#Dari language | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

zomquette · 1 month ago

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Game's Night

Pairing: Dary Dixon x Redaer

Summary:

In Alexandria, bedtime gets competitive when thin walls and loud neighbors spark a challenge Daryl and his partner can’t resist. What begins as playful banter turns into a full-blown, no-holds-barred contest for the title of Loudest Couple in the Safe Zone. Between aching muscles, smug remarks, and Dog’s betrayed groans, one thing’s clear by morning: the scoreboard isn’t even close.

Genre: Fluffy fluff fluff / established relationship / Daryl and reader bantering like an old married couple / eventual smut.

Warnings:

Explicit sexual content (18+), graphic smut, light dominance, praise kink?, playful sexual teasing, strong language, domestic fluff, aftercare?, mention of other characters’ sexual activity, minor injury (Daryl’s shoulder), Dog is unfortunately present but emotionally resilient.

Era: post Saviour's War, pre-bridge

Author's note: Based on this idea by @dixondisease. Never written smut before but i've definetly read enough to like know what I am doing or at least i think i do anyway. This turned out to be wayy longer than i intented - i even had to put it in the smaller font hehe - so good luck finishing 💀. And before anyone bitches i know Dog isnt technically born yet but i wanted dog in this so shove it 🤭. This is just smut and fluff, very shameless. Enjoy 🙈

You closed the bathroom door with your hip, freshly brushed teeth still tingling, one hand dragging through your damp hair, the other tugging an oversized shirt down over your thighs. “You better not be getting crumbs in the bed again,” you mumbled through leftover toothpaste, the minty foam threatening to escape the corner of your mouth.

“Weren’t me,” Daryl called from the bed, already half-lounging, shirt open, one sock hanging on for dear life. He winced as he twisted to rub his shoulder.

You caught the motion immediately. “Mmm. Blame the dog all you want, but you were the one housing Carol’s cookies like you were in a hostage situation.”

He gave a soft, amused snort. “Least I ain’t the one leavin’ bobby pins in the sheets. Thought I got stabbed in the back last night.”

“Sounds like karma,” you said sweetly, coming to stand over him. “Karma for banning Dog from the bed when he’s clearly my emotional support animal.”

Dog, curled at the foot of the bed, lifted his head at his name and thumped his tail like he knew exactly which side he was on.

Daryl gave him a look. “He’s half a damn mattress. You’re the one always sayin’ you got no room.”

You crouched beside the bed, rummaging through a worn canvas bag until you found the tin Carol gave you. “Yeah, well, between him hogging the the bed and you flailing around like you’re in a bar fight with your dreams, it’s a miracle I get any sleep.”

You straightened and held the salve up. “And don’t even try that ‘I’m fine’ crap. I saw you breaking a sweat brushing your teeth earlier. Shirt off. Now.”

Daryl blinked at you. “Is this part where I get lucky, or the part where you put me in traction?”

“Both, if you play your cards right.”

He huffed and peeled the shirt off slowly. You stepped in and helped him when he winced, hands gentle but firm. The bruise was nasty, blooming purple over his shoulder.

You climbed up behind him on the bed, legs crossed, and dipped your fingers into the salve. The minty scent hit your nose first, sharp and clean. You worked it into the sore muscle, slow and steady. Daryl hissed, eyes slipping shut. “Told ya. Baby,” you teased.

“mkay this ain’t half bad”, he groaned, enjoying your touch.

You snorted. “That's right? Gonna start fake injuries now?”

He cracked one eye open. “Not if it means more of your talkin’.”

You softened, brushing your fingers gently over the angry bruise. “You’re lucky I like you.”

“Only like me now?”

“I’m reserving love for when you stop dragging half the forest into the house with your boots.”

“That was one time. And it was your damn dog.”

“Blame the baby. Classic deflection.”

You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his temple as you finished rubbing in the salve. “There. all better. Now maybe you’ll stop sighin’ every time you roll over like you just filed taxes.”

“I don’t sigh,” he muttered.

"You do. Like a single father of two, workin’ double shifts.”

That got his attention. He turned toward you, as gracefully as his bum shoulder allowed, and gave you a flat look. “What?”

He glanced down at your stomach and back up at you again. “You got somethin’ to tell me?”

“…Oh right, yeah. I totally forgot to mention that I’m pregnant with twins and planning on leaving you for a guy who runs a gas station so you can raise little Daisy and Cameron in a shack by the river. Surprise.”

He squinted at you, deadpan. “The hell is wrong with you… A gas station?”

“Real fancy too. Slushie machine and everything.”

He tried to give you his signature scowl but couldnt help cracking a smile “Jesus woman-“

You raised an accusatory finger, ready to burst out laughing, “Wait, wait, hold up, you actually believed me there for a sec, didn't you?”

He huffed and reached to wipe your mouth with the pad of his thumb. “Yeah, well… you got toothpaste on your face, smartass. Ye done runnin’ yur mouth now? M’ tired.”

“Get in before Dog steals your spot.”

Daryl groaned as he eased under the covers, joints popping like bubble wrap. “If I throw my back out tryin’ to lie down, it’s your fault,” he muttered, pointing a finger at Dog who’d circled the bed twice and then parked himself at the very edge—smug, territorial, already snoring.

“You hear that?” Daryl told him. “No respect. Not from either of ya.”

“I respect you just fine,” you said, settling in beside him. “But only one of you farts under the covers.”

“Alrigh’, stop. Don’t gotta put up with this shit in ma own bed.”

You giggled. The room went still, soft and sleepy. He pulled you into him, arm curling tight around your waist, his nose brushing the curve of your neck.

“Better?”

“Much,” he murmured.

Perfect. Until the ceiling creaked. Loud.

You both froze.

Another noise followed. Rhythmic. Familiar.

“…Is that Michonne?” you whispered.

“And Rick,” Daryl muttered, glaring at the ceiling.

You blinked. “They are not—”

“Oh, they are.”

A beat of silence.

Then you grinned. “Wanna be louder?”

He groaned. “We’re not doin’ that.”

“Why?’ you teased, tuning your body to face him and leaning on your elbows to hover your face over his. “Scared you’ll lose?”

“I ain’t racin’ Rick.” He paused, deadpan. “Man sounds like he’s wrestlin’ a hog.”

You choked on a laugh. “Then prove it.” Oh god, he thought. You already had your crazy sex eyes on.

“You really wanna start that righ’ now?”

“Only if you’re gonna finish it.” You moved on top of him, straddling his torso, trying to read his expression for any sign of dismissal. You didn't find any. His hands flew to your waist like a reflex.

“You’re a damn menace.”

“And you’re stalling,” you hushed, brushing your lips against his

“Ain’t gonna be no damn competition,” he muttered. “Ain’t even gonna be close.”

Then his mouth was on yours.

It was the kind of kiss that knocked thoughts loose—hungry, open-mouthed, all tongue and teeth. You didn’t remember moving, didn’t realise your hips were grinding down on him until you felt the solid heat under you and his fingers dug into your waist.

“Jesus,” he groaned, voice ragged against your lips. “You tryin’ to kill me?”

You didn’t answer—just kissed him harder, messier, hands sliding up his chest to push him further into the mattress. He didn’t resist. He wouldn’t dare. Not with the way you were moving like you’d catch fire if you stopped.

His grip tightened as he bucked up against you, mouth dragging hot down your jaw. “Ain’t even been a minute and you’re already—”

“Yeah?” you gasped, rocking down with more purpose now, chasing friction. “You got a problem with that?”

“Hell no,” he growled, sliding one hand up under your shirt. “Just tryna keep up, woman—”

“Good,” you breathed, grinding harder now, needing more. “Then don’t fall behind.”

And just like that, the game was on.

He sat up to be parallel with you. His hands moved along your bare back from under your shirt, all while you moved deliciously against his crotch, your faces pressed together, lips moving in sync, and tongues crashing like tidal waves. You couldn't help but moan into his mouth pathetically.

He moved to take off his your shirt, and in one swift, powerful motion, he tore the flannel open, sending the buttons flying. Like a drowning man, he latched onto your bare chest as if it were his sole air supply.

“Christ Daryl…” you breathed, tilting back, enjoying the feeling of his hot mouth on your breasts. Well, more specifically, your rock-hard nipples. He leaned into his sloppy kisses, lowering you to your back while he climbed on top of you. Gradually, he moved lower and lower down your abdomen, making you so dizzy that the banging of the headboard upstairs was indistinguishable from your racing heart. Before you knew it, your underwear was gone, and its place was Daryl’s hand. Needless to say, you much preferred his hand there instead of your underwear.

His he moved up to nibble on your earlobe, his fingers rubbing your clit. Was this what hypnosis was like? He could tell you to do damn near anything and you would bark yes if it meant he wouldnt stop.

Your body had a mind of its own, grinding against his hand as you clawed at his boxers.

The short gruffs and ragged breathing in your ear sent electricity down your body and straight to where Daryl was apparently trying to summon a genie. You felt the heat pool there as the butterflies in your stomach failed to settle. It only made you even wetter. If you weren't so mind-numbingly turned on right now, you would shield yourself from the embarrassment that down there was like a Slip n’ Slide.

“You done makin’ a mess or you gonna keep humpin’ my hand like your tryna start a fire?”

Ugh, smug douchebag. You can practially see the stupid cocky face he has on now. It took a few tries, the breathe kept logdng in your throat as whimpers escaped your mouth, until you finally retorted. “oh screw you asshole.”

“Asshole, huh? Must be doin’ somethin’ right.” That earned a frustrated groan from you. Right now, you are sitting between cloud nine and hell with this teasing. You shoved his boxers down and wrapped your legs around his waist, locking him in his place. “Either you fuck me now or im going upstairs to join Rick and Michonne.”

“You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

Lining himself up, he plunged into you without any warning. You couldn't breathe. Your body went limp with the feeling of him. You gasped for air as your body drank him in. God, he felt like he was up in your stomach.

“shit baby…” he groaned. It took everything in him not to completely lose it a drill into you right there, but he knew you needed a second to get used to the stretching feeling.

“Daryl…. “ you squealed a moment later. Oblivious to him, if he didnt move within the next 5 seconds you woud just about combust. “please move”

It was practically spoken as a cry, your face scrunching up in need. He pressed his mouth to yours not a second later while he did what you asked, setting a steady pace, one that had you clawing at his back, his ass, his arms, hell, anything to ground you in the overwhelming pleasure he was spoon feeding you with a ladle. But you needed more. He needed to pick up the pace like you both wanted him to, or else you really were going to impale him with bobby pins.

“Ain’t even gonna be close,’ huh?” you bit out, breathless and flushed. “Then why the hell are we still playin’?”

Daryl just smirked, hand dragging slowly over the curve of your hip like he had all the time in the world. “‘Cause I like hearin’ you talk tough,” he rasped. “Makes it real sweet when I shut you up.”

“You talk big, Dixon,” you growled, rocking down against him. “Now back it up.”

His hands flexed around your hip, yanking, moving you down to meet his thrust, causing you to yelp at the sensation. “You sure?” he murmured, eyes flicking up to meet yours, dark and hot. “‘Cause once I start, ain’t lettin’ you off easy.”

You glared, chest heaving. “Good. I don’t want easy.”

That did it. He moved his hand to your thigh and stretched it up to hook with his (good) shoulder, so you were completely sandwiched under him. The taster for what’s to come was one long, deep drag of his hips, which just about made your brain short-circuit. He chuckled at the fucked-out look on your face, “That mouth of yours’s gonna get you in trouble.”

“You promise?” you whispered, nails digging into his back. It didn't even sound like you when you said it, and yet you meant it.

He huffed a laugh against your throat. “You’re about to wish I was still stallin’.”

His hips began to pound into you, making you bounce with each unforgiving thrust. Your hair would be just short of a birds nest in the morning but all you could think about was daryls dick smacking into your pussy and making you feel like you had taken every recreational drug known to man.

“Fuck! Yes baby! Ohhh-“ The only way you could match the screams of pleasure that were coming from you was because after that, Daryl started muttering words of praise into your ears about how loud you were being. That’s great, buddy, just keep doing your thing, and ill gladly show this community the set of lungs I have on me.

The power with which he moved in and out of you, of course, had the headboard slamming against the wall so hard that Drayl would probably need to find some drywall tomorrow. The gross noises that your bodies made when joining together would have sounded like angels singing to you if it weren't for the noise of the headboard drowning it out… or your moans.

He dipped his head low, lips brushing your ear as your moan spilt out sharp and shameless.

“Yeah, that’s it,” he rasped, voice thick with approval. “Let ‘em hear it, baby. Let ‘em know who’s really winnin’ this little contest.”

You clenched around him. God, you were so not gonna last. You would have cringed from embarrassment, but all of your dignity had vacated your body when you started squirming like a fish out of water.

Daryl let out a groan in response, peering down at your chest to see your breast jiggle up and down from his movements. “Atta girl. Let 'em know who’s giving it to ye this good.”

You’d be lying if his words didn’t turn into mush, but who were you to take this lying down?

“Maybe I’m just fakin’ it so i dont hurt your ego—oh, GOD— Daryl right there!”

He delivered a particularly brutal thrust to the spot he knew would send you over the edge. His pace was relentless, like he fucking hated you. But that was far from the truth. The waves of pleasure he was single-handedly serving you said I love you better than any Valentine's note you had ever received in your opinion. The fricton between his pubic bone and your clit while he jammed himself into you repeatedly was a nice touch - to put it mildly.

“shit, shit, shit, baby your gonna make cum-“ it was so hard to speak full coherent sentences when he fucked you like this. The air from your lungs kept getting ejected every time he pounded into your cunt.

“That right?” Shit, you thought, he's using that voice he does when he speaks to judith. I'm done for. “Gonna come round this cock? Go ahead, baby, I gotcha”

“Ohhh fuck baby im cumming im cumming I’m- AH!”

Everything went white as every nerve in your body contorted with pleasure. It spread like a Mexican wave, starting from your lower abdomen and travelling all the way to your toes. The only thing reminding you that you hadn’t died and gone to heaven was Daryl’s erratic thrusts, which didn't falter; if anything, they sped up if that was even possible. He was chasing his own high. There were many things that turned you on in the world, but this was at the top of that list. Him going feral, using your body to guide him over the egde, hips stuttering and dick twitching inside of you. God, this was top-quality fuel for wet dreams.

He let out a few strangled moans before he came inside you, the feeling of him spilling inside of you made you grin with content, sighing like you were on a spa retreat. Except this retreat wasnt so much relaxing as it it was fucking mindblowing and would definitly reult in you walking funny.

His movements slowed, now just a soft rolling of his hips. You didn't want this to end. You wanted to stay like this forever. You were still breathless beneath him, and your heart was trying to remember how to beat in a rhythm that wasn’t wild. The weight of his body anchored you in place like gravity had finally done its job right.

Daryl was sprawled over you, chest heaving, forearm braced beside your head, trying not to crush you with the full weight of him, not that you minded. His skin was flushed and slick against yours, sweat cooling in the hollow between your breasts where his lips had been minutes ago.

He shifted slightly, lifting his head to look at you. Your skin was dewy, and you sported that after-sex glow that drove Daryl crazy. His hair hung down in damp, dishevelled strands, clinging to his temples. His eyes were heavy-lidded but alert, scanning your face.

“…You okay?” he asked, voice rough and warm, moving your hair from your face.

You couldn’t quite speak yet, so you gave a nod and a dopey smile. “Legs are noodles. Brain’s soup. So yeah. M’ great.”

That earned you the tiniest smirk, soft and crooked. “Good.”

His nose brushed yours before he leaned in to kiss you, slow and sweet this time. Nothing rushed. No competition. Just him, kissing you like he had all the time in the world. You melted into the kiss, humming contentedly, arms looping around his neck as he hugged you impossibly closer like you could disappear any second.

And above you, the ceiling had gone still. No more creaks. No more rhythmic thuds. No more Rick and Michonne ‘wrestling’ as they liked to call it.

You pulled back from the kiss with a dazed laugh. “Oh my god. They’re quiet now.”

Daryl blinked, then turned his head lazily to glare up at the ceiling like it had betrayed him. “Told ya. Ain’t even a contest.”

You giggled beneath him, threading your fingers through his hair. “Bet they heard us and got embarrassed.”

He huffed and rolled over you slowly, careful of your limbs as he settled at your side, immediately pulling you with him so you were nuzzled into his chest. You let him, splaying over him like it was instinct. His body was warm and solid and safe, the aftershocks of everything still tingling across your skin.

“I think I died for a minute,” you mumbled into his collarbone.

He chuckled against your hair. “Nah. Just blacked out. You’ll live.”

You swatted at him weakly. “Don’t be smug.”

“Too late,” he drawled. Then, quieter, brushing a thumb along your hip: “You’re real loud when you want somethin’.”

You grinned against his skin, your cheeks still flushed. “So are you.”

There was a moment of silence before you added, “Kinda proud of us.”

Daryl raised a brow. “Think we scared ‘em off?”

“Hell yeah, we did.”

You raised your arm in the air to gesture a fistbump, which he chuckled at, but nonetheless accepted. “Atta girl.”

You let out a happy sigh, his hand settling on your back again, moving slowly. Comforting. Claiming. Gentle in a way that made your heart grow a little.

From somewhere at the foot of the bed, Dog gave a low groan — the kind that sounded both scandalised and mildly betrayed.

You lifted your head, breath still uneven. “Oh Jesus, Dog, I’m so sorry—”

He was glaring. Or as much as a dog could glare. Ears flat, eyes narrowed, the judgment rolling off him in waves.

Daryl glanced down at him and snorted. “Don’t give me that look. You knew what this was.”

You buried your face in Daryl’s shoulder, laughing. “He’s mad ‘cause he’s not the favourite anymore.”

Daryl scoffed. “Was I even the favourite to begin with?”

You hummed, still grinning. “Don’t worry, baby. You’re both my good boys.”

Daryl raised an eyebrow, his voice low and smug. “Only one of us had you seein’ stars.”

You pulled back just far enough to give him a look. “Only one of you drools in his sleep.”

Daryl blinked, then smirked. “Says the woman who talks in her sleep.”

Your mouth dropped open in mock horror. “I do not.”

He shrugged, smug. “ I got woken up last week by you mutterin’ somethin’ about a peanut butter apocalypse.”

You chuckled, and Dog, ever the drama queen, flopped down with a heavy sigh, clearly done with both of you.

Daryl brushed your damp hair from your cheek, his thumb lingering at your jaw. “You alright?” he asked softly.

“Mhmm.” You leaned in to kiss him again, slower this time. “Better than alright.”

_______________________________________________________________

You sat at the table like someone recovering from a war injury. Every muscle in your body ached — wonderfully so, but they still hurt like a bitch — and breakfast was the last thing on your mind. Beside you, Daryl was the picture of serenity, casually sipping coffee like he hadn’t just destroyed your back six hours ago.

Rick gave you both a look. The kind that said he’d rather be literally anywhere else. “Unbelievable,” he muttered, poking at his eggs like they’d betrayed him. “Y’all don’t even try to be subtle, do you?”

“Didn’t know we had an audience,” Daryl said, not looking up from his mug.

Michonne arched a brow, clearly amused. “You didn’t need one. The walls are thin, Dixon. Thin.”

You winced and nursed your coffee like it could fix your dignity. You gave Daryl a knowing look and smirked, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Don’t apologise,” Michonne said, smirking. “Just… damn.”

Rick looked between the two of you again, brow furrowed. “That wasn’t a competition, right? Like — there was no actual scoreboard?”

You glanced sideways at Daryl, trying to hide your grin. “What do you think?”

Daryl gave a faint smirk, eyes fixed on his plate. “Told you it wasn’t gonna be close.”

God damn, you could go for round 5 right here on thid counter.

Rick groaned. “Oh, come on.”

Michonne laughed into her coffee. “That’s it. I’m sleeping on the couch from now on.”

From the hallway, Carl appeared, bleary-eyed and deeply unimpressed. “Why are you guys being weird?” he asked, grabbing a slice of toast.

Rick straightened. “We’re just having breakfast. Sit down.”

Carl shook his head. “Not today. Not when the house sounds like a zoo at night. I’m taking this to my room. And since when did we bring back rules from the old world?”

He walked off without waiting for a reply.

You, Daryl, Rick and Michonne all burst out laughing.

You leaned into Daryl’s shoulder and murmured just loud enough for him to hear, “Guess we won the gold, huh?”

He didn’t answer — just rested his hand on your thigh under the table and squeezed, smug as hell.

#daryl dixon smut #daryl dixon #the walking dead #twd #twd daryl dixon #daryl dixon fluff #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl x reader #daryldixon #daryl dixion x reader #daryl dixion smut #daryl fanfiction

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 7 months ago

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Kabul Dreams - Sadae Man 2010

Kabul Dreams is a rockband from Afghanistan, established in 2008 in Kabul. The band has paved the way for a modest but growing rock scene in Afghanistan, rebuilding itself after decades of war. The band's motivation to perform came from their own love for music, but also from a public hunger for a new life after war – a life that included new music and art. Kabul Dreams plays music in both English and Dari; one of Afghanistan's native languages. The song "Sadae Man" ("My Voice") is about the importance of Afghanistan's youth having a collective voice.

All of the band members were born in Afghanistan, but they were displaced to neighboring countries as refugees during the Taliban reign. After the fall of the Taliban regime, the band members returned to Afghanistan and met each other in Kabul. Their musical influences include Sex Pistols, Metallica, Nirvana and Oasis. In 2014, the band relocated to Oakland, California to grow their presence in the American music scene.

"Sadae Man" received a total of 79,2% yes votes!

youtube

#finished #high yes #low no #10s #o2 #o2 sweep #o2 ultrasweep #lo1 #lo3 #kabul dreams #dari

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dixonsdarkelf · 3 months ago

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Daryl Dixon & The Former Sex Worker Headcanons

Main masterlist Daryl x Reader Masterlist

I made a post about this like a month ago asking if people would be interested in seeing headcanons of Dary with a Reader who's a former sex worker, and I've finally gotten around to coming up with some lmao.

Tagging the people who said they would be interested in seeing this or asked to be tagged @trashandthangs @raewritesfiction @al-whatever 🖤

We are very sex-positive and pro-sex work in this house. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say shit. Additionally, these are MY OPINION. If you disagree, that’s fine, but play nice. Also, tagging this with fem!, male!, and gn!reader because sex work isn't gender specific, and I tried to keep my language as inclusive as possible. To all the sex workers/former sex-workers out there, I hope I did y'all justice. If I did not, please do not be afraid to let me know & I will make corrections where it's necessary.

Warnings: MDNI, discussions of sex work (duh), mentions of slut shaming, derogatory words like whore/slut, mention of questions that could be deemed as insensitive, creepy men being creepy and saying creepy shit, swearing

➼ So first off, let’s be real. His only experience with sex workers before the outbreak was when Merle would take him to strip clubs or bring escorts around, so his only knowledge about the industry comes from him—not the best source of information.

➼ He’d have some questionable-at-best pre-conceived notions instilled in him by his brother. His view of the industry is rather narrow, and he’s not privy to all the different types of sex work there are.

➼ You talk to some of the other people in your group about your work in the old world, and eventually, word circulates. Daryl would hear passing comments from some of the men, calling you degrading names and putting you down. There’d be hushed whispers from them about how you must be “easy” or how experienced you must be.

