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mermaidgirl30 · 9 months

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✨Daddy’s Best Friend, Mr. Miller Masterlist✨

dbf! Joel Miller x fem! reader

A/N: Hey, guys! Super excited to kick off my first dbf! Joel series. It was originally going to be a one shot, but after some thought I wanted to write more. As always, comments and reblogs are appreciated. Always like to hear your thoughts ☺️ Joel is a menace in this one! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Summary: After going out with your classmate from graduate school, Mr. Miller doesn’t take so kindly to your date when he sees you out and about with the college jock. Will the older, attractive man you’ve been pining after for years finally give you what you’ve been wanting for so long?

Pairing: dbf! Joel Miller x fem! reader

Rating: Explicit 18+ Only MDNI

Tags: Porn with Plot, dbf! Joel, fingering, oral, unprotected p in v, dirty talk, dom! Joel, (reader is 25, Joel is mid 40’s)

Part 1: Blurring the Lines

Part 2: Secret Glances and Wandering Hands

Part 3: October Surprises and Secrets Slurred

Part 4: Birthday Candles and Rock Concerts

Part 5: Let Me Take You There

Part 6: Hot Tubs and Calloused Fingers

Part 7: Can I Keep You?

Recommended songs for series “Scary Love” and “Daddy Issues” and “A Little Death” by The Neighbourhood

Part 1 Word Count: 13.6k

The warm August air blows your long hair gently as you sit outside Moonlight Bar, letting the Austin city lights shine in the distance. The lighting is low as the dark blue luminescence of the bar surrounds the alcohol on the back shelf and various plants hang above the edges of the bar. The Goo Goo Dolls play softly across the outside speakers as people mingle together at various white wooden tables strewn across the manicured green lawn. It’s a busy night, one of the more popular bars in the area.

You’re sitting with William. One of the boys that’s in one of your law classes at the University of Texas. He wouldn’t leave you alone at school, so you figured you’d appease him and let him take you out on a date.

He isn’t bad looking. He has shaggy blonde hair and bright green eyes. He’s built like a body builder and has a jawline so sharp that it could cut someone. He’s nice and all, but he won’t stop talking about fucking football. You hate football, but you just smile and nod along to what he says. Occasionally rolling your eyes when he isn’t looking at you.

“Did you see the quarterback get slammed at the game last Saturday? Tim took him out hard! I thought he’d never get up!” he says starstruck as he shows you a picture from the game on his phone, slamming back another drink of vodka as he lowers it to the table.

“I already told you I didn’t watch the game,” you say, trying not to sound obnoxious.

“Oh, right. Well, you missed out. It was awesome!” he shouts as the group of people next to you look at William. You internally groan at the embarrassment that’s caked on your face. You need to get up for a few minutes. You’re bored and want to cut the talk on sports.

“I’ll be right back,” you utter as you get up from the barstool.

“Where are you going?” he asks with a hurt expression on his face.

“To the bathroom. I’ll be back in a few minutes, chill,” you say as you put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly and walk away. You roll your eyes at the action and start walking towards the back where the bathrooms are.

William really is a nice guy, he just isn’t the guy for you. You don’t have that much in common, and he’s way too into football. Granted, he did play as an undergrad, but you don’t really care. You want to talk about subjects other than sports, like maybe something you care about. He never makes an effort to ask you about yourself though. He just wants to talk about sports and his gym routine.

What a bore.

He’s a few years older than you. He’s twenty-eight, and you’re twenty-five. Soon to be twenty-six in a couple of months. You always had a thing for older guys. But lately you had your eyes set on someone else. Someone off limits to you which made you want him even more. But it would never happen. You needed to quit telling yourself it would. He’s too old for you, in his mid forties. Which only makes you that much more curious.

You aren’t watching where you’re going as you round the corner of a small crowd and run straight into someone who feels like a thick brick wall.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going and…” You stop mid sentence as you see just who stands in front of you.

Joel Miller. Your dad’s hot best friend, the older man you can’t get out of your head.

“S’alright, sweetheart. Didn’t think I’d run into you here,” he says as he laughs, his smile making his honey brown eyes crinkle up at the corners, making you swoon and melt under his gaze.

God, he’s pretty.

“What are you doing here?” you ask with surprise in your voice.

“Havin’ a drink? It’s the weekend. Gotta relax somehow,” he says with another small smile as his Texas accent comes out thick and low. That melodic southern accent that could put you at ease on any given day.

“Oh, right.” You move a lock of hair behind your ear nervously and you swear he watches you a little too closely as his eyes trail to your neck, keeping his gaze there a little too long.

“You come with anyone tonight?” he asks as he looks around the crowded bar, bringing his focus back to you.

“Yeah. Came with a date tonight. Someone from one of my classes,” you say carefully.

His bottom lip twinges and his jaw clenches just enough for you to notice. His bicep flexes around his forest green plaid shirt as it’s rolled up to his elbows, exposing thick veins that spider all the way down his lower arms as they end in his massive hands. You gulp at the sight of him, of how seriously hot he is.

Was he jealous of William? Surely not…right?

“You be careful tonight. Don’t let him do anything you don’t want to,” he warns with a deep gruff in his voice, staring at you with serious, dark eyes.

“He’s not going to do anything. He’s nice. He’s-”

He cuts you off before you can finish. “Doesn’t matter if he’s nice. He’s a guy. He can change up on you like that.” He snaps his fingers, looking at you intently. “Jus’ be careful, okay?”

Why was he being like this? Protective. He wasn’t your dad. He didn’t need to keep an eye on you. You had it under control.

“I’ll be careful, but you really don’t have to tell me that. You sound just like my dad,” you say as you roll your eyes, annoyed.

“I ain’t your dad, sweetheart. Jus’ tryin’ to look after ya is all. Don’t want ya gettin’ hurt.”

Oh.

“Right. Okay…” you say quietly.

Joel skates his eyes down your body as he takes in the tight black tank top as your cleavage spills out a little too much, going over your short, light blue jean shorts as they barely graze your tan thighs, dragging his eyes down your long legs and ending at your clean, white Converse shoes as he slowly looks back up into your eyes.

You suddenly feel self conscious, like you need to cover up a little more. Not like he hasn’t seen you in short shorts and a tank top before. Hell, he saw you in a slinky bikini last summer at a pool party and the man couldn’t keep his eyes off you.

You wouldn’t lie though, you love when he notices you. When he flicks his eyes over you and lingers just a little too long, making you burn with heat from his intense stare. He’s the one you have wet dreams about, the older man you can’t quite shake from your fantasies. But he’s off limits. Because he’s your father’s best friend. And he would never dare touch his best friend’s daughter…right?

“Well, I’ll let ya get back to it. Don’t wanna keep ya from your date. I’ll be around here if ya need me. Just shoot me a text.”

You nod in reply and make your way over to the bathroom, turning to watch Joel disappear into the crowd somewhere. A sea of green getting lost in the abyss. You sigh and walk into the bathroom, trying to get a hold of yourself.

You had met Joel when you were just eighteen years old. He had just moved into the neighborhood, and your dad made quick friends with him. Pretty soon they were best friends. He was always coming to the house to hang out with your dad, always coming to pool parties or cookouts. He even taught you how to play guitar when you asked. And he was a good teacher, the way his hands slid across yours. Those rough, calloused fingers. You’d do anything to be able to feel those again on your skin.

You wondered how they’d feel on your thighs or even someplace else. Someplace sensitive…

You finish up in the bathroom and make your way back to William. Back to where you belong tonight. You need to stop thinking about Joel. He wasn't the one that was taking you out and never would be. Even if that’s something you want, so badly.

“Oh, you’re back. You missed this great conversation me and this guy had about Jake’s pass last week with the football. It was killer!” he shouts as you settle back into your barstool and get situated.

You roll your eyes and give him a polite smile. You’re so over the football talk. Couldn’t he give it a rest? You take a large drink from your red bull vodka and place it back on the bar top as you chase it down, letting it leave a slight burn in your throat.

When you look back up and turn your head slightly to the left, you almost fall off the barstool as you see Joel sitting across the bar, just on the opposite side. He’s drinking what looks to be a cold glass of whiskey on the rocks as the amber color swirls in the cup.

He takes another sip as he keeps his eyes fixed on you intently, letting his eyes roam up and down your body as a faint snarl edges the side of his mouth as he looks over at William.

Holy shit. He is jealous. You can see it in those dark brown eyes as they slightly narrow at the loud mouthed man that sits next to you as he rambles on about football.

He swirls the short straw around his drink as he eyes you again, this time his gaze relaxing into warmth as a gentle smile plays on his lips. You blush at the brooding man and bite your lip as you look down, unable to keep your focus on the intense dark eyes that are staring at you.

What’s his deal? He never dared tried to flirt with you before. Not like this. At least not around your dad. You always felt that invisible line get drawn at times though. Like last summer when you were in a tight, short dress, about to go out with some friends for the night. You felt his eyes burn through you as he stared at your thighs as he glazed over your toned, tanned body. You could feel it in the room how thick the tension was. But he didn’t dare cross that line. Not while he was in the presence of your father.

Joel’s a good guy. He’d never do anything to disrespect or hurt you. He’s kind and caring, always willing to help you out when you need it. Like with your projects or guitar. Or that time when he picked you up when your car got stuck in the snow and drove you all the way back home in the middle of an ice storm.

He’s special. One of a kind. You just don’t understand why he’s still single when he’s drop dead gorgeous. And his curls.

God, his curls. The way his thick, tousled hair curls at the edges as grey streaks line his dark hair. And his beard. That thick, scruffy salt and pepper beard that you want to graze your fingers across in a flirtatious manner. Thinking of how good his lips might feel on yours. How soft and velvety they must be…

You snap out of it as William tries talking to you again. You avert your eyes from Joel and put your attention on the guy that sits next to you.

“Did you finish the paper yet from Mr. Lawrence’s class yet?” he asks as he takes a sip of his vodka drink.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been done for a few days now. Wanted to knock it out before more work got piled on,” you reply nonchalantly.

“Cool. I still got a ways to go. But anyways, you wanna go to the football game next weekend? Our team’s playing here. Thought you’d want to maybe go with me?” he asks with raised eyebrows and green eyes that search yours, hoping for a yes to come from your lips.

That was a hard pass. “Sorry, I already have plans that day,” you lie, trying to sound apologetic to soothe his hopefulness.

“That’s fine. There will be other games.”

You roll your eyes as you internally groan. You’re bored and you don’t want to be sitting here with him anymore. You need someone that isn’t boring. Someone that’s older, much older. Someone with pretty brown eyes and thick arms covered in plaid…

You look up from your long, thick lashes and meet Joel’s stare again as it sears through your skull. His gaze is so intense that it stirs something low in your stomach that feels a lot like heat.

This was bad. Really bad.

You squeeze your legs shut and put out the growing fire, dropping your gaze again so you won’t be tempted to be pulled back into the flames.

William puts a hand on your thigh and leans into you as you catch a whiff of his strong vodka drink on his breath. Joel looks like he could break the glass right under his fingertips the way he’s holding the cup.

Oh, he’s mad. But why? It’s not like he was supposed to take you out. He’s your fucking father’s best friend for God’s sake. You need to get out of the sick delusion that Joel actually likes you more than his best friend’s daughter. He’s only trying to be nice, protective. He’s only looking out for you because that’s what he should be doing, for your dad.

But then why is he looking at you like that? Like he wants to eat you alive and wants to snap the neck of your god awful date.

“You okay if I do this?” William asks as he rakes his teeth over your neck roughly. Nothing is sexy about it. It hurts and his teeth are sharp, and his breath smells horrible. He puts his hand back on your thigh and squeezes as his nails dig into your skin in an extremely uncomfortable way. You wince at his actions.

“William, no. We’re in public. I don’t think-”

Before you can finish your sentence, Joel’s on him in a second, pulling him away from your body as he yanks him out of his seat. Your breath catches at the way Joel is seething and breathing hard as he glares at William with daggers in his dark eyes.

“Don’t think she wants ya doin’ that,” he snarls as venom shoots from his tongue.

“Who the fuck are you to touch me and pull me from my woman?” he yells at Joel as his nostrils flare and his green eyes turn to tiny slits.

“She ain’t your woman,” Joel scoffs, clearly annoyed at the younger, less mature male.

“Oh, and who are you? You her keeper or something?” he asks angrily.

“Somethin’ like that,” he replies, his voice clipped.

Your eyes widen at the statement. Was he marking his territory? He had to be. Or maybe he was just being protective, helping out his best friend to keep his daughter safe. Maybe it didn’t mean anything.

Or maybe it did. You can’t tell one way or the other. Your mind’s a blur.

William rolls his eyes and looks over at you. “You want to get out of here? Come on, I’ll-”

You stop him before he can finish that sentence. “No.”

He goes livid as his green eyes turn to murky swamp water. “No? Are you fucking serious?” he asks with shocked words.

“The lady said no,” Joel states firmly as he steps in front of you, blocking William’s view.

“Baby, come on. Let’s go,” William demands, holding out his hand for you to take.

“I’m not yours…” you reply quietly.

“Fine! You can walk home then, bitch,” he says with clenched teeth and a hard line across his forehead.

“Watch how you fuckin’ talk to her,” Joel growls as he pushes William up against the bar table, making the rest of his vodka spill as it lands in a heap on the floor along with the mixed in broken glass.

“You really want to go there? Because I’ll tear you apart,” William yells.

“Go on then. Try.” Joel bares his teeth and flexes his hand into a tight fist.

You can’t let them fight. You won’t let Joel get hurt, even if he can take on William. What would your dad say?

You quickly intercept and step in between them. You put your hands on Joel’s broad chest and try to push him back. “Joel, stop. He’s not worth it.”

Joel clenches his jaw and stares hard at William, about to put a fist in his face. You put your hand over his tight fist and beg him to stop. “Please.”

Joel’s fist relaxes as he looks down at you, his brown eyes softening just the slightest as he focuses on you. Butterflies were swimming through your stomach at the heat that was between the two of you. You had never been this close to Joel. You were only inches from his mouth, so close that you could reach out and brush your lips over his. So very close…

William rips you away from your thoughts as you hear him grab his keys and turn sharply your way. “Have it your way. Enjoy the old man’s company. I’m out of here.” He storms away from the bar in a hurry, leaving you and Joel alone. Together.

You suddenly realize you’re still leaning against his chest, your hand still planted firmly on his. You drop your hand and back away from his space as you rake a hand through your soft curls.

“Thanks for that. You didn’t have to,” you say nervously, your voice cracking at the thank you.

“Save it, darlin’. I could already tell you weren’t havin’ a good time, and then he put his hands all over you. Greedy bastard.” He bares his teeth as he clenches his jaw.

Greedy bastard? Well, goddamn. He does like you. He had to. Otherwise he wouldn’t be talking to you like this. Right?

“Oh uhh, yeah…” You don’t really know what to say to that. And the way he’s flaring his nostrils is making you have heart palpitations. He had never looked that mad before. At least not over you.

“You want a drink? It’s on me,” he says as he tilts his head toward the bar.

“Yeah, sure,” you reply, trying not to act like you’re flipping circles inside.

“C’mon then.” He walks you to the bar and pulls out a barstool for you as you sit down. He takes a seat next to you, gently brushing his thigh against yours as he gets into place. You can’t help but gasp a little at the touch. It feels electric.

The young, red head bartender comes over and asks for your drink orders. “Hi, guys. What’ll it be tonight?”

Joel looks over at you and raises an eyebrow, looking you over slowly as if he’s trying to figure it out. It makes chills run down your spine. “Let me guess. Malibu sunset?”

He never gets it wrong. He knows your drink of choice like the back of his own hand. It was that slight attention he always gave you that did it for you. He was always listening, always so attentive when you spoke. He knew you so well it was almost scary. No other man had paid that much attention to you, nonetheless listened to you ramble about your likes and dislikes. But Joel always did.

“You remembered?” you ask with a faint smile.

“‘Course, darlin’. How could I forget?”

You slightly blush and place your arms on the bar top as you lean on it, trying to calm yourself down. He orders his usual whiskey on the rocks, his drink of choice. A scent that you can sometimes smell on his breath when he’s sitting close to you like now. Something you want to taste on his tongue. But that’s only a daydream. That would never happen. Right?

“So, how’s school going this semester?” he asks as he turns towards you, placing one of his arms on the bar top as his plaid shirt squeezes around his flexed bicep, making you uncomfortably hot just looking at his massive arms.

“It’s going well. I mean, it’s hard. Really hard, but I’m managing. I can’t tell you how many papers I’ve had to write already, but I seem to be doing something right because I have straight A’s,” you beam.

“Straight A’s huh? You always were a sharp thing.” He’s looking at you with those deep honey eyes, gently smiling as he admires you. A sight that makes you weak at the knees as you stare at his perfect dimples.

And those eyes. God, those pretty brown eyes. You want to drown in them. Let them grab hold of you as they drag you deeper and deeper until you suffocate under the weight of them.

“Actually, I’m at the top of my class,” you brag, nonchalantly.

Joel lets out a low whistle as he leans back in awe, giving you a once over. “‘Course you are, darlin’. Such a smart girl…” he whispers low and deep, making you bite your lower lip slowly.

There it was. That tension in the air. The way he’s looking at you makes you feel like you’re the only girl in the room. That deep smolder that puts dangerous daydreams in your mind. Hot, sticky daydreams…

The bartender breaks the tension as he sets the drinks down in front of you and walks back off without so much as a “let me know if you need anything else” line. He just walks away and helps some loud couple on the other side of the bar.

You swirl the straw around your yellow, pineapple drink and take a sip, letting the tropical taste run down your throat. It’s sweet and delicious, just how you like it.

Joel picks up his whiskey glass and takes a generous gulp. You watch as the rim of the glass kisses his lips, how he takes his tongue and runs it over the bottom of his lips, how he holds the glass tightly as the amber liquid clinks against the ice. You never wanted to be a glass as bad as you did now.

You bite your lip slowly as he puts the glass down and wipes his bottom lip with his thumb as he slowly grazes it over his lip. It’s slow, seductive, the hottest thing you had ever seen. You want to know just how soft those lips are, how good he tastes, how his calloused fingers would feel on your skin…

You shake your head and free the dirty thoughts from your mind. He’s your father’s best friend! This couldn’t happen. Ever. But fuck did you want it to. You never wanted anything as bad as this in your whole entire life. He was just so…perfect.

Last summer when your family had a party at the lake house, your friends all whispered how hot Joel was in his tight grey t-shirt and swim trunks. They’d say how built he was, how he must be great in bed, and they had called him the hottest dilf they’d ever seen. Of course they were right, but you were jealous of them. Because you wanted to be the only one that had eyes for him. You wanted him. Period. Even if he was strictly off limits.

He sits the glass down on the smooth bar top and turns back around, putting his full attention on you. “You uhhh, been seein’ anyone besides that handsy asshole lately?” he asks with darker eyes, a hint of anger on the tip of his tongue as his eyebrows furrow together.

There it was. That jealousy swirling off his tongue. Or overprotectiveness. Or possibly both. You couldn’t tell which it was.

“No, not really. Haven’t been dating much lately,” you say quietly.

“How come?” He’s curious. His eyebrows raise and he focuses intently on you, leaning in just a tad bit closer so he can hear you over the noisy crowd.

“Guess I just haven’t been interested in anyone,” you shrug, blowing it off like it isn’t a big deal, but apparently it is to him.

“Oh, but I’m sure guys are always askin’ ya out. A pretty thing like you, surely. Bet all their eyes are on ya.”

A pretty thing like you? The man just called you pretty. You swear you see stars in your eyes. The room feels dizzy as you take another drink, trying to calm your racing thoughts.

“I mean, not really,” you shake your head disagreeing.

“I don’t really believe that, you’re gorgeous. They’re missin’ out on a great girl. Just give it time. You’ll find someone worth your while.” He takes another sip of whiskey and looks at you from the corner of his eye, keeping those brown eyes only on you.

A great girl? Gorgeous?! You can’t help but feel a little disappointed when he says that you’ll find someone worth your while. You don’t want to find just someone, you want him and only him. That’s what you really want. But you need to stop mixing reality with fantasy. Joel would never let that happen. He wouldn’t disrespect your father like that or would he? You hoped he would.

“Have you finished my guitar yet?” you ask all of a sudden excited to see it. Joel was customizing your acoustic guitar and carving sunflowers into the wood. You’d asked him if he could do it because his woodwork was exceptional and you only wanted your guitar in the best hands. He said yes automatically, giving it no thought.

“I am. Just want to polish it up and then she’s all yours,” he says proudly, his smile crinkling up the edges of his mouth, exposing his adorable dimples that you love.

“Can I come see it?” you ask, almost begging with your eyes.

“Tonight?” he asks, hesitating just a bit with his voice.

“I mean, unless you have other plans,” you say, shrugging your shoulders slightly. He looks at you with a serious gaze in his eyes, and you notice his hand on his thigh slowly flex like he’s in deep thought.

Why was he hesitating? He had never hesitated around you before. But also, you’d never really been alone with him before. He’d occasionally picked you up a couple times or you’d be alone with him in the room for a few minutes at your house while your dad was grabbing something, but not in his house. Not alone, just the two of you.

He finally speaks as he runs a hand through his tousled curls, watching as they fall back into place perfectly. “No, don’t have any other plans. So, yeah. You’re welcome to come see it. I’ll have you try it out, see how you like it.”

“Maybe you can give me another lesson? It’s been awhile. You’re a great guitar teacher, best I ever had,” you smile at him, just on the edge of being flirtatious and drawing that thin line that you were about to cross.

“That so, darlin’?” he smirks, giving you butterflies in the pit of your stomach.

“Mhm,” you hum, taking another sip of your fruity drink.

“Well, glad to hear it. And we’ll see,” he says in a low voice.

He finishes up his whiskey and waits patiently for you to finish off your drink. As soon as you’re done, he pays for the drinks as the bartender takes up the tab.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asks as he stands up, pulling out his barstool.

“More than ready,” you respond as you get up and pull your denim shorts down. Joel’s eyes wander down to your tan thighs, and you swear you see that smoldering stare burning in his eyes return as he takes in the sight of your long legs. His gaze stays a few seconds too long as he quickly looks back up into your eyes, trying to play it off as he runs a hand through his thick curls slowly.

A low heat starts in your core, and you have to squeeze your legs together to ease the tension that was there. You’re already wet from seeing how your long legs affected him.

Fuck. You wanted him. Bad.

“Alright, c’mon then. Truck’s this way.” He leads you out of the busy bar as you wind your way through the crowd of people. He puts his hand on the small of your back, and you almost jolt at the action. He’d never done that before. But it feels…good. And you want his hand to continue to stay there, burning all the way down to your skin.

When you get out to the white Chevy, he unlocks the doors and then you climb into the front passenger seat. It’s nice and clean in here and smells like him. That woodsy pine smell that you love just lingering in the air. It makes you a little dizzy.

After he buckles his seatbelt, he puts the key in the ignition and then the truck rumbles lightly, the engine roaring to life. Ghost plays softly on the radio as the volume is turned low. You played Joel one of their songs a while ago and then he got hooked on them. You had to applaud yourself for getting him into your taste of music. Maybe one of these days he’d take you to their concert.

“I see you’re still listening to Ghost?” you ask with raised brows as you look over at him, laughing. He’s holding the steering wheel tight as he drives down the busy city streets, paying close attention to where he’s going.

“‘Course. Can’t believe you got me into them,” he says as he shakes his head, a gentle smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

“Well, you can’t deny they’re good. I mean, come on. Tobias is a musical genius,” you go on, getting lost in the song that’s playing on the speakers.

“No, you’re right. He’s good. Wouldn’t mind seein’ them if they ever decided to come to Austin,” he replies as he turns a corner, rotating the steering wheel sharp as his large hands grip around the leather. You watch the way his knuckles grasp the steering wheel strongly, wishing you could feel those hands on your body instead.

“Would you take me?” you ask quietly, blurring the lines of a boundary you shouldn’t cross.

His jaw slightly flexes as he flicks his eyes over to you. “If you’d wanna go, I’d take ya.” He looks back at the road before you respond.

“Really?” you ask shocked, not expecting that answer.

“Mhm. Might be fun,” he hums.

You sit back in your seat and smile out your passenger side window triumphantly as you watch the glow of the evening city lights pass by in a blur. This was nice. Having a little alone time with Joel. You didn’t think it’d go anywhere, but you were still glad you were here. With him.

Ghost’s song “Spillways” comes on next, and your eyes go wide as you jolt forward, reaching for the volume so you can turn it up. “I love this song!” you say excitedly.

You guess Joel had the same idea because he ends up reaching for the volume too. Your hand connects with his as he brushes against the top of yours. You gasp at the contact of his rough hand and quickly pull it away.

When Joel drops his hand, it connects with a plastic water bottle in the cup holder and sends it over the edge, tumbling down your way. He quickly reaches out to catch it, but he misses as it goes spiraling to the floorboard. Instead, his hand lands right on top of your thigh as his calloused fingers connect with your smooth skin.

Your eyes go wide as you hold in a breath. His hand feels so good. Both rough and soft at the same time, somehow the two intermingling with each other. His fingers gently curl against the edge of your thigh, lingering there a few seconds too long until he quickly grabs his hand away, bringing it back to the steering wheel hurriedly like his hand is on fire.

“Shit. Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t mean to, well. Put my hand on ya,” he says hurriedly, apologizing in a quick breath.

“It’s okay…” you say slowly, still catching your breath from what just happened.

He lets out a drawn sigh as he takes his right hand and runs it through his tousled curls, looking like he’s in pain or fighting off something deep in his mind. He slowly brings his hand back down and barely grazes the steering wheel. He slowly flexes and extends his hand, the same hand he touched you with. It’s like he just pulled his hand from boiling water, like your thigh ignited something in him. Something hot and tempting…

He brings his hand up and rakes it through his scruff, his eyes in deep thought as his eyebrows furrow together. That touch to your thigh definitely affected him. You can clearly see that. You want to test the waters and bring his hand back down to your burning thigh. Let him trail his fingers up and down your inner thigh as they tease you, as they send slick down your center…

He sighs again before speaking. “Maybe I should just take ya home,” he says undecidedly, his voice right on the edge of shakiness.

Back home? Without going to his house first? No, no, you wouldn’t let that happen. This was your chance. Your one chance to test just where this would go. And you would not go back home without at least trying your luck.

“No,” you say a little too loud, a little too demanding.

“No?” he asks, one eyebrow raised in question at the harsh words that came out of your mouth.

“I mean…I just really want to see my guitar. Please?” you beg with a pleading voice, batting your eyelashes with the most innocent expression you can muster up.

Joel does a double take at you with his hand over his mouth, deciding if he should take you home or not, and then he nods in agreement. “Alright, alright. You can come see it,” he sighs.

Yes! You were screaming in silent victory at the win. You had him eating out of the palm of your hand. You just had to play it cool and not get pushy. If he wanted to make a move, then he’d be the one to do it. You wouldn’t push him. The next steps were all on him.

He was driving with one hand now as he leaned on the driver’s side window with his elbow, his hand gently resting under his jaw. He seemed to be lost in thought about something, his eyes pierced with attention on the road. And then it was silent except for the faint hum of the stereo. An uncomfortable silence you’d rather not sit in, so you decide to start up a conversation.

“So, how’s work going?” you ask, hoping it’ll break him of whatever intense trance he’s under.

“Busy, like usual. Got a few clients in this week, so my employees have been busy with those new projects. Have to say that I’ve been a little overwhelmed lately. Been workin’ late a lot. I feel bad cause a lot of the time I come home, Sarah’s already asleep. So I’ve been missin’ time with her. But I just hired a few more employees, so I’m hopin’ I’ll finally work some normal hours and not a ton of overtime like I have been.” He huffs out in annoyance, his forehead creasing into wrinkles as he rakes a hand over his mouth.

Poor Joel. He looks so frustrated, tired even. You slowly reach a hand out and sit it on his shoulder to show your understanding. “Hey, I’m sure Sarah understands. And I’m sorry you’ve been overworked. Hopefully things lighten up and you can get more time at home. I’m sure you’re exhausted. Especially with taking on side projects with my guitar. If I would’ve known, I wouldn’t have asked you,” you say in an apologetic voice, slowly bringing your hand back down to rest in your lap.

“No, it’s okay. I wanted to do that for ya. It’s no problem. I enjoyed working on it. And thank you, for the kind words. You always know just what to say to calm me down.” He looks over at you and gives you a small smile, nodding his head in a thank you.

“Oh, okay. And I try,” you say as you swallow.

You watch him turn on Waterlake Drive as he pulls into your neighborhood. Except you aren’t going home. Not yet anyways. You’re going to his house.

You pass your street and drive four blocks down as you turn on the dimly lit road. Houses aren’t right next to each other as each house has a big yard and their own privacy. Joel turns into his wide driveway and stops the truck, putting it into park.

Joel’s house is a big two story house that has a wraparound porch on the outside with blue shutters on the arched windows. There are two wooden rocking chairs that sit on the porch, and the yard is covered in towering oak trees. It’s a really pretty house, one that’s too big for only two people, but he fills up the space with all his projects that are lying around just waiting for him to finish.

You get out of the truck and slam the white door shut as you hear the beeping noise of Joel locking the truck. He takes out his keys and places the golden house key in the lock as he turns and opens the door.

“C’mon in,” he says as he opens the door for you, waiting for you to pass through.

You step through and make your way down the polished dark, wooden floors. Pictures of Joel and Sarah hang all along the staircase as you pass right by, heading for the living room.

The living room’s done up in tall white walls with pictures of Lake Texoma and wildlife sprawled across the side walls. A huge 70-inch flat screen sits mounted on the middle of the wall and a big cream colored couch sits in the middle of the room with a couple of leather recliners sitting a few feet apart from each other. A small, wooden side table with a luminous lamp sits next to the couch as it shines light throughout the room. And a tall, glass cabinet sits in the corner of the room that’s full of old Rock and Roll albums that both Joel and Sarah collect. It’s really homey, peaceful. You liked coming over here, even though you have only been a couple of times.

“Where’s Sarah at?” you ask, looking around the quiet house.

“She ain’t here. She’s at a friend’s for the weekend,” he responds as he walks back in from the open kitchen.

Oh. So you were all alone with him. In his house.

Fuck.

“Well, have a seat and I’ll go grab your guitar,” Joel says as he exits the room.

You take a seat in the middle of the couch and try to relax, but you’re still flustered from Joel putting his hand on your thigh. It was probably just an accident. You were probably just blowing it all out of proportion, so you needed to calm the hell down. But you’re all alone with him, and that makes heat build in the pit of your stomach.

After a couple of minutes in silence, Joel comes back into the room with your guitar in his hands. He has it flipped to where you can’t see the front of it, keeping it a surprise for you.

“Alright, here it is. Why don’t you take a look.” He flips it around to where you can see it, and you gasp at how stunning it is.

The solid, light spruce guitar looks as if it’s shining. The strings are completely redone, and the narrow neck and body look like they have been resanded to perfection. But what catches your eye the most is the gorgeous, carved etchings in the acoustic guitar that makes patterns of sunflowers all over the bottom half of the guitar. Gold, pink, and orange fill in the flowers and a single hand painted purple butterfly sits at the top, along with a few sparkly swirls around the edges that are all sorts of bright colors.

You walk over to him and place your hand on the guitar, gently running your hand over the smooth etchings of the designs he had made for you.

Holy shit. It was incredible, the most beautiful guitar you had ever seen in your entire life.

Your mouth is agape and your eyes are wide as you take in the beauty that sits in his hands, just waiting for you to play. “Joel…I don’t even know what to say. It’s beautiful. How did you…” You’re completely speechless. You don’t know what to say.

“You like it?” he asks with a hopeful smile, his brown eyes trained on you.

“Like it? I love it!” you shout in glee.

“Good, that’s good. Glad ya do.” He says as he runs a hand through his tousled curls as one stray curl falls over his face.

God, what you would give to run your hands through those smooth curls. You could get lost in them for hours.

“Here, why don’t ya try it out?” he asks as he hands the guitar to you. You gently take the smooth guitar in your hands and walk over to the couch as you sit in the middle, right on the edge. You strum the cords as it’s perfectly tuned. Joel must’ve tuned it for you. That man was so thoughtful, you just couldn’t get enough of him.

“You remember that song I taught you?” he asks as he comes around the couch and stands a few feet away, looking at you as if he’s waiting on something.

“You mean that Nirvana song?” you ask, not exactly recalling the entire song.

“Yeah. Something In the Way. You remember it?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Umm, I think so. It’s been awhile since I played,” you reply honestly.

“Well, go on and try it. I can help ya if you get lost.”

“Right. Okay. Let me see if I remember,” you say as your voice trails off. You get your hands in position and take a deep breath as you line your fingers up just right. You start the song off slow, trying to recall all the notes to play.

You start off strong as you remember the beginning. Joel’s nodding his head in the corner as he watches you, keeping an eye on your fingers as you play. The more he watches you, the more you get nervous. You start to fumble your fingers and mess up the cords as the wrong tune comes out. You’re getting frustrated with yourself that you’re letting your dad’s best friend get you this flustered. It wasn’t fair. What was wrong with you?

“Shit,” you say with a frustrated sigh as you mess up the cords again. You scrunch your brows together and curse under your breath.

“Hey, it’s okay. You just messed up the bridge of the song. Let me show you.” He comes to sit on the couch beside you, so close that his thigh connects with yours as his muscles hug his jeans to him.

He places his left hand on yours as he positions your fingers exactly where they need to be. You bite your lip as his calloused fingers connect with yours, his thick fingers gently guiding you through the bridge. You can’t focus with him this close. He smells like whiskey and pines, a woodsy scent that’s clinging itself to you, making you dizzy from the smell.

You mess up again as you lose focus, only thinking of how good he smells and how delicious he’d taste. You’re starving for him. A hungry lioness that wants to devour her prey. And that prey is Joel.

Your right hand forgets to strum, and you mess up the entire song.

Christ. Get a hold of yourself!

“Sorry, I haven’t practiced in a few weeks. I thought I’d at least remember the entire song. It wasn’t that long ago that I was playing it,” you sigh disheartened.

“You’re doin’ fine, sweetheart. You want me to refresh ya on the song?” he says with deep brown eyes staring you down in question.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” you reply with a more upbeat tone.

“C’mere then.” He scoots his body to the back of the couch and spreads his legs as he grabs your waist and pulls you to him, sitting you down right in between his legs, right against his broad chest. His arms circle you as his hands come down on top of yours, covering them with his calloused fingers burning into yours as he positions them on the strings.

You gasp at the position you’re in. Joel had never taught you like this. Being this close, practically in his lap.

Fuck.

“You wanna go over to C and play these cords together.” He takes your fingers and strums them along the neck of the guitar, guiding your right hand to play some different notes. He takes you through the entire song slowly as he guides your fingers through every note.

“Alright, that’s good. There ya go. A little slower, right there. Good,” he murmurs as his deep breath rumbles from his chest, sending vibrations through your back.

His instructions were always so clear, so crisp as he languidly guides you with his rough hands. He was an excellent teacher, the best you’d ever had. Always so careful, so pristine, so diligent, so attentive…

His hot breath is blowing down your neck as he leans over your shoulder, his lips so painstakingly close to your skin that he could lean over and drag his lips over your neck. He scoots his hips up as he comes closer to you, so close that your back is crushed against his broad chest and his biceps are caging you in as you hold the guitar. His thighs are right up against yours as they gently squeeze your legs, making your breathing pick up at how close he is now.

He’s practically suffocating you with his tight abs and woodsy scent, letting the whiskey get you drunk from his breath breathing down your neck. It’s almost insufferable at how worked up you’re getting over him. You’re agitated, sexually frustrated at how fucking much you want to jump in his lap and pull his lips down to yours. Let him get you drunk off his whiskey taste as his tongue explores your mouth thoroughly.

He dismantles his hands from yours and coaxes you to keep going with a gentle, steady voice. “Now, you try by yourself. See if you can play it back to me.” He lets his hands fall to the sides of the couch as he stays in place, your body tucked into his tightly.

“You want me to play it myself?” you ask with hesitation in your voice.

“Mhm. Go on now. Play it for me,” he repeats.

You take a deep breath and get your hands in place, focusing on the cords. You slowly start playing the Nirvana song as the guitar strums to life. You’re getting the hang of it, finally remembering the right cords to play.

As you get further in the song, Joel sits up straighter and leans forward, his hands moving to his jeans and his lips almost brushing your neck. You keep playing, trying not to get distracted by the handsome man that sits behind you.

You’re closing in on the end of the song, just about a minute more left and then Joel interrupts your concentration. “That’s really good, darlin’. Nice and steady. You’re a fast learner. Think I could teach ya harder, more complicated songs in no time,” he replies with a low voice, making you break your train of focus.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” you ask quietly as you continue strumming along lightly, barely picking at the cords.

“Metallica, Bullet for My Valentine, Ghost, all those bands you like,” he lulls as he presses further into you, his lips dangerously close to your skin. You can feel his breath hit your collarbone. That hot, sweltering breath that you want to bask in, burn in.

“I’d like that,” you purr.

“Yeah?” he asks, digging one of his hands into the material of his jeans like he was trying to control himself.

“Yeah,” you reply, still faintly playing the guitar.

Without warning, he lifts his left hand and moves your long, beachy curls out of the way, sweeping them over your left shoulder so he has access to your neck.

He gently slides his nose up the right side of your neck, stopping right before he gets to your earlobe as he breathes in deep. “You smell like citrus and vanilla,” he groans in a deep voice as he moves his right hand to your thigh, resting it gently on the top of it.

Your eyes go wide as his fingers trail up your leg, slowly inching their way to your inner thigh as his fingers flex, running his nails up and down in steady strides, his hand ending just at the cutoff of the denim material, so close that he could lift the edges and dive his hand into darker, wetter regions.

His calloused fingers slowly flex and extend as he gently runs his fingers over your skin, making you want to come absolutely undone right there on the couch. His lips graze your skin as they trail down your neck, barely skimming the surface as you feel just how soft his lips really are. They feel magnetic as he teases you with his lips, not yet fully giving in.

You’re still playing the song, just a few seconds left before it’s over. “Doin’ so good, darlin’. Such a good little guitar player,” he purrs as his lips make contact with your skin, his mouth gently brushing up the side of your neck as you feel him sink down into you, hitting that sensitive spot that drives you crazy.

Fuck.

A wave of slick pools at your center as you squeeze your legs together, a breathless moan getting stuck in your throat. You stop playing, not able to concentrate any longer. Not when his mouth is on your neck and his fingers are pressed against your inner thigh.

“Joel,” you press, your voice coming out as clipped and desperate.

His fingers trail up to the waistband of your jean shorts as he dances his fingers up and down the denim, teasing you like he knows what he’s doing because he does know. He knows damn well what it’s doing to you. He’s working you up nice and slow. Starting that low burn in your stomach as it spreads to your center, down your thighs.

“You tell me to stop and I’ll stop,” he says in a deep, husky voice as he kisss your neck again, his fingers slowly unbuttoning the top button on your jean shorts.

Suddenly the room is too hot, the tension too thick in the air. Your breath is coming in and out like you’re about to hyperventilate and your skin is scorching at his touch. You feel your spine tingling as he grazes his lips against your jawline, his fingers slowly unzipping your shorts, getting ready to take them off.

“Don’t stop, please,” you beg as you move your hips up, slowly setting the guitar to the side as you put your hands on his knees, holding on for dear life.

“Don’t want me to stop? Want me to keep goin’? Want me to show you how else I can use my fingers?” he asks seductively, his voice low as you listen to that melodic tone.

“Yes, please. Show me,” you plead as you bite your lip in anticipation.

“Alright, I’ll show ya. Just ‘cause you asked nicely,” he says as he unzips the zipper all the way and pushes the shorts down your legs, letting them drop to the floor as he trails his fingers up and down your inner thighs, letting you squirm against him as you can’t stand the anticipation any longer.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this. How long I’ve had my eyes on you, you pretty thing,” he groans as he ghosts his hand over your center, lightly tugging at your waistband as he slowly lifts the pink lace up, sticking his thumb inside as it trails across the top, not quite yet to your dripping center where you need him the most.

“And those legs. God, those long, tan legs. So soft, so perfect,” he purrs as he trails his left hand up your thigh, letting his finger gently slide down your clothed center as it causes a hiss to come from your mouth.

“You want this?” he asks as he sinks his right hand lower, finding your slick folds as he barely puts pressure on them.

“Oh, fuck. Yes,” you groan out as you try to spread your legs further apart, your center desperate for some relief.

“Mmmm, thought so,” he murmurs, a thick, heavy breath coming from his throat.

He puts more pressure on your center and spreads your folds as he circles you slowly. You can hear the sloshing and sticky noises from your wetness and it’s making you so much more turned on, making you feral for his touch.

“Goddamn, you’re wet, darlin’. All this for me?” he asks with a smirk as he uses his other hand to slowly slide your ruined underwear to the floor, leaving you completely bare on the bottom.

He takes a good look at you as he spreads your legs over his thighs and opens you wider, exposing your dripping cunt that’s at complete mercy to Joel’s hands.

“Fuck, you’re pretty, baby,” he growls as he runs his hands up further and catches your clit as he puts more pressure into it. Circling nice and slow, building up that arousal and heat that threatens to make you come undone in just a matter of time.

“Oh, God,” you moan as you grip his thighs and dig your fingers into his jeans as you lean your back into him, his lips skimming down your jaw as he works at your clit meticulously. Feeding your arousal that’s pooling all around you as another wave of slick washes down your thighs.

“That’s it, darlin’. Gonna show ya exactly how a man should get a woman off. Want you to scream my name by the time I have you comin’. Gonna show you just how good your daddy’s best friend can finger fuck you,” he growls, a low guttural sound coming from deep in his throat. It’s primal and territorial. He’s claiming what’s his. And it’s you. And it’s hot as hell.

You let out a breathy moan as he plunges two fingers into your dripping cunt as he works hard and fast at sliding his fingers in and out of you. Up and down, back and forth as the sounds of slick and wet fingers connect, causing you to buck up your hips at the building sensation. You’re already so close and you can’t take much more. It’s too much. He’s too much.

He presss a hand down on your hips and clicks his tongue, locking you in with his grip so you’re unable to move. “You stay in place, sweetheart. I’m not lettin’ you get away just yet. You’re so close, I can feel it. The way you’re arching your back and tightening your pretty cunt around my fingers. You’re almost there, and I’m gonna make you come hard, understand?” he asks in a low, raspy voice as you feel his bulging erection growing in his jeans as you push back against it.

“Yes. Please, Joel,” you beg as you lay your head against his shoulder, looking up at the now blown out black pits of his eyes as he stares down at you with a devilish smirk on his face.

“Please what?” he smiles down, his smirk playing across the side of his mouth, making him look handsome as hell.

“Make me come,” you whisper out of breath.

“That’s all you had to say, sweetheart.”

He takes his thumb and presses down on the most sensitive spot of your clit as his index and middle fingers work at your insides, pumping in and out as the wet, sloshing noises get louder.

Your legs start to shake as he circles and circles your clit, rubbing faster and harder as your breathing picks up and a hot, burning sensation is right at the edge of spilling over. The room gets heavier and thicker as the gasping moans and heat intertwine together, making a muggy room of desire and seduction.

Your legs are shaking so much that Joel has to hook your right leg under his as his left hand holds your other one down. He’s going to make you ride out this orgasm whether you can handle it or not. The sensation is overbearing as you feel your walls start to spasm as they squeeze around his thick fingers that pump in and out of you.

“Joel, I can’t…I’m so…I’m almost…” you moan in quick, shaky breaths. Barely able to hang on any longer.

“C’mon, baby. Let go. That’s it. Want you to be a good girl and come on my fingers. Come on, almost there,” he coaxes as he speeds up his fingers and plunges deep into the spongy spot of your walls, pressing firmly on your clit in just the right spot.

You feel your insides clench up one more time around his fingers as white, hot heat fills your entire body and then your walls go slack as you feel yourself release hot liquid all over his fingers. You let your eyes roll back as you moan his name loud as the liquid continues to drip down your center and covers the inside of your thighs.

“There ya go. Such a good girl,” he purrs, his eyes bleeding into yours as you struggle to keep your eyes open.

It’s like you’re hypnotized, in a daze the way your body feels like it’s floating as Joel works you through your intense orgasm, his fingers slowly fucking up inside you as he makes sure he gets every drop of slick inside you that he can.

He takes his other arm and gently runs it up and down your thigh, easing you from your orgasm as you slowly come back to earth. He gently uncurls his fingers from inside you and brings them up to his mouth, lapping up the slick on his fingers as your eyes go wide at the provocative action. He gently runs his other hand down your arm in a comforting way and then slowly unlatches your legs from his grip.

“That was incredible…” you express with blown out pupils, your heart racing a thousand miles per hour as you sink all your weight into his chest.

Joel laughs as he pulls you into his lap and caresses your cheek, slowly pushing a strand of hair behind your ear in an affectionate way. He was being so careful with you, so gentle. You felt so safe and secure in his strong arms. It was nothing like you’d felt before with a man. Joel was one of a kind.

“Glad I could make ya feel good,” he laughs as a gentle smile curls up at his lips, his dark eyes hovering over you as his lips are just inches from yours. You want to taste them, see how good they feel on yours.

“I didn’t think…I didn’t know you were into me,” you answer quietly as you stare up at him, waiting for a reply.

He furrows his eyebrows and flexes his jaw before he speaks. “Sweetheart, I’ve liked you for quite some time now. Just didn’t know how to go about it with your dad being my best friend and all.” He sighs and lets his head drop back against the couch as he takes you with him. He rakes a hand through his messy curls and looks back up at you with another sigh. “Your father would kill me if he knew I just finger fucked his daughter.”

“He doesn’t have to know. It’s our own little secret,” you snicker as you lean your head on his chest. “Joel, I’ve liked you a long time. A very long time. I just thought you were off limits.” You shrug as you relax back into him as his arms pull you in and keep you warm.

“I mean technically I should be off limits, but…” He trails off and doesn’t finish his sentence as his eyes are in a far away place.

“But what?” You shake him out of his trance as he comes back down to reality.

“But…I can’t leave you alone now. Not after this,” he gestures to the mess on the couch that you made. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re mine now. And I don’t intend on sharing,” he growls as his dark eyes penetrate your gaze, sinking deep into you, awakening something that had been dormant till you met him.

Mine? Oh. You liked the sound of that. A lot. And it was possessive, dominant, making you hungry for more of him, needing more of him.

“Then don’t,” you breathe out in a quiet voice, your eyes intently locked on his.

He looks into your eyes with those desperate, needy honey eyes of his and then looks down at your lips, repeating the sequence a couple more times before he cups your chin and brings you in close. He presses his lips to yours as his large hands cup your face. It’s slow, romantic, everything you hoped it would be.

The kiss deepens as you part your lips and invite him in. He slides his tongue in your mouth and collides into yours as he slowly swirls and massages your tongue with his. His lips are so soft and large, feeling like they’re made just for you. And his taste.

God, he tastes so good. You can taste the hint of hazelnut coffee, a drop of whiskey, and maybe a taste of honey as his tongue invades your mouth in all the right places.

You moan into his mouth as he kisses you deeper, faster, more desperate as he grabs the back of your hair and pulls at just the right pressure. It feels good. Like he’s being dominant with you but also soft, the perfect combination.

You push your body up as you straddle his lap, feeling that tight bulge in his pants as you start to unbuckle his leather belt, desperate to get your hands on him. He puts a strong hand around your wrist and stops you before you can go any further.

“And what do ya think you’re doin’?” he asks as he lifts an eyebrow, a small smile hiding behind his serious gaze.

“I just wanted to make you feel good too,” you confess, giving him the best smirk you can muster up.

“Is that so?” he asks with a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Mhm,” you hum, using your free hand to push his broad chest back into the soft couch.

“Hmmm. Alright then, darlin’. Show me.” He lets go of your wrist and lets you pull the belt loose from his dark jeans. You slowly unzip the zipper but before you can pull down his pants, he stops you again as he cups your chin and lifts your head to look into his eyes.

“On your knees,” he growls dominantly as his eyes turn from soft brown to dark black pits as his pupils expand.

“Yes, Mr. Miller,” you reply automatically without thinking as you drop to the soft rug, getting on your knees as you place your hands on his muscular thighs.

“Just Joel, darlin’,” he reminds you. “Now, be a good girl and show me how good you can suck this cock.”

He stares down at you with seductive eyes and a large smirk painted across his face. He looks so goddamn pretty. And the way his plaid sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, exposing thick veins that cover his arms is making you even more turned on.

You waste no time and pull down his jeans and then his black briefs, freeing his erection from the combines of his pants. It plants firmly against his stomach, and you gasp at just how large he is.

Holy shit. He’s massive.

You gulp and scoot up to the edge of the couch as you bring your hand around his thick width. You start sliding your hand up and down his large length, watching as the veins in his cock wrap around him, feeling the coarse, wiry hair that blankets around the base of him, transfixed on just how big he is.

You bring your head down and slowly lick the tip as you let your tongue swirl around all his sensitive spots, still using your hand to slide up and down him as precum bubbles over the edge. You savour the taste of him as you let the salty flavor run down your throat all hot and sticky like. You lick the tip again, this time looking at him seductively under your long eyelashes as you let your hand work up and down his largeness.

“Fuck,” he moans under his breath as you stare up at him, his black pupils blown out as he watches you devour him inch by inch.

You test your limits and take him further into your mouth, going down as far as you can until you gag on him, slowly coming back up for air before you go back down again.

“You look so fuckin’ pretty sucking my cock, darlin’,” he groans as a grabs the back of your hair as you go down on him again, this time taking him deeper, going past your limits. You choke on him as you feel your throat constrict around his length, feeling just how thick he is as the salty taste runs down your throat like warm cider.

He fists your hair and works you up and down him as you gag and choke on his delicious cock. Your eyes water as you feel saliva pool in your mouth and run down your chin as he takes you as far as you can go, speeding up his actions as he fucks your mouth over and over again. Up and down, deeper and deeper. Driving you fucking crazy.

“That’s a good fucking girl,” he growls, sending a wave of slick between your legs as you continue deep throating him.

He loves every second of it, and you love it just as much as he does. You love feeling his cock slide in and out of your mouth, love tasting him, love the way his eyebrows furrow together and the deep, breathless moans he makes from his throat as you make him come to life. And you love how possessive he gets with it. It’s so fucking hot. You revel in making him yours, making him want you, making him feel like he’s the most special man in the world, because he is. He’s so special, and now he’s yours. All yours.

He deep throats you one more time as he hits the back of your throat, making you audibly gag around him as your throat closes up around him, squeezing him as your saliva encases his thick cock.

“Goddamn!” he moans loudly as he pulls out of your throat as the saliva sticks to the end of his hard cock, running a trail of glistening saliva from his tip to your chin as you wipe the tears from your eyes. You miss one as it runs down your face.

Joel leans forward and catches it, wiping it away with his thumb as he cleans the saliva from your chin, making sure you don’t have a spot left on your face.

“You didn’t come,” you say quietly, unsure of why he stopped you.

He bites his bottom lip before answering you back. “I know, darlin’. That’s ’cause I’m not done with you yet.” His eyes turn into deep black pits again as he yanks you up from the floor and straddles you across his lap, the tip of his cock just inches from your weeping entrance as you’re soaked with arousal.

“Want you to ride me, sweetheart. Now get on top of me,” he instructs. He lifts your hips as he moves the tip of his cock to your drenched entrance, just barely slipping in, waiting for you to go down.

“Lower for me,” he demands, his voice raspy and deep. You slowly lower yourself down on him as he presses up deeper into you, expanding your walls right to the point of pain. You wince but keep your face controlled as you start to ride him nice and slow, feeling just how thick he is as you squeeze him, starting to move faster as you go up and down, up and down. Feeling every single flutter that your walls make as his large length caves inside you.

You groan and press your forehead against his as you straddle and ride him, digging your thighs into his sides as he grabs the back of your ass and squeezes, sending slick running down your center. The room starts to grow too hot, the stickiness and humidity mixing in with your fully aroused state. You can feel your hair stick to your face as the sweat shimmers across your forehead. You speed up the intensity, feeling every single detail of his cock as he rams up inside you time and time again. Making you nearly drown in your own slick.

“Fuck,” you groan as you continue riding him, building up that sweet orgasm that’s about to be set free. The sticky, slick noise from him sliding in and out of you is too much. He’s too much, too sexy, too fucking good for you. You need a release, you need to come. This was too much. “Joellllll,” you moan as you draw out the last syllable of his name, begging for him to make you come.

“That’s it, darlin’. Taking me so fucking good like the good girl you are. You’re almost there. I can feel it,” he says seductively, making you bite your lip at how sexy his bedroom voice is. It’s low, deep, provocative. A noise that could make you come just at the sound of. He’s electric.

“Want some assistance, darlin’?” he asks with low, drawn out words. Setting your insides on fire.

“Mhmm,” you hum out, trying your best to keep yourself in one piece.

He grabs the back of your hair and pulls you to his mouth as he devours you, biting your lower lip and shoving his tongue inside your mouth as he twirls around yours, setting your taste buds on fire. Drowning in his coffee and whiskey taste, wanting to drink him down until you can’t taste anything except him. Only him.

He takes control and places his hands on your hips as he bucks up inside you, thrusting deeper and deeper until he’s bottoming out, hitting you so deep that you swear you start seeing stars.

You place your hands around his neck and hold tight, your fingers wrapping around the curls that reach the back of his head as you claw at him, running your nails through his scalp. He moans at the sensation and continues plunging into you with his massiveness taking over you entirely, feeling every vibration through your body as you’re on cloud nine. You’re almost there, almost…

“You on birth control?” he asks with gritted teeth, a low growl leaving his throat as he thrusts inside you, sinking his nails into your sides.

“Mhm,” you choke out a moan, barely able to answer.

“Mmmm that’s good. Real good. Gonna spill all inside ya then. Is that what you want, darlin’? Want my cum inside that pretty pussy?” he asks with a gritted, clipped tone that’s full of arousal.

“Yes, please. Fuck,” you moan as he places his thumb on the throbbing bud of your clit, pressing just enough to pull that building orgasm out of you as you clench around his thick cock and feel white, hot heat slide over you.

You throw your head back and moan his name, feeling yourself unclench from him as you spill all down his long length. You feel your fingertips go tingly, the sensation making its way all the way down to your toes as they curl, feeling your heart speed up as the palpitations set in. It’s the most intense orgasm you ever had in your entire life, and you know then that you will never be able to get Joel out of your head. You’re hooked like a shot of espresso. Needing to consume it every day to be able to function properly. He’s like a drug. Nightshade. Deadly but intoxicating, a taste you can’t resist. A taste you crave, want, desire.

“Fuck, sweetheart. Your face is so fucking pretty when you cum, when you’re saying my name,” he growls as he emphasizes the my. Making it sound like you belonged to him now. And fuck you want that more than anything.

He thrusts inside you faster, harder as he knits his eyebrows together, getting caught in deep concentration as his breaths become ragged, unhinged. “You’re so tight, feels so good inside ya. You’re squeezing me so hard. Goddamn, you pretty thing,” he groans as he digs his fingers into your hips, pounding once, twice, three more times before he holds you down on his thighs and rolls his eyes up to look into yours with those black pits staring up at you hungrily.

He opens his mouth and moans as he spills his cum inside you. You feel the sticky, hot mess coat your walls as he thrusts once more, getting his fill of you entirely. Your breathing is rough and winded as you chase down your high from the intense fucking.

He keeps you there, staying inside you for just a few minutes as you both collect your breath and just stare at each other, taking in each other’s ecstasy and heat as the tension doesn’t disperse from the room. It stays like a hot, summer day with the humidity intensifying. It’s like you’re in the middle of a rainforest. It’s so hot, so suffocating, so muggy. And you can see that you’re caught in the middle of a hard spot. Alone with the stalking panther that wants to eat you alive. And that panther is Joel. He catches you, and now you’re all his for the taking. A complete menace at best.

He finally slides out of you as you feel his seed start to drip from you as it drops against his thighs, mixing in with the sweat and lust from each other. He falls to his back on the couch and brings you with him as he pulls you into his arms and brings your legs over his as he gently drags his fingers up and down them, soothing you from the hot cardio you had just taken part in.

“Fuck,” he says in a deep voice as he kisses the top of your head and brings his hand under your chin, lifting it so he can look into your eyes. “You’re so fucking pretty, baby. And your eyes. They’re so beautiful, they’re practically sparkling for me right now, just like diamonds.” Your breath catches as he gazes over you, admiring your beauty and charm as he caresses your cheek affectionately.

Oh, God. You’re in trouble. You’re falling hard and fast for your dad’s best friend. What a mess.

“Joel,” you say with admiration as you rake your fingers through his salt and pepper scruff, acquiring a slight groan from deep in his throat from the light touch. “I like you. A lot,” you breathe as you hold back tears from streaming over. You don’t want this to be over. It couldn’t be. You wouldn’t let it be.

“Oh, darlin’. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this. To have you, to hold you, to feel just how soft your skin really was. Been holdin’ back a long time. But something snapped in me tonight. When I saw you with that guy. I wanted to wring his fucking neck,” he spits as his eyes go cold. You gasp at the intensity of him. Of his words. He really does like you. This is real, it’s all real. And you just can’t believe it.

You run your hand down his broad chest as he pulls you closer, and you lean into him as your head rests on his chest, feeling every ragged breath go in and out as his chest rises and falls in waves.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to leave you alone now, darlin’. Not after this,” he says, holding you tight as he strokes your cheek, pulling back another strand of hair behind your ear softly.

“Then don’t,” you breathe, hope filling your gut as you cling to his bulky, tight arms.

He lets out a soft chuckle as he plays with your soft curls, running his hand through your hair gently as it sends a wave of warmth and serotonin over you, completely calming you of any anxiety. “I don’t intend to, darlin’. You’re all mine,” he coos.

Mine. There it was again. You were his and it felt so right.

“Joel?”

“Hmm?” he hums as the vibrations in his chest reverberate around you like a thunderstorm but calming you entirely.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” you ask in a quiet, meek voice.

“‘Course, sweetheart. I wasn’t planning on takin’ ya home. Not after this. You’re stayin’ with me.” He cups your chin and slowly brings his lips down on yours as you drink him in nice and slow, fully embracing the taste of him that was now a part of you.

When you finally break apart, you look up at him with a worried look on your face, your anxiety returning in full force like a galloping horse about to collide with another.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he asks with furrowed eyebrows and soft brown eyes that are searching your face, trying to find what was wrong.

“My dad….what if he somehow finds out that we…what if…”

He puts his thumb on your lips and hushes you, a gentle soothing sound coming from his mouth. “We can worry about that another day. He ain’t gonna find out,” he reassures you.

The unsettled feeling dwells in the pit of your stomach, and the worried expression doesn’t leave your face as you continue looking at him. A tear threatening to pool at the corner of your eye, but you hold it in. Not wanting to worry Joel with your anxious thoughts.

“Hey, you trust me?” he asks as he looks deep in your eyes, his brown eyes honing in like a hawk.

“Yes, of course,” you nod.

He takes your hand in his as he clasps his thick fingers around yours. “Then believe me when I say this will work out. I’m not lettin’ ya go, darlin’. I’m gonna make sure your daddy doesn’t find out. He ain’t gonna suspect a thing.”

You nod up at him, slowly pulling yourself back together. “Okay,” you agree.

“Alright. Now, let’s go get you cleaned up in the shower and get ya to bed. You must be exhausted,” he says as he pulls you up from the couch, picking you up bridal style and carrying you up the stairs to his bathroom.

After the warm shower, you get right in his bed with him. Wrapped up in his strong arms with one of his large plaid shirts hugging your body as you breathe in his pine and woodsy scent, enveloping yourself entirely in him as you memorize exactly what he smells like. Wanting to remember this moment as the best night of your life.

You fall asleep shortly as you listen to the faint sound of his breathing as you lay against his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around you. And that night you only dream of brown eyes, broad arms, thick fingers, and wet, sticky sensations. But one thing still clings to the back of your mind as you dream of Joel. Just one thing that you can’t quite shake as it interrupts your sweet, wet dreams of Joel. And that one thing is your dad.

Fuck. You just had mind blowing sex with your daddy’s best friend.

Tags: @janaispunk @studioghibelli @cinnamongorll @callmecath1 @joelalorian @dugiioh @ladamari68 @amyispxnk @pedrostories @tuquoquebrute

Part 2

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eggiesins · 1 month

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Sandrock Bachelors Being Drunk

Mild NSFW so Minors DNI

My first head canon post, enjoy!

Arvio

Arvio already has no idea what inhibition is so expect his personality to intensify by 200% while his ability to actually come up with schemes drops by 200%. He’s gonna have so many half-baked terrible ideas that he will immediately try to act upon, so be ready to keep him on a kid leash to avoid some really dumb incidents. “Builder! I just had the best idea for how to get more investors for By the Stairs, but we have to act fast! I’m hopping on the next train to Atara right n- what do you mean it can wait til morning??” Arvio already slurs his words, so drunk Arvio I could see being almost unintelligible. Once he’s drunk enough, he’ll constantly flip back and forth between beaming over how much he loves the builder and sobbing over Fang’s most recent rejection.

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE rizz

Amirah helps at first, but clocks out of babysitting after the first hour of shenanigans. Good luck Builder. He’s your responsibility now.

Burgess

Sweet, sweet summer child Burgess. He’s not much of a drinker, but would easily be peer pressured into drinking games, especially if the Builder wants him to play. Others offer to drink for him if he wants, but Burgess insists that, as the Chief Water Inspector, his high hydration levels and position of bureaucratic authority give him a high enough tolerance to make it through the whole game. They do not. Sweet baby boy’s never been drunk before and has no idea how to handle it, so be ready to babysit this one too. He’s gonna cry over how beautiful the cactus flowers are in full bloom, how Banjo jumped in his lap and started purring, and how you’re an angel from the Light sent to save Sandrock. Keeping him hydrated is easy, but if he does throw up, he’ll never forgive himself for the wasted water.

He’s very good at listening to the Builder’s instructions and advice on sobering up, though. Of all the drunks on this list, he’s the easiest to comfort and get to bed by far.

Drunk Burgess is a “sinner” (by his perspective) & 100% gives Pen the “you’re a bully but I forgive you” speech instead of turning the other cheek or forgiving immediately.

Ernest

It’s been a while for him. Did he drink and party with Luna back in Atara? 100%, but since arriving at Sandrock, he’s been so busy with hyper fixating on Logan and trying to survive droughts and sandstorms, there hasn’t been much of an opportunity for him to just let loose and party. Once he finally does, though? Mans is writing sonnets on sonnets on sonnets. None of them rhyme, or even make sense, but he gives them his all anyway. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” “Ernest, you said that one already.” “Did I? I guess every time I see you, I seem to just forget everything else.”

Ernest is pretty open about flirting with the Builder normally, so when he’s drunk, expect to hear it way way more. He’s gonna rizz up that Builder as well as his drunk brain can ‘cause he absolutely LOVES seeing them blush because of him. He’s all talk though, well aware that when he’s drunk, neither he nor anyone else should take him seriously. He’s just having fun!

Fang

I could see Fang going one of two ways when drunk: either he realizes he’s drunk and immediately goes to sleep regardless of location OR his walls come down and you get to see an almost completely unfiltered Fang. When his walls come down, oh man, Arvio better watch out. If Arvio were to try any shenanigans, Fang is definitely telling him to shut up and sit down. He’s grumpy normally, so drunk Fang would be much more likely to express that grumpiness. It’s not that he’s a mean drunk so much as he is just more comfortable expressing himself under the effects of liquid courage.

If he’s with the Builder, he becomes soooooo clingy and jealous. “The feel of your touch, unforgettable.” Yeah he’s not giving up the feel of your touch while he feels confident enough to truly demand it. If the builder is standing, he’s right behind them with arms around their waist. If the builder is sitting, his head is on their shoulder, hand on their thigh, glaring down other townies who get too close.

X lowkey loves when Fang gets drunk because it means he doesn’t have to filter what he says either, not that he does it too much normally. He definitely eggs Fang on if the kind doctor happens to be roasting someone (Arvio) like a squawking mini-hypebeast. At the same time, X helps the builder out a lot with getting Fang to drink water and go to sleep.

He has a very low tolerance, 4 drinks max

Justice

Our favorite Sheriff and tiredest dad of all the bachelors, Justice definitely knows how to drink. One of his best friends is the local saloon owner, so yes, Justice has a pretty high tolerance. With that, Justice tends to be pretty mellow when he drinks, but if he’s with the builder, he’s getting flirty too. He’s gonna lean hard into the cowboy aesthetic, with a fake tip of the hat before asking the builder to dance. During the dance Justice is pulling the builder close enough to stand on his feet (so he doesn’t drunkenly stumble on them) & going all the way with the spins and twirls. He’s not elegant by any means, but he is fun! He’s giggly and having a good time (probably annoying Logan).

If the builder is a friend, he’d insist on walking them home to see them off safely before stumbling back to his house. If the builder is more than a friend, Justice is definitely laying on the rizz and trying to get laid down at the workshop.

[insert “hmm society” question about life here] (seriously though, why do all the civil corps members wax philosophical so often?)

Logan

We all know the yakboy only dances when he drinks, but what else will he do when drunk? Logan has a temper, yes, but he’s also a soft gooey ball of affection with the people he cares about, and that dichotomy is on full display when he drinks. He avoids drinking games (they’re dumb & childish & he’s a grown man, damnit), but if the Builder wants to get up to drunken shenanigans? Oh he’s in.

“Darlin’, are you seriously tellin’ me ya wanna go build a scarecrow that looks like death to set up outside Cooper’s house ‘n scare him when he wakes up at 4am?” “Ye” “What do ya need me to do?”

Surprisingly, not a horny drunk at all (fanfic writers sue me). BUT, he is an affectionate drunk with the builder. Kinda like Fang, he’s all about the physical affection, especially in public. The builder is his, and he’s gonna make sure it stays that way. When they get home, he just wants to lay in bed with the builder in a cuddly vice grip til they both fall asleep.

He definitely relies on Rambo knowing the way home, just hops up, tells the goat where to go, and halfway passes out in the saddle. He’s definitely getting roasted for being a lightweight by Andy when he gets home.

Miguel

How else would a religious fanatic obsessed with discipline act when drunk? Off the rails ranting & outright simping for the builder. Full stop. I’m not even a Miguel fan and I know this man is so down bad for the builder. He wouldn’t even want to drink initially, until the builder challenges him to a game. “Very well, Builder. For the person who has done the most to promote telesis in this barren land, I can surely raise a glass or two in celebration.”

Once he’s drunk, expect a strange combination of sermon and praise for the builder (he will definitely be mortified in the morning). But if the builder even touches him by accident, he’s already hiding a sneaky semi tenting his pants.

“Miguel…are you hard right now?” “Builder, it would be a sin for me to deny the truth of this situation. *proceeds to dramatically throw his jacket off* Take me now, body and soul.” “I mean, sure, but…can that wait til we can get home?” “OH…………………..yes”

The next morning, while nursing a hell of a hangover and the raw, unfiltered embarrassment of drunken mistakes, he vows to never drink again. At least, as long as the builder doesn’t ask him to.

Owen

Honestly? I don’t see Owen acting too differently when drunk, just a lot less anxious when interacting with the builder. Seemingly out of nowhere, his stuttering and nervous way of speaking with the builder is gone, replaced with a more confident barkeep.

He’s wicked good at drinking games, having spent his entire life inside of a saloon. If you think you’re winning beer pong or rage cage against Owen’s 6 foot something ass, you’re wrong. There’s a reason Justice and Logan outright refuse to play drinking games with him, and it’s cause it always ended with someone throwing up. Never Owen, though. He’s got a finely tuned tolerance for alcohol and knows exactly where his sweet spot is.

He won’t really try to initiate any sexy times with the builder, but if they start dropping hints for him? “Justice, can you watch the bar while I step out with the builder real quick? They need some help..um…perfecting a new recipe.” Cue Justice’s shit-eating grin. “Sure pardner, take as long as y’all need” with a quick wink at the couple

Pablo

Is he drunk, or has he just been pretending to drink that much? Who knows? Pablo’s been around, especially in Walnut Groove. He knows how to drink and even more so, he knows how to look how to drink especially. He’s watching the town get absolutely smashed with glee, taking stock of everything that happens, especially anything embarrassing.

He’s the one who calls at 8am the next morning when you’re hungover to hell and back and tell you, in excruciating detail, every embarrassing thing you said and did, just in case you forgot. All in all, I think he likes to drink a little, socially of course, but he’s far more interested in getting others drunk instead of himself.

Pen

Assuming that Pen can get drunk (he is sensitive to Duvos peppers), he’s gonna be glued to whatever the nearest reflective surface is. But what actually surprises the builder is how genuinely affectionate he becomes with them, especially if they’re not officially a thing yet. He wants them sitting in his lap so he can wrap their skinny arms in his big arms the entire time.

When he’s not being affectionate, he’s definitely trying to spar with them, though. For Pen, fighting is very much foreplay, and this is even more true when he’s drunk. He would already be turned on just by the builder existing, so a drunken brawl at 2am? He’s the hardest he's ever been the entire time, full stop. Bro is so hard from fighting the builder he has to take care not to fall flat on his face or he might break Pen jr.

Pen avoids getting drunk because it also makes him feel guilty, at least some part of him. He doesn’t necessarily like deceiving the builder (Sandrock he could take or leave tbh), but he has to so he can protect the life he wants for himself. The builder changed a lot of that for him, so he feels a lot of guilt about keeping secrets. Don’t be surprised if drunk Pen says he needs to confess something, only to go silent for 5 straight minutes before telling them he’s just hungry.

You know that meme about the guy’s roommate who blacks out and designs an entire airplane? That’s Qi when he drinks, but with spaceships. How did you get him to the saloon to start drinking in the first place? Three words: Saloon Trivia Night. Qi is competitive, and assumes that he’s usually at the top of his respective totem pole, so when Owen starts including trivia questions about archaeology, building, agriculture, etc, Qi can get frustrated relying on his team to answer for him. And for every round lost, that’s another drink finished. Soon enough, he’s ranting about the uselessness of “soft sciences” and the possibilities of interstellar space travel (someone please just make out with him and shut this nerd up) The drunker he gets, the more he only excuses the builder’s mistakes and no one else’s.

This man definitely gets hot and bothered when drunk, but has no idea what he’s feeling or what to do about it, so he usually just goes to bed. If the builder is romancing him, though? The builder will definitely need to initiate things, but from there a now-uninhibited Qi goes off, following any and every instinct he can that the builder will allow. He wants to try everything with them, for science of course.

Unsuur

Regular Unsuur is honest, if a bit stoic. Drunk Unsuur is too honest, and still kinda stoic. As soon as he has a thought, he’s saying it, no filter. It doesn't matter who he is talking to or what he is saying, he’s gonna let loose with whatever he’s thinking. “Hey Cooper, why do you talk so much? Like, you talk a lot. Going on and on, kind of like I am now. Why do you do that?”

“Unsuur, are you drunk?”

“Yeah. Oh. Builder, can I make love to you until you’re breathless and destroyed and the only word you know is my name? I think you’d be really beautiful like that”

“Unsuur, we’re in public! Everyone can hear you right now.”

“Oh, yeah. We should probably go home before doing that. Pretty sure having sex in public is a crime.”

Aside from shamelessly flirting with the builder, Unsuur would also just wax philosophical to all the town pets in some corner of the saloon. None of the other drunks there could keep up with his train of thought, but he doesn’t let that stop him. Now Macchiato’s third eye is open, and he’s considering joining the civil corps under Captain.

I hope you guys enjoyed the headcanons! Let me know if you want to see the bachelorettes too! Yan has dialogue in the game about "mixing yakmel milk and catnip" so if y'all want any other headcanon posts, intoxicated or otherwise, let me know!

#sandrock #mtas headcanon #my time at sandrock #mtas #unsuur #mtas logan #mtas arvio #mtas fang #mtas owen #mtas unsuur #mtas builder #mtas pen #mtas miguel #mtas pablo

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dappervoided · 9 months

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Docs vacation to Quesadilla Island!

So I watched Docm77 last Hermitcraft season 9 episode today and RAN to make this.

More so on the topic!

He needed to take a break and get his creative juices flowing? What's a better break (nightmare) than to come enjoy the island for a short while!

I've been spinning around the idea of Qsmp and Hermitcraft crossover since the start of Qsmp. There's so many ideas in my brain about this topic even though it'll never actually happen! I'm so sorry, but some things are bound to get out of my daydreams and materialize into doodles!

I think Doc would LOVE the eggs! Not to mention all the cute creatures they'd show him! He'd get attached instantly, they're too adorable!

I could only fit 3 here without making it too busy, but I wanna expand on what I could see the interactions being. Massive ramblings, often grammatically incorrect ahead:

Sunny - now we all know she's a material princess, they'd love Docs bedtime stories about the diamond pillar wars and his incredible contraptions made of diamond in the Perimeter and all the riches he had. Now Tubbo not only has Pierre to watch out for, but Doc also, cause Sunny would beg him to make stuff out of diamonds to show off!

Empanada - she'd clock in instantly that Doc is a German and would try speaking to him in German every moment she got. Now she has both her mom Niki and Doc to talk in her language to! It's not much of an expansion, but she appreciates it a lot! They'd have many delightful conversations and Doc is always happy to have her build little things together. They learn from each other!

Ramon - besides finally having another redstone genius with an entire Hivemind on the server, Ramon would be interested in how Doc works - both in a cyborg way and in the way he creates mind-blowing, game breaking contraptions. If they're not destroying the server together for fun, they're not making the most of their time! Jk, but it do be nice when both of them get to hang out and show each other what they discovered that's scuffed on the server.

Some eggs that aren't drawn:

Chayanne - finally! Another farmer came around! Chayanne would show off his impressive potato farm and cooking skills to Doc, who will always be amazed at the kids dedication! Doc can finally have his tomato farm in a Minecraft world now, since the mods allow it! It is too free for everyone to use

Tallulah - If she would show Doc the incredible builds she made and her and her papas place, he would be moved to tears! Everything is made with such love and incredible amounts of effort and thought! From her farm of all possible plants, to her garden and to El Cielo De Las Tortugas. Such incredible places to visit and appreciate! And Tallulahs amazing way of storytelling would only serve to amplify those feelings

Dapper - now besides trying cage trap Doc 1000x times, Dapper would definitely show off everything he got once he discovers that Doc is deeply amused and surprised by all the non vanilla things! They would invite Doc to their base to show everything and I mean EVERYTHING there is for show. It's definitely too much, but Doc is very impressed by her and would praise how much work she puts in! Dapper do be the definition of GRIND!

Leo - Leo and her dads made so many incredible builds, Doc would be amazed at how much they did in such a short time! Besides that Leo herself is an incredibly, theatrically even, good at body language and expression! He'd die of cuteness and laughter like all of us already do!

Pomme - we all know that Pomme has so many talents! From being a little musician, to an incredible warrior, to a thought out builder and a spectacularly emotional writer. There's a lot Doc will have to slowly discover about Pomme! And each time the scale and depths of things will get more and more impressive, because the share amounts of time and effort she puts into her creations, passions and loved ones is massive!

Pepito - this kid! Pepito is such an incredible character to be around! Pepito is so dedicated to whatever Pepito does, especially if it's with friends! Whenever Pepito has fun, it always radiates outwards in many different ways! You can't really help yourself but get charged up with energy when you're around. And Doc does just that!

Richarlyson- Richas is a lot in the best ways possible! But we all know he's very much a jokester, he wouldn't miss a beat trying to mess with the goat! And once he finds out what kinds of retaliations Docs is capable of? OH IT'S WAR (for fun, cause that's what it's all about!)

I'm sorry if this is chaotic at some parts or lacking in others, I have to write this all in one go before my battery dies. I haven't been able to watch many streams so I'm sorry if Im not up to date with the characters, but that is what I remember them as! Any corrections or lore updates are always welcome! I want to learn more, especially now that I can't watch!

Anyhow, now that I look back on that drawing why do I feel like I've done something terrible.... I've seen those designs before......

OH NO

#voidedart #qsmp #q!sunny #q!empanada #q!ramon #hermitcraft doc #docm77 #This is loooooooong #I hope I'm not the only one obsessed with QSMP x Hermitcraft #hermitcraft

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razorroy · 17 days

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Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump

Tax plan Trump and Harris have competing tax plans. Both nominees' plans would have to be passed by Congress, which has the power of the purse. Here's what Harris has proposed so far:

Harris says she'd provide bigger tax benefits for families but would offset the costs by raising corporate taxes, while Trump has said he'd extend the tax cuts enacted in 2017.

Under Harris' tax plan, according to an analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, 95% of Americans would see lower taxes, and higher earners would pay more taxes. The top 0.1% — whose annual average income exceeds $14 million — would pay about $167,000 more in taxes.

Harris wants to eliminate federal taxes on tips, which Trump first proposed.

She also says she wants to provide a financial cushion for small businesses with a tenfold increase in the startup expense deduction — lifting it from $5,000 to $50,000. New businesses wouldn't need to claim the deduction in their first year, when many take losses and would not be able to use it. Instead, they'd be able to wait until they're profitable and use the deduction at that time. Businesses would also be able to take part of the deduction in one year and save the rest for future years.

Child tax credit

After Trump's running mate JD Vance pitched boosting the child tax credit to $5,000, up from the current top tax break of $2,000, Harris one-upped Vance's number, suggesting a child tax credit of $6,000, although this would be for the parents of newborns.

Harris also suggests a return to the pandemic-era expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 for young children. She hasn't released income eligibility thresholds, but it's likely that it would phase out for those at higher income levels.

Earlier this year, Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have increased the child tax credit.

Housing shortage Harris says she'd address the nation's housing shortage with several initiatives. She promises to build 3 million affordable new homes and rentals by the end of her first term, offering tax breaks to builders who construct homes for first-time home buyers. She's also proposing a $40 billion fund to help local governments find solutions to the low housing stock.

And she wants to provide Americans who have paid their rent on time for two years with up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more support for first-generation homeowners.

Inflation

Inflation has cooled nearly to pre-pandemic levels — it's now at 2.9% — but prices have risen nearly 21% since the beginning of the pandemic. A recent survey found two-thirds of middle-income families said they're falling behind their cost of living

Harris is trying to address the effects of inflation on lower- and middle-class Americans, an approach used by the Biden administration. She blames price gouging by food suppliers and grocery chains for high prices at the store and pledges to take on corporations with the first federal law against price gouging. Economists have expressed doubts about the efficacy of such a law because they say that the reasons for food inflation are complex.

She also wants to lower prescription drug costs, which has been a focus for the Biden administration. Last month, the White House announced Medicare reached agreements with drug manufacturers for lower prices for 10 drugs that treat a range of ailments, from heart failure and blood clots to diabetes, resulting in savings for patients of 38% to 79%, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was Harris who cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which granted Medicare the drug negotiating authority.

Immigration

Harris has not yet issued an immigration policy platform. At campaign events, Harris has mostly brought up the bipartisan border security deal that collapsed in Congress earlier this year after Trump urged GOP lawmakers to reject it. Harris has promised to revive the bill and accused Trump of scuttling it for political reasons.

The legislation would have enacted permanent restrictions on asylum, given the president the power to quickly deport migrants when border crossings soar and boosted the ranks of border agents, deportation officers, immigration judges and asylum adjudicators. It would also have expanded legal immigration, allocating 50,000 new immigrant visas annually for five years.

While the bipartisan border deal did not include a legalization program for undocumented immigrants — a longtime Democratic priority in immigration negotiations — Harris has expressed support for an "earned" path to citizenship for this population on the campaign trail.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris' campaign manager, signaled to CBS News that Harris would likely continue a June order by Mr. Biden that has severely curtailed access to the U.S. asylum system. It's a move officials credit for a four-year-low in illegal border crossings.

Harris' campaign has tried to distance her from the more liberal immigration positions she espoused when she was a presidential candidate in 2020. Those prior positions included an openness to decriminalizing the act of crossing the border without authorization and overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Abortion Harris and Trump have opposing views on abortion access, an issue that could be a crucial motivator for voters in November.

Both Trump and Harris have highlighted the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and the role that the three justices appointed by Trump played in that landmark decision, albeit for different reasons: Trump has touted his nomination of three of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe, while Harris has criticized her opponent for specifically selecting justices who would dismantle the constitutional right to abortion. Since the high court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, nearly one-third of states have near-total bans on the procedure in place, while access to abortion is severely restricted in a handful of others.

Harris has made abortion rights a focal point of her campaign and lambasted "Trump abortion bans" on the trail.

In her speech at the Democratic National Convention accepting the party's presidential nominee, the vice president pledged to sign into law legislation that restores the federal right to abortion — if such a bill is passed by Congress.

IVF Access to in vitro fertilization services became a campaign issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos created during the IVF process could be considered children. The decision threatened the availability of IVF services in Alabama and thrust access to fertility treatments into the national conversation, including among the presidential candidates.

Harris has repeatedly said she supports the right of women to make their own decisions about their bodies and family-planning, and told the crowd at the DNC that since Roe's reversal, she has heard stories of couples who have had their IVF treatments cut off.

The vice president said in a video shared to social media that Trump "is literally the architect of this entire crisis," and said the Alabama ruling is a "direct result" of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe.

Climate Harris has not outlined her climate policy yet, but she is expected to continue to pursue the goals of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which funded energy and climate projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

As vice president, Harris advocates moving the country toward a "clean energy economy" while not completely backing away from oil and gas, which is a major industry in battleground states like Pennsylvania. The Keystone State is one of the top natural gas producers in the country.

In an interview with CNN, Harris said that as president, she wouldn't ban fracking — a technique for extracting natural gas from shale — a departure from a statement she made in 2019 that she'd support a fracking ban. Citing the creation of 300,000 clean energy jobs during the Biden administration, she told CNN that her experience as vice president shows "we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking."

A Harris campaign spokesperson said 300,000 clean energy jobs were created under the Biden-Harris administration in both 2021 and 2022.

The Democratic Party platform says it will increase protections against drilling and mining in the Arctic, although U.S. oil production has hit record highs during Mr. Biden's presidency. Mr. Biden approved almost 50% more gas and oil leases during his time in office than Trump did during his first three years in office.

Trump has vowed to undo what he calls Biden's "electric vehicle mandate" on Day One in office. A spokesperson for Harris' campaign told Axios Harris doesn't support an electric vehicle mandate. The Biden administration has not issued a mandate, but it has introduced incentives to encourage Americans to buy EVs and set a target that half of all new vehicle sales be zero emissions by 2030.

Guns

President Biden in 2022 signed the most significant update to gun safety law in almost three decades in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and New York. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act augmented background checks for gun buyers under 21, provided billions for mental health services and closed the so-called "boyfriend loophole" to prevent convicted domestic abusers from purchasing a firearm for five years. It also clarified the definition of gun dealers — 26 GOP-led states are suing to block this provision. The measure also creates penalties for straw purchases and gun trafficking. In 2023, Mr. Biden announced the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to be overseen by Harris.

Before she became the nominee, Harris visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the site of the 2018 mass shooting that left 17 dead, where she called on states to pass "red flag" laws, which allow courts to seize guns from those deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Twenty-one states have enacted red flag laws, but many do not enforce them. She also announced federal funding and resources aimed at providing training and technical assistance to help states with their red flag programs. In 2024, the Justice Department announced the creation of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, dedicated to training and technical assistance to support states and localities in implementing their red flag programs.

At her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris only made passing reference to gun violence. "In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake," she said. "The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship."

Education

As a senator, Harris backed a bill that would have provided tuition-free college for most families.

The Democratic Party's platform also calls for free college tuition for all. This is not an idea Harris has been discussing on the campaign trail.

Israel and Gaza Both Harris and Trump have, at times, been critical of Israel's handling of its war against Hamas in Gaza. But neither has threatened to pull support for the ally.

Harris has called the bloodshed in Gaza "devastating," but vowed there would be no change in policy toward Israel.

She has pushed for a cease-fire deal that would release the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

She backs a two-state solution.

Ukraine and Russia

Harris pledged in her DNC address that she "will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies."

Harris accused Russia of committing "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine a year after the war began.

The Biden administration has spearheaded a number of aid packages for Ukraine, including weapons, and worked with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Still, the administration's response — especially early on in the war — has been criticized as slow-moving, and more recently, Republican opposition in Congress further slowed aid to Ukraine.

China Harris has offered few details about how her China policy would differ from Mr. Biden's. In her Democratic National Convention speech, Harris said "America — not China — wins the competition for the 21st century."

She told "Face the Nation" in September 2023 that the U.S.-China economic relationship is "not about decoupling, it is about de-risking."

Harris briefly met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022 in Bangkok amid friction between the two countries. The vice president said she stressed the need to "maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries."

She has condemned China's aggression in the South China Sea, accusing it of "undermining key elements of the international rules-based order" and coercing and intimidating its neighbors.

Harris has also reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan.

In the Senate, Harris cosponsored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. Trump signed both into law.

Iran nuclear deal It's unclear whether Harris would seek to renegotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran if she wins the election. During the 2020 campaign, Harris, who was running in a crowded Democratic presidential primary, told the Council on Foreign Relations that she would seek to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, "so long as Iran also returned to verifiable compliance."

The Harris campaign has a lot to comb through for her vision for America over the next 4 years!

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump can ace a tremendously hard cognitive test and cheat like no one has ever seen before at golf.

He has also been known to throw temper tantrums that rival a three year old that can result in ketchup bottles being thrown at walls. Trump loves McDonald's, sex with women other than Mrs. Trump. Believes in conspiracy theories. Enjoys wearing extremely tight polo shirts that show off his tremendously large man boobs.

Trump lost all four hundred million of his trust fund from his daddy and will lose all of your money to lawyer fees if you simply make a donation to his fake "Save America" scam.

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qiu-yan · 3 months

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#mdzs #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #yanyan polls #jiang cheng no one has time to decode your fucking tsundere bullshit. express yourself clearly+honestly or get out

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thefoxesraven · 9 months

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@paradoxolotl wrote one of the cutest andreil fics, Necromancy for Children, and I love it because it makes Neil work at the place I currently work at! BAB, or Build a Bear Workshop.

However, because I work at BAB now, all I can think about (with the lovely @jtl-fics encouraging) an AFTG AU where the foxes are a team of Bear Builders. Wymack is the General Manager, Abby is the Assistant Manger, Dan, Allison, Renee, and Seth are all team leads (Matt is in training to become a lead as well they just need to hire more builders first) and the Monsters are the rest of the crew.

Kevin transfered in from the West Virginia branch to the south Carolina branch because he recently found out that Wymack is his dad but oh no, now his dad is his boss.

This is not Aaron's only job as he pushes himself through medical school. He also works at the cafe that everyone frequents because it's just a walk across the street away. Sometimes, he even comes into BAB smelling like coffee and pastries. He also has another job at a book store closer to the apartment he, Andrew, Nicky, and now Kevin all share. Now Kaitlyn also works at the cafe and the bookstore. However, she and Aaron met during their classes then found out later that they also worked together.

Andrew is just there for the kids. He doesn't express it, but he likes how the young kids light up when he's helping them build their new friends. Andrew is also working for his tuition but he's going to community College to improve his writing skills as he works on his manuscript.

Nicky once again is in the US for the twins. Adopting them as soon as he was able and working hard until they also started working. Nicky is the other person along Matt in the run to be a Team Lead. They just need more employees first.

Neil is a new hire that everyone is unsure of, besides Kevin. Kevin saw him interview at his old store then never saw him return even after his old Managers spoke highly of his interview. He's not inexperienced, though. He's worked at multiple BABs and knows the rules and standards by heart. The binders are his Bible. He'll read them for fun. Master of the Bonus Club captures and Bonus Gift Cards.

Matt is a relatively new hire that was hired on seasoned a year or two ago that just stayed after everyone else left. He and Seth got along immediately, which led Seth and Allison setting him up with Dan as a little double date senario. Renee and Matt used to work together at a local bookstore, but they were let go when the owner couldn't keep it running. Matt ended up working at a sports store, his unique knowledge of boxing coming in handy while Renee went into retail at a small clothing business catered to folks looking for stylish clothes that also followed religious modesty requirements.

Seth is the longest employee besides Wymack and Abby (they've been at this store sense it was first opened). He was, in fact, one of the first people Wymack and Abby hired after getting promoted. Seth, by experience, knows the rules and regulations by heart. He helped Allison, Renee, and Dan all learn the ropes.

Dan and Allison were both interviewed and hired and trained the same days. They quickly became bffs and Dan and Renee had a friendly competition when she was hired on. The girls have become so close they hang out outside if work frequently. Wymack and Abby learned to schedule them at least one day off that lines up.

#aftg #all for the game #aftg au #build a bear #aftg build a bear au #abby winfield #david wymack #dan wilds #allison reynolds #renee walker #seth gordon #matt boyd #nicky hemmick #andrew minyard #aaron minyard #kevin day #neil josten

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heeversee · 1 year

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THE POLL GODD I NEVER THOUGHT SO MANY PEOPLE WOULD VOTE.

Am I being too dramatic? Bish who cares.

So basically "MAFIA HEESEUNG" won the votes. So here it is besties.

Your wish is my command.

Heeversee Present ✨

A Mafia Heesung au

Chapter 01

You were one of the kind who was used as a personal coffee maker in your office. Even tho you were like every other employee.

So you decide to leave your office and search for another.

Since you didn't get any job after a long 3 months of being job less. You had to do something to feed your poor soul. you were all alone without any family or friends.

You luckily got a job in a nearby High-class cafe and bakery. Well baking was your talent and who didn't want a job in a High-class cafe? so you decide to take up the job.

There were various types of people who would come. grumpy rich office workers, rich giggling High schoolers, big body builders and rich but bubbly and kind grannies, business men's and women's.

In short this cafe was only for rich ass people.

Today you happen to arrive late, which didn't actually cause any problem because your manager was a very kind woman, she knew that you never skipped work for fun and were punctual.

Heeseung, the mafia boss, walks into this high class cafe.

His dark aura quickly hushing the place is bustling with people.

The smell of fresh coffee lingers in the air.

He sees an empty table and makes his way to it, hoping to get a cup of coffee.

He sits down and sets his suit jacket on the chair next to him as he pulls out his phone, ready to work.

That's when he notices you at the counter, your back turned to him. Heeseung sees you and is surprised, because at first glance, you looked so incredibly innocent and pure.

He smirks wickedly enough to make almost all the customers run out of the cafe for their life. The only ones there were his own men.

He watches as you put on your coffee shop attire; apron and your uniform shirt. As your uniform shirt goes over your head.

He peeks to see your face. Your hair is tied up neatly in a ponytail and your face is clean with no makeup. However, your dark, sparkling eyes are the first thing Heeseung notices; they draw his attention in like a magnet.

He can't look away. Your beauty is something he's never seen before, it truly is a once in a lifetime sight.

You turn around with the apron on, ready to start work. But once you look up at the man who is absolutely handsome yet had cold, blank expression has been staring at you,

You drop what you were holding. It falls onto the ground with a loud bang but Heeseung doesn't notice; he's stuck staring into these eyes. He doesn't understand why he feels this way. This isn't something he would normally do, but there was just something about this girl... something that just drew him in.

They stare at each other for moments in silence. Heeseung feels this weird sensation that he's never felt before. What is this? Happiness? Love? Fear? He just... doesn't know. He can see you trembling.

You were scared. He walks over to you and kneels down. Something compelled him to do it. Heesung reaches out to you, gently picking up the items you had dropped. He's surprised to see that you dropped your uniform badge.

"y/n" your name rolling off his tongue like butter. You like the sound of it. You were forced to snap into reality when you saw the cafe half empty, the rest of the men dressed in black suits staring at you and watching the unknown man in front of you in fear.

"I'm so sorry sir" you were the first to get up and smooth down your shirt.

"w-what may I get you?" You stutter making it more embarrassing for yourself.

"A black coffee with 20% sugar" he says as he held his card in front of you.

Your shivering hands slightly graze his knuckles as you take the card.

You saw the name on his black card "Lee Heeseung".

When you were busy preparing the order for heesung, he sat manspreading watching you work through his eyes filled with lust and an unknown feeling.

Recalling the touch of your fingers even tho it was for a second, and the moment feels like an eternity.

He could feel your heat, he could feel your emotions as you just looking into his eyes, terrified.

But oddly, Heeseung wants to keep you to himself, keep you all to himself. It's like he knows, he knows that this girl is gonna be the one. Heeseung is gonna make you his.

Chapter 02 soon. Now I can't add smut when they just met can't I?

Edited.

I can't believe all this time I wrote heeseung's spelling wrong and you all didn't tell me 😭

#enhypen #enha #kpop #enhypen smut #heeseung fanfic #lee heeseung fanfic #engene #enhypen heeseung #heeseung

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makingspiritualityreal · 10 months

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Mars Ruled Nakshatras - Longing For Forgotten Shine

The Nakshatras of Mars experience a unique condition of struggling to let go of the past due to external circumstances freezing them in place either physically or emotionally, and the present being exceptionally punishing in contrast with a blissfully unaware and comfortable past.

@thehiddenoctave explored this particular theme in his video about Mrigashira Nakshatra, but this phenomenon is something that can be observed in all Mars ruled Nakshatras.

For most accurate results in chart research, I recommend the Kala Astrological Software by Ernst Wilhelm, that gives you an option of calculating Nakshatras based on the position of Mula in the Galactic Center. This Calculation may slightly change your Nakshatra alignment, although that doesn't always happen, and I find it to be the most accurate Vedic Astrology Calculation option available in the world. It is a game changer, and has been the cherry on top of my many years of Astrology study. I mention this here because I used this software for celebrity research, that led to conclusions for this post.

For more understanding of Mrigashira, I recommend visiting the Hidden Octave's YouTube Channel, where there is a long video focusing on this Nakshatra in particular.

To better explore and understand the theme of difficulty in moving on in Mars Nakshatras, one needs to understand the position of Mars in the Nakshatra wheel. The Mars stage comes right after the Moon stage.

In the Moon stage, we have a unique capacity of garnering attention in one form or another, due to the Moon's ability for capturing the senses and manipulating their audience. Thus, in the Moon stage we enjoy a unique Lunar Radiance, that draws people in. Different Moon Nakshatras have variations in expression of that experience, the circle of trustees getting larger with every stage. Rohini relates more to domestic and family comforts, Hasta extends to business partnerships and Shravana tends to be the collective favourite child and has a knack for being a center piece of communities and attracting crowds. These people tend to naturally attract attention, care and companionship throughout their lives. That happens, even if they suffer personal losses. One person appears to caretake them in some form after the next.

The Mars stage is where we gradually loose all of that attention and protection. Mars Nakshatra natives normally have a knack for early success in life in some form, as they are still running off steam of the latent lunar influence from the previous stage. These natives suffer a lot from the Golden Child syndrome - first pampered, then discarded. The issue with the Mars stage, is that these natives are formed just like the Lunar natives in their childhood years. They naturally get adjusted to receiving a lot of attention and adulation. Then, due to unpleasant external events, they lose that adulation, typically as a result of betrayal by those, that were supplying them with the very emotional care they are so attached to.

As a result, the entire nervous system of these natives goes into shock, and they become fundamentally defensive. Depending on ones chart, two scenarios can occur.

The healthier scenario, is that the native properly develops and uses their Mars energy, and becomes the builder and protector of their own circle of safety, away from those, that subjected them to betrayal in the first place, and making sure no one suffers like they had to. In charts where Mars Nakshatras are particularly well functioning, there is almost an inborn animal instinct, that these people rely on, that makes them look for a way out of birth circumstances and leaving the Moon stage innocence and naiveté behind. That can occur in particular with Ketu in Martian Nakshatras, which shows a past life talent for sensing an inherent lack of safety in any environment. For instance, I have Ketu in Mrigashira, and I never trusted my family circle, and always looked for ways to leave it since the youngest age.

Sadly, there is also another scenario, which can easily occur if the planets in Mars Nakshatras are under some form of affliction, which causes emotional strain to the native and messes with their mindset. In the other scenario, the native becomes frozen in the long forgotten past, living a life of illusions, constantly wounded by the fact, that the life they so cling to will never come back. They realise, that the people who hurt them were never good to begin with and they stopped caring for them in the present, in fact only used them and never cared for them to begin with, and they can't cope with that, so they mentally escape into the past, into a time, where they still felt like they received the protection and nurtuting they miss now.

You can find very good examples of this phenomenon related to Mrigashira Nakshatra in the Hidden Octave video, which mentions a character of a child prodigy that has grown up to become stuck at home, filled with resentment, way into her matured age. She spends her time reminiscing on her easier times as a child actress, adored by her parents, but put into a reprehensible position due to her sister's insane jealousy.

Chitra natives tend to be more physical in their expression of Mars traits, modifying their bodies in order to retain youth and finances, since their family may have been more affluent in the past, but might have faced financial loss or simply separation. This motivates these natives to go to great lengths to preserve the illusion of status and comfort, experienced in the past, and makes them prone to playing social games and enjoying material wealth as "toys", just so they can feel like a child on the playground again.

The screenshot from the top of the post talks about a Dhanishta Moon native, Britney Spears, famous singer and dancer since a very young age, then betrayed and drugged by her family, now a wreck, stuck in her past dream of her family's adoration for her through her career status, still performing young girl dance routines, even though it's more inappropriate and disturbing with every passing day as she matures into her 40s.

These Nakshatra examples are a good place to mention, that the desperation of Mars natives is what can ironically pave their path into further success. A desire for attention leads to developing seduction methods to keep sustaining that attention. A desire for physical beauty motivates these natives towards acts such as plastic surgery to keep looking youthful. A desire for the attention of the crowds makes these natives act in provocative ways, just so that they feel someone will still keep talking about them. However, these acts usually end up either collapsing, as one is not really contributing anything useful to the world, which grows bored of the native, or producing love-hate reactions from the crowds, which only exacerbates these native's emotional problems.

Mars is healed, when it completely cuts off the past, lets go, stops trying to control people's reactions and trying to constantly get external validation and attention and charters its own course, developing independence. A healed Mars is a builder, that sets realistic goals and focuses on them, without looking for external approval. Mars is a spiritual planet, and it is where we develop faith in something bigger than ourselves for the first time, which ends up being crowned and maturing in Jupiter.

Mars is the King's Soldier and a Soldier's Mantra, is that he marches forward even when he doesn't know where he's going, because it's the belief in his path and the rhythm of his journey that keeps him alive.

#astrology #vedic astrology #vedic astro notes #vedic astro observations #jyotish #nakshatras #mars

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the-painted-siren · 10 months

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Anything At All

Summary: Lloyd is an adult who’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself—or so he wants Zane to believe. Good thing Zane doesn’t believe. Notes: A little thing I wrote for Round 1 of Who Wrote That in the Ninjago fic server I’m part of. Decided to polish it off and post it bc I had a good time writing it.

“You’re upset.”

It’s a statement, not a question.

Lloyd glances up, his expression one that Zane knows all too well: brows creased, face pinched, eyes gleaming with a sheen of exhaustion. Lloyd leans back in his chair, an irritated grumble rumbling in his throat.

“I am not.” Lloyd throws his pencil onto the stack of scrolls before him. The names of each of his students lay across the pages, accompanied by notes, diagrams, and schedules. Eraser shavings and crumpled-up papers overflow on his desk.

“It's normal to be upset,” Zane says. “You're stressed from a long day.”

Lloyd waves him off, yawning. “I’ve seen worse days,” he mutters. “I can get through this one.”

“Have you eaten today?”

Lloyd combs his fingers through his hair, a heavy sigh rolling out of him as he sinks down into his chair. He doesn’t look at Zane for the longest time, but the corners of his mouth turn to a pout like a child that’s been caught stealing sweets before dinner.

“No,” he finally admits. “But it’s fine. I’ll find something to snack on later.”

“You should eat,” Zane comments. “I can make something—”

“That’s nice.” Lloyd rises to his feet, a scowl flitting across his features as he pushes Zane toward the door. “But I’m a grown-up. I can feed myself.”

“But I—”

Lloyd gives Zane a proper shove out into the hallway.

“I appreciate it, buddy, really, but you can’t help this time.”

———

Zane doesn’t believe that.

He plays many roles within the team—medic, builder, analyst. He was built to protect and repair. And while he can’t traditionally repair Lloyd’s struggles, he figures he may be able to lighten them. He can take some of the weight off of Lloyd’s shoulders.

Because Lloyd works—he works and he trains and he fights. Mostly because he loves doing it. He loves protecting Ninjago with every ounce of his bleeding, golden heart, even if he never says it.

Deep down, though, Zane suspects it’s also because Lloyd doesn’t know how to do anything else.

Zane figures he’s approximately 25% responsible for that. Less, if he takes Nya and Master Wu into account. More, if he considers the many times he’s recklessly thrown himself into battle, almost died protecting those he cares about, and never opened those vulnerable parts of himself for others to repair.

Terrible examples that Zane knows Lloyd has internalized.

Though, FSM forbid he ever point that out—Lloyd would have a fit.

That leaves Zane the only option of supporting Lloyd through less direct means, which he remembers how to do with his favorite pastime.

Cooking tethers Zane to his sense of self. It goes beyond a set of calculations that his superhuman brain can produce in seconds. He considers it an art and one of the few things that call for his opinion and not cold, hard facts—it’s something he knows he can always use to comfort his family.

For Lloyd, Zane brings out a recipe of deep nostalgia and laughter.

A noodle soup with a rich, golden broth flavored by an assortment of spices, ginger, lime, and cilantro. Traditionally made with beef or chicken, Zane has since changed the recipe to favor shrimp instead, as Lloyd proved to have a taste for it as a child.

A few hours later, Zane sweeps into Lloyd’s room and sets the piping hot bowl of soup down on his desk. Lloyd looks up and immediately scowls.

“Zane, I told you to leave me alone,” Lloyd snaps. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Zane doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he scans the contents of Lloyd’s desk.

“You are working on customized training programs for your students?” Zane asks.

“Yes.”

“You teach them because you care about them?”

“ Yes, ” Lloyd hisses.

“If teaching is your way of expressing love, then cooking is mine,” Zane asserts, “and you are not the only one who is allowed to express their love here.”

Lloyd looks gobsmacked that Zane would dare speak to him that way. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water, spluttering for words that simply won’t come. Eventually, he scoffs, picks up a fork, and stabs at the food.

Despite Lloyd’s agonizing display, Zane reckons that everything will turn out fine. He followed the recipe he wrote to the letter, the same as always. It’s never failed before; it shouldn’t now.

Still, he finds himself watching with anticipation rushing to his head.

Lloyd shoves a forkful of noodles and shrimp into his mouth and chews—quickly first, then slowly, before he stops altogether.

A shot of icy panic spears through Zane’s mind. Surely, he hadn’t made a mistake? Unless Lloyd had grown out of enjoying his food? Did Lloyd not like it—

A soft rumbling sound touches the air, familiar in every way.

It takes Zane a moment to process what it is, but when he does, all of his doubt melts away.

Purring. Lloyd is purring.

His pointed ears—from his supernatural heritage—flick once, ever so slightly. Then again, and again, until they flutter like the wings of a butterfly. Lloyd leans over the bowl, a content smile pulling at his lips as he swallows and dives for the next bite, slurping up noodles with reckless abandon.

A cool sense of relief floods through Zane’s body at the sight.

Ever since the Merge, Lloyd rarely seemed joyful. It was as though the years of loneliness had left him struggling to reconnect with even his closest friends and all the more desperate to assert his independence. Especially since his responsibilities had grown to include two—no, three, Zane recounts—kids and a busier monastery to maintain.

To see Lloyd smile again soothed Zane more than words could explain.

“Be sure to bring your bowl back to the kitchen once you’ve finished,” Zane says as he takes his leave. “I can serve up seconds for you too, if you wish.”

Lloyd suddenly spins around in his chair, eyes wide.

“Uh, wait, Zane!”

Zane pauses in the doorway.

“Um… I know this might be a lot to ask…” Lloyd stumbles over his words, eyes darting away. “But… you know those spring rolls you make sometimes? The ones that have shrimp and pork and all that—” Lloyd makes a vague gesture with his hand. “ —green stuff you put in it. Could you…?”

“Of course,” Zane answers swiftly. “I’d be happy to make some for you.”

Lloyd beams—soft and relaxed against the golden light of dusk pouring into the room.

“Thanks, Zane,” Lloyd says.

Zane merely smiles, happy to be of assistance.

Anything at all to make his little brother smile again.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #lloyd garmadon #lloyd ninjago #zane julien #zane ninjago #hails' writing #hails’ fic

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ask-good-cop-bad-cop · 2 months

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Robot Headcanons

AJ:

* Most robots get to choose their own names upon gaining sentience. AJ's was given to him by GCBC. It's short for "Adam Junior".

* AJ is a very adventurous sort with a tendency to test limits and push boundaries. This accounts for about 75% of his headbutting with Frank.

* AJ loves to help others and do what he can to make someone happy. When GCBC announced they would no longer be hunting Master Builders and would instead be helping to rebuild the city, AJ was all for it.

* AJ is very much the sort who would sneak stray animals into the Tower.

* He has a habit of cracking jokes or otherwise making light of a tense or serious situation. This accounts for the other 25% of his headbutting with Frank.

* AJ's activation day is March 4. He is 7 years old.

Frank:

* Frank is a very by-the-books sort and prefers to treat serious situations in a serious manner. AJ's rule-bending and tendency towards levity drives him up the wall.

* He is very dependable and level-headed. There is very little that can ruffle his feathers.

* Frank prefers to express his caring and affection through making sure his siblings are safe and accounted for. He takes this job very seriously.

* Frank's activation day is August 17. He is 9 years old.

Ace:

* Ace is pretty laid-back and loves to chat. Especially about his "baby" (an Airbus H225).

* He is a pilot who has flown various types of aircraft, mostly dropships. His favorite to fly are helicopters. He's very skilled and he knows it.

* His left hand was crushed beyond repair in a crash. The only spare parts GCBC had at the time had discolored plating from a mix-up during manufacturing, so it's more of a brassy color.

* His activation day is January 8. He'll be 4 years old soon.

General Robot Trivia:

* The robots have a sense of touch. Most of their frames can only register pressure and heat or cold, but the palms of their hands and fingertips are every bit as sensitive as a human's and can pick out a variety of textures. They tend to get touchy-feely because of this.

* They also have a sense of smell, much better than a human's. They can detect things a human would never pick up on.

* While all robots were programmed with loyalty first and foremost to Business, the SwatBots have all developed a stronger sense of loyalty to their Chiefs. If GCBC were ever to leave Octan, they would follow in a heartbeat.

* The robots have a type of super-secure short range Wi-Fi they use to communicate with each other. Good Cop has jokingly referred to it as them having a "hive mind", and honestly, it does seem to function that way when they're all in close enough range to each other.

#I will be adding to this as I think of more details.#headcanons #octan robots #lore

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sno4wy · 1 month

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youtube

AITA for making my husband try out the new rollercoaster with me?

I (32M) am a builder for a small frontier town out in the Eufaula. Having solved the town's water crisis, we've been very busy recently improving and adding to our town in a vigorous drive to get her back on the map. One of these additions is an amusement park. Everyone really came together chipping in the gols, materials, time, and energy into making into reality what was originally thought to be nothing more than an eccentric quack entrepreneur's pipe dream.

It's been so busy that I've not had much time together with my husband, M (48M). He is of course as gracious as always, even though for weeks now that he only sees me briefly each dawn before he departs for his Church of the Light duties, and the only time that I see him is when I look upon his serenely slumbering face right before I turn the lights off and I crash into bed. There have been precious few exceptions, but M filled each of those with encouragement and assurances.

When everything was completed, M and I had desperately-needed catchup time. To my exasperation, the first day that the new amusement park formally opened to the public, which was only three days after we began our rest, M suggested going to the amusement park. I say exasperated and not surprised because I know my husband and I was getting the feeling that he'd suggest this. Why? Well, you see, earlier, when I said, "everyone really came together chipping in", I mean they did, but I guess I might've kinda contributed a not insubstantial monetary investment, but also having personally constructed and installed several of its fixtures? I mean it's really not a big deal, it's part of my job and why I came to this town. Whenever I was down in my luck, the kind owner at the local saloon always had a discount meal for me, and my ranch owner neighbors always left me fresh yakmel milk in the morning. It turned out that I have a violent intolerance for the stuff, but that's a different story.

In any case, M has always been so indescribably supportive. He is so much my rock and reason for living, and yet I can always pick up a tinge of guilt? Sense of unworthiness? Insecurity? A most heartbreaking self-deprecation, even though I am extremely expressive of how he is everything I have ever wished for and of my utter devotion to him. Full disclosure: M does have… let's just say a "history" with the town. He did some very bad things for what he thought to be the right reasons and was manipulated by some very bad people. He takes his transgressions very seriously and carries the perceived heavy burden of the town's forgiveness at all times. Perhaps these things are being projected onto me. I really hope that's not the case.

I would've preferred to stay at home with M as we'd done the previous days, I really needed the time with him alone, not just intimately, but like, telling each other about what we've been up to, new things we learned, reading books together, listening to his deep, sultry voice reading to me, and sometimes just doing nothing but silently enjoying being together again. It's been paradise, but I couldn't turn down his suggestion. He was so earnest, and that yin-yang balance of hope and fear just tipping barely into the darker side in his gaze makes me wonder if I heard my heart crack as I fall into those soulful, beautiful, deep amethyst eyes. I knew what he was thinking -- he believed that I've been exerting more than he had in our time apart, and he wanted to show his utter appreciation and gratefulness for it.

I don't know what else to do. I think he does this kind of thing to make me happy, but all I want to do is make him happy. Yes, I know what you're wondering, Church of the Light principles are indeed a bit more lax out here because of the whole frontier thing, but yes, it is still very bad form for a faithful Church of the Light devotee to wish to visit an establishment that centers around technology. No, M is most certainly not a false discipline of the Light, you're really not going to find anyone more true to his beliefs than M (and certainly not that travesty of a minister in Portia). It's definitely my fault that he has to add yet another internal conflict about his faith and his suggesting that we go to an amusement park. Maybe that was it. Maybe that was why I asked him if he wanted to go on the rollercoaster, because I was too much of a coward to face the emotions that'd definitely threaten to overtake me if he'd initiated instead. He can't say no to me any better than I can say no to him, so my asking him was basically forcing him.

So, we went on the rollercoaster, and M was very earnest about it being a lovely experience. I really can't imagine that to be anywhere near true. How do I know? Well, for starters, he was tense throughout the entire ride. Not just normal tense, but I'm talking like doing the best statue impression in the entire Free Cities. I swear that he didn't blink the entire time either, WITH HIS EYES OPEN THE WHOLE TIME, and if you've ever been on a rollercoaster you know how insane that is. And his face was just frozen in his firm/disapproving expression, which is probably his most-practiced expression, throughout the ENTIRE thing. My head got whipped around a few times, so maybe he changed something during those moments, but I swear to Peach he looked the same the entire ride.

When the ride stopped, M slid out as though he hadn't just gone through those twists and turns like a human rock, and made small talk with me about the ride. I don't remember much of what he said, I was too busy trying to figure out if he was ok, but the most concerning of all that he said was that he claimed he had his eyes closed throughout most of it! I WAS STARING AT HIM THROUGHOUT MOST OF IT AND HIS EYES WERE FROZEN. THE. LIGHT. OPEN. I'm extremely weirded out and concerned, and am worried that I broke my husband.

AITA for making my husband try out the new rollercoaster with me?

Thx, M4X_S4ndr0ck

#My Time at Sandrock #MTAS #MTAS Miguel #MTAS builder #MTAS fanfic #MTAS OC #Youtube

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short-black-diamond · 1 year

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The greatest estate developer x female!witch!reader Chapter one, Chapter two:

Word count: 5.8 k

I did not proofread.

---

After you guys helped the sand and steel tribe with their resource and workout problem, the men and you gathered around. you didn't know why though, but you'd soon find out.

"We, the sand and steel tribe, feel a deep gratitude to you, Lloyd the human, and ____ the witch, oink.", Akush, Arosh's father, exclaimed.

And as good as he could act, Lloyd humbly replied: "You are too kind... I was merely fulfilling the terms of our contract."

"It was actually rather fun to make the ice.", you stated. you mostly enjoyed playing with Lloyd with the water as you two splashed each other and you guys even being able to make snow, which resulted in a snowball fight. Javier surprisingly joined in the fun. You thought you caught him having a little smile as well.

"We orcs are different from you humans, oink. We do not just take things for granted because of a contract, oink.

When we are grateful, we show it, oink. Therefore, I, Akush of the sand and steel tribe, will make a vow to you, Lloyd, oink.", the leader started and a 'FWOOSH' sound erupted.

You knew what that meant and you grinned like the perv you were.

"From this moment, I declare the family of Lloyd Frontera and the sand and steel tribe...", and he struck a body-builder pose, his underlings behind him along, "...blood brothers, oink!"

'God, this is so much better than any explicit book I've read so far!', you thought excitedly as you zeroed on every single muscle and handsome face you could muster in front of you.

However, you flinched when the 120 orcs behind you, Javier and Lloyd struck the same pose as the orcs in front of you. "Blood brothers!", they chanted.

and you couldn't help from giggling like an idiot as you were salivating when Arosh's father flexed his right arm to you guys, right in front of you, just six feet away. "The Fronteras are our friends! An enemy of the Fronteras is an enemy of our tribe! If anyone should cause you trouble, we will be at your side!"

While you were busy ogling at the hundreds of men with a heavy blush and imagining all the dirty things they could do to you, and Javier deadpanning at the many men but also noticing your face and deadpanning at you as well, Lloyd was busy staring ahead.

"Long live the sand and steel tribe!", he then yelled, while flexing his arm. When you took notice of him, you only stared at his less-toned arm. "...what?"

You just turned to the orcs again and started to smirk. He deadpanned at you as well. "Really?", but you didn't listen.

...

as you guys were arriving back to town, the townspeople were frightened. meanwhile, you were asking Arosh about his workout routine. you were just a little pervy shit, with the way you blinked at him with your big doe eyes in faux wonder, and also asked to see his muscles. You also took notice of his heavy gulp and sweet, pink blush when you caressed his biceps as you muttered something along the lines of his hard work paying off. But, it didn't look like the Orc was against your special attention to his body. If anything, he relished the way you touched and gazed at him.

and seeing you being so close to the leader's son...made Lloyd...jealous? He never felt that. He never had a girlfriend in his past life. But for all he knew is that he didn't like that feeling. And he liked even less how you touched the pushover Orc.

As for Javier, he watched you with an unreadable expression, as always actually. But also Javier Asrahan felt something uncomfortable inside him when he saw you with that Orc.

Now you guys were in one of the baron's chambers as you examined the many magical objects. Some of them were actually rather new to you. "Where did you get these from?"

"A dark sorcerer." "What? Did you guys fight him?"

"Kinda."

However, you felt the scene in front of you rather cute; Lloyd sitting around and looking through stuff reminded you of a child, rummaging through its many presents and toys.

He held a big orange circle, then a crystallised skull, and now, he held a grey book. Javier went closer to him and stealing glances of what stood in the book while you sat down and leaned closer to Lloyd. He blushed a little when your thighs touched his.

"Is there anything of monetary value?", the knight asked. Javier also felt a pang of pain here again when you put your hands on Lloyd's hand to stop changing the pages. Lloyd flinched and looked at you with big eyes, but yours were concentrated on the content. You must've caught something interesting. As you snatched the book from the young Frontera-to which Lloyd protested with a 'hmpf!'-, Lloyd answered: "I'm not sure...I'm looking first to see if there is anything we can use before seeling it..."

"Wow, this book teaches you how to let a corpse work for you!", you laughed, but Lloyd turned serious. "...Really?"

"...Yeah? can't you read what it says?", you asked, confused as to why Lloyd asked you that. He took a look at the page where you stopped him. Then he snatched the book back and and quickly took his jacket.

"____! Come with me! Javier! I need to head ot the mine! I'll leave you to tidy up the rest!"

And as if on reflex, you pulled him to your broom where he sat behind you and you two dashed ahead. "Leave the books here though and put everything else in my room!", you yelled before you two left the room.

Javier sighed as he looked at the mess.

...

"Tordes! Where's Tordes?!", Lloyd called as soon as he landed on safe grounds. You kept sitting on your broom and looked around. 'Whoah, here are many workers...!'

"Who's Tordes?", you asked while looking around. Also here, you took notice rather quickly of the building muscles of the men around here. You were growing a little dizzy by the lack of oxygen and more by the amount of sweat which 'sexily flows down their arms and necks! Aahhh~-', so you made a bubble with many holes which let air out. The air was much better now, and it also seemed like the workers had noticed as they thanked you. You smiled. And you blushed.

Pervy little piece of shit.

"You were looking for me, my lord?", a meek looking young lad asked, eyes lost from life, cheeks hollow and the big nose making him appear pathetic. (Nothing against big nosed ppl, like Doja Cat said, she'd like to sit on ppl w/ big noses. also love y'all <3)

He had green hair which was disshelved, and his pickaxe was resting on his back. However, a heavy blush settled on his cheeks when he saw you. You, who sat so gracefully on a broom, your thighs spilling from the sides which got cut off your dress and thigh highs making your thighs appear more thick. you little belly pudge was also to die for. Your deep cleavage with your rather larger than average chest made Tordes gulp. And your face was also the one's of an angel...!

"Ah, there you are! I have some good news!", Lloyd exclaimed as he felt the poor guy's strong stare at you. Lloyd'd wipe the sparkle of the young pervert's eyes away in an instant. You just waved with a small smile.

Tordes blushed more. 'Was Lloyd bringing me a woman? If yes, then-'

"You remember the terms of your contract? The bit about working for 520 years.", to which Tordes affirmed with a "ah...yes...".

"If you think about it...that was ridiculous, right? That clause was a bit of a joke. But now you don't have to worry anymore!", the baron's son smiled as he took out the book.

you frowned. 'what did he want to show Tordes? And what contract-'

"Here, there's a spell that can turn a corpse into a ghoul I can control!"

"Lloyd!? Why would you do that?!", you yelped. You were outraged. "Don't you have any pity on him?!"

But the Frontera son wasn't listening. "That means you can work the whole 520 years! Isn't that exciting?! Sounds fun, right?!"

while you were looking from one man to the other with a panicked expression, to Tordes, who just looked at Lloyd, and Lloyd, who then turned serious.

"Hey...am I the only one excited about this?

...Smile."

Tordes cried while mustering up a crooked smile.

"Lloyd, how dare you do that?! ...H-How about we make another deal?! You take off 480 years off the debt he has to work for you- which I will cover- and just let him work for forty years?! There, he could work for you until he gets old! Wouldn't that be better?! Please leave the poor Tordes be!"

Lloyd gave you one of his devillish grins and you didn't fight the urge to slap him this time.

"STOP IT WITH THE GRIMACE!!! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE GONNA STAY SINGLE FOREVER!", you yelled after you gave him a bitch slap.

And that seemed to pull him back to his senses. Albeit a little only. But still. The thought behind it counted.

"...Fine, I'm not gonna turn you into a worker even after you're dead. You're lucky ____ was here to rescue you, even though she showed me this page-" "I didn't know that you'd come to such evil thoughts!-"

"So keep up the great work. You can do it.", he "encouraged", as he lead you away from Tordes with one of his hands on your back. You noticed that his large hand reached from one end of your waist to the other and you felt your cheeks warming up when his thumb carresed the back of your spine.

"Bye Tordes, and sorry for bothering you with that!", you called back as you waved. Tordes waved back with a happy smile and rosy cheeks now.

...

You tucked your broom away while following Lloyd who was looking for his parents. You still had to recover from the fact that the townspeople here didn't look at you weirdly. You were a witch, after all. Maybe it's because you didn't look like an Orc? No, Orcs were even prettier than you, if anything.

You were for sure happy when the mine-workers thanked you for making oxygen-bubbles which allowed them to breathe more air and also help them cool off.

"Pardon me...The Baron is in the reception room. He has some guests..."

"Huh? Which guests?"

"Um...Mr. Shiloh and Mr. Meatloaf."

Lloyd stayed solent for a moment before he turned around to go to the reception room while his face was about to form more unnatural-

But you slapped him again. This time more hard. "WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!?!?!? The poor maid here is scared by the faces you pull off!"

Lloyd ignored the harsh sting of your slap and pulled you towards said room. Now in front of it, you made a spell which allowed you and Lloyd to listen to the conversation. Suddenly, Arosh appeared and asked you in a hushed whisper what you two were doing.

"Lloyd's dad's collegues seem to be not so nice to him.", you spoke easily, having already understood that Arosh wouldn't understand anything else you'd say when you asked about anything other than meat and workouts or muscles. So baby talk it was.

"Why are they not nice to him? Do I have to interfere?", he asked, but you gently pulled him down. "No, we'll wait a little longer.", and right after you ended your sentence did you hear the first words of the conversation.

"So, Baron, you already know...our policy is to receive the principal of the loan in a single repayment. However, just this once, we will make a special arrangement so you can repay 10% of the principal", Sir Meatloaf, Lloyd guessed, said.

Then, Sir Meatloaf spoke again. "That is, if you hand over the rights to the mine.", and that made you and Lloyd frown at each other.

Lloyd's father remained mute. This time, Mr. Shiloh raised his voice. "Why are you not answering us, Baron? It will reduce your interest payment. This would be good for you, would it not?"

And now, it seemed that Lloyd didn't want to hear anymore of their crap and knocked while you whooshed away your spell. After knocking on the door a few times, Lloyd spoke: "My lord, it's Llyod, may I enter?"

"Oh, yes, please come in!", the father answered.

As Lloyd and you came in, you unfortunately didn't miss the way the two grown men were ogling at your figure which made you a little self conscious and also uncomfortable, but luckily, Lloyd went in front of you to grab their attention. With a sugarsweet smile and a bittersweet voice, Lloyd asked them about their well-being.

but you were annoyed by how little they seemed to respect the baron's son. "If you think about threatening us again, you can buzz off. Here, we have an official invitation.", the fatso spoke who must've been undoubtedly Mr Meatloaf.

But the shown paper didn't seem to draw your partner's attention in the slightest. "Oh, of course you do. You are intellectuals after all, haha. I couldn't help but overhear the amaaaazing offer you were giving us. May I be so bold to suggest an offer of my own?"

'Why is Mr. Meatloaf answering all the questions? Shiloh over there seems to be mute...', you thought when you heard the brash voice of Meatloaf declining the offer halfheartedly, but got interrupted by Lloyd again.

"Going forward, we will repay our depths in smaller tranches. You will of course lower the interest accordingly."

"I said I did not want to hear it! How dare you!", to which the Frontera son only 'Hmm?'ed.

"so you two can spit out crappy offers but I can't? Well, that makes me angry.", and as if on cue, Arosh appeared.

"Who dares....", Arosh started, as he stepped in, and glaring at the two men in front of him with an ice cold glare -to which you blushed heavily-, "...to anger my Frontera brother, oink?"

Lloyd only smiled next to him innocently. You wanted to laugh at them, but you burst out laughing when you looked at the two men who were sitting in front of the Baron. They looked like they'd shit their pants any moment now.

Arosh didn't seem to be finished, as he repeated what his father said in his own words. "Anyone who causes trouble to the Fronteras...will be destroyed with the full force of the sand and steel tribe, oink."

Lloyd punched Arosh's left 'juicy, hot, big!' pectoral lightly and you bit your tongue not to whimper when it jiggled. 'Damn you Lloyd, that hand of yours should be my hand!'

"Come on, my friend. Who's angering who? No, no."

"No, oink. It sounded like they were shouting at Lloyd, oink."

"No, he just has a loud voice. Now, about my offer... what do you think? Should you refuse it...you might hurt my feelings.", he spoke calmly, but his face said otherwise.

"If you hurt Frontera's feelings, I'll tear you to pieces, oink.", Arosh growled and you whimpered quietly. It was a miracle how nobody seemed to pay attention to you, really.

Sadly, you had to refrain yourself to bitch-slap him across the room. 'wait, if I slap Lloyd, will Arosh slap me? That would be a cost I'd be willing to take...!'

But before anything else could happen, the two idiots signed a new contract and ran away.

Now, you were praising Arosh for standing up for Lloyd, and Arosh was blushing furiously while thanking you while averting his eyes and stuttering. After Lloyd deadpanned at you two, he faced his "dad".

"If I would have things my way, I would cancel the debt completely, but that would be a crime, so we will have to make do with these changes."

"Ah...y-yes. Thank you.", The Baron sweatdropped.

"the ondol construction business is gradually expanding, and the mining of soft coal is going smoothly. We'll be able to pay off the debths in no time."

With the rolled paper in hand, Lloyd went over to the baron and handed it over to him. The baron hesitantly took the paper. Your attention was brought to Lloyd, and Arosh pouted cutely at your loss of attention to him.

"As the one named on the contract, please keep it safe."

"Sure..."

You watched the baron with curiousity. 'The father seems to be pretty chill, but also clueless at times. Otherwise he looks like a good man.'

Lloyd had, as always, something else to say.

"However...we do have one big problem. If we don't solve this, it will be serious.", the Frontera son started before pointing his thumb back to Arosh. "These guys eat ten times more than normal humans. The cost of feeding them is huge, so if this continues we may gain more debt, heh heh..."

You frowned when you heard of this. 'Why isn't he asking me? I have the perfect spell for that!'

"I can help with that, Lloyd.", you interfered, and effectively stopping the poor father from having a nervous breakdown. "You can? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you never asked?"

"I-...oh wait I thought I asked you...huh, what kind of spell could you do?"

"Well, for one, I can duplicate an animal twenty times its size, but I need to brew a potion for that. Or I could play an instrument, which would make more animals. Hmmm....for other spells, I'll have to look in one of my books..."

"Really? Then that's good! Wonderful! Jeez, ____, what can't you do?"

"Raise people from the dead?...at least, not yet."

And you two broke out laughing. Arosh and Lloyd's father only looked at you with a bewildered expression.

...

Again, you had to follow Lloyd to the mine, because the workers couldn't drag an Orc away who was working more than a day.

"Where!? Where is it?!"

"It's that Orc over there! He's been working for 24 hours non-stop!", a nameless worker informed, pointing to another good-looking Orc.

"...____?", he asked -for you to do your magic- but you only stared at the Orc in shock. However, you felt a deep rush of blood going up your head that you became dizzy.

"Wow...what a .... hardworking man...", you mumbled as you gently took the Orc in the air. As the orc was fumbling around, obviously not used to flying in the air, you had a heavy blush.

"ARRGH! I DON'T WANT TO REST, OINK! I WANT TO WORK OUT, OINK! MY MUSCLES, OOOINK!", the Orc screamed as he flew behind you who had to bring him out to the open. You also renewed your spell on the oxygen bubbles.

'I...I won't be able to last any longer when I see more of those muscles and handsome faces...!', you thought as you walked with Lloyd towards Arosh.

He gave you a questioning look but you only smiled with your eyes closed. Good thing that you could still sense their individual core-manas. 'Don't open your eyes, ____! Don't you dare open your eyes!'

"Wages? You mean money, oink? We Orcs have no need for money, oink. Us Ocs only ask that our bellies are full, oink.", the leader's son of the sand and steel tribe answered to one of Lloyd's questions.

After you brought out the overworking Orc and casting him with a sleeping spell, you turned to Lloyd. "I didn't eat anything all day, is it okay if I grab a bite?" "Sure, no problem."

"Would you like something as well? I can only cook half as good as I can do magic, but I think I'll manage for an apple pie.", you asked after you and Lloyd went around a bit, taking a walk. And as always, the path lead to his father's house.

"I'd love to eat something sweet later. But I do have one question. How did you stop the lava Bangul shot when it was only mere inches away from you? Didn't you say that you didn't have any mana?"

You pondered for a moment. "You're right, I've never thought about that to be honest... maybe it's because witches have hundreds of more mana hearts than humans. I have my core-mana, spirit-mana, sould-mana, ghost-mana, mind-mana, and many more. But, It seems like I've only reached ten so far. The one that I unlocked when the lava shot me must've been my reflex-mana."

"Reflex-mana?"

"This mana allows the body to use magic, but only in a life-or-death situation. That's why I could stop the lava. If you don't understand what I mean then I can gladly explain it once you're done talking to your father."

He gave you a perplexed expression. "How did you know that I was going to my father?"

You smiled at him. "Because whenever there is trouble, you talk to him and Javier. It's actually nice having a father who listens to you, isn't it?", and Lloyd saw you for the first time with a sad smile.

"Please cherish each relationship with the people here. Especially the one's whom you feel closest with."

And you had a hardened expression again.

You two walked for a moment, and then Lloyd spoke again. "You know...you never actually told me anything about you. Where are you from? Is it far away? How are your parents? Did you have many friends from where you came from?"

You chuckled. "I'm from the west, Lloyd. I can't tell you how far away my hometown is, but I can tell you that it took me three years from there to here. Without magic, that is. The witches in my town were just...arrogant pricks, to be honest. My parents...wanted me to get married to an older man with much wealth and he was also a high-ranking sorcerer. I didn't have many friends back there, actually. I also had a cat, Seseg...but she died. And you know whose foult that was? The mother of the man I should have been betrothed to. Can you believe it? Killing an innocent creature?

And that's when I lost it. My parents then blamed me for Seseg's death, the townspeople looked down on me, the girls I thought were my friends turned against me as well, and I thought that I had no other choice but to leave.

However, it was the best decision I could make, even when I lost my core mana in the process."

"Because you met me, Javier and Arosh?"

"Mainly because I met you, Lloyd."

You gave him a look of gratitude, which made the young Frontera blush. And you didn't stop there.

"When I first met you, I thought you were just another one of those greedy bastard-humans, who only wanted money and would do anything, even dirty tricks, to achieve what you wanted.

But you're so so sooo much nicer than that. Even though it might look like you're robbing the people of their coins, you're worrying about their well-being as well, and you only trick the ones who really deserve it and you're a great listener, I noticed now.

It's...a nice exchange from what I've been through, actually. And thank you for not ordering me to pay up, ahahhhaahahahaha.

....But really, Llyod, ...thank you."

"J-jeez, no need to thank me!"

"Stop being so humble and accept my gratitude, Lloyd. Even just this once."

You gave him another look and he blushed a little more.

"F-fine...You're welcome, ____."

...

'So...let's look at these little treasures...', you thought as you examined the many objects you instructed Javier to place into your room. 'A little look at the artefacts and then an apple pie of gratitude for Lloyd! ...maybe Javier would like some too? I'll just bake two pies...!'

As you looked through the books, you were surprised by the amount of new knowledge you got. But there was also a book which resembled a diary. You were really confused when you looked at the chronical notes the person took. 'Why are there so many animal skulls? And in an abandoned place? What is this??'

And then, that familiar symbol. You shrieked.

'I HAVE TO TELL LLOYD!', cue to you quickly riding on your broom to tell the young Frontera. But you stopped. 'Maybe I can take care of this myself...? But I'm scared! Oh, what should I do? Maybe keep researching? I could just...look around? Yeah, a quick check on that place and then I'm done!'

But you changed the direction, back to your room. 'What if there's more?'

Now, you were feeling helpless. there were like, fifty other books, and the notes taken last were a few weeks ago. You had to look at all the books to make an announcement, otherwise: 'Lloyd would either make fun of me or scold me when I would say something that might not even be based on true events...I sure hope this is a lie...!'

And after you speed-read a few of the books which looked similar to the diary, but without the same contents, you called it an hour. 'After I bake those pies, my brain will be fresh!...still, I should at least tell Lloyd what I found out...but why can't he read that language? It's written in the basic language here! Or maybe they have some sort of...other way of writing it? I'll need to check for myself.'

It was a nice day, given that it was past noon and you were enjoying the gentle breezes.

"____? What brings you here?", the familiar voice of Lloyd's father asked. "Oh, Mr. Frontera, what a surprise! I was just about to look for some apple seeds."

"Apple seeds? For what?"

"So that I can grow my own trees. I wanted to bake an apple pie for Lloyd as gratitude for welcoming me with open arms and offering me to be of help for him. Back in my hometown, something such as gratitude didn't exist, so I'd like to try it out."

That made the older man laugh. "That's nice to hear. Do you have other stories of your hometown which you'd like to share? Also, why don't you join me and my wife for afternoon tea? We could bake the pies together as well and then drink it together!"

You were touched by his kind words. "I would love that, Mr. Frontera."

...

"Simply. Amazing.", Mr. Frontera's wife said as she watched you place the apple seeds to the ground, heard you casting a spell, and 'plop!' a tree grew!

"And can you do that with other fruits as well?!", she asked enthusiasticly (<-is this how it's spelled?) as you nodded. "give me the seed of the fruit you like and see how many trees are carrying your lovely fruits."

"Please let me adopt you."

"Wha-"

"Ahahahahahah! My love, please! Don't hit her with that question!"

After half an hour later, the pies were fresh and you left two for Lloyd and Javier. The pies themselved tasted utterly delicious.

But what you loved the most was the black tea they served. "This...is the best tea I've drank so far! Do you know how many times I had to redo my tea for it to lead to such a close taste to this perfection?!", you exclaimed outraged, but swooning at the nice taste.

The parents exchanged knowing looks. "Well, you can drink tea any time of day you want. Under one condition...", she spoke, giving you a serious look.

"Can't I just make some more herbs for the tea?"

"No."

"Oh, well-"

"We have a few questions about you and our son, Lloyd. Then we'll give you the herbs."

"Oh, then ask ahead!"

They exchanged another look and you grew a little suspicious. "The thing is...we'd like to know if you like him."

"Of course I do! He was one of the first humans who actually welcomed me with open arms-albeit threatening me with fees at first-but still!-"

"And what if we look at it from a romantic perspective?", the mother chimed in. She coquettishly smiled at you.

That made you halt. 'Romantic? Me? With Lloyd?', you blushed a little at the thought of being together with him, but you didn't even know him that well.

"With all my respect, I can only give you my greatest gratitude for your hospitality towards me and treating me accordingly nice.

However, I only know you and him for a few days. Although Lloyd is handsome and has a brain for estates and robbing the bad guys off their money, as well as fighting evil, I suppose, I cannot help but wonder more about him.

If I'd like to look at him in a romantic way, I would ask him about everything he likes, help him when needed, and give him my unconditional love. But as I said before, I don't know him enough to actually fall in love with him. for us to have a romantic relationshio, I'd like to know him more than just the basic information I got from him.

And to be completely honest with you, Mrs. and Mr. Frontera, I've ran away from home for that exact reason. I fled from my hometown because of an unhappy arranged marriage to an older man whom I couldn't imagine spending even a second with, let alone the rest of my life. And so, I've never experienced love.

So I'm sorry, but I can not tell you more than that."

"...you fled because of an arranged marriage?...oh my...", the woman spoke, looking at you with utmost pity.

"I am sorry that we, uh, pressed you to that topic, miss ____. I truly am. Please forgive us."

"It is alright. I can for sure say though that Lloyd is a great man and an even greater friend."

"You know, a few months ago, he was not like that. He drank and drank and drank. He was a tyran. He gambled away his life and we had our concerns with him. But then, after one night where he was completely drunk, and when he woke up, he was a complete other person!", the father spoke now in a hushed whisper.

"What? Really?"

"Yes! He- he did all those crazy things with this-these odol houses, and building a mine? And now you taught him to make ice and snow!", the mother continued, to which you laughed sheepishly.

"ahah, you saw us play with the snow, right?"

"At least Javier found it funny enough to join, even if you started making him your target with the snowballs and he had to flee from you guys."

You three laughed at that. "Yeah, it was really fun...we should do it again, sometime.", you spoke, and the couple could see the fondness in your eyes. This time, they exchanged a smile while you looked into your cup with a smile and a small blush.

"And now, he helped me with that contract, and you can make more animals. And Lloyd is somewhere out there in our small town, and wants to grow food in the old wasteland. I wonder how long it will take him to grow it."

'what a great father. Not questioning if he'll make it, but when. I wish my dad was like that...'

"With my help, it wouldn't take long, Mr. Frontera. Also, if you have any other concerns, I'm always going to do my best to aid you as well. We witches may be arrogant, but we hold our promises."

"You are anything but arrogant, miss ____!"

"Yes! You are by far the only woman who stayed close to Lloyd this far! And I mean it as a compliment, given the grimaces he seems to form now!"

"Ugh, everytime he does that, I just want to-to slap it out of his face. Doesn't he know that if he makes that grimace too long or too deep, his handsome face will be ruined?"

'"Handsome"?', the married couple thought as they listened to you ramble about Lloyd and what you didn't like about him, which wasn't much, actually.

"...and so, I made another deal with him to leave poor Tordes alone. But what about that wasteland you two talked about? Is it far away?"

"Not really, just a long walk, maybe two or three hours?"

"Yes, I think so too-"

"Hello, mother, father.", their 'son''s voice called as he entered after a short knock. You stood up. "Oh, hey ____!"

"Hey Lloyd, your parents told me about a wasteland you were about to turn into a food-garden? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Lloyd didn't mean to eavesdrop when he was about to knock on the door, but when he heard your voice, he stopped before his knuckles could touch the wood.

You were complaining about his handsome face getting ruined by the grimace-

Wait.

'Did you just say "handsome"?!'

And that's how Lloyd came in with a blush. 'You really think I'm handsome?!', was all he could think of when he saw your pouty lips and your furrowed brows.

'Cute.'

"well, I wanted it to be a-a surprise! Yep! And, well, you just haaad to ask, didn't cha?"

"A surprise? For me? For what?"

"For helping me, of course!"

"I actually must help you and work for you to decrease the debt of my own and the 480 years of Tordes."

"Psshhhh, who'd think of that?! C'mon, take your broom and I'll lead you there and I'll show you-"

"Wait. There is something important I found out about the sorcerer. It'd be best if I told you now, but I also baked you and Javier some pie- where's he, anyways?", you interrupted and asked as you looked behind Lloyd. No Javier.

"Huh, I swore I've seen him- oh, there he is.", Lloyd said and you and his parents looked over to the knight who was standing by the pies you baked.

"Oh, Javier, there you are!", you called and made your way over there-but not wihtout pulling Lloyd by his hand towards the cloudy-haired man. He gulped.

'her hands are so small compared to mine...and...they're soft...!'

"There are two- where's the second one?"

"...I ate it."

"Did you bake us pies?", Lloyd asked. He knew where you where by the smell of fresh baked apples, but no pie.

"Yeah...", you answered, looking at Javier, who was mustering up his best innocent puppy dog eyes for you to not be mad at him.

"You bake extraordinary well, ____-", Javier praised, but got interrupted by an angry Lloyd.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT, JAVIER!!! ONE PIE WAS MADE FOR ME!!!", Lloyd yelled and grabbed Javier, who was putting the last piece as slowly as possible into his mouth, and thus only angering his master further.

"I can bake more if-"

"YES PLEASE!!!", the two grown men yelled in unision at you.

You sighed. "Alrighty..."

Mr. Frontera exchanged concerned and pitying looks about you to his wife, who did the same.

'The info-dumping will have to wait. I'll also have to ask why Lloyd couldn't read the language...and when will I tell him about my personal secret?', you thought before you made new dough while Mrs. Frontera plucked new apples for you.

...

Hey hey hey~! How are my precious readers?! sorry for not bringing some requests, I just wanted to keep writing that story so bad, and now we're here!

also I hope you could read through the 5.8 k words ☠☠☠☠

Can you guess what ____'s personal secret is? And no, I didn't write it in the story, so there will be no spoiler about it.

Anyways, please write in the comments how you found it, reblog it, and leave a like pls!

Read you guys in the next post!

#tged spoilers #tged #javier asrahan #lloyd frontera #the greatest estate developer #tged x reader #tged x you #tged x female reader #i love you 🍰nom #i hope it was okay #send me more requests #javier asrahan x reader #javier x reader #lloyd frontera x reader #lloyd x reader #arosh x reader #sand and steel tribe #i love the greatest estate developer

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in-need-of-gally-content · 5 months

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Four|

•|Masterlist|•

With a chuckle and feeling his face warming up, (M/n) stepped away from Gally and began making his way to where their friends were busy getting the bonfire ready. The weekly bonfires weren't as big as the greenie bonfires were, so there wasn't much to be done, however, the Builders always found a way to get distracted when they weren't working, so it took a while to get them to set it up.

However today seemed to be a different occasion as it did look like a greenie bonfire.

Approaching Alec and Mikah, he looked around for what he could do and spotted the chopped logs scattered nearby, so he crouched down to pick them up, but a foreign hand did it for him instead.

"What...?" Looking up, he saw Gally bending over to pick up those logs, glancing at him for a moment, "Really?"

"You're still recovering, you're not lifting heavy stuff yet, bean," (M/n) huffed and looked around them for a moment, noticing how the guys around immediately went back to what they were doing, making it too obvious that they were paying attention to what was happening between them.

"Clint said I'm okay, Gally, I can help," Gally stood straight once more, and (M/n) saw him reaching his hand out to him, which he took and stood next to the tall blond.

"Hm," Gally hummed with a sceptical expression as his green eyes looked at (M/n) up and down for a few seconds, "Yeah well... I'll be the judge of that, bean," and like always, he ruffled (M/n)'s (curly/wavy/straight) hair, chuckling at the sound of him huffing.

Crossing his arms, he watched how Gally walked toward the bonfire and began placing the logs in place. (M/n) sighed and made his way to one of the logs, sitting on it and watching his friends with a smile on his face. This situation has happened quite a few times, so he knew that arguing with Gally about being able to do work around wouldn't have a different result, so he gave in and simply watched.

Plus, he got to watch him playing around while doing some lifting, it was a win in his book as far as he's concerned.

///////

The Glade was buzzing with energy as dinner was served and everyone gathered around the fire, talking and laughing with each other.

Gally had made some of his non-alcoholic drink and was sitting with (M/n), telling him about his day.

He was rambling about how he got to play with Chuck and Bark for a while, before continuing to teach him some more wood carving and why keeping the wood chips was helpful around the Glade. (M/n) listened attentively and stared at him.

He looked so happy, his smile was wide and he was so cheerful, it made (M/n) melt internally, to him, there was nothing better than hearing Gally happily ramble about his day and seeing him smiling so brightly.

Gally continued talking for a while, until he realized the way he was being stared at, which made him stop abruptly, looking down slightly ashamed, "Uh, sorry... I talked too much..."

At that, (M/n) reached to hold Gally's hand, and maintained eye contact with the blond, "Don't apologize, big guy, actually... You can keep going," Gally looked at him, slightly puzzled.

"What... What do you mean, bean?" (M/n) chuckled and smiled at Gally.

"I like it when you're happy, Gally, and rambling looks good on you," he watched how, under the warm glow of the bonfire, Gally's face began turning slightly pink, but he turned away, feeling his stomach tingling and his heart beating faster.

"Oh... That's nice to hear..." He mumbled with a shy smile and a quiet giggle.

"Alright, everyone," the sound of Alby's grumbly voice caught everyone's attention as he stood up from his spot. Suddenly, the Glade was quiet, only the sound of the wood burning as it crackled was heard, accompanied by the occasional cricket chirping, "It's been a week since some of y'all did something incredibly stupid and immature," he looked at the Sloppers and the twins, who avoided Alby's stare, "Thankfully, we didn't lose anyone because of that, but I hope that this would serve as a lesson, a reminder... Of why the Glade changed and became what it is now."

(M/n) looked at Alby, a few images flashing in his mind at his words, images from the past, from before waking up in the box, memories that faded away when he felt Gally holding his hand, maybe just a little too tight but not enough to cause him pain.

"We're stuck here together. We only have each other. We've been through this before, so let's not keep repeating the same mistake," he announced while raising his cup, and everyone did as well. (M/n) and Gally used their free hand to raise their half-full cup in the air, "Let's become more understanding and respectful from now on, shanks."

The Glade cheered, some of them enthusiastically, and some not so much, but they cheered nonetheless.

As Alby sat back down, Newt stood up and the cheering slowly ceased. He fidgeted with his cup for a few seconds.

"I just wanna say..." His brown eyes landed on (M/n) and he pursed his lips," I'm glad you're okay, (M/n)."

There was something about Newt's voice that made him feel like tearing up, he wasn't sure what it was, but he could hear sincerity in Newt's words.

"And uh... I'm sorry."

With those last words, Newt sat back down in complete silence. Everyone wondered why Newt apologized to (M/n), and even (M/n) did, but... Something told that apology was meant for several things that, while not physically shown or done, Newt felt guilty about, maybe they were just passing thoughts he had, but he smiled and accepted the apology.

"Well... Who wants more food?" Fry exclaimed as he stood up, probably as a way to ease the slightly tense air that filled the Glade, and it was followed by a crowd of 'Me!'s.

//////

The next day, (M/n) realized one of his stitches had fallen off, so he went over to Clint to get the other ones removed, which went pretty well. He did have some issues lifting his arm and a few spots felt numb to the touch, which he figured was gonna happen anyway, so he thanked Clint for his job and they left the Homestead, immediately heading separate ways.

With the new weapon shed built, the Builders and Baggers had been helping around to carry the weapons from the basement to the shed. That's when he spotted Billy carrying a wooden bow.

He felt interested in that weapon and wondered if he could possibly learn some archery, after all, he hadn't really learned how to use a weapon yet.

(M/n) stood by the swing for a short while, maybe he could spot Gally and ask him, but he found himself making eye contact with... The twins.

He forced himself to smile at them, nodding as a greeting, and while they were surprised at his gesture, they nodded back, albeit with a frown on their faces. In moments like that, it was obvious they were twins, they were so perfectly in sync it was almost creepy.

And then Billy stopped by.

"Hey, (M/n)," they smiled at each other, but this time it was genuine, "How's your shoulder? And your leg?"

He looked down at himself, completely forgetting he had been stung until now. He didn't feel discomfort or pain, so he dismissed it. "I actually forgot about my leg, which is funny," he chuckled and so did Billy in response, "And my shoulder is getting better, it'll... Take a while before I can do stuff around normally, but I'm doing fine, Billy, thank you for asking," the Keeper nodded slowly and subtly nibbled on his bottom lip.

(M/n) glanced away, overlooking the way he was being stared at by Billy.

"Well, I have... Stuff to do, so, see you around," (M/n) watched as Billy began walking backwards, leaving him alone by the trees. He gave a small wave toward the Keeper before turning back to stare into the Deadheads, waiting for Gally to come by.

And... There he was.

"Gally," he turned his head at the sound of his name, his focus now turned to (M/n) who was making his way toward him.

"What's wrong, bean?" He saw (M/n) smiling for an instant, and that made him smile as well.

"Nothing's wrong, but I... Wanted to ask you something," Gally frowned and crossed his arms, changing his stance but keeping quiet to allow (M/n) to continue, "Can I practice with the bow?"

He sighed and stared into (M/n)'s eyes, "Can your shoulder handle the strain?"

Oh, he hadn't thought about that...

"I mean... We can check, can't we?" A cheeky smile grew on (M/n)'s face, and Gally shook his head from side to side a few times.

"Fine, but you're helping us make the arrows if any of them break," standing straight, he saluted and began following after the blond.

He was hoping for a few things, one, that his shoulder could take the strain, and two, that the arrows would stay in perfect-ish condition.

///////

Of course, neither of those things came true. He found out his shoulder wasn't quite ready to wield a bow, and he ended up breaking quite a few arrowheads as he was unable to hold the bow straight and aim correctly.

However, thankfully, he didn't have to work on making new arrows just yet because dinner was called, so Gally decided to get stuff fixed and done tomorrow after work.

After each grabbing their food, they sat at the Builders' table and began their unstoppable chattering. Everyone had a good time, even if there were times when he could feel heavy stares on him, and swiftly looking around the Dining area, he would find himself making eye contact with either Stan, Jason or Peter, amongst other Sloppers, thankfully, Lucas never looked his way, and if he did, (M/n) never caught him.

But whenever he would stare into their eyes, he would show them a small smile, trying to look as friendly as he could. Deciding to try and be friends with them was a tough decision, but it was the morally correct one, people do stupid klunk for stupid reasons, and he hoped that they would turn themselves right after what they did.

Maybe it was a lot to ask, or foolish of him to believe they would, but... He had hope.

Dinner went by just like that, slowly but surely being able to just ignore the stares and enjoy the time with his friends for the remaining hours of another day in the Glade.

Once they were done eating, (M/n) took a step outside the Homestead, ready to head over to his treehouse, needing the comfort and safety of his own room, immediately hearing the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. He knew who it was without even glancing behind him.

"Need anything, Gally?" The blond hummed and took longer strides until they were walking side to side.

"Nope, not really, why?" (M/n) grinned and looked at him, slightly confused yet amused.

"Then why are you following me?" Those words seemed to make Gally realize where they were as he looked around for a few seconds, "Let me guess... A habit?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I got used to walking you to your room... Sorry..." He laughed nervously while avoiding eye contact.

(M/n) smiled at that.

"I mean, I might need help raising that ladder so... It's nice that you came after me," he bumped his side into Gally, making sure the blond knew he wasn't weirded out or mad at him, which worked to ease Gally's mind.

Soon enough, they arrived at (M/n)'s treehouse, greeting Bark who simply poked his snout out of his doghouse before snuggling back inside, and (M/n) did his best to climb up the stairs, holding most of his weight with his good arm, while Gally made sure he wouldn't fall off and hurt himself more.

Arriving at the balcony, he turned around with a huff and moved his hair away from his face, looking down at Gally, who had a tight grip on the wooden ladder, "You ready?" (M/n) nodded and held the top step of the ladder, getting ready to lift it.

Surprisingly, it was easier than he expected, and he didn't feel much pain in his shoulder, probably because Gally was the one doing most of the lifting, even when he could only reach upward so far.

"You good, bean?" (M/n) looked down at Gally, barely visible under the moonlight shining through the leaves of the trees, and he nodded as he sighed.

"Yep, thank you, Gal," they smiled at each other, despite knowing that the other couldn't see it, and (M/n) reached back to his door, "Well, good night."

"Yeah... Sleep well, see you tomorrow."

//////

"What about this one?" (M/n) grabbed a couple of stones and showed them to Gally, who glanced at each quickly, before pointing at the biggest one.

"That one works."

It was a new day in the Glade, and after being done with their daily work, or the majority of it, Gally and (M/n) had gone deep into the Deadheads to find stones and rocks, any kind that could work as an arrowhead and possibly other tools. They were searching for them near one of the few creeks that were in the woods and were having quite a chill, relaxing time, being able to be together in silence.

Which was unfortunately broken by the sound of rapid footsteps heading their way.

They stood straight and looked around, before noticing the approaching silhouettes of the Sloppers, more specifically, Stan, Peter and Lucas.

Both he and Gally got ready for a possible confrontation with them, and the blond stood slightly in front of (M/n) as a way to protect him from them. They frowned and watched how Stan came to a stop in front of them, and they waited for anything to happen.

"Why?!" Stan exclaimed while glaring at (M/n), whose frown deepened, "Why are you being such a bitch?! Uh?! Letting us go without a punishment?!" Gally and he glanced at each other momentarily before the arguing continued.

Stan kept yelling, angry at (M/n), exclaiming that he kept trying to fix things in the Glade with his understanding personality, constantly forgiving their slinthead behaviour for whatever reason.

(M/n) was beyond confused. Why was he mad, exactly? Stan almost sounded as if he wanted to be punished for his actions, which was weird, in a way. Or maybe he learned the meaning of "guilt" or "remorse", mayhaps, but that wasn't all he had to say.

"But you never understood how we felt with you around! A shucking girl!" Up until this point, (M/n) wasn't even mad or angry at Stan for what he was saying, but well...

He was now.

His jaw clenched and his hands closed in tight fists, taking a step forward and standing in front of Gally, getting closer to the Keeper of the Sloppers, "Maybe you're right, Stan, but you can't say that. Neither of you tried to understand how I felt here either, Stan." Confusion flashed in Stan's eyes for a moment, mostly hidden by the annoyance clear in them, "I woke up here like all of you did, I didn't choose to be here, okay? That's something you have no right blaming me for."

Before anyone could add anything, the sound of sticks breaking and crunchy leaves reached their ears.

Alby was standing there, arms crossed with Chuck and Ty peeking behind him. It was clear that both of them had called the Leader over, probably having heard Stan's voice as he yelled at them.

"Everything alright over here?" Stan looked away with a clenched jaw and huffed before turning around and leaving the same way he came. All pairs of eyes stayed on the Keeper until he disappeared behind the trees and (M/n) released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding, closing his head and tilting his head down.

"Yeah, just... A misunderstanding, I guess."

//////

The remaining time of the day, (M/n) tried to distract himself from what had happened earlier, and focused on what Gally and Kurt were explaining to him as they made the new arrowheads. They did it so quickly, it let (M/n) know just how accustomed they were to doing this, and he was kind of impressed.

For now, however, he was practicing on some of the "worse" stones and rocks they found, just to make sure he would learn and not ruin a good stone by accident, which he was grateful for because he did shucked up a couple of them, but he felt like he was getting there... Somehow.

He will be great at this one day, he can feel it.

He briefly looked up at both guys in front of him, and realized they were already assembling the heads onto the wood, while he was still figuring out how to make the correct shape without shattering the whole thing.

"I will get better at this..." He muttered, catching their attention, "One day..." They chuckled and Kurt shook his head before continuing what he was doing, while Gally observed how (M/n) focused back on the stone in his hands, concentrating on getting it as perfect as he could.

He let out a sigh and finished up with his arrow, just to stand up and make his way over to (M/n) sitting next to him, "Let me help you, bean."

(M/n) chuckled, slightly ashamed, "Sorry, big guy."

"Hm, it's okay, I like helping you," they made eye contact, but felt too embarrassed to do anything when one of their friends was literally sitting in front of them, so they looked away and focused back on making the arrows.

#gally x reader #gally x y/n #gally x male reader #the maze runner x male reader #the maze runner #the maze runner x reader #tmr gally #gally the maze runner #gally maze runner #ftm reader #trans reader #trans #will poulter #will poulter x reader #will poulter fanfiction

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jpitha · 1 year

Text

Just a Little Further 36

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

The day dawns, and Ava and I go down for breakfast. A little before we left, I reached out and invited Raaden and Ginny to eat too. As we come downstairs to the dining room, they are already there, siting.

"Why did you invite us to your office so early today Melody?" Raaden laughs as she takes a sip of tea. Huh. I guess I do a lot of business in the morning during or right after breakfast. I can't help it, morning is when I get the most done.

"I've got some news for both of you, but first lets eat." Raaden and Ginny share a look before breakfast is brought out and we tuck in.

Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day. Even here on the Reach where we're thousands of light-years from a good egg or oats I can find delicious breakfast foods to eat. I've always liked sharing a meal with others, and to have friends around the table makes the meal that much more enjoyable.

After breakfast, the staff clears the table and brings out fresh tea and a coffee for me. "All right. Raaden, Ginny. We've discussed things and we are wondering if you'd both like to become Builders?"

Ginny squeals and practically jumps out of her chair "Yes! Yes, thank you Empress, thank you!"

Raaden blinks in surprise. She inclines her head slightly. "Are you sure Melody? You know who I am, you know who I used to represent. If words get home that you're siding with me, it'll mean trouble for you."

Ava looks up from her tea at Helen. "Raaden, you've been here with us for a few months now and not only has there been no word from Venus, but you have shown yourself to be a model resident, helpful and interested, as well as having good insight and good instincts. We need help, and to be frank, we need your kind of help."

I put my coffee down. "Additionally, if we're actually going to try and take over back home, it won't matter that you're from Venus right? You'll be a Builder and if we succeed it'll all fall under me." I pick up my coffee and take a sip to hide my expression. "And if we fail, we're all dead anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Ava looks at me shocked. "What do you mean?"

Raaden nods. "No Ava, Melody is right. If we're actually going to do this, we have only one option: success. If we fail we will all-" she gestures around grandly "-be killed. All of us. They will not tolerate any Builder to survive. They might even destroy the Gates."

Ginny looks between Ava, me and Raaden as we talk. "What is going on? Destroy the Gates? Kill us all? Take over? What are you planning?"

I sigh. Ginny went with us to the Wilds, but she worked with Omar on the reactors the whole time, she missed out on the conversations we had on the way there and back. "Ginny, we're tossing around the idea of amassing a fleet and... attempting to conqueror Human/K'laxi/Xenni space."

I had no idea how she was going to react to that.

Ginny looked at us, expecting us to break out in laughter. "You're serious? It's not a joke?"

"Ginny, I have the power to make people who are in proximity to me do whatever I tell them, and they don't have the ability to disobey. If word gets out to home about that, they will send people to kill me. If that fails, they will just launch a dreadnought to destroy the Starbase. Raaden and Ava have pointed out the only way to survive is to attack first and win. I get that it's a lot, and if you don't want to sign on for that, it's okay, but you should know that as of right now that's our plan."

I suppose I didn't know what would happen next. I like Ginny, she seems smart and observant but we're telling her that we plan on going to take over our home systems. As she thought about it, her face contorted into a wicked grin. "Take over back home? The whole thing? All the planets, colonies, starbases and everything? I'm in."

Ava blinked. "Just like that?"

Ginny was emphatic. "Just like that. Let's show them all what we can do."

Raaden tipped her head back and laughed. "Well then. How can I say no? Melody, Ava, I appreciate you taking a chance on me. I can emphatically say we did not get off on the right foot, but you gave me a chance and didn't just stuff me into a hibernation cabinet. I'm in. I'm with you entirely Empress. Let me help you win.

Well then no time like the present. I asked them both to stand, and went over and gave them each a kiss. Ava frowned the whole time, but she knows that it's the best way to introduce the Nanites to them. Raaden still smells good. I should find out what scent she has.

Just to make sure there's no hard feelings I go back and give Ava a kiss too. Laughing, I take my new Builders and we go out into the Reach to begin the work.

In the first of possibly many foolish decisions, I had Raaden and Omar take High Line out and with a small crew of local volunteers go to the other locations Janais mentioned. Pesmara was a Starbase like the Reach or the Wilds. It was intact but empty. That was unexpected. I figured we'd see either a cloud of dust or a full Starbase like Reach of the Might of Vzzx, but instead there was a whole, empty Starbase. Raaden linked a beacon back to us, but I told her not to go aboard. We could send a crew over to figure out what happened later.

The Heights of Gilmenny was more like the High Mars Orbitals. It was originally a series of Orbital stations above the planet Gilmenny. The planet still existed, but there were no signs of the Orbitals according to Raaden. Scanning the planet she found multiple debris fields. It seems that since Janais had seen them last, the Heights fell. Further scans could not detect any sapient life on the planet. It was good to know we had a planet under our control, and a source of mineral wealth. We're going to need it with all the ships we're going to build, but it would also have been nice to find more people.

Imperia was even stranger. According to Janais, Imperia was the old capital of the Holy Imperial Systems but when we got to the system there was nothing. No planets at all. Just a star and a cloud of dust.

"Devourers." Janais explained darkly. We could only hope that it had happened before Aeche sacrificed herself to destory them. Omar and Raaden couldn't tell how long ago it happened. seventy four plus years is nothing to an uncaring Galaxy. It might as well happened yesterday for all they were able to tell.

Still, the trip wasn't a whole loss. We found we have another Starbase to fill with people, and tenative plans are being made to decide what to do about the Wilds. The Starbase is too valuable to abandon completely, but it needs extensive repair. More work to do, more people we need.

With Ginny, Raaden and Janais as Builders, we were able to reduce the load that my other Builders were taking up. Um'reli got to have some time out of the chair finally and explore, and Raaden went with Omar and got started designing new ships. It turns out that being in command of a dreadnought gave her some ideas on other ways that we could build them. Between her ideas and Janais' experience with Builder designed ships, we've begun designing a whole new kind of ship. Janais wanted to name the whole class of ships Calamity Class Dreadnoughts. I thought it was a little over the top, but Raaden really liked it, so we kept it.

The Calamity Class ships were like a super Dreadnought. More than twice the reactors, a Stardrive from a starjumper, the largest wormhole generator we could make, room to hold two hundred troopers, and even atmospheric ability! That was Raaden's idea. She thought that since we were going to be attacking some colony planets, if we had the ability to land on the surface, we'd be able to catch them by surprise. Atmospheric manouvering also meant massive thrusters as well as control surfaces. The Calamity Class Super Dreadnought wound up looking sweeping, elegant and intimidating. It was a beautiful design.

"I mean, it's a great design. Really revolutionary." Omar looked at the designs in the Throne while Raaden, Janais, and I were connected so we could go over them. "There's just one problem though."

"What is that, Builder Omar?" Janais really has slotted herself in with us quite well. Her being a former Empress has never really come up these past few weeks. I wonder if she's just so happy to be doing something, that it almost doesn't matter what.

Also the fact that every wormhole link lets her see her partner again.

Omar sighed. "We don't have a way to actually build it. Something this big can't be done in the dockyard printers we have. We can't get much larger than a Frigate. We'd need a real orbital shipyard to make one."

Raaden nods. "We didn't see anything like a shipyard at the other systems we visited either. We'd need something like the Heinlein yards in the L2 point around Earth at least. Ideally, larger than that too."

"Okay then, so... I guess we need to build a shipyard first?"

"Yes, but the database you took from FarReach and the one that you grabbed of the Lavinia doesn't have plans for a shipyard." Raaden shrugs. "We're going to have to built one the old fashioned way. We'll have to design it, print the individual parts and bolt it together."

Janais raised her eyebrow and looked at Raaden. This was all new to her. "How long will that take?"

"Don't know. We've never built one. Heinlein yards has been in service for centuries. I think it took people around fifteen years to build it the first time. It'll probably take us longer."

"We might be able to shortcut it a bit" Omar began.

"I'm hearing a 'but' coming here Omar, what's the issue?" I took a sip of hot water. Coffee won't be coming any time soon, and I'm trying to figure out what parts of coffee I like the best. Today I have mug after mug of hot water. It's nice to have something hot to sip on, but it's still no coffee. If we have to wait fiften, twenty years before we have super dreadnoughts I don't know how I'll be able to go that long with no coffee.

"We'll have to take apart the Wilds. We can open it up and install printers and kind of turn it into almost a shipyard as it is. The shape is pretty close and it will be able to support the super dreadnought as it's being printed but it will mean that we won't be able to use it as living space. I could probably get it up and started in a year or so."

"Well, a year is better than fifteen. And the Wilds are damaged now, so people aren't living there." I turn to look at Janais. "You were living there until recently. How do you feel about us taking the Wilds of Besmara apart and turning it into a shipyard?"

Janais blinks and looks at me "You're asking my opinion, Empress?"

"Yes? You lived there for more than seventy years. If you have strong feelings about the place, I do not want to dissasssemble it to make a shipyard."

"Empress I..." Janais stops and composes herself. "Empress. That is possibly the kindest thing anyone has said to me. If I so wished, you would not turn the Wilds into a shipyard?

I shrugged. "We would look into other options. It doesn't have to be our first choice."

Janais shook her head and smiled. "Empress, with my thanks, please take the Wilds and fufil your destiny. I spent my time at the Wilds in mourning. When you arrived, you lifted the veil from my head and showed me another way. Let us take it, and use it to further your rule."

"Okay then. Omar, let's explore taking the Wilds of Besmara and making a shipyard. Could we get it over here?"

"I mean, maybe? It's too big for the Gates, so we could link it over, but it doesn't have any wormhole generators now and would probably need at least two more reactors if the existing ones were in good shape and I'll bet they are not given what we saw when we were there. Give me 4 months, and I can get the Wilds over here, or we can bring Sun Dancer and just live out of that on rotation while we convert."

As we plan and work out details, the morning goes long and becomes midday. As we get read to break for lunch, an alarm sounds. It starts with a sharp, high tone that slides low, then back high and repeats.

Empress!

What is it Starlight? What's the alarm?

There was a massive energy spike in system and a blinding flash of white and-

Wormhole link. Oh no.

Yes Empress, that's why I sounded the general alarm.

You did the right thing, we'll be right there.

"Come on everyone. Starlight has detected a wormhole link in system. Let's connect to the Reach from the Throne and see who has decided to pay us a visit."

Raaden looks worried. Ginny, and Janais confused. Omar and Ava have already left their chairs and are trotting towards the Throne.

We get there and sit down. It's very nice to have so many people connected, I think this is the first time everyone has slotted in. Ava looks over at Raaden and Ginny who approach some chairs but do not sit. "Raaden and Ginny your Nanites haven't integrated completely yet. You can sit, but please just watch. Don't try and access any systems until tomorrow."

They sit, and I can feel them enter the Reach with a surprised gasp. "Hi Everyone!" I say brightly. "So Starlight, show us what you see."

Starlight shares the last few minutes of sensor and camera data to all of us. As we watch, sure enough, I see the energy spike and in a flash something links into the system, about half way between the Gate ad the Reach.

It's huge.

It's way bigger than a dreadnought, it's nearly colony ship size. What is going on?

"Omar, what is that? I don't recognize it."

"Me neither Melody, I'll scan it."

"It looks like..." Ginny stops. "No, it can't be."

"What is it Ginny?" Ava sounds anxious. Given what Raaden has said, we're not expecting anyone friendly.

"It looks like there are two... or three Starjumpers in there! Look, if you take these parts-" She highlights some long lines in the middle "-and remove them-" She edits the image "-you see what looks like three Starjumpers. I don't know what they're connected with though."

"Ancestors Who Await my Return, I know what that is!" Raaden is practically shouting. "That's The Heinlein Shipyards!"

Omar's voice is flat, like he trying to hold something back. "What."

"I'd recognize those girders anywhere. Remember, we've been trying to capture them off and on for nearly 5 years. That's Heinlein."

"But..." Um'reli sounds worried, "Shipyards don't have wormhole generators."

"But Starjumpers do." Ava sounds amazed. "Someone synced the three Starjumper wormhole generators and stole the Heinlein Shipyards out from L2 around Earth."

Now Janais was worried "But who would do that? We don't have any allies over there."

I gasp. Oh no.

"Raaden. I think I know who it is."

"Yeah, Melody. I think I do too."

"Well don't keep us in the dark, who the heck just stole three Starjumpers and the whole entire Heinlein Shipyards?" Now, Omar sounds a little wild. I think he's having a hard time processing this.

I swallow. "It's the crew of the Vengenance of Lavinia. Or part of it at least."

"What?? Why would they do that?" We can all see eachother while connected to the Throne and Ava glances at Raaden and Ginny. They both are quiet and look like they're trying to shrink into their chairs.

"Ava, what was the first order I gave everyone at dinner?"

"Uh, 'you belong to me' or something right? I liked it. It felt dramatic and impressive."

"I also used my Voice. Everyone in the crew is officially a subject of mine. They literally belong to me. They must have been scheming to get back here almost as soon as they made it back to Venus."

"But how long has it been? a few months? They must have begun the process the minute they came home." Raaden sounds impressed. It was her crew, I guess she has the right.

Ava suddenly sounds anxious, on the verge of panic. "Melody! Those are Starjumpers! AIs run Starjumpers. You can't command AIs with your Voice, what are we going to do?"

Well I have been reading up on AI theory thanks to the Lavinia's library. So I might have a chance of getting them to listen, but it does feel too soon. Oh why couldn't they have waited like half a year before pulling something like this. We're just not ready.

Omar's head snaps up. "Wait wait wait. If that's Venus, the AIs would never work with them. The Heinlein Shipyards is where most Starjumpers are built, even now. It's possible those Starjumpers are new and don't have an AI yet."

Starlight cuts in. "Well, we're about to find out who it is. They're signaling us."

Starlight activates the radio and we can hear clamor and noise on the other end. There's a burst of static and a voice says "Empress! Empress Melody! We have returned! It was a long journey and we lost some compatriots in the firefight, but we have returned and have brought you an appropiate gift. Three nearly finished Starjumpers and the entirety of the Heinlien Shipyards includiing staff. We have them secured in the last Starumper under guard. With this gift, we hope that you will accept our return!"

As she hears the message, Raaden's expression changes from skeptisim to amazement. "That's Will! That's my second in command! It is the crew from Lavinia! Oh no, my crew alone stole the Heinlein Shipyards, something the Emperor has been trying to do for more than five years! He must be incandescent with rage." Raaden started giggling.

Ava looked at the image and then at Omar. "Well, there's your shipyard and it looks like we have three Starjumpers now to bolster our fleet.

"I won't say no, but wow." Omar shakes his head. "This paints a gigantic target on our back. We had better really get going with the Calamity Class. Also, Melody, lock the Gate. It won't stop wormhole linking, but it will stop people coming through that way."

"Oh. Yes. Good idea Omar." I take a moment and reach beyond the Reach to the Gate and lock it.

So the crew of the Lavinia wanted to come back so badly that they stole the entire Heinlien Shipyards with three almost complete Starjumpers and linked the whole thing here? On the one hand, I am completely surprised that I could inspire that kind of loyality in anyone from one command. On the other, now I have my own zealots to worry about.

I disconnect from the Throne and lean forward, putting my head in my hands. What am I going to do? We're not ready for a war and the crew of the Lavinia just made a huge swipe at Venus. The OPA, Free Luna and the High Mars cities probably already know about it. My only saving grace is that the Sol system doesn't talk with the colonies much these days thanks to Venus. I don't think most people will have any idea where they took the shipyards.

Ava disconnects and comes over. She puts her hand on my back and starts rubbing between my shoulders, right where I like it. "You okay Melody?"

I can feel the tears start to form in the corners of my eyeys. "Ava, they brought me so much! But, I'm not ready. We're not ready! Venus is going to come and attack to take it back if we're lucky. If we're not, it'll be the AIs and they'll just link in and slag us."

"Oh Melody." She bends her head down and kisses my hair. "They brought an entire shipyard. If we can hold off Venus, we can get going on the Calamity Class now! We'll be ready years ahead of schedule. This is a good thing hon. I mean it."

"But Ava, they're gonna miss it back home! They're going to try and find it."

"Earth is under the control of Venus nominally. The Heinlein Shipyards were operated by the OPA, nobody talked to anyone and hasn't for a decade. It's going to be a while before they even think to look here. If we're lucky, they'll spend years pointing fingers at each other and arguing about it without actually trying to look." Ava smiled "Besides, it's not like someone can track where a wormhole link went. They have no way of knowing it went to us. We should take this gift and use it. If we get those Starjumpers fitted out for Builder operation we'll have a formidable defence of the Reach in case anyone does come sniffing around."

Raaden disconnected and came over and heard me and Ava. "Melody, Ava is right. This is so out of the blue and so against any protocol, nobody will have any idea what the hell happened for possibly years. This is a massive head start. We've been given this opportunity. We need to grasp it." Her face hardened. "We can use this to kickstart our operation. We will succeed."

I sniffed. They knew just what to say to me. I was so worried it was all done the as soon as we realized it was the Heinlein yards that came. Ava and Raaden were able to calm me down and get me to see what a good thing this will be.

I'm so lucky to have them. I'm so lucky to have all my Builders.

As I stand, I look around to everyone. They've disconnected and are looking at me. I guess it's time to be an Empress again. "Starlight. Signal the Venusians, thanking them for their gift and inviting them to the Reach. We shall hold a special celebration in their honor. I will delcare a holiday. Make sure they bring the crew of the Heinlein too. We need to convince them to sign on and no do anything rash. I'll still command them, but I need them to get to the Reach first."

"Once you have finished Starlight, let's all go down to the docks."

"We have a delegation to meet."

Part 37

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans go on adventure #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and ai #humans and aliens #the k'laxiverse #jpitha #just a little further

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