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wefoundloveunderthelight · 4 years ago

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Love or Duty by GleefullyCaptainSwan

Chapter 4/8

Read on AO3: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: Duty is Sacrifice

Emma woke as the sun rose in the sky, the light beams breaching the window to her room. She stretched her arms toward the top of her bed and sighed loudly. “It is about time you have risen from your bed.” She heard Ruby laugh from the other side of her room. “If you are to go riding with Prince Killian, you need to get ready.”

She yawned and sat up in her bed. “The sun has not fully risen, even the horses will still be sleeping.”

“Just because you enjoy sleeping until the sun is high, does not mean the rest of the kingdom follows.”

“You exaggerate, the sun has barely made it beyond the walls, the day is young.” She put her feet on the ground and closed her eyes, there was a sense of excitement and dread to get to see beyond the walls of the castle today, she hoped that wherever Killian took her riding would give her a better sense of this new prison she would be trapped in once she married Liam.

“Will you be standing on ceremony this morning and wearing a gown to ride?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She laughed. “You know I hate riding side saddle; this town might as well learn who I am because I have no intention of pretending I’m something else for the rest of my life.”

“You are going to be a handful for the Prince, I can assure you.”

“Good.” Emma replied simply. “Perhaps he shouldn’t have accepted to take me riding if he wasn’t up for the task.”

“I was talking about Prince Liam.” Ruby giggled. “But interesting that your mind went to his brother.”

“It’s not interesting at all, I simply thought you were talking about our riding adventure you are busy preparing me for.”

“Of course.” She said with a sly smile.

“What is this tone?” Emma inquired.

“Nothing at all, I was simply pointing out that perhaps you find the younger Prince intriguing.”

Emma snorted. “Intriguing. He’s smug, conceited, arrogant beyond all measure…”

“So, you’re attracted to him?”

“I’m not saying he isn’t easy on the eyes. I’m quite certain he’s been easy on many a maiden’s eyes.”

“I think he’s sweet.” She swooned.

“Of course, you do.” She exhaled with a laugh. “Men like Killian Jones most often turn out to be nothing more than a child and you do so enjoy taking care of children, don’t you?”

The women fell onto the bed giggling before going about the rest of the task of preparing Emma for the day’s ride.

By the time they emerged from her chambers it was lunch time and Emma hurried to the dining hall in hopes of finding the Prince. When she entered the chamber, the Queen was seated as she sipped her soup. Emma stopped in her tracks, realizing she was alone in the room with the woman.

“Princess Emma, do join me for some soup.” Emma bowed her head and sat down at the other end of the large table. “Nonsense dear, I prefer not to have to raise my voice over a friendly chat.” She motioned for the man behind her to bring her food next to the Queen, Emma took the seat nearest to the woman. “There that’s much better.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Please call me Alice, I have always hated formality. My mother gave me a name, I quite enjoy hearing people use it.”

Emma laughed. “You sound like my mother.”

“Ah yes, Lady Margaret. She is a fine woman.”

Emma’s head snapped up at the mention of her mother, she knew that the situation between her father and King Jones was not a happy one, but she was unaware that her mother and the Queen were acquainted. She thought it must be awkward considering her mother was once betrothed to the woman’s husband.

“I was not aware you knew my mother.”

A small smile spread on her face, “Men choose to stand behind years of resentment and bitter rivalry, but women, women understand matters of the heart, don’t we, love?” She paused. “Your mother is a brave woman in a time when women are not encouraged to speak their minds; she is someone I have admired for years.”

Emma smiled fondly thinking of her mother. “She would be pleased to hear that.”

“Are you ready to see all that Jonesboro has to offer you today?”

“Very, I love riding and experiencing new things.”

“Judging by your attire, am I to assume you are an accomplished rider?”

She looked down at her clothing, “My father and I used to go riding when I was a child. My horse back home, White Swan, I’ve had her for years. Some of my fondest memories are shared with her.”

“Killian will be pleased to know he will not need to teach you how to ride. My son is not the most patient of tutors.”

Emma laughed. “I never would have guessed.”

“How are you healing? My sons told me of the attack on the road here.”

“Sore, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“We are all very thankful that it was not worse.” She said, reaching over to grab her hand.

“Had it not been for Prince Killian, I fear it may have been worse.” She said honestly without thinking.

“I am most pleased to hear that. Besides, I could not bear needing to relay dreadful information to your father.”

Emma was about to ask the Queen how well she knew her father when they were interrupted by Killian’s arrival. “Good day, Mother.” He announced when he entered the dining hall.

“At this rate, it is almost evening.” She teased. “Can you ever emerge from your bed chamber before the sun rises?”

“What would be the point of that, if the sun has chosen not to rise, why should I?” He mused and Emma tried to hide her own smirk.

“You’ll be pleased to know that Princess Emma is an accomplished rider and should be well suited for a trip to the countryside this afternoon. Please be sure to show her the fields, the flowers are quite lovely this time of year.”

“Of course, Mother.” He said, kissing his mother’s cheek and grabbing a slice of bread from the table. “Are you ready, love?”

Emma felt herself blush as he stared in her direction. “Quite.” She said simply, standing from her seat. “It was lovely chatting with you, Alice.” She added softly, not missing the way that Killian’s face softened at the mention of his mother’s name.

She followed Killian silently through the halls until they found themselves outside, people milling quietly about, barely recognizing their Prince walking amongst them as if he blended with the townsfolk seamlessly without calling notice to the fact that he was royalty. The ones that did acknowledge that they knew him, fondly shook his hand, nodded in his direction, and a few of the women earned a genuine smile from the man. She could tell that he was well liked by their people.

“This way, M’Lady.” He gestured her toward the dirt path that led to the stables in the distance. “You are quite the surprise, Princess. I half expected you to show in full dress, ready to promenade around the villagers as their future Queen.”

She rolled her eyes at his dishonest comment. “You most assuredly did not. You know full well that I am not a helpless lady in waiting who sits back on her station in life. I’m quite sure I could match your skill with a blade, and I don’t think I’ve ever pretended to be a damsel in your presence.”

He laughed, responding with more honesty this time, “I supposed that is true, you are not quite what I expected, Princess of Misthaven.”

She found her eyes rolling again at the formality of it all, “Emma will do. I never liked the sound of Princess anyway; it makes me feel as if I am to parade around in pink satin and lace with braids in my hair and birds singing on my shoulder. It’s tiresome and boring.”

“You’re sort of an open book aren’t you, love?”

She flinched toward him as he opened the stable doors. “Usually, no.” She answered honestly. “I guess I don’t feel the need for pretense around you.”

“Should I feel honored then?” He joked.

“I am most certain the only reason I feel that way is that you yourself do not seem to be of the type to keep up pretense, unlike your brother, you do not have to worry that one day the crown will sit on your head.”

“And you believe this means that I do not have responsibility, or duty to the kingdom?”

“You speak of duty as if you understand it.” She laughed.

“Duty is sacrifice. I understand it more than most.”

“Sacrifice? What is it that you sacrifice? Your ability to roam from bed chamber to bed chamber? Missing a romp in the hay due to diplomatic responsibility?” She paused and snorted, “I misspoke, your father sends your brother for that.”

“I suppose it is more honorable that your duty is to lay yourself down for my brother.”

Emma felt the sting on her hand before she realized that she had slapped him. Her anger rising to the tips of her ears. Her mouth sat agape for a moment, his blue eyes glaring back at her. “I do not feel much like riding anymore.” She said angrily, storming away from the man and rushing back to the castle as the tears fell down her cheeks with each step.

~*~

Killian stared at her retreating form, his cheek burning from the contact with her palm. He knew he shouldn’t have said it, knew that Emma was set against marrying his brother simply because of duty. It was unkind to mention taking away her right to choose who she wanted to lie with. Yet he couldn’t hold his tongue. He wanted to scream at her, to tell her that he wanted more than his own station in life. He could do more if only his father allowed it.

Killian had waited in the wings for years for his father to call on him, he could be at the front of the Royal army, leading the charge toward battle, he could lead a diplomatic mission to other lands, be trusted to speak for the kingdom, to show his father and the town that he was more than just Liam’s little brother. But his father had little faith in him, only seeing him as the boy who caused mischief, the boy who could not be tasked with important things.

It angered him that he was always ignored, he was the Prince who would never be King. He was nothing.

Killian stormed back toward the castle, determined to spend his evening lost in drink and naked maidens. He would distract his anger away with more inviting emotions.

But his anger was not stemmed the next morning when he awoke with a hangover, his sheets clinging to his naked form as if he had tossed in the waves of another nightmare at sea. He was adrift in torment, unanchored and floating toward an ocean of regret and sorrow.

He did not like being at war with the Princess, yet he could not bear to be in the presence of the woman either. Seeing her was torment on his mind. As much as he wanted to shout his anger into her gravity, he was more tortured by the way he was affected by her company. As much as he loathed arguing with the woman, the result intoxicated him.

His mood was apparent through dinner, though his mother did not speak of it, his father was quick to point out that he was once again being difficult. Killian brooded while he ate, not making eye contact with the woman seated across from him.

“I never did hear how you enjoyed the countryside.” His mother spoke from the end of the table and Killian gulped his food down.

“I was feeling ill and had to cancel the ride before it began.” She responded quickly.

“I can summon Victor to have a look.” His mother responded.

“Thank you, but I’m feeling better today.” She said softly, looking back down at her food.

“Probably for the best, I’m sure Liam would do a better job of showing you around than Killian, unless you are only interested in the inside of our many taverns.” His father grumbled and Killian stood quickly from the table.

“If you don’t mind Mother, I have other duties to attend to.” He said, more forcefully than he intended.

His mother nodded with a frown on her face. “Of course.” He turned and bowed angrily toward his father and glanced only slightly at Emma before he exited the room, ignoring the look on her face as she tried to make eye contact with him. His feet pounded toward the courtyard, needing to feel the air, the breeze, something that wasn’t the inside of these rock worn walls.

Before he realized where he was going, he had saddled his horse and took off into the moonlight riding toward the forest. When he reached the small pool of water in the middle of the lush trees, he dismounted and sat down on the rock that had held him many times before. Times when his anger or sadness had pushed him away from the castle walls that he called home.

He pulled the flask from his jacket pocket, uncorking it and tipping it toward his mouth, the warm liquor coating his throat as it warmed him inside and quelled his discontent.

“You ride faster than I was prepared for.”

“Bloody hell.” He jumped as the voice approached him from behind. The horse stopped next to his own, and Emma dismounted, dropping down to the ground with ease. “Did you steal my horse?” He exclaimed, staring at the dark black mare behind her.

She looked back and ran her hands across her main. “Is she yours? She’s a beautiful animal.” The horse pressed against her hand, allowing her to run her palm against its face.

“Aye, her name’s Jolly, but she has not been ridden by anyone except me since she was born.” He said astounded that the horse not only allowed her to saddle it but to also sit upon her.

She shrugged, “I have a way with horses, I suppose.”

“What are you doing out here? It’s not proper for a Princess to sneak off with the brother of her betrothed. What would people think of your duty to him?” he added sarcastically.

“Don’t talk to me about duty.”

“Tell me Princess, why exactly are you marrying him? Are you perhaps too difficult for other men? Or do you not believe in love?” He spat.

“What do you know of love? You speak of it as if it is as easy to come by as getting water from a well.”

“I thought for sure that you of all people would reject the notion of performing your duty in the absence of love.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“For someone that comes from true love, one would think that it would be more important to you than duty.” Her mouth opened and he rolled his eyes. “You think I don’t know about your mother’s rejection of my father? She neglected her duty because she was in love.”

“How dare you accuse my mother of doing anything wrong. From my experience with your father, she made the right choice.”

“Don’t misunderstand Princess, I respect your mother’s gumption to defy the basic principles of royalty and duty. I just thought perhaps her daughter had the same spirit. I see I was wrong to make such an assumption.” She stepped toward him angrily and he laughed. “Did I touch on a nerve, love? Care to hit me again?”

“You arrogant, son of a…”

“Careful, that is not the language of lady in your position.”

“I’m no lady.” She said angrily.

“That part I believe. But tell me love, have you ever done anything that wasn’t part of your responsibilities. Sod the duty, no thought of what people will think of you, but you did it anyway simply because you wanted to?” He smirked.

“Of course, I have. Where do you think I learned to ride that damned horse like that?” He began laughing heartily and a pout formed on her face. “What?”

“You consider mounting a horse to be an act of defiance.” He stepped closer to her, pushing the hair lying on her shoulder behind her. “Perhaps you like the feel of the horse when you ride her bareback? Is it exhilarating having a beast as large as that between your legs?” She shivered against his touch and a grin grew on his face. He stepped back and tugged at the buttons of his shirt, dropping the garment to the ground in front of her. Reaching up to unbuckle his brace, he felt it loosen and drop onto the ground beside him. He did not have time to think about it, to feel the full weight of being this exposed to her, or anyone like this.

“What are you doing?” She asked nervously.

He reached for the string of his pants, loosening them, and dropping them the length of his body, standing in front of her nude and exposed as she rocked back on her heels, he was certain her cheeks were stained red if he had more light exposed to her. “Join me for a swim?” He asked nonchalantly, turning away from her with a grin and walking into the pool of water in front of him.

“Why on earth are you swimming in the middle of the night?” She yelled after him.

Once he was standing waist deep he turned toward her. “Because I wanted to.” He laughed with a shrug. “So, I did.”

He could see her contemplating her options on the shore, looking around nervously at the horses, staring at the pile of clothes he had left by the rocks. He knew he was being reckless; he had just discarded his clothing in front of his brother’s future wife. It was a game he was destined to lose.

And yet he couldn’t stop himself, whatever it was with Emma, it was like something was calling her to him. She was the air he needed to breathe and the blood running through his veins. He needed her and yet he couldn’t have her. “It’s alright Princess, I’m sure my brother would not want you catching cold anyway.”

As if he had just poked her, she angrily tore her gown over her head, pushing her shoes from her feet and standing on the shore in her thin shift. Killian felt his entire body catch fire as she slipped the straps from her shoulders and dropped the material to the ground, leaving her only in the flesh. His breathing wavered as she stepped into the water defiantly, almost marching toward him in the water, her eyes locked on his. God he wanted this woman.

When she was close enough to touch she sank down under the water, disappearing beneath as circles of water expanded out around her. Suddenly he felt something brush against his legs as they were pulled out from under him, and he found himself splashing backward into the water until he was submerged in the cool lake. When he breached the water, she was laughing, her hair soaked against her milky white skin, water pooling at the apex of her breasts. The mischievous grin on her face caused a reaction below the surface that he tried to tame.

“Aren’t you a bloody minx.” He chuckled. “Two can play your game, love.” He teased before he dove under the water, wrapping an arm around her waist and tossing her over his shoulder. She was laughing when she popped up from the water, wading in the deeper water behind him. She swam closer until she was able to stand, and he stared down at her.

Her eyes were wandering his body, glancing at his chest until they swept lower as if trying to see beneath the murky waters below. She bit her lip, turning her eyes back to his face and then onto his arm. “How did you lose your hand?” She asked suddenly and he glanced to his side, lifting his arm from the water, the blunt end of his wrist the constant reminder that he would never be whole.

“Sailing.” He responded sadly. “I fancy myself a pretty good sailor, but at 14 I was reckless, distracted, as my father has told the tale many times in the past.”

“Your father is an insensitive man.” She said softly.

“Aye, but not wrong. I have learned from my mistakes; I do not make them twice.”

“Couldn’t have been that easy for a 14-year-old.” She stared at him with sorrow in her eyes.

“I don’t require your pity, lass. All my other appendages work just fine.” He teased, cocksure and full of piss.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what, love?”

“Lie to me.”

“I can assure you; I’ve never lied to you.”

“Then you aren’t being honest with yourself. It’s ok for a 14-year-old boy to grieve the loss of something that everyone else takes for granted. There’s nothing wrong with struggling to feel whole.”

His eyes sought hers, her words striking something deep in his heart. How did she know that he had never felt like a full person for so many years? How was she able to see the thoughts and feelings he had tried so hard to hide from the world? Things he only spoke of in the solidarity of his own mind. He didn’t know who stepped forward first, how their bodies ended up so close that he could feel the vibration of the water beneath him from the way she moved back and forth beside him. He didn’t know when her arm brushed against his, her fingers lightly tracing the scars at his wrist.

He didn’t know how she ended up in his arms or why she was gazing at him with the look of want in her eyes but there was no denying that he was the one that closed the gap between them, his lips making contact with hers in a bruising kiss that left him feeling as though he would not be able to breathe if she pulled away from him.

She made a sound that sent shivers down his spine as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he pulled her against his body as they hovered in the water. His hand tangled into her wet hair, his thumb tracing the curve of her neck, his tongue dancing with hers as their bodies slipped against each other.

His cock bobbed under the water, brushing against her backside as her groans became louder in his ear. He could barely contain himself, his hand brushing against her breast as she hummed in his ear, her teeth biting at his lobe. “Emma…” He groaned and he felt her stiffen in his arms.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it was her who pulled away from him, a mortifying frown on her face. “Oh God.” She said into the air. “What have I done.” She started to pull herself toward the shore, marching toward their clothing strewn on the bank. “I must be insane.” She was mumbling to herself as he reached her side.

“Emma.”

“No, don’t talk to me right now. Don’t look at me.” She shrilled as she held her clothes up against her naked form. “I’m marrying your brother. We can’t…we should never have…Oh God.” She finished.

He turned around to speak. “Emma.”

“Please put your pants on.” She said anxiously and he reached for his pants, tugging them onto his wet legs, struggling to get them to slide up his legs with one hand.

“It was my fault. No one has to know about this.”

“You’re damn right, no one can know about this. I mean that Killian, no one can know. The dishonor it would bring to my family is more than I can bear.” She cried and Killian reached for her hand before she jerked away from him. “Don’t touch me.” She said before softening her voice. “I’m sorry.”

“Emma, I’m the one who is sorry, I never meant to…” He continued to try and tug at the fabric on his legs refusing to budge.

“I have to get back to the castle before anyone realizes I’m gone.” She said nervously, wringing her hands as she approached the horse.

“Would you just wait, love. You’ll get lost in the dark.”

“No, we can’t be seen together, just…please Killian, leave me be.” She pleaded as she mounted the horse, her wet clothes clinging to her body. She urged the horse forward, turning to look back at him once before speeding off into the darkened forest.

“Bloody hell.” He swore, giving up on his pants and dropping down onto the rock behind him. He had royally screwed things up this time.

#love or duty #stacy's fics #killian jones #emma swan #captain swan fics #captain swan au #captain swan

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ramblinganthropologist · 4 years ago

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Crossed over

Summary: Garrus has something to tell Shepard before they get down to pound town. Same hat, though? Same hat.

(I wrote this originally for pride but didn’t finish it in time. Yes I am 100% pulling this out of my ass, but who cares. My city now.)

---

Shit.

Garrus’ heart was still racing as the door to the main battery shut in front of him. Only moments prior, the Normandy’s commander had been standing there, chatting with him. Well… chatting wasn’t really the right word. Propositioning, maybe? That felt more on the face plate to him, but it just sounded so salacious for something coming from the man people had dubbed humanity’s boy scout.

He didn’t know what a boy scout was, but he was fairly sure they didn’t make suggestions like that…

“I guess I need to… ask Mordin about this.”

His hand hesitated on his omni-tool before he could make the call. The salarian would be good for positioning and allergic warnings, but he didn’t need that at the moment. That wasn’t going to quiet the frantic racing of his heart. He needed somebody else for that, someone he was still on shaky terms with.

But he needed someone would listen and not need a million clarifying questions…

His talons typed in the familiar number, and it was soon sending out the request. Thanks to being so close to a mass relay, it would go through no problem. Well, that and the fact Cerberus had souped up the Normandy’s communication system in several definitely off the market and illegal ways. Though that really wasn’t his problem anymore – he hadn’t been part of C-SEC for over two years.

Just… old habits die hard he supposed.

The call took a few seconds to connect, but he soon heard the sounds of Palaven on the other end. Garrus felt his stomach drop as he realized just how late it was on his homeworld. No doubt he had woken up the other party from a deep sleep – that was strike two for him before he had said a word.

Strike one, naturally, was going off on Omega and becoming a mercenary who took a rocket to the face. She was still mad about that.

“Garrus?”

Solana sounded tired. He could hear her shifting on the other end, no doubt because she had been in bed and fast asleep. Guilt swarmed in his stomach, but his resolve pushed it away. As the humans said it, in for a penny in for a pound.

And boy, he was going to get a pounding…

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. The humans of the Normandy would’ve never noticed it, but no doubt his sister had already picked up on just how frantic he sounded. Right then, any turian within a couple hundred yards probably could’ve picked it up. Hell, a passing ship might have even gotten the hint if they hadn’t been in FTL drive. But he tried anyway – he had his pride in the end.

“Uh, hey, Solana. Sorry, I realize it’s late and all, but- “

Right then, he could imagine her mandibles twitching in annoyance, but also the gleam in her eyes that gave away just how curious she actually was. After all, he wasn’t the call home type. Never had been really, especially after their mother had passed. It just sort of got pushed to the back and they caught up when they could.

“Gar, you’re freaking out so loud the humans are going to hear it. You’re not dying again, are you?”

Hey, that had been a one-time deal. It wasn’t like he had a habit of taking rockets to the face or anything…

Garrus took a deep breath to steady himself once more, and he allowed his body some respite by dropping it onto the cot he kept in the battery. Sure, he probably could’ve had a bunk elsewhere – but that would’ve been with humans who had no problems working with Cerberus. As the object of his anxiety would’ve put it, taco was good out there.

He still didn’t get that – what did food have to do with displeasure? Humans were weird…

“I’m fine.” His mandibles twitched. “Just… had a talk with Shepard.”

Solana’s subvocals were curiosity city as she leaned in. “The big one or the dead one?”

“He’s not dead anymore…” Garrus’ voice trailed off. “And the little one, yeah.”

On the other end of the line, he heard his sister chuckle. “What, did you two have a fight about calibrating or something? That’s not exactly something to call me over, Gar. He’s not going to kick you off the…”

Her voice trailed off, no doubt because she had put the pieces together. He felt his stomach squirm as he waited in the pregnant silence, knowing the ball was going to drop any second. Really, this was the last thing he wanted to tell her…

“Please tell me you told him before you two fucked.”

Garrus’ mandibles almost let him lift off the ground as he jumped to his feet on instinct. “We haven’t… not yet. We were just… he made suggestions. I think we’re going to eventually, once we both put some research in. Kind of hard to smash a turian and a human together and all…”

His voice trailed off, realizing just how awkward he sounded. Really, the logical side of him knew he was being ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was a virgin like Shepard was. There were a few lovers in his past, so for the most part he knew what he was doing. It was just… well, humans were odd.

Solana’s voice was steadier the next time she spoke. “So… you’re planning to fuck your CO.”

“Yes, I know, I’m a walking stereotype.” The embarrassment could have choked a krogan. “Honestly… I don’t even know why I called. I just…”

His sister finished for him. “You’re worried about how he’s going to react if you tell him, because you’re planning on filling him in.”

Garrus was left standing there in the battery, mandibles almost to the bottom of his neck. He had no idea what kind of vocals he must’ve been giving off then, but they had to be something. After all, Solana wasn’t making fun of him. When it came to his love life, she loved nothing more than doing that. It was some older sister commandment: thou shalt pick on thy little brother for his terrible interest in people.

So… yeah.

“Gar?”

He shook his head. “Yeah, I guess that’s it,”

Solana shifted a pillow on the other end. “He’s a medic, right? He’ll at least understand it that way.”

Enough interaction with medical staff had taught Garrus that didn’t mean a whole lot of anything. Besides, he wasn’t looking for a checkup, this was practically starting… something. And maybe that’s why his stomach shifted so badly at the thought of it as he glanced around the battery.

Shit…

“I mean… do they even hold classes on that outside of turian occupied areas?” He sighed. “It’s easier with us… I don’t know how a human is going to feel about it.”

His sister’s subvocals shifted to something that reminded him of when he had been smaller, and she had stood by him on the playground. He was bigger than her now… but something about it was oddly comforting. It was also kind of embarrassing, but he was going to take what he could get at the moment.

“Well, if he starts shit, tell him to count his days.”

Despite his anxiety, Garrus found himself chuckling. “You’re really going to threaten the first human Spectre?”

“He died once; I can make it happen again if he hurts you.” The certainty in Solana’s voice was a strange comfort then. “Seriously, if he has a problem with it, then he’s an ass and he’s not worth it. Not your fault he’s a dumb human who doesn’t get what it means.”

Another chuckle – he knew when he had lost a fight. “Thanks, but I think I can handle it. Besides, you’re kind of on Palaven.”

Not that that meant anything – piss Solana off enough and she’d find a way to show up.

“Lucky him.” Solana let out a yawn that helped Garrus know their call was ending. “I mean it, Garrus. If he says anything…”

He found the knot in his stomach loosening as he sat back down. “I’ll send you our coordinates.”

“That’s my little brother. Now, get the hell off the line. I gotta get up for work in 4 hours.”

Well, love you too…

Still, Garrus let his sister go and the battery lapsed into silence once more as the call ended. He could hear life on the other side of the heavy door as the crew went about their duties, but right then it didn’t matter. He had made up his mind over the course of the call, so now he felt more resolute.

Was he still terrified? Absolutely. Humans were fucking unpredictable. After all, who else launches out of a mass effect field and starts fighting with the first sentient species they meet? They had a species wide death wish or something…

But that didn’t matter then. Now it was time to figure out what he wanted to say. And at least he had time for that as he waited for the big gun in front of him to show him some data.

---

A few weeks later, and there he was. Garrus shifted from foot to foot as the elevator door opened and let him out. He had been to the top of the Normandy before, enough that he knew the layout. Past that door was the object of his anxiety, waiting on the pretense of a talk about what they were planning.

Maybe it had been a while since he had last had sex, but he definitely didn’t remember that much thought put into it before. Was it because he was getting older, or because his partner was a squishy human?

“That you, Garrus?”

Shepard’s soft voice carried through the metal. Something about it always set the turian’s heart beating a little faster. In those moments, he found it hard to talk. So, in the end he just stood there like an idiot.

This was going great, clearly.

Thankfully, Shepard wasn’t a stupid man. His head appeared through the open door, checking to make sure he was ok. Today he had his hair pulled behind his head – he was fairly sure he called it a ponytail – and out of his face. No doubt he had been working with Saren. The hamster had full face privileges at pretty much anytime. And yes, he was jealous of a hamster for that.

So sue him.

The words brought hm back to life. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, guess I was more tired than I thought.”

The Spectre smiled at him as he motioned for Garrus to follow. Just as the turian had thought, he had been working with his hamster. From the looks of things, it had been a deep clean and a cage change if the shredded bedding meant anything. No doubt the man in charge of it all had been cleaning it up when he had come calling.

“What’s Saren got this time?”

Shepard gestured to the cage as they moved past his desk towards the sitting area. “I went for an under the sea theme. It seemed appropriate; he is living in the old fish tank system.”

That would explain the sunken ship half buried in the substrate. He had to hand it to the human, he really knew how to spoil his pets…

Together they sat at the table, Garrus positioned so he could just see Shepard’s unmade bed in the background. It was so close, but it felt like lightyears away. He was supposed to get on that eventually with the Spectre…

Talk about nearly giving himself a heart attack.

“Anyway, you wanted to talk about …”

Shepard’s voice dropped and his cheeks turned pink. Humans called that blushing, and it was pretty noticeable on the ones with light skin. It usually turned the Spectre krogan rampage red if he got going, so things weren’t too bad yet. He could work with this.

Still, Garrus felt tense as he gazed over at the human. At least both of them were nervous about this, so he didn’t feel completely stupid. In a way, that was helpful as he tried to find the words he had practiced for a week.

Naturally, they had abandoned him at the sight of those blue eyes. He was a sucker for blue…

“Yeah. There was something… I needed to tell you.”

His talons tucked against each other as he tried to keep from looking at the human. “Just so we both know what we’re getting into and all.”

“You’re not allergic to human body fluids, are you?”

Shepard was so matter of fact in his tone that Garrus felt himself chuckling without meaning to do it. Leave it to the Spectre to find a way to relax him without consciously attempting it. Maybe that was his real superpower – the biotics were just a fun perk.

But yeah… maybe he could do this.

“No, I’m good there.” Another deep breath. “Just uh… I don’t really tell people this. None of their business, and most non-turians wouldn’t get it anyway.”

At that, Garrus paused and checked the sight in front of him. Shepard was watching him, analyzing him maybe. He had stopped nervously tugging at the end of his ponytail, and his hands were in his lap. From the looks of things, he had the Spectre’s undivided attention.

No pressure.

“Something up, Garrus? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t- “

He held up his hand. “No, I feel like I should. We’re getting kind of… close.”

The tension rippled across his carapace as he felt it on the tip of his tongue. “Do… you know what it means to be crossed?”

At that point, the translating function on their omni-tools went haywire. Whatever Shepard normally heard when it worked, he definitely wasn’t getting it then. At least the man hadn’t winced at the sound of him untranslated. That was probably a good sign for cross-species relations if there ever was one.

“Sorry, the translator didn’t pick that up. I got something about a mix up?”

Well, half points for trying.

Garrus nodded as he tried to pick his words carefully so they would translate right. “Something like that. You know we believe in spirits, right?”

When Shepard nodded, he continued, stomach churning all the while. “Well… sometimes the spirit and the body it’s in have a disagreement about… things I guess.”

Disagreement was putting it mildly, of course. Garrus would’ve rather called it an all-out war in his early teens when the bad feelings were at their peak. Now it was mostly quiet – thank you, modern medicine – but sometimes it still whispered in his thoughts when he least expected it. His spirit was a tricky one like that, no wonder he had lasted so long on Omega.

But… yeah, he was getting away from the awkward conversation he was having. That was probably a bad coping mechanism left over from being a merc.

Shepard still seemed tuned into the conversation at the very least. “Ok… so your mind and body don’t… agree on something? Is that what I’m getting?”

“Pretty much. It’s not super common, but it happens.” His mandibles flapped as he tried to find the words. “There are ways of… making the spirit more comfortable depending on what way you need to go. Medical procedures help, but oftentimes one of the best ways is to just live the way your spirit wants.”

He had been 13 when his spirit had started acting up. That was a common age, though he didn’t exactly hang out with many crossed turians these days…

His shoulders still tensed as he snuck a glance at the human – hadn’t lost him completely. “I guess I’m trying to tell you… that I’m crossed. Not that it’s going to matter for us in bed, the hormone therapy has pretty much taken care of everything. I only have to take a maintenance dose every couple months…”

His voice trailed off. Shepard hadn’t said anything for a long time. Instead, the Spectre seemed to draw into himself. Something about that made Garrus’ stomach drop and almost instantly he regretted saying anything at all.

Maybe he was going to need Solana after all…

His voice was shaky when he spoke again. “Look, I get that it doesn’t- “

“So, you’re like the turian version of trans?”

Garrus blinked. The word was a new one, he had learned it from listening to the crew. Mentally, the translation ran through his head as he sat there, trying to remember what it meant. Something about gender?

What was that again, an ice cream flavor? He was kind of drawing a blank…

“Uh… don’t really get what that is, Shepard. You’re going to have to explain it to me before I can say anything.”

There was a glint in the man’s eye then as he nodded. “Basically, humans have a thing where their brain and body don’t match up. We can also fix it with medical procedures, but the best way is the same way you’ve got.”

The turian found himself nodding. “Guess that would be the human version of being crossed, yeah.”

In that moment, Garrus wasn’t sure what to expect as the pieces fell into place. It was Shepard, but Shepard was still human. More importantly, it was impossible to read how he was reacting then. His face was utterly blank as he sat there, staring down at his hands.

In the words of the Spectre… he should probably go.

Garrus could feel something breaking inside still as he stood. “I get it’s probably not what you expected. It’s ok… I just ask you don’t spread it- “

Those eyes were on him as Shepard reached out to keep him from going. “Damn it, Garrus, same hat.”

…

“Same…”

A wide grin broke out on Shepard’s face as he started laughing. “I think we’re in the same boat here if you’re telling me you’re on the turian version of HRT. Holy shit, talk about one hell of a relief. I thought you were going to say you were allergic to humans or something.”

The translation whirred in Garrus’ visor as he wordlessly sat back down. He had a full picture now, and it was one hell of a sight. The tension that had been vibrating across his carapace began to melt away as he listened to the human laugh, and soon he found himself chuckling as well.

Solana was never going to believe this.

“Nope, still not allergic to humans.” His mandibles twitched. “So… you humans do it too then?”

Shepard was still smiling as he nodded. “Yeah. If not for my biotics fucking everything up, I would’ve been on HRT too by now. But then you wouldn’t get to hear my lovely, squeaky voice cracking over the battlefield and who would want to miss that?”

“I wouldn’t…” Garrus’ voice trailed off. “Oh…”

Well, from the sound of things he hadn’t needed to worry. Maybe he didn’t need his older sister to come beat up his not-yet lover yet after all. His pride would survive for at least one more day at this rate.

Honestly, he felt lighter than he had in weeks. If not for the ship’s gravity, he might have been floating then. Then again, that might have been caused by Shepard’s quiet chuckles over all of this. Something about the man’s laughter always put him at ease.

“I can’t believe you thought I was cis, though.” The human had gone back to playing with the end of his ponytail, though from the motions it was less nerves and more something to do with his hands. “I would be insulted if you were human.”

Garrus felt his mandibles twitch. “It’s not like I know the difference, Shepard.”

“You literally saw my dick fall out of my pants, Garrus.”

…

Yeah, well… he wasn’t the medic, now was he? For all he knew, they were supposed to do that.

Still, at his silence Shepard just chuckled more. Surprisingly, he seemed lighter as well as he sat back. Maybe because of his own nerves, but he hadn’t noticed just how tight the man’s shoulders had been when he had entered. No doubt they had been worrying about similar things if there was that much crossover.

Something, something, communication made for happy relationships.

“Well, clearly we’ve got plenty of research to do if we want to do this right.” The human sounded much happier as he looked down at his always present omni-tool. “I mean… if you still want to and all. I understand if you’ve changed your mind.”

Garrus all but hopped to his feet. “No! I mean… no, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m just glad I know what to research. I think I was looking at the wrong vids…”

“Well, that makes two of us, unless you guys figured out a way to fix anatomical issues we’re still working on. Turian anatomy seems a little more straight-forward when it comes to genitals, what with everything being internal.”

…

You know, he probably should’ve found his anatomy being discussed in such clinical terms rather dry. Yet the fact Shepard seemed so relaxed about the whole thing was rather heartening. Maybe he was just more relaxed now that the bomb had dropped and he still had both of his mandibles.

He was glad for that – the implant surgery to fix him the first time had really sucked.

“I think you’ll be fine with whatever you’re looking at.” He let out a sigh of relief. “So… good talk?”

Even he knew that sounded awkward. Yet, the other man chuckled and nodded as he stood at last, pushing his ponytail behind his shoulders as he approached the turian. Apart from when they were getting shot at, it was probably the closest they had ever been.

“Yeah. Good talk.”

And then he smiled. “So, uh… I need to finish cleaning up from Saren. Unless you want to help with that?”

Garrus was already on his feet, eyeing the door. “I think I have some calibrations to get to down in the battery.”

Shepard’s cheeks briefly puffed out, but then he allowed a rather laid-back chuckle. “Alright, I get the idea. I’ll talk to you later, Garrus. Good luck with the calibrations.”

Luck – he certainly had a lot of that at the moment.

Garrus honestly felt lighter as he left the man’s quarters to return to his spot in the battery. The weight that had pressed down hard on his talons had evaporated, like gravity no longer affected him. It was a bit strange – the ship was set to adjust to that – but right then he wasn’t thinking like a tech as he rode the elevator back down.

All things considered, that had gone better than he had expected.

“Well… doubt Solana is going to believe this one. Who knew humans had it too…” he trailed off as the door opened to the crew floor. He let the matter drop for the moment, focused instead on getting back to work. After all, the Normandy was a big ship, and keeping her running was a heavy task he was more than happy to deal with.

Still… it was good to know they were on even footing. Maybe it wouldn’t go as badly as he thought it might. But he definitely needed to change his vids…

But he could worry about that later. A big gun needed some specialized calibrations if they were going to live another day. He could think about his sex life later.

#ramblinganthropologist's writing #trans!Garrus #my city now mfers #tf4 shakarian is now my canon lol #Alistair Shepard #Garrus Vakarian #they're not gonna fuck until ME3 tho

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gumnut-logic · 4 years ago

Text

Callisto (Full Prologue)

Prologue Part One - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 | Bit 4 | Bit 5 Part Two - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3

When I first started this story, I was of two minds whether to put all of the prologue at the front or scatter it throughout the fic. I started with 700-odd words of it and drove into the body.

It fast became obvious that I really needed to build a lot more into the prologue as the OCs were empty shells and I needed to explain the story behind them and why Jeff is so determined.

So at the end of Part Two, I stopped and went back. This is the result. Nearly 5000 words of Jeff Tracy landing on Mars. It can stand as its own story, but it definitely leads into the planned events for the novel, Callisto. Either way I hope you enjoy it. Be aware that the first 500 words or so may be familiar as they were part of the original version. Don’t worry, the rest is new.

Of course, many, many thanks to @tsarinatorment @scribbles97 and @janetm74 for all the amazing support and help with this fic. Plus @onereyofstarlight my go to science officer on this voyage. You guys are absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have done this without you ::massive group hug::

Now this is done, I can finally go back to writing the novel chronologically. I have to say that this is going to be one hell of a ride.

No warnings needed.

-o-o-o-

2033

“Another boy?”

Jeff grinned. “Yeah. Another one.” He couldn’t help but stare at the photo that had landed on his screen as a good luck token from Earth.

He did of course, know about Lucille going into labour the night before and it was for that reason he hadn’t had the sleep he probably should have pre-history making Mars landing. But honestly, to get this signal from that little blue planet a good eight months away…his heart swelled…his beautiful baby boy had a shock of red hair that screamed their Irish ancestry down through the hundreds of years since their family had left the old world.

Lucille sat holding him, looking tired but ever so proud. Her dark hair was tied back and the sparkle in her eyes brought a lump into his throat. Her mother, pink hair and all, sat beside his wife holding his two eldest boys on her lap. Scott had his hand on Virgil’s arm as the now second youngest reached over towards his baby brother, a frown of concentration on his face.

“He’s beautiful.”

Jeff startled a little. Berry was breaking regs and leaning over the back of Jeff’s pilot couch, her straps unfastened. The cockpit was pretty snug in the lander, most of the room taken up with safety equipment and interfaces, leaving little for the padded personnel support.

He shot an eyebrow in her direction and she smiled a dare back at him. The astrogeologist wasn’t one for breaking the rules, she just liked to taunt him a little.

Ju, in contrast, was checking her harness was secure a second time. “Creating your own crew, Tracy?” Her auburn eyes smirked at him. “Aiming to replace us?”

He grinned. “Could be.” Dare he mention that his four-year-old eldest could already name all the controls in this cockpit? His grin widened. “But we can’t replace the first person to set foot on Mars, now can we?”

Berry snorted, a little abashed. But it was, after all, her part to play once they made touchdown. The words had been rehearsed, the order of exit decided. For very specific reasons, the first human on Mars was going to be Kate Berrenger.

Berry had worked her ass off to make this mission a reality. Her specialisation onboard was astrogeologist, but honestly it was far more. The woman was talent on legs. It was she who had designed much of the equipment they were deploying on the surface, she who had hunted and gathered the funding, she who had put in the sweat and tears to make this work. And Ju wasn’t far behind. The two of them were quite a powerhouse pair. Jeff considered himself and Lee lucky to have been chosen for this mission. Of course, he’d known Berry for a very long time, worked with her for most of it, but it wasn’t a given that the team that had helped populate the moon would also be the first on Mars.

“Given how many life support pods we’re dragging down there, I bet your boys could drop by in about thirty years or less.”

“You gonna put your money where your mouth is, Berry?” The thought was tantalising. Not to put pressure on any future careers – Lucy would kill him – but he would hope that at least one out of three might follow in his footsteps.

Maybe?

He turned around and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted. “Major Tracy, tell your team to secure. Two minutes to separation.” Sinclair was his usual grumpy, nervous self.

“Roger that, Orbiter Control.”

He glared at Berry and the redhead bit her lip with a smile, green eyes dancing, before sitting back and strapping herself in preparation for the sequence.

She didn’t stop smiling though.

“So watcha gonna name him?” Lee prodded him with his eyebrows from beside Jeff.

A last glance at the photo before he returned to separation prep, fingers tight in his gloves. “Are you going to remember this one?” An eye in the engineer’s direction.

“Sure.”

Running his fingers over the controls, Jeff ran through pre-flight. “Name my eldest.”

Lee grunted, his eyes darting away. “Not important right now.” A flick of a switch. “I’m green across the board.”

“A-ok.” Jeff ran through the last sequence of checks…and ran them again…for luck. “Orbiter Control, we are green for separation.”

“Roger that, Cornerstone. Separation in sixty seconds on my mark.” A breath. “Mark.” Another pause. “Good luck.”

And the countdown began.

Jeff ran his eyes over everything again. The great ship that had journeyed so far from home was preparing to split in half. The lander at the top of the vessel was to pull away from the orbiter and its massive propulsion engines to begin the historic descent to the Martian surface. Eight months in space, so much preparation time and so many sacrifices before that, had all led to this moment.

History in the making.

His eyes combed the readouts watching like a hawk. The computer had control, but computers could only do so much.

Still green across the board.

Quiet, his fingers touched the screen where the photo had been. “John Glenn Tracy.” A breath. “His name is John.”

Displays shifted as the countdown hit zero and machinery grunted. The Cornerstone drifted apart from its propulsion module and floated free far above the red of the Martian surface.

Jeff eyed his instrumentation and sent a prayer to his family back home.

Today was an important day.

-o-o-o-

Lee watched Jeff side-on as he clicked his helmet into place. Taylor was a realist and he knew he wouldn’t be here without the crazy pilot.

It was Jeff’s drive that had gotten them this far. It was like riding a rollercoaster of determination and outright luck. From the Airforce, through space training and their sojourns on Alfie, Lee had tied himself to the man’s coat tails and hadn’t looked back.

God, it had been fun.

Jeff Tracy was a tsunami that crashed through everything and took everyone with him.

And Lee went willingly.

When they had been chosen for this mission it was a dream come true.

The countdown dropped to zero and machinery clunked as the lander separated smoothly from the orbiter. She drifted momentarily before the computer engaged thrusters to push her gently out of orbital alignment.

“We are five by five for atmospheric entry.” The words he uttered were almost rote after so many practise simulations back on Earth.

Atmospheric entry on Mars was considerably different to entry on Earth. Terran atmosphere was more like soup in comparison to the barely-there Martian atmosphere. Still made for a warm entry though, friction was friction after all.

“Trajectory achieved.” Jeff’s voice was confident and firm. As always.

Lee eyed the computer readouts, mentally ticking off procedure as the lander dipped into the outer reaches of the atmosphere and shifted to its entry interface.

Forces wrapped themselves around Lee and his body responded. After so many months of weightlessness, this was going to be a challenge.

“Ready for deceleration burn.”

The landing module sported early entrance stage retro thrusters designed to slow the vehicle to reduce the friction on the spacecraft’s skin. A new innovation that had proven essential in many return trips to the moon in preparation for the creation of a habitable dome on the satellite.

And here they were attempting to do something similar on Mars.

Cornerstone shook as her thrusters engaged exactly on time.

The craft roared.

Lee revelled in it.

“Three minutes to subsonic.”

“I really hate this bit.” It was barely heard above the commotion.

Lee snorted to himself. Ju was an astronaut in every sense, but she had a thing regarding atmospheric entry and the microscopic bits they could be exploded into if something went wrong.

“We are on track, Ju. Not a thing to worry about.” His voice reassurance itself, Jeff could sell the moon cheese if he so felt like it.

“Orbiter to Cornerstone. Tracy, we have a problem.”

Lee blinked. Sinclair’s voice was ominous.

“Orbiter, detail?”

“Cornerstone, weather has kicked up on the landing site. We have a developing dust storm. Looks to be a big one.”

“Orbiter, we are fixed for descent. Please advise severity.” Jeff’s tone was frustrated and Lee couldn’t help but echo it.

Data landed in Lee’s console and while Jeff continued to monitor their descent, Lee examined the situation. “We have a category five dust storm developing over the landing site. Orbiter is right, she looks like she could actually do some damage.”

Mars dust storms were generally all gust and no guts. The air density and pressure forced storms that were dramatic to look at, but generally little more than a windy day on planet Earth. This one, however... “It’s an anomaly.”

Jeff’s eyes darted from his console to Lee’s, grey eyes assessing the data. “Ju, your opinion?” They had to make the decision fast. Altering their trajectory now was possible, but fuel was precious. Any extra used now narrowed their safety margin for later.

The meteorologist’s fingers darted over her board. “Unusual strength, I agree.” Lee glanced in her direction as she frowned. “But Cornerstone should be able to handle it.”

“‘Should’ is not a good enough assumption, Zhang.” Jeff was frowning. The lander’s retros cut out as they reached a safe enough velocity to manoeuvre and Jeff’s hands curled around the yoke.

Lee’s finger darted over his board and brought up the outside cameras.

The red planet stretched out before them, her slightly blue tinted atmosphere contrasting against the rust of her surface.

That surface was churning.

Ju was outraged. “How the hell did that develop in the time it took us to separate from Orbiter? She was as calm as a sleeping baby!”

“I don’t care about then, I need now. Zhang, recommendation!”

The woman grunted. “I say go. If you think you can handle it. It is well within Cornerstone’s specs. Your decision, Major.”

Jeff’s lips thinned, his eyes darting across the readouts. A moment and he hit the comms switch. “Orbiter, we are go for landing. We’ve come this far, might as well go all the way.”

“Tracy, are you sure?”

“Humanity never got anywhere taking it easy.” He glanced at Lee. “Hold onto something.”

Cornerstone began her turn, orientating her nose to the sky so her retros could lower her safely to the Martian surface.

Or in Jeff Tracy terms, ‘spinning so she could park her ass’.

As if reading Lee’s mind, the glint in Jeff’s eyes was something to both be wary of and to celebrate.

Out of the four of them, Jeff was the most reckless, the most daring. But as he was the pilot, it sometimes called for it. Jeff had already saved them from becoming just another crater on Earth’s moon by pulling the most unconventional manoeuvre ever seen on the satellite when a landing thruster misfired on approach. The craft had shot off on a completely unpredicted vector that would have ploughed them into moon dust...if Jeff hadn’t reacted as fast as he did. He flipped the craft with its remaining three thrusters and, shedding the majority of their velocity in an energy dump that had Lee’s stomach on the outside, planted their craft like a sack of potatoes.

They had landed roughly, but they had landed alive and Lee was still amazed his friend had been able to do that.

So, if they were going down in a cloud of red dust, Lee was quite happy to have Jeff at the controls.

Not to say that Lee himself wasn’t handy with a spacecraft. He had his own experience to be proud of. He flew, but his realm was more the mechanical. He was here as back up and maintenance.

For those times the Tracy fix wasn’t quite enough.

A sigh. He eyed the billowing clouds below as they rapidly approached. They were history in the making. Whatever happened here today would be taught in schools for decades to come.

He had faith in Jeff. They would land, Berry would take those first important steps on a new planet, say the rehearsed words, and join Neil Armstrong in the halls of fame.

But first they had to get there.

-o-o-o-

Jeff swallowed as the cloud of dust loomed beneath the lander. Numbers scrolled across his console. The computer should be able to handle most of it. Its programming was solid. Lucy had made sure of it.

The thought of his beautiful wife...little Johnny.

Dust swelled and wrapped around their craft and visibility became...bad.

Cornerstone shuddered.

Mars dust was a bastard of a thing. Ever so fine and carrying a tiny electric charge that on occasion interfered with instruments.

This was one of those occasions.

“We have blackout on three primary sensors.” Damn. Two others flickered, the screen fritzing a moment.

His fingers darted over controls in an attempt to compensate for the data loss.

Lee was muttering beside him and stabbing at his board. “Rerouting to back-ups.”

Their screens flickered and cleared somewhat.

Numbers plummeted.

Beyond the blinding dust the digital readout that marked the surface of the planet approached.

Far too fast.

Retros crucial to start the landing sequence did not fire.

Shit.

It took seconds for him to compensate and move to manual, but that was enough for the craft to fall many more metres so, when he did manually trigger the burn, they were lower than they should be.

Cornerstone roared as he pushed more energy into braking.

“Lee, we need primary thrust or we are so much pancake!” Her four landing thrusters were not slowing them enough. The math in his head was churning out a fatal result and their history-making attempt was fast turning into a shitfest. “I need that power now.”

“You have it.” Short and sharp as Lee’s hands darted over his console.

On Jeff’s board the main thruster icon lit up.

It wasn’t meant to be used this way. The main thruster was for launching. It was far more powerful than they needed to land. But if he didn’t slow Cornerstone, she was going to take on a big red rock and lose.

The computer ran calculations and spat numbers out at him.

“Firing main thruster.” The icon flashed, Cornerstone roared and g-forces wrapped around all of them and squeezed.

No one said anything for the second of burn that slowed their descent ever so rapidly. Everything shook, the ship’s superstructure groaning.

Jeff’s eyes tracked their velocity, counting down as the surface of the planet rushed towards them. Visually they couldn’t see it. Virtually it looked ready to slap them in the face.

But the main thruster compensated, slowing the craft just enough for the landing rockets to do their job.

Jeff killed the big one and concentrated on the landers to take the last of their speed.

Cornerstone slowed. Five hundred metres. Four hundred metres. Three hundred metres. Two hundred metres. One hundred metres. Landing struts deployed. Fifty. Thirty. Twe-

The whole ship slammed to a stop, its structure groaning and tilting for a second before righting itself. Alarms began shrieking, red lights flashing all over his board.

What the hell?!

The readout had them stalled nineteen metres ‘above’ the virtual surface. Virtual was obviously not lining up with actual.

Another metallic groan and the ship tilted slightly again. This time it stayed tilted. No doubt a landing strut had taken the brunt and folded.

One red light screamed at him more than the others.

Beside him, Lee confirmed his fears. “We have a fuel leak.”

Shit!

He was unstrapping himself even as the craft groaned again. Something sparked not far away. Lee was a split second behind, listing the reason for the malfunction. The exterior hull, and the mangled landing strut responsible.

A rupture in the external hull. Hell.

Jeff undocked a diagnostic pad and slapped it on his belt.

Martian gravity made itself known. So many months without its native pull, Jeff’s body protested the sudden movement, but they didn’t have time. Precious fuel was escaping.

He hit the ladder leading out of the cockpit at a run, feet locking around the struts and his hands pushing him down. The whole sensation of gravity, but only a third of Earth’s was baffling. His body caught between expectations and stumbling along the way. Ultimately, he partly fell his way down through the access ports, hands grabbing at the railings barely preventing him from colliding with each deck.

Cornerstone’s fuel tanks were attached to her four landers, with a fifth fueling her main launcher.

It was number three that was the problem.

His boots hit decking and he scrambled for the airlock. Beside him Lee had a toolkit and they both barrelled through the door sealing it behind them.

The pumps cycled and the pressure dropped, their suits shifting with the change, and then the elevator was lowering them to the ground.

As the doors opened, they were faced with a wall of swirling dust.

Jeff did his best to ignore it but it fast became a problem. The maintenance tab in his hand was directing him to climb ladders up the side of the vehicle, but he could barely see the tablet, much less the ladders themselves through the red dust.

“Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.”

“Right behind you, Jeff. Wouldna want to lose you either.”

It was simple, but reassuring nonetheless. Fumbling, he found the landing strut. It was skewed in a way that even in the thick swirling haze, he could see was far from the right angle for correct support.

Hooking a foot into the lowest rung, he snagged his friend and urged him up the ladder ahead. If anyone was going to save their asses in this situation, it was Lee.

If Jeff could land it, chances were Lee could fix it. The man could jimmy two sticks and a rubberband into whatever was needed. Hell, he’d done almost exactly that on the moon at least twice.

This was just another challenge. Jeff had landed them, no matter how roughly. Now Lee would be able to fix it.

Jeff clung to that maxim.

But the question wasn’t about skill, it was more about whether or not they were going to damn well be able to see what they needed to see in order to do what needed doing.

Red obscured everything. The speed it was all flying past spoke to his earth senses of gale force winds, but the pressure on his suit was little more than a windy day.

Not enough to affect the spacecraft.

Mars was obviously educating them early that this was not Earth. Not in any way shape or form.

Their clamber up the strut was partly a blind one, but they made it to the damaged side of the craft. Through a mixture of touch and virtual readout, it became clear that the outer hull had buckled, forcing the inner hull into the fuel tank. Most of it had held, but there was a small microfracture and the pressure differences were bubbling solid state fuel into gas at a rate that, if it didn’t deplete the tank, would likely cause an explosion that would solve all their problems with a history-making finality.

Jeff climbed up beside Lee as he fumbled at his tool kit. The tank was dislodged off its mounts, something they would need to remedy later, but it was still inset from the hull.

Jeff put his body in position to block the main flow of the dust and wind, jamming himself up against the still warm hull of his ship.

A little less dust swirled over the bubbling crack and Lee didn’t hesitate. Before Jeff could blink, gell bondtape landed smoothly over the area, the engineer sealing it with an electronic nudge from a set-wand. The electricity lined molecules up like soldiers and locked them in place bonding them to whatever the tape was adhered to. They had used the same stuff on Alfie two years ago when one of their habitats had tried to make one with the lack of lunar atmosphere.

An extremely simple solution for a very dangerous problem.

His heart, still adrenalin-fueled, refused to believe the danger was over.

As if reading Jeff’s thoughts, Lee smirked at him through the haze. “Never leave home without it.” A sigh as he ran a gloved hand over the seal. “This should hold for the short term. Once we are sure the strut is stabilised, I’ll give it a good going over. Hopefully, we can lose this storm in the process.”

Jeff would have liked to claim it couldn’t blow forever, but both of them knew Mars storms could be unpredictable and last for months if they so chose to.

Lee ran a scanner over the strut’s connection to the launcher. How the hell the engineer could see the readouts, Jeff didn’t know.

For all future excursions to the Red Planet, Jeff was going to recommend helmet based heads-up displays.

“She’s safe for now. A little bent, but she isn’t going to fall over. Hopefully, once we get out some of the heavy lifting equipment we can bend her back into shape if we need to.” Lee stood up. “Hull patching is going to be an ass, though.”

Jeff’s lips thinned and he dropped a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “One thing at a time. We’ve got this, Lee.”

Lee grunted. “How the hell do you keep spinning the optimism, Jeff?”

A snort. “What? You’d prefer doom and gloom?” He shuffled back towards the ladder. “That’s it, Lee, we’re never leaving this god forsaken rock. Welcome to your new home.” He raised up his hands and as if the gods declared him some kind of Moses for that very moment, the dust clouds parted as if they were a red sea of sand. Sol, so much smaller this far away, poked its weak light through the hazy atmosphere and lit up the bare red rocks of their temporary home. While on one side, the billowing wall of dust storm swirled on its way, on the other red mountains rose up to a weak blue-red sky.

Lee shifted down beside him. “You know, I figured you had an agreement with the gods of physics, but isn’t this a little ridiculous?”

Jeff was too captivated with the view to respond.

Cornerstone was on the plateau they had been simulating for months on end. She stood tall and proud, if a little crooked and pinker than her promo shots.

“We made it.” The words fell from his lips.

Lee clung to the ladder beside him. “Yeah, that we did.”

Sunlight flickered weakly in the atmosphere and a gust of wind dragged more dust across the view.

Jeff shifted. “We better get inside before that mess starts up again. Take advantage of being able to see where we are going.”

Lee didn’t respond immediately, his eyes combing the jagged horizon. “Thanks, Jeff.”

A frown. “For what?”

“Getting us here.”

“It was a group effort, Lee, you know that. Couldn’t have done it without the team. Couldn’t have done it without you. Hell, you just patched a hole that could have blown us up.”

Lee grunted.

“Are you guys going to hang outside all day, or do we have to guess the sitrep?” Berry’s tone was tight.

“Roger, Berrenger. Situation secure. On our way back in.”

It wasn’t until they reached the elevator that he realised exactly what had happened.

And who he was.

By the doors, protected by the shadow of the lowered module was a single footprint that hadn’t been blown away by the wind.

“Aw, hell.”

Lee, as always, stepped up beside him. “Yeah. I guess that makes you the first man to walk on Mars.”

-o-o-o-

Ju was furious. “It was Kate’s right to be the first!”

The vacs in the airlock had sucked everything off their suits to the point Lee was surprised his hair wasn’t standing on end despite the helmet.

As it was, his hackles were somewhere near orbit as they stood in the conference room that doubled as a mess. “And what exactly do you think we were supposed to do? The ship was going to explode.” It was simple to Lee. Sure, he was all for equality, it was a given, but they would’ve been all equally dead if he and Jeff hadn’t done what they did.

“You didn’t give us a chance!”

“I’m the engineer here, Zhang. There wasn’t time! The decision was made and we are alive because of it.”

“Then why weren’t you first, Taylor? Why the hell was Tracy even out there? He’s not the engineer!”

Beside Lee, Jeff straightened. “Standard procedure, Zhang. We work in pairs. If you think I was going to let Lee go out in that on his own, you’ve been serving while wearing a blindfold.”

The short, dark-haired woman stepped up to the Major, her eyes fiery. “It was Kate’s place in history and you stole it!”

Lee flared. “We did what was necessary! This was not a publicity grab, for Christ’s sake! It didn’t even occur to us until we were returning. It was about saving our lives, Zhang. How can you possibly think it was anything else?”

“Because it always is.” She waved a hand at Jeff. “Always the hotshot. Always the first. Always the hero. Do you ever think, Tracy? Do you ever think about those you barrel past?”

Jeff glared down at the meteorologist. “I will not apologise for my achievements, Zhang. This was an honest to god accident.”

“Due to decisions made by you.”

“What the hell, Zhang?!” Lee pushed forward. That was taking it too far.

“We should never have tried to land in that dust storm. We should have waited it out.”

“You said we could take it!”

“But it wasn’t my decision, was it?” Her tone was a positive hiss at Jeff.

“Screw you, Zhang-“

“Taylor!”

“Jeff-“

The man was still the damn tall walking wall when he wanted to be. “Lee, stop.” He glared at Ju. “I will not apologise for my command decisions either, Zhang. What was done, is done.” His stance softened as he turned to Berry.

She had been ominously quiet the entire time.

Jeff sighed. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

The red-haired astrogeologist straightened away from the bulkhead, her arms still folded across her chest. Lee had always liked Berry. She had her head on much straighter than Ju ever did.

Ju was like a terrier with a bone.

The bone variety today was definitely Jeff-flavoured.

But there was only kindness in Berry’s eyes as she looked up at the Major. “This sucks, Jeff, it really does.” She looked down a moment. “But it is what it is and I guess it was what it was meant to be.” A shrug. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for third on Mars. Still pretty momentous, I think.”

“Kate, it doesn’t have to be that way.” Jeff took a step towards her. “It’s not official. It was a stupid repair. We can do the ceremonial step onto the planet anyway. No one has to know.”

Her head tilted to one side. “So, the ship miraculously healed itself?”

“Berry-“

She closed the gap between them, placing a hand on his arm. “Jeff, honestly, it’s not what is important here. You took the first step. We still have plenty of others that need to be taken. My ego can keep.”

Zhang flared again. “Kate, this was for women-“

“Ju, enough. It doesn’t matter! Humans have just landed on Mars, for god’s sake. I would have thought we would be a little less worried about the gender of the person taking the first step and more worried about the fact we did it without blowing up.”

“It was supposed to be you.” Ju wilted in defeat under Berry’s glare.

“Well, it was Jeff, and I think he is no less deserving than any of us.”

Jeff’s voice was quiet. “Are you sure, Kate?” The use of her first name was a rarity for the major, there was a friendship between those two almost as long as the one between Jeff and Lee. Hell, if Jeff hadn’t met Lee’s sister, Lucy, the engineer wondered what might have eventuated in that department.

Not that he had ever had to worry about that. Jeff was a complete sop for Lucy. His sis had the man wrapped around her little finger.

If that made Lee feel just that touch more protective of the crazy pilot, then so be it.

Kate straightened, her shoulders strong. “I’m sure.” Then her lips curled up a little. “Besides, my lines were so much more elegant than ‘Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.’”

Jeff snorted and shrugged. “If I’m going to make history gotta make sure my best friend is with me.”

Zhang made a disgusted sound and stormed out of the room.

Shoulders dropping, Jeff sighed. “Guess I need to work on my phrasing.”

But Lee was too wrapped in the moment, a little too proud and grateful to care. “She’ll live.”

The grunt from Jeff reminded Lee that they still had months to share living quarters with the fiery Ju.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.” Berry squeezed Jeff’s arm before reaching out to Lee as well. “Thank you, both of you, for getting us down safely. We’re on Mars, guys. Let the party begin.”

The smile in her eyes was honest and ever so heartening.

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Jeff Tracy #lee taylor #mars #callisto

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saylors-universe · 4 years ago

Text

All Hands on Deck, five

Rowaelin Cruise Vacation AU

masterlist here

word count: 5234

[This is an interactive story! I will include Authorʻs Notes throughout the chapters to inform you when to start a particular song that you can find here in the All Hands on Deck playlist (Also can be found on the masterlist). For the best experience, listen with headphones, AND FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE STORY. Please try to use your imagination when listening and reading - live through the words. Have fun :) - Saylor]

This week has been HELL. Sorry for the late upload :( Anyways, enjoy the chapter, thanks for reading <3

Day 4 - AT SEA - “Todays Cruise Activity: SCAVENGER HUNT from 1-3, Find an activities staff for more info!”

- Aelin wakes in a soft, ivory, long-sleeve undershirt, light blue dress with a matching white apron. Confused by her attire, she finds two large books in her embrace, like she had cuddled with them in her sleep. -

[A.N.] Play “Beauty and the Beast Medley” by BYU Vocal Point feat. Lexi Walker now, follow along, and let your imagination put on a show. Find playlist here.

- Recognizing that sheʻs alone in her dark cabin, she leaves her room and notices no one in the dim, candle-lit hallway. She searches for any sign of life throughout the corridors, navigating through the different levels until she appears in front of the bakery, responsible for divulging her deep cravings of chocolates and treats. -

Aelin: LITTLE TOWN, ITʻS A QUIET VILLAGE

EVERYDAY LIKE THE ONE BEFORE

LITTLE TOWN, FULL OF LITTLE PEOPLE

WAKING UP TO SAY

- Suddenly, as if on cue, a parade of crew and staff appear in a flash mob. -

Cruise Staff: BON JOUR, BON JOUR

- A baker stands behind the counter, kneading dough. -

BON JOUR, BON JOUR, BON JOUR

Aelin: THERE GOES THE BAKER WITH HIS TRAY LIKE ALWAYS

THE SAME OLD BREAD AND ROLLS TO SELL

EVERY MORNING JUST THE SAME

SINCE THE MORNING THAT WE CAME

TO THIS POOR PROVINCIAL TOWN

Baker: “Good Morning, Belle”

- Aelin, puzzled by what is happening and perplexed by why she is compelled to sing, magically transports to The Antica. She is ushered by Emrys and Luca in their cooking attire, along with the rest of the ensemble, who seemed to have rehearsed a big musical number. -

Emrys: BE OUR GUEST, BE OUR GUEST

PUT OUR SERVICE TO THE TEST

TIE YOUR NAPKIN ROUND YOUR NECK, CHERIE

AND WE PROVIDE THE REST

SOUP DE JOUR, HOT HORS DʻOEUVERS

WHY, WE ONLY LIVE TO SERVE

TRY THE GREY STUFF, ITʻS DELICIOUS

DONʻT BELIEVE IT? ASK THE DISHES

THEY CAN SING, THEY CAN DANCE

AFTER ALL, MISS, THIS IS FRANCE

AND A DINNER HERE IS NEVER SECOND BEST

GO ON UNFOLD YOUR MENU

TAKE A GLANCE AND THEN YOUʻLL

BE OUR GUEST, OUI, OUR GUEST, BE OUR GUEST

Ensemble: BE OUR GUEST, BE OUR GUEST

OUR COMMAND IS YOUR REQUEST

ITʻS TEN YEARS SINCE WE HAD ANYBODY HERE

WEʻRE OBSESSED

WITH YOUR MEAL, WITH YOUR EASE

YES, INDEED, WE AIM TO PLEASE

WHILE THE CANDLESTICKʻS STILL GLOWING

LET US HELP YOU, WEʻLL KEEP GOING

- They all line up and begin a grand kick line. -

COURSE BY COURSE, ONE BY ONE

TILL YOU SHOUT, “ENOUGH, IʻM DONE”

THEN WEʻLL SEND YOU OFF TO SLEEP AS YOU DIGEST

TONIGHT YOUʻLL PROP YOUR FEET UP

BUT FOR NOW, LETʻS EAT UP

BE OUR GUEST, BE OUR GUEST, BE OUR GUEST

PLEASE, BE OUR GUEST

- Aelin is completely taken aback by the magnificent performance put on by the crew. In awe, she is transported once more to the elegant ballroom, but now she is fitted with a dazzling, gold ballroom gown. A dashingly, groomed Rowan approaches Aelin, wearing a charming black tux. He offers his hand, in silent question for a dance. She places her hand in his and he guides them to the center of the floor where they begin to waltz. -

Aelin: TALE AS OLD AS TIME

TRUE AS IT CAN BE

BARELY EVEN FRIENDS

THEN SOMEBODY BENDS, UNEXPECTEDLY

- Lorcan/Elide, Aedion/Lysandra, Dorian/Manon join them on the dance floor, following along in the waltz as Fenrys and Connal stand by beatboxing. -

JUST A LITTLE CHANGE

SMALL TO SAY THE LEAST

BOTH A LITTLE SCARED

NEITHER ONE PREPARED

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

EVER JUST THE SAME

EVER A SURPRISE

EVER AS BEFORE

EVER JUST AS SURE

AS THE SUN WILL RISE

CERTAIN AS THE SUN

TALE AS OLD AS TIME

SONG AS OLD AS RHYME

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

TALE AS OLD AS TIME

SONG AS OLD AS RHYME

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

WHOA-OH

“WAKE UP YOU FREAK”

Aelin lurches awake, back in the comfort of her own bed, Manonʻs long, sharp nails digging into her skin.

“OW!,” Aelin massages the crescent indents in her arm.

“You were singing in your sleep ... really loudly. Lys came over to make sure you werenʻt dying, and took a few embarrassing videos of you,”

Aelin murmurs a defensive sigh and seeks refuge under her comforter, reflecting on her dream, What the fuck? Why did I dream of Rowan? She convinces herself that her subconscious was just playing tricks on her and decided to leave their past in the past. Given the new circumstances, they were merely co-workers, sort of, and nothing would happen between them, well not again. Sheʻs learned what happens when you fall for a Whitethorn, you get your heart broken.

She will never forget that afternoon. Rowan had received a large envelope package from Orynth University, his dream school. Aelin, her parents, Maeve, Rowansʻ aunt and legal guardian since the passing of his parents when he was young, his whole family, all gathered in her small living room while he read out his acceptance letter. He was so excited. Not wanting to ruin his news with the sad announcement of her rejection letter, she plastered on a bright smile and consumed the happy energy of the night.

Once the party turned down, he led her outside on her porch. He knew her better than anyone and could tell that something had been off. She confessed in sobs, excusing that she did not want to take the attention away from his amazing opportunity. He immediately offered to apply to the local college, or other universities in the area, or get a job, anything to stay near her. She forbade him, he had just been accepted to his dream college, where he had been talking about going all his life. She refused to hold him back from his dream so she brought up the option of splitting up, which caused his turn to cry.

After hours of tears, talks, and “i love you, to whatever end,” they both agreed to end things, which broke her heart even more. She knew it was mainly her decision, he would have done anything he could to be with her, done long distance, found a different school, anything, but she couldn't let him pass up this opportunity. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she had trapped him in their relationship, no matter how much they loved each other, sometimes the best thing you could do for the ones you love, is let them go.

The most painful part was watching him leave. Waving him goodbye as he went up the escalator to security of the airport, praying that he didn't look back. He was her first love, she gave her heart to him. They both had decided to end things, but a part of her hated him for leaving, even though she made him. He left. He left her. He left their dreams. He left their plans. He left their future. He left for his dream, his future. She made him leave. She hated herself most of all.

Now here they are, eight years later, stuck on the same boat and brought together again by Lorcan Salvaterre nonetheless. In spite of the years with other lovers, the years of not keeping in touch, they were in love once, completely in love. Once youʻve had that kind of love, you never stop loving them, they will always carry a piece of your heart. And damn him if he has more than just a piece, Aelin vowed.

Her mind wandered to the song he played in the ballroom just the other day. “Do you remember when, midnight drives when youʻd sing, Iʻd play you songs you were in...Do you remember when, with Rome below us that day, you said ʻI wish we could stayʻ?” She didn't want to read too much into it, but the song had to be about her. Right? How many people could he have serenaded on a late night drive? How many girls confessed their love for him under the stars and moonlight by the Trevi fountain? “Do you remember when?” Does she remember? How could she ever forget?

Before she could over-analyze the situation any further, Manon pulled the comforter from her bed. Aelinʻs body went in shock from the sudden lack of warmth protection, the brisk midday cool kissing her skin, and groans a very unladylike curse.

“Time to get up sleeping beauty, oh Iʻm sorry, Belle I mean,” Manon heaves into cackles. Aelin swears that in another life, Manon was a witch, wicked and ruthless.

In a very unusual, chipper mood, Manon getʻs Aelin up to speed on their plans for the day. She had gotten word of a scavenger hunt Dorian was putting on and eagerly volunteered their friend group to participate.

The two got ready for the rest of the day and gathered their friends to grab some brunch before their fun activity. While settling into Emrysʻ section of the bar, a few fans tracked them down, asking for pictures and autographs. Meeting their fans had always been Aelinʻs favorite part of what they do, seeing people enjoy their music and support them. Luca treats them to some bacon and eggs, and they snag some fresh chocolate croissants from the nearby bakery. They stay and share many stories and laughs between the court and the chefs, until it is time to find Dorian and begin the scavenger hunt.

Aelin wasn't surprised when Manon had been the one to locate him. She couldn't tell if this would be just another chase for Manon. In the past, sheʻs had a difficult time making attachments with people, everyone but Elide it seems. A part of her hopes that Manon would pursue an actually relationship with him, from what she could tell so far, he had a dark, wild spirit about him, one that would challenge her antics quite well.

“Good afternoon everyone, weʻre just waiting on one more group,” Dorian flashed a wicked grin and a flirty wink in Manonʻs direction. Aelin watched her friendʻs complexion redden and blush as the Cadre arrived, looking as daunting and intimidating as ever.

“Okay letʻs get started shall we? You guys have signed up for the adult scavenger hunt,” he passes out a list of items, “so how this works is you guys will be split up into...,” he counts the nine of them, “two groups. Each groupʻs goal is to take a picture of someone in the group with an item on the list, different items vary on points given based on difficulty or creativity. Without a member of your team in the photo, it will not get points. You guys have two hours and then we will meet back here to go over the photos and assign a winning group. Winners get free drinks at our private island port,” they cheer at the prospect of free alcoholic beverages.

Dorian splits them up into teams. Team one being Elide, Lorcan, Rowan, Connal, and Lysandra. Team two: Aelin, Manon, Fenrys, Aedion, and Dorian adds himself to even out their numbers. Dorian looks at his timer, “Two hours starting...Now!”

Both teams, consisting of extremely competitive adults, disperse to huddle up with their groups and assess the list of items to find and capture.

TAKE A PICTURE WITH....

- The shipʻs steering wheel (10 points)

- A ship staff member AND team member with a chef hat on (5 points)

- Someone playing the piano (3 points, 5+ bonus for video)

- A King and a Queen (5 points)

- Spa brochure signed by spa employee (5 points)

- A staff member (the higher rank, the more points)

- Someone on your team kissing a stranger (10 points)

- Yellow Duck (5 points)

- Poker chips (3 points)

- Someone on your team posing on a stripper pole (5 points)

- Drink umbrella (3 points)

- Towel animal (3 points)

- Someone wearing a sea sickness patch (3 points)

- A Conga line (5 points)

- A member of your team in the pool (5 points)

- Each member of your team with a different drink (10 points)

- Someone on your team playing mini golf (5 points)

- Someone on your team using exercise equipment (5 points)

- The room numbers for the following rooms: 829, 318, 560 (3 points)

- Ice Cream cone (3 points)

- Someone with a bad sunburn (5 points)

- Someone dancing inappropriately (3 points, +5 bonus for video)

- 3 different food menus (3 points)

- A performer in full costume with a mask on (3 points)

- Someone in a bikini with the life preserver ring (5 points)

Aedion takes charge as group leader. They collectively decide to find the rooms 829, 318, and 560 first since it seemed like the most straightforward, and easiest task. The five of them find the room 318 first, take a group selfie in front of the room number, then proceed to do the same with the remaining rooms, ending with 829.

They discuss going to their rooms quickly to change into swimsuits, thinking forward to a few of the scavenger hunt items that require either a change of attire, or the possibility of getting wet. Aelin and Manon retreat to their room and change into flattering bikinis, Fenrys and Dorian to their respective rooms to change into swim trunks, and Aedion to his, right across the hall.

Fenrys and Dorian, both shirtless and in all their glory, meet the girls in front of their door. “Wow, you look amazing,” Aelin overhears Dorian compliment Manon. The two go off into their own little world, leaving Aelin and Fenrys to get to know each other better. The two immediately click. Fenrys was the perfect balance of funny and flirty, and that kept a beaming smile and standby laugh on Aelinʻs demeanor. They shared a common sense of humor and both were very quick and witty, so they got along very well.

Aedion walks out of his cabin in the silliest blue and yellow duck swimming trousers. “Forgot I brought these,” he fibs, his face plastering a bright ruby shade. The four stay silent for a few seconds, really trying to hold in their laughter. Aelin was the first to break and the rest followed.

“Ha-ha, laugh all you want, but I just got us 5 points,” he pulls out his phone and takes a selfie of him in his swim trucks, pointing out the yellow duck. “I also snapped a pic with the towel animal in our room, so thatʻs checked off.”

Whenever room service came by to turn in their room, theyʻd leave towels intricately folded into cute animals, todayʻs was a small elephant.

“Okay whatʻs next boss?” Fenrys says once calmed down.

Aedion reviews the list once again and the his head darts up, “Hey Ace, youʻre using those sea sickness patches right?”

“Everyday,” she nods and then he whips his phone around to get a selfie with her, folding her ear to show the small, circular patch behind.

“Okay weʻve got the rooms, the towel animal, the yellow duck, and the seasickness patch. Good start guys. Fen you know where the gym is?”

“Yes, sir,” he answers, flexing his biceps. Manon rolls her eyes and falls in line when Fenrys guides the team to the gym onboard. It was a large, well equipped workout room, only a few people occupying different machines. Treadmills lined the mirror wall, cycle bikes adjacent to those. There were squat racks, dumbbells, bench presses, pull up bars, lat pulldown machines, leg press machines, pretty much everything Aelin used in her normal, rigorous routine.

Aelin adjusts the squat rack to her height, leveling it at around her chest height, and loads 250 lbs. to the bar. The mens eyesʻ widen, in disbelief that this quaint creature could support that much weight. Aedion knew however, that she had been training all her life. Physical fitness had always been important to her so she made sure she worked out regularly and vigorously. She turns back to Fenrys, “Spot me?”

“My pleasure,” he purrs expecting to rescue this damsel in distress who is in way over her head. He takes position right behind her. With Aelin in just her bikini and Fenrys his trunks, his bare, sculpted chest was flush behind her bare back, her exposed legs guarded by his.

Manon opens her phone, prepared to capture the task on video, also hoping to capture Fenrys and Dorianʻs expression. Aelin balances the bar across her shoulders, lifts the bar and steps back from the rack. She manages about eight reps of correctly formed squats with ease, Fenrys following down with her in every one.

She hears the gym door open, Rowan and his team had the same idea and came to use some exercise equipment to check it off their list. Their glances met once in the mirror, then quickly, deliberately broke. She canʻt quite explain why she suddenly felt guilty, as if she had been caught doing something wrong, being in the position she was with Fenrys. So she returns to the rack and sets the bar down, finally starting to feel some burn in her glutes.

“Damn Aelin, thatʻs impressive,” Dorian praises.

“Thanks, letʻs get out of here and go find more of our items.” They leave the gym, letting the other team to make use of the space.

They were near the casino and club so Dorian suggested they find what items they could there. Finding and snapping a photo with poker chips were a breeze. They ran across a stripper pole in the dance club and Fenrys stopped to model a sexy, scandalous pose on the pole and Aelin held the photoshoot, both of them giggling endlessly.

The team found the show girl performers walking around the club in their full outfit and masquerade mask. Aelin snapped a photo with two of them wrapped around Fenrys shoulders.

Drawing from the same chaotic, wild energy, Aelin and Fenrys started a conga line in the club to which Manon, Dorian, Aedion and many strangers added onto. Aelin at the front of the line, selfie recorded a crazy, upbeat video of the dance.

The team takes a breather at the bar, trusting the bar tender with the choice of drink for each person as long as she made each drink different. They also requests that one came with an umbrella. Fenrys, being friendly and personable as always, makes conversation with the bartender Ansel, sliding a few flirty remarks in here and there. She takes note of his group and promises to take good care of them, she says with a wink.

Ansel prepares their drinks based on what she felt from each person, giving Aedion a Sazerac, Dorian the AMF (Adios Motherfucker), Manon the Aunt Roberta, Fenrys a jungle juice with an umbrella, and Aelin a Tequila Blue Blazer that she lit on fire. They took a group selfie with their drinks, the umbrella and Ansel, then downed their drinks.

After another strong drink, Aelin starts to feel a little buzzed. She grabs Manon and they take stage on one of the clubʻs platforms, matching the rhythm of the loud music. They dance with each other, on each other, skin on skin, lips nearly touching, earning the attention of most of the men in the room. Itʻs Fenrys turn to be behind the camera, recording the show, and he enjoys every second of it.

Their team leader does his duty and puts the pin in their fun, “We better go look for the last few things on the list, Dorian how much time do we have?”

“A little less than an hour”

“Come on guys,” Aedion gathers his team members like a chaperoning parent.

Aelin has a light bulb moment and shares, “Oh I know where we can find a piano,” she leads them to the ballroom, the grand piano vacant and begging to be played. She sits at the keys, closes her eyes and plays.

[A.N.] Play “Symphony (feat. Zara Larsson) - Acoustic Version” by Clean Bandit now, follow along and let your imagination do itʻs job. Find playlist here.

- Aedion starts recording. -

Aelin: IʻVE BEEN HEARING SYMPHONIES

BEFORE ALL I HEARD WAS SILENCE

A RHAPSODY FOR YOU AND ME

AND EVERY MELODY IS TIMELESS

LIFE WAS STRINGINʻ ME ALONG

THEN YOU CAME AND YOU CUT ME LOOSE

WAS SOLO, SINGINʻ ON MY OWN

NOW I CANʻT FIND THE KEY WITHOUT YOU

AND NOW YOUR SONG IS ON REPEAT

AND IʻM DANCINʻ ONTO YOUR HEARTBEAT

AND WHEN YOUʻRE GONE I FEEL INCOMPLETE

SO, IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH

I JUST WANNA BE PART OF YOUR SYMPHONY

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

SYMPHONY

LIKE A LOVE SONG ON THE RADIO

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

IʻM SORRY IF ITʻS ALL TOO MUCH

BUT EVERY DAY YOUʻRE HERE, IʻM HEALINʻ

AND I WAS RUNNINʻ OUTTA LUCK

I NEVER THOUGHT IʻD FIND THIS FEELING

ʻCAUSE IʻVE BEEN HEARINʻ SYMPHONIES

BEFORE ALL I HEARD WAS SILENCE

A RHAPSODY FOR YOU AND ME

AND EVERY MELODY IS TIMELESS

- Manon moves to sit beside Aelin on the piano bench. -

Aelin and Manon: AND NOW YOUR SONG IS ON REPEAT

AND IʻM DANCING ONTO YOUR HEARTBEAT

AND WHEN YOUʻRE GONE I FEEL INCOMPLETE

SO, IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH

Aelin: I JUST WANNA BE PART OF YOUR SYMPHONY

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

SYMPHONY

LIKE A LOVE SONG ON THE RADIO

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

- The women lean into each other. -

Aelin and Manon: Ah-Ah-Ah-Aah-Ah-Ah-Ah

Ah-Ah-Ah-Aah-Ah-Ah-Ah

AND NOW YOUR SONG IS ON REPEAT

AND IʻM DANCING ONTO YOUR HEARTBEAT

AND WHEN YOUʻRE GONE I FEEL INCOMPLETE

SO, IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH

Aelin: OH

I JUST WANNA BE PART OF YOUR SYMPHONY

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

SYMPHONY

LIKE A LOVE SONG ON THE RADIO

OH, SYMPHONY

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

SYMPHONY

LIKE A LOVE SONG ON THE RADIO

WILL YOU HOLD ME TIGHT AND NOT LET GO?

The ballroom fills with applause and the boastful cheers from the men. The girls sarcastically get up and bow, like after a recital performance. Realizing that they donʻt have much time, they rush to the Lido deck and seek out Emrys and Luca.

They track the two down and ask for a picture, Aelin stands in between the them and as Aedion counts down, “Say cheese, one...two..” Aelin swipes Lucaʻs chef hat and put itʻs on quickly as the picture snaps. They look over the photo and laugh at a mischievous grin on Aelinʻs face and a confused, grumpy Luca not looking at the camera but instead at Aelin.

Having another bright idea, Aelin runs to the large chess board game on the deck and catches a selfie with the giant King and Queen chess pieces. When she returns to Emrysʻ station, a familiar back is seated in the stool she was just accompanying, and she had another brilliant idea.

“Sam? Hi,” he turns and realizes who she was.

“Oh hi!,” he responds kindly, “Iʻm sorry, I donʻt think I got your name.”

“Aelin,” she gives her hand out for a handshake, he returns with a firm, grip.

“Well itʻs nice to officially meet you, Aelin,” her cheeks warm.

“This may seem like a forward request, but is there anyway my friends and I could see the shipʻs steering wheel? Iʻm told youʻre the captain,” she smirks.

He chuckles, “One of them yes, and totally, let me take you guys.”

She gets Manon, Aedion, Dorian, and Fenrys and introduces them to Sam and vice versa, mentioning that heʻs the captain and heʻll be showing them the ships steering wheel. He leads them to the command bridge, on the way Manon pulls her aside.

“Ace we can knock out three birds with one stone,”

“What are you talking about?” Aelin says, not quite understanding.

“Kiss him in front of the steering wheel.”

“What?”

“In the photo weʻll have the steering wheel, check, a team member kissing a stranger, check, and a staff member (the higher rank, the more points) aka, CAPTAIN! 3 items, one picture, plus we donʻt have much time left, come on.”

Pressured by the time constraint, Aelin caves. “Fine. Have your phone ready.”

Aelin hurries back to the front near Fenrys and Sam, staying close to both. They make it to the command bridge and Sam gives them a tour of the different controls, putting on his captainʻs cap, a look that suited him, Aelin thought.

They stood in front of the steering wheel and Aelin quietly asked Sam, “I apologize, another forward request,”

“Iʻm getting the feeling that thatʻs your thing,” he whispers back. She softly snickers.

“Could I kiss you?”

Obviously taken off guard, Sam blushes, then cups Aelinʻs face in his hands and brushes a soft, sensual kiss to her lips. Manon takes the photo. Aelin melts in his touch, returning the kiss with more fervor. Aedionʻs forced cough ruins the moment, the two disconnecting, both with warm, rosy complexions.

“Um, thank you for the tour, we have to go now,” Aedion says plainly. Manon and Dorian quietly laugh and the group make their leave, Aelin joins once out of earshot.

They return to the Lido deck and split up to try and get the last few items on the list. Aedion assigns himself to find the ice cream and the 3 food menus, Manon and Dorian volunteer for the spa brochure and mini golf game, and they go their separate ways.

Aelin and Fenrys stand at the edge of the pool when he turns his back to the pool and faces her.

“You know, I must confess, I find you extremely attractive,” he professes.

“Is that so, pretty boy?” She moves her palms to lay flat on his chest, looking up to him. She starts to tippy-toe, and he leans forward in for a kiss. When their faces get an inch apart she pushes him forward, he flails into the pool, and she laughs her guts out.

She whips out her phone and takes a photo of an unamused, cock-blocked Fenrys in the pool. She looks around the pool, looking for a life preserver ring nearby. She catches sight of one hooked up to the deck railing. She releases it and returns to the pool, Fenrys just getting out, dripping water everywhere.

She hands him the phone and he snaps a few photos of her posing in her bikini with the life preserver ring, satisfied and proud of his work, he whistles back up at his model.

Dorian and Manon return warning them that it is time to meet back with the other team. Aedion returns shortly after with a mustache of ice cream. Aelin cleans him up and they travel back to their meeting place to determine a winning team.

Team one shows their photos and videos first. They had mainly the same idea as Aelinʻs group. For their King and Queen item, they took a photo of the King and Queen from a standard deck of cards. For their yellow duck, Lysandra took a picture of Aedionʻs matching boxer briefs to his trunks, the whole group found that humorous, but made sure he didn't feel embarrassed of his attire choices. One of the photos that Aelin picked out was their kissing stranger photo. In the frame was Rowan kissing a pale blonde woman with bright, cerulean eyes.

“Ro, is that Remelle?” Fenrys asks, also pointing out the photo.

“Yeah, Benson and Essar are here too,” Rowan responds, the first thing sheʻs heard him say all day.

“Whoʻs Remelle?” Aelin asks, trying not to seem too eager to know.

“Remelle, Benson, and Essar are our regular groupies, they follow us literally everywhere we go, theyʻre at every show, every concert. Pretty much our biggest fans,” Fenrys informs her.

“Biggest stalkers,” Lorcan corrects.

“Still strangers though, they know everything about us, we know nothing about them really,” Connal defends, making the record clear that the photo is still valid.

Team two takes their turn showing their photos and videos. Fenrys emphasizing Aelinʻs squat video, her and Manonʻs dancing pictures, their song, and the photos he just took of her and the life preserver ring. The other team, especially Elide and Lysandra, hype her and Manon up, calling them “hotties” and a “baddies” every so often.

Manon shows the photo of Aelin and Sam. Elide and Lys gasp, “Is that THE Sam?” Aelin laughs and nods. “Good work Ace.”

Dorian calculates the final points and calls for attention.

“Great job today everyone, you all did amazing. Results are in, team one got 112 points,” everyone applauses in congratulations, “and team two got 124, congratulations team two!”

Everyone cheers and congratulates each other, very maturely and sportsman-like. They spend the rest of the afternoon splashing each other and playing in the pool.

Night 4 - AT SEA - “No band performance tonight, Live Crew Performances during Dinner!

The two bands stayed in the water for hours, playing throughout the glorious sunset. They had definitely gotten closer, more comfortable with each other. Throughout the play fighting they discussed possibly teaming up on shows and performing together. Itʻs an idea. It would probably be really fun, adding a different dynamic to both groups.

Aelin notices Rowan laying on a pool deck chair, staring into the sky. She exits the pool, dries off a little and joins him, laying down on the deck chair next to him, star gazing into the extraordinary abyss of light. Heʻs the first one to break the silence.

“Lyria was really into astronomy,” he chocked a little, not enough to pick up unless you knew him, “she knew all the constellations by name, all the galaxies,” his gaze never leaving the cosmos. “Sometimes I like to think that sheʻs one of these stars now, burning bright, watching over me every night.”

“She soundʻs incredible. I wish I could have met her”

He smiles, “I think you would have liked her.”

She turns her head, adjusting her arm to rest her head on her forearm, facing him. “Tell me more about her?”

He obliges. He tells the story of how he and Lyria first met, running into each other on their way to class, dropping all her books and supplies and bumping heads when they both reached down to pick them up. He shares of their first date, their first kiss.

She couldn't remember being tired but something about Rowanʻs voice soothed her into submission, her eyelids dropping with weight. Before she knew it she passed out, falling asleep right there on a deck chair, listening to her ex talk about his dead fiance.

When she finally awoke in the middle of the night, she was back in her bed, her comforter tucked into her sides. How did I make it back here? She didnʻt have the energy to investigate her questions, the night claimed her once again and she drifted off one last time.

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

All Hands on Deck taglist: bolded tags aren't taggable, lmk what I can do

@smalltddygothgf

@booksbqueen

@underworldboxers

@live-the-fangirl-life

@islabyrnex

@kathi2599

@booknerdproblems

@rowaelinismyotp

#all hands on deck #rowaelin #aelin galythinius #rowan whitethorn #throne of glass #throne of glass fanfic #tog #manon blackbeak #manorian #dorian havilliard #fenrys moonbeam #elide x lorcan #aedion x lysandra #cruise

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sailing-elitsha · 4 years ago

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WE DID IT!!!!!!!!

Our first ocean crossing is a fact!!

The last miles were draining. Running with constantly changing winds, crossing waves and without spinnaker is not funny. I was not seasick this time, but caught an ear infection, which I thought will be okay after a while, because I got antibiotic from Doctor Josephine in St Helena for my leg infection. Without consulting a doc in St Helena again, we left. The crossing waves and light wind made me nauseous because my ear was blocked. The night watches drained but the spirit of the crew, Dick and I, maintained unbroken positive and happy. We caught a tuna and a barracuda. The swordfish, when we finally had him close to Elitsha, went back to the sea. The line broke and he is now the coolest fish in the South Atlantic with a hip piercing on his sword nose. The barracuda, I caught on my watch. Dick was sleeping and I got him close, which was not easy, but then I saw his teeth, I knew, this I won’t do on my own. Together we got him in. Even though I was not feeling well, I baked several breads, cooked tuna curry, and did my watches. Dick took the more difficult watches and let me sleep a little bit longer each night. I rest much more then he did. So, you can imagine, we both looked forward to having a good sleep after arriving in Fernando. Bob the aircraft engineer was close to us, but they wanted to continue their way to the Caribbean straight forward. Going ashore in Fernando de Noronha was not allowed, so all Yachties skip the island. We were hoping on getting water and to be allowed to just sleep 3 nights at the anchorage and continue sailing afterwards.

Immensely proud and happy on Friday the 30th of April at 5 am after having sailed 1812 nautical miles we arrived at Fernando de Noronha, a small Island and Nature Reserve at the Brazilian Coast. Dick and I were both a bit emotional: WE DID IT!!!!!! Its always special to arrive after a long sail. First you hear and see birds, then lights, then the shape of land, then you smell something different……… But this time is was special special. We arrived at the other side of a very very big and deep (4000+ m deep) ocean.

40 meters of anchor chain and we lay in front of a beautiful beach in a beautiful bay. This Island is a Nature Reserve and so so beautiful. We were the only yachties. Nobody is allowed to enter the island from sea. we could smell the cocktails, but were nut allowed to grab them.....made our owns though....Due to humanitarian reasons they have to allow us to buy fresh supplies and water, which we needed to continue the rest of our voyage. After we arrived, our yellow Checkers cloth and the Brazilian flag went up the mast. Nothing happened. Dick was swimming with zebrafish and sharks in the meantime. After half a day waiting and asking harbour control again and again on the radio we finally got an answer. At 3 o clock we got picked up and the harbour master welcomed us together with the police. The police would escort us to the shops and the next day we have to leave. Zora pictured out a scenario of Dick and I in handcuffs in de shops grabbing 5 l canisters of water and apples under supervision of the police officers, when we told her. (There is a photo of Alex, the police officer, faking to arrest Dick. That photo was especially taken for Zora.)

But it went differently. We were very fortunate to meet Alex, a Brazilian federal policeman from Brasilia, the only English-speaking person on this island. They all try google translate, but internet is a crime here. So Alex was the solution. He told us that the extra days of sleep could only been allowed if I would get a doctor’s attest and then he drove with us to the hospital, translated, then to the Pharmacia, then to the harbour again to explain that I was even sicker than I thought, and the doctor wants to see me every day till Monday. He and his colleagues wrote reports, spoke to their boss, to make it happen for us to stay longer. This way we not only were allowed to stay 3 nights, but we were also allowed to explore the island. The police brought our 60 l water and fresh supplies to the boat and gave us very valuable tips for sightseeing, bus routes, the best bars and best meals of the islands: platter federale ( a seafood food platter the chef always creates for the federal police men and Caipirinha pinto. They gave us a branche with well 12 coconuts on it. Uii, lekker. We ate a special bean soup with quail eggs…….. Alex was and still is our hero and became a friend. We had a very special time at Fernando de Noronha. Again, everybody knew us, helped and was friendly.

Traveling during Corona is not easy, but at the same time very special. People are happy with every single tourist; it is not full and overcrowded. Covid in Brazil is hectic. In Fernando they have not one case. Its so normal to sanitize and wear masks. Fortunately, we will not get a Brazilian stamp in our passport, which is good. This stamp could close some borders for us. So, we visited a little piece of Brazil, met a lot of Brazilians from Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Recife and other Brazilian Cities, and got information and a little bit of insights in the culture.

We ate delicious Brazilian food, but officially we have never been in Brazil. How is that?Traveling in the Caribbean with a South African flag is a problem we were told, because of the racist history. That was one of the reasons why we choose a German registration. But sailing with a German flag in Brazil was also a thingy: 7:1, the water taxi captain said when he saw the black/red/gold. I apologized and promised, that we (the Germans) would never beat them (soccer WC 2014) again in a semi-final in their own country with 7:1. That was good, then.

Even though it was great and relaxing. It was quite expensive to stay on an Eco Island. For 3 days we paid 200 dollars. When we wanted to go to a beach at the other end of the island today, they wanted us to pay another 100 dollars (a 9 day valid ticket for three beaches). We rather went back to the for-free-harbour-beach with the bus again and saw turtles, lemon sharks and a lot of other beautiful fish. Wrong!!! Dick saw them. I am not allowed to snorkel. Grrrrrr. My ears!!!! So, we didn’t need a 100-dollar beach. From here we could even see Elitsha waving towards us.

From Elitsha we see dolphins around us spinning in the morning, zebra fish all around and the trumpet fish from St. Helena followed us to Fernando.

Our last water taxi was a luxe motor yacht with fancy leather seating. Dick and I felt like Crockett and Tubbs in Miami Vice. So funny.

Last evening at Fernando. Tomorrow we lift our anchor and off we go again. The doldrums are waiting for us and then the north east trades to lift us to Suriname. Can’t wait to explore the rainbow forest that side.

A big thank you to our shore captains, Anneke, Zora and Holger, who make harbour arrangements for us, inform us about the weather and much more; to Wiek, our fishing coach, for telling us afterwards what we caught and have eaten, hahaha and to all our friends and supporters who react and encourage us all the way of our journey. Its fantastic to be in touch with you.

Believe us, we enjoy every single second and moment of our journey with each other and are so so glad and happy that we are doing this with the two of us. Don’t forget to donate for the nautical miles we are sailing.

Lots of loveDick, Sylke and Elitsha

Questions for the Elitsha competition:

1. What is the capital of Brazil?

2. Where is Fernando de Noronha?

3. What is a sea mountain?

4. What kind of shark, did my husband dive with?

5. How does a trumpet fish look like? (and don’t tell me: like a trumpet, hahaha. I want to see a photo.)

All participants will receive a price!!!!!!!

For the ones who want to take part in our sponsor sail: We have sailed 1812 nautical miles. You can donate a cent, a Rand, a Euro or whatever per nautical mile. We are sailing for these amazing schools: every nautical mile and each Rand counts. To UBUNTU for Africa, German NGO. The money will go to the UBUNTU for Africa projects: after care at Hout Bay Primary School and the music project at Silikamva High School. This organisation I started 12 years ago (www.ubuntuforafrica.com) Of course, you will receive a tax certificate.

Ubuntu for Africa-Kinder-, Jugend und Familienhilfe in Südafrika Volksbank Boenen e G IBAN: DE91 4106 2215 0054 5799 01

For South Africans and others, who want to donate directly to South Africa (also with tax certificate): please donate to Kronendal Primary School (www.kronendalprimary.com). I worked for 10 years at Kronendal Primary as a school counsellor. This school struggles financially due to the consequences of the Covid Pandemic and deserves our support. KRONENDAL PRIMARY SCHOOL trading as CUIM (“the account holder”) holds the following account with First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited (“FNB”): Account Type BUSINESS ACCOUNT Account Number 53452884035 Branch Code 204009 Branch Name HOUT BAY 345 Swift Code FIRNZAJJ WE DID IT

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erin-bo-berin · 5 years ago

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Darkest Storms & Brightest Rainbows (Part 2)

MASTERLIST

Part 1

Part 3

Hard Love (unofficial Part 4)

Since I couldn’t leave y’all hanging for too long, here is part 2 of my Spencer/Reader/Cat fic. This is where things kind of go in a different direction from the show, but I thought it would be a nice twist than what we know from the show. This takes place over about a year so that’s why there’s so many skips in time. But in this part, there’s some answered questions from the first part...only to be replaced with more unanswered questions and perhaps another cliffhanger. Happy reading!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Word Count: 4,168

Rating: G (some angst, some fluff)

Grief is a strange thing.

Some people grieve quietly, away from the public. Others, dive into work or another activity to keep their mind busy as they try to place that grief into something else. Occasionally, people skip grief and go straight to anger, questioning the world why they lost their loved one; but in most cases one grieves normally, keeping the person alive in their memories as the pain fades and becomes easier to live with.

But sometimes, grief can consume you. It can completely engulf your entire body, feeling like every cell of your being has been replaced with sorrow. The world doesn’t seem real as the only world you inhabit is the one inside you, filled with despair and sadness. No one could ever be able to describe it, no one could truly know how awful it feels.

You had never felt such a horrible feeling. At least not until now.

•

It was less than a week later that Spencer’s funeral was held. The amount of people that had shown up was astounding, not that you could blame them. Spencer truly was one of a kind; not only great at his work, but a wonderful person.

You couldn’t help but think the sea of black that surrounded his casket was a metaphor for your current emotional state. The world felt dulled by your pain.

With nowhere else to go, you were forced to stay at Spencer’s apartment, a blessing and a curse in one.

The dark green walls, the deep brown furniture, the living room filled with shelves and shelves of his books were both comforting and painful at the same time. You couldn’t help but notice just how quiet the entire place felt without him to fill the atmosphere with his knowledge and loving nature.

Almost immediately after the funeral, you took to staying in bed. The deep brown sheets still smelled like him and you didn’t want to leave. You just wanted to stay in this little bubble forever.

•

The scenery was filled with busy streets, people walking by on the sidewalk and cars and buses zooming past on the street.

He sat at an outdoor table of the small café, sipping his coffee, awaiting his company. It wasn’t long until he spotted her amongst the crowd of pedestrians, her long blonde ponytail swinging as she walked.

“Hey,” she sat down across from him.

“Coffee?” he offered.

“No thanks.”

She pulled out two manila envelopes, ready to get down to business.

“In here is the information you need to access both of your bank accounts. One here in Moscow, the other in St. Petersburg. Both have enough in them for you to be comfortable while you lay low.”

“Alright,” he took both envelopes and put them in his bag for safe keeping.

“Are you doing okay?”

“I’ll be fine. How is she?”

She blew out a breath, not sure she could tell him just how bad it was.

“Not good.”

“Promise me one thing, okay?”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Take care of her while I’m gone. Please, JJ, that’s all I ask.”

She nodded, moving to stand.

“Be careful, Spence.”

•

It’d been only a month. 30 days since you’d heard the terrible words “Spencer’s gone”.

You couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that he never made it off the operating table. The bullet had just been too hard to find, there was too much blood, he was crashing too fast.

At least that’s all you could remember being told by the doctors, the numerous members of the BAU and other people you couldn’t remember. It was like the entire experience had been wiped clean from your mind, only bits and pieces of memory flashing here and there.

Your mental health had taken a nosedive. You barely left bed because all you wanted to do was sleep. You ended up losing your job, but you didn’t have enough energy in you to even care.

You didn’t eat.

You barely managed to get out of bed for a shower. Somehow you stumbled to the shower maybe once a week and that was because your friends made you.

It had been a rotating crew of the team visiting you.

Mostly it was Penelope, Emily and JJ, but Rossi, Morgan and Tara stopped by a few times too.

Even Hotch showed up.

You could tell just how much your misery bothered him and he, like Morgan, spent his time trying to make things right rather than pay you visits.

Not that you cared all that much.

“We will catch her,” Emily said.

You sat in the middle of the bed, one of the brown sheets in your hand as you played with it, not looking up at your company that was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Spencer wouldn’t want this for you. He wouldn’t want to see you not able to leave bed, not being able to grieve properly,” she said gently.

“I don’t know what Spencer would want. Cause he’s not here, is he?!” Your lower lip trembled, tears threatening again.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, brushing away the tears although it did no good since they were falling faster than you could wipe them away.

“It’s okay, I understand.” Emily pulled you into a hug, “We all miss him too.”

She let you cry until you felt completely drained of tears. With all the crying you’d done, you were amazed there were still tears left to shed.

“Have you eaten anything today?” She pulled back, looking at your face.

“I tried to eat some toast this morning, but I threw it up.”

“It’s probably because you haven’t eaten much,” Emily answered, “Do you want me to get you something? We could order a pizza?”

You shake your head, your stomach rolling at the thought of it.

“Thank you, but no.”

When Emily left ten minutes later, you crawled back into bed, shutting your eyes, willing sleep to come and rob you of your memories.

•

“We should tell her.”

“Garcia, no. You know that Hotch advised against it,” Morgan said.

“But she’s miserable,” Emily added.

“Guys, Spencer made us promise we wouldn’t tell her. It’s safer that way. If she knows he’s alive, Cat could come after her to get to him. That’s the last thing he wants,” JJ said.

“I was just over there last night and took her some food. I thought she was going to puke just looking at it. It’s like she’s wasting away to nothing,” Penelope frowned, “Literally and figuratively.”

“Reid was basically all she had, other than us. With no family left, we’re all she has,” Rossi jumped in.

“That’s why we’re not going to give up on her, okay? Or finding Cat,” JJ said, looking around at the other teammates, “We’re going to find this bitch if it’s the last thing we do.”

•

The next time you had company, you were too busy with your head in the toilet to hear anyone let themselves in.

“Oh my goodness, honey.”

You hear the distant voice of Penelope Garcia as she rushed into the bathroom, kneeling to rub your back as you retched again.

“Did you eat something bad?”

“I haven’t eaten anything for 48 hours. I’m amazed there’s anything left in me to throw up,” you groaned.

“How about I make you some of my infamous Garcia chicken noodle soup?”

You nodded, even though your appetite was nearly nonexistent and let her assist you back to the bedroom.

“You look horrible,” Garcia winced, “Sounds like you’ve caught a nasty bug.”

You pulled the sheets up over you as you laid back down.

“Tell me about it. All I want to do is sleep but I can’t for throwing up. Plus I guess I’m starting my period cause my boobs hurt like hell.”

“Oh that’s the wor-” she paused mid sentence and you look up at her, waiting for her to continue.

“I’ll be back in a little bit okay? You just rest and I’ll get that soup started.”

She dashed out of the room and you peered after her, too exhausted to question what was wrong. Soon after, you drifted off.

“JJ, Y/N’s throwing up, exhausted and her boobs hurt doesn’t that sound just like…?”

Penelope was pacing the length of the kitchen, which wasn’t very big to begin with, as she talked to JJ on her phone.

“Yeah, it does,” JJ agreed.

“Should I ask her or?”

“Give me an hour to grab Emily and we’ll be there.”

•

“Y/N?”

In your dream, you woke to Spencer shaking you gently, smiling sweetly down at you. Your heart swelled with love for him, just looking up at him. You reached out to touch him, when he called your name again. Only it wasn’t coming from him this time.

“Y/N? Y/N?”

You felt a gentle shake of your shoulder and your eyes opened to see JJ, Emily and Penelope surrounding you. You sat up, rubbing your eyes, confused.

“What’s going on?”

“Garcia called and told us you’ve been pretty sick lately,” Emily said, “I remember you said you were sick the last time I visited. How long have you been throwing up?”

You shrugged, “It’s been off and on for a few weeks. Why?”

The three exchanged a look before turning back to you.

“When was your last period?” JJ questioned.

“Oh, uh,” you stopped to think, realizing you’d been so consumed with grief you hadn’t even registered the absence of your monthly cycle.

“About two months before the hitmen case.” Your eyes widened at the realization.

That was over 3 months ago now. Then, you’d just assumed it was stress making you skip your periods.

“Could you be pregnant?” Garcia gasped, trying hard to suppress her grin.

“I...I don’t know,” you answered truthfully.

You couldn’t remember the last time you and Spencer had been intimate. The last few months of his life had been so busy, filled with cases that usually it was just a matter of being together when you had a spare moment.

“Don’t worry. That’s why we brought these.”

JJ held up a bag with three different pregnancy tests.

“One for each of us to check,” Emily added.

“Now why don’t you go take these and go take a shower. We can check them after you get out,” Garcia said.

You nodded, obeying their orders.

After a quick shower, you stood in fresh clothes, your hair still dripping wet. The three women stood looking at the pregnancy tests you’d taken and left out.

“Well?” you asked, biting your thumbnail.

“Positive,” JJ answered.

Emily looked up from hers, “Positive.”

“Positive!” Garcia squeaked, bouncing on her feet.

You felt your mouth drop in utter surprise and wonder, your heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks.

“I’m...pregnant?” you whispered, tears forming in your eyes, a small smile on your face.

“You’re pregnant!” Garcia squealed, rushing over to hug you, the other two joining in on the group hug.

For once, your tears were tears of joy. There was a part of Spencer that would always live on through this baby.

You had a reason to live again; a tiny, growing reason, but a reason nonetheless.

•

The following weeks were less than desirable in your opinion.

After being forced to visit the hospital by your friends and having an examination by Derek’s fiancé Savannah, you discovered that you were severely dehydrated from your weeks of grieving.

You couldn’t help but feel guilty knowing you’d deprived your little one of the food and nutrients it needed to grow. Savannah—who happened to be close to delivering her and Morgan’s first child—had assured you that after some fluids from a couple of IVs you would be fine. All you had to do from here was to continue to eat properly and take your prenatals and the little one would be just fine.

“This is what you get to look forward to,” she’d chuckled, rubbing a hand over her round 35 week pregnant belly.

You had found out that you were 12 weeks along, just a week shy of your second trimester. Unfortunately, you had still experienced morning sickness all day long and still only looked bloated, not pregnant.

But time passed quickly.

Four months turned into six. Six turned into eight. There were many changes that happened around you besides the growing human inside of you.

The search for Cat continued, the team working their asses off to find her, but with no luck nor leads.

Changes to the team happened too.

Derek Morgan retired from the FBI, wanting to be with his now wife, Savannah and his little boy Hank. You’d sent him off tearfully. He was one of Spencer’s best friends, one that you had become close with too over the years, but you knew he was going to be the best dad.

A new member joined in his place, Luke Alvez. He had been familiar with Spencer as well and the team welcomed him into the family, as did you.

Then Hotch decided his time with the FBI was coming to an end. After a particularly grueling case, he put in his resignation paperwork. He was happy to be a more involved father to his almost teenaged aged son, Jack. You wished him all the best, knowing he was going to have the time of his life with more time for Jack, even though it was hard to see him go.

Emily stepped up as the new unit chief and brought in agent Matt Simmons, another agent you were familiar with. A tall, handsome, hardworking sweetheart, you were glad to welcome him to the team as well.

The changes within you were just as extreme as the ones around you.

Your belly grew bigger, your little one stronger. You felt kicks and movement daily now, each move warming your heart, although you couldn’t help but wish quite often that Spencer was around to witness this. He would be so in love with this baby, you were sure of it.

You struggled with the decision to find out the sex of the baby. With a vote between you and your friends, it was a unanimous vote for yes.

Mere weeks after the discovery of your pregnancy you found out you were carrying a precious baby girl. You were completely overjoyed, as was the entire team. You couldn’t help but feel grateful for the team of people that would be loving extended members of the family and of course, babysitters. Occasionally though, the melancholy feeling would creep back into your subconscious.

Spencer would’ve been over the moon knowing he was going to have a little girl. He would’ve spoiled her so much and she would have him wrapped around her little finger. You missed him daily, even though a part of him grew in your belly. You couldn’t help but be sad for your little girl who would never have the chance to meet her amazing father.

It was then after many weeks of contemplating a name, that the perfect one came to you. You decided to keep it a secret until she was born, much to the team’s dismay, but you wanted it to be a surprise. In your heart though, you knew it was the perfect name for her.

Your ninth month of pregnancy had finally arrived as did the other symptoms of your final trimester. You were tired, achy and felt like you’d swallowed a watermelon. You were so ready to get this baby out.

As if overnight, Spencer’s apartment had been filled with baby things in preparation for her arrival. Her crib was in the spare bedroom, although she wasn’t going to leave your side for the first few months, hence the bassinet next to the bed in the bedroom.

Bottles were lined up in the kitchen, boxes of diapers sitting in the living room. You couldn’t believe it was almost time to meet her; secretly you hoped that she took after her daddy, both in looks and personality.

“How are we feeling today, mama?” JJ asked when you met her and Garcia for your weekly lunch.

“Like a huge, swollen basketball,” you laughed.

“Hey princess, auntie Penelope can’t wait to meet you,” Garcia rubbed your belly, making you grin.

“Maybe you need to give her more pep talks because I’m so ready for her to get out,” you groaned, “And to see my feet again.”

“Henry and Michael are so excited for her to be born,” JJ chuckled, “I’m going to have to tell them to be gentle with her though, they’re not used to little girls.”

You grinned. You loved JJ’s two boys. Spencer had been their godfather, so you’d kind of become an auntie to them. She often brought them to visit you when you were still grieving Spencer’s death and they were the only ones who could bring a smile to your face during your darkest period.

After you’d found out you were pregnant and started rebuilding your life again, you often volunteered to babysit them. Other than your little girl, they were the ones who motivated you to begin healing and getting stronger.

They got more excited the bigger your belly grew. Henry, the oldest would often try to explain to his younger brother Michael that babies came from mommy’s tummies. He also told him that there came a point when mommy and daddy loved them so much that there was no room left for the baby in the mommy’s belly. So, the baby had to come out in order to get the rest of that love. It warmed your heart knowing that one day, your child would be this big and this smart.

You were so thankful for them and for the entire team in general for pulling you out of the hole of despair you’d been in for you might not be sitting here right now.

When you’d ordered, the three of you sat and chatted about their current cases and baby stuff until you felt a slight trickle down your leg. With a glance under the table, you realized your pants were soaked. For a moment, you thought you’d peed yourself.

You groaned, expressing your concern. Even though that was just a symptom of pregnancy, it wasn’t any less embarrassing.

But the flow of the trickle became heavier. When JJ came around the table to assess the situation, her eyes widened, taking in your now soaked seat.

“I think your water just broke.”

A flurry of activity followed.

18 hours of labor and nearly 2 hours of pushing later, you were holding your daughter, staring at her in amazement.

Her tiny fist was holding onto your finger and you smiled down at her, tears blurring your vision. It was early yet, but you thought she looked just like Spencer.

She had a head of brown hair, his eye shape and his mouth, but your nose; although it looked much cuter on her.

“She’s so cute,” Garcia cooed at her, stroking her cheek.

“Spence would be so happy, Y/N,” JJ said.

You smiled up at them. They’d been the ones you’d requested to be in the delivery room and they’d been amazing helping you through the rough labor.

“Can I hold her?”

“Of course,” you smiled, handing her to Penelope.

“Me next,” JJ smiled, holding her little hand.

“So are you gonna tell us her name now or what?” Garcia urged.

“Yes,” you smiled, “I thought it would be appropriate for her to always have a part of her daddy with her. So I decided to name her Spensa. Spensa Rose Reid.”

“That’s beautiful,” JJ breathed, looking down at her, “Hello, Spensa. You look just like your daddy.”

•

Adjusting to being a single mother was difficult, but so rewarding. It helped a ton that you had so many willing helping hands, as well.

Spensa was such a laid back baby and loved to be sociable, even at five months old. She truly was the light of your life.

You loved watching her grow and learn new things, from rolling over to waving and clapping her hands. She babbled a lot as well nowadays.

Her dark head of hair had lightened to a lighter shade of brown and was just starting to curl at the ends. Her blue eyes surprisingly hadn’t turned dark yet and she still looked so much like Spencer.

She had the little dimples in the side of her cheeks that only showed up when she made specific expressions and she liked to scrunch her nose occasionally, just like daddy. It was almost hard to tell that she was yours, but you didn’t mind one bit.

She was the sweetest baby and you fell in love with her more every day.

As to be expected, the entire team fell head over heels for her and often took turns visiting when they had time. Sometimes, you even took her to the BAU to visit all her aunts and uncles.

You often talked to her about Spencer, even though you knew she was too young to understand. It was amazing how the knowledge of her had eased so much of the grief you had felt those first few months. You still longed for him, missed him so much, but in a way he was alive and with you within Spensa.

It was nearing her bedtime one night and you were rocking her in the chair next to the crib.

“Do you want to hear another bedtime story about daddy?”

She baby talked in response, playing with her toy giraffe.

“Well, your daddy was the bravest man I know. He was so passionate about his work and he was good at it too. He was sweet as you are, ladybug.”

You tickled her stomach, smiling at her giggles.

She laid back in your arms, still playing with the toy in her arms, her gaze on you.

“He cared so much about the people he loved. He would have loved you too munchkin. He loved kids so much and he wanted his own some day. I wish he could be here to see you.”

The tears choked you and you wiped a hand over your face as they fell. Spensa started fussing as if she could sense your sadness.

“It’s okay baby,” you repositioned her on your lap, reaching for the frame of you and Spencer on her dresser.

“You wanna say goodnight to daddy?”

Spensa babbled to the picture, putting her hand on it.

It might have seemed silly to do such a thing every night, but you never wanted her to not know who Spencer was.

You kissed the top of her head.

“I love you, Spensa.”

•

In Moscow, it was a pretty standard day for Spencer.

He had managed to set a pretty strict schedule in his time here. It had been nearly a year and he had gotten used to life in Moscow. He still worried daily about his girlfriend though, worrying for your safety.

It was Thursday evening, the usual time he went to the market, yet when he returned to his place, something felt off.

On the entrance table, there was a lone red rose and a note. His eyes scanned over the note.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I have a surprise

And a secret too

Love,

Cat

He automatically reached for his gun that he carried at all times, just underneath his pant leg, in an ankle holster.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” came the taunting, familiar voice from behind him.

He turned around to face the living room and saw Cat sitting in one of the arm chairs, her gun on the arm.

“Spencie,” she grinned, “Miss me?”

•

It was just after nine. Spensa had just been put down again after her 8 o’clock feeding and you were attempting to rinse some dishes off before you headed to bed.

The tv played in the living room and you turned, confused when you no longer heard any sound coming from it. You shrugged it off, chalking it up to a possible power outage.

You returned to the dirty dishes, the clinking plates masking the noise of the sliding porch door clicking shut. A creak from behind you made you freeze in place. You glanced up, a figure approaching behind you clear in the reflection of the window.

Before you even had the chance to cry out, something hard struck the back of your head and everything went black.

•

You groaned, your head pounding. You reached up to rub the sore spot, wincing as you try to sit up. It was bright behind your eyes and you fought to slowly open them, blinking a few times until your surroundings come in to focus.

That’s when you saw them.

Across the room stood your dead boyfriend, lips locked with none other than Cat Adams.

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#spencer reid #dr spencer reid #Spencer Reid fic #spencer reid gifs #spencer reid smut #dr spencer reid fic #dr spencer reid gifs #dr spencer reid smut #cat adams #spencer and cat #Criminal Minds #criminal minds gifs #criminal minds fic #criminal minds smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you

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shining-red-diamond · 5 years ago

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Ch. 2: London

Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)

Words: 1173

Pairing: OT8 x OCs (Hongjoong x Dahae)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of vomiting and illness

A/N: Italics mean they’re speaking in Korean.

A loud buzzing pounded in Dahae’s ears. She reached to her nightstand and pressed the button on her clock to shut it off. Slowly she sat up and stretched while letting out a silent yawn. Her eyes wandered over to the small window that was allowing the early morning sun to seep through.

This is going to be a good day, she thought.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Hongjoong greeted her while carrying a tray of food and setting it on the small coffee table in the middle of the bedroom. “I had Grace-Anne prepare you a meal that’ll help you with your strength today.”

Dahae had fallen ill with food poisoning two days prior. The crew had visited a dig site in the outskirts of Guatemala City, and she was the only one whose dinner had been wrongly prepared. Her fellow medic Yeosang was quick to diagnose her and make a list of what she needed to eat and take. Thankfully, she was recovering quickly but still felt a little weak. Hongjoong had forbidden her from finishing any of her work until she was completely well.

Hongjoong was a pretty flexible guy, but he also had a particular way of keeping things in order around the ship. If a crewmember was ill, they were quickly limited to what they could and couldn’t do after being checked and diagnosed by either Yeosang or Dahae. On cleaning days, everyone had to take part to clean their bedrooms, do laundry, mop the deck, whatever. He made sure everyone was working together by putting their skills to good use.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” Hongjoong sing-songed as he stroked his fiancée’s head. Dahae hadn’t realized she dozed off again.

“I’m up,” she claimed as she opened her eyes. Hongjoong’s smiling face was the first thing she saw.

“Stand up and come eat your breakfast, and I’ll believe you,” he chuckled before pecking her forehead.

“Yes, mom,” Dahae teased as she crawled out of bed.

Making her way over to her chair by the coffee, she could still feel her legs feeling as if they were a mix of lead and jelly, but at least her stomach didn’t feel like fire. Her breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, a banana, and orange juice.

“I noticed the weather looked nice today,” she said as she began peeling the banana.

Hongjoong sat in his chair next to Dahae’s and began to study his maps on his computer. “Dinah predicts it’ll be sunny until we get to London.”

“What’s in London?”

“A friend of my dad’s is an archeologist and explorer there,” he explained. “He just returned from an expedition in the Conga and found something he wants us all to see.”

“What did he find?” Dahae sipped her orange juice before starting on her eggs.

“He didn’t exactly say. He just messaged me about it last night, and I told Mingi to set a course for London.”

“I see.”

“Speaking of London,” Hongjoong said as he shut his laptop and turned towards Dahae and took her left hand into his, “I was hoping we could go to a jewelry place and pick out your engagement ring while we’re there.”

Dahae’s eyes lit up. Hongjoong had proposed but didn’t have a diamond to put on her finger, only the white rubber ring she currently wore. She didn’t mind, but Hongjoong had always noticed how much she admired Celestia’s wedding ring and Grace-Anne’s engagement ring. All he wanted was for the woman he loved to be happy.

“I’d love to, Joong,” she smiled. “But will we have time?”

He kissed her cheek. “I plan on having us stay there for at least two nights.”

“Two nights? We usually stay only one night.”

“I’ve been doing some thinking lately, and I know that our explorations are becoming more tiring with each new challenge; so I decided to treat everyone with an extra day in London.”

“So, basically, a vacation day?” Dahae asked, a grin slowly blooming on her face.

Hongjoong nodded.

The crew had been getting more and more tired in the past few months, and Hongjoong had taken note. He had always put others first to a point he sometimes wears himself out doing so. Dahae admired how much he cared for everyone else around him, and she loved that about her fiancé; but the dark circles under his eyes worried her. He was a hard worker, but Dahae didn’t want him to work until his death. When he said they would all take a rest day, her heart was put at ease.

“Seonghwa, Yeosang, and I have been discussing a rest day for a while, but we could never agree on a proper time.”

“When did you decide now was a good time?” Dahae asked as she finished her meal, Hongjoong taking the tray.

“This morning just before I got your breakfast,” he replied as he headed towards the bedroom door. “We’ll be landing in about three hours. Do you feel okay to walk around?”

“Joong, I stopped vomiting yesterday morning.” She stood from her chair and began walking towards the bathroom. “I think I’m more than capable to explore.”

“Alright, but if you still feel bad later, please tell me.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Dahae saluted just before shutting the bathroom door.

Hongjoong chuckled at her remark as he strolled out of the room with the tray of empty dishware in his hands.

The captain made his way around the corner, past the dining hall, and into the kitchen where Yunho was busy with a boiling pot. The island counter was covered in utensils, vegetables and herbs. Yunho was dressed in his pajamas still, but his hair was combed.

“Good morning, Yunho,” Hongjoong greeted.

“Good morning, Captain,” his crewmate replied with a bow.

“Dude, it’s just us. You don’t have to call me ‘Captain.’”

“Sorry. Just a habit.”

Hongjoong placed the tray by the sink, and looked around the kitchen. “Where’d Grace-Anne go?”

“She went to go wake Seonghwa and get ready for the day,” Yunho replied. “How’s Dahae feeling?”

“A lot better.” Hongjoong leaned against the counter. “The color is back in her face.”

“I’m happy to hear that, but I’m preparing this soup just in case we have another emergency like that again.”

As much as he was the repairman and engineer for The HALA, Yunho was also a cook alongside Grace-Anne. He always had a recipe book with dishes made for those who were sick or had certain food allergies, and Yunho had been using it the past two and half days to help with Dahae’s illness. Grace-Anne had one similar but mainly used it to prepare Celestia’s meals, as she couldn’t eat certain foods while pregnant.

Yunho pulled the wooden spoon out of the metal pot, placed the lid on it, and turned down the stove. “So where are we going?” he asked as he untied his apron and hung it on the wall hook.

“London,” Hongjoong replied. “We’re arriving there in about three hours, so be ready by then.”

#foratiny #thekpopnetwork #kpopuniversenet #kwritersworldnet #atzinc #ateez #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez scenarios #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #mingi #wooyoung #jongho

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ammacdiaries-blog · 6 years ago

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When In Williston....Just Don’t

First entry. First attempt at writing a short story. The following is a true story. Obviously, names aren’t included. I do welcome all feedback. Please also share.

Here goes….

Fresh out of training, yet still in my probationary period dubbed first 120. I began my embarquement from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois on my normal run called The Empire Builder. The total journey would be 6-days; 3 there and 3 back. Assigned to the Sleeper Car, I was in charge of first class services. This entails providing services to 16 to 24 rooms with 1 to 5 passengers per room; making beds, to-go meals, luggage assist, etc. I especially like working in the sleepers because of the direct customer contact.

This summer was proving to be an especially difficult one. Continual track work bestowed us with countless delays. This resulted in irritated passengers. Still nothing I couldn’t handle. Even as we entered Wolf Point, MT and I learned a tornado caused a freight liner to derail just ahead of us, I could still direct the mood of irritated passengers into a more positive one and keep people entertained.

I guess I was too focused on the people and paid no attention to my arachnid homies, causing one to get especially bitter. I asleep in my room, while Charlotte spun her web somewhere in the vicinity. After a long day of whipping out some web, she must of developed a bad taste in her mouth.

Through her several eyes, I can only guess she saw me as one of two things: An asshole who was keeping her trapped there, or a nice humid incubator where she could sink her teeth into a nice tender thigh. Since Wilbur never gave her any bacon, after writing all those messages in the web, I assume she saw this as her one opportunity to get some good squealing in.

I awoke with a burning sensation in between my legs. Not that of a result of a great time with a complete stranger in a cheap hotel room. But still one that would require countless antibiotics. Where’s the fun in that? I’m not sure whatever happened to Charlotte. But I’m guessing after her journey to the nether regions of my southern hemisphere, she turned eight feet up and six feet under.

Now me being me, I of course fell right back to sleep. If the intruder alarm in my house won’t wake me up for long, chances are some heat near my hot pocket won’t wake me up either. When I awoke though, I discovered Charlotte’s little parting gift for me.

Throughout the next several hours, I worked as normal. Trying to ignore the pain of what started out as a pea-sized nob, and then had grown into a half-dollar sized coin. By the night, I had started mastering the penguin waddle. You skinny people might not get this reference. But the penguin waddle is what us larger people do when chafing occurs in between the thighs. As to not piss our ham hocks off any further, we keep our thighs close together and swish our hips, while keeping our legs straight in order to keep pain at a minimal. I haven’t had to use this maneuver since my teenage years. Luckily, it was like hopping on a bike after not being on one for a decade. Oh the things I take pride in.

Going late into my 3-day, and still no where near Chicago, the abscess between my thighs had now grown to about 6-inches. Still too scared to seek medical attention, I did find it in my better interest to let a crew member know just in case, you know, something worse could happen. Despite his years of experience and vast knowledge of how Amtrak handles things, I still chose not to make management aware. During the first 120, it was ingrained in our heads you will be fired for any mishap. I must emphasize, this is not the case as I later learned.

Our layover in Chicago, when on time is approximately 18-hours. The delay from the derailment lowered that layover to approximately 4-hours. I had planned on going to urgent care, getting an I&D, then leaving out on my return trip. Unfortunately, I had just literally pulled a 24-hour shift, and was allotted 4-hours to do laundry, take a hot bath, nap for 1-hour and then return to work the train going back. I was riding myself hard and putting me away wet.

The wound had now spread from my groin to knee and was the most beautiful color of dark purple, had it not been my flesh. Full car coming back, there would be no rest for this wicked man.

In the distance, I heard the sound of a call light go off. As it was lunch time, this could only mean they wanted to order their food to-go as opposed to being normal people and eating in the dining car. Normally I wouldn’t be so irritated by such an easy request. But my time back on this bicycle was making my ass more tender than veil.

After collecting their order and returning with their food, I knocked on their door. The vibrations of the knocking must of set off the richter scale because a splitting of the plates happened. I ruptured. The man answered the door with the biggest smile. Those fresh burgers for him and his girlfriend had finally arrived. And how he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into them.

Yes he was greeted with that, but no. There would be no smell of fresh angus beef and bacon in the air. There would be that of the foul stench of the walking dead. I dare not say what just happened. We both looked at each other as if to say “What hell did you eat?”. He knew it wasn’t him. I knew it was me. But he didn’t know that. I gave him the look like it was him. Which I hope made him believe it was his girlfriend. Both our faces wrinkled to the point of needing an immediate injection of botox. We still managed to exchange product for gratuity. If they are still together, I won’t ever know.

I was at a loss. There was no more penguin waddle left in me. I could only now slither like a slug to the nearest shower room and play doctor with my first aid kit. I texted my partner in crime to let him know that an act of God had just occurred. And thank goodness because we were approaching our next stop and I had to let passengers on and off. There was no way I was going to help people with sappy, soupy pants on with the fragrance of that one wouldn’t even smell in a soup kitchen.

Now seriousness was going to have to take place. There was no further thing I could do but seek medical attention.

“Good afternoon passengers” came across over the PA system. “Our next station stop will be Williston, North Dakota.”

This was to be my stop. The conductor had called for an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I had only had about 15-minutes to pack my room, dress my wounds, dress myself and be available at the door. Oh, and please don’t forget that I’m still only one 1-hour of sleep.

As I stood there waiting for that next station stop, my passengers had began to cluster around the vestibule area, eager to step off the train, have that much desired cigarette, and of course witness my grand exit.

I open the door upon arrival and before me are approximately 14 paramedics. Not quite the paparazzi, but still very intimidating. Then the press conference begins.

“Why is it you think you need an ambulance?” the one reporter boasted.

“I beg your pardon?” What the hell kind of question is that?

“Why do you think you need to go to the hospital?”

Am I interviewing for a patient position, I thought. I turned and look behind me to see my passengers just a chomping at the popcorn, anticipating what I was going to say next. Well I’m sorry to disappoint. But your not going to hear me say “Oh I have a compromised immune system and a wound the size of my fucking thigh just blew up in my thigh and I thought this would just be the next fun thing to do in my day.”

“I’ll be more than happy to answer that questions on our way to the hospital without an audience.” I assertively replied.

While dancing in the back of the ambulance to every pothole on the road, someone must have heard me say “I have ebola”, because when I got to the hospital, every person was wearing thick gowns, spit guards, and filtered masks. I’m now so emotionally distraught, and tired, I have no idea what to do.

I then was blessed to meet probably the only person with a brain, the PA who walked in asking why she felt she was on a movie set instead of a hospital. As the lambs started “baaaaaaaaaahing” out their reasons, she quickly schooled them and said contact precautions as normal. None of this additional crap is necessary. She then looks at my wound and says “Cellulitis and possible MRSA.” Oh Christ, I thought. My next emotion was to cry. Apparently this was something they didn’t know how to handle. Well not handle so much as acknowledge.

Because at this moment, I had learned Nurse Ratched had continued her education, becoming a doctor, my doctor and was standing before me. “If we don’t keep you here, what is it you think you’re going to do?”

I didn't understand the question. Yes, it was to the point. I just didn’t see how it related to me. “What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“Well do you think Amtrak is going to just give you another ticket? What are you doing to do?”

Despite Nurse Ratched’s continued education, I noticed she still somehow must have missed any courses involving bedside manner. It feared me though that once I explained I was an employee and fully insured, how quickly her tune changed. But that wasn’t a hill I was ready to climb.

While being admitted as an inpatient, I had understandingly fallen asleep to only be awoken by the Hospitalist, a harpy I dubbed Olga the Oger. “Michael, we need to talk.”

I fumbled to awaken myself. SInce my bladder felt as if to explode, this initial task was a bit easier. “I need to use the restroom first.”

I’m not sure what kind of fetishes this harpy had, but she grabs a urinal,sits it in front of me, then sits down herself, giving me the strongest execution of poker face I had ever seen.

“Without an audience.” I commanded.

While waiting for her to come back in the room, flapping her wings to perch in her nest, I fell back asleep. Then again with that same shrill I heard “Michael, I said we needed to talk.”

Hold up. What’s that? No ma’am. You obviously don’t know who I am. It was at that moment my hummingbird ass was put to rest by my alligator mouth. I couldn’t believe I had it in me. The harpy looked down, looked at me in the eyes, then said “I am getting security. I don’t feel safe with you in the room.”

Security must have been busy fighting the meth monsters from the emergency room. Because she came back with no soldiers. Which I was fine with. I grabbed my big boy britches, apologized and proceeded our discussions.

Three more times she ran out of my room in fear. No my friends, not from my hot temper. But to change every order she had already written for me because she failed to find out my allergies beforehand. I was starting to feel that Charlotte and I were going to be seeing each other again in the after life by the way things were going.

Well I survived the that 5-day stay in the hospital. But no. Mount Fiji had yet to be conquered. My final night in Williston was to be at a hotel. Work had generously called me cab to take me to the Ritz, no Discount something or other inn.

As I stand there waiting for my chariot to arrive, a strong sense of anxiety consumed me as I saw this black SUV come racing towards me. Oh God. This can’t be my cab. I found placing my luggage in the back to be especially easy as the the whole back window had been busted out. Upon entering the cab, I took notice to the several inches of dirt and dead insects upon my bench. I especially loved that my “driver” rhythmically licked and chewed his lips as if they were two cheeseburgers from the best burger joint in town.

“Now they told me you would need a receipt. I told them we give receipts on cards.”

Fair enough I thought. Wait….What’s this. Lip Licker hands me the card of a female real estate broker who specializes in short sales at Remax. On the back of my card it says Cab Fare $17.00 and a signature. Oh yeah. Accounting will look at this like seeing a turd floating in a punch bowl.

Thank Christ, I’m at the hotel! I walk in to see the accommodations were doable. Not the Ritz as I dreamed. But after my week, a cardboard box set up in the middle lane of a highway in a rainstorm wouldn’t seem so disappointing. “Sir. We have your complimentary dinner available for you in the hallway over there.”

Dinner in the hallway? Oh hell yeah! Jackpot. I couldn’t wait. As I stand in line behind every roughneck in the state acting like vultures before 3 metal canisters, I couldn’t hardly wait to see what lottery winnings I could be consuming. Door number one had something that I think might have been tuna. Whatever it was, it was shredded, white, and crusty on top. Behind door number two, chicken so oily, had I dropped it, Foghorn Leghorn would have slid straight to the Canadian Border. Then behind door number three, corn dogs so hard, I could speer someone’s eyes out from across the room. I figured between the preservatives, and the 600 different antibiotics running through my system, the speers would be the best way to go.

Oh let the C-Diff begin!!!!

It’s safe to assume, if I’m ever bit again, by anything, I’ll probably not wait so long to address it. Maybe I’ll start asking for directions too.

#williston #hotpocket #ammacdiaries #michaelmacneil

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gameguides · 2 years ago

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ONE PIECE ODYSSEY Achievements Guide 100%

Welcome to the One Piece Odyssey Achievement guide. Below we have explained all the achievements in the game and how you can get them.

ONE PIECE ODYSSEY Achievements Guide

The guide is a work in progress. We are currently in the middle of creating collectible maps for everything including the Yaya Cubes. Story Achievements

Chapter 1 Clear Cleared chapter 1.

Chapter 2 Clear Cleared chapter 2.

Chapter 3 Clear Cleared chapter 3.

Chapter 4 Clear Cleared chapter 4.

Chapter 5 Clear Cleared chapter 5.

Chapter 6 Clear Cleared chapter 6.

Chapter 7 Clear Cleared chapter 7.

Chapter 8 Clear Cleared chapter 8.

Final Chapter Clear Cleared the final chapter. Combat Achievements

Victor Won 50 battles.

Battle Master Won 300 battles.

Bond Battler Activated 20 Bond Arts. Bond Arts (Moves) are unlocked by fixing Memory Links. Some Memory Links have 2 parts to them before you unlock the associated Bond Move.

Singular Strike Did more than 10,000 damage to an enemy with a single attack.

Escape is Victory Ran from three battles.

Challenge Enemy Beginner Defeat one powerful challenge enemy.

Challenge Enemy Conqueror Defeat all the powerful challenge enemies twice or more. Memory Links

Fixed a Fray Cleared 5 Memory Links.

Certified Fray Fixer Cleared all Memory Links. Note: If you are unable to see any Memory Links, complete the Memoria first. Memory Links are mini-instances that only a portion of your crew can access. Completing them rewards you with Bond Moves and the occasional accessory. Memory Links are marked as pink icons on your mini-map. Some Memory Links also have 2 parts before you get the Bond Move as a reward. Please refer to the area-related sections and maps below for a list of Memory Links per area. Crafting Achievements Note: Journeyman Cook and Trick Ball Beginner are cumulative (any recipe) unlike Top Cook and Trick Ball Whiz which require the creation of at least 1 of every Recipe/Trick Ball.

Journeyman Cook Made 10 recipes. See 'Top Cook'

Top Cook Made all recipes. Starting recipes: - Small Drumstick ww - Scorpion and Clam Soup - Bedrock Salt Pasta - Sandora Dragon Steak Tips - Bronze Bat Soup - Sazae Kancho Pescatore - Banana Gator Pie - Herb-Grilled Bo Bo Bird Sanji Cook Level 2 required: - Flame Salisbury Steak - Thunder Soup - Ogre Sazae Kancho Carbonara - Ganzo's Oden - Durian Gator Salad - Golden Jelly - Aqua Cabbage Roll - Elephant Tuna Saute Sanji Cook Level 3 required: - Shogun Jishi's Steak - Rock Bear's Strongarm Soup - Rose Squid Ink Pasta (Rose Squid Meat & Ink can be bought in Dressrosa's General Store) - Fruit Gator Punch - Offal Soup with Sea Pig - Dogol Dragon's Chilled Pasta - Jura Bird Pudding - Shay-King Parfait - Merchant Gelato - Dress-Shrimp Paella (Dress-Shrimp can be bought in Dressrosa's General Store) - Fairy Pumpkin Gazpacho

Trick Ball Beginner Made 10 Trick Balls. See 'Trick Ball Whiz'

Trick Ball Whiz Made all Trick Balls. Try picking up every shiny object you encounter and you should have no issues having the materials required. - Shabby Ball - Perfected Shabby Ball - Perfected Shabby Ball Plus - Ragged Ball - Perfected Ragged Ball - Perfected Ragged Ball Plus - Exhaust Ball - Perfected Exhaust Ball - Perfected Exhaust Ball Plus - Rundown Ball - Feeble Ball - Negative Ball - Perfected Negative Ball - Roast Chestnut Ball - Sleep Ball - Chilly Ball - Shocking Ball - Perfected Shocking Ball

Craft Enthusiast Fused 5 accessories.

Chasing Champion Fused 30 accessories.

Jewelry Master Made an accessory with 4 effects. By progressing your story, Robin eventually gains access to a 2nd tier of Fuse skill upgrades. This unlocks the 4th slot of any accessory which has them. Simply fill the slots through Fusion.

Crew Abilities

Gum-Gum Rocket Traveled with Gum-Gum Rocket 100 times.

Usopp's Slingshot Used Usopp's Shot 100 times.

Iron Door Slicer Cut 20 doors with Zoro's Door Slice. You will encounter more than enough doors to slice through along the regular course of play. These doors respawn so it's impossible to miss this achievement if you're going for the 100%.

Franky Skywalk Built a bridge 10 times with Franky Skywalk. Most of the materials you need can be obtained from the Dressrosa Memoria. See the area-related categories below for the maps where you can build bridges using Frank Skywalk. The next 3 achievements are for picking up quasi-collectibles that can only be obtained by the appropriate characters:

Archaeologist's Appraisal Robin collected 20 items with Archaeologist's Appraisals.

Treasure Sensor Nami collected 25 Items with Treasure Sensor.

Cook's Nose Sanji collected 25 items with Cook's Nose.

Side Stories & Bounties

Pit Stop Amateur Cleared 10 side stories.

Pit Stop Pro Cleared all side stories. With the exception of Alabasta, most side stories don't show up until the Memoria is complete.

Journeyman Hunter Turned in 10 bounties.

Bounty Hunter Turned in all bounties. Just like with Memory Links, some bounties don't start appearing until after you've completed the Memoria. There are a total of 30 bounties (10 each spread across 3 areas) and you typically can't access the 10 bounties all at once. You first have to turn in the "1st tier" to reveal the next set. Cube Fragments

Cube Collector: Luffy Collected 50 of Luffy's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Zoro Collected 50 of Zoro's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Nami Collected 30 of Nami's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Usopp Collected 40 of Usopp's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Sanji Collected 40 of Sanji's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Chopper Collected 30 of Chopper's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Robin Collected 30 of Robin's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Franky Collected 20 of Franky's cube fragments.

Cube Collector: Brook Collected 6 of Brook's cube fragments. Most of Brook's cubes are near the end of the game (Sky Tower). Please note that there are more fragment cubes than available skill upgrade slots. This also means there are extra cubes beyond what you need for each achievement. Please refer to the area-related sections and maps below for cube fragment locations Yaya Cubes

Collector Collected 99 Yaya Cubes. Yaya Cubes are a precise number of collectibles that can be turned in for the Yaya Cube Collector quest chain. This quest chain has a total of 19 quests which require you to turn in 8 cubes for the 1st quest and 5 cubes for each quest for the next 18 quests. Before the chain begins, Madame Trade (the quest giver) takes 1 cube from you. This adds up to the total of 99 Yaya Cubes needed for Collector. Keep in mind that Yaya Cubes only exist in Memoria. There are no extra cubes! - 30 in Alabasta - 33 in Water Seven - 3 in Marineford - 33 in Dressrosa Turning the Yaya Cubes in is not required for Collector, but it's necessary to complete the chain to obtain the Pit Stop Pro achievement. Please refer to the area-related section and maps below for Yaya Cube locations and totals per area. Treasure Hunter

Treasure Hunter Opened all the locked treasure chests. Locked treasure chests are the bright red treasure chests you won't be able to open until close to the end of the game. The master key that unlocks all of them is obtained by completing all of the Zoner quiz side stories all the way up to Dressrosa. There are: - 8 in Waford - 4 in Alabasta - 5 in Water Seven - 1 in Marineford - 4 in Dressrosa Please refer to the area-related sections and maps below for locked treasure chest locations. Read the full article

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arcanelaurels · 7 years ago

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Can you write something whete Taako does something that makes Madame Director really miss their sibling relationship during the stolen Century...but she has to be the boss now (sorry for the specificity 😅)

Listen,,, I read this ask and was literally like “Is this person reading my goddamn mind right now??” Because I’ve literally had almost a full fic for this exact concept hanging in my drafts for a week now but I haven’t had a chance to edit and post it until you blessed me with this request so thank you.

Please don’t ever apologize for requesting Taako and Lucretia dynamic bc I love that shit and could write a five page paper on why it should’ve been more of a thing in the actual podcast

(also it just occurred to me that this may not be as lighthearted as you might��ve been hoping for but feel free to request a more lighthearted one if you want)

“Taako, are you well?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! You’re not my mom!”

Lucretia bit her tongue to prevent from outwardly reacting to that. It was uncanny how often these boys would react to things the way they used to when the whole crew was together, despite their memory loss. The first few times it had happened - back when they’d first joined the Bureau - she would have moments of panic and wondered if they actually remembered some things, if there were things she’d forgotten to remove.

They didn’t, though. The voidfish did its job well. Still, Taako’s words threw her off a bit. It wasn’t the first time he’d ever said that to her, but she knew he wouldn’t remember the actual first time.

Cycle 4 was the first time Lup died. The world they’d landed in was in a post-apocalyptic sort of state, and was largely unpopulated, save for a few survivors. A couple months in, the crew had decided that the location they’d landed in wasn’t ideal, and moved the Starblaster. When they landed again, Taako and Lup had been sent out on a scouting mission to further detail what surrounded them. The two had unknowingly wandered into a rogue’s territory, and he got the drop on them, stabbing Lup in the heart. Taako had immediately rounded on him and killed him, but the damage was done. Lup was dead before the rogue hit the ground.

Everyone knew by then, of course, that death wasn’t permanent. Not for them. Still, in the early days it was hard to deal with it when someone died. And Lup’s absence was felt more than anyone had previously anticipated.

Back then, four years had seemed like a lot of time to the crew that had yet to know just how much time they were going to spend together. By that point, everyone had thought they knew pretty much all there was to know about each other. What no one knew, though, was how different Taako would be without Lup.

For weeks, he was sullen and stuck to his cabin. Everyone understood. Well, they tried to. No one really knew how to understand the bond that existed between the twins. But they understood that he needed time to come to terms with Lup’s absence, even if it was only temporary.

After about a month, Taako started reappearing, and on most days he seemed almost back to normal. But there was a definite lack of energy from him without Lup to bring him out of his shell. And there was the occasional day where he would retreat into his cabin and refuse to eat or talk to anyone.

On one such day a few months after Lup’s death, it was just Lucretia and Taako on the Starblaster. Everyone else had gone off on separate missions, and the two had been left to stay with the ship, just in case.

Taking a breath to brace herself, Lucretia balanced the tray she was holding in one hand and used the other to knock on Taako’s door. “Taako?”

No response. She let herself in. Taako was lying on his bed, facing the wall that it was up against. He didn’t turn around to acknowledge her as she walked in, but she could tell he was awake.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I...brought you some soup.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

No response. Lucretia frowned and placed the tray on the end table near his bed. She gingerly sat on the edge of his bed, turning her head a bit so she could see him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! You’re not my mom!” He sounded annoyed.

“I-I wasn’t-” Lucretia sighed, turning so her back was to him. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them, trying to figure out how to word what she wanted to say. She was much worse with her words out loud as opposed to in writing. Maybe she should’ve written something out beforehand. No, it probably would’ve seemed less genuine.

She took a breath. “Taako-”

“Save it.”

Surprised at the interruption, Lucretia turned to face him. He was still facing the wall. “Sorry?” She asked.

“I’ve heard the speech a hundred times from everyone else,” He said. After a beat, he twisted around a bit so he could look at her. “I know Lup’s coming back after this cycle, okay? It doesn’t make it any easier.”

Lucretia frowned. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”

Taako stared at her for a moment before turning back to face the wall. She turned her back to him again.

“I-I was just going to say...” She trailed off, trying to figure out her wording. “I know that none of us can really understand what you’re going through. I’ve never had siblings, myself, but my moms...” She trailed off again. “When we left our homeworld and I left them behind and that...that thing that’s following us attacked, I actually, uh, cried myself to sleep every night for months.”

She heard Taako move - maybe to turn and look at her again - but she didn’t turn around to face him. It was easier to talk when she didn’t have to see other people react.

She continued. “But I, uh, now I think of you - and Magnus, and Lup, and everyone else of course - I think of all of you as my family, now. And that...that makes it just a bit easier for me when I wonder what happened to my parents. What happened to everything that thing consumes. And I-I know that none of us could ever replace Lup for you, but-”

Her words were cut off when Taako unexpectedly threw his arm around her from behind, his head buried in her shoulder. She felt her eyes tear up reflexively, and blinked rapidly in order to quell them. Taako was only a casually physical person; he would prop an elbow on others’ shoulders while standing or even lay across people’s laps when he was bored. But when it came to emotional touching, he preferred to avoid it, so Lucretia knew that this hug wasn’t a small gesture for him.

“I’m sorry,” He murmured into her shoulder, so quiet she almost didn’t hear it.

She swallowed, praying that her voice wouldn’t break when she spoke. “For what?”

He let go of her and she turned to face him as he leaned back against the wall, sitting up now. He crossed his arms and looked away, his ears flattening as if he were embarrassed that he’d just hugged her.

“I’ve never thought of that,” He said. “Of how you - all of you - everyone else had family that was left behind when we had to escape. Family you couldn’t save.”

Lucretia was conscious of how odd it was to hear him speak without his usual added-in phrases. Taako took a breath. “For most of my life, Lup was all I ever had for family, but at least we managed to stay together. I can’t imagine if I’d had to leave her behind.”

Lucretia recalled how the twins had fought to both go on the Starblaster. The IPRE had originally only allowed for six crew members, but when only one of the twins was accepted (the rest of the crew never knew which one), they both fought tooth and nail, arguing that the ship needed two Arcanists/Chefs until the Institute relented.

They were both silent for a while, neither knowing what to say. After a few moments, Taako reached over and picked up the tray that Lucretia had set down on his bedside table. He took a spoonful of it and put it in his mouth, then promptly spat it back out.

“What the hell is in this? It’s awful!” He said, laughing.

Lucretia felt her face burn. “I-I’m not really a cook. I just threw some stuff in the pot.”

Taako made a face and gingerly put the tray back on the table. “Well, we need to fix that immediately, homie.” He pushed past her and stood up. “I know Magnus can make a decent pot roast, but if none of the rest of you chuckleheads can cook and Lup and I both beef it next cycle, you’re all up shit creek.”

Lucretia couldn’t help but chuckle as she stood up to follow him out of the room.

He turned his head slightly as he walked. “And you better bring a fresh journal, ‘cuz I know you love to take notes and apparently I have a lot to teach you.”

After that, Taako was more or less back to normal for the rest of the cycle, though he was still a bit distant. After it ended and Lup was rethreaded back onto the ship, the first thing Taako did was tackle her with a hug while everyone else moved closer to welcome Lup back.

“Aw, what? Did you miss me or somethin’?” Lup asked her brother.

“Pfft, no,” Taako rolled his eyes, letting go of Lup and moving to prop an elbow up on Lucretia’s shoulder. “In fact, I replaced you,” He said.

Looking back, Lucretia realized that she should’ve known how much losing Lup would change Taako. She wished she could redo it somehow, but she knew that wasn’t possible. What’s done is done.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and back to the present, to the mission she was about to send these three on. Merle was saying something about how she always referred to them as “boys" and they were complaining about all of the training she’d been putting them through.

Lucretia struggled to find her words. “I, I know and I’m… I’m sorry for leaning on you as hard as I have been lately, I just...” She sighed. “I know what’s waiting for you on your next mission and I just want you to be at peak performance.”

She continued on, confessing the truth about what had happened to her in Wonderland and sending them on their way. For a moment, when she’d taken down the illusion on her portrait for them, she was afraid that seeing her younger self would somehow jog their memories. But it didn’t. Of course it didn’t. You can’t jog memories that aren’t there anymore.

She sighed and put her head in her hands after they left. If they came back - no, when they came back, she corrected herself, as if changing the wording of her thoughts would make it more probable. When they came back, she owed them an explanation. They deserved to know the truth, and they were going to find out eventually. It couldn’t stay hidden for much longer.

She looked back on the memories that she had, bonding with each of them on the Starblaster. She knew it would never be the same after they found out what she’d done. Taako would never forgive her, especially after he realized that Lup was...

Lucretia was going to have to live with it. After all, how could she expect Taako to forgive her when she knew she could never forgive herself?

#taz balance #the adventure zone #taako #taz lucretia #taz stolen century #laurelscribbles #fairylightsinautumn

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twocupsofsuga · 8 years ago

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His Treasure || Part 4

Pirate!Baekhyun x Reader - Series

Summary: It’s either on your knees and beg for your life or you’re walking the plank.

No plagiarizing my story please....

Moodboard by @byunfirstlady

Previous | Next

You stared at the tray of food by the foot of the cell door as you remained huddled in your little corner, refusing to move or eat anything made by the pirates.

Almost two days have gone by, and you have neither heard or seen from Baekhyun. But let’s just be honest, you didn’t WANT to see or hear from him. Not ever since you found out who he was...

The only people you’ve been seeing are his pirate crew who come by every now and then, mostly seeing if you’re still in your cell and not trying any funny business like escaping or either bringing you your food to eat, all of which you refused to touch.

‘Like hell I’m going to touch anything they made.’ You thought to yourself. ‘It's probably poisoned...’

And it didn’t matter that despite the fact that the food they bought looked really good, you were not going to give in. Hell, you weren’t even drinking the water they brought in for you as well.

‘Poisoned as well.’ you would think stubbornly.

Your throat burned, but you refused to give up trying not to die, as dumb as it may have looked.

You eyed the food wearily that was bought in for you. Some water, and what looked like to be some soup and some bread that looked toasted. It was becoming more difficult for you to not just dive in and eat, seeing as if the aroma of the food decided to taunt you and have it’s smell waft around the air.

You sniffed and instantly your mouth began to drool. That soup smelled really good, even if it had probably turned cold by now.

The sound of footsteps snapped you out of your daze and you watched the shadow of a person coming towards you, until it became smaller and smaller and a man appeared. You remembered his name, Yixing, he was the one who would bring you your food every time.

You watched as he quietly walked up to your cell and flashed you a small smile as he placed the key which he held in his hands in the lock and pushed the cell door open.

Yixing took one step into the cell and froze when he noticed the untouched food on the ground.

You watched him carefully from the corner and hugged your knees tighter. You watched as he eyed the the tray wearily and he closed his eyes and sighed deeply, before opening his eyes and locking them with yours. His deep, brown chocolate eyes looked at your own dull ones and he spoke.

“You know you can eat right?” He said, his voice low and soft, not a hint of sinister in his voice unlike the other pirates. “I promise you it’s safe to eat, it’s not poisoned if that’s what your thinking love.”

You said nothing and slowly looked down. When Yixing noticed that you weren’t going to say or do anything, he let out another sigh and you watched from the corner of your eye as he bent down on the ground and placed the new tray of food next to the old one and picked up the tray that held the cold, untouched food.

Yixing walked back to the door and closed it with a small shove with his boot and looked to the side and whistled.

You picked up your head and watched the same dog from a few days ago trot up to Yixing. Yixing smiled and bent down to the dog’s collar and placed the key on the dog’s collar.

You frowned, remembering the time when you had tried to escape and failed when the dog didn’t listen to your pleas.

You watched as Yixing petted his head and stood up straight and looked at you again. This time you didn’t look away. You watched him give you a small nod towards the tray of warm food before you.

“Give it a try, ok?” He said, giving a small smile and you noticed his dimples. “It’s chicken this time with the usual water. It’s nice, trust me. Our chef’s very skilled and it’s his own recipe. Also, please make sure you drink, especially since it’s very hot now days out here in the ocean. We wouldn’t want anyone getting dehydrated and passing out now do we?”

He gave you another smile and a nod before walking away.

Your eyes traveled to the dog who still remained, watching as his head turned towards you and gave you a friendly bark before waddled away.

This time you eyed the tray of food. You could see the full glass of water they always bought in and you noticed the plate of grilled chicken and some salad leaves on the side.

You became suspicious. It looked good. Almost too good. Since when were pirates such good cooks? Where’s the bread and water only?

Your thoughts were broken when the strong smell of chicken hit your nose and you sighed at the smell and your stomach growled.

You looked down, embarrassed at the loud sound and hugged yourself. You shook your head determined. “No.” you breathed as you slowly rocked yourself. “I can hold on. I don’t need to drink or eat... I’m fine... I’m ok.”

Tears slowly made their way out of your eyes as you slowly crumbled. Your stomach ached for food so much that it almost hurt. You wanted to just drop every suspicion so badly and just dive right in and eat. But then you weren’t sure if you could trust anyone right now. Your fear had gotten the best of you and it was blocking out all traces of reasoning.

You harshly wiped your tears with your dirty hands and you leaned your head back on the wall behind you and looked glumly at the ceiling. ‘Why is this so hard?’

“Oi wake up!”

The loud yelling followed by the slamming of the cell doors open jolted you out of your sleep and you yelped loudly and jumped.

“You’re too loud Sehun.”

“Shut up Jongdae.”

You heard footsteps and you looked up, nearly screaming, but then when you were suddenly yanked forward to your feet and felt yourself being pushed out of the cell, your scream got caught up in your throat.

You found your arms being held behind by someone and you found the same guy from two days ago called Sehun walk in front of you. Your mind became fuzzy and struggled to walk properly, due to the fact that you just woken up from a single hour of sleep and because of a pounding headache that suddenly appeared.

The guy holding you from behind must’ve sensed that something was wrong with you, so he pulled your arms harshly and you cried out at the sudden feeling and you managed to walk properly this time, though hardly.

Your eyes had the hardest time of staying open and your vision dazed. You couldn’t make out where you were being taken so you just allowed yourself to be dragged, having zero energy to fight.

You felt yourself crashing into someones back and you took a retreating step back, lifting your head up to see Sehun’s back. You watched him raise up his hand and knock loudly at a door that he had stopped in front of. When you blinked to steady your gaze, you noticed that you were standing in front of the same door that lead to Baekhyun’s room.

‘Oh god,’ you thought, ‘not again.’

You heard the door opening and then felt yourself being pushed inside the room.

Nearly tripping, you shook your head and looked behind you, noticing the two guys who were with you close the door behind you and standing in front of it, making sure you didn’t escape.

You looked away from them and looked straight ahead where you saw Baekhyun.

Instead of what he was wearing last time, you noticed this time that instead of dark and heavy clothes, Baekhyun wore a white button up full sleeve shirt with the first few buttons open that hung lightly and comfortably around him that was tucked in his dark pants along with his boots. He had his hair brushed back and you could see his eyes clearly.

Baekhyun tilted his head lightly and leaned on the table behind him that was in his room.

He looked mad. “I heard you’re not eating nor drinking anything that’s being bought to you.” Baekhyun said calmly, although you could make out the anger in his voice. “Care to tell me why?”

You said nothing but swayed slightly when you felt an even bigger headache before regaining balance and standing properly.

Baekhyun noticed and his eyebrows furrowed.

“What’s wrong with you, huh?” He asked as he looked at you up and down. He watched you blink and look down, before shaking your head and laughed as you looked back up to look at him right in the eye.

“You honestly expect me to eat anything without the suspicion of the food being poisoned?”

You watched Baekhyun’s stare turn hard and he growled at you.

“I don’t stoop as low as poisoning food around here.” He spat and glared at you. “If I wanted you dead I would’ve killed you days ago when you first walked into this bloody room.”

Baekhyun leaned away from the table and walked up to you. You would’ve been absolutely terrified but you were too busy dealing with not falling down.

Baekhyun reached you and stood nose to nose with you and stared you down since you were shorted than him.

“Do you want to die that badly?” He whispered menacingly at you. “Because if you do, I wouldn’t mind ending your life right here and right now and having your blood stain the floor. Or maybe you’d like a slow, painful death?”

You’re head spun and you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. When you opened them again, you noticed just how close he was. You let out a shaky laugh and you watched his eyebrows furrow in confusion at you laughing.

“Go ahead.” You breathed and your voice cracked. “I’d rather be dead than be in the same room as you.”

And with that, you collapsed.

You heard voices around you when you finally managed to gain consciousness, but you were too weak to speak or open your eyes.

It’s not that you couldn’t, you just didn’t want to.

You heard shuffling around you and you felt something warm and wet being placed on your forehead.

“How is she?”

Oh good lord.

“She’s fine.”

Ah, Yixing’s here as well.

“It’s good that you brought her immediately, otherwise her state could’ve been worse.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Well?” he demanded. “What caused her to collapse like that?”

Yixing pulled the blanket further up you body. “It seems as if her refusing to drink or eat anything has caused her dehydration and a few iron deficiencies. She hasn’t eaten for two days straight. I warned her, but I guess she was too tense to trust me.”

Baekhyun threw his hands up in the air and sat down on the nearest chair. “Unbelievable.”

Yixing said nothing and took the wet cloth off of your forehead, dipped it in the bowl of water that he had placed on a side table and gently re-positioned it back.

You felt him moving away from the bed you lay in. “I’ll go and ask Kyungsoo to whip up some soup for her.” You heard Yixing say as you heard footsteps walking away and the sound of a door closing.

For a moment you heard silence, but you nearly jumped at the sudden sound of a chair suddenly being roughly pushed back and footsteps coming closer to your resting figure.

You heard Baekhyun sigh.

“....”

“Useless piece of trash.”

Excuse.... ME??

You debated on sitting up when he spoke again.

“Stop being so damn stubborn. You’ve honestly been so annoying, you’re like a child. Are you trying to die? I hate to brake it to ya, but you can do that once I’ve put you to good use. Then you can drop dead for all I care.”

You heard him walking away and then stop.

Baekhyun stood by the door and opened it up and nearly walked away but paused. He looked back at you.

“But that won’t be necessary, because you’ll already be dead by the time I’m done with you.” And with that, he walked out, slamming the door in the process.

Once no more noise was heard, you felt your eyes welling up with tears, and once you took a shaky breath and opened them, the tears flowed down slowly and your sobs came out in chocks.

You felt miserable. You had to get out of here if it was the last thing you did. Letting out another loud sob, the door of the small room opened. You heard someone’s breath hitching, and looked to your left to see Yixing dash up to your side.

“Hey hey what’s wrong?” he said softly and rubbed your head and wiped your tears with his other hand. “Does your head still hurt?”

You looked up at Yixing with remorse and you cried. “Why am I here? What does he want with me?!”

Yixing froze and he looked down for a moment before he shook his head and looked back up at you firmly. “There’s no need to think about that right now,” he said. “Calm down and take a deep breath. You’ll get into a panic attack if you keep this up. Try to calm down, yeah?”

You knew he was trying to avoid the topic of telling you, and you noticed how he was trying hard to not make much eye contact with you.

Yixing helped you to sit up straight and wiped your tears again. He reached over and pulled up the bowl of soup he was carrying when he walked in the room.

“Here, this will give you back your energy.” He placed the bowl onto your lap. “I promise you love, this isn’t poisoned or anything, it’s just ordinary chicken soup.”

You eyed the soup wearily. Could you trust him? He was nicer than the others though...

You brought your hand up and grasped the spoon with shaky hands and slowly brought it up to your mouth. Hesitating, you brought the spoon up past your lips and into your mouth and you sighed.

It felt like the best damn thing you had ever eaten.

You knew you were exaggerating and it only seemed that way because you hadn’t eaten in a long time, but the soup really was well made and tasted as if it literally just fell from heaven.

Yixing chuckled to himself as he watched you gobble down the soup. “See?” he said with a smile. “It’s not that bad right?”

You didn’t answer, your main focus all on the soup. Yixing watched you for a while before continuing, “I’m going to head back up the ship, I’ve got some work to do. Think you can handle yourself just fine until I come back?”

Without taking your focus away from the soup you nodded. Yixing smiled. “Well, ok then. I’ll be back after a few hours or so.” he said and then walked away towards the door and closed it behind him.

When you heard the sound of the door being locked, you stopped eating and brought the bowl and the spoon down to rest on your lap and began to think.

You just needed these pirates to trust you, and then, when their guards are all down, you can escape. You weren’t sure how you would escape though. It would surely take some time to find something that would be able to help you escape, but you didn’t mind waiting for that moment if it meant you escaping. Maybe if you were lucky enough another ship sailing the ocean could end up saving you.

You sighed. Then again, no ship has ever survived an encounter with the EXO pirates.

You groaned. Well, for now you just had to wait for the perfect moment. You needed patience.

But for now, you just have to bear with the brutality that could come your way. Because you have no idea what Byun Baekhyun has planned for you.

The sound of someone banging loudly on the door woke you up from your small nap. Jolting awake, you faced the door that shook with every bang with wide eyes. You heard someone curse on the other side.

“Where the heck are the keys??”

“The fuck am I supposed to know Yixing had them last!”

“Well, go and get them!”

“Why should I you go get them!”

“I asked you first!”

“You guys shut up I’ve got them! Geez.”

You climbed out of the bed you were in and stood up straight, shaking and looking around the room for a place to hide. Looking at the stool that was placed in the room as well as the glass bowl that you had eaten from earlier, you grabbed them both and quickly hid behind the door just in time as it swung open and you bit your tongue to muffle your yelp.

Sehun, Jongin and Minseok walked in the room. Minseok left the key that he had placed in the lock hanging there and walked in the room with to his ship mates.

Jongin and Sehun looked around the room in confusion.

“The hell,” Sehun said. “Did she escape?!”

Minseok’s eyes widened. “Shit, this is not good.” he said.

“But the door was locked.” Jongin yelled. “How could she have escaped?!”

All three of them paused to think. “I don’t think she left the room...” Minseok said lowly as he looked up at Sehun and Jongin. “I think she’s hi-”

But before he could finish you crept out of your hiding place from behind the opened door and threw the glass bowl in his direction and watched it smash against his forehead and he screamed and fell on the floor, grasping his bloody head.

“The hell?!” Jongin yelled and turned around only to see a chair fling down at him and he fell down unconscious.

Sehun turned around with wide eyes and then noticed you and his eyes narrowed.

“Oh you are so dead.” He growled and lunged at you. Your eyes widened and quickly turned around to run out the door and slammed it closed behind you, successfully smacking Sehun in the face as he howled in pain and held his nose.

You were quick to see the key in the key hole and praised the lord for your luck, swiftly turning the key and locking the door. You jumped back once you felt the door shaking violently.

“Open this door right now!” Sehun yelled on the other side.

You pulled the key out, staggered backwards in the process and flinging it somewhere on the ground and made a run for it.

You ran up a staircase you found on the right side and quickly went up. You twisted and turned at every fork, going up every staircase you found, because up, meant out.

When you climbed up what you presumed was to be the last set of stairs, you noticed a a door with a small window on the top. It was daybreak outside, and you became worried, what if someone saw you?

But all those thoughts left your mind when you heard loud footsteps running and angry yelling coming from behind you. You gasped loudly and your heart hammered against your chest. It’s now or never.

Shoving the door open, you ran.

As soon as you reached outside you stumbled at the sudden intensity of the bright sunlight. Rubbed your eyes, you blinked and looked around, your eyes widening even more.

You looked around to see that you have indeed reached the platform of the ship. You took in the huge sails, the pirate flag, the ropes and barrels everywhere, the few canons that lay around, everything.

Especially the pirates that you saw that scattered around the ship.

Wide eyes met your own, and you looked around at everyone your eyes came into contact with.

You noticed Yixing handling some ropes and he looked at you, shocked to see you here.

The door that you just came through burst open again and you noticed Sehun, Minseok and Jongin run out and they stopped to stare at you.

Counting everyone, you came to find out that there were only eight and when your eyes traveled up at the second level of the ship where the steering wheel was, your eyes met shocked ones.

Baekhyun, whom was standing behind the wheel stared at you with wide eyes and froze. But as soon as he saw you turning around and running he instantly yelled, “GRAB HER!!”

As soon as those words left his mouth all of Baekhyun’s pirate crew sprang to life and began running after you.

You ran ahead towards the front of the ship. You looked to your left and saw one of the guys gaining up on you. Looking back ahead, you noticed a telescope lying on a barrel so you instantly grabbed it when you zoomed past it, throwing it behind you at him, hitting him square in the face as he tumbled down.

Looking straight again, you noticed you nearing the edge of the ship.

You made a dash for it and leapt up, deciding to just jump into the water when strong arms pulled you back and you immediately began to scream and violently kick.

You tried elbowing the guy who held you but he saw right through you and with a grunt, grabbed both of your arms and locking them in his own big hands.

You looked up and saw more pirates running towards you, pushing you to the ground and holding you down firmly.

You struggled at all the extra weight above you that kept in increasing and yelled out, “Let me go!”

You tried kicking your legs but they were already pinned down by other arms.

You looked to the side and through the small strands of your hair you could see a furious Baekhyun march towards you and your struggling intensified.

Suddenly you felt all the weight above you disappear and before you had any chances of reacting a hand grasped your hair tightly and you yelled in pain when it pulled, your head snapping up and before you could scream again a rag was pressed in your nose.

You knew this was a sleeping drug and you refused to breath it. But when you felt someone grabbing your arm and twisting it painfully, you gasped and breathed in various amounts of the fumes, your eyes slowly closing and vision fogging before you felt the hands that were grabbing you move away. The rag disappeared from your nose and you fell to the floor.

You groaned at the sudden feeling of your head throbbing when you slowly gained conscious.

You were going to sit up straight but a harsh tug around your neck held you from moving.

You opened your eyes in confusion. Fully aware of your surroundings, you turned your head to your sides and noticed that you were in a very big bed. Your head snapped up to look around you and you noticed yourself in a familiar room.

Oh god please no...

You looked behind you and you felt like dying. Your neck was on a chain tied to a bed.

Your mind began filling up with panic and fear and you felt like you couldn’t breathe once you figured out where exactly it is that you were.

You were chained by the neck on Baekhyun’s bed.

The sudden sound of a door slamming open made your head snap towards the direction from where the sound came from.

Your heart stopped when you noticed Baekhyun walk in, a terrifying aura around him.

And in his hands were multiple other chains.

#exo #exo scenarios #exo one and only #exo oneshot #byun baekhyun #exo baekhyun x reader #exo byun baekhyun #EXO baekhyun #baekhyun exo #baekhyun #His treasure #pirate AU #exo baekhyun x you #baekhyun x reader #byun baekhyun x reader

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skitscratched · 8 years ago

Text

Hat - Chapter 4

Summary: Roger tours the Blues once more and finds a gem he missed the first go around.

Chapter 4 - Gol Arc: Red and Black

I haven't needed to do this in a long time, mostly because I didn't have any reason to talk to an audience in my head when I had Roger and Rayleigh with me. The amount of chaos that Roger got us in played a factor too.

It's been a busy 24 years since we Roger Pirates first set foot into the Grand Line. Paradise was just as crazy as the manga made it out to be, and I would know. I highly doubt that any other crew knows Paradise as well as us. Roger never dropped the habit of scouring an ocean as thoroughly as he could before moving onto the next. We spent seven years in Paradise, but that may have been a key factor in our survival in the New World.

In those seven years, the crew grew larger, we obtained the Oro Jackson, met Garp (and man he's insane. I swear, he pops up just when we least expect it.) and visited Skypiea. Let me tell you, it was not fun trying to ignore Roger when I accidentally let it slip that there was an island in the sky. There was no way I was going to win that fight, but it didn't stop me from trying.

And, well, the New World was certainly… something. We recruited some more members, though we started to take in less and less as time went on since we seemed to have all the necessary roles covered. From what I can tell though, most of what was supposed to happen, happened. Fishman Island for one, where Roger spoke to the sea kings, and meeting the Mink rulers for another. Considering that not much was known about Roger's time, I stand firm by my decision to only have Roger and Rayleigh know about me. Who knows what kind of chaos more knowledge of my existence would cause?

The New World was a lot more difficult to explore too. We spent 15 years moving from one island to the next, only to loop around several times to keep from missing anything. Except… It seems like too much has stayed the same. Roger still contracted that incurable disease. I don't know if it's because not enough is known about the New World, the machinations of fate, or because he had it all along and we were only finding out about it now, or what, but the reason why doesn't change the fact that Roger is dying.

I just… Roger and the others are no longer characters to me, they stopped being that once I got to know them. And after all these years, they're my closest friends, even if most of them don't know about me. And Roger, he was the one who I started all of this with. He was the one who asked me to stay when everyone else ran away. To see him die… For all that I never want that to come to pass, I can't muster the hope that there's a cure out there somewhere. Knowing the storyline is a burden more than anything else now.

Roger never gave up that hope though. He set us on course to the North Blue through the Calm Belt. From there, we headed to the East Blue. Nothing in either of those two Blues would be able to help, so we set course for the South Blue.

Now? I'm stuck with my idiotic captain in the middle of the sea with nothing but the clothes on our back because of his damn narcolepsy.

(I would give up everything, though, if it meant Roger would live.)

Growl.

"Ugh." Roger grunts as he lies prone on his small rowboat. "Foood."

:: Don't complain. You brought this entirely onto yourself. ::

Roger whimpers.

:: I've been constantly on the lookout for a ship and I haven't found any. Only you would get lost at sea with nothing but the clothes on your back for two weeks. ::

Roger's head rolls sluggishly.

:: I tried to wake you up when the storm started, but NOOO, your damn narcolepsy kept you asleep through it all. I keep telling you to take the medicine that Crocus gives you, but do you listen? ::

Roger attempts to swat at his Hat, but his hand doesn't even make it halfway before it drops onto the side of the boat.

:: You wouldn't have even been in hiding in this damn rowboat if you left Rayleigh alone instead of including him in that prank of yours. Really, how did you get those powder balls and firecrackers. I was with you the whole time. ::

Roger blinks. Slowly.

Sigh. :: Just go to sleep you idiot. I can keep looking even without you awake. ::

Roger's eyes don't open again. Despite knowing that Roger's just tired from hunger, Felix can't help but check on him periodically to make sure he's alive. His captain worries all of his crew, especially now with his illness plaguing him. This hunger can't be good for his state either.

Fortunately, Felix didn't have to wait long for someone to come across them. (He curses the dearth of sea kings in the blues and he doubly curses that he lacks a body to move them himself. Roger's metabolism had him unable to move much since half a week ago. And that's after Felix told him not to move to save energy.)

The strawberry-blond woman pauses as she sights a rowboat in the middle of the sea. She would have turned away and left it as a stray boat had it not been for the hand just visible on the side. On a whim, she turns her boat to it. She's feeling generous today.

She ties the boat to hers and sails back to her side of the island, unknowing of it's hungry and grateful passengers.

"Foood." Roger sits up groggily, nose following the scent of soup. He doesn't so much as look at it's transport and just takes the entire pot and steadily swallows it down.

It's only when he finishes that he reaches for his head and panics. "Felix! Felix where are you?"

"Are you talking about this hat?" The yellow straw and red ribbon pops into Roger's sight. Once again, he manages to ignore the voice as he snatches his Hat back.

"Felix!" He cheers, eagerly greeting his longtime companion.

:: ARE YOU AN IDIOT! THANK THIS POOR WOMAN ALREADY! ::

Roger winces at the unexpected scolding, finally taking notice of the woman in the room with him. "Eh? Who are you?"

:: My soul for a way to slap the shit out of you. I don't know how many times I've asked Goda for this, and I don't know how many more times I have to ask, but I will wait and I will savor it once I can. ::

The woman herself is ignorant of this exchange and simply raises an eyebrow. "I'm the one who hauled your sorry behind out of the sea, half dead from hunger. I'd think twice about what you say next."

Roger very nearly visibly reviews his last few memories. "Ah right. Felix told me to thank you for that."

:: You moron. ::

"Your… hat… told you to thank me." She flatly repeats.

"Ah! No!" Roger denies, looking panicked and untruthful. "My Hat can't speak to me at all!"

"Riiiight." She drawls. "You look like you have plenty of energy. Get out of my house."

"Eh?" Roger blinks.

She ignores him. "I expect you gone by the time I get back from town. If you're still here, I'll kick you out myself."

"But-" Roger cuts himself off when she leaves without another word. "... My crew isn't here."

:: You see? This is why I keep reminding you to not tell people. Now you just estranged the very nice lady who saved your life and fed you. ::

"Well, whatever." Roger sweeps himself of the couch. "I'm sure we can get someone in town to let us stay for a while until the others get here."

"What do you mean you're not open?" Roger whines. The clerk gives him a disturbed look. It was very strange to see a grown man act like a kid.

"Exactly what I said." The clerk repeats. "You arrived in the middle of July. Baterilla celebrates it as the month of the dead. During this month, we don't allow anyone to come and go as they please. In fact, much of the island prepares for this month by trading everything we can in June. It's unfortunate that you ended up here at this time, but until the end of May, no one will be willing to take anyone in. It's superstition that it'll offend the spirits that take the time to watch their family and friends. It looks like you have already experienced the way most people around here treat outsiders at this time of year."

Roger wipes off the mud on his clothes a bit more, but only manages to smear it around. "Yeah, I noticed. Did you know some people even went and made some mud to throw at me?"

"Ah, that might not be mud." Roger freezes and stares at his hand in disgust. "And that's exactly why I can't take you. If I make an exception for you now, it'll be bad for business in the future. Sorry, but you're on your own."

Roger sighs, but leaves, immediately getting hit with a glob of mud - He refuses to believe it's anything else. Only the lack of a particular smell lets him keep this belief. - from behind. When he looks back, the clerk ducks back into his hotel/shop, a dirtied hand telling who threw the mud at him.

"Well," Roger thinks at Felix. "Looks like we have to go back."

Roger gets a distinctly unimpressed vibe from Felix. :: You go do that. Let me know when you're tired of punishment. ::

"Hey!" Roger grins. "Looks like I need to stay with you until my crew comes!"

"No." She slams the door in his face.

Roger rapidly bangs on the door with both hands, falling on his knees. "Aw, come on! I can't stay out here until they come! I just need a place to stay."

Footsteps. Roger brightens and stands up.

He finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

Bang.

He yelps as he ducks beneath it just in time to avoid the shot. It wouldn't have hurt him anyways, what with Armament and all, but she had no way of knowing that. Roger looks at her with teary eyes, looking very much like a downtrodden puppy.

She kicks his face and he's tossed back several yards. The click of several locks is very obvious in the next moment.

Undeterred, Roger moves to a window nearby. He smushes his face against it while her back is turned. She looks at him in disbelief when she notices. "Pleasepleaseplease."

She grabs her shotgun.

"LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!" She screams, brandishing her gun in his face.

"NO." Roger refuses, knocking the gun out of her hands at the same time.

"IT'S BEEN A WEEK, YOU CLEARLY DON'T NEED TO STAY WITH ME!"

"Don't wanna."

"AAAGGGHHH!" She stomps away, Roger nipping at her heels the entire time, dodging any attacks she throws at him with ease.

"You know," Roger remarks. "You're nothing like the cold, standoffish woman that the villagers describe you as."

"AND WHOSE FAULT DO YOU THINK THAT IS?" Her eyes narrow further. "You're an annoying, persistent bastard. You make me curse. Do you know how much it takes me to curse? A whole fucking lot that's what."

Roger grins. "You're not yelling at me anymore!"

"That's what you focus on?" She sighs and rubs her temples. "Well, what do you want? I don't want to deal with you anymore."

"What's your name?" Roger asks.

She gives him a flat look. "You were a pest to my nice solitary life because you wanted to know my name." She says slowly and clearly.

"Yep." Roger nods.

She closes her eyes. "And you couldn't ask the villagers, why?"

Roger's fist hits his palm. "Oh that's right. I could have done that."

Her hands twitch for her gun and she regrets leaving it behind. Oh well, she'll make due.

:: Why did I have to get hit! It was all your fault that she was so annoyed! ::

"You don't have a bump the size of a melon. Deal with it." Roger thinks as he rubs his head. Dammit, it still hurt. She might have subconsciously used Haki in that hit. That just makes her more interesting.

She turns and watches Roger before she enters her house. After a long moment she says, "You're not going to stop, are you." It's not a question.

"Nope."

"Why do you want to know my name so much?"

Roger looks into the sky. "Well… I just wanna."

She rolls her eyes. "Of course." She says sarcastically.

"AH!" Roger points at her with an aghast look on his face. "I completely forgot that I didn't tell you my name! I was supposed introduce myself first right?"

She blinks. "Wait, wha-"

Roger extends a hand and grins. "Nice to meet you! My name's Gol D. Roger!"

"D?" She asks, stunned.

"Yeah! It's because-"

"I know why." She cuts him off, piercing him with her stare. "What I don't understand is why you use it. Don't you know what it means to be a D?"

Roger tilts his head in thought. "I don't hide it because I'm proud of it, my parents gave me my name. They told me stories about what it meant to have a D too. Want me to tell you?"

Roger doesn't wait for her reply before he starts babbling, all the while dragging her inside to the couch where they could sit. Strangely, she doesn't resist as much as she could have.

"And that's the Will of D." Roger finishes with a soft smile on his face.

A long silence hangs in the air.

"My name is Portgas D Rouge." Rouge looks up. "And let me tell you what my parents told me about being D."

"Carrying out the will of the past?" Roger boggles. "That's nothing like what I grew up knowing!"

Rouge snorts demurely. "Well it's why I made the decision to live a quiet life. I don't know if someone that died wanted me to do something, but it's my life and choice. I won't have my desires decided for me."

Roger pouts. "And here I wanted to ask you to join my crew."

Rouge raises a palm. "No. I'm not leaving the island."

Roger opens his mouth and closes it just as fast at the stab of surprise from Felix, head snapping out to the sea. "They're here!"

:: Well, don't let them leave! Flare your aura already! ::

"Your crew?" Rouge asks, amused.

"Yeah!" Roger feels them moving closer to the shore after his signal. He grabs her hand. "Come on!"

"You sure I can't convince you to change your mind?" Roger asks Rouge, who rolls her eyes.

"No, I was perfectly happy before you shoved your way into my life. Hurry up and go already."

"Then!" He points a finger at her. "One day, I'll come back and show you that it's not so bad to be a D! It's a promise!"

Rouge doesn't splutter, but it's a close thing. "Who told you to make such a stupid promise!"

Roger laughs as he dodges her slap at his head and rapidly boards the Oro Jackson. He waves as the ship pulls away. "Remember! It's a promise!"

Rouge turns away and heads back to her house once they disappear from view, hiding the smile that she couldn't keep off her face. "What a ridiculous man."

So yeah, I’m caught up on the updates I posted on Fanfiction now. I’m not a fast writer so the next one will probably be up in about a week. Maybe two if the chapter fights me.

#Fanfiction: Hat #One Piece #Gen #Friendship/Adventure #OC #Gol D. Roger #Portgas D. Rouge

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mrneighbourlove · 6 years ago

Text

Red Typhoon: Ch 4. Finding Gold for Body and Soul

The ship was a marvel on the waves, skyrocketing and breaking modern records. Magic was on the side of the crusaders. It took a bit for the crew to get adjusted to the ships speed, but they found that as long as they didn't reach outside of the deck over the water, they didn't feel the speed. Everyone had a chance to catch up on lost time.

"And then, when me wife was screaming profanities at me during labor, I made the mistake of a-telling her that it wasn't my fault, we both did the deed." Rat was telling the amusing story about Trygve's birth. "And then she punched me in the balls."

"BUWAHAHAHA!"

The entire crew was laughing at Rat's expense.

"You think dat's bad? Me wife threatened ta chop off me balls!" Juju snickered.

"Me wife kicked me out of bed for a month!" Mojo chuckled.

"Missy Orana chucked Corsaire overboard when Nakeso was being born." Bomba held his sides from laughing. "He said, 'Can you quit pacing, I'm trying to get some sleep!'. Wrong thing to say."

"Dad, oh my god, you're so embarrassing." Revy snickered next to him, giving him a light punch in the shoulder.

Liz sat contently next to Halvar, finding comfort in leaning against his frame. Scarlet gave a chuckle at all the men's stories. Her own pregnancy was hell to get through. She wanted to tear the doctor in half from her underhanded comments that all she had to do was 'push' and that is was 'easy'.

"I's learned my lesson."

"Me too."

"Women are scary creatures."

"I's not sure what scares me more. Me lady on her monthly or the kraken!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"I still can't believe cap'n ever entertained the idea of kids." Bomba took a sip of his drink. "He doesn't even like kids!"

"I tolerated you, thank you very much, and I like kids fine, I don't like brats." Corsaire told him dryly. "You were a brat and a troublemaker."

"I's not that bad!"

"You almost capsized me ship playing with that black powder numerous times."

"Almost is the key word in that sentence."

"Not to mention, you's gotten us chased out of ports before due to your lovely pickpocket talent."

"Aw, thanks cap'n!"

"That's not a compliment!"

"Well, you were a family. So that has to count for something, knowing you could always pull each other out of trouble, through thick or-" Scarlet was happy for a moment, nostalgia hitting her, before sadness slapped the Gerudo back down to reality, and she stopped talking. "You have no regrets. Be happy with that."

"Heh, we's always tried to be there for each other. Didn't have no one else." Mojo told Scarlet. "Corsaire rescued me and me brother. I's albino and dat's bad luck where I's from."

"We's stowed away on his ship and he let us stay." Juju added onto his brother's words. "We's safe with him."

"T-T-Took us out of th-the circus." Pockets gestured to himself then Acrobat. "N-Never saw me... saw me as a f-freak."

"Helped me recover when me legs were both broke beyond repair." Acrobat patted his thighs. "Helped me learn to walk a little again."

"Took me away from the gladiator rings." Rat clasped his hands together. "Reunited me with Renegade after so long of thinking me old friend was dead."

"Saved me from the streets and... and Seer from the brothel." Bomba's voice fell a little. "... Seer loved to cook for us. Never once asked for anything but ingredients for the food. I miss his calm chowder."

"Fish tacos."

"Vegetable medley."

"Chili soup."

"Roasted flounder."

"Braised pork."

"... yeah... he always fixed us food. Knew what it was like to be hungry. Didn't want us to ever feel that way." Bomba sighed. "Despite what those horrid people did ta him, he still has a golden heart."

With that, a thick cloud of sadness swept through. Everyone missed Seer dearly. Halvar could have sworn he was feeling Liz heat up against him, when Lex decided to lighten the mood. "And he is the BEST at story telling! I love the tale how he'd say that Captain Corsaire was a legend of the sea for taking down two Krakens, and it would be a riot if Uncle had to go up against a third. Think we can fight a big squidy Uncle?"

"Heh, Seer was there when we encounter the krakens. He was scared out of his wits too, kept telling me that they were very, very angry." Corsaire smiled a little at the mention of the old tale. "Makes sense now that he could sort of understand them, him being a Direnor and all."

"We all made it a-out unscathed, thanks to him and Missy Orana." Rat pulled Revy a little closer, holding her closer. "Us, krakens, and the ship."

"Liz would tell me the stories that Seer told her when he was on the ship with Corsaire." Halvar finally spoke, resting his head on top of Liz's. "I really enjoyed the one where Rat basically threw Corsaire onto the balcony so he could speak to Orana again."

"Uncle Corsaire isn't really good with the ladies." Liz gave a chuckle. She was grateful to how quick Lex was to cool her off.

"Hey I was just fine with the ladies." Corsaire crossed his arms. "Then Orana just... happened to catch me."

"More like you chased her."

"I did not!"

"Did too, lovesick dog."

"Remember when he was depressed after she went home to Hyrule?"

"Sulked for days in his cabin."

"I did not sulk!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"You sound like a sulker Uncle Corsaire." Lex giggled.

"Look! He's doing it right now Dad!" Revy pointed, laughing at her Uncle's embarrassment.

"Ah, shut it yous." Corsaire huffed. "All of yous need to get some rest anyway."

"Agreed. According to the charts, we should arrive at our destination by tomorrow afternoon." Bakura spoke up, having kept his eye on the ship while the group had their fun. He felt like more of an outcast than Scarlet. This was, in some ways, all his fault that Adda did what she did.

"You need to eat before you sleep," Corsaire told Bakura as he stood from his barrel seat. "You didn't even touch dinner. Rat's cooking isn't that bad. Need your strength, so eat then go rest."

"Cap'n's orders, Bakie." Rat gave Revy a gentle shake. "Hey now, me love, don't doze off on me just yet. Let's get you to bed."

"Huh? I'm not sleepy."

"Oh yes you are. Listen to your father young lady."

"What-*yawn*-ever mom." Revy was indeed sleepy.

Bakura continued looking at the stars. "I'll eat in a minute or two. You all have a good nights sleep."

"Taking first watch? Very well." Corsaire stretched lightly and then said. "Come get me for second watch. Men, off to bed."

"Aye, aye, cap'n."

"That means you two, girls." Rat told Liz and Lex. "Halvar, you's sleeping with the men."

"Whu? I mean, of course I am!" The prince blushed.

Scarlet gave a light frown. "Rat. Liz has a Voe, I think they have the right to stay in the same bed."

Liz looked over her shoulder to Halvar, a curiosity forming. How long had they been a relationship for now? Cuddles in the day on a couch were one thing, but what of cuddling at night? More soft spoken than she meant to, she turned to the Prince "Halvar.... would you like to share a bed. With me?"

"No hankie pankie on me ship!" Corsaire yelled from beneath, earning a few snickers from the men, knowing the captain was a protective uncle as well.

"There's a difference between sharing a bed for sleep and sharing a bed for... that." Rat was still a little off put by the sex conversation with the twins and his own daughter. It was always a touchy subject for him, especially with him having to work in the pleasure houses as well when his old master made him for extra cash. "Besides, Liz doesn't need to go and get pregnant right before a battle. Tis dangerous."

"We are NOT going to have sex!" Liz shouted at the men, appalled that was the first place they'd jump to. Lex snickered, giving her sister a tap. "Why not? Heard a rumour that being a virgin is never a good thing going into battle. Trust me, you'll both love it~"

Revy quickly pulled Lex away before Liz lost it. "I will THROW you over the ship so help me god Lex!" Her max embarrassment couldn't be reached any higher. Liz turned to Halvar, sighing. "I'll just go to bed if you aren't comfortable."

"Pin me down and lick my dick!" Bomba's voice rang out from beneath the deck. "Fuck me like a big, bad bitch! We won't stop til you say when! Next time won't you bring a friend~~~~!"

"BOMBA SHUT UP!!!" The entire crew yelled at him.

"All you's don't appreciate my singing talents."

"More like wailing talents."

Halvar's face was bright red by this time, but he finally found a way to speak.

"I um... I'll do what you want, Liz. You're my lady, and I want you comfortable."

"That's not what I asked..." Liz sighed. If Halvar didn't tell her that HE was comfortable first and foremost, than she wouldn't force him. "I don't want to demand anything of anyone. I'm not my mother..."

Liz walked to below deck. Glaring at her Uncle with a deep growl, Bomba received a hard punch in the stomach for embarrassing her, and she slammed the door to her bed.

Lex patted Halvar on the back. "Pussy move dude. You didn't answer her question if you yourself wanted to join her."

"It's customary for the females to initiate... that part of the courtship." Halvar told Lex with a frown. "I'll go talk to her."

"I don't know if she's in the mood for talking right now. Maybe in the morning?"

"I... I guess..." Halvar said good night to everyone else and stopped at the cabin where Liz was staying. With a sigh, he told Liz through the door. "I'm... I'm sorry if I upset you. I think it's just hard for me to get the normal Uskarian customs out of my head, even though I know you're not required to follow those. Please don't doubt my love for you, ever. You're amazing and so sweet and... I feel lucky that you look at me the way you do. Sweet dreams, Elizabeth."

Liz heard his words and felt them sting. She hated herself now for not being more forward with Halvar, and in her self-pity, bit into her pillow so no one could hear her cry.

Scarlet was making her way to bed when she saw Bomba recovering from his gut punch. "She hit you really good."

"Aye, tis nothing I can't handle." Bomba shrugged and held up his hands, missing a couple of fingers. "Dis here hurt a lot worse. I was being stupid with the black powder and it came back to bite me good."

"Well you were being more stupid here. Do none of you have daughters? You didn't think your words and laughter didn't have an effect on her?"

"I's has no kids." Bomba shook his head. "Cap'n, Rat, Mojo, Juju, and Seer has kids. Acrobat and his man thinking 'bout adopting. Pockets doesn't want any kids; too scared of them being born like him with four arms. Doesn't want the kids to feel like he used to; like a freak."

"Well you all guaking about what she does in bed was insulting." Scarlet gave him a jab, and her voice was loud enough for any of the other men to hear. "At least Bakura was wise enough to know when to keep his peace. I bet even Seer wouldn't judge."

"Hey, she's our little girl and we want her to be treated right, dat's all." Bomba jabbed Scarlet back. "We know Halvar is a good laddie, yet we don't want Liz put in a bind either. Wind up pregnant when we's going to war with Adda is not a good thing. Dat, or worse, Halvar gets her pregnant and something happens to 'em. We's seen it before and don't wish it on her."

"She's not stupid enough to get pregnant. You insulted her core. She wanted to have a moment with her Voe, and all you idiots ruined it for her. She's strong, but she's also still a girl." Scarlet jabbed him back, harder this time.

"I'm not saying she's stupid, I'm saying it could happen!" Bomba poked her harder than before. "You's and Adda were pregnant during fighting and something coulda happened then! We's would have never had these sweetlings with us if something woulda happened to ya!" The first mate was not backing down from this argument. "If she wants a moment with her man, then dat's something they's both gotta agree on. Dey's from different cultures, and Halvar's trying to respect her and everyone else in her family too." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Liz wasn't raised Gerudo, she was raised as a Uskarian. If you's gots a problem with dat, take it up with Seer. He did right by those girls."

"I DID MY FUCKING BEST FOR MY DAUGHTER!" Scarlet picked Bomba up, pinning him to the wall. "I made sure to keep her away from the fighting! Even though it broke my heart and Rat's! And for all the shit my sister in arms has done, the smartest thing she ever did was give Seer those twins! So if I got a problem its with anyone, it’s you asshole!" She dropped Bomba and turned, the stress of the mission having boiled over now. "Fuck... I... I'm sorry. God damn it..."

Bomba yelped when Scarlet pinned him against the wall with a loud bang. She had a good foot in height on him, and was certainly the stronger of the two. However, Bomba was one to never give up, and always found a way to get the upper hand in the end... in most fights. When Scarlet dropped him, he fell onto his ass with a thud and rubbed his throat.

"Hmph." Bomba frowned at Scarlet. "You's ever stop to think dat maybe you doing something 'good' for someone else is 'bad' for you?"

Scarlet, turned to him, and Bomba knew he made a mistake. "What. Else. Was I. Suppose to DO?! HUH Bomba?! I loved my Captain! She was MY LIFE! She saved me, she was my closest friend! I trusted her word as the only word I needed to trust." Scarlet towered over him, picking him up and holding him tightly by the shoulders. She didn't even care that others could be listening, which they certainly were. "Tell me, would you ever have question Corsaire's word? His trust? Because when I was at my lowest, most worried for the new baby I had, I listened to Adda's. Would YOU have done differently than me?"

"Cap'n Corsaire saved us, and he's our brother... but he doesn't expect us to live our lives for him." Bomba told Scarlet, honest as could be. "Your cap'n might have saved you, but dat doesn't mean you have to live your life for her. You's your own person, lassie." He told her, honestly. "Me cap'n would never tell me to abandon me kid. He doesn't put himself first. He puts his... his family first. His friends first. Dere's a difference 'tween Corsaire and Adda." He was not sugar coating his words.

"Adda does put her family first. She gave us homes. She allowed us to choose our occupations once we become of age. She gave me the choice to leave her... us Gerudo are her only family she has. She did what she thought was best for us." Scarlet put her hands to her face and held her breath, slowly exhaling. "And that's why I'm terrified. You're all going to kill her. She won't stop. She won't. And you'll have to kill her."

"You call dumping her kids off and making you choose 'tween your baby and her a 'sister'?" Bomba actually laughed dryly at that statement. "If dat's the kind of definition of family for Gerudos, then I's really glad the girls weren't raised there. Family don't hurt family. Don't make 'em choose 'tween kids or her." The first mate then told Scarlet. "Look, lassie. I can argue with ya til me blue in the face, but what your cap'n did was wrong. End of story." He shook his head. "We's don't want to kill her if she'll just give us Seer. She don't, then it's gonna be a fight. Cap'n never let us down before; he's never lost." He sighed and then said to Scarlet. "We's used to be pirates, but we's never hurt innocents like she did, never took for our own gain. We's stole from those who stole from the others. Cap'n never liked fighting, but he's damn good it if he has to."

"You ever hear about the battle of Fan-Shen Bay?"

"I's heard of a lot of battles, lassie."

"This one was personal. When the great war happened, there was a giant power grab for riches and power. We didn't start the war. It was slowly building up, and I think you and your crew were lucky enough to miss it. Captain Adda saw an opportunity with the Wind Waker. We had the power to put a stop to heavy hitters like Onslaught and keep him grounded. But more importantly, we, a tribe of Gerudo women, had the potential to come out on top. To bring order. As we got into the war, it quickly dawned on us that our night with your crew left us pregnant. My crew, my sisters in our tribe were terrified for us. We couldn't pull out of the war. And Adda, couldn't leave the twins with Bakura. He still had that monster Set in his mind at the time. And... and we couldn't get back to our island sanctuary. It was under siege at the time." Scarlet knew it sounded like she was making excuses to him, but this was the first time she found the will to fully explain herself. "Should I have stayed with Rat? Maybe... but I had to help my sisters. I had to make sure that they lived first. So we took the girls to Rat and Seer, and I returned to the war. The Battle of Fan-Shen Bay occurred a week after I returned to my captain. In that battle our ship was torn apart by cannon fire and we crashed into the bay. Now I want you to imagine what would happen if we had little babies with us. They would have died. I saw girls that couldn't swim drown that day, or torn apart by cannon fire. And I am grateful I returned. Adda was knocked unconscious. My sisters were panicked as we were pinned down by enemy fire. So I took command. I used ever bit of magic and skill I had to protect my sisters as we rounded our forces for a retreat. If I had stayed with Rat, I'm certain my whole tribe would have been wiped out that day. So the choices I make haunt me either way. Abandoning my daughter for 13 years, or knowing if I abandoned my crew they'd all be dead. Tell me how to heal my soul from that?"

Revy was in horror from hearing that story, having listened through the crack of her door. Why did fate have to always leave people with horrible choices. Scarlet felt like crying. "I'm... I'm tired defending myself. Adda might be rotten to the core, like everyone keeps saying, but she loved us.... and I loved her too. Please understand that."

"Me thinks either way, you's just tormenting ye self." Bomba was no guru on giving advice, he said whatever popped into his head. Yet, sometimes, his blunt statements made perfect sense. "You's were stuck either way. Yet... dere's one thing me doesn't understand." He finally asked the question everyone had been thinking. "We's coulda helped hide ye. All of ye. Why didn't you just... ask for help?"

"Didn't want to drag our enemies to Hyrule. Maybe we wanted to be more than just another tribe. Or maybe we were just stupid." Scarlet's lip quivered. "I feel stupid... Like a waste of breath."

"Maybe a little bit of both." Bomba was not very good at comforting females, so he took her hand and gently patted it. "Tis okay to feel stupid. Look at me. I's the silly one of the crew, and me mouth gets me into bad situations. Me crew calls me stupid sometimes, but dey still love me. No one tis perfect. We's all human and make mistakes." He shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes, the best thing to do is... move forward and try to put the past behind ye." The first mate gave her a small grin. "Can't make the same mistakes again if ye don't wanna."

"Thank you Bomba." Scarlet squeezed tight, and looked into his eyes, feeling the warmth of his comfort.

"Me thinks you need to do more thinking, lassie." Bomba was truthful with Scarlet. "Thinking of what ye really want. Tis ain't 'bout Adda no more, 'bout you."

"You're right... Are you the wise one out of your brothers?"

"HAHAHA!" Bomba started laughing at that question. "Aw shit, no. Seer was the wise one. Me's just the kid... well, me used to be a kid then, sneaking into his kitchen to steal a bite of food."

"Well, you show qualities of a man now." Before Bomba could make a remake, Scarlet lifted him up off the ground, and planted a deep kiss on him.

"HMPH?!?!" Bomba was not expecting a kiss, that was for sure.

Scarlet's lips were fine, and she held the kiss for more than he thought she would. Pulling away, she had a light, floaty smile. "Thank you for talking with me. I needed that."

"Uh-huh..." Bomba was a little out of breath from the kiss and partly dazed. "No... no problem, lassie. Good talk'in, and... very, very good kiss'in."

"I'm going to check on the girls. I'll see you in the morning?" Scarlet set the dazed man down back to his feet.

"Hm-hm, morning's good." Bomba tried to snap out of his stupor just for a moment. "Wishing you sweet dreams, lassie."

"Sweet dreams Bomba." Scarlet gave him a hug into her breasts, than turned with a wave goodbye and settled for the night.

"Heheheh... boobies." Bomba snickered as Scarlet exited his cabin to check on the girls.

The morning came, and the crew prepared. A week out of sea and they had arrived at their first destination. They quickly dropped one of the sails to cut the speed as to not draw mass attention. The island ahead had a jungle interior, with a bustling port of other pirates coming and going. Liz was hazy, regretting crying herself to sleep the night before. She barely looked Halvar in the eye, embarrassed by her actions. Everyone was getting equipped properly. Liz was wearing a modest outfit, with a trench coat to give her an air of authority. Revy wore a simple shirt and pants with light armour underneath, and Scarlet was suiting up in her Iron Knuckle suit.

Bakura looked over the sea, turning to Corsaire. "You ever been to this island before?"

"Aye, many years ago." Corsaire made sure to guide his ship into port slowly and carefully. "Rescued Mojo and Juju here. Can't say they're happy to be back."

"We's gonna be fine, cap'n." Mojo assured Corsaire. "We's grown now, not wee lads. We can take care of ourselves."

"We'll stick together, and we's be okay." Juju agreed with his brother. "We's help looking after the girls too."

"Bakie, you's going to be okay a-doing this?" Rat asked Bakura, hating to inquire, but he had to do so. "I don't want your... other half... going too crazy if we's gotta fight."

"We... we've come to an understanding. I believe that horse kick really did a number on him. But I can keep control." Bakura patted Rat's shoulders. His attention than turned to Lex. She was walking out in a very seductive fashion. Proper, yet very alluring. "Sweet heart, what are you wearing?"

"Uh, what are YOU wearing? Baggy pants? And Ms. Scarlet, don't you think you should wear normal clothing? You can magic up your armour at any time right? You need to scream less, "I'm a big bad warrior, rrrrr." You know what I mean?"

"Lex, we's here to find out information, not for ye to find a husband." Acrobat told his niece. "You look like you's trying to bait and hook a man."

"Lex, let Scarlet wear her armor if she's a-wants." Rat then turned to Revy. "Me love, you stay close to me, you hear? I's not underestimating your fighting ability, but I promised your Mama I'd keep you a-safe."

"Aye, all the ladies stay close to us, captain's orders." Corsaire told Scarlet, Lex, Liz, and Revy. "You never know what these crooks might try."

Lex rolled her eyes. "I KNOW I'm eye candy. That's my speciality. How many women have you muscle heads ever ran up to, transfixed by their beauty, and not to mention, tell them anything to get their attention. I can make people talk to help us find our target."

Scarlet nodded, impressed. "Excellent point Lex. I suppose my intimidation factor could lead to an issue. And we ALL have our strengths and weaknesses." The Gerudo woman powered down her armour, the magic making her appear back in regular clothing once more.

"Regardless, all of you ladies are staying with one of us." Corsaire ordered firmly. "Is that clear? You will travel with one of us at all times. This island has been known to kidnap females and sell them into the slave rings."

"Eh. Small advantage I can only hope for is that Adda has made Gerudo feared enough for no one to pull that shit, but don't count on it." Scarlet nodded to the three girls.

Bakura used his skills as a bounty hunter to formulate a plan. "Be careful when asking information. When we find Eltontor, we play it safe. Interrogating him will be difficult unless we get him isolated."

"So we need to set a trap for him." Rat suggested. "Get in his good graces and then get the information we need."

"If he doesn't willingly tell us, we'll make him talk." Liz spoke up, hyper focused on the mission ahead.

"No one goes alone," Corsaire told everyone. "Acrobat, Pockets, you search the fishing docks. Mojo, Juju, stay with the ship, I don't want anyone trying to get the bright idea of hurting Mojo. Rat, Revy, you go search the trading posts. Lex, Liz, you're with me, we'll search the taverns." Then he ordered. "Bomba, Scarlet, you take the markets."

Bakura checked his blades, and polished his mask. "Girls, stick to the captains orders. Halvar, you come with me. You can probably pass off as a slave boy if anyone asks any questions about you."

"Hey!" Halvar objected at that remark. "Slave boy, my ass."

"Halvar, do as he tells you." Corsaire told the young prince. "We need to get you back home to your parents safe and sound."

"... can Liz come with me?" He asked the captain. "I feel better if she's at my side. I want to protect her."

"Very well." Corsaire gestured to Halvar. "Liz?"

Liz thought about her actions last night, how she wished she could be a better girlfriend to Halvar. Maybe they could use this chance to take care of themselves. "Well, I suppose it can't hurt to look after you as well Halvar."

Bakura waved her over. "Alright. Anyone asks. I'm an Yuga bounty hunter, you're my partner, and this is a Direnor slave we acquired."

"Grr... fine." Halvar agreed to go along with the farce because this was Liz's other dad. He did not want too many tensions since he intended to marry Liz.

"Is everyone else ready?"

"Aye, cap'n."

"Let's find this guy. Seer's counting on us." Bakura finished slipping his mask down and the ship pulled into the dock.

Everyone set out, Scarlet ready to summon her armour at a moments notice. Looking around, she was hit with an air of nostalgia at all the unlawful trade occurring around her. Smiling to Bomba, she nudged him. "You miss this at all?"

"Eh, a little." Bomba looked around at all the merchandise. "Me's content to work for Hyrule now. Better money, safer, and can still be close to cap'n and me family."

"Not gonna lie. Cracking heads and getting rich with all the laughs and joy with my sisters is a feeling that I wish I could recapture sometimes."

"Not like you can't recreate that feeling with us." Bomba suggested to Scarlet. "If you're bored in Uskar, then come work on the ship with the cap'n and me. We could always use a bit of extra muscle!"

"I go where Revy goes. That's how its always been for me."

"Aye, and me admires your dedication to your wee one." Bomba nodded his head. "Though, you know, Reveka is grown now. She knows how to fight, how to take care of herself, and one day, she'll have a family of her own. She'd want you to be happy doing what you like. She wouldn't expect you to chain ye self down cause of her."

Scarlet knew Bomba was right. Borghild had told her the same so many times. "I haven't really found anyone to settle down with."

"Well, even if you haven't found a mate to settle down with, it'd be fun for you to come along with us." Bomba reminded Scarlet. "We's not pirates no more, but we still know how to party and have fun."

"I'll give it some thought..."

"All righty, then." Bomba looked around the market at the various booths. So far, he did not see no crocodile man. He did, however, see an object which caught his eye. Approaching the stand full of flowers, he paid for a single gerber daisy. Once in his hands, he waltzed back to Scarlet, stood on his tiptoes, and put it behind her ear. "There. No lady can be sad with flowers."

Scarlet looked down at him in surprise. Her shock was evidence she didn't know what to make of the action. "No one has ever given me flowers before."

"Eh? All ladies deserve some perdy flowers." Bomba stretched and then put his hands on the back of his head. "Especially a red flower like you."

Scarlet took the flower and smelled it closely. "Lavender... I love lavender."

"Lavender? Me's not too good with the names of flowers, lassie." Bomba told her. "Next time we's seeing some at a booth or what not, you show me. Learn a little from you 'bout perdy blooms." He then held up a pocket of coins he had taken from another customer with a grin. "And me learn you a little about pickpocketing."

"Well, aren't you sneaky." Scarlet threw him another bag that she snatched off a man walking back to his boat.

"The sneakiest, lassie, don't you forget it." Bomba then showed Scarlet one of the daggers he took from her, that she had hiding in her belt with a laugh. "Me could steal your undies and you wouldn't know it."

"You know what, I'd like to see you try." Scarlet wiggled her hips, her heart beating every glance she took at Bomba now. Walking to a clerk, she got his attention. "Oy! Got a question for you."

"Me gets 'em, me gets to keep 'em." Bomba snorted at her little wiggle. "As a trophy."

As Scarlet approached the clerk, he looked up at her.

"Yes, miss?"

"How much would it cost for a box of condoms?"

She let her words drip in the air as she gave a cheshire grin back at Bomba, savouring his reaction.

"Three rupees, please."

"..." Bomba's face turned red for a minute before he snickered. "Only one box?"

"I'll take three boxes." She was starting to get a little red herself. Turning to Bomba once more, her pearly white teeth grinned at him. "If you think you're man enough to handle that~"

"Me can take anything you throw at me. Even if ye throw ye self."

"We have a buy two, get one free special." The clerk then asked. "Also, if you're interested, we have a buy one get one special on lubes today. Our three most popular edibles are strawberry-banana, coconut-lime, and peach-mango. In the back of the store, there's lingerie for the ladies and the men if you're interested."

"I'll take four boxes and each of the lube. Lingerie isn't necessary." Scarlet started to take her rupees out to pay.

"Very well, miss." The clerk bagged up her purchase and took the payment. "For buying the specials, we've played a complimentary bottle of oil in the bag just for you and your lover. Thank you for shopping at Noctural Pleasures and have a good day."

"Me guesses we need to find a room next." Bomba chuckled with a wide grin. "Cause cap'n don't like it when we's rock the boat."

"After we find our target." Scarlet paid a boy on the dock to bring the new cargo back to the ship. Leaning down, she pinched Bomba's cock, satisfied he was growing an erection. "Let's go little man. Who knows how long it will take to find him~"

"Hmph, you's a tease, that's what you are, lassie." Bomba sulked at being denied at first and then yipped when she fondled his privates. Grasping her hand, he tugged her along in the streets. "Come on, hurry up, daylight's burning, and I wanna fuck, so let's find this reptile."

Halvar, Liz, and Bakura walked through a large pub, looking around. The older man made sure to keep an eye out on the two young adults every once in a while. Liz tapped her foot, some impatience getting to her. "Can you two cover my? I'm going to duck into one of the bathroom stalls quickly."

"Sure thing Liz."

Once Liz was out of sight, Bakura gave Halvar a slap on the back. "Look alive kid. You're way too focused on my daughter right now."

"Hey!" Halvar turned slightly red in the cheeks at Bakura's statement. "... she's beautiful. I can't help but look at her."

"Well, you haven't exactly inspired confidence in me that you're the right man for her. If all you're going to do is drool like a dog, and hump like a dog thinking about her..."

"I'm not a dog, I'm a fox." Halvar did not like being referred to as a dog. To a Direnor, it was an insult. He was often seen as a meek prince, but right now, he was mad. "I respect her, and I love her. I've made no advances because I want her to be ready to take that intimate step. I've been there to encourage her and help her through hard times." He said before he thought. "You don't exactly inspire confidence in me that you're a good father figure. After all, you did try to kill her once." The prince then said bitterly. "Don't try to bring me down with you. I'll be there for her thick and thin, no matter what the future brings us. I'd happily give my life for her, or any children we have in the future. I'm a good man, and Liz has accepted my offer of courtship. If she was not pleased with me, I'd know. So back off and butt out of our relationship. It's for me and her to decide what we wish to do, not you."

Halvar couldn't see it behind that mask, but Bakura was shocked, which quickly turned into him being impressed. He gave Halvar a slap on the back again and laughed. "That's the spirit lad. I'm how Lex would say, "Just fucking with you". Well you need to be there for her. And I think Liz would appreciate a little boldness. Just an inch."

Bakura held his hips and shook his head with a chuckle. "It's my job as a father to look out for my girls best interest. Sure, a part of me tried to kill her once, but what family hasn't wanted to kill each other at some point! If you're going to lay down your life for her, you have to be smart about it. You can't let anything distract you. Take, for example, if we find Adda, and you happen to be alone with a bombshell like her, what are you going to do?"

"Hmph." Halvar tried not to show he was sulking at the teasing from Bakura, and crossed his arms. "Liz wants to find Adda, we cannot let anything distract us now when we're so close. However, if we were alone together, and she was comfortable, and only if she was ready, then I would not object to mating. She is a fine woman and sometimes it's hard to hold myself back. My father and mother taught me to respect a female or else, she might claw your eyes out."

"Oh yes. Or she could see the demon in you, and make a catastrophic choice. If you catch Adda... let me get a chance to talk to her."

Before Halvar could ask more, Liz came out. "Alright, sorry for the wait. Was talking to a girl in the bathroom. She mentioned pirates like to hang out at a place called, "The Sun Pyramid."

"Hmm, I'll ask around for what that is. You two stick together."

Bakura left the couple alone as he asked around.

"Unlike you, I'm in control of my 'demon'." Halvar huffed at Bakura, and then quieted when Liz approached the two of them. He was exactly too keen on her overhearing their conversation. Though, as much as he hated to admit it, Bakura did have a point. It was now or never, he supposed. Anything could happen with this fight with Adda. "Liz?" Halvar turned to look at her. "I... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you the other night. Or if you think I don't want to mate with you, that's not the case. Sometimes, I keep repeating these proper rules in my head, and it's only gotten in the way. I don't want you to ever think you're a problem, you're my lover, and I'm yours." He took her hands, and kissed her knuckles. "Whenever you're ready, I'm happy to love you."

"Halvar..." Liz looked sadly at his hand. "I wish I was stronger with this aspect of my life, like other Gerudo woman. I just didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want you to feel forced into a situation, like... my mother would do to others." She looked back to him, kissing his fingers back. "I want to take things slow. Can we just... cuddle in bed? Like normal couples do?"

"Hey," Halvar tilted her chin up to look at him. "Whatever you want, whenever you want. I'll do what you're comfortable with, okay? Never think you're disappointing me. I love you too much for that."

"I... thank you." Liz leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Let's ask around, shall we?"

Lex waved to the many pirates that were giving her whistles and cat calls. It didn't take long for her to get a lead out of one. She told him to meet her at the peer so she wouldn't have him nip at her feet the whole way for the rest of her search. "So, the Sun Pyramid. I wonder what we'll find there Captain Uncle."

"Was it really necessary to flirt with every male specimen on this island?" Corsaire groaned, wondering why he did not send Lex with Revy and Rat.

"Hey, they flirt with me! Besides, you said you wanted to look out for me, and keep me away from the nasty men~" Lex tickled her Uncle's chest teasingly. "Just jealous they're dropping better one liners than you give Princess Orana?"

"I invented one liners, lassie." Corsaire grumbled under his breath. "And I didn't give one liners to my wife. I treated her like a proper gentleman... and the first one liner I gave she only laughed at me, so I didn't give her no more."

"I bet. Well, I'm gonna keep doing what I do best. Being fabulous as fuck~"

Lex tapped her sunglasses as they walked through a jungle path. The Sun Pyramid was an actual pyramid, having been modified into a giant entertainment centre. On the right, exotic dancers, the left, a fighting ring for people to sort their shit out, but the main attraction was a giant casino.

"Holy shit. Think of all the money we could make here."

"Lex, we're here to get information, and get out. Time's a tick'in."

"I'm just saying." Lex took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll take the lead." Standing up on a staircase, Lex shouted loudly. "Who wants to gamble against me?! 100,000 worth of rupees on me!"

"IGNORE HER, SHE'S DRUNK!!!" Corsaire shouted and pulled Lex off the staircase and over his shoulder. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! We're not here to stand out!"

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Getting attention." Lex pushed him away as some men approached. One was reptilian.

"Who's this guy?"

"Don't worry, he's my bitch."

"You serious about playing little girl?"

"That's woman to you scaly. And I am. Serious about winning."

"Alright. Who else wants to play with this spitfire?"

"... I hate you so much right now." Corsaire hissed under his breath to Lex, and then saw the crocodile man approach. "... she's only interested in one player at a time."

"Oy. Bitch. Did I give you permission to speak?" Lex raised her sunglasses at her Uncle, trying to act cool.

"I'm her uncle and I'm supervising her night out." Corsaire corrected Lex with a harsh slap on the butt as if she were an unruly kid. "Can't have no man taking advantage of my little girl now."

"Hmmm. And her I thought she was kind of gangster."

Lex yelped, and part of her spirit crumbled. Her image was being shattered by her Uncle. An cold anger built up inside in her. No one trusted her abilities. They either thought she was just a kid or a slut. She gave him a hard kick to the leg. "You're ruining my mystique. So piss off and get me a drink, while I take every bit of fucking coin these losers have."

Lex turned back to the man, glaring at her opponent, before giving a smile and a pretty face. "I am a gangster sweety. How about you draw your cards. We can do some Blackjack."

"Ha. Sure thing." The crocodilian man pointed to a dealer to cut them a deck.

"OOF!" Corsaire nearly dropped Lex when she kicked him. He growled at his niece, giving her a glare. Seer would not want her dealing with the scum of the earth. She was not in Uskar, the men here were not honorable. The bastards here would take advantage of her, cheat her, or worse, try to drug her and sell her as merchandise. "Fine." He snapped at her. "Don't come crying to me when they get the one up on you." With that, he stormed off to the bar. However, as Corsaire watched Lex play, he noticed how in control she was, how comfortable. Her porker face was on point, switching between cold, and full of playful emotion to throw her opponent off.

"So tell me, you seem so different than the other men here."

"It's the scales right? Humans love the scales."

"I do." Lex looked to the dealer. "Hit me."

Looking at her cards, she frowned, making a jiggle with her body. Her opponent thought he won. "Alright. I'm playing my hand." He placed a jack and a seven down. "You seem disappointed."

"Oh, I am!" Lex threw her hand down. A three, a ten, and a seven. "That I didn't get a full 21~"

"Fuck me..."

"Your rupees please~!"

The reptile growled. He thought he was tricking some kid. He wasn't supposed to actually lose this money. "Look. I need to actually get my money from my boss."

"Ooooo, what's the matter, need to cry to your captain? Why don't you bring him here? Maybe he can win the money back."

The man thought of that. "Stay right here sweetheart. He might just want to meet you."

Lex turned to her Uncle in the distance to give him the finger. As she waited, she saw the biggest reptile, barring dragons, in her life stomp forward. He was a big crocodile man, with a thick brown coat, a hat with a peacock feather, and a golden artificial right eye. His smile was filled with sharp, jagged teeth. "Hello sweetheart. My name is Captain Eltontor. How'd you like to make a wager?"

"Fuck me, she actually did it." Corsaire watched from the bar. He decided he'd only interfere if things got out of hand. If Lex wanted to play this game, she could.

"Oooo my~ Aren't you a big boy~"

"You don't know the half of it little snow flake~"

Lex giggled, hoping to fully entrance the big crocodile. She felt so much pride that she was the first to find their target. "So you aren't mad I beat your little boy in some gambling are you? I was thinking of buying some golden earrings."

"I think a golden chain would look better around you~"

"Oh stop it, you naughty man~" Lex waved her hand in a fun gesture. "So what's this gesture you have?"

"Oh, quite simple, I was thinking of a game of chance."

"Chance?"

"Yes. How'd about it?"

"Depends, what we talking here?"

"I love this particular game." Eltontor snapped his fingers and received a glass of liqueur. Pouring it into a bottle, he made it so it almost overflowed. "The rules are simple. You keep dropping coins into the glass until it spills. You can put as many coins as you like in, but if you spill, you lose."

Lex had never played this before. "Sounds fun."

"So I was thinking we could play for more than just money." The croc smiled down at Lex's body. The Gerudo smiled back, but not for the same reason. This is what she wanted. A chance to find her mother.

"I can agree to that. What do you want?"

"Well my dear, I was thinking when I win, I'll take you back to my ship. We can have all sorts of fun there."

"Ok. And if I win... you have to tell me where I can find Captain Adda."

That took Eltontor by surprise. "Captain Adda? The Queen of the Seas? Why do you want to find her?"

"Girls got her reason. I heard you know a way to find her, or, just as good, someone who does."

Eltontor grew visibly more nervous, tapping his claw. His instincts were telling him to drug this girl and take her away. "Well, little lady, I suppose I might."

"Than do we have a deal?"

"We do." Eltontor made a special click with his mouth and some of his men got them two different drinks.

"Your move, babydoll~"

Lex picked up five coins. This prompted everyone around the table to 'Ooooo' her. Eltontor chuckled. "You like to take big risks, I can tell. I wonder what other big things you like~"

"Please take your hand off the table dear." Lex breathed deeply, very, very carefully placing her fingers over the glass. Letting go, she dropped the coins. The liquid shifted, but didn't spill. Lex relaxed back into her set and took some of her drink. The young Gerudo woman felt confident she understood the level of liquid in the glass now.

"Hmmph. Impressive. My move." Eltontor took a coin from the side of the table, and put it over the glass. Smiling, he squeezed some hidden cotton, pouring additional liquid into the glass, unknowns to Lex.

Dropping his coin into the glass, Eltontor hid the cotton he used, and the glass shifted, but once more, didn't spill. "Heheheh. That was close. Your move."

Lex starred at the glass. She saw how the liquid shifted around. With one coin it shouldn't have moved like that. She should have had enough space to place one or two more coins in. What gives? Lex took a coin, uncertain.

"Well girly?"

"Give me a moment."

"I think we know that you lost."

"Shut up."

"Well, not everyone can be so certain."

Lex was afraid. She felt like she was going to lose. She gripped the glass with one hand, and steadily held her coin over the glass. She was gonna lose. She was going to be this freaks plaything. How could she fuck this up? She didn't want to. She didn't want to fail. So, to her surprise, and everyone else, when she dropped the coin, it didn't spill.

Eltontor was in shock and disbelief. "What? WHAT?!"

He quickly took a coin and dropped it in. Did he not pour enough liquid in? His glass shifted and the liqueur spilled out.

Lex smiled. Somehow she won. "Yes. YES! I DID IT!"

Eltontor threw the contents of the glass out and looked at it. Ice had formed above the tip of the edges, giving it a tiny little room for error. "You cheated me."

"What? No I didn't. Tell me about Adda you piece of luggage!"

"You little bitch. I think I know who you are now. You're one of Adda's girls, aren't you?"

Oh shit. That was not part of the plan.

With a loud 'clang' Corsaire's metal hand slammed on the table, causing the rupees and the drinks to clatter. The ex-pirate was pissed. He gave a cold stare to Eltontor, and put a hand on Lex's shoulder.

"Call her a bitch one more time and see where it gets you, lizard." Corsaire did not know if his reputation with the kraken still preceded him, but he did not care. No one was going to mess with his niece, even if she was acting like a little shit. He would make sure she was all right for Seer's sake. "She belongs with me. You think I didn't see that cotton? You think I don't know how you cheated and won this game? Or for the fact of the matter," He picked up Lex's drug and took a sniff. "That this roofie you put in her drink has a salty taste and oil residue it leaves on top? I know all your tricks and I know you're going to apologize or else, I'll beat your ugly skull in until they'll have to identify you by your bones. What's it going to be, reptile?"

Eltontor knew EXACTLY who this man was. How the hell did the legendary kraken slayer end up here? He was supposed to be retired. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, nah. How about this." The crocodile, grabbed the table and threw it at Corsaire and Lex, running through the casino to reach his boat. "WASTE THESE FOOLS! MILLION FOR THE MAN’S HEAD DEAD! ANOTHER MILLION FOR THE GIRL ALIVE!"

Corsaire reacted quickly, catching the table, ducking down and pulling Lex with him, using the furniture as a shield. He drew his gun, and shouted, "If anyone dares to fire at me, I'll set the damn kraken on their ship!!!" He leaned out from behind the table and fired a single shot... busting through Eltontor's kneecap.

Eltontor screamed, but still lurched along, his weight able to keep him up. His reptilian crew were the only ones to fire at Corsaire. Lex hated this and ran to the left. "I'm going after him! They want YOU dead, not me! Asshole thinks he can cheat ME!?" Lex growled, dodging the commotion all around her.

"YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" Corsaire nearly screeched at Lex, trying to chase after the girl, but the bullets kept him pinned. "LEX!!!"

Lex found Eltontor getting into a speed boat, trailing blood. It started to take off, and Lex felt her heart sank. She fell for this pirates tricks. Once again, that cold sense of failure hit her. If they lost him, they lost a chance at her mother.

“No. NO YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!” Lex willed it, and she thrust her hands to the water. The entire channel froze, lurching Eltontor's boat and sending him flying and skidding across belly first on the ice back towards her.

Lex was completely shocked. She had ice magic. She was a wizard! As she felt her new found confidence, and ready to tear some questions out of him, that was when the roofie hit her. Slumping to her feet, her head was suddenly killing her, and she threw up. Eltontor smiled, walking up to her. With a slap across the face, he knocked Lex to the ground. Picking her up with one hand, he held his cannon in the other. This little girl would make a great companion and a meatshield. Lex cursed in her haze. They found their quarry, but the plan was starting to fall apart. She heard Eltontor cry out in victory as her mind started to go blank. "Let's go men!"

#crossover #BIG chapter #Captain Adda #Seer #Rat #Corsaire #Bakura Saibot #Scarlet #Liz and Lex #Revy #Bomba #Eltontor #Legend of Zelda #Gerudo #Pirates #ridersoftheapocalypse

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