#I /did/ mention in my previous post that I was 'bursting with ideas'

[javierpena-inatacvest]

Chapter 8.5: 007- Peña, Agent Peña

Summary: After Javi's surprise on the Peña ranch, you had already had the best night of your life. Little did you know, your night was just beginning.

Word Count: 4.9K (This is as short as it's ever gonna get, this is just who I am)

Warnings: SMUT (18+), unprotected p in v sex (wrap it up), creampie, praise (oh boy, does Javi tell you what a good job you're doing), semi-public nudity?? (not really, but you'll see!!), mentions of eating/food, mentions of alcohol, mentions of loss of a parent, you and Javi being absolute goofballs and being lovesick idiots

A/N: SO. I finished Chapter 8 and went to go walk my dog, and the song "Would That I" by Hozier came on, and it 100% is the inspiration behind this mini chapter. I literally came up with the idea for this chapter and wrote it in less than 24 hours because Javi and Osita live in my head rent free at all times being the cutest two idiots to ever exist. Enjoy this fun lil bit, it's honestly probably my favorite thing that I've written for this series so far!!!

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“I’m not sure if cold, post sex and first I love you’s is the way that your dad intended us to eat these enchiladas, but holy shit are they delicious.” You and Javi laughed, finishing the last bites of the enchiladas verdes Chucho had packed for the both of you. It probably would have made more sense to eat dinner almost an hour ago when Javi had first taken you out to watch the sunset in the back of his truck, but, no offense to Chucho’s enchiladas, having the most romantic sex of your life followed by Javi telling you that he loved you for the first time seemed to take higher priority to you. 

“These ones are actually pretty good, I will give him that. Thank God he’s finally starting to get better at cooking, a few months ago his food was practically inedible.” Javi shook his head, wiping his face with the back of his hand as gathered both of your cleared paper plates and forks, tossing them into the empty paper bag Chucho had sent them with. 

“Actually? I didn’t know he had come such a long way in his cooking career in such a short time.” You snickered, pulling some of the blankets laying at the edge of the truck bed over you as you scooted yourself closer to Javi, laying your head against his chest as you snuggled next to him. Pulling you closer, Javi wrapped his arm around you, fingers tracing gentle circles along the back of his sweatshirt you were now wearing. 

“Actually. He never cooked until my mom died. One day he called me while I was still in Colombia and told me he had found one of my mom’s recipe books and was gonna teach himself how to cook. When I came home, he insisted on making me dinner every night so he could show off whatever he was learning. I ate a lot of sandwiches after he fell asleep the first few months I was home.” 

“Well despite the terrible food you had to eat, that’s actually really sweet. Glad I came around when I did so I only have to reap the benefits of his good cooking and not suffer along with you.” You giggled as he squeezed you before giving you a playful shake wrapped in his arms. “Can you cook at all, or is this a warning that you’re gonna subject me to your awful cooking too?” 

“I can cook enough. Not a good cook by any means, but definitely not my Pops a few months ago. Can do more than Kraft Mac and Cheese, I’ll tell you that much.” He smirked, poking fun at the first meal you had made. You sat up, giving him the biggest stink face you could muster without bursting into laughter.

“Okay, first of all, rude. Second of all, don’t act like you wouldn’t have eaten an entire second pot if I hadn’t made one for you, Mr. Literally Will Literally Eat Anything Under The Sun In World Record Time.” 

“If I seem to remember correctly, you weren’t doing a lot of complaining after I ate, Osita.” He winked at you as you nudged your elbow into his side before he grabbed you, rolling you over and playfully wrestling you into the pile of pillows and blankets beneath you. “C’mere, Hermosa.” He wrapped his arms around you as you giggled and squirmed beneath him, trying to wiggle your way out of his grasp. You kicked your feet as he kissed at your neck, his mustache ticking you with each peck of his lips. Using all your might, you were able to roll over on top of him, straddling his lap as he lay on his back, breaking free of his grasp.

“Can’t get me that easy, Peña. Wrestling was the only way I got anything from my brothers for the first ten years of my life.” You smirked as you leaned down to kiss him as his fingertips gripped into your hips, pulling you further on to his lap. 

“Could think of worse ways to lose a wrestling match.” Javi’s face smug as he gestured to how you were sitting on top of him, letting out a quiet groan as you started to grind into his lap, feeling him already half hard beneath you. “Careful, Hermosa. Not gonna be so nice if you’re gonna try to play dirty.” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for you to make the next move. 

Still bent over him, you kissed up his neck and jaw before nipping at his ear. “Last time I checked, you liked it when I played dirty.” Your whispers left jaw slack, pressing up into you, his dick already straining against the fabric of his sweatpants. 

“Fuck me.” He murmured under his breath as you began to grind harder into his crotch. “You wanna play dirty, baby? I can play fuckin’ dirty.” You could see the lust filled in the dark pool of his eyes, biting down on your lip, already feeling the slick pooling between your legs with each sway of your hips. “You already wet for me, baby?” 

This man read you like a book- like he had every fucking page memorized. “Mmmhhhmm.” You nodded, feeling how soaked the fabric of your sweatpants already was as you felt your clit rub deliciously against Javi’s dick, hard and heavy underneath you. 

“I know you are, dirty girl. Want me to touch you baby? Want me to make you come before I fuck that perfect pussy again?” You nodded again, frantically shaking your head yes at his filthy words as you worked yourself against his length. He laughed to himself, shaking his head as he watched how blissed out you already were rubbing against him. “Too bad.” 

You paused, shooting him a confused look. “What do you mean, too bad?” 

“You know exactly what I mean. You wanna play dirty, I will too. You wanna come? You get yourself off like this.” He gave you a subtle nod of his head, gesturing to how you were sitting on top of his lap. 

“Are you serious? Javi, c’mon, please.” You rolled your eyes at him as you crossed your arms over your chest, trying to play off how desperate you already were for him. 

“Rules are rules baby. Fight dirty, play dirty. C’mon pretty girl, I know how needy you are, how wet that pretty pussy is for me.” He mewled as he toyed with the waistband of your sweatpants, fingers brushing against your skin. He dug his fingers into your hips, slowly pushing them back and forth against his lap, encouraging you to pick back up your pace brushing up against his dick with every motion. “There you go, hermosa. That’s my girl. Just like that, baby.” He praised as you found yourself rubbing harder and harder against him, slick coating your thighs. With his length, it wasn’t hard to feel how big he was, making it easy to find a sweet spot that brushed up against your sensitive bundle of nerves as you rocked your hips back  and forth over him. 

“Javiiiii, fuck.” You whined, feeling the heat build at the base of your spine as your clit rubbed harder and harder on his covered cock. 

“That’s it, Osita. Doing so good for me, baby. God, you look so fucking pretty riding me like that, C’mon, I know you’re close sweetheart.” His praise had you climbing towards your high, each time you ground your hips into him had you closer and closer to coming undone. His name fell from your lips, moaning as he was gripping your hips again pushing you deeper into him. 

“Javi, I’m so close. Fuck, fuck fuckkkkkk.” You whimpered as you felt the euphoria rush through you, gushing, feeling your pussy throb from the intensity of your orgasm. You slumped into him, face falling on to his chest as you caught your breath. 

“Such a good girl, Osita. My good fucking girl. Did so good for me baby.” He whispered in your ear as hand his hands along your body, trembling at his touch. “Still want me to fuck you, dirty girl?” 

“Yes, holy shit, yes.” You moaned. “Please, I need you so bad Javi.” He helped you pull your sweatpants down, kicking them off your feet as you straddled back over Javi, sitting on top of his thighs. Slipping your fingers under his waistband, you pushed the pants down, revealing his dick, already red, precum leaking from its tip, leaving a stain on his sweatpants. You lifted yourself up, slowly sinking down on his length, each inch splitting you open with the sweetest stretch. Even without his fingers to warm you up, you were so wet that you took him easily, feeling yourself bottom out on his cock as Javi let out an audible groan. His hands reached around, giving you a light smack on your ass before his fingers kneaded into your flesh. You began to raise yourself up and down along his length, swirling your hips as your hands tugged at the hem of his sweatshirt that you were wearing, ready to take it off. His hand grabbed your wrist, stopping you before you could get any further. 

“Keep it on. Fuck, I love seeing you in my clothes.” He bit down on his lip as you nodded, rubbing your hands up and down his chest as you threw your head back, drunk on the way his dick felt hitting against that sweet spot inside you. The hair around his base rubbed against your clit, making you whine as you picked up your pace. “Jesus Hermosa, fuck me. Taking me so well. My sweet girl.” His voice was thick and raspy between his heavy breaths, his eyes glued on your every move as you rode him. 

Suddenly, you felt him shift. Sitting up with his back pushed up against the truck, he wrapped his arms around you pulling you in so you were chest to chest, foreheads pressed against each other. You could feel him thrust up into you, his cock punching that magical spot that made the heat at the base of your spine creep up your back. “Javi, fuck baby, you feel so good. Fuckkk.” You tugged at his thick curls, burying your face in the crook of his neck, the scent of his sweet and spicy cologne clinging to his sweatshirt. 

“I know, hermosa, I know. Fuck, you’re so wet and tight, baby. Gonna give me one more? Soak my dick before I fuck you full of me again?” You wrapped your legs around his waist, digging your fingers into his back as you felt yourself snap, screaming his name as pleasure ran through every inch of you. You could feel how tight you were clenching around his cock as you came, his thrusts pounding deeper and faster into you. It didn’t take long for him to meet his own end, only needing a few more pumps before you felt his seed spill into you, leaking down your thighs and into his lap as you slumped into each other. 

“Fuck, Osita.” He whispered between his labored breathing, lifting his head off your shoulder, smiling at your blissed out face. “Jesus, I fucking love you.” 

“I love you too, Jav. Super romantic with your dick still in me and your cum dripping down my legs.” You giggled, still sitting in his lap. 

“It’s fucking hot, is what it is. Fuck me, you’re so sexy. What the fuck did I ever do to deserve such a beautiful woman who fucking loves me like you?” 

“God, you’re so sweet. Get your dick out of me before I start crying again, you menace.” You both laughed as you shifted off of him, grimacing at the mess you had left behind in Javi’s lap. “Do you have any towels, or leftover napkins? Sorry, I made a fucking mess. So much for those showers before we left.” 

Javi paused for a moment before a sly grin crept across his face. “Ostia, can you swim?

You raised an eyebrow at him, very confused by his question, considering you were surrounded by a gigantic, grassy field. “What? Yes, of course I can swim? Why are you asking me that? How is knowing if I can swim helpful right now?”  

His smile turned giddy, smirking at you as he shimmied his sweatpants back over his legs. “C’mon, get in the truck.” He slid himself off the back of the truck bed, standing up and outstretching his hand toward you. You quickly pulled your sweatpants back on too, following behind him as he helped you out of the truck and picked you up to put you in the passenger seat. 

“Javi, what the hell are we doing? Are you gonna go throw me in a trough or something? Listen, I love those cows, but I am not gonna be happy if you toss me into a bucket full of dirty cow spit water.” You crossed your arms at him, waiting for a response. 

“You’ll see.” He winked at you before shutting your door, hopping over to the driver’s side and starting up the car. 

“You’re lucky I love you.” You grumbled, still crossing his arms at him. He reached over the center console, giving you a quick kiss before pulling away and shifting the truck into drive. 

“I’m a very lucky man, indeed.” You finally shifted out of your playfully grumpy demeanor, melting as Javi stared at you, his sweet, puppy dog eyes making your heart explode every time they landed on you. You turned up the radio as Javi pulled away, heading the opposite direction that you came from, his headlights shining on a thick patch of trees at the end of one of the pastures. Driving a little deeper into the wooded area, Javi put the car in park, leaving you even more confused than when you left. He smiled at you as he shut off the ignition, hopping out the door before coming around to your side, helping you out of the car. 

“God, I thought driving me out to the middle of the field was bad, but taking me out into the woods in the pitch black? You really never are beating these serial killer allegations, I’m afraid.” 

“You’re the worst, do you know that?” Javi shook his head as he grabbed your hand, pulling you along with him as he began to walk through the trees. 

“I’m just saying! Listen, if you really wanted- Hey! Hey! Put me down!” You squealed as Javi picked you up, flinging you over his shoulder as you pounded your fists against his back, kicking and giggling with each step he took. God, was he strong. He carried you like it was nothing, laughing to himself as he watched you try to wriggle your way out of his fireman hold. Letting out a huff of defeat, you slumped further into him, staring at the ground as he took each step. 

“At least I have a good view of your ass from here.” You snickered as he continued walking. 

“You really like my butt, don’t you?” He laughed, rustling you in his grasp, still flung over his shoulder. 

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are built like a God, Javier Peña. You’re very much proving your point right now carrying my fat ass through the woods.” 

He stopped, setting you down so you were facing towards him, placing his strong hand under your chin before tilting it up towards him. You gazed up at him, a surprisingly serious look spread across his face. “Hey. I love your ass. I love your body. Every curve, every single bit of you. Okay?”  

“Okay.” You softly replied, pulling you in tighter as he kissed the top of your head. “So are you gonna tell me where the hell we’re going, or are you just gonna keep carrying me through the woods?” 

“Turn around.” He nodded his head, gesturing behind you. As you spun around, you saw the moonlight sparkle off ripples of the pond in front of you. Rocks and tall grass surrounded the edges, water from a small stream flowing from behind the reeds into the pond. An old, worn wooden dock sat at the end, hovering over the first few feet out into the water. You turned back around to look at Javi, now smirking at your pleasant surprise with his most recent mystery. “I was out here every day as a kid in the summer. Nothing much, but it was deep enough to swim in. Haven’t been back here since high school, probably.”

“Is this where you’d take all the ladies to woo them with your swimming skills?” You joked, giving Javi a nudge as he stared around the pond. 

“No.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Just me and my friends, sometimes my cousins when they came over, if I was lucky.” 

“Well, I feel very honored to be the first lucky woman to get to see this secret pond.” You replied, slipping your sweatpants off your waist, leaving your bottom half exposed. Javi’s jaw dropped for the second time today watching you strip yourself of your clothes. “What?” You looked at him as your sweatshirt came next, dropping in a pile next to your pants, leaving you fully naked in front of him. “Aren’t we getting in?” You tilted your head at the pond, smirking at Javi who was now speechless. 

“You sure?” He said, gulping as he looked you up and down, your soft skin glowing in the moonlight. 

“Would I be standing here naked if I wasn’t?” You shrugged your shoulders as you raised an eyebrow at him. “You gonna swim in your sweats or am I gonna keep standing here like a naked idiot waiting for you?” Before you could say anything else, Javi’s clothes were on the ground next to yours, leaving you both bare, hidden amongst the secluded trees. This time, you grabbed his hand, running as you pulled him to the end of the dock, abruptly pausing as you got to the edge. “Are there like, weird things in here? It’s deep enough to jump in, right?” 

“Hermosa, just get in, you’re fine.” 

“Okay, but like-” 

“Osita, get in or I’m gonna push you in.”  

“You wouldn’t dare.” 

“You know I fucking will.” 

“Ugh okay, okay! Just promise me-” 

“1…” 

“Javi, wait-” 

“2…” 

“I’m being serious, don’t you do it! Javier Jesús Peña, I swear to God-” 

“3!” 

Before you could finish, Javi had his arms wrapped around your waist, swinging you back and forth, throwing you over the edge of the dock, limbs flailing as you splashed into the water. You peeked your head up, running your hands over your face as you watched Javi laughing hysterically. You flung your hand against the water, trying your best to splash him as he still stood at the edge thoroughly amused with himself. 

“I hate you, I hope you know that.” You grumbled, splashing him again. “Hey, wait, where are you going?” You shouted as you watched Javi turn around, making his way off the dock. It wasn’t long before you regretted asking the question, as Javi quickly turned around, getting a running start as he launched himself off the edge, drenching you as he drove into the water, making waves that splashed against you upon his entrance. You swam there for a moment, waiting for his head to pop up somewhere next to you, when suddenly, you felt something wrap around your ankle, making you absolutely screech at the top of your lungs. You swam as fast as you could back to the edge of the dock, clinging to the edge as you heard more hysterical laughter behind you, turning around to see Javi cackling to himself as you panted breathlessly, waiting for your heart rate to return to a semi-normal pace. 

“Holy shit, I didn’t think I was gonna scare you that bad, Osita.” He came down from his laughter, looking over at you hanging from the wooden planks still trying to catch your breath. “I’m sorry, baby. Are you okay?” He swam closer to you, now seeming like he felt a little remorse for what he had done. 

You took a few more deep breaths before letting go of the dock, looking back at him. Now only an arms’ length away from you, you swam full force towards Javi, wrapping your body around his, trying to wrestle him in the water. “You are an absolute jerk, you know that?” You grunted between your giggles as Javi grabbed you back, spinning you as you thrashed in the water, splashing it in his face before he grabbed your face to kiss him. Your legs locked around Javi’s hips, arms wrapping around his neck as his slipped behind your back, pulling you closer, feeling weightless in the water. He drew away for a moment, taking one of his hands to caress your face, rubbing his thumb along your jaw. 

“I forgive you, I guess.” You smiled as you sat there for a moment, taking in every detail of his face. His messy wet hair, his chocolate brown eyes, the way his mustache shifted above his lips as he smiled, everything about him that made you love him even more than you thought you already could. The way he looked back at you made you feel like there wasn’t anyone else in the world who could ever love you more. 

“God, you’re so beautiful. I love you, Osita.” 

“I love you too, Javi.” 

He brought you in closer, placing another gentle kiss on your lips. He pulled away again, this time with a look of panic washing over his face.

“What? Are you okay?” 