➼ At some point, his curiosity would pique, and he’d go to the source—you—to see what all the chatter was about.

➼ You’d tell him about your work in the old world, and the more you told him, the more questions he would have.

➼ His questions would vary depending on the type of work you did. He’d be worried about his questions being too invasive or personal, but you’d assure him it was alright, only because it’s him asking.

➼ Honestly, he might be confused about how you ended up in the industry in the first place, depending on your reasoning.

➼ He’d ask questions that come off as insensitive without intending to be—why you didn’t just get a “normal” job, find another way to make ends meet, take out student loans—all the questions dependent upon your reason for entering the industry.

➼ You’d explain to him why such questions were insensitive, and he would feel bad & do what he could to make it up to you afterwards.

➼ If you felt empowered by your work, that would take some time for him to understand. It’s not you, it’s the pre-conceived notions he has because of Merle. The way Merle always talked about sex workers was degrading, so he finds it hard to grasp how someone could be empowered in such a position.

➼ Daryl wants to know more, though. Wants to challenge those notions and work against what his brother so deeply ingrained in him. Because you’re not some “easy, cheap slut.” You’re you—bright, friendly, sunshine-y you—and you just happen to have done sex work before the outbreak.

➼ After his lengthy discussion with you (let’s be honest, maybe a couple of discussions), he’d become your most fearless advocate.

➼ Any time he would hear someone calling you names or making snide comments about you, he’d be up in their face, assuring them that there would be consequences if he ever heard them use those words about you again.

➼ Your safety is his top priority. He’d keep you away from anyone making comments about how they’d like “a chance with you” or to “see you put those skills to good use.” Once again, he’d get in the faces of those people and promise to give them two black eyes if they ever uttered shit like that again.

➼ As time went on, he’d occasionally have more questions about your past work, how it impacted your life, everything like that.

➼ Although you’d reassured him many times that it was okay to ask, he would still worry he was being invasive, but he’s not doing it on purpose. He just wants, and is trying, to understand.

Taglist: @raddydaddydude @lovenormandixon @angeldemoncrowley @negansbestie @holdmytesseract @dixons-sunshine @stellar-waves @chateaujoon @mediocrxtes @tinysunshine @cunttee3 @dixonsbridexx @angelsanarchy @8stliv8

Hit me up if you want to be added to/removed from the taglist 🖤

GIF, 'continue reading' divider and © message below were created by me. Three-heart divider was created by @/enchanthings.

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phoenixyfriend · 10 months ago

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Tony Stark & Natasha Romanova, now in Star Wars

IDK if you folks were ever MEGA into crossovers but did you ever engage with the kind that can more or less be summarized as "isekai but the person 'hit by truck-kun' is a character from a different canon?"

Because that's what this is.

Tony Stark isekai'd into Star Wars (random planet) after dying in Endgame. He knows the movies, but not the supplemental material, as even by the time TPM came out, he was thirty and fucked up and making a name for himself in war. Bad times.

Tony wakes up sixteen and with Nothing to his name but his skills. He does not speak the language. Mostly gets by doing shit like skinning potatoes for a kitchen and pulling weeds and whatnot while he catches up on Basic. (He is apparently fluent, or at least conversational, in French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, and Dari. So Basic would be his Seventh language, and while four of those can be lumped into 'if you learn one, the next will be easier,' Dari is wildly unrelated, so I'd say he could pick up Basic a bit faster than average, especially with 16yo brain elasticity.)

A toddler, two years old with intensely red hair, runs into his shins one day and yells his name very clearly. He looks down, is a little confused, and then a nearby carer from an orphanage jogs up yelling "Nat!" The toddler is Natasha Romanoff. She remembers everything, including dying, but is about twenty-five pounds soaking wet and NOBODY will take her seriously.

It takes some… effort, to explain the situation to the carer. Yes, Tony knows Nat. He worked with uh…. her 'older brother, a man named Clint.' Tony does not currently have the resources for anyone to legally give him custody of a toddler but he's got some motivation to secure housing and a stable income.

He does that. Gets Natasha with him because of course he has to do that. It's the one person he knows. It's Nat.

Turns out she's Force Sensitive, though. A 'natural extension' of her more skillgrinding abilities to read/manipulate people. Tony is not Force Sensitive but he DID recently have a medical episode that took him to a thankfully-government-funded clinic that informed him he has a Bad Heart and will require a pacemaker despite being seventeen.

A Jedi finds Nat while passing through and they Discuss Their Options. This is when Nat is about four. There is a heavy discussion about how her mind is older than her body, so the Jedi would need to be ready for that, but also Tony needs to discuss this with Nat, who was like thirty-nine(?) when she died and thus more than capable of making her own decisions.

Despite fandom generally painting Tony as the most selfish of the Avengers and Natasha as the most coldly practical, they are still heroes who put in some Fucking Effort to become better people, and they come to the conclusion that Natasha would do much more to help this galaxy as a Jedi than as some kid in poverty on a no-name planet. So off she goes!

She's like five years younger than Obi-Wan, the story reveals.

Tony is a bit aimless and the work he's BEEN doing (probably laying down electrical lines or something at this point, IDK, he got into construction or something) gets sideswept by Damage To A Tool. He knows how to fix the tool, but he does not have a forge.

There is a forge in town. He goes to it and says that he can't afford to ask to have it fixed, but he knows how to do it himself, so could he borrow access for a small fee?

This is a Mandalorian armorer. They say no. In fact, they tell him, that would be significantly more expensive than just getting it fixed.

Buuuuuuuuuut for Reasons, the armorer decides that Tony (now 18-19 physically) can do it so long as the Armorer supervises. Tony is competent Enough that the Armorer gives him a datapad and tells him to read it and come back in a week to discuss the topic. Tony warns that Basic is far from his first language and he doesn't have a whole lot of free time, so he probably won't have read it by then. That's fine, they'll just discuss what he has read.

It's about Mando culture, in a mildly propaganda-y way, and Tony comes back to Argue About Religion more than anything. He thinks the Armorer is proselytizing, which they kind of are, but they are also more than happy to discuss the lines between the Mando culture as ethnicity and culture and religion and so on.

This becomes a regular occurence. Tony has made A Friend who has started offering him a side gig doing Basic Village Blacksmith Work that the Armorer deems too menial, like "horse"shoes.

Tony is offered an apprenticeship that he did not expect, on the condition of Becoming Mandalorian.

This is. A heavy decision.

However. Tony is a guy who is at least partly defined by his cool armor. Mandalorians are defined by their cool armor. He has been told, several times, that there are multiple ways to be a Mandalorian. So he accepts, because he decides it's worth for the chance to be somebody who can make a difference in a way he currently can't.

Ten years later, 'Initiate Romanova' goes up to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon as they prepare to leave, and neatly informs them that she has a feeling they are going to have a Bad Time on their mission in Mandalore, and that if they need emergency shelter from enemies, to go to an Armorer by the name of Tony Stark, because that's her brother so she knows that he's going to be friendly to Jedi. (Tony has sent her a small handful of messages, through channels both official and not, about big life events.)

Of course, shit hits the fan and the two plus Satine end up finding Tony's forge and he hides them in his Underground Bunker, which actually has a tunnel to a cave system that is safer than the bunker itself. Because reasons. (IN A CAVE. WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS.)

He has helper droids! They are named indirectly after friends from the Past Life, things like Spangles.

On their way back after the mission they swing by to say hi and he asks them to bring something to Natasha and it's a matryoshka doll set he made based on the Avengers (it goes based on age so the outermost is Thor, followed by I think Bruce, Rhodey, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vision), as well as a plushie he had custom made by somebody in town of a Bird With Archery Gear, even though she's too old for that stuff.

Even among the Jedi, Natasha is WEIRD and SERIOUS and everyone's pretty damn sure she's going to be a Shadow, or at least do a HECK of a lot of undercover work.

IDK how this plays out but Tony is definitely keeping an eye on politics so he can figure out the Palpatine rise to power and remind Natasha in case she's forgotten because when they first split they didn't, either of them, know what to expect in regards to her memory given the whole Baby Brain issue.

"Why is Tony an Armorer"

Okay some more thoughts!

I think Tony's aggressively atheist and consistently watching whoever claims to be Mand'alor with a critical eye in case he has to step in, and does not take any references to ka'ra with any real seriousness. That said. He's an Armorer now. A weird one who refuses like half his clients for Ethics Reasons, but technically a cultural authority figure who's allowed to argue with the Mand’alor.

@penpalpixie:

fsr the initial meeting scenario with the armorer bugs me,like would they really just let him" but tbf Tony knows how to steamroll people and could probably dissect the forge in an instant.

Which, yeah, in my defense, I put this together in about two hours so some of it's a bit wonk? BUT. @threebea had a good suggestion for how/why the Armorer had Tony actually do things in the forge instead of telling him to scram:

Maybe Tony has been doing some 'crafting' on the side maybe droid repairs or modifications which is how the Armorer first sort of hears about him and then one day there's the kid that people have been mentioning the Stars aligned here's a pamphlet. He can't make a living off gizmos in his situation since most of what Star wars has is advanced tech and to do anything impressive he would need more resources and more of an understanding of the mathematics of this universe (Stares at ceiling one night trying to figure out if the law of relativity would be a thing here). That might slow him down just like… his math doesn't actually work here so on top of language he would have to learn things to do complicated stuff that he could already buy for a credit. But with armory it's concepts he knows well and adding weapons to armor especially no lethal ones is something he also knows. Mandalorian armor with UNI BEAM

When it comes to canon, he knows THE big thing (Palpatine is Sidious) and basically nothing else. He thinks he remembers the clones being Mando? but he's honestly not even sure he remembers the original Fett's first name correctly. He knows the guy is a Fett, because Boba was a cultural mainstay for Tony's childhood, so like, it was nice to have some backstory, but he's honestly not sure how likely "that baby Mand'alor that went missing" is to being Boba's plot-relevant dad. Could be an uncle for all he knows, or just a guy with the same last name.

@firebirdeternal:

I feel like to keep things fair Tony should be able to scale up a little harder than the average Mandalorian. Yeah all his tech knowledge is a bit out-dated and he isn't likely to get an arc reactor running in a way that'll be more powerful than anything locally available, but I feel like he'd adapt pretty darn quickly to available tech and start Improving Things Nat's skills all translate extremely well, once she's not got stumpy toddler body she's basically back to her old level PLUS telekinesis and wibbly force nonsense although I understand if that's also not the focus of the fic, being less "And now there's some Avengers Here (Powerset)" and more "And now there's some Avengers Here (Attitudes and Characters)"

Nat is very excited to Break Into Tony's Cave.

NGL this was initially going to be a Tony Raises Nat thing but I couldn't ultimately justify her NOT going the Jedi route after I realized I wanted her to be Sensitive.

There was also a discarded plot idea about her being a little older and having gone undercover in death watch, because Tony got kidnapped to work for them and got through to her, where she gets to use her Bites as a teen but I scrapped it.

I do think she successfully argues to her Master to visit him at 14 to get light armor though.

Nat's the sneakiest little initiate and also. Very, very controlled in the scary way during spars.

Bea:

Natasha as a Jedi is so good. Like, she would probably have a bit of dissonance between Jedi training and the training she received as a child, and it might help her work through some things. Nat: I've known Yoda for three days but if anything happened to him I would kil-- wait uh (pivots) I would be very sad. She would try to sneak up on council members. It is like a kitten stalking a cat on the outside, but also she's a grown woman and wants to be that good. (AU of this If Quinlan ever saw this he'd adopt her: Quinlan: Tholme I found a new padawan sister. Get training Tholme: [literally just finished with Quinlan. Had planned to take a vacation. Meditate. Drink. He loves his kid but needs literally a moment here] Tholme: She's seven. Quinlan: I was four. Tholme: … Quinlan: She has a secret tragic background toooo I know you like that 😄 Tholme: [Sigh] Nat: …wait is he supposed to be Sherlock Holmes. I think he's space Sherlock Holmes. Need to ask Tony if Star Wars had Sherlock Holmes? lol yeah Tholme just feels like he could blend well with an avengers story, and a Black Widow story in particular)

Not joking when I say I considered if I could squeeze Tholme into the timeline.

Tony sends her music files that he thinks sounds Particularly Ballet to her because he remembers how much she liked dancing, as the main or even only positive thing from her Red Room training, and how she once said that if she hadn't become a spy, she thinks she'd have liked to be a ballerina.

The first time they see each other in person in years is her visiting for baby armor at 14 and is hesitant to hug him because like. Yeah he's her "brother" and there were a few years where they were acting as such and he was helping her with Basic Tasks that she doesn't like to think about too much because it's embarrassing, and they cuddled THEN, because she was Physically Baby, but they're just coworkers in reality, right? Should she hug him? If only to sell the bit to her Jedi Master?

Tony is also not the most huggy person and isn't sure if HE should hug Nat because he remembers jokey stabbing threats from when they were Avengers and like. Does she still feel that way, now that she's not a bumbling like tot?

They are both unsure of if hugging is on the table and it's the Jedi Master who says "you know, you're allowed to hug, if you want" under the impression that they aren't sure if the Jedi would allow it. And then the hug is very tight and loving because at least subconsciously they DID both want that.

The Jedi Master takes a pic.

Bea:

Jedi master: (aw) It's one of those "we've been in life or death situations together and also grew up together kinda sorta and also we're trauma bonded," and the first opportunity to solidify Family as their dynamic they both jump in feet first. And both of them were like. Extremely lonely children probably. In different ways but still.

(It's why the Hawkeye plushie didn't make her CRY, per se, but she does start keeping it in her bed even though she's Too Old for these things.)

When it comes to hugging, Nat is understandably concerned about overstepping and like. "Taking" Morgan's place. (I'm going with Tony and Nat being friends (or at least friendly) from A1 to A2, and during the blip she stopped by for dinner once in a while. Nat doing her best to bring Child Appropriate Gifts for Morgan (she misses being Aunt Nat for the Barton kids).) Or as Bea put it: Tony: Are you spying on me or are we doing people things? Nat: Can't it be both?

Anyway, their dynamic is a weird little midpoint once they're in Star Wars but then they get to a point in the armor making where Tony takes a break on a bench and she slips in under his arm to cuddle and it's just Nice (even though he's kinda sweaty and gross from the blacksmithing).

Bea:

Tony: ….. so……. is Yoda… does he look like… is he…. Nat: …???? Tony: You saw the Muppets right? Is he still a Muppet? Nat: [totally has seen the Muppets] what's a Muppet? Tony: You're killing your brother, Nat ;A;

Also the comedy of having MULTIPLE "secret languages" that nobody can translate.

It's handy, too. Between her and Tony, but also lots of languages to give different uses to. Can teach one to a specific faction for communication. OH, the poor Threepio units! She got stuck in a room with one once, and don't get my wrong, they can pick up a language fast, but they need to hear long enough sampling of it. Nat: I'm not teaching you stop asking I do agree too that Tony and Nat no matter their circumstances would be working towards stopping Palpatine. Like is this a real space is this a dream is this another dimension that just happens to be like a movie in ours? Doesn't matter the dictator is going down.

The Jedi Master is somewhat aware of the whole 'used to be an adult, sort of' thing. I don't know that they believe she's linearly matured but probably they think it's something like what I did in Jedi Babies It's definitely more explicit with a mind healer she got assigned soon after arrival.

She didn't decide whether to play it straight and "get help" or just try to game the system until she was actually sitting down. But she'd been having screaming night terrors about things she experienced in her first life, so.

Pixie:

She meets Anakin after TPM (if it's not avoided) when Obi-Wan's trying to settle him in and goes "ah, I know how to handle this kid." At some point Anakin and Tony end up sending each other various schematics.

#star wars #MCU #crossovers #tony stark #natasha romanoff #natasha romanova #phoenix posts #I almost wrote this as an actual one-shot instead of a numbered AU buuuuuuut had to argue with a Jedi-hater instead #avengers #avengers endgame #death mention #qui gon jinn #obi wan kenobi #tholme #quinlan vos #reincarnation #isekai

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thebleedingwoodland · 2 months ago

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TS3 - Custom Full Meal

Nasi Ayam Penyet (Indonesian Food Series)

F U N C T I O N A L C U S T O M F O O D

Custom Full Meal mod with stages: Cook, Serve, Eat the food with working Geostates (Full, Half, Empty), made with CCLoader by DouglasVeiga.

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Konon ayam penyet berasal dari Jawa Timur, kemudian menyebar ke berbagai daerah lainnya di Indonesia. Hidangan ini kini mudah dijumpai di banyak daerah, baik di restoran kaki lima maupun di restoran bintang lima.

Untuk membuat ayam penyet, ayam terlebih dahulu dimarinasi dengan berbagai bumbu, kemudian direbus hingga empuk. Kemudian, ayam digoreng hingga matang, lalu ayam dipenyet dengan sambalnya. Hidangan ini disajikan dengan sambal tambahan di sampingnya, biasanya disertai dengan sayuran segar, tempe, tahu goreng, dan nasi.

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It is said that penyet chicken originated in East Java, then spread to various other regions in Indonesia. This dish is now easily found in many areas, both in street food restaurants and five-star restaurants.

To make penyet chicken, the chicken is first marinated with various spices, then boiled until tender. Then, the chicken is fried until cooked, and then the chicken is penyet with the chili sauce. The dish is served with additional sambal on the side, usually accompanied by fresh vegetables, tempeh, fried tofu and rice.

(source: RRI .co.id)

Ayam penyet is placed #38 of Top 100 Chicken Dishes in The World released by TasteAtlas, LINK: TasteAtlas.com

Place of Origin: East Java, Indonesia

Nasi = Rice Ayam = Chicken Penyet = Press/Push

Additional info if you want to know more about 10 varieties of Ayam Penyet with 10 types of chili sambal by famous Youtuber Tanboykun watch this Youtube Link

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Cloned from: Goopy Carbonara

Cooking Skill: 2

Cooking Time: Lunch & Dinner

Cooking Method: Seasoning & Baking chicken from Stuffed Turkey (Blender can be used for seasoning & chopping the chicken)

Languages: "Nasi Ayam Penyet" STBL strings are available in all game languages

Base Game compatible

Poly Count: Eat: 1,558 vertices 1,997 faces Serve: 1,483 vertices 1,957 faces

If you have World Adventures EP installed, this food can be bought via food register in Shang Simla, China World with price §20

❗You must install CCLoader by DouglasVeiga to make this custom food recipe appears in-game. ❗ Extract the package from the .zip & place the package on package folder as usual.

[ Download ]

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Additional screenshots:

Serving food Geostates (Full, Half, Empty)

#the sims 3 #ts3 #ts3 download #tumblrts3cc #ts3cc #ts3mod #ts3 food #ts3 custom food #ts3 food mod #ts3 indonesian food #ts3 asian food #ts3 functional food #ts3 chicken #ts3 rice #ts3 asian sims #nasi #ayam penyet #ts3 mod download #southeast asian

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languagexs · 1 year ago

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Afghanistan Farsi Language: Exploring Dari and LanguageXS Solutions

Dari in Afghanistan: Unraveling the Tapestry of Afghan Persian In the heart of Central Asia lies Afghanistan, a land where ancient traditions and modern realities intertwine, and where language serves as both a mirror and a map of the nation’s rich cultural landscape. At the center of this linguistic mosaic is Dari, one of the two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Pashto. This article…

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#Afghan Persian #Afghanistan Farsi language #cultural communication #Dari #Dari speakers #languages of Afghanistan #LanguageXS interpretation #Linguistic Diversity #Over Phone Interpreting #over-the-phone translation #Persian dialects

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staying-elive · 5 months ago

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So how many languages does Sam Wilson speak!?

I mean, I love it. Gimme all the Sam busting out random languages.

Being from NOLA, I've always thought he must know French, or some form of Louisiana French to some degree.

TFATWS has him speaking Arabic.

But now Brave New World has him surprising me with Spanish and Japanese !

How many more do we think he knows?

Since he served in Afghanistan for two tours, seems reasonable he could've picked up Dari? (If Dari, then he could probably understand Farsi pretty well too, yeah?)

My captain's so smart. 😆🥰😘

#sam wilson #cabnw #cabnw spoilers #sam wilson meta

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lonely-ey3s · 6 months ago

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With All My Love : Chapter 3 | breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth...

Pairing: joel miller x f!reader, no outbreak

Word count: 10.7k

Chapter Summary: After telling Maria everything about you and Joel, you start to realize your feelings may not be one-sided. However, just when you think things are about to calm down, you and the group are assigned to fly out on a field assignment for several days. Meanwhile, Joel hasn’t heard from you in weeks due to the mail being blocked on your side. He starts to worry something might have happened, but once Sarah discovers something after speaking to Tommy on their way out on a weekend getaway for a soccer tournament, Joel’s whole outlook changes for the better.

Chapter warnings: anxiety, flirting, fluff, mentions of blood, mentions of guns, mentions of active combat and unaliving, panic attack, a smidge of angst, language, slow burn, guys we have smut in this chapter (18+ MDNI), m!masturbation, mentions of death, flying and jumping out of a plane (yeahh no thanks)

Banners by: @saradika-graphics

Main Masterlist

Reader’s POV

After spilling everything to Maria about Joel’s letters and what he sent you, you both fell asleep on the floor of Terrance and Reggie’s.

You woke up 7 hours later to Reggie and Terrance laughing over something in their bunks.

Seven hours was the longest you had slept in days. You sat up on the backs of your elbows and looked around. Maria was still fast asleep next to you. You sat up more and yawned, then looked at your watch. You still had time to grab something to eat, take a quick shower, and maybe write a letter back to Joel, depending on whether any emergencies pulled you away.

You stood to your feet and realized someone must’ve put a blanket over you when you slept, Maria as well. You put your blanket gently over Maria and walked towards the boys “What are you two up to?” you started stretching your arms over your head and cracking your neck as you woke up a little stiff.

“Nothin' much, you sleep good?” Reggie asked, eating a bowl of what looked to be cornflakes.

You shrugged and nodded, “As good as you can on the floor. " You lightly chuckled. “Hey, do either of you know if we have the okay to Skype family and friends? Like, do we have a special computer or somewhere we can do that?” You tried to ask nonchalantly.

“Yeah - they said your laptop we got when we got here is approved to do things like that,” Terrance said as he was working on a crossword puzzle.

“Oh, gotcha. I didn’t know if we were ok to do personal stuff on it like that. Good to know.” you nodded and then smiled softly. “Well, I’m going to try to get something to eat and attempt to take a shower, I’ll see you guys later. Tell Maria when she wakes up I’ll meet her back here in a couple of hours.” you walked backward and then waved at the two of them before you began walking to the cafeteria building.

You passed the medical tent and heard your name being called gently by a small voice. You stopped and looked around before spotting Azzami waving towards you, beckoning you to come to him.

You walked over to his cot and smiled “Hey there, how are you?” you asked him in Dari.

He gently smiled, “I’m a little sore.” he said in English. “Can I have some water?”

You nodded and grabbed him a small cup of water, helping him sip from it, “You speak English pretty good.. better than my Dari, I’m sure”

He softly nodded and chuckled, “You aren’t bad. You’re new. You will learn more.”

You softly looked at him and smiled “Will you teach me more?”

He nodded and then reached for your hand, gripping it tightly “Will you stay with me a little longer?”

“Of course. Of course, I’ll stay a little longer.” you knelt next to his cot and spent the next hour telling him where you were from, how you and Maria were bunkies, and if he ever needed anything, you would help. He shared that he was pretty much an orphan and explained that he wasn’t from this village, he fled here from a nearby village that was taken by the enemy as a base for their operation. You explained that you and he would stick together, that he had a place as long as you were here. You’d keep him safe.

He fell back asleep from exhaustion. You made sure his IV drip looked good and the wound was still clean and then left to go to the cafe.

You grabbed a bowl of rice and beans, ate that to yourself quickly, and then went to take a shower.

Once you felt full and refreshed you went back to your and Maria’s quarters to grab your notebook and pen you wrote letters in and some Polaroid pictures you had taken here and there since being there to send Joel.

Maria had snuck some candid photos for you when you weren’t looking over the past couple of weeks. Either when you were taking care of a patient or goofing off. She even got one of you smiling and laughing at one of Reggie’s jokes. When she showed you, you knew that Joel might like that one most. You also got a group photo of the four of you which you all were in a circle, with the camera in the middle all making a goofy face, but all you could do was smile happily while everyone else made a face.

You sat back down next to Azzami’s cot, knowing that he found comfort in having you near him.

You put Joel’s address and your new return address on the envelope, then stuck the photos in, tucking the envelope under your thigh so the wind wouldn’t blow it away as there was a gentle breeze today.

You began writing:

‘Joel, June 20, 2004

I don’t think it would be right to start this letter off without thanking you for the beautiful, sincere and thoughtful gifts you sent in the first parcel. I’m wearing your pendant now, and have already felt so much lighter with it on. I also feel like I’ve somewhat got a part of you with me, that might sound silly, but it brings me such comfort.

You’ve been such a comfort in my life these last several weeks. I hope you know that.

And you’re right, I have you, and you have me <3

You panicked just a little thinking that was too forward, too honest, but then remembered things he said in his last letter and if you could say those things effortlessly, you could too without fear of rejection.

We will have to thank Sarah for your photos, but we will have to thank Maria for mine. The Polaroid intimidates me a little too, but now that I’ve got my disposable - thank you again for that, you’ll be getting that sent back in no time. I can’t wait to start taking photos for you to see. :)

Speaking of Sarah, I’m sorry to hear about the circumstances of her mother. I know that must’ve been hard on you when it happened, but then I’m sure it’s also had some effect on Sarah. Just know that Sarah is lucky to have you as her dad. Her mom missed out on a really neat kid, she seems pretty amazing.

Your grandad sounds like a very special person and I am grateful you had a father figure like that in your and your brother's life. I know that any positive influence when you lack it somewhere, means the world. You had your granddad, I had my Levi. We were both very blessed to have both of them shape us into who we are today. <3

Oh, the name Cricket... I uh… I don’t chirp in my sleep, thank goodness. But Levi said that I used to rub my legs together under the sheets when I would get really warm and cozy… like a cricket he said, and never called me anything else after that. I have a small cricket tattoo… for Levi. To remember him by. <3

You mentioned Oregon and the whales. That sounds so cool, and I’d love to go! I’ve never been to Oregon or traveled much other than when I moved to GA, so that would be fun. Maybe on a school break of Sarah’s… we could all do a small road trip together? Would she like that?

You mentioned you are going to make a rocking chair, I am very excited to see your skills and the progress along the way! I love to watch people work with their hands - it’ll be very cool to watch you work. :) I think in terms of design, a bow would be cute for a little girl! Or a butterfly would be pretty too? You choose! Bow or butterfly <3

I also wanted to let you know that I did send a postcard when I got here, I have no idea if it got out tho, I didn’t get your letters until yesterday. The village I am in was pretty much an active war zone for the last two weeks, and from what we know mail wasn’t allowed in, but I’m hoping mine made it out as I put it to send the morning before everything went to shit.

Anyway, I’ve got to go, my shift is about to start soon, sadly or I’d write more.. but, I wanted to ask, wou-

You stopped writing and took a deep breath, fiddling with the pen against the paper. Rubbing the bridge of your nose, looking at the sentence you want to finish when anxiety starts to bubble up from the depths you’ve tried to shove it down to. You didn’t want to get hurt or overstep.

You hoped this wasn’t one-sided. Was he just socially awkward? Maybe? Maybe more shy than anything. But so were you. This couldn’t be just you, right? He has said things and has done things to show you that he wants more. The annoying thought came into your head, were you reading too much into it? Did you mistake kindness for something deeper? Were you that lonely, that deprived of love? As quickly as the thought came in to haunt you, it disappeared as you subconsciously reached up and grabbed the pendant in your fist, all the anxiety and fears dissolving.

You closed your eyes and smiled softly as you took in a breath through your nose, out through your mouth.

You opened your eyes and looked back at the paper finishing your sentence:

Anyway, I’ve got to go, my shift is about to start soon, sadly or I’d write more.. but, I wanted to ask, would you like to Skype each other in addition to our letters? If so, my email to reach me is [email protected] - I look forward to hopefully hearing from you there <3

Warmest regards,

Y/N

P.S. Cowboys lost 21-7 to the Vikings on Sunday… you were saying whose team was better?? ;)'

You chuckled and knew that football between you two would be a fun disagreement. You then folded the letter into thirds and stuck it in the envelope.

Azzami was still fast asleep so before your shift started, you ran your letter to the post center to be mailed back as soon as possible.

—

5 days later

While Azzami recovered, and when you weren’t actively working, you sat with him and kept him company. You both bonded very quickly and looked out for each other.

He started to call you ‘khahar’, which meant sister in Dari, and you would call him ‘Z’ as he wanted a cool nickname after learning Reginald’s name was shortened to Reggie, he was obsessed with shortening his to something cooler, and easier for the soldiers to pronounce.

You filled your disposable camera almost up in that time, taking photos of the sunrises and sunsets, selfies of Z and you, and photos of the group playing games with the children of the village in your free time. You also took a lot of pictures of stray dogs and cats around the village which was your favorite thing to do aside from hanging out with Z.

He taught you and Maria how to make fishtail bracelets, making one for himself, Maria, and you, which you all wore proudly together. One night you stayed up late and made a purple and pink one for Sarah and a dark green and navy blue one for Joel then sent it off early the next morning with a postcard in the parcel saying:

‘Joel, 6/27/04

Z is a boy in the village that we take care of, and he taught Maria and me how to make these- I was thinking… I am wearing your necklace, and have a piece of you with me, you can wear this and have a part of me with you :)

Made Sarah one too, hope the colors are to her liking as well as yours <3

Hope you and Sarah are well,

-Y/N’

You woke up the next morning to Terrance and Maria suiting up, getting into what you called your field gear. Anxiety shot through you “What’s going on?” you questioned standing up and beginning to put your boots on.

“Field assignment. Sarge just came by with orders. Things are bad 10 miles south, they need more medics.” Terrance said, nervousness evident in his voice.

“Shit… do we know for how long?” you looked around trying to find your things somewhat frantically. “Wait, does Z know?” you started changing into your field gear and packing what you needed.

Maria shook her head, “No we just found out maybe 5 minutes before you woke up. Reggie went to find him. No idea how long we will be gone either.”

Within a few minutes, you hear Z calling out ‘khahar’, “What’s going on? Reggie said you’re leaving…” he said with tears in his eyes, without the four of you there, he was pretty much on his own.

You sat him down on the bed and took his hands “We will be back, I promise, ok? This is only temporary..”

He nodded “But what if..” he looked at you sadly.

You shook your head and hugged him tightly “No, that won’t happen. We are going to have each other’s backs..” you pulled away from him and looked at the group, “Right guys?”

They all nodded and came over to pat his head or nudge him supportively.

You looked at him and kissed his forehead, “Hey, we will be back Z, ok? I promise.” you pulled back to look him in the eyes, “Stay by the camp, everyone knows you here, they’ll let you stay here if you want.” You gripped his head gently in your hands, continuing eye contact, “And Z, you do not leave or go past the south gate for any reason. If anything happens while we are gone, you hide and stay quiet. Understand?”

He nodded “I understand. I will be good. I will be safe.” he smiled sadly.

You nodded back and then kissed the top of his head. “Good. We will be back soon.” you got up and grabbed your stuff then left the bunkhouse.

—

You were all flown in by helicopter to a barren field outside a village south of camp.

Two minutes before landing the pilot came onto your headsets “Alright this is going to be a drop-off, you all need to grab your bags and then when I give the signal, you need to get off as quickly as you can and head for cover! Understood!?”

You looked at Maria, she looked at you and then Reggie and Terrance, “We need to stick together, keep moving and find cover. We don’t leave anyone behind, yeah?” you all nodded and then braced as the pilot made a sharp turn.

“Get ready!” he shouted and aimed the aircraft as close to the ground as possible, you dropped a rope out for you all to slide down.

“I’ll go first! Make sure it's clear!” you shouted, putting your bag over your shoulder and picking up the assault rifle you now had to carry. Each person nodded in agreement.

“Now!” the pilot shouted through the comms system. You ripped the headset off quickly, letting it dangle from the ceiling before grabbing the rope and sliding down, taking cover and pulling your assault rifle's scope out immediately to check for any threats.

Your breathing was heavy and your mind was going a million miles a minute. You did a 360 turn in a circle to scope the area then looked up and signaled it was clear with your hand. Reggie slid down next, followed by Terrance, and then Maria last. Once you all touched down the helicopter immediately turned to fly away. You all crept down and began to run as quickly as you could to a nearby building to take cover. Just as you were about 50 feet away you heard a distant yell “Take cover!” you all froze and dropped to the ground, covering your heads and staying as close as you could to each other.

Within seconds an explosion went off about 100 yards away from you. You lifted your head to look around, ears ringing and dust starting to cloud the view from behind you. You looked around frantically, then spotted a clear path to where your camp location was marked. You looked around once more then stood up “We gotta move, come on!” you encouraged the group. They all stood up and followed you. You all had one hand on your guns and then ran in a line with a hand on someone’s shoulder, keeping you all together.

You heard gunshots and immediately pulled your gun’s scope to view, ready to shoot if necessary as you all kept walking through the camp that had now been from what you can tell abandoned or moved, the location you were given prior, no use.

“Shit..” Maria said under her breath.

You looked back at her then Terrance, “Terrance, radio in, see if anyone answers.”

He nodded and pulled out the radio your group was given before departing, turning to the channel designated for this area. “Delta 34, this is Specialist Johanson, touch down was made via helicopter for emergency medical attention, does anyone copy?”

You all waited for what seemed like minutes before you heard “This is Delta 34, we need help!” The radio stopped and there was a brief moment of static. You all heard an explosion in the distance before the person came back on the radio, “We are 500 yards southeast to the main village entrance.”

You looked back from where you came from and then found southeast and pointed before looking at the group, “Ok we need to go in groups of two, we are too big of a target if we go all together.” you looked around, thinking, trying to think what was best.

“Maria, go with Reggie, follow me and Terrance.” you looked at Terrence, he looked terrified. None of you had been in a combat or active warzone like this yet, you hadn’t even shot your guns outside boot camp.

“How far behind?” Reggie asked.

“I don’t know, maybe 100 yards? Enough to where if either of our groups gets shot at, the other has time to react and cover the other.” you looked at Maria for a suggestion.

“100 yards. We will have your backs.” Maria nodded at you.

You nodded back and straightened your rifle’s strap across you and then let out a deep sigh, “Ok, the faster we get to cover, the safer we are. Let’s take our time, and be safe, but aim for speed. Sound good?” you looked at the others.

Terrence wasn’t with you, he zoned out.

You put your hand to his cheek, “Hey, come back to us. I need you to focus.”

He snapped out of where he was and nodded, panic still in his eyes and features.

“You got this.” you nudged him softly and then started walking, rifle pointed straight forward, finger on the trigger. He followed you looking above and to the sides of you. Maria and Reggie followed.

You got to the center of the camp within 15 minutes, you were only shot at once, it grazed the top of your helmet, Maria zoned in seeing where it had come from, and shot the assailant down.

Once there, it was pure chaos. There were bodies and people everywhere, scattered, injuries ranging in severity. You all froze taking in the sight, processing the mess, and then the four of you all snapped out of it at the same time and split up, doing what you all do best, working together to create a system.

Maria worked on triaging, putting chalk on the bottom of their boot to signal priority, red for emergency, yellow for next in line, green for lowest priority, and white for dead.

Terrence went to gather supplies.

Reggie used the camp's bigger radio and called a nearby camp to ask for further assistance and backup, advising an airstrike may be best for the northeast area as that is where most of the wounded are coming from.

You immediately started working on the red patients.

After 15 minutes of working, you have gunfire within a few hundred yards of you. Instinctually, you lean over your patient to cover them, shouting “Take cover!”

After a few seconds of silence, you looked up to make sure everyone was ok, counting heads, when you realized you couldn’t find Terrance.

“Shit.” You frantically start scanning the area, “Terrance!” you yell, Maria looks your way, realizing, worry registered on her face as well. You had your hands on an actively bleeding wound, you started to pack it with gauze as you kept looking around, shouting his name. You pack the wound and then walk away, looking at Maria “Cot 3, take over!” she nodded and headed over. You continued to walk towards where you last saw Terrence go, and that's when you saw him.

He had been shot in his upper leg, and was on the ground 50 yards away, leaning up against a car, bleeding, fumbling to cover his wound with his hands, breathing panicked, he was clearly in shock, supplies he was gathering scattered around him.

“Fuck… Fuck!” you immediately ran in his direction, not even thinking of there being gunfire potentially aimed at you. “Terrence!”

He looked your way and then saw something behind you, “Get down!” he yelled. You dropped and covered behind a car across the street from him, a grenade went off and created the perfect dust cover for you to make it to him.

You crouch and run to him, sliding in front of him.

His leg is gushing blood, you know just by that it’s most likely nicked the femoral artery. You look up at him, he’s crying, “I don’t wanna die! Please, I don’t want to die!” he yelled, pleading.

You look around for what supplies you have then start to unbuckle your belt. “You’re not going to die. You will not die...”

You snaked your belt above the injury and started to tunicate his leg, pulling the belt as tight as you could. “You still got that radio on you?”

He nodded and pulled it out from behind him, handing it to you, his hands shaking.

You turned it on a different channel, “Alpha 326 this is Specialist ____ with Delta 34, do you copy?”

“We copy.” a voice came almost immediately.

“I need an immediate air strike to the following coordinates…” you pulled out your GPS locator, “34.713911, 69.239214. I have a critical patient and myself in the field and we need immediate assistance to get him to safety.”

You heard static for a few seconds then, “Copy that, air strike 60 seconds out.”

You looked at Terrance and then clipped the radio to the back of your pants. “I’m going to pick you up when that strike happens but I need you to calm down.” You started to pack gauze into his wound, making him groan and breathe faster and heavier.

“Terrance, I need you to breathe… breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.” You said taking one of his hands. “I am going to get us out of here, but I need you to take some deep breaths.”

He nodded and took a slow breath in through his nose and then exhaled out from his mouth.

You nodded, “Good. One more.”

He nodded and did it again.

You smiled softly, “I got us.”

He nodded “You got us..”

You looked up at the sky and saw a fighter jet make its way. You peeked your head out from the car and saw where you needed to go, noting someone in the building to your left with a gun pointed at your position. You moved your head back down to hide, grabbed your pendant in your fist, and closed your eyes for a second, taking in a breath, praying, hoping, ‘Please protect us, please don’t let us die.’

You opened your eyes and looked at him, zoned in, “Ok. Ready?” you grabbed your pistol on the side of your hip and popped up, firing 3 rounds at the gunman pointing at you, disarming him. You got back down, putting your gun away quickly, “On three…”

He nodded, you both counted down and then you grabbed his left arm and right leg and swung him over your shoulder like they showed you in basic.

“Fuck you’re heavier than you were in basic, what the fuck man..” you strained as his full weight was on you, but then you started to jog towards the exit, the fighter jet releasing rounds into the buildings around you as soon as you stood, taking out the threats.

Once inside safety, you got Terrance to a medical cot and Maria took over and tended to him while Reggie checked you out for any injuries.

After being cleared you jumped in like nothing happened, thinking ‘The faster we get done here, the faster I’m back to camp, with Z and Joel…’

—

This went on for another 8 days.

12 deaths.

46 injured.

Once the area was cleared, you helped Terrance and the other critical patients on a medical plane, going to a hospital in the city for care. It turned out that his injury was more severe than you and your crew could take care of in the field, got infected too, and without more intervention, there was a high chance he’d lose his leg.

Maria and Reggie had already said goodbye and left back to camp.

You took his hand, letting out a soft sigh, “You’re most likely going home, which is good, we want you safe and not to lose your leg… but we will miss you all terribly.” you smiled softly. “Z won’t forgive you if you don’t write to him, m’kay?”

Terrence chuckled and nodded, “I’ll write and once I am able, I’ll Skype.”

You nodded and then smiled once more, patting his shoulder softly, “I’ll see you.”

He nodded back, “Yes you will.”

You stepped off the plane and headed back to the camp to gather your things. The rest of you were headed back to camp, you hoped to come back to maybe hear from Joel. You needed that more than anything right now.

Joel’s POV

Joel hadn’t heard from you in nearly three weeks. He wondered if you were safe. He wasn’t a religious man by any means, but couldn’t help and say small prayers for your safety here and there when his mind got too loud.

He often found himself holding onto your picture, especially moments when his anxiety took hold.

‘She’s safe, she just has a very busy job.’ he would repeat to himself when he’d see, read or hear something on the news about the war. He told himself that once he got your letters he would find the location on a map and then pay more closely to that area in the news.

He kept telling himself that letters take time, there was no need to worry, right?

—

July 2, 2004

Sarah had a soccer tournament out of town this weekend. Tommy and Sarah convinced Joel to make it into a Fourth of July weekend getaway and they could take Tommy’s boat to Canyon Lake which was just a half hour from where they were staying.

Sarah could tell Joel was feeling anxious as she also picked up how long it had been since a letter of yours came in the mail. She noticed her dad checking the mailbox every morning before he would hop in his truck, hopeful something would be there, then the look of sadness and disappointment when the mail contained nothing but bills and advertisements.

Tommy came over early, and Joel was upstairs packing his bag. Sarah and he packed a cooler together for the drive.

“Can I ask you somethin’ sweet pea?” Tommy looked at Sarah as he began to spread mayo on some sandwich bread.

Sarah nodded as she was filling some Ziplock baggies with some chips.

“What’s going on with your dad? He seems distant lately, on top of that he’s gone out to that mailbox 3 times already this morning…” he began putting lunch meat and cheese on the bread.

Sarah looked towards the stairs and sighed softly, “Yeah, a lot is on his mind, I think.” she walked over and sat on the counter next to Tommy, “He and I are doing this pen pal thing together. His person is currently deployed in Afghanistan, she’s a medic.” she helped squirt some spicy mustard on the cheese before Tommy put the other half of the bread on top, she continued, “I think dad likes her, you know like likes her…” she hopped off the counter to begin putting the used ingredients back in the fridge. “He hasn’t heard from her in, I think 3 weeks. I think he’s worried something happened to her.”

Tommy perked up when he heard Joel was doing a pen pal program, but then after he heard it was to a woman in Afghanistan he was more intrigued. “Wait wait… you guys are doing that pen pal program too?”

Sarah spun around, confused about what he said, “Too? As in you’re doing it too?”

Tommy chuckled and nodded, “Yeah, saw a flyer at the local library…” he thought for a second, “Wait, that’s interesting because my pen pal also got deployed to Afghanistan maybe… I don’t remember, the beginning of June? She’s a medic too” he shrugged the thought of them writing two bunk mates off though, the chances of that being so slim.

Sarah’s jaw dropped, and she quickly ran up to him, “Tommy, the person you’re writing... What’s her name?”

He looked confused as he wrapped the sandwiches in cling film, “Maria. Why?”

“Tommy. Does Dad know about you doing this pen pal program, who you’re writing to?” she pressured.

“No, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning, why? What’s going on?” he turned towards her now feeling on the edge of his seat by her line of questioning.

“Tommy… Maria and Y/N are bunkmates…” She grabbed his arm and smiled brightly, “Wait, when did you hear from Maria last?” she looked at him desperately, hoping he had heard from Maria more recently.

Tommy connected the dots in his head, “Oh shit... I see what you’re getting at. I uh, I Skyped her right after she got to camp. We uh… you know exchanged Skype info before she left in case mail couldn’t get out… as that happened to me when I was over there quite often.” He chuckled “Now this all makes sense, she said that they were in a pretty active area, and said mail wasn’t able to get out… it’s possible your dad isn’t getting her mail due to th-” he explained.

“Dad!” Sarah interrupted and shouted running up the stairs towards his bedroom, “Dad!!”

Joel came out of his room looking slightly panicked at Sarah’s shouting, “Sarah? What’s wrong?” he grabbed her face in his hands, studying her eyes.

“Tommy! Get your ass up here!” Sarah took Joel's hands off her softly, giggling excitedly.

“Sarah, language!” Joel scolded her gently.

Tommy jogged up the stairs and smirked when he got to the top, “When were you going to tell me all this sulking was over a woman big brother?”

Joel looked at Tommy confused, “What? I’m not sulki-”

Tommy nodded “Yes you are, like a puppy dog.” he laughed softly, continuing to walk towards Joel and Sarah at the end of the hall.

“Dad, Tommy is writing in the pen pal program too! And guess what?” Sarah began bouncing on her toes, hands cradled up to her chest, beaming.

“Wh-” Joel was cut off.

“He’s writing to Maria! You know, Maria!? From Y/N’s first letter! Uncle Tommy is writing your pal’s literal bunk mate Dad!” Sarah shouted a little louder than she expected.

Joel looked at Tommy, relief cracking through his expression, “Wait.. is this true? I.. I haven’t.. when did you hear from her last?” he looked at Tommy, desperately.

Tommy smiled softly and put his hand on Joel’s shoulder, “They made it to their base camp safely, Maria even mentioned how her friend, Y/N, was getting them dinner when I last spoke to her..”

Joel looked at Tommy, confused now, “Wait you spoke to her, as in like on the phone?”

Tommy shook his head, “No, no, Maria and I exchanged Skype information in our last letter exchange before she got deployed. I knew the chances of mail not making it out if she was in an active combat area were gon’ to be high…” he sighed gently. “I spoke to her via Skype a couple of days after she landed in Afghanistan.” he explained before gently squeezing Joel's shoulder, “She said they pretty much had the village on lockdown.” He gently shook his shoulder, “Your girl tho, she’s safe, she probably just hasn’t got your letters yet. Maria said it had been pretty busy and they hadn’t had much time to barely sleep. We haven’t had the time to Skype again tho since then, but she’s been sending messages letting me know small updates, sending pictures, and stuff like that.” he smiled.

Joel listened to everything, nodding along to Tommy and then letting out a sigh of relief, “Oh, thank god..” he felt his kneels buckle as he felt like this enormous load was immediately lifted off his shoulders, he fell to this knees and held his head in his hands, tears pooling, it was like damn of so much emotion had broken. “I thought… she… the news…” he said with a crack in his voice, voice quivering.

Sarah fell to the ground and hugged him, “Oh Dad, I’m so sorry, I had no idea this was bothering you this much.”

Joel fell into her arms and sobbed softly, “I was worried something happened and she has no one to… she has no one they will alert, all her family is gone.” he looked up at Tommy and Sarah, tears streaking down his face.

Sarah had rarely seen her dad cry, this was a huge emotional marker that you meant more to her dad than she knew. Sarah looked at Joel and softly began wiping the tears from his cheeks, “She’s got you now Dad…” She smiled and kissed his cheek before hugging him again, “It’s ok Dad, everything is ok.”

Joel held her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

Tommy knelt, “Do you want me to message Maria and ask for an update? Just for peace of mind?”

Joel nodded, “Please? You don’t need to mention me or Y/N.. I’ll know if Maria is safe, she is too.”

Tommy nodded, “Can I log into your computer real quick? I can do it before we leave then when we get to our hotel, I can check my laptop… it’s just already packed in the truck or I would message on there.” He smiled at Joel and Sarah.

Joel nodded quickly, “Yeah, the uh password is…”

Tommy stood and interrupted walking back downstairs, “I know the damn password Joel, CubsSux123!”

Joel chuckled and thought to himself, ‘I need to change that…’ thinking back to when you said you were a Cubs fan.

—

Tommy messaged Maria on chat quickly and then within 20 minutes they had all left for their destination.

When they got to the hotel the first thing Joel did after unloading their bags into their room was stand and look at Tommy with his hand on his hip and knee popped out, asking if he had heard from Maria.

Tommy chuckled, loving seeing his brother like this, obviously crushing hard on you. He hadn’t seen him like this since they were maybe in high school.

Tommy got a message from Maria:

‘Thanks for checkin’ in! We have been on a field assignment for the past 6 days. It’s been crazy, we had someone get hit on the first day while going to get supplies, he’s ok for now, but Y/N had to go into a hot area to pull him out. Luckily she called for an air strike to cover her while she carried him back, it was a crazy first day. Things are starting to slow down, we think we might be back at the main camp in a couple of days. I’ll let you know when we get back, we can Skype. xx’

Joel must’ve read that message about 20 times, smiling that you were safe but was going to need to talk to you about putting yourself in dangerous situations, he chuckled to himself, ‘Can’t get herself hurt before we get the chance to meet each other…’ he thought to himself as he read.

He stepped out on the hotel’s balcony while Sarah and Tommy watched ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ while eating some pizza they ordered, holding the picture of you he had taken with from his back pocket, ‘She’s ok. She is safe.’ he mumbled to himself looking down at the photo.

He had it bad for you and began to regret not asking to Skype in his last letter. All he wanted right now would be to hear your voice, to know in real-time how you were, how your day was, to hold an actual conversation with you.

God, he wondered how you sounded, how your laugh sounded when you laughed at his jokes that he tried to slide into his writing, he couldn’t wait to hear it. He was counting down the days until he was back home, he hoped by then he would have something from you.

The next few days for Joel were much needed, especially now that he knew you were ok. It felt like he could breathe again.

It felt like he was suffocating every time he heard or saw something on the news concerning the war, not knowing where you were or if you were ok. It also didn’t help that he kept it all to himself; self-isolating was something he did in moments of anxiety or depression, and always regretted it afterward. He seems to always forget in those moments that Tommy and Sarah would move heaven and earth for him, they’d always have his back.

Tommy and Sarah noticed the immediate shift in him, and both discussed when he wasn’t around how nice it was to see him happy about someone. He deserved this after being alone for so long.

Sarah played in a tournament for most of Friday, playing in a total of 4 games. Joel took pictures on his phone and some videos, cheering loudly for her, he was so proud. Sarah scored 2 goals and helped her team win 2nd place.

He beamed with pride when her team was awarded a smaller trophy cup than first place, but still pretty big, taking as many photos as he could on his phone.

She ran over to Tommy and Joel with the trophy “I wanna get a picture with it and also with you and Tommy!” she smiled panting softly, out of breath from running.

Joel pulled out his phone again, taking a photo of just her, one with her and Tommy, then Sarah took a selfie with the three of them and then Tommy took Joel's phone and took one of just Sarah and Joel smiling and then another of Joel kissing the top of her head while she smiled.

The three of them went out to dinner and Sarah chose where to go, which was a nearby dinner. They spent time planning their day on the lake tomorrow and then all got back to the hotel room and started to gather their things for the boat tomorrow.

Tommy sat down on the bed and pulled out his laptop while Joel worked on something work-related on his at the desk. Sarah was in the bathroom taking a shower before they’d all get into bed.

Tommy saw that Maria had messaged him on Skype:

‘We will be going back to base camp tomorrow afternoon after we load the medical evac plane, wanna Skype when I get back? xx’

“Maria messaged me a few hours ago, and said they are headed back to base camp tomorrow.”

Joel turned in his chair to face Tommy, “Can you do that from the lake?” he asked curiously.

Tommy chuckled, “No, but they are about 10 hours ahead of us so by the time we are done at the lake and back here, they’ll be just waking up. I’ll let Maria know I’ll Skype her around 10 pm, and let her know we will be on the lake. She said they are usually up at 5 am, so that’s perfect.” he smiled as he typed his reply back.

He typed back to Maria, ‘Sounds good, thank you for the update. My brother, niece and I are out of town for the weekend, mind if we Skype around 6 am your time, 10 pm mine? We will be on the lake most of the day or I’d do sooner.’

“Thanks for all you’ve done Tommy to keep me… sane.” Joel chuckled lightly, turning back around to face his laptop.

Tommy nodded and smiled at his brother “Anytime.”

—

The three of them spend the better part of the next day on the lake. Swimming, water skiing (or attempting, the only one that could stand up was Sarah), eating, and enjoying the weather.

Sarah took tons of pictures and some for Joel to send in his next letter to you.

Joel’s mind kept drifting to you throughout the day, thinking how it might be if you were tagging along with them. His thoughts dared to wonder as to how you’d look in a bathing suit. How it would hug your curves and how irresistible you’d look.

He took the opportunity while Tommy and Sarah were taking a cat nap on the boat to float in the water and cool off a bit. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the life vest he had on.

After a little bit, his mind started to drift and he started to imagine holding you against him in the water, having your legs wrap around his torso, arms draped around his shoulders loosely. His hands would slowly and ever so gently explore up and down your body, gripping the soft flesh of your hips as he would devour you, hungrily and passionately, lips crashing over each other, tongues intertwining, both of you starving for each other.

“Hey, you wanna start cookin’ up dinner with me?” Tommy called out to Joel from the boat.

Joel’s eyes snapped open and he jumped at hearing Tommy, out of breath from his thoughts. He groaned feeling himself hard against his swim shorts “Fuck…” he moved a hand down to palm himself.

He shut his eyes and let out a shaky breath, thinking of anything to make this go away, but all his mind did was flood with you, your body, your essence, just making him harder.

“Joel? You hear me?” Tommy questioned not hearing his brother answer back.

“I uhm… y-yeah just give me a sec.” Joel let go of himself and started to slowly swim back to the boat, still rock hard.

Tommy looked down at him, “Need a towel?” he smiled, oblivious to the situation Joel was in.

Joel nodded, trying to keep his cool, “Yeah, yes please.”

Tommy put a towel on the edge for Joel and then as Tommy turned to walk away, he took his opportunity to quickly get out of the water and wrap the towel around his waist. He took the life vest off and set it down then started to walk towards the small cabin area where there was a tiny bathroom. “I’ll be right back.” he rushed inside and shut the door.

He undid the towel and looked down at his pants, nothing, no change, cock still straining against his pants, “God damn it, Joel.” he cursed himself.

He put a hand on the sink and closed his eyes, he felt dirty for what his mind suggested he do to relieve the obvious bulge.

He shook his head and whispered, “I can’t, no, that’s… no.” he let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down.

He gripped the sink with the other hand and closed his eyes, trying to focus on something else however flashes of you swarmed his vision. Thoughts of you up against this sink, moaning his name as he sunk deep into you, gripping his shoulders and begging for him to keep going.

He opened his eyes slightly, breathing heavily, and moved his right hand down to untie his trunks and pull his cock out, spitting into his palm he start stroking it, making it as wet as it can. He closes his eyes and whimpers as he keeps a steady rhythm on himself, imagining your legs wrapping around him, his lips feverishly worshiping your soft skin. Making marks on your breasts, neck, shoulders, anything he can touch while gripping his hands tightly around your waist, making you rhythmically stroke and down his cock, gripping him oh so sweetly. He wishes he could taste your lips, how he would drink in every moment he could touch his lips to yours. He would whisper sweet nothings against your lips and into your skin as he prayed to whatever was above to never let this burning desire in his soul for you extinguish.

He felt his knees give out and a coil begins to tighten deep within. “Fuck me…” he whispered as he knew he was close, he began picking up the pace.

He imagined how you might cum against his cock? Back arched, breasts bouncing, nipples perked, and pressed against his chest? Legs quivering, eyes rolling back, fingers tangled in his hair, jaw slacked while you moaned how good he felt inside your sweet tight pussy?

That did it.

He grunted and let out a quiet cry “Oh f-fuck fuck…” as he came harder than he ever had by himself, breath shaky and weak.

He grunted once more as he was slowing down his hand, he felt a small tug again as another rope of cum shot out from over-sensitivity.

His legs buckled and he fell to sit on top of the toilet.

He looked at himself in the mirror, his cheeks were rosy red, looking like he was slightly drunk. All he could was chuckle at himself and cover his face with his left hand, “I’m so fucked…” he admitted.

He cleaned himself up quickly and ‘flushed’ the toilet, just for added detail that he was ‘using’ the bathroom. He looked back at himself in the mirror before exiting the bathroom and mumbled to himself “I’m such a sick fuck…” he chuckled again and then went to join Tommy to cook.

The three of them watched fireworks on the lake together. Around 8 pm they packed up and drove back to the hotel.

By the time they made it back to the hotel, it was just past 9 pm. Sarah fell asleep in the car, Joel carried her inside and put her to bed, tucking her in and kissing her head.

Tommy sat on the bed and turned the TV on quietly, putting on the sports channel.

“Hey I’m going to take a shower, you good keeping an eye on Sarah?”

“Yeah, go ahead, I’ll just be sitting here for a bit.” he smiled his way before turning back to the TV.

Joel had completely forgotten Tommy was going to Skype Maria so a half hour later when he heard a woman’s voice coming from the room, Joel peeked out from the door, confused with a towel around his waist and hair all crazy from the shower.

“Yeah, it’s been a crazy week for us! But it was nice to get back when we did, we made it back just in time for the camp’s 4th of July celebration.” Maria said through the computer.

“Oh, that’s nice! What did you guys have to barbeque there? I remember we did Spam and potatoes one year! Wasn’t so bad…” Tommy chuckled before looking up and seeing Joel peek at him, he mouthed and pointed to the laptop ‘Maria..’

Joel heard Maria laugh softly and then it clicked, he might hear you in the background. He excitedly stumbled to get dressed, knocking things over in the background.

Maria heard what sounded like a bull in a china shop in the background, she stopped mid-sentence, “Is everything ok over there?” she smiled.

Tommy chuckled knowing exactly why Joel was being so clumsy, but he didn’t want to give anything away to Maria in case Joel didn’t want anyone to know your and his relationship. “Yeah it's just my brother, he’s in the bathroom, he must’ve knocked something over, sorry..” he chuckled. “You were saying?”

Joel came out with his hair slicked back and a shirt and pajama pants on. He sat at the office chair and opened up his laptop, attempting to eavesdrop without being too noticeable, thinking Tommy had no idea that he had a major fat crush on you.

He heard Maria talk about someone named ‘Z’ and how you and her were going to teach him how to play baseball with a few other boys in the village tomorrow.

He heard a door open and a kid laughing along with someone else and then a pause, followed by a shocked gasp and then a voice, your voice, “Oh my god! Maria! Have you been Skyping Reginald- I mean Tommy, fuck sorry, and you didn’t tell me!!?” you said at Maria. Joel immediately flipped around towards Tommy.

Tommy looked up at Joel from the camera.

Maria had turned a bright shade of red immediately and stood up to shove you back out of the room, “God you are so annoying! Get out!”

You giggled, pushing back against her, fighting to stay in the room, Z laughing as well trying to help you push against her, “Oh come on, I am delightful Maria! I just wanna say hi!” you waved in the distance to the camera, “Hi Tommy! I’m the lovely, awesome, never annoying at all roommate that I am sure Maria has said soo many good things about!” you giggled and grunted as Maria pushed against you harder, “Good god Maria you are like a fucking linebacker, shit you're strong!”

Joel smiled brightly hearing your voice, slowly moving to sit on the edge of the bed to listen closer.

Maria managed to push you out of the doorway, fueled by embarrassment, but before she could close the door, Tommy saw you wave again and shout “I bid you adieu, good sir!” Z yelled as well and waved “Adieu Mr. Tommy!” you let out a loud laugh at Z’s statement, “Good one Z!”

Tommy let out a chuckle, “Bye Y/N and Z, it was nice to meet you!”

Maria shut the door and took a breath then came back over to the screen. “Sorry about that, she’s never going to let me live that down.” she covered her face.

Tommy chuckled, “Didn’t tell her you were Skypin’ me? Ouch…” he teased.

Maria smiled and chuckled “No no, nothing like that! I was waiting til she started to maybe Skype with her guy. Didn’t want to make her feel like she was behind in some way, you know?” she chuckled, “Plus she’s got a major crush on the guy, and I think he has one on her…” she said in lower tone then went back to her normal voice, “I was going to wait for her letter to get back to him, which includes her asking him if he’d want to Skype and it has her info, but that won’t be for maybe another couple of days or so as I’m sure he hasn’t gotten her letter yet as she sent it right before we left for that field assignment.”

Joel looked at Tommy and Tommy looked at Joel, both frozen by the news Maria just accidentally spilled. Joel turned bright red and smiled so hard his cheeks started to hurt.

Maria noticed the energy shift, “You ok Tommy?” she asked softly.

Joel signaled for him to keep quiet frantically, using the lips-sealed sign, smiling like a fucking idiot, not to tell her anything, Tommy just smiled and looked back down at Maria on the screen, “Yeah, yeah, sorry I just thought I woke up my niece, but we’re good.”

Joel got off the bed and paced the room a few times, trying not to make much noise when all he wanted to do was yell and shout for joy.

You had a major crush on him. Holy fuck, you had a major crush on him.

Tommy and Maria talked for another 15 minutes before Maria had to go as her shift started soon and she needed to do a few things beforehand like ‘knock you across the head’ for earlier she joked.

As soon as Tommy closed the laptop Joel whispered in an attempt to not wake Sarah, frantically, “What the fuck man, what the fuck, did I hear that right?” he came over to Tommy who stood up to get ready for bed, smiling at his brother's obvious excitement that a girl liked him just as much as he liked her.

“You heard her right, Joel.” he chuckled and then hissed as Joel excitedly started punching and slapping his arm. “Fuck Joel calm down!” he moved away from his brother’s over-excitement and smiled at him, he hadn’t seen Joel this happy in a very very long time, and it was all because of you.

Joel may have woken everyone up at 7 am to leave to get home.

Joel may have also sped 15 miles over the speed limit and got a ticket trying to get home, praying your letters were in their mailbox.

Emphasis on the may have, right? No, it all happened and neither Sarah nor Tommy said a damn thing because regardless of the grumpy attitudes they both had from being woken up that early, and the $200 speeding ticket, he was still beaming the whole drive home, even singing along to the radio. Yeah, even Sarah was shocked by that, considering it was her playlist and a good amount of Taylor Swift was on there.

Joel pulled into the driveway and practically leaped out of the damn truck on his way to the mailbox.

Sarah and Tommy leaned against the truck, arms folded, chuckling together as they watched him. Tommy updated Sarah on the events of last night when Joel ran into a gas station to use the bathroom that they were both were convinced he broke some record by how fast he was in and out.

He pulled out the pile of mail from the mailbox and immediately sat on the curb to sort through it.

Sarah laughed “Oh my god, Dad! Come on, get inside and do that, the neighbors will see!” she teased.

“Shh!” he chuckled and continued to sort, “Bill, bill, bill, coupon, scam, bill, scam, bill, another bill…” Then he saw it, your name, on not one, but two envelopes. He’s never been so damn happy to get mail in his whole goddamn life.

“Anything Dad?” Sarah asked, starting to walk over, worried nothing was in there as he stopped sorting and was quiet all of a sudden.

He sprang up from the curb, “Fuckin’ finally!” he yelled and held the letters up in the air.

Sarah chuckled, “Anything for me?”

Joel looked down at the pile and saw the next envelope was from Sam, he wrote back Sarah. He picked up the rest of the pile under his arm, walked over, and kissed her cheek, “Yeah, Sam wrote ya baby girl.” he handed her the letter.

She smiled and looked up at him, “Looks like it’s a good mail day, eh Dad?” she took his arm and started to walk inside with him.

“You bet it is sweet pea.”

—

Tommy started making them something for lunch while Joel and Sarah read their letters, knowing they both were too excited and weren’t going to do anything but that for the foreseeable future, but knew they were all going to be hungry.

Joel opened the letter that felt like something was in it first and smiled at the bracelets you sent, giving Sarah hers and asking Sarah to tie his on for him.

He smiled reading your postcard, realizing who Z was now, and connected that was whose voice he also heard on the call with Maria. He smiled warmly and softly blushed when you referred to the necklace as having a piece of him. He looked at his wrist that now had the watch Sarah fixed for his last birthday and your two bracelets, it had a reminder of the two most important women in his life. That made his heart soar.

He then pulled out the letter you sent that had numerous photographs and he couldn’t help his dorky smile as he looked at each one.

‘She’s so damn beautiful..’ he thought to himself looking at the candid Maria took of you laughing and smiling at Reggie’s joke. He felt his heart beat hard and steady as he looked at each photo. He couldn’t wait to see your face more, and your voice. Now that he knew both, he knew being in your presence - when he would eventually move mountains and heavens to be with you - he would be intoxicated by you. He could never tire of you, he knew he wanted you in his life, for the rest of his life.

He had convinced himself it was silly when that thought first came into his head last night when he heard your voice, blowing it off to just pure excitement but then here it is again.

His grandfather always told him that time didn’t always matter, sometimes, when you know, you just know.

He knew it was it with you.

He hadn’t felt this with anyone else in his lifetime, not even his first love, Sarah’s mom, it was never this strong, this… simple.

Sarah looked up from her letter and watched him for a moment, she smiled, her dad finally was going to be happy, she knew that for certain now, that was a comfort no one could give her so easily, but you did.

She stood up from the table and came over and kissed her dad on the head softly, “I’m going to go take a shower because someone ran us out of the hotel this morning…” she gently nudged her dad chuckling.

He looked at her and smiled, “Ok baby girl…” and that's when she saw it in his eyes, he was utterly and completely happy.

“I’m happy you’re happy Dad. I know you make her happy too.” she softly said before walking upstairs to the bathroom.

He smiled warmly and watched her walk away, out of the corner of his eye he saw Tommy smirking. “Oh, brother you got it bad.” Tommy teased.

Normally Joel would say some smart-ass comment back but right now, he just couldn’t care, he did have it bad.

He smiled and nodded, “Yes I do, little brother, yes I do.” he looked back down and pulled out your letter to read. He heard Tommy chuckle and then he put a plate next to Joel with some toast, spread with smashed avocado, and spicy scrambled eggs on top with some hot sauce.

“I’ll put Sarah’s up in her room and then head out. Tell Y/N I said hello again.” he winked before heading up to Sarah’s room to drop off her food and then leave.

Joel just chuckled at Tommy’s last sentence and ate as he read your letter slowly.

He couldn’t wait to get more pictures from you either, he was looking forward to multiple full disposable cameras to process and look through.

He admired how you empathized with his struggles and pain in regard to Sarah’s mom without being too negative about the experience or not calling her a name or saying something awful. She isn’t Joel’s favorite person, but he’ll always respect her as Sarah’s mother and he could tell you felt the same.

He smiled and warmly read over your kind words about his granddad. He thought, ‘He would have loved you. You’re just like my grandma and mom in a lot of ways, and that’s what he said I always needed, a ‘mujer fuerte e independiente’, strong independent woman.’

He chuckled lightly at the reason for your nickname ‘Cricket’, he thought to himself that he couldn’t wait to hopefully see one day when you and he were in bed together after a long day and you do that little thing with your legs. He’d cherish and adore it, always.

He teared up a little when you brought up doing a road trip with Sarah. You always included her in the conversation, hell you made those bracelets and even made her a pair. She was never an afterthought for you, she was continuously included. That’s all he wanted in a partner, someone to not only love and support him but her as well.

He loved your suggestion of a butterfly for the rocking chair and made a mental note to talk to you more about it and get your opinion on what kind of butterfly and how to position it, he wanted to know your opinion of everything it felt like. He loved having someone to turn to like that, he missed having it for so long.

He beamed at the last paragraph where you asked about Skyping, he looked at the time, ‘4:13 pm’, and then did the math in his head, ‘Shit, it's like 2 am where she is.’ Then he remembered Tommy said that you and Maria get up around 5 am.

He got up from the table and ran upstairs to get his laptop and charger, bringing it back downstairs to the table.

He luckily still had Skype installed from when Tommy was deployed or he would have had to ask Sarah how the hell to reinstall it.

He clicked the icon and then looked at your email on the letter and typed it in, ‘Status: Offline’ he read by your name and picture, in which you had a picture of you most likely before the army, you had your hair down and it looked like it was a selfie, Joel instantly snapped a photocopy of it on his phone shyly.

He typed in the chat section, ‘Morning sweetheart, got your letters, would now be a good time for us to Skype? 🙂’ then clicked send.

He took a deep breath and then walked away from the table, starting to clean up the dishes that Tommy had left in the sink, start the laundry with all the dirty clothes from the weekend, and then started gathering stuff to make dinner when he heard a ‘Ding!’ from his laptop.

He looked at the time, “It’s only been an hour, it can’t be…” he said to himself, confused.

He continued to gather ingredients for dinner, brushing it off as a figment of his imagination.

He heard a second ding and perked up, dropping the bag of noodles he had in his hand and ran into the counter, hitting his knee, in the process of rushing back over to the table “Ow fuck…”

He waved the mouse around to wake up the screen when he saw:

Y/N: Evenin’ cowboy❣️

Y/N: Been going mad waiting for you to get my letters. Of course, it’s a good time! 😀

He grinned, bit his bottom lip, grabbed his laptop and charging cord, and ran upstairs into his bedroom, abandoning his plans to make dinner, he’d tell Sarah to order takeout. As if you saw he was online, he saw ‘Incoming call…’ across his screen with your picture. He jumped on the bed and then laid the laptop down in his lap, clicking ‘Accept.’

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A/N: ahhh i am so very sorry for this cliffhanger, ok maybe not, gotta keep you on your toes hahaha !! thank you so much for reading, i literally poured my heart and soul into this chapter and so far, it’s my favorite (don’t tell the other chapters I said that). please don’t forget to like, reblog, comment, and share with fellow pedro/joel lovers! luv you all! <3

Taglist: @sarahhxx03, @blahkateisdone, @sunnytuliptime, @pedroscurls

#joel miller #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel miller series #joel miller smut #joel x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal joel miller #pedrohub #the last of us hbo #the last of us #joel tlou #tlou hbo #joel x y/n #joel x you #withallmylove

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