he wore under his Hawaiian shirt, flooding with red. A horrified scream escaped me as I grabbed him, but he slipped through my grasp, crashing to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Taglist: @mak-32 @rosiahills22 @fanboyswhore9 @genius2050 @callsign-athena

[oh-surprise-its-me]

I listened to so much loud music last night and got drunk. Apparently I wrote this idea in my notes app last night.

So here’s an actual au of Jake never becoming a pilot!

-

The only reason why Jake was going to the hard deck tonight was for Javy.

Okay Javy and his dads. They convinced him to go. Jake is still in his scrubs. But with three days off starting tomorrow he figures Javy will forgive him.

He slides into the bar and looks around for his dads. A man comes him to him. “Hey pretty boy not sure this is your kinda place.” Jake wipes all the thoughts he was having about the mustache out of his head. “They let you fly with something that distracting on your face?”

Jake shoves past him. He sees his dads now. He ducks through the celebration. Comes up behind his tata. “Congratulations.” The three of them turn and Jake is quickly pulled into hugs. He gets kisses pressed to his head. Ron turns and shouts for Javy.

Javy catches sight of Jake and practically runs to him. Jake is brought into a crushing hug. Tom laughs at them and Chris reminds Javy to go slow.

Jake pulls back and gently smacks Javy’s chest. “You got a fucking concussion?” Javy flushes. “No?”

There’s a new voice from behind him. “Don’t lie to the man Jav.” Jake glances back to see a smaller brown haired man. He’s pretty sure it’s Maverick. Chris laughs. “Good luck with that Mav.” Jake instantly snaps back into nurse mode. He can’t help it. He shoves Javy onto a stool. “Tell me everything.”

Javy glances at Mav. “Go ahead we both know who his dads are.” Javy quickly tells Jake about the accident. Jake nods along the entire time.

Tom leans around Chris to talk to Mav, “get your kid they should meet again now that they aren’t 2.” Mav laughs. “Does Jake promise not to bite this time?” Jake blinks at his dad. “I don’t even want to know what you two are referring to.” Ron laughs and presses a kiss to Jake’s hair. “You were a bitey kid.”

“Says the man that bit dad and tata for me to see. Who’s fault is that.” Chris smacks Ron. “See.” Jake knows this has been a gentle argument they’ve had for years.

Jake eventually tells Javy he’s fine. Javy smacks his hip with an “I told you now drink.” Jake accepts the beer passed his way. They all move to a booth.

Chris in Tom’s lap, Ron on the inside, Jake and Javy sharing a side like they always do.

Mav drifts back over with him is the idiot with the facial hair. “Jake meet my son Bradley. Rooster for his callsign”

Jake and Bradley stare at each other. Bradley breaks first. He reaches a hand out, “nice to meet you.”

Jake blinks at him. “Yeah nice.” They shake on it. Bradley holds on. “Want another beer?” Javy elbows him. “Fuck it sure if you’re paying.” Jake is pulled up by Bradley. “Let’s go get it pretty boy.”

Mav takes Jake’s seat. “God Chris you were right they’re going to kill each other.”

Ron and Tom both chatter in polish, Chris smacks them, “stop it you two I don’t need to think about that.” Javy laughs. “I already know too much. He’s exactly Jake’s type.”

Mav stares after them. They’re leaning against the bar. Bradley has an arm around Jake’s waist. Jake looks like he’s turned on but considering breaking the arm. “Oh no what have I done.”

The four others laugh. “It’ll be fine Mav.”

Mav shakes his head, “how did your kid end up a nurse anyways.”

The three of them grin. They’ll take any opportunity to talk about their kid. Chris starts, “he took after our friend Lucas. He was an ER nurse in Texas and here. Always was fascinated with his stories.”

Ron nods and presses a kiss to Tom’s head. “We taught him how to fly and he loves it but it just wasn’t what he wanted to do.” Tom smiles at Chris before continuing, “he’s a little grease monkey like Chris here too but he wanted to help people. Decided to go into nursing. ER like Lucas was.”

Chris shakes his head, “told him he wasn’t allowed to become a firefighter though. Paramedic sure. But I never wanted him do follow what David and I did.”

Mav nods. He’s jealous in a sense. Wishes Bradley understood why he pulled his papers. Wished they didn’t loose so much time.

“Holy shit they’re gone.”

They all turn to look at the bar. Yep. No Bradley or Jake. Tom let’s out a loud laugh. “He really is our kid.” Mav slams his head into the table. “Goddamn it.”

Javy pats his shoulder. “Come on old man let’s see if you can beat me at pool.”

Jake’s dads watch as they leave. Chris leans back and whispers to his husbands. “Wanna go home and celebrate our own way?” Ron’s eyes flash. “Absolutely.” Tom squeezes his hip. “Good thing tomorrow is Saturday.”

Chris laughs. He grins at the two of them. “Come on then.”

They all wave to Mav and the daggers.

They give Javy and hug on the way out.

The daggers look so confused. They know they’ll have to host a bbq and invite all of them.

It’ll be a good weekend.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

Empire Kids + "I won't let them put their hands on you”, perhaps?

25. "I won't let them put their hands on you."

Beau paces. She cannot fight, she cannot run, she cannot claw her way through the marble walls of the courthouse in Zadash, so she paces in this tiny antechamber, round and round and round and round until Yasha claims she is going to be ill and steps outside for some water. Beau just cracks her knuckles and continues, her mind whirring into overdrive with the practice questions the lawyer Yudala Fon had assigned to her gave her to answer. She's probably recited the story of her kidnapping to Yasha, to the bathroom mirror, to the midnight stars a thousand times, and yet every time she imagines herself in the courtroom, telling it just one more time in front of everyone (in front of Zeenoth, in front of her father), her tongue becomes a sailor's rope, knotted and briny.

It's stupid, to be so nervous. She is an Expositor. It is her duty to find the truth, and this is a truth, her truth. If she were to approach this like any report she'd give Dairon or Yudala Fon or anyone else at the Cobalt Soul, her insides might not feel like the deck of a ship on choppy seas.

(But she can't, because it's not a report, dispassionate and stale. This is her life, fucked-up and raw and bruised and hers. And she is being asked to go before all of those eyes and be seen? Fuck, this is worse than being kidnapped.)

There's a knock at the door, and Yasha's adorable request for entry, as if Beau would ever say no, okay, that's a nice little distraction. "Yeah."

The door creaks open, and instead of long, wild white hair, a mop of ginger appears, tired blue eyes and three-day scruff just below. "Are you busy?"

Beau lets out an ironic laugh, and finally, she stops her pacing. "No, actually, just thinking about laying down for a nap."

Caleb must take her sarcasm as an invitation, because he steps inside, closing the door behind him. "Yasha is just out in the hall. She seems...well. Not much better than you seem, if I am being honest."

Beau crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm fine. It's whatever. It needs to be done, so I'm doing it."

"Ja, well, we know that sentiment well, no?" Caleb takes the chair that Yasha had abandoned, and somehow, his eyes feels worse than the dozens of unfamiliar one's she about to face. "This is the worst part, I promise."

Beau doesn't need to ask what he means. He's just come off the heels of his own trial, where he stared down the man who undeniably did worse to him than Zeenoth or her father ever thought about doing to her. Her eyes land on the slightly pushed-up sleeves of his jacket, on the few scars she can see. "I just want it over with."

"I know."

"I just wish I could..." She sighs. "I don't know! Write this shit down and have someone else read it. I don't know why it has to be me."

"I know."

"And why do they have to be there?" She doesn't say who she means. She doesn't have to. "I mean, Zeenoth, whatever, fuck that guy, but my dad? And, shit, I have no idea who else from the Soul is gonna show up, and you know that there are more people involved than just Zeenoth, people who aren't gonna like what I have to say. And...you know, with Yasha there, I just..." She stumbles back to slump against the wall. "I just want to go home."

There is a long silence, during which they stare at each other, these two Empire kids, so much bullshit between them, until Caleb rises and crosses the antechamber to stand before her. "You are Beauregard Lionett." He lays his hands atop her forearms and gently pries them apart, and it's only then that she realizes what a death grip she's had on her own torso. "You are the strongest person I have ever met. I am a very smart man—" She rolls her eyes. "—and I am telling you know that of all of the things that I know, the thing I know the most is how capable you are. And you are capable of this."

She's so fucking pissed at the way her eyes prick. "And what if I'm scared?"

"I said you were strong, Beauregard. I did not say you weren't human."

She runs her wrist beneath her nose with a sniffle. "Yeah. Yeah okay. Yeah, fuck them."

"And do not forget, Yasha and I will be in the room with you, ja? I will not let them put their hands on you. Neither of us will. You may stare down the world, Beauregard, but not alone. Never alone."

And much to her own dismay, she throws her arms around his neck, sinking her weight into this scrawny wizard who somehow, when she wasn't looking, became the closest thing she has to family. "Thank you, Caleb."

He squeezes her tight. "Of course. Now, let me go get Yasha before she tears her hair from her head."

Beau lets out a wet laugh and nods, releasing him. "Yeah, okay." And she watches him head for the door, and for the first time today, she thinks that maybe she's gonna be alright.