 “Was that your foot?” 

“My feet are wrapped around your waist?” You looked at him curiously. 

Trying his best to keep calm, Javi swam you both closer and closer to the shore, still carrying you with him as you stepped back on to land. This time, it was your turn to laugh at him, suddenly realizing why he had gotten out so quickly. “Not big and brave now, huh?” 

“At least I didn’t scream like you.” 

“Oh shut up.” You giggled as he set you back down, now sopping wet and shivering next to your pile of clothes. “Any way to explain to your dad why the hell we’re both coming back soaking wet?” You grimaced as you started to pull your sweatshirt over your wet body.

“We’re not.” His face smug as he followed suit opting to only put on his sweatpants, leaving him shirtless as you both headed back through the trees. 

“So…. What? You’re just gonna ask your dad to close his eyes and ignore us when we come back inside?” You raised an eyebrow in confusion looking up at Javi as he reached down to grab your hand as you walked. 

“No. To be honest, Pops is probably already passed out in front of the TV, but of course, you can’t walk through the front door without going past him. We’ll just sneak in through my bedroom window and he’ll be none the wiser.” 

You stopped for a second before laughing at him, continuing to walk as you shook your head. “Sneak in? What are we, 16? I know you said you’ve never brought any girls down here before, but I have a very hard time believing this is the first time you’ve snuck a girl into your room, Javier Peña.” 

“Only a few times.” He looked down at the ground sheepishly as you squeezed his hand. 

“I’m just giving you a hard time, Jav. Wouldn’t be my first time sneaking in either.” You admitted, your cheeks turning slightly red at your admission. 

“Really?” He perked up. “You don’t strike me as the type, but do tell.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You just seem like such a rule follower, maybe it’s the teacher in you.” He shrugged as you rolled your eyes. “What’d ya do?” 

“Fair, I guess. I was 17. One of my friends was having a party at her parents house while they were on vacation, and being the rule follower that I am, I asked my parents and they said no. I was so mad because it felt like they always let my brothers go out and have fun and I never got to. So, once everyone was asleep, I snuck out, rode my bike all the way to my friends house, got drunk out of my mind, which is part of the reason why I can never drink vodka again, and by some miracle, was able to ride my bike back home. When I came in through the side door of the garage, my brother David was in there, already waiting for me. He told me that he could hear me singing at the top of my lungs halfway down the block. He took pity on me and helped my drunk ass up to bed and never told my parents. He’s always been my favorite brother. Then, I pretended to have the stomach flu for the next 3 days to cover up for my hangover.” You both laughed as you finished your walk up to the truck, Javi opening the passenger door for you as you stepped in. 

“No vodka, duly noted. You trying to tell me your singing gets even more obnoxious when you’re drunk?” He smiled as you buckled yourself in. 

“You love my singing, don’t lie. But um… maybe… Just a little. You’ll just have to deal with my sober serenading for now, sorry.” You smirked at him as you shrugged your shoulders, Javi laughing to himself as he shut the door behind you. 

……….. 

As promised, you spent the rest of the ride to the ranch windows down, blaring “Go Your Own Way” from Fleetwood Mac, noting that even though Javi had put on the album not long ago, you were a bit distracted to actually listen to any of the songs. If it was anyone else, Javi would have rather been caught dead than singing along to anything, regardless of song, album or artist. But lucky for him, you weren’t just anyone. You were his everything. Javi was sad when you’re singing came to an end, lowering the music as you pulled up to the house, trying to remain as quiet as possible to not wake up his dad. 

“Too bad you don’t have the James Bond soundtrack in your car, I feel like we’re on some sort of secret mission right now.” You whispered, trying to close the truck door behind you as quietly as possible. 

“C’mon, you dork.” He replied, taking you by the hand and leading you around the edge of his house. You both tiptoed along the wood siding of the house, Javi leading you before stopping under one of the windows, slightly cracked open, pushing out of its frame. “Alright, if I lift you up, can you push it the rest of the way open and climb in?” 

“Sure thing, Agent Peña. What number do you want to be, since you clearly can’t be 007, that one’s already taken. I don’t think they’ll let you be the next James Bond with that ‘stache.” You mumbled, stepping in front of Javi as he got ready to lift you up. 

“Will you just get in the window, please?” He scoffed, squeezing his hands on your hips, getting ready to hoist you. 

“Fine, fine, just say you wanna be lame and move on. I’m ready.” As Javi shot you up, your fingers wrapped around the edge of the windowsill, humming to yourself as you shimmied yourself in. 

“Bada boommmm, bada booommmmm, bahnanah.”  

“Are you seriously singing the James Bond theme song right now?” Javi looked up at the window as you pushed open the rest of the pane, now looking down at him. 

“Yeah, at least one of us should have a little fun with this. You need my help getting in?” 

He hadn’t even answered your question before he was already halfway through the window, pulling himself through and landing on the floor.  

“Showoff.” You grumbled to yourself as he closed the window behind him. Wet and uncomfortable in your clothes, you stripped them off of you, drying yourself off from the towel you had left on Javi’s bed from your shower earlier. Javi did the same, shedding his sweatpants and throwing them next to yours before you both crawled under the covers, curling into each other. You pulled the comforter up over you, nestling against the warmth of Javi’s body. Laying your head on Javi’s chest, Javi ran his fingers through the ends of your hair, still damp from your swim. It wasn’t until you hit the bed that you realized just how exhausted you were, barely keeping your eyes open, your eyelids heavy with sleep.

“Javi?” You asked, looking up at him, your voice low and soft, letting out a quiet yawn. 

“Yes, Osita?” He peered down at you, fingers still twisting through your locks. 

“You really love me?” 

He chuckled warmly, planting a soft kiss on the top of your head. “I really do. Con todo mí corazón. (With all my heart.) Get some sleep, Hermosa, I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” 

He paused, waiting for you to respond. 

“Hermosa?”  

The only thing he heard after that were your sweet snores humming against his chest, you already sound asleep in his arms. He gave you one more kiss on the head before pulling you closer, shutting his eyes as he whispered one last goodnight.  “Buenas noches, Osita. Soy un hombre afortunado. Tienes todo mí corazón para siempre. Te amo.” (Good night, Osita. I’m a lucky man. You have all of my heart, forever. I love you.)

..........

Taglist:

@cool-iguana @rhoorl @whyjuliaaa @bbiophiliaa @pertinentpostmortem @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @pedrobaby @fatima-marisa @beboldbebravethings @poodlebae @kittenlittle24 @3sriracha @jungchloee @perennialdoll247 @prettyinpunk85 @partyofone3413 @harriedandharassed

[thetriumphantpanda]

Writing's On The Wall | Agent Whiskey (One Shot)

A case of mistaken identity. A spy who should know better. Another spy who knows how to get what she wants. An apology in the only form Agent Whiskey knows how. A night neither of you will forget in a rush.

Pairing | Agent Whiskey x f!reader

Word Count | 2.8k

Warnings | Alcohol consumption, SMUTTY SMUT, oral (f receiving), unprotected PiV sex, a knife is mentioned but not in the context of the smut. Lots of flirting. Reader has an accent described but no physical description apart from the colour of her lipstick, no use of Y/N.

Authors Note | This idea has been rotting my brain so I had to get it down on paper. It actually turned out better than I could have expected. This is probably the best smut I've ever written, I hope you agree. I hope you enjoy it! If you do, please consider giving me a follow, liking the post or reblogging. It all helps.

Main Masterlist

The juice of the orange slice burst onto your tongue as you chewed it. Fished from the dregs of your negroni it had the bitter taste from the alcohol, but still acted as the sweet treat you wanted. The bartender swiped your empty glass and replaced it with a freshly made drink, one you hadn’t asked for. 

“Compliments of the gentleman at the end of the bar.” He informed. 

You turned your head in the direction the bartender had pointed to see the man who’d had his eyes on you all evening raise his glass of whiskey towards you. You shot a sultry smile in his direction, lifting your own glass in a kind of long-distance cheers before taking a sip. You wiped the red stain of your lipstick from the rim, rubbing your thumb on the napkin on the bar. 

You watched intently as he stood, glass of whiskey in hand, and walked towards you, “I hope you don’t mind some company,” His American accent floated to your ears, “A beautiful woman like you should never sit alone.” 

“I like my own company,” You replied in your heavily accented English, “But I suppose I can make an exception for you.” You rested a hand on his arm that was placed on the bar. 

“What brings you to Budapest?” He asks, “Business or pleasure?” 

You look him up and down, the situation dripping with the sexual tension you thrived on. Slowly dragging your eyes down from his face and over his perfectly tailored suit, catching his eyes as he did the same to you. He was mentally undressing you of your slinky black dress in his mind and you knew it. These men were all the same. 

“Both.” 

He raises his eyebrows at that, “What kind of business?” 

“Well, now, if I told you that I’d have to kill you,” You retort, your face dropping all pretense of the previous flirting between the two of you. You watched as he swallowed nothing, his Adams apple bobbing before you let out a laugh, “Lighten up, you Americans are all the same, it was a joke, but my work is dull, and I would rather not waste time talking about it.” 

He laughed along with you, but joined in a beat too late, just enough to make himself feel awkward about the situation. You picked up the negroni in front of you, draining it down in three long sips, slamming the empty glass on the bar. 

“There’s been a distinct lack of pleasure from my side,” He admits, going back to dragging his eyes over your body, “I hope you’ve had more luck than me.” 

A smirk falls back over your red painted lips, “Well that will never do, are you staying here?” You gestured to the bar in the hotel. 

“I am.” He replied simply. 

“Maybe you’d like to show me your room?” You winked as you stood from the bar, watching out of the corner of your eye as he finished his drink, leaning over the bar to tell the bartender to put both his and your drinks for the evening on his room tab. 

You were already stepping into the elevator when he caught up to you. He pressed the number for his floor before settling back against the wall, his hand coming to rest at the small of your back, “I don’t even know your name.” 

“Maybe that’s for the best,” You shrugged as the elevator came to a stop on his floor, “Passings ships in the night and all that,” You could see that he wanted to press you, but the doors opened, “Lead the way.” You motioned for him to step out in front of you. 

Following down the hall behind him you couldn’t deny the back of him was just as delightful as the front had been. His suit was cutting down all his best lines and you could swear he’d asked for his trousers to be tailored too small because there was no way any respectable man would pick trousers that showed off his ass like this man was. 

He stopped in front of a door, fishing keys from his pocket to unlock the door, motioning for you to walk in first, which you did. 

As soon as you were through the door of his bedroom, you felt yourself propelled against the wall, knife pressed dangerously close to jugular vein. Your lips grew into a smirk as you watched Agent Whiskey, face looking like the cat who got the cream. 

“Put the knife away,” You spoke, dropping the vague European accent you’d been putting on all night in favour of your actual British one, “Agent Whiskey.” 

Confusion flashed across his features, knife still pressed into your neck, his body still dangerously close to yours, “Agent Lancelot, Kingsman.” 

Dropping the knife from your neck, you couldn’t help but stifle at laugh at his expression, now one like a child who had opened their last Christmas present expecting it to be the thing they’d asked for all along, to find it was just a pair of socks. Defeat. 

“See, this is why women make the best agents,” You mused, walking into his room, nicer than yours, you’d have to have a word back a base, “Because we don’t think with our cocks.” 

The silence was palpable but a welcome change from his constant chatting downstairs. He was handsome, but that southern drawl was grating after a while, “What about the real Irina?” He asked, referring to the real reason you’d both been there. A Russian agent with an alleged briefcase full of documents your government’s both wanted. 

“Oh you don’t have to worry,” You smirked, turning to look at him, “I put enough drugs in her drink before you’d even arrived that she’ll be out until tomorrow morning at least.” 

He stood in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips looking completely lost, “So what now?” 

You let out a hearty laugh, “I think you should take my clothes off.” 

His eyes widened in shock, which earned a shrug from you, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Whiskey stated. 

“You almost slit my throat; I think you owe me an apology.” 

You faced him, eyes staring straight into his own as you reached behind you to unzip your dress. You pulled the shoulders down just enough for it to fall from your body before side stepping out of it, leaving you in just your underwear. You sit yourself down on the chaise in front of the window, spreading your legs obscenely wide, “You’ve gone awfully quiet on me Agent, come on.” 

He takes off his hat, placing it carefully on the desk before he drops to his knees in front of you, hooking your thighs over his shoulder. You could feel his breath on the lace covering your pussy and you couldn’t deny it was driving you mad. He pressed an open mouth to your thigh, switching between chaste kisses and running his tongue along the skin of your thighs. 

“Can’t believe I’m about you eat your pussy before I’ve even kissed you.” He mused, moving the lace of your panties to bare you pussy to his mouth. 

He was teasing you. Mouth placed just out of reach so you could feel his breath on your pussy, even when you moved your hips to try and find what you wanted, it wasn’t enough, his big hands holding your hips steady, exactly where he wanted you. 

“You’re meant to be apologizing,” You breathed out, “Not teasing.” 

“You brought this on yourself,” He spoke, looking up at you, “You knew exactly what you were doing out there.” 

“Just shut up and eat me out, Agent.” 

Your hand flew to tangle in his hair, dragging it towards your pussy whilst moving your hips up. Both movements together had his mouth bumping against your sex. His hands gripped at your hips, pulling your ass off the chaise, tongue darting out between your folds. He pulled back, groaning at the taste of you, like you were the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted, before he dove back in, using the pad of his tongue to drag along your folds once more, stopping briefly to lick at your clit. 

Moving his hands from your hips, he pulls back just enough to pull your panties off before his face is back where it was, hands spreading your pussy wide for himself. His tongue focuses in on your clit, moving slow circles over it as your hips bucked into his face, adding to the friction. He was slow and methodical with his mouth, using the tip of his tongue to draw circles over your bundle of nerves and then using the full length of his tongue to drink your wetness from your weeping core like a man who’d gone thirty days without water in the desert. The sounds of his slurping between your legs was frankly obscene, your chest was heaving from not being able to catch your breath. You needed more. 

“Fuck.. please…” You begged, “Put your fingers inside me.” 

Without dragging his mouth from you he did as you’d asked, slipping two fingers into your slick pussy without warning, earning a fully-fledged moan from your throat. They were thick and moving in and out of you at a languid pace as his tongue started to focus on your clit once more. The circles of the flick of his tongue and the curl of his fingers inside you hitting just where you needed had searing heat settling in your lower stomach. 

“Please don’t stop.” You groaned, hand fisting in his hair, not caring how hard you were pulling. 

You could feel yourself hurtling towards the edge of the cliff and you were practically aching for your release. Another few pumps of his fingers and the action of his covering your clit with his lips and sucking whilst the tip of his tongue still flicked across it had you slamming into your orgasm like a brick wall. 

A wail left your mouth as your sex pressed further into his mouth. You could feel yourself clenching around his fingers as your legs shook on his shoulders, stiletto heels digging into his back as he softly licked at your clit to ride you through the aftershocks. He dropped your legs from his shoulders, making sure you were watching him as he sucked his fingers into his mouth, licking your wetness from them as he stood up. 

Your chest was heaving as you tried to catch your breath, pussy clenching around nothing as Agent Whiskey shrugged out of his suit jacket and toed his boots off. His shirt was next, unbuttoned slowly enough for your insides to set fire to themselves with desire. Fuck, he was perfect under those clothes. Shirt discarded on the floor with your dress, he unbuckled his belt, dropping it to the floor with a clatter. Your eyes could see the outline of his hard cock through his trousers and your mouth practically watered at the sight. 

As he unzipped his trousers, your hand flew to your clit, rubbing in tight circles, if he was putting on a show then you would do the same. You were oversensitive and the attention you were giving your clit was bordering on painful, but your fingers sped up as his trousers dropped, kicked to the side and forgotten. 

“You gonna make yourself cum for me?” He asked, palming his cock through his briefs. 

“Do you want me to?” You asked, voice coming out almost as a cry. 

“I’d like nothing more.” 

Thumbs hooked into his briefs, and they too were discarded, revealing the most gorgeous man you’d ever laid eyes on naked. He took his cock in his fist and ran his hand up and down his length as your fingers brought you to your second orgasm of the night, the walls of your pussy fluttering around nothing as you worked yourself through the release you’d given yourself. 

“Looks like that pretty pussy is crying out to be filled.” His words were filthy, but you couldn’t deny he was right. 

“Judging by how hard you are, I’d say your crying out for somewhere to put that, maybe we could help each other?” You winked, standing on shaky legs to walk the few steps towards him. 

Hand placed on his chest, you pushed him back until his knees hit the bed, forcing him to sit down, his hands still fisting his cock. You pushed him by his shoulder, Agent Whiskey taking the hint, shifting so he was led on the bed. You wasted no time in crawling on top of him, grabbing both his wrists to pin them by his head as your wet sex rubbed against his cock. 

You let go of his wrists to reach behind you and undo your bra before they move to grip them once more, pinning him to the bed. You shifted your hips just enough that his cock was nudging at your slick heat, his hips bucking slightly with a delicious moan falling from his lips. If you hadn’t been so desperate for him to fill you then you would have spent more time teasing him, but you slowly sank your wet pussy down onto him. 

The two of you let out a salacious moan as he bottomed out inside of you. You took a few brief seconds to get used to the stretch of his cock inside of you before you moved your hips, dragging your pussy off his cock before slamming back down onto it. Your body was pressed flush to his and you dipped your lips to his neck, pressing a kiss to his pulse, leaving behind a perfect lipstick mark. 

“Fuck, you feel perfect around me.” He choked out, “But baby, you gotta move.” 

You let go of his wrists, using your hands on his chest to push you upright. His hands flew to your hips automatically, using them to drag your hips in a back-and-forth motion that had him hitting parts of you that you weren’t aware even existed. Moans were tumbling from both your mouths, mixing with the sound of his skin slapping against yours as he fucked into you from below. You grabbed one of his hands and dragged it between you. 

“One more,” You begged, “One more and you’re forgiven for almost killing me.” 

“Greedy little minx.” He replied, but obliged, using the pad of his thumb to rub those delicious circles on your clit. 

You could feel your pussy tightening around his length as it pushed into you, the fire in your belly telling you the inevitable was coming. The third orgasm blinded you. White spots clouded your vision as you practically screamed into the room, hands squeezing at whatever part of his body you could reach, no doubt your nails were leaving half-moon shapes on his skin. 

“Fucking hell baby,” He moaned as he continued his bruising thrusts into you, “That was perfection.” 

You could tell he was also close, his hips stuttering and his moans falling from his mouth quicker each time. He went to open his mouth, but you put a finger against them to silence him, “Inside me.” You answered for him. 

He was all but done then. A few more snaps of his hips and he was stilled inside you, you could feel the hot ropes of cum coating your pussy from the inside as he let out a low groan. You both took a moment to catch your breath before you pulled yourself off him, his cum working its way out of your pussy and down the inside of your thigh. 

You sauntered to the bathroom, feeling his eyes on your ass as you did, to clean yourself up. When you looked in the mirror your lipstick was smudged, and your hair had that perfect ‘just fucked’ looked to it that had you smirking to yourself. 

Agent Whiskey was already dressing himself when you emerged from the bathroom, so you followed suit, slipping your underwear back on. You pulled your dress on, touching his arm gently before turning around. His hands gently worked the zipper back up, a kiss pressed to the back of your neck. 

“I suppose we should go and get that briefcase.” He mumbled into your ear. 

“Hmmm?” You asked, turning around but taking short steps backwards towards the door. 

“Irina’s briefcase, with all the intelligence in it?” 

“Oh, yes,” You nodded in understanding, “You don’t have to worry, I took it whilst I was putting her to bed earlier,” A smirk fell across your lips as his expression changed once more. Fury at being bested, “We’ll be in touch.” 

With a slam of the door, you were gone. By the time Agent Whiskey had realized what you’d meant and yanked open the door to follow you, it was too late. The hallway was empty. He was in for a storm of shit when he got back, bested not only by a woman but from the agency they always seemed to be one step behind. Fuck.

[spaceorphan18]

Hi! You mentioned you were a bit disappointed by part 2 - what do you think could've been done better? Personally I needed more Colin, I felt like he got lost in the Whistledown plot

Hi Nonny!

Ooff, I have very complicated feelings about all of this, lol.

I was initially disappointed when I first watched because there are a lot of subtle emotions going on and it all goes by so quickly, and is in such short bursts that it's hard to unpack all of it on first watch. It also COMPLETELY plays with expectations and has them in the middle of a fight while getting married which is... so bonkers. So bonkers. And it is incredibly disorienting.

Having rewatched it (multiple times now) and having some MAJOR revelations about Colin (I mean I was casually watching two months ago -- I had zero real idea bout his character) I actually love a lot of the second half, and really appreciate what they were going for.

Is it perfect? No - there are still some issues (I'll get to that in a sec) but I appreciate the story that they were attempting to tell. Because it's fascinating. And there are a lot of delicious elements to it.

I think one of the biggest issues is that they were trying to cram this incredibly complex story into 8 episodes. And with the addition of the million subplots, it didn't fully work. Honestly, I wish we had gotten an episode or two longer just to let the full story breathe a little more.

I agree that, overall, they we needed a tad more of Colin's process. It's there but it's subtle. And I think his entire character arc, while there, is subtle. As just a casual viewer who hadn't watched the previous seasons - ngl, I felt slightly lost and slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see /more/.

Also it's hard. HARD. That they don't get to connect post-wedding, because Whistledown still hangs down over them. Because you WANT to them to have that post-wedding bliss. You WANT them to consummate the marriage and have that after glow and we don't get that. And my god, I really wanted to wake up in bed together, happy and blissful like we got with Kanthany.

But that's not the story.

I will say, once I unpacked it a little - the story we get is absolutely delicious. And I actually really love what we did get. There's this fascinating angst there -- where the characters are so IN LOVE and yet they both have their own journeys of dealing with the Whistledown of it all. And the fact that they do go through with this wedding, the fact that their their friendship means they have groundwork to get them through the nonsense, it's so good. I really love it.

But yeah, ultimately, I just wanted more of it. Because we don't get enough. But, honestly, I feel like we'd never get enough really.

About the side plots -- I haven't gone back and watch the first two seasons other than the rewatch I did a month ago. I'll have to see how many subplots are in those seasons, because idk know if there are /that/ many more. It's just that we're used to Polin being the subplot that it's odd when someone else takes that space.

About the ending -- here's where I feel like it could have been better. And here's where I think that maybe Season 4 can deliver on what was ultimately cut short in Season 3. I think Season 4 will have them be a united front and whatever Pen is going to go through they go through it together.

But we also get the happiness we didn't fully get at the end of Season 3. I hope -- would like to believe that Polin will settle into their comfortable roles as subplots again.

And maybe selfishly, I hope the show can keep Nic and Luke as long as possible because -- with their story being there from the beginning they have the chance to be a backbone of the entire show. And I mean, think about how much story that accumulates over all those seasons.

Anyway - I have more to say about the episodes, and maybe I'll kind of write up more on Season 3 as a whole, or episode by episode or something. Because, y'all who've been here with me know, media analysis has just become my second job. (I say as if I don't love every second of it.)

[ducktoonsfanart]

Scrooge McDuck's Easter Party - April Fool's Day and Autism Day - Scrooge McDuck's Duck Friends, Family and Rivals - Duck comics and Duckverse

Once again, I wish everyone a belated Happy Easter as well as a Happy April Fool's Day and a Happy Autism Day and Month! I know I didn't make it in time to do it and post it, because I had other things to do, but I certainly did a drawing related to the previous one (Donald's nephews' birthday), only with grown-up characters from Duck comics. Yes, since Easter almost fell on April Fool's Day, Donald and his cousin Fethry burst into Scrooge's party and douse him with a bucket of water, which of course Scrooge doesn't like. And Fethry Duck is definitely autistic (like me lol) who likes to try all kinds of things. And yes, a cake, cookies, and Easter eggs (mostly chocolate eggs) were prepared for the party. I didn't manage to draw all the characters that I love and that I know from Donald Duck comics (either from American or from European, especially Italian comics) because not all characters would fit in one drawing, and I apologize for that. Here are Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Flintheart Glomgold, John D. Rockerduck, Jeeves (Lusky), Miss Emily Quackfaster (Scrooge's secretary), Albert Quackmore Battista (Scrooge's butler), Gyro Gearloose, Brigitta MacBridge, Goldie O' Gilt (Glittering Goldie), Gideon McDuck (Scrooge's brother), Dickie Duck, Gladstone Gander, Ludwig von Drake and Abner Whitewater Duck.

I hope you like this drawing and this idea, and once again I wish everyone a Happy Easter, a Happy April Fool's Day, a Happy Autism Day and Autism Month, and a Happy Tax Day on April 15th! Feel free to like and reblog this, but please don't use these same ideas without mentioning me and without my permission. Thank you!

Also happy 75th anniversary of Topolino comics which are published in Italy and which are some of the best Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics ever!

[questioningwriter]

(I'm not dead, I promise! But I did recently start my job, which has sporadic hours, so I haven't had time to write. But I finally got this finished and I wanted to post it, because I promised it weeks ago. Hopefully the next one will come sooner.)

Edit: I'm an idiot, who forgot to link everything. Fixed it.

Morally Grey Pt 3

Part 1 Part 2

TW: Imprisonment, obsessive behavior, Mentioned no-con drugging

The press was having a field day with this, Superhero mused as he stood at the podium, the other hero's standing behind him. It wasn't necessary, but none of them knew that.

“-I can assure you, we will find Villain, and put him back where he belongs.” Superhero finished addressing the media, but before any of the hero's could leave, there was a shout at the back of the crowd.

"You liar!" Everyone turned to the shout, and there were screams as Other Villain burst from the crowd, gun in hand. "I know you did something! What did you do with Villain?"

"I can assure you that I have no idea what you are talking about." Superhero said smoothly. "I had nothing to do with Villain's disappearance."

"Bullshit!" Other Villain yelled. "You were the last person to see him. You were the one who he was going to meet, I know it! Where is he?"

Superhero stepped back and his team came to flank him. "For the last time, I had nothing to do with Villain's disappearance!"

"Then how did you know?" Other Villain snarled. "How did you know that Villain was missing?"

"...Because the prison called us about their disappearance?" Superhero said. "And it's all over the news? The whole reason we have to have his press conference in the first place?"

Other Villain floundered, which gave the officers time to sneak up behind them. But before they could be caught, Other Villain blasted them back with his power, then turned to Superhero. "I'll prove you were the one who did something to Villain!" He pointed his weapon at Superhero. "I swear it!"

With a dramatic swirl of his cape, he was gone. Superhero turned to his team. "Get everyone to safety." He ordered. "I'll start putting out the feelers to find both Villain and Other Villain. It's more important now than ever to figure out where they went."

The team did as he asked. Superhero watched them proudly for a moment before turning and leaving. Such obedient puppets.

He quickly changed out of his hero costume in the back room, then left. On the way home, he made several calls and made sure his spies in Villain's organization were ready to fake his Villain's death. He contemplated taking out Other Villain at the same time. Make it look like the two were working together, and something went wrong.

Arriving at his house cut off his thought process. Pulling into the garage, he got out and went inside his house. Looking around, he walked to the basement door. Unlocking all six of the locks on the door, Superhero went downstairs.

When Superhero had purchased the house, he found that the former owner had converted the basement into an apartment, complete with it's own bathroom, so that someone could rent the room, and the previous owner could have a second income coming in from the tenant. Over the years, Superhero had had no need for it, so it had been left to gather dust.

Until today.

His guest stood from his place on the bed as Superhero entered.

"Where the fuck am I?" Villain snarled. "What did you do?"

~

"Villain, sweetheart." Superhero said happily, as if they were discussing the weather. "I'm glad to see you're awake. How are are you feeling? Did the drug give you a headache?"

Villain glared at his lover. "Don't pull that bullshit with me." He snapped. "Where the hell am I? What the fuck did you do?"

Superhero's smile waned. "Villain, why don't we sit down to discuss this?" He said.

"No." Villain backed away from Superhero's reaching hands. "Don't touch me. And, while you're at it, let me go."

Superhero sighed. "Sweetheart." He soothed. "Please just listen to me. Aren't you even a little bit curious as to why I did this?"

Villain hesitated. Truth be told, he was a little curious as to what drove the crime-fighter to this point. They broke their own moral code by kidnapping Villain. He was curious as to lovers enemies motives.

"Alright, I'll bite." Villain sat back down. "Why am I here?"

"It's simple." Superhero sat down next to his ex-partner. “Because of our last conversation as lovers.” He answered. “You told me it was either you or them-”

“-and if you picked them, I would never see you again, at least not in the sense of lovers.” Villain cut him off. “What does that have to do with you kidnapping me?” 

“Well. I made my choice.” Superhero took Villain's jaw in a bruising grip. “I choose option three.” 

"Did you know that the same day you escaped prison, a hospital exploded?" Superhero asked. "Unfortunately, a lot of people died that day. It was a tragic accident, but I saw a way to spin it to my favor."

"I planted signs that you were behind it. Little things, like your symbol painted on a still-standing part of the building. camera footage placing you there, a few hours before the explosion happens. All things that sign your metaphorical death warrant.

Throughout Superhero's speech, Villain's face had gotten paler and paler until it was almost completely white. "You're a monster." He breathed.

"The other heroes think you blew up the hospital." Superhero continued like Villain hadn't spoken. "You are not safe anywhere beyond this house. I have made sure of that." 

Villain's face was drained of color. "You're crazy." He whispered. 

 "Crazy in love with you." Superhero joked, but quickly grew serious. “Villain, I am only trying to give us both what we want - each other. I love you, more than anything, and I want to be with you.” He reached out and took his boyfriend's hand. “You gave me an impossible choice the last time we were together. Either I choose you, or I choose my team.” 

“I remember.” Angel said tersely.

“I knew I could not abandon my team.” Superhero continued like he had not spoken. “They needed me, and so did the public.” He reached up to cup Villain's cheek. “But I need you.” Superhero pulled his hands back. “And the world doesn’t need you like I do.” 

Villain’s eyes widened. Jumping from the bed, be backed away. “No, I will not be caged.” He snarled. “I won’t let you keep me here.” 

“I don’t expect you to.” Superhero told him. “What I expect is for you to fight. I expect escape attempts. I’m even expecting you to try to kill me.” I leaned forward. “None of which you can do without your power.” 

His eyes narrowed. “You can’t steal my power. It’s impossible.” 

“No.” Superhero admitted, “but I can block it.” 

Villain didn't have the chance to run before Superhero was lunging to grab him. Getting ahold of the criminal, Superhero injected him with a sedative, and Villain blacked out.

`

Villain woke up to weakness. Weakness so strong it was hard to move. And an emptiness where his powers usually were. It was an effort to lift his head to meet his captors eyes. 

"Villain.” Superhero spoke calmly, like he was talking to a wild animal. “Villain, sweetheart, can you hear me?” 

“Fuck you.” Villain slurred. Superhero’s gaze hardened. Villain thought that the hero was going to hit him, but he just turned away.

"The weakness will wear off soon." He said. "Unfortunately, I could not prevent it from happening completely, but I was able to decrease its effects." He messed with something out of Villain's vision. "This apartment is fully furnished, and has everything you will need to survive." He smiled at me. "You'll be safe here."

"If by safe, you mean trapped here as your prisoner, then yeah, I'm totally safe." Villain snapped, fighting to stand. "Guess what, Supes, I'm not going to stay here complacently, I'm going to fight this with everything I have in me. And when I strike, it will leave you crumpled in the dust." 

Superhero laughed. "Good luck." He left, leaving him in his prison.

[naffeclipse]

Kind of bouncing off of the last ask you posted/answered, do the other glamrocks have parts in sleuth jesters? Besides Freddy, of course. What about the springlock and fnaf 1-4 models?

(Mainly asking about the springlocks bc I've been doodling an oc as if they were in the au and want to be at least a little accurate with their backstory, even if its just for funsies lmao)

For the glamrocks, I keep changing my mind about what they're doing as I don't have roles/storylines for them to be included in yet, except for one. I do, however, have plans for the Funtime animatronics in a possible Sleuth Jesters continuation, but that's all I'm going to say on that matter.

I don't have any thoughts on other fnaf models aside from what I mentioned above, so have fun with your OC! ♥

I have a lot of thoughts about Glamrock Bonnie for Sleuth Jesters, and oh boy, I'm gonna ramble about them here. Tucking it below the cut because it's a bit long! Content Warning for Pregnancy and Death.

Bonnie and Freddy were tight-knit and escaped into freedom together when animatronic rights were legally recognized. Freddy was very interested in politics and Bonnie set his sights on the justice system and the law itself. He studied and looked for every loophole and wrote as many letters as he had to, and finally managed to thrust himself into law school despite a lot of people not liking an animatronic among their students, but boy did he do it anyways.

He got his law degree and returned to the city with a lot of justice on his mind, alongside Freddy who was working his way into public roles within the community. Bonnie started working as a criminal defense lawyer and representing animatronics while navigating the very fresh, legal rights of his kind. He was helping everyone and anyone he could along the way.

There's a small story of Bonnie intervening on Sun's and Moon's behalf when they're unfairly hauled into a police station and interrogated because of Eclipse's gangster antics (before they join the police academy), but I'll save that for another time. In essence, Bonnie has met the celestial brothers. Sun and Moon like him. Eclipse does not.

It's amid these cases where he's fighting an entire system to give animatronics fair trials in a court of law that he incidentally meets a woman. She entered his office under the assumption that he was a divorce lawyer and seeking advice on how to go about such matters.

Bonnie's surprised by several things in this encounter, least of all the mistake of his specialty. Here's a human (pretty lady) who holds no pre-determined grudge or animosity toward his automaton existence, and she's rather occupied with her own troubles but very kind. When he explains that she came to the wrong place, she bursts into tears and confesses that she has no idea what to do because her husband abandoned her and she discovered not three days ago that she's pregnant.

Bonnie isn't one to shy away from complicated matters and the woman has been very sweet, so he comforts her. Ruby, as she later tells him when she's dabbing at her eyes with tissues, explains a little more about the situation. The good news is, Bonnie's certain she can get her marriage annulled as it was very recent and the circumstances are very dreadful. He gives her an address and a person to talk to, and he wishes her the best. As he watches her leave, he realizes that he would very much like to see her again, and Bonnie tells Freddy just as much later.

Freddy is supportive but also warns Bonnie to be careful. There are still a lot of people who aren't 'comfortable' with animatronics and it might be tumultuous to start a relationship with a human, if Ruby is so inclined, but Bonnie has never let anything stop him before.

Ruby was impressed by him despite the teary first meeting (much to Bonnie's delight and quiet relief). Though she was once bitten, twice shy due to her previous and now annulled relationship, and growing concerned that a man, whether organic or machine, wouldn't want anything to do with her since she's with child, Bonnie puts her fears to rest and promises that he will take care of her and the baby for eternity if she'll let him.

They become attached to one another pretty quickly. Bonnie is thoroughly smitten with his darling Ruby and supports their growing family. There are some incidents of outrage towards their relationship, some of which scare Ruby, but Bonnie's fur feathers are never ruffled even while he handles the verbal and sometimes physical reactions. Freddy is always there to lend a helping hand, too, and make sure Bonnie's family stays safe.

When Ruby has a healthy baby girl, Bonnie couldn't be prouder.

All the while, Bonnie is aiming higher in his career and sets his sights on becoming district attorney. He's certainly succeeded in enough cases to be considered for selection. It takes a staggering amount of time, but finally, when Freddy is running for Mayor, Bonnie has hope, and after Freddy wins, Bonnie is selected for district attorney.

Now in a great position to bring about change, Bonnie sees the city rotting with corruption and violence, and he knows exactly what he's going to do. He's going to pull injustice out by the roots.

He sets his sights on Eclipse and his gang.

This, one day, might be a little fic that I hopefully get to, but in short, Bonnie is the only one who successfully puts the mafia boss on trial. Eclipse finds it all very amusing, the court proceedings and whatnot, but Bonnie is the prosecutor and he intends to get Eclipse behind bars, where he belongs.

The tough thing is that Eclipse has never played fairly. With the vigilante and the detectives as witnesses among the spectators, Eclipse slips through justice's fingers and escapes punishment in a gloat to the city's legal system and as a testament to his power.

It's not long after that that Bonnie mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a wife and child. Rumors have it that Eclipse was not happy about being tried and they pity the brave but foolhardy district attorney for trying.

[demonsfate]

anonymous sent . . .

thank you for your in-detail posts about my boi jin kazama and the tekken series in general i really enjoy your blog. yes, i agree the battle pass is bullshit and they should've either included them tekken 7 port outfit at launch or made new costumes for the cast.

anyways, i also hate how some people in the tekken fandom and outsiders thinks jin kazama is "selfish". i mean he is supportive of xiaoyu's dreams in tekken 4 and tekken 8 instead of calling her something like "an annoying foolish idiot for having such pathetic dreams". he also saved hwoarang's ass from the south korean military in hwoarang's tekken 4 ending. jin literally entered the king of iron fist tournament 3 and bothered with martial arts competitive tournaments in the first place because he thought his mother died and wanted to avenge her. hell he also saved lars's ass when he was about to die to kazuya and freed nina from being brainwashed by ogre. anyways like i said, your blog is amazing and i hope you have a wonderful day.

thank you so so much anon and you're welcome!!! the funny thing is, unlike many players, i wasn't even fully against the store when it was initially announced. like... i didn't mind the idea of buying legacy or new outfits they'd develop later into the game's release. i don't completely mind the idea of microtransactions as long as they're fairly priced and were good content for the price. the problem arose when i quickly realized the first 4 items were all ports from the older games. they were $5 per outfit for stuff they didn't even remake from the ground up, but instead we're paying $5 for assets that are outdated and look horrible compared to the graphics in tek8. and then the predatory practices of how you buy these assets. the fact that outfits are supposed to be $4, but the lowest amount of coins you can buy are the 500, so technically outfits are $5. the option to buy coins should be 100 ($1) 200 ($2) and then so on until you reach 2000 ($20) coins. so how they do that, along with the ports, is just super scummy. you should only have to pay for original content, not fuckin' ports (that frankly, sometimes modders port better lol) then the battle pass happened and it's like... really? do we REALLY need a season pass, a store, AND a battle pass? it's just so much. especially when the battle pass mostly had shit that should've been in the game already for free. (the female gi outfit??? even though males had that to begin with. or the eye colors - fuck, eyes should just be recolorable in general. and some hairs which were hairs we already had but ... they have to the option to be dual colored lol, and so on)

it drives me wild that there were so many people claiming jin was "selfish" or that he doesn't care about anyone. when not only did he do all that stuff you've mentioned, but like... i know a lotta ppl forget this, including the game's writers themselves, but the whole reason jin wanted to kill heihachi and kazuya to begin with is because he believed they were evil, and he wanted to save the world from their evil. like jin just wanted to save the world and protect people from the beginning. it's funny that a LOT of ppl would try to claim jin being evil makes sense because he wanted revenge in tek3??? even though the whole revenge thing was Only in his first appearance, and like... there are so many other characters who want revenge, too. ironically, i don't see anyone really calling miguel evil. also, it was said in the 3rd game that ogre was "absorbing souls" (like he did with heihachi) and i thought fighters from previous tournaments were "mysteriously disappearing". in jin's ending, when ogre burst into bright lights, i thought that was supposed to be the souls he took returning to their bodies. whilst i'm not entirely sure if that's true or not, if i am right, it would also mean jin saved many fighters. also in tk5, when jin said he couldn't keep his promise to hwoarang, and hwoarang immediately got angry (jealous????) by asking jin if he found "someone stronger" than him, jin immediately denies this by saying "that's not what i'm saying." if jin didn't care about hwoarang... wouldn't you think he'd insult hwoarang by calling him weak or trying to instigate him? no, instead - jin didn't even deny how strong hwoarang was, he was just simply busy with family drama.

also jin supporting xiao's dreams, supporting hwoarang, wanting to save the world, are evidence that jin isn't an "edgelord" like a lotta ppl like to call him. like the only "evidence" that jin was an "edgelord" is tekken 6 damages, and the fact he wanted to kill himself in tek4. but like... the only reason he wanted to kill himself because he feared devil posed a serious threat to the world and his loved ones. the only time jin acted uncaring was in tekken 6 and the era of tekken 6 (see street fighter x tekken, and the kof crossover) and well, i just think it's unfair to use that game to judge jin's character because goddamn, i KNOW it's jin, but it's not jin if you know what i mean. like if you compare tekken 6 jin to how jin was depicted in previous games (or even in 8), then he's completely unrecognizable - the only thing he really shares with the jin we all know and love is the name and the design lmao. but for some reason, ppl just can't look at the character critically like that.

anyway, my long rant is over with and i hope you are having a wonderful day, too!!! <:-)

[whumping-in-the-wings]

Whoo, boy, it feels like such a long time since I posted anything! I’ve actually had this piece done for awhile and I’m very proud of it, but I was absolutely slammed with schoolwork this week, and, if you saw my last post, I’ve been battling one of my professors about some disability things, so writing kind of had to take a backseat. Updates may get a tiny bit more sporadic for the next few months, between school and the NaNoWriMo novel I’m gearing up for. I also have a few new stories swimming around in my head, so I may devote some time to some of them. But I’ll still be updating as often as I can, so enjoy this latest installment!

CW: mentions of injury, accidental dehumanization (very mild), caretaker POV

Taglist: @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump, @finaldreams1106, @redwingedwhump, @whumpy-catfish, @kixngiggles (as always, let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from the list!)

Traces: Part Seven

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For a moment they stood there, Cyra and the centaur, neither of them breaking the stunned, strained silence that sank down over the stable. Something flickered in the centaur’s eyes, a flash of alarm, and Cyra realized suddenly that she understood it, understood him, just as he had been trying to understand her.

He could speak, but he hadn’t meant to let that secret slip. And now that he had, he was waiting to see what she would do with it.

“You can speak,” she repeated. “But you didn’t mean to let me know that, did you, now?”

She hadn’t expected it to feel so strange, speaking to him. She’d been speaking to him just a moment before, the way she so often did when she was alone with her horses, but somehow it was all different knowing the words meant something to him, that he could answer them.

But he didn’t, still watching her with wariness, even fear in his eyes. Unsurprising, seeing how much he’d been through while she hadn’t been here to put a stop to it. Cyra let her eyes rove over him again, taking stock of the injuries she’d already seen and the ones she hadn’t noticed till now: the bruises littering his pale human half, the livid scarlet of the second brand against his shoulder, the skin chafed raw beneath the rope around his wrists. She’d been angered about those wounds from the moment she’d seen them- she’d never stood for that sort of thing in her stables, no matter how often Duncan tried it- but it was surprising, and a little shameful, how much worse they seemed now that the centaur had shown his human side.

She’d had the bewildered thought, when she’d first heard his voice, that it would take her a long time to get used to this. But as her gaze came back to his face, to those dark eyes, she found that she’d been wrong about that.

“We should have known,” she burst out. “Should have known the moment we looked one of you in the face that you and your kind were no different than us.” She scoffed. “That is, if we weren’t too busy trying to kill you to even give you a second glance. Surprised they didn’t do the same to you, when they found you. What Sir Aubrey thinks he’s going to do with you, I don’t have any idea.”

Then, for the first time, the centaur answered her, drawing a small, shuddering sigh and squaring his shoulders first, as though resigning himself to the fact that he would have to trust her.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. His voice wasn’t as deep as she would have expected, if she’d been expecting him to have one at all; it was soft and rich, with a bit of a rasp to it, colored with a faint, lilting sort of accent. A centaur accent, she realized. Was she the first human in the world who had ever heard it? Likely so. She was probably the first human who had ever bothered to listen.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said again, seemingly trying to convince himself of his own words. “The others…you said you could stop him. From doing this to them.”

For a second time, she felt that sudden flash of understanding. The others, he’d said. Not just any others, but those he knew, those he loved. Those he was protecting.

He was still watching her, half eager, half desperate, as if nothing in the world had ever been as important as her answer. She drew a long sigh. “Aubrey’s the master here,” she said simply. “I can’t stop him doing anything once he’s put his mind to it. But, if it’s a comfort, he doesn’t like to cross me if he can help it.”

It was a poor reassurance, and she knew it, but it was as much hope as she could give. The centaur nodded, whether in acknowledgment or in thanks she couldn’t tell. But new shadows stamped themselves into the care-lines on his face, and the look in his eyes changed from resigned acceptance to a soul-deep weariness, as though he’d suddenly realized the weight of his circumstances and found it all much too heavy for him.

He should never have been in these circumstances at all. She should have been here, should have stopped it, should have made sure he never saw the inside of her stable, Sir Aubrey or no.

But there was little to be done about it now. She cast about her for something she could do, some small difference that would go some way towards fixing…this, all of this, whatever the lord of the manor intended this to be in the end.

That rasp to his voice. She seized on that, limped forward quickly to open the stall door.

Too quickly. He flung his head up in the same way a startled horse might do, stepped back as far as the cramped confines of the stall would allow. “No, no,” she said. “None of that, lad. I’m not like them. I’m not going to hurt you. Can I untie that rope, or are you going to try and strangle me the moment you’ve got your hands loose?”

He studied her face for a moment, searching for some sort of trap in the words, before he finally shook his head. “I’m not like that either,” he said. “Not like-“

He broke off, but the words not like you humans hung in the air unspoken. Not as though she could blame him for it.

She was somewhat wary herself, stepping around beside him, more than aware of how much stronger he was, the kind of damage he could do if he took it into his head. But he only sighed with relief when the rough rope finally came loose, massaging his raw-rubbed wrists as she left the stall again, crossing to where the mule still waited patiently. After a few moments’ rummaging in the saddlebag, she came up with a worn leather flask and held it out to him.

“Water,” she explained. “You sound as though you need it.”

He nodded, swallowing the liquid greedily, desperately. She watched him for a moment before a hot redness flooded her cheeks, and she turned away as quickly as her legs would let her. Here she was gawking at him like he was nothing more than a spectacle, as if he hadn’t just proven how human he was beyond any shadow of a doubt. She despised everything Sir Aubrey was doing, would never have done it herself, but years of being told that centaurs were no more than animals was proving a difficult habit to break.

And on the distasteful subject of Sir Aubrey…she turned back, searching about for a moment in search of the right words. They weren’t there to be found, so she decided to fall back on her usual standby: coming right to the point, as quickly and bluntly as possible.

“I can’t get you out of this,” she said. “If I could, I’d do it, but I can’t. He’d know it was me, because there’s no one else who would ever dare. And much as I hate this place, especially with that arrogant young lordling in command of it, I’ve been here for years. I’ve got a respect in these walls that I wouldn’t have outside of it. All I know how to do is what I do here, and there’s no other stable that would have me. A woman, and a woman like me at that…”

Even to her own ears, the excuse felt weak, pathetically selfish. What was the loss of a position compared to brands and bruises? And the sick, shameful feeling intensified as she realized that she’d stepped away from him, out of reach, in case he erupted in the same savage fury she’d always been told his kind was made of.

He didn’t. There was nothing like anger, nothing even close to it, in his dark, deep-set eyes. “I’m only here because I didn’t want to put the others in danger,” he said softly. “When I leave here-“ she marked the slight emphasis on the when, as though he was forbidding himself to use any other word- “it won’t be because I put someone else in danger to do it. You’ve already done more than I thought anyone would do.”

“But far less than anyone should have done,” Cyra said. “Mark me, that’s the last time I head off to the fair, at least so long as you’re here. Duncan and the boys can go, if there’s a need. I may not be able to put an end to this completely, but I’ll do as much as I can.” She paused. “Has he…said anything? About why he wants you in the first place? I know Aubrey, and he only ever does anything to be remembered for it, but there are easier things he could have done, if that was all it was.”

The centaur’s brow furrowed a little; he spoke slowly, quizzically, as though what he was saying didn’t make sense even to him. “He sees me as a challenge,” he said. “That’s what he told me. He just didn’t realize I could understand.”

Cyra sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. It was nothing out of the norm for Aubrey, nothing even unexpected. But it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, good news, and in the end there was only one thing it could mean. “He’s going to break you,” she said, not even aware that she’d said it outside her own thoughts until the centaur answered her.

“Not for a long time,” he replied. “And not half as easily as he thinks.”

She smiled at that, the cynical, sardonic smile that found its way onto her face so often. She’d heard that many a time, from many a bright-eyed, confident young squire or serving girl, convinced they had what it took to make their life in this place. Manor life was no easy feat, even when the manor in question wasn’t one like Aurenside, and those who felt they had the special quality needed for it rarely turned out to be right.

That, though, she didn’t say out loud. Only occasionally did she bridle her tongue like that, but she was no fool. True as her doubts might be, there was simply no need for the centaur to hear them. “Hold on to that strength as long as you can,” was all she said instead. “I can tell you right off, you’re going to need it.”

Struck once again by the gravity of the situation, and how helpless either of them was to really change it, she looked about her again for something she could change, something that would mean something. For as long as she could remember, that had been her first instinct when the waters of life were rough. There were so many things she couldn’t do. It was only natural to focus on the many things she could.

“I’ve got to get up to the great hall,” she said. “They’ll be wondering where I am, at least if they’re not too drunk to notice I’ve come back. I’ll bring you something to eat as soon as I can do it without anyone seeing. You look as though you could do with it.” She paused. “Best not let on to anyone that I’m helping you. His Lordship won’t stand for that. And you’re going to need me, when things get worse.” Like him, she placed the emphasis on when, didn’t bother with if. There was no if with Aubrey Gravesend about.

“I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “It won’t be much, but I’ll do it, if only to spite him.”

The centaur nodded, though his eyes were distant. He was clearly preparing himself for whatever lay ahead, thinking of ways to steel himself to it. His pale hands were still wrapped around each other, tracing the raw, red lines left by the ropes. He didn’t bother answering, this time. They both already knew that whatever she could do, it would never be enough.

But it was something, and it was something more than either of them had had before.

[golbrocklovely]

Wait a minute when did you see his vacation post because when i read it he had about 5 or 6 comments disagreeing with him, not full on hating on him simply telling him his thought process did not apply to the general public. If you saw NONE then there is further proof he deleted them which is not cool. If you are not able to start a conversation and have people add their own experiences because you see it as a personal attack towards you, then why start the conversation to begin with. Just deactivate the comments if all you’re interested in is people blindly agreeing and praising something that does not apply to them. I was all for him starting a book club, that was his original idea for dumb & wise, but what fun is it if all he reads is self help books that apply to only him and how to get rich quick??

He looks up to Bezos, Musk, the Paul Brothers, Jeffree Starr and all because they’re extremely wealthy. And while it’s great to challenge yourself to see how far you can go, dont start preaching to regular people about how they need to have the same mindset as these toxic men who value always working and not having any time off ever and scam their workers when they all have the ability to travel anywhere, purchase anything, and do so without giving back to those who got them there. Musk literally said hes never had a day off and sleeps on friends sofas. Bezos the riches man refuses to pay workers past minimum wage, and rented out a ride in a amusement park all to himself and had no one with him nor let anyone else ride it, The Paul brothers moved to Puerto Rico to get a tax cut when hundreds of people on the island are loosing their homes and suffering, and thought they could break every rule and kill their sea turtles, and Jeffree Starr moved to the middle of nowhere Wyoming because no one in La could stand him. Thats who he wants to mirror his mindset and business approach after😕.

i haven't checked on the post since he made it. i was more commenting on when he first posted it, i didn't see anyone outright disagreeing with him until i got on here. but that doesn't mean there weren't comments disagreeing, i just didn't see them originally.

and like i just said in the previous ask, i do think to some degree he doesn't really want to hear ppl's opinions. he'd rather live in a bit of an echo-chamber. maybe i'm wrong, so don't take my word for it. that's just how it feels sometimes. bc it's not like he replies to ppl who disagree or tries to keep the conversation going. he just posts and moves on lol

he looks up to ppl who've made a shit-ton of money, and while i get that from a business stand point….. find better ppl. there are probably plenty of rich ppl who didn't abuse a fuck ton of ppl on their way to the top. granted if you're trying to look up to billionaires you aren't gonna find any good ones. that's just my personal opinion.

i think his issue is that he believes the one main way to be successful is thru wealth and business. and while that is definitely one way, it's not the only way. there are plenty of ways to be successful. but i think he hyperfocuses on business and working bc it's the one thing he can control. his emotions? absolutely not. but he can control how much effort or time he puts into something.

i've never really mentioned this before, but sometimes there is an intensity with him that concerns me a bit. especially when it comes to him talking about working or editing. he just seems… like he's ready to burst at any minute.

i truly hope that both him and colby can take a much needed time off when hell week is over.

[asanders345gd-i]

ARTS345 Blog Post 2

Reaching the end of this week, I've landed at the planning stage of our first larger project. The prompt we were given was simply to make a magazine, and to write a paper that is convincing of the idea. I thrive on guidelines, as previously mentioned, but having such an open-ended assignment appears to have relieved some of the typical pressure that comes with adhering to direct instruction. While not the same as how I have learned previously, it's a more fresh approach.

This project was admittedly not at the forefront of my mind this week until closer to the end. I'm finding it harder than previous years to keep up with demands, and consequently, things may be given less energy in favor of something more urgent. Eventually though, I found myself brainstorming the night before we were to present our ideas for the magazine. I was having a less than stellar night, extremely frustrated by a reading assignment for my art history class. I have struggled badly to focus when reading since early high school and especially do in college, but this instance gave me an idea. I thought about making a magazine from the point of view of someone with focus difficulties/ADHD. I could make some pages distorted in the way I view walls of text, include repeating sentences or whole paragraphs, the dialogue of background noise or my inner monologue, amongst more. I was impressed with myself here. Not all my ideas feel like they land, but this one certainly did in my eyes.

I made a point to write these thoughts down in real time because, if it wasn't obvious, they were bound to be lost to whatever dialogue my brain sent next. My method was one similar to mind mapping, though I usually wrote entire sentences of experiences rather than words. It's instinctive, but I'm learning already that changing my approaches can yield better results. As I write the paper, I want to incorporate some of the brainstorming processes I was drawn to in this week's chapter. Spending too much time on an idea seems to be my greatest weakness, whether it be distraction or obsession with details. Short, repetitive bursts of thought dumping with small phrases could be more productive. I aim to focus this next week on developing planning and execution styles that work with my brain, instead of the flailing, panicked workflows I always find myself in.

I kind of already have with this list. Not a bad start.

[super-kristuff]

Finished the next world of KH3. And like, I started typing out my thoughts, and once again, I'm feeling like my opinion of the world has taken a 180 while writing this. I'm not sure how obvious it was with the last one, but I started writing my post on Tangled with a much lower opinion then I ended on. Like, I was fully prepared to write that the world was uneventful and the characters flat, and while I still feel Flynn was a creep, I started to see that a lot of the level design was used to emphasize Rapunzel's character.

I started really excited for the level of Monster's Inc because I was expecting a level similar to the other Pixar world, and naturally, Mike and Sully taking care of a child while talking about their feelings seems like the perfect environment for gay undertones. However, the world just didn't deliver, and in the end, I feel like it is even less eventful than Tangled.

The biggest disappointment is the level design. The entire level is just a hallway. While there were some interesting moments, nothing felt super unique, and the events did not reinforce the characters. I think the level can be broken into: sliding on rails into the door vault, running through the machinery of the factory, and running through the fire/destruction outside the factory. While these events change the scenery, they don't really change the actions themselves, and the entire level felt very similar.

The plot was also very lackluster. As mentioned above, I thought this world would be very fun for misinterpreting cut-scenes, but similar to Tangled, the characters just don't have much character. Mike is a big star thanks to being funny instead of scary, and Sully is taking on a lot of responsibility as the new head of the factory. But they just don't talk about their feelings at all. Or anything for that matter? The typically scene follows the pattern of "we need to make Boo laugh", "Mike has an idea", and "surprise humor".

Which, I really felt like Monster's Inc had the most potential to be a really interesting world in regards to Kingdom Hearts. Like, Monster's Inc is an entire world that is so familiar with world hopping that they use beings from another world as a power source. They have an agency dedicated to controlling "contamination" from this other world. Their interactions with other worlds are institutionalized, and I feel they probably have laws and documentation surrounding these kinds of incidents. I think the world could have had a really interesting conversation about how society reacts to change, and how Mike and Sully are reacting to these changes as well.

But instead the game is like, "oh no, the factory is in danger, run through this hallway for the next hour".

Ok, so I feel my opinion has dropped again, but its mostly because I worry I am trying to shove positive emotions into scenes that just aren't there. The scene where Mike and Sully work together to make Boo laugh is sweet, but they don't really move on from that point. Monster's Inc was lacking in a lot of the same elements as Tangled, but worse.

Also, feeling a bit disappointed by Monster's Inc, I played through the 100 Acre Woods mini-level. I was a bit surprised by how short it was. It was also kind of repetitive, tbh. It also made me think about the absence of a lot of the more substantial collectables from previous games. Like, building the 100 Acre Woods page by page was tedious, but it made those treasures feel substantial. The 100 dalmatians are also missing.

Like, I realize KH3 is probably trying to push new content to differentiate itself from the other games, but I can't help but feel like KH3 is bursting with fluff while severely lacking in the elements that made KH unique.

I think I'm getting more sour with these updates, but it really is just the level design. I think if the level design was better, I would be having a blast moving through each world. But instead, my enjoyment of each world feel too nicely catered. There is a cool jump from the top of a building to pique your interest, and then a few rooms of enemies to check off combat before having a quick cut-scene to justify where we go next. Like, not to re-cover Alice in Wonderland, but I'm pretty sure the Queen said "Go find clues", and then you had to go into the woods and find clues. And I miss that exploration/puzzle-box movement through the world.

Anyway, I still think it is a great game. Also, Frozen is the next level, and I love Frozen. I'm pretty confident they will try to repeat the movie's plot-line, but I'm fine with that. So, it comes down to game play and level design.

[halkhesaifi]

Week 4 Summary

This week I focused on building the brand of the project.

I revisited the logo sketches and found that the minimal and handwritten style suits the project best. I remembered during my previous meeting with Elham Al Dawsari a phrase she said about building these types of communities, she mentioned that sitting on a meeting table around a projector can feel cold and counterintuitive to the idea of a community, and that sometimes she wishes they could just pass around a phone containing the picture of the artwork as it felt more intimate, friendly and casual.

I was thinking of this while experimenting and began using storytelling to brainstorm a concept, where a group of friends are sitting around a table with the desire to create a space where their thoughts surrounding art can be shared and debated. These moments fueled by passion demand urgency, I imagined them scribbling the name of the community enthusiastically on a piece of napkin. Sometimes ideas burst out of you, and the need to document an idea as a means to bring it to life takes over.

I narrowed down the sketches and chose two lockups

Afterwards, I considered the colorscheme. I was inspired by Mohammed Al Melehi’s work and began with one of his paintings and adjusted the palette until I was satisfied. I will further study the color ratios later

Then I began designing the graphic elements, I had the idea to represent the purpose of the community using geometric shapes. People come in a variety of shapes and the space created by their connection is literally where the project exists.

This intersection between shapes represents Hadeeth Community visually and efficiently.

I then worried the identity was beginning to look too minimal and simple, so I went back to visual research to try to find possible stylizations of geometric shapes.

I experimented with 3D wireframes and stroked shape, but did not land on anything interesting.

Finally, I began testing typefaces and settled on HadiType’s HT Baybars Display font. The reasons I chose it was

-It is distinctive and pairs well with the font

-It is bilingual and has multiple weights

-works for both display and body text

I created initial tests for the combination of all elements.

Afterwards, I began planning the Instagram strategy and content

First, I refreshed my memory of similar or interesting accounts

@Mathqaf

Studying the visuals of projects surrounding Modern Arab Art. I was concerned about having a similar typeface, but found that Mathqaf only publishes content in english while Hadeeth will publish in Arabic.

@RPS_Studio

a good example of communicating the project values through:

-relevant posts to audience

-guides

-inspiring audience to do something, even if it does not directly benefit the brand.

@Thuluthain

Example of a good bio. Communicated what the project is and the scope, also included a CTA to website.

I began by defining the goals of the Instagram account to better asses what steps will aid in creating the content.

The goal is: Reach Target Audience While Displaying the Value of the Project.

The steps are:

-Teaser Posts

-Introducing the topic

-Communicate who the target audience are

-Introduce the project

Later On:

-Provide Information about the meeting details

I assessed the profile needs and found that an engaging and clear bio is essential. I also planned 3 Story highlights:

1-What is Modern Arab Art?

This could work as a quick brief before meetings for newcomers and general knowledge of followers

2-What is Hadeeth?

This explains briefly and conveniently all information about the project

3-Meetings Highlights

This will be activated when actual meetings take place

I began writing drafts for the bio

I also met with Ghadeer Sadeq and it was a fruitful meeting. She is the first advisor I chose for the topic of Modern Arab Art; she was generous with resources and very helpful. For the upcoming week my priority is working on finalizing the identity, content, and starting to upload to instagram!

[onewingedxngel-moved]

One-Winged Angel Lyrical Analysis

Hmm. I wonder. Is this an analysis? Or am I just pointing out the obvious? Oh, who cares, let’s jump right in!

Estuans interius Ira vehementi (Burning inside with violent anger)

This one is rather obvious. Sephiroth is filled with rage, even after the Nibelheim Incident, his anger never left him. It’s bound to his soul. He burns with hatred for humanity, for the planet itself, because they are the reason he exists... and his existence is a very painful one, as we will see next...

Sors imanis Et inanis (Fate- monstrous  and empty)

Ow. Just ow. How dare you do this to my cold, shrivelled heart? How dare you make me FEEL!

I think this is about how before Sephiroth was even born, he had been condemned to be cursed with a horrifying existence. Before he’d even been concieved, his fate had been sealed: he would be brought into the world for the sake of the JENOVA Project, led by arrogant scientists (Lucrecia, Hojo, and yes, Gast) working for a greedy, power-hungry company. An abomination cursed by fate. Monstrous and empty.

He was exploited from birth. An empty fate where he was condemned to be a tool, trained to be a killer from a young age. His existence held no true meaning, except that of a mere weapon. He was just... a killing machine. And, beneath Shinra, that was all he’d ever be. Even when he rebelled against them, so desperate to be more than just a simple experiment, to be the ‘superior’ being he believed he was... all he caused was more bloodshed, ironically behaving just like the weapon he was trained to be. 

He was doomed from the start. Because he simply would never have come into existence had it not been for the experiment.

Veni veni venias Ne me mori facias (Come come O come, do not let me die)

I’m not entirely sure what the ‘come’ may be referring to, but since it’s paired with the ‘do not let me die’, I believe it’s the lifestream. He wishes to devour the lifestream, beckoning it to come forth towards him, so he may become a God... a being of immortality.

Although it’s never been explicitely stated, I think it’s heavily implied throughout FF7- the original game, the compilation, and the remake- that one of Sephiroth’s biggest fears- if not, the biggest- is permanent death. He is desperate to avoid his end, and thus, he implores the lifestream to merge with him so he may never have to die.

Almost as if he’s... begging it to keep him alive. 

Gloriosa Generosa (Glorious, noble/generous/kind)

Hmm. This is a difficult one. Considering Sephiroth’s angelic appearance, I’d certainly call him glorious. The word carries rather divine connotations.

Generosa seems to have multiple potential meanings. In one translation, I’ve seen it be translated into ‘noble’, in another, into ‘generous’, while google translate says it means ‘kind’.

In my opinion, none of them are particularly fitting, since Sephiroth is very much established as a tragic beast. However...

Since these lyrics are in the background- this could be a bit of a stretch, but- could it be pointing to certain traits Sephiroth held before Nibelheim? Yet, that still doesn’t work, because although he was certainly glorious (canonically without particularly wanting to be), and he did have a soft side to him (as seen in deleted scenes), those days were just full of lies. He was still being used and exploited, he was merely yet to discover that. So... it doesn’t really work with the context of the other lyrics.

Maybe it could represent what he strives to be? Ascending into a glorious and noble God, in opposition to the monstrous anathema he was born as. I think this interpretation works best. And with the voices singing it rising in the background, justaposed with ‘come come O come, do not let me die’, it could represent how his wish draws closer and closer, almost within reach...

Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I think. I got it!

AC Edition’s Lyrical Analysis coming soon.

And yes, I am aware that these lyrics are lifted from the Carmina Burana. I’m merely trying to look at them in the context of the game.

[rexxdjarin]

Captain's Log: Chapter 9

Classified

Series Summary: The galaxy is in turmoil. The Republic has fallen, giving rise to the sinister reign of the totalitarian Empire, led by the insidious Emperor Palpatine. The millions of valiant clone troopers of the former Grand Army of the Republic are now blindly sworn, against their will, to protect a regime they once sought to destroy. After being saved from a terrible fate by his former-Jedi ally and close friend, Ahsoka Tano, seasoned veteran CT-7567 Clone Captain Rex remains loyal to the pillars of Democracy, freedom and truth that shaped the former Galactic Republic. We follow him now struggling to deal with the personal aftereffects of survival and finding his place in the galaxy alongside the only person he has left. You. The love of his life.

[previous] [next] part of Captain's Log series post on ao3

Pairing: Captain Rex x Fem!Reader (she/her pronouns used) Word Count: 15k (I know I'm sorry lol) Series Rating: Explicit (18+ only, Minors DO NOT INTERACT) Chapter Summary: Our dynamic duo becomes a trio. Surprising help from the inside reveals that some clones haven't forgotten where their true loyalties lie while others cannot help what they've become or how far they'll go. Chapter Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Smut, p in v sex (use protection irl plz), sub!Reader, soft!dom Rex, Daddy!Rex if you squint, Language, Violence and Interrogation Tactics, Political References and Propaganda Mentions, References to Canon Plot, Political References, Canon Typical Violence

The ship’s docking tube door hisses open and through the fog steps Rex and his heavy plodding blue and white boots. I exhaled a deep breath I didn’t even know I was holding and pushed myself off the wall I was leaning on, arms folded and hips leaning to one side.

He’d only been gone a couple of hours, meeting up with Cid at her Cantina to get some supplies and waiting for our new crew member to arrive for pickup. But even in those few hours, I worried about him. Anything can happen planetside these days. I didn’t like the idea of having to sit around waiting for him, but someone had to stay hidden with the ship and Cid wouldn’t trust anyone but another clone to hand this kind of intel off to.

As the fog of coolants at different temperatures mixed in the air, Rex’s smirking face appeared, a flicker of warmth in his big brown eyes as if he was staring at dappled sunlight. A spark to him I hadn’t seen in such a long time spread immediate joy through my bloodstream, through every nerve ending, my heart bursting and pounding something that can only be described as love sickness throughout my entire body. 

Before I could walk forward to embrace him and kiss him so hard it knocked the wind out of him, a second nearly identical silhouette passed by him inside our cargo hold. The clone we were sent to pick up was a brother whose name I didn’t recognize. Wasn’t at all familiar.

Gregor. A clone commando. 

Well ex-clone commando now. Not even sure if Rex was all that familiar with him. 

He stood upright in the doorway, just a tad taller than Rex. Maybe it was the commando boots. He had jet black hair, buzzed almost as short as Rex on the sides, but long and slicked back on top. His eyes looked just a twinge lighter like he’d previously been somewhere that bathed them in a harsh sun’s glare all the time. He had high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw, just like they all did. But something about him…he was almost dashing in a way. Stepping into the ship, he had a presence about him that could only be attributed to a natural magnetic sex appeal. Would’ve probably given even Fives a run for his credits. He was good looking and, hell, if I could get in contact with any of my friends, I’d set him up with one of them for sure.

His eyes widened and his dark brows raised, cocking his head as if to take me in as some mysterious creature before him. “Well, well, well, Rex…I didn’t know they’d send you with an angel to pick me up.” He said smoothly, running a weighted, heavy palm across the back of his neck.

He came only with the armor on his back, which seemed to be incomplete, no shoulder pauldrons, nothing lining his biceps and not a stitch of color expertly painted atop the plastoid. Not even a helmet. It looked odd. The new Imperial clone armor was truly inferior in every way to the artfully crafted and beautifully unique Republic armor I’d come to know and love. Yet another way to erase their individuality, their comradery and their humanity, I suppose. 

The simmering amber in Gregor’s eyes met mine and he squinted in playful, flirtatious amusement. He’d done this before and something tells me his success rate was high. Very high. Rex cleared his throat to subtly remind his brother to watch himself. Was he a little jealous? “With a mouth like hers? Trust me, she’s definitely not an angel.” He replied with a filthy, taunting smirk. That’s a definite, yes.

Since meeting up with the Bad Batch on Bracca, Rex had become more domineering, needy and watchful over me than he ever had been. Not that I could blame him. The deep-seeded feeling of tremendous loss made him want to hold me close and practically mark his territory over me in a way he ordinarily wouldn’t have before. And I didn’t hate it. Not at all. The possessiveness made heat lick down my spine and smolder in my belly. I guess no longer having to keep things a quiet secret to save our own asses brought out a desire to be shown off in both of us.

I raked my gaze down Rex’s wide frame, wondering if he’d somehow gotten even better looking than he was a few hours ago. “Hmm and if you want anything from this mouth again I suggest you watch it.” I teased, winking at him knowingly. A proud, determined and hungry glimmer darkened his pupils at such a retort and he retreated, licking his lips as he hoisted the bag on his shoulder down to the floor at my feet. 

Gregor let out a slightly hoarse and lilted nervous giggle. “Oh, I see. I did not peg you for the committed type, Rex.” 

“That’s funny. He was awfully committed to getting something out of me the last time I saw him.” I immediately let out a teasing giggle to match Gregor’s. Rex mouth dropped open to speak or protest my boldness, but he was clapped on the shoulder by Gregor. 

Gregor tilted his head back and laughed, “Maker- what a woman. I like her.” 

Rex nodded, rolling his eyes at me in surrender and taking in a deep breath, “I’m glad you like her. Even when she’s getting a bit out of hand.” He joked, walking past me to follow Gregor and taking the opportunity to grab a nice handful of my ass. Oh yeah, so out of hand.

I’d been comming him the filthiest thoughts and sounds directly over our secret channel to pass the time the best way I knew how. Rex and I had both been practically insatiable for days since we’d left Naboo. Something about the promise of inevitable death that really made us both want to be together as much as possible while we still could. Though now with a virtual stranger on board with us, there probably wouldn’t be as much time for that as we both wanted.

I followed Rex and Gregor up the ladder to our cockpit, taking Rex’s hand and sliding onto his lap as we got as cozy in the cabin as was possible for the three of us. I could feel Rex’s thighs flexing under me, a tell tale sign that he had certainly not forgotten my messages from earlier, his cock thickening beneath his codpiece. I turned to glare at Rex, apologizing for firing him up so badly in front of company neither of us were too familiar with. He curled his massive hand around my thigh, glancing up at me with an unbothered look he was desperately hoping was convincing enough to hide the blown out lust in his darkened pupils. 

He was always a terrible liar. I knew him well enough that I could always tell when he was worked up past the point of being able to think straight. 

Gregor watched us both with a smirk on his face, running his hand over his dark hair and kicking his feet up on the dash. “How long’s this been going on for?” He boldly inquired, pointing out the obvious tension in the room. “I had heard a lot about Skywalker’s men when I was being reacquainted on Kamino. You’re some kind of legend, Cap. Guess we clones are not the only ones who noticed.”

“My blondie’s hard to miss.” I joked, running my fingertips through the hair slowly curling around his ear. “Hair’s gotten sorta long. Longer than I ever remember it being.”

He wrapped his hand around mine and tugged me tighter to him, both to hide the growing bulge in his lap and to give him an excuse to hold me. “Want me to cut it?” He offered, his eyes searching my face for unspoken answers, but only finding unfettered lust.

I shook my head, tracing feather light fingertips down the scruff lining his perfect jaw. I hummed in delight, the dangerous seduction darkening my pupils at the sight of my Captain growing more rugged by the day. “No. Keep it long. This little beard of yours too.” He drew his head back in surprise and chuckled, the hand on my back falling lower to rest on the curve of my ass. I leaned into him closely and traced the shell of his ear with my tongue. “I want you to remember how much I like how it feels.” I whispered seductively.

He gripped my ass hard and cracked his neck, taking a deep breath to disguise the twitching I could feel stirring in him beneath my thighs. He kissed my cheek modestly, before grunting “Later.” in my ear sternly. Between the taunting I’d done all day and the physical teasing I was doing now, I knew I was more than in for it with Rex tonight. Which was exactly what I wanted.

“Can’t say I’ve ever been around too many clones in any relationships…and never one that seems quite this deep.” Gregor acknowledged, watching us with curiosity. “The 501st really is a different breed I guess.”

Rex, feeling me desperately trying to egg him on even more, shrugged me off slightly, trying to pay attention to his brother’s words. “Yeah, probably as good as your commandos, I reckon. My boys were the best and we have the numbers to prove it.” He winced, “Well…had.”

Gregor took a deep breath and swallowed, “I’m sorry about your Squad, Cap. You deserve better. We all do. That’s why I ran. It wasn’t right. I’m thankful for the Bad Batch boys coming to get me. And especially Echo's commitment to me. Said he learned that from you.”

Rex’s face lit up, a proud smirk spreading across his face. “Echo is one of my best. He and I are all that’s left of the 501st now. Glad we could help rescue a good one.”

I shifted uncomfortably in Rex’s lap, the wetness between my thighs and the bulge growing underneath them had me more impatient and antsy to have him inside me than I’d felt in months. Poor Gregor was just trying to settle in and I couldn’t wait even another five seconds. I had to have Rex now. I squeezed Rex’s bicep impatiently, looking up at him with needy desperation filling my eyes. To my delight and relief Gregor sat back in his chair and sighed.

“Thank you both. For everything. I’m-” He yawned, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands and stretched. “I’m going to get some desperately needed sleep and watch over the ship. I’ll let you both know if anything goes off.” 

I thanked the maker silently, nodding as I leaned into the crook of Rex’s neck. “We should too. See you in a bit. Let us know if you need anything, of course.” I said quietly.

“Yeah we’ll be in our bunk. We’ve got rations on a shelf behind you here and the freshers down in the cargo bay on your left. Get some sleep, soldier. You’ve had a long few days.” Rex stood up, wrapping my legs around his waist and carrying me toward the ladder down to our room.

“Will do, Cap. Will do.” Gregor nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back into the pilot’s chair.

Rex let out a sigh of relief as he slid both of us down the ladder toward our room. “You’re killing me, mesh’la. Can barely fucking think straight I’m so hard.” He groaned, pressing the panel to our room’s blast doors and watching them slide open.

I giggled into his neck, kissing it softly as he spilled us onto our bed. “I’m sorry, Sir. I just can’t help it when I’m around you.” I cooed, my tone dripping with both play innocence and whispered lust. I blinked up at him, biting my bottom lip and pawing at his chest. “Been thinking about having you all day.”

Rex ghosted his hand up under my shirt, “I know. You were determined to make it impossible to get through my mission, you little brat.” He teased, pulling my shirt up over my head and onto the floor beside our bunk. He ran his thumb around my hardened nipple and leaned down to wrap his lips around the bud. “That wasn’t very good of you. Should punish you.” His fingertips slid down to circle my navel.

I let out a shaky exhale, the desperate need for him making my body ache. “If that’s what you think I deserve, Sir.” I whimpered, resting my hands on the nape of his neck and softly stroking the growing length of the soft blonde curls there. I was trembling as his warm tongue circled over the bud repeatedly, goosebumps erupting on my skin. “I’m…so needy.” I whined, rolling my hips against his thigh.

His eyes darkened at the contact and his hand brushed past the band of the lacey underwear I put on just for him to reveal when he got back. At the feeling of the lace between his fingers, he groaned softly, the warm breath of his exhale cooling over the trail of wet skin his kisses left behind. “I can tell, my naughty girl. You put these on just to drive me even more fucking nuts hmm?” He asked, the scolding tone to his deepening voice sending more warmth pooling up between my folds.

I nodded and tapped on his shoulder pauldron lightly, “and this is driving me crazy. Off. All of it. Please?” I asked, “I want to see you too.”

He sat up and pulled my hips into his lap, slowly removing each piece of armor and making me watch as he did it, the armor clattering onto the floor beside our bunk. I bit down on my forefinger, swirling my tongue around it as I imagined it was him between my lips instead. He nearly tore the top of his blacks off his back and smiled, smirking as my eyes roved over his torso hungrily.

He leaned over me carefully, his fingertip trailing up my torso to hold my chin as he leaned in to kiss me tenderly. His tongue slipped past my lips and twirled with mine in endless looping shapes. I looped my arms over his shoulders and gripped his rippling back muscles, his free hands smoothing down my sides. “There…you see me. Now I want to see you.” He whispered against my lips as he pulled away.

He sat back on his haunches, tearing my panties down my thighs and practically growling at the sight of me completely bare before him. “Been a filthy fucking girl all day.” He shifted closer, pushing my thighs apart around him with his hands. Slowly, his thumb slid down my folds, collecting the wetness and circling my opening. “Look how fucking wet you are. Unnf…you feel so fucking good. Don’t think I have it in me to punish you when you feel this good.”

I rolled my hips forward, desperate for more of his touch where I was craving it all day. “I didn’t touch myself all day. I waited for you. Because I need you.” I smiled, reaching out for him and grabbing onto his free hand. “You’re just so big and strong…I can’t do it like you. I want your cock, not my fingers. Please Rex. Please?” I pouted up at him, circling the back of his hand with my thumb.

He collected my slick on his thumb and brought it between his lips, making direct, almost threatening eye contact with me as he tasted me on his tongue. He huffed out a brutal, unrestrained moan and closed his eyes in delight. “Is that how you beg for me? Hmm? I know I taught you better than that.”

I whined, the coiling pressure that was steadily building in my lower belly all day becoming way too strong to bear at this point. “Please, Captain. Can you fuck me? Please? I need you.” I asked, correcting myself as politely as I could muster, “I’ve wanted you all day and I can’t take it anymore.”

He chuckled softly, “That’s my mesh’la. Much better.” Pride sparkled in his darkening amber eyes, the irises shrinking as the lust expanded his pupils. He leaned forward slightly, sliding the bottoms of his black body glove off his legs and with one hand, began twisting soft pressured circles against my clit with the pad of his thumb. “I think you’ve suffered enough without me all day, haven't you?” He cocked an eyebrow at me, expecting a response.

“Mhm. Been aching all day. Need you to make it better, Sir.” I muttered softly, rolling my hips toward him more trying to force him to press harder, work faster. Anything to get a bigger burn going to counteract the painful pounding swelling in my core. “I’ll be good. Anything you want, my love, anything.”

He twisted looping circles on my clit faster and harder, giving into what I asked for. With his other hand, he stroked up the length of his cock, throbbing with need I’d been responsible for all day. He pumped it in his hand, sliding the drops of precum from the tip down the shaft. My eyes went wide at the sight of him, hoping desperately that he’d just spear me with it and finally end the brutal ache inside me.

I moaned as the pleasure began building at his touch, my eyes fluttering closed as the sparks of pleasure ignited. When I opened them again, Rex had brought his length down to just above my parted legs, sliding himself between my drenched folds and tipping his head back in ecstasy. He moaned from deep in his broad chest, letting his hands travel up my thighs and holding them for leverage as he slipped himself against me.

“Is that good, Rex?” I asked teasingly, egging him on more than I should when he was in charge. He opened his eyes, the sound of his name snapping him back to reality. He winked at me before slapping the throbbing tip against my clit roughly. My mouth dropped open and I gasped, the rush of pleasure too much too soon.

“Ah, ah. What are you supposed to call me?” He instructed, lifting himself off of me again and waiting for my correct response before granting me any semblance of pleasure again. His weighted palms gripping the meat of my thighs felt just as good as him touching my center in the overexcited state I’d been in all day.

I gulped and drew in a deep breath, meeting his eyes with my own to address him properly. “Captain or Sir.” I responded with a mewl, biting down on the back of my knuckle to help contain myself enough to behave.

He returned his cock to the warmth between my folds and guided the tip deeper within them, circling my opening with the weeping, swollen tip. “That’s better. Now flip over, cyar’ika. Gonna take you how I want to remind you what happens when you don’t behave.”

I nodded and obeyed his command, rolling myself over and lifting my ass high up in the air to give him better access. “Like this, Captain?” I wiggled my ass playfully, and looked back at him glaring at me like he was ready to pounce.

His palm met the plush of my ass with a swift slap and I yelped at the sting, the delightful pain a distraction from the burning pressure inside me begging to be dealt with. “Yeah, just like that. Show me that pretty pussy you got all wet for me. No waiting anymore, pretty girl. Need to feel you all around me now, ok?”

“Okay, Captain. Anything you want. I need you too. Inside me, please.” I begged, watching him from over my shoulder and giving him the subtle permission he had asked for to just skip all the foreplay and start in on me now. My knees were trembling more from the anticipation than from the position they were in to hold me up.

Suddenly, both his palms gripped my hip bones and pulled my ass toward his lower torso. He kneaded my ass in his hands and growled loudly, the unbridled lust finally breaking the last bit of control he had left to hold him back. With a deep breath in and back out, he lined himself up to my fluttering hole and pressed himself inside slowly. I moaned loudly, curling my fingers into the sheets as the size of him stretched me open the way I had needed since he left me hours earlier.

In a quick jerk, Rex’s massive hand pressed into my lower belly, tucking my hips up and back into his and letting out a delighted hiss. “Fuuuuuck…feel that? How I fill you up so good? Right there, mesh’la. So fucking deep.” He grunted as he rested his hand onto where his cock pressed deep into my belly. It felt so good I could barely breathe and I shut my eyes to let the overwhelming feeling of fullness wash over me.

“Rex…” I cried out a choked gasp, tears starting to stream down my face from the feeling of him piercing into me so powerfully. He pinned me down beneath all the weight of his rock hard muscles and mouthed passionate kisses up my spine. His cock consumed every empty inch of me, the blood in his veins pumping into him so hard I could feel the race of his pulse pounding against my walls. It was an erotic euphoria unlike any other I’d ever experienced and it wasn’t stopping.

With each shallow withdrawal of his hips, the muscles inside me screwed tighter, gripping onto him and the feeling he provided for dear life. He could barely bring himself to pull out, the grind of his hips pressing him deeper within me felt too good to stop. He curled his arm around the plush of my hips and ghosted his fingertips in twisting circles against my throbbing clit. 

His other palm curled around my neck, turning my face to meet where his hovered lazily over my shoulder. He leaned forward to bite my lower lip softly and open my mouth to let his tongue slip inside. Hot exhales and dripping tongues filled the minimal space between us and he smirked devilishly at the desperate haze of lust overtaking me. “Keep that pretty mouth open for me. Don’t want anything stopping me from hearing those sounds you make. Does my cock make you feel good? Tell me mesh’la. Talk to me gorgeous girl…”

“Yes, Sir, it’s s-so good.” I whined as his harsh thrusts slowed, but his hips circled against my ass and sent the blunt tip prodding into a beautifully sensitive spot. I felt sparks of pleasure zip through my core and my vision blurring as the numbing flow radiated outward in surges. “I love it, I fucking love it. More- please, Captain, please more.” 

“That’s my good girl, fuck- asking me so nice…” He whispered harshly in my ear, his grip on my throat holding me close to him, the scruff on his jaw brushing my cheeks a welcomed burn. I couldn’t control my muscles anymore, my walls contracting around him and my opening fluttering around him to pull him deeper. “Stars, mesh’la you feel so fucking good, you’re gonna drain me. Is that what you want? You can have it…fuuuuck- anything you want I’ll give it to you.”

“I want…need you to fill me. Please come in me, Rex. I want to feel it in me tomorrow.” I turned to look up at him through lust heavy lids and moaned his name as he took me apart thrust by thrust, giving me only a harsh grunt and several aching whines in response. Each jolt of his hips plowed me deeper and deeper into the mattress beneath us. He guided his hand down the length of my arm and reached for my hand, my fingers tangling with his and holding tightly.

“I’ll pump this little cunt with everything I have. You deserve it. Want to watch you walk around tomorrow with me dripping down your legs, my filthy pretty girl. Can you do that for me?” His hand around my throat slid up my neck and fisted into my hair, pulling my face up for him to grip. “I know you can. You’re such a sexy little show off. Makes me so proud to call you mine.”

My eyes rolled back at the pure possession that was him claiming me like this. I dug my fists into the sheets underneath me, holding on for dear life as I braced myself to let him completely overtake me. The throbbing of his cock inside me was stuttering against my vice grip around him, letting me know just how close he was to spilling all of himself. He grunted loudly, huffing in deep, almost gasping breaths and plowing three bone-shattering thrusts down into me. 

My entire body shifted so far up the mattress I wouldn’t have been shocked if his strength had knocked the ship clear out of its path in the hyperspace lane. I let out a high pitched cry, as the brutal pressure that was built up in my core burst. “REX!” I moaned loudly, a beautifully blissful numbness blooming outwards slowly and tightening around him so much he moaned too.

“Mesh’la…that’s it. Let go.” He cooed in my ear, kissing up my neck as the wave of my high just kept coming stronger and stronger. My body tensed as the tingling feeling cascaded across all my limbs and all I could actually feel was where Rex and I met. His fingers affectionately tangled with mine and our centers joined while he maintained his brutal pace, desperately chasing after my high toward his own. “Let me see that pretty face when you come for me.”

I could feel his eyes exploring my face as it contorted in pleasure; my lips dropped open, my jaw slack, eyes closed and brows lifted. His fervent whispers of loving encouragement mixed with enduring curses of tortured ecstacy as he sent me hurtling past the point of climax and into uncharted territory. It felt like everything slowed but the pounding in my core and the prodding of Rex’s cock to meet it. My body writhed underneath him, his free hand holding my waist steady and carrying me through it.

With a few more solid thrusts deep inside me, I felt his warmth flow into the uncoiling heat in my belly. Rex’s grip on my waist loosened as he emptied himself in me, my ears filling with sounds of our wet, sticky climaxes mixing together. His cock twitched at least three times, followed by white hot ribbons of his spend painting my inner walls. His gruff moans in my ear faded to exhausted whimpers as his climax explosively ripped through him. 

The sound of him moaning my name filled my ears as bright spots of static clouded my vision. He was all around me, inside and out, wreaking havoc on my overtired body. I laid underneath him, spasming in the undertow of both of our hardest climaxes ever and panting loudly. Rex was peppering soft kisses up and down my neck and jaw, his fingertips tracing slow, loving touches on my skin. I was barely holding on, the blissful exhaustion dragging me closer and closer to unconsciousness.

“I…love you…” I whisper, closing my eyes and feeling myself go under as I started to catch my breath, but too tired to move a single inch. Just as I felt myself drifting away happily, all my muscles slack and relaxed I felt him roll over beside me, tucking my body into his. He hummed so soft and deep, full of warm contentment and he muttered,

“And I love you, my mesh’la. So very much.”

--

I woke up to the dark, lofty silence of our bunk. We must’ve been drifting for hours in deep hyper space, heading back toward the inner rim waiting for Cid to give us coordinates for another job.

Rex’s warm body rested beside mine, his arms and legs clutching me tightly, never wanting to let go of me after going at each other like that. The intensity of our orgasms this time around was so stunning I wasn’t sure if either of us would even remember how to move.

But fuck, I had to pee. And maybe I should check on Gregor.

Slowly, I rolled over Rex, my legs straddling his still very naked thighs and resting my chest on his. I looked up at him snoozing away, his strong jaw finally unclenched for once and his plump lips drawn in a very satisfied permagrin. Yeah, he was very, very happy. How could he not be?

I reached over and kissed his cheek very delicately, taking extreme caution not to wake him. After how hard he’d gone, he needed a deep sleep to recuperate. I brushed my fingers along the curling blonde hair on his temples and grinned. He was so beautiful and handsome and passionate and strong. 

And he was mine. No matter what.

I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bunk, testing my ability to stand as I gingerly pressed my feet on the chilly metal floor. I wobbled a bunch, very nearly falling onto my face, before I gripped the bed behind me and chuckled softly. Damn Rex for going so hard. My inner thighs were practically creaking with soreness as I walked into the refresher to pee. I examined my thighs and smiled at the finger shaped bruises dotting my hips and waist. They’d match Rex’s exact grip like perfect puzzle pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’d left his fingerprints the bruises felt that deep.

I took a deep breath and stood up, splashing water on my face and smoothing my hair down. Gregor didn’t need to see just how much Rex had demolished me. I pulled Rex’s red fatigues top from where it hung on the bathroom wall and slipped it on over my head, the length of it long enough to hide the small sleep shorts I slid on underneath them. I giggled and blushed thinking of how taken aback Gregor would be comparing what I looked like now to how I did when he first met me.

Speaking of him, I could hear someone humming through the echoes of the ship and smiled to myself. It was so comforting, the melodic tone deep and resonating inside the metal hull. I opened the refresher door and headed up the ladder peaking into the small cockpit. 

Gregor was laying back in the pilot’s chair, feet crossed up on the dash and his arms locked behind his head. He’d taken off his armor, the white plastoid piled in a heap on the floor behind the co-pilot’s seat. He seemed more at peace here than he’d probably been in months. Which I was about to disturb.

“Your voice is nice.” I muttered, pulling myself up into the cockpit and making my way over to the co-pilot’s seat. He turned toward me and opened his bright brown eyes slowly. His gaze widened as he saw the state of me and he grinned with knowing amusement.

“Thanks. Needed some way to block out the noise.” He chuckled softly, arching an eyebrow and shaking his head to himself. He watched with mock disapproval as my face blushed seven shades deeper than it was.

“I’m…so sorry. We just-” I coughed, tucking my knees up into my chest and folding my arms over them. “How much did you hear?” I asked, hiding my face behind my arms to avoid the embarrassment of knowing we were definitely heard.

“Plenty.” He huffed, fiddling with the edges of his black underweave top and raising his brows suggestively at me. “You animals.” He joked, getting way too much enjoyment out of my utter mortification.

“We aren’t used to sharing our ship, you know.” I retorted, tossing one of his plastoid gauntlet plates at him. He laughed, catching the piece with ease and waving away the shame and shrugging.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to hearing it. Maybe not quite that intense, but…” He pointed out, running his hands through his hair and quieting his giggling. “Won’t make fun or get in the way. Just warn a guy first.”

I shot him an apologetic and thankful smile, cuddling deeper into Rex’s top and inhaling the warm, musky smell of him all around me. Before I could ask Gregor something else to change the subject he spoke again.

“How do you know..?” Gregor asked slowly, trailing off and gazing out the transparisteel starshield at the cosmos he was still more than grateful to see. His light brown eyes blinked slowly, sighing as he fiddled with his hands in his lap. Sure, this particular brother was really very charming and handsome and smooth, but what he was asking was the same thing they all asked about. Love. 

What was it like? When do you know you feel it? How can you ever know when someone is yours?

“Oh…when did I know…it was him?” I replied, lifting my head from where it rested on my knees and back up toward Gregor.

“Yeah…h-how do you know when you’re in love like that? When did you feel that with my brother?” He asked, the careful longing words of a man who had probably never felt anything like what Rex and I had before.

I remembered it vividly. The lack of answers. From his comm, from the holonet, from Fox, from anyone I asked. Zygerria. That’s when I knew. 

“It was during a mission. A long one. Rex left for the Kadavo system, I didn’t know the details. He couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me. No news, good or bad, for nearly two full rotations. No one knew if he was alive or dead.” I shuddered as I recalled the few chilling details I’d managed to coax out of him.

Gregor’s eyes explored the changes in my body language, studying what realizing one was in love looked like.

“He was in an enslavement processing facility with General Kenobi. They tortured him. I know because I saw the scars. He couldn’t hide those. Not from me. I’d never seen injuries like that.” I gulped, still able to feel the scarring and his electrically burned skin under my fingertips. “But he came home to me. He ran to my apartment as soon as he could. Ran. He was in pain physically and mentally. Yet, I was all he thought about. I hugged him so tight I could feel his heart beating so fast. I just knew. The way we held each other. He’s everything to me. I would’ve taken that torture for him.”

“You’d do that? For a clone?” Gregor asked incredulously, like he’d never met a natural born person who had ever shown him that kind of equal care and treatment. I wasn’t surprised, but it still made me sad nonetheless.

“For a man.” I corrected, meeting his gaze with the same fierce one I showed during Senate meetings toward any of the life forms who dubbed them as less than human. “The man I love. That fear I felt not knowing where he was, if he was ok. I knew then that he was special. I wasn’t afraid that he couldn’t handle anything that came at him. I was afraid that he’d never make it back to learn how I felt. The second I started thinking about the kind of life I wanted to give him, the things I wanted for him before I worried about myself…I love him, Gregor.”

He looked out into hyperspace for a long time, quietly mulling over my words in his head. He didn’t speak, just adjusted in his chair and focused on breathing. Finally, he turned to me and huffed softly, “you’re the nicest nat born I’ve ever met. Didn’t know anyone outside the GAR talked about us clones like that. Like we matter. Thanks for that.”

I smiled and rested my hand on his forearm, the black duraweave fabric slick and new, like he hadn’t been in this piece long. Maybe it was new. But he didn’t look like a shiny or talk like one. Whatever happened to him, wherever he came from…he’d seen things. Enough to come to the realizations he had. “Don’t thank me for doing the bare minimum. It’s just the right thing to do.”

He smirked and shook his head, exploring my face like he might vaguely remember me from somewhere. “You’re really good for him, you know. He’s a soldier. A fucking great one, probably one of our best. He’d go down for what he believes in, to save others, if he didn’t have you. And he deserves better than a soldier’s life. We all do or…did. If we do come across others. If we want to convert some more defectors, the two of you are a pretty good promise of what life could be like if you leave the Empire, if you leave fighting behind.”

“I don’t think Rex will ever stop being a soldier. And I don’t think I will ever stop loving him for it. We both are as committed to the fight as we are to each other. I did work for the Senate, you know.”

“Men show you what they’re made of when they’re facing certain death.” Gregor giggled nervously, turning back to where Rex was sleeping down below us. “He won’t admit it. But Rex is braver than most, even amongst clones. In a way, death is the easier option. He endured pain and torture because surviving honored his loyalty to you. I’m not surprised. He’s…different. I don’t get why he never made Commander.”

“He did. Before…”

“Oh. That wasn’t in his file. Guess it never fully went through huh?”

“No. Let’s just say he’s lucky the Force is looking out for him.” I said, knowing full well I meant Ahsoka. About Rex mentioning how much he worried about her. I didn’t blame him. If things were as bad out there as they seemed, I hoped she had gone far away from the Empire’s presence. As far away as you could go.

“The Force isn’t the only one looking after him.” Gregor said suddenly, leaning over to dig in his bag for something. He pulled out a datapad and tapped into what looked like the Imperial holonet, his credentials luckily still working.

“What do you mean? Someone else inside knows he’s alive?” I asked, frantically running through every possible person in either of our lives who might have an inkling that we had survived. “Who?”

Gregor pulled up Rex’s file on the Imperial network, the same one Tech helped Rex and I hack into a few rotations ago. He was listed as missing in action, but presumed dead and the entire Siege of Mandalore wiped from his record. He was still Captain Rex, not Commander.

“Don’t know. But someone is covering his tracks. I know Rex said Senator Organa pulled a few strings for you, but I don’t think he’d be able to access military records. This had to be another clone.”

“Someone who knows Rex well enough to want to help him. That’s only a handful of brothers.” I stood up to grab the datapad that Tech gave us and walked directly into a groggy Rex. He had stripped down to only his black bottoms, with nothing covering the width of his rippling chest. I smirked remembering exactly why he was so tired and naked right now. His arms looped around my back and he nuzzled his face into my neck. “Did I tire you out, Captain?” I giggled, caressing the nape of his neck.

“Yes, mesh’la. How are you not exhausted?” He chuckled, placing soft kisses along my jaw as I let him lift me off my feet. He pulled back, staring at where Gregor sat waiting expectedly to finish our conversation. Rex smiled sheepishly, before setting me down and leaning on the arm of the pilot’s chair next to where I sat. “Sorry Gregor, what’s going on?”

Gregor giggled, flipping the datapad his direction and placing it in Rex’s hands. “One of our brothers has been cleaning up after you, Rex. Any ideas who?” Gregor ran his hand over his dark hair and down his chest, unclasping his armor.

Rex’s eyes glossed over the info on screen, his other hand thoughtfully scratching through the facial hair growing along his jaw. He hummed, tapping through the screens on the datapad and searching for any CT numbers who might’ve signed off on it.

I rested my head on his bicep, my eyes darting between his handsome, pensive face and the seemingly unlimited information at his fingertips now. Someone was looking out for us. One of the clones we probably both knew somehow. In my heart, I hoped it was Fox. I missed my friend. Bringing him caf in the morning, venting to him when I was missing Rex while he was gone, the numerous times he’d sent a Coruscant Guard detail to walk me home from a late night at the Senate building. I missed him so much and hoped he was alright.

“There’s nothing to indicate a clone has touched this, which meant they weren’t supposed to be doing this. It’s possible whoever this is has either removed the chip or is coming to their senses. They might want to get out. Maybe this is a sign?” Rex asked out loud, looking between Gregor and I for responses.

“Not sure I’d go that far, but you’re not wrong. These were changed against protocol. Any men of yours with a certain knack for breaking rules?” Gregor asked, subtly hinting to Rex that he absolutely read up on the 501st and their reputation for wreaking havoc to get results.

“All the men I really knew are gone, Gregor. I buried what was left of Torrent Company myself. The rest of the 501st serves the Empire now. I already checked. Every night I look up the names of every brother I can ever remember fighting with me. Most are only referred to as numbers now.” He sighed deeply, looking down at his boots and handing the datapad back to Gregor. “They’d consider me a traitor even if they did care I was alive. It’s not anyone from the 501st.”

“What about Fox?” I asked, watching Gregor’s eyes widen in shock. “He’d definitely notice I was missing from the Senate and go looking for me. Plus he knows about me and Rex.”

Gregor ran his hands over his face and bit his lip nervously. “I don’t want to scare you, but Fox is not the man you once knew. He works directly under Palpatine now. He was always beside him on our weekly training calls at the facility I escaped from. I don’t think he’d be able to break ranks without being noticed.”

My heart sank. Fox hated the Chancellor more than anyone. More than a few times he’d expressed annoyance at the constant running around and back breaking treatment he was subject to to please the man. Poor Fox always looked brow beaten and absolutely exhausted. I questioned him often, worrying that what he was going through was more than just being overworked. Yet, anytime I pressed him about the cuts or new bruises he wore, he denied any abuse and even lacked any recollection of the events that caused them. If that same Fox was blindly following the Emperor now, then that was indisputable proof that the chips were widespread and working properly at the highest of levels.

Rex felt my demeanor change and nudged my hand with his own, curling our fingers together on his thigh to reassure me. “So if not Fox, then who? Any word on the other major clone commanders? Did they all..?”

“Follow the order? No. Not all of them. Most of them, yes. But there was an issue within the 104th…”

“Wolffe’s men?” Rex asked, turning to look out at the hyperspace lane and calculating something in his mind. Probably trying to recall when the last time was that he saw Wolffe.

“They’re not Wolffe’s men anymore. Wolffe’s gone. Been MIA since the order was issued. Something happened. But Wolffe was one of the few clones who refused the order. He just wouldn’t do it. Last I heard he escaped custody while en route to the Citadel for processing.”

Rex grinned, chuckling softly to himself and sending the humming of his deep voice rippling through me. “Sounds like Wolffe, that stubborn dinii.”

I’d only met Commander Wolffe once. The interaction was…awkward to say the least. He wasn’t soft, supportive and nurturing like Rex was. He was very much the opposite; grumpy, domineering, demanding and closed off. Yet women threw themselves at him, which I wasn’t shy about pointing out. I figured he was too cocky, careless and impersonal. Needless to say, he did not like being stereotyped and cold shouldered me for the rest of the night.

But he had to have something sweet in there. His men worshipped him, his many (many) sexual partners raved about him to anyone who would listen and his General loved him like he was his own son. Rex swore he had a bigger heart than any of them, he just would never admit it.

“Wolffe’s probably in hiding somewhere. Could’ve been him messing around with the GAR records to protect me. He was always a good big brother like that.” Rex finally spoke, squeezing my hand a little tighter as he thought about how his older Commander class brothers took care of him like one of their own. Wolffe especially.

“I suppose. He’s been gone as long as you have though. Not sure his clearance codes would even work anymore. He was going to get reconditioned if he didn’t get away.”

I shuddered. The idea that the Republic consented to reconditioning clones who violated some kind of stupid law made my blood boil. The morally right thing, at least as far as law breaking went, was to send them to prison to answer for what they did. Instead, they erased their memories and reset them like they were a droid with a bad motivator or a starship past its prime. It was dehumanizing and vile. The thought of someone as esteemed, talented and valiant as Commander Wolffe being subject to that. It was just so cruel and unthinkable.

I stroked Rex’s bicep and hummed softly, “Baby? What about Cody?” I sat up, reaching for the pad in Gregor’s hands. “He was your best friend. He would do anything to protect you.” I typed his info into the Imperial database and his file popped up instantly. Yet something about his record was different than the others we looked at. Marshall Commander Cody was still in high command within the Empire. His file included a list of accolades and achievements post-order 66.

“Cody..” Rex sighed, reading the info in his file and cringing. “It says here that he successfully executed the order. He’s as involved in the Empire as any of them.”

“My commando unit worked alongside the 212th. He was the CO we were closest with…last I heard he was arguing with Imperial command about poor strategy. Yeah he was one of them, but he didn’t seem…thrilled to be there.” Gregor thought aloud, looking over mission photos on the pad with me.

While Cody looked menacing and cold in the photos, the look in his eyes told a very different story. He looked dejected, detached, distant, and not at all the driven, focused and charming commander we all knew him to be. The look of deep pain and regret, I knew that look. I knew because I saw it in Fox every day for years. It was something that the average person, who didn’t really pay the clones any attention, would never notice.

“It was him. Cody is the one who did it. Look at him Rex..” I ghosted my fingertips underneath the deep set brown eyes and glanced at Rex with exasperation written all over my face. “Really look at him.”

“He’s miserable. I see it. But why would he do this? As far as he knows, I died in the Tribunal crash with the rest of my men.” Rex reasoned, massaging his temples between his thumb and middle finger and sighing.

“Maybe he doesn’t know anything, but he’s holding out hope you survived and is trusting that you’re missing right now for a good reason.” Gregor turned back to the ship's dashboard and checked the navicomputer. “Changing your file around is a pretty good way to signal you subtly. He’s at least thinking about you. That’s not normal behavior for a clone with a functioning chip.”

As Gregor worked on checking on the ship, Rex turned to me and rested his forehead on mine. “Mesh’la…if there’s even a chance he might need our help we have to go.” His brows furrowed as he concentrated on all the thoughts of strategy and success rates of a rescue mission this risky in his head.

I leaned forward and kissed his lips softly, resting my palm on his chest and stroking his curling hair between my fingers. “Of course we do.” I whispered as I pulled back, brushing my cheek against his as I slid down into his lap. His hands gripped my sides and rubbed up my back soothingly.

“I know you must be tired of running and missions…and I’m sorry. I wish it was easier. That we could run away. But I can’t stop being who I am. If we could save Cody, he could help us fight back.” He rambled excitedly, hopefully, and with all that fiery determination lighting up in him. That passion in him that I loved and admired so much.

“Don’t ever apologize, Rex. I’m by your side. For all of it. We’re doing this together. Just tell me what you need me to do, baby. How can we find him? Where do we start?” I cooed, watching a gentle and grateful smile cross his face.

“Imperial Inspectorate HQ on Coruscant. Imperial chatter says all clone commanders are to report there for a briefing in 0600 hours. Cody should be there.”

“Imperial Inspec…what? Never heard of it.” Rex exclaimed, the puzzled look on his face signaling the fact that so much had already changed in the former Republic and he’d only been gone a few months.

“It was formerly the Republic Center for Military Operations. Place should be familiar to you…your Commander almost blew the place up.” Gregor giggled, adjusting the ship’s steering and turning off autopilot as the navicomputer signaled we’d be arriving soon.

I knew he was referring to the incident that led to Ahsoka leaving the order. The bombing she was framed for. The Military Ops Center was where they held political prisoners and Jedi, in a pinch. Ahsoka had been one of the first lifeforms to ever escape and it did not go unnoticed by anyone exactly how she’d done it. Clones were killed the night she got away and anyone outside the 501st was not quick to forget it.

Even though Rex and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was innocent, not many others understood what happened that night. Barriss Offee was said to have been the actual perpetrator of all of it. She admitted it in open proceedings in front of Jedi and Senators. Ahsoka was acquitted of all charges, but many, even clones, felt she had some hand in the incident. Her closeness with Barriss and the lack of hard evidence that a second force user was present the night the clones were killed led conspiracy theories about her to run rampant on the holonet.

That was only one of the many reasons Ahsoka left. Rex and I knew her heart and trusted her word the way we did our lives. How could we not? She’d saved Rex from a terrible fate and risked her own safety to bring us together as we were now.

Rex and I looked at each other and said in unison, “That’s not what happened.” Gregor raised his hands in surrender and grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry, bad joke?” He turned back toward the view before us as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and the familiar sight of my home planet loomed large ahead. “Whatever happened to her anyway? She…wasn’t technically a Jedi. You certainly don’t seem like you executed the order, Cap..” Gregor eyed us both suspiciously, like he could tell there was something unspoken between us that we weren’t telling him. It was a little too soon for us to know if we could trust him with something that secret.

“That’s a long story…for another time Gregor.” Rex replied, standing up to turn the chair around and slide in as the ship’s copilot. “Besides, we’re here and we need a plan. How the hell are we going to get into an Imperial prison?”

“Carefully.” Gregor replied with that signature clone smirk and eased us into Coruscant’s crowded transport lane, behind rows of waiting starcruisers, liners and ships alike.

I sighed, looking between the two brothers lost in thought while they navigated the ship into its landing cycle and groaned, “we’re breaking into an Imperial Prison, aren’t we?”

“Yep, definitely.” They replied, Rex turning to look at me with an apologetic shrug and Gregor a defiant wink.

I settled back into the dropdown chair that we’d never had to open before now and slid my pack into my lap, looking through its contents to take stock of what else we might need. “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid you’d say.”

–-

If the state of Coruscant was any indicator as to how the galaxy was doing under the new Empire, then I was afraid to see what other less wealthy planets might look like now. The entire planet was covered in military personnel, the flashing lights of Coruscant Guard transports tailing every new ship that entered the atmosphere.

We were lucky Gregor knew how to scramble our ship’s signature quickly or we would never have been permitted to enter the lower levels. There was no way in hell two renegade clones would’ve made it past security checkpoints on the surface level. Our old pirate freighter looked passable enough to be just a simple supply ship importing goods from off-world.

Rex somehow knew of a safe platform to land on and hide our ship and we were off, stalking around the Coruscant underworld on foot until we found the Imperial Inspectorate HQ. Or rather their sewage drain pipes leading out of the massive facility.

One good whiff of the lovely entryway had me seriously second guessing how much trouble we’d get into if we just knocked on the door instead. “We really have to go in this way?” I whined, scrunching my nose as our boots padded into the echoing metallic pipe.

Rex chuckled, flicking on his helmet’s light source and holding his beloved dual blaster pistols up for protection. “...unless you’ve got a better idea, cyar'ika…” He nodded me forward, the blue jaig eyes on his helmet looking eerily similar to the way his eyes scrunched up in amusement whenever he smirked at my lack of field experience.

“Place is a dump…” Gregor laughed, fitting himself with one of the spare blasters our ship’s former owners left in our bunk. “Get it?” He pointed to the ruddy water passing by our boots while we inched deeper into the bowels of the prison.

“Oh brother…” Rex scoffed, letting me walk ahead of him slightly with his lights leading the way now. I drew my own blaster from inside my leather coat pocket and pulled the hood of my cloak up to protect myself from the mystery liquid dripping down on top of my head. Gregor and I weren’t afforded the luxury of helmets like Rex was.

“Fives would’ve loved you.” I giggled, picking up the pace slightly as the first crossroads in the drainage system appeared up ahead.

“And if we ever do actually find Cody he’d probably slap you for that.” Rex shook his bucket and jumped over a particularly filthy pool of sludge before grabbing onto my shoulder to steady himself. “Bad enough we have to even come back onto this overcrowded, scrap pile of a planet. These lower levels were always miserable.”

I punched Rex’s shoulder pauldron softly, “hey! I came from this miserable lower level, remember?” I smirked up into his dark visor, giving him a warning teasing look that I knew he wouldn’t miss.

He rubbed his shoulder, feigning a more serious injury and looked down at me, “you were always the only fucking thing worthwhile on this planet.” I opened my mouth in shock, expecting to have to rebut, but instead closing it to smile as my face blushed. He shouldered me forward gently, stopping to rest his hand on the metallic side wall of the underground tunnel.

“If you two are done with the trip down memory lane, you might want to look up.” Gregor rolled his eyes, directing our attention to a high-up deposit point with a ladder that extended only halfway down the shaft. “That’s our way in.”

I looked up with calculated intrigue and scowled as I tried to figure out how the hell I’d ever make it up there. “Unless you think I’ve mysteriously gained jedi abilities overnight, there’s no way I could jump that high.” I waved my arms wildly, watching Gregor and Rex exchange glances.

“Angel, I could lift twice your weight with one hand. Rex and I could definitely give you a boost.” Gregor explained, flashing a toothy grin and smoothing his hand over his now wet hair. He flexed his biceps and stretched, motioning for us both to stand beside him. I took a deep breath and stepped into where they joined hands, looking up at the small opening I needed to catch onto.

On the count of three, they hurled me upwards, sending me up the tube with perfect aim. I scrambled in mid air like a distressed tooka until I felt my palms latch onto the second lowest rung on the ladder. I clamped down tightly, using all my upper body strength to reach for the next step and the next. My dangling feet finally found purchase on the bottom rung and I looked down for the first time, Rex and Gregor’s heads both cocked in amazement up at me.

“Well don’t just stare..c'mon let’s go.” I hissed, walking up the ladder toward the entry hatch, probably magnetically sealed above us. In an instant, Rex was behind me, the familiar touch of his gloved hand supporting my back. I kept crawling forward, my face now only inches away from the access panel.

“How are we going to get past the access panel without an astromech, Gregor?” Rex asked, hurling his body to the side to allow Gregor a place to grab onto. The sound of clattering armor beneath me meant Gregor had finally joined us and left the filthy drainage tube behind, for good hopefully.

“I mean…we can’t just blast it…either of you know anything about overrides?” Gregor cringed, looking between Rex and I and only finding scowls.

I thought about the many things I shoved into my pack before I remembered. I had an old droid spike that I took with me from the Senator cruiser I stole. “Rex, open my pack. I think I packed an old droid spike in there. Probably from a rusty old C1 mech, but it should work right?”

I felt Rex fishing around in my bag, until he found what I was talking about and whooped softly behind me. “Look at you…being all clever.” He handed the spike to me and returned his hand to a place a little bit lower on my backside.

“This is all well and good, babe, but what the hell am I supposed to do with it? I don’t really know how to hack anything.” I stared at the old, rusty metal part in my hands and then at the access port in the wall. I thought back to the very last time I’d ever seen one of these droids use this. I guess if you just put it in and felt around for the lock mechanisms, you could probably figure it out, right?

Gregor opened his mouth to speak, only to quiet again as I pushed the spike in and turned until I felt the gears clicking in a way that just felt right. I repeated the action over and over until the doors above our heads whooshed open.

“Stars- I fucking did it…” I laughed, removing the spike and gripping it in my teeth as I hauled myself further up the tube and through the opening quickly. The room I entered was filled with junk and spare parts, probably not far from an incinerator room. Luckily we chose the right door.

I looked around in the dimly lit room for any security droids or scanners in the room, but didn’t see anything. The Empire, and especially fellow clones, should know better than to leave any room, even the junk unattended.

“How’s it looking up there?” Gregor called up as Rex hurled himself up in a flip over my head and landed surprisingly quietly on two feet. I blinked in shock, for some reason stunned at my biologically superior boyfriend’s athletic prowess in action.

“Looking pretty good…” I grinned, stepping closer to Rex who was scanning the room with his helmet. I rested my hand on his bicep and waited for him to finish his scan before he tore his helmet off to wipe the muddy water off the front of it. “Very good.” I insisted, pushing up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He smiled shyly, the lightest flush coloring his cheeks. He twirled his blasters in his hands and pocketed them in one motion.

In another second, Gregor was beside us in the center of the room. The blast doors before us weren’t sealed and didn’t require shotty mech work to get through them. “I take it we’re good to move forward with the plan?”

The plan. Or whatever we could scrape together that resembled a plan. First step was to the intelligence center to find out if there was anyone in this prison that we might want to free. Our clone friends, political prisoners or even Jedi. Second step was to find out where the Commander’s meet up point was happening and intercept Cody if we could find him.

The biggest problem was that the whole plan was contingent on a ton of If’s. If we could hack into the network and get the intel. If there was anyone here we’d want to free and how we’d do it. If there was even a supposed Commander’s Conference here at all. Maybe this was all just a trap.

“Ready as we’ll ever be I guess.” I groaned, drawing my blaster and stepping toward the doors. Before I could move, I was pulled backward, spinning around into Rex’s arms. Both his hands cupped my face and he pressed his lips to mine, kissing me so passionately I felt my legs wobbling and my mind blanking. He pulled away, resting his forehead on mine.

“For luck?” I muttered, brushing his cheekbone with my thumb. He leaned into the touch and closed his eyes, his lips curling into a content smile.

“For love. We don’t need luck.” Rex replied, his weighted palms easing down my shoulders and patting my ass to motion us forward with Gregor rolling his eyes behind us.

“Saps.” He muttered, pulling his cloak over his face as we entered the hallway. I shrugged and pulled my own hood up, following Gregor’s lead as Rex brought up the rear.

“We should probably find better disguises.” I mentioned, moving swiftly down the empty, gray hallways of the dark prison. There was very little light in the hallways, which only helped us, but was intended to keep prisoner’s from knowing the difference between night and day. An especially miserable form of torture.

“Don’t think we’d be able to find stormtrooper armor small enough for you, angel. Not unless this prison happens to have any cadets hanging around.” Gregor commented, bolting quickly around a corner and into a hallway filled with cell block doors.

“Well they certainly wouldn’t have cadets covering the detention block.” I hissed, looking down the long corridor at rows and rows of cells probably filled with people I stood by and supported for years. “Where’s the network room, Gregor?”

“Down the end of this corridor to the left. Hopefully we can find at least some kind of helmet, so I can get away with being an escort to you two. I prefer that to sneaking around.” His eyes flitted into the few small openings of each cell block door we passed, trying to get a glimpse of whoever might be inside.

Shouts from behind the doors increased as each prisoner on the detention level heard us outside and, judging by the things we were saying, could tell we were not Imperials. I could almost sense Rex’s apprehension, hoping to every star system in the galaxy that we didn’t hear Ahsoka’s voice from behind one of these doors. Even though we could more than use her help right now.

Suddenly, blast doors on the right side of the hallway opened and two sharply dressed troopers stopped dead in their tracks. I froze on sight, all the training and tips I learned to fight back going right out the window. “Hey! No visitors allowed in the Detention Level. What are you doing down here?” The two voices spoke, the familiar sound of their brother’s voices making both Rex and Gregor sigh with regret.

The two shinies approached the two men who far outranked them no matter what army they served under. “Just wanted to see what you’ve done with the place. Been a minute since I’ve seen the inside here.” Rex scoffed, leaning up against the wall and tearing down the flag of the Empire from its fixture in the metal wall to look at it in his hands.

Following Rex’s lead, I improvised, “Is that any way to speak to a Commanding Officer, boys? What kind of strength does our Empire have if you cannot respect your chain of command?” I chided, straightening up and doing my best Senator’s impression, something I’d gotten good at after working alongside them for so long.

Gregor straightened up and waited for the men to salute as they should. “We’re here for the Commander’s Briefing.” He stated plainly, like a directive. Nobody moved.

The shinies looked at each other in confusion and then up and down at us. “If you’re both Commander’s then where are your uniforms?” They both raised their blasters thinking they had us. Slyly, Rex traced his hands down to his holsters on either side, trying not to draw attention to himself. With both hands on the hilts of each blaster pistol, he whipped them out as fast as I’d ever seen and raised them to their faces.

With a deep growl of contempt, Rex’s graveled voice spat, “You’re wearing them.” and blasted the both of them with blue stun blasts. The men collapsed in a heap and Gregor snorted at their stupidity.

“That was good, Rex. Now let’s drag them down the hall to the network room, so we can change.”

Gregor and Rex dragged their two unfortunate brothers down to the network room at the end of the hallway. With everyone getting ready for a large briefing upstairs, the room was unguarded save for a few droids milling about. The network console in the center of the room flashed the unmistakable signet of the Empire while waiting to boot up for the next user.

I searched the dash for a place to input a security key and froze at the realization that my Senate staff clearance code might not work anymore. Gregor, who was now fully suited up in a Commander’s formal grays, stepped up beside me.

“What are you waiting for? Type in your codes. You had access as a Republic Senate staffer, right?”

“Yes,” I stated, moderately annoyed at his constant questioning. “I’m just not sure how good they’ll be. Senator Organa said he transferred me to his personal staff, I’m not sure if the codes needed to be renewed or something.” I rubbed my arm nervously, pulling up the aurebesh keyboard and plugging in the passwords I’d used a thousand times before.

Rex stepped up beside me, leaning his now ungloved hands on the table and nodding me forward. “Guess we’ll just have to find out. Worse comes to worse…we run.” He shrugged, the gray uniform broadening his shoulders even more than normal. It really was a fucking shame he was never promoted to Commander. Everything about the uniform, the position of power, his brilliant strategic mind suited him. Except for the hat, which hid too much of the blonde locks that made him stand out amongst his brothers and that I personally loved so much.

At his usual smirk of encouragement, I confirmed my password and waited the agonizing seconds it took to load the all clear entry signal. We all held our breath, exhaling at once when the monotone beep confirmed we’d gotten in. My codes came through.

“Thank the fucking Force.” Gregor sighed in relief, his light eyes panning over the info scrolling across the screen. The info about the conference popped up almost instantly and I reached forward to select a running log of who had checked in already. The list of registered attendees had small green indicators next to the CT numbers of troopers who had already reported in and red indicators next to those who had not.

“What’s Cody’s CT number?” I asked, running my eyes down a list noticeably shorter than I’d guessed it would be.

“CC-2224.” Rex stated without a second thought, his own eyes scanning through the numbers too. “Commander class.” Each Commander had their original Kaminoan ID holo displayed along with a long record of their military achievements and former battalion number. Most didn’t look all that different from the GAR’s usual files. Almost as if they hadn’t been touched since.

Finally, my finger hovered over the number we were looking for and I pulled up the file. This file was completely different. The list of accolades accumulated here were far more recent than those of the clones we’d already seen and the hologram of Cody before us wasn’t of him in his original phase armor like the others. This Cody was donning stormtrooper armor and standing beside none other than Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin.

“Admiral Tarkin?” Rex scowled, taken aback at the info laid out before him. “I rescued him from the Citadel years ago. Last I saw him was at Ahsoka’s trial. And he wasn’t on our side.” He huffed, the muscles in his jaw tensing as anger broiled up inside him.

“Looks like Cody was promoted. He serves directly under Governor Tarkin now. And they’re due to arrive today. Could be here already.” Gregor thought aloud, realizing this info hadn’t been updated since the night before.

Both Gregor and Rex looked at each other and then turned to me. “We’ve got to go look for him upstairs. He could be here right now.” Rex exclaimed, clearly distressed and looking at me as if he needed my permission. I knew what it really meant though. If they had any shot at finding him, they’d both have to go up into the briefing without me. Meaning we had to separate, which was the absolute last thing Rex and I ever wanted to do. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, gripping the holotable for stability.

If he left me here and something happened, neither of us could ever forgive ourselves. We promised each other we’d never separate for any reason. Never. For some reason, the crushing weight of fear was collapsing down on top of me all at once and it was taking everything in me not to cry.

He realized instantly what I must’ve been thinking and his hands wrapped around my waist, hugging me to him. “Don’t worry, ok? We’ll be fine.” He assured me, running his hand through my hair and kissing my forehead. I kept my eyes closed because if I opened them, I’d start crying and he’d never leave.

“Meet back here in an hour.” Gregor stated, turning on his brand new black boots and walking off to let us have some privacy.

“Go.” I whispered softly, slowly pushing him off me. “Be safe. And keep your comm channel open. I want to be in constant contact with you.” I felt his fingertips grazing my forearms as he slipped away, following Gregor’s footfalls back into the hallway.

“We’ll blend right in. I love you. I’ll be back for you, mesh’la. Promise.” He called out, the words echoing as he faded away.

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.” I called out after him quietly, opening my eyes to an empty room filled only with the beeping and droning of binary droids and mechs working.

“Not if I see you first.” His voice suddenly rang out over my comm and I jumped, not expecting a response. I just laughed softly to reply, turning back to the holotable and starting to scroll through any other info I could find on the Imperial holonet now that I was here.

The Detention Block was surprisingly not filled with anyone I recognized, no Senator’s, former Republic or Separatist, and certainly no Jedi. This made this impromptu rescue mission of ours just a little bit easier. Having to make only one pick up was less risky than breaking a prisoner out and running them back through the sewage drain systems.

I checked in on the whereabouts of my friends and colleagues, none of them seeming to even show up at all, much less cause any incidents for the Empire. Which was actually somewhat disappointing. The friends I knew should be standing up to oppression like this, not cowering as it took over the entire galaxy.

I suppose not everyone was ever as bothered about the state of the world as I was. Most people I had worked with, even some of my friends, were from well off upper or surface level families who got into the Senate for the cushy job benefits, the off-world travel and the prestige. Though they were sympathetic to the suffering of others, they didn’t know it. Not like I had. Growing up with barely enough to survive in the Coruscant lower levels was a hard upbringing and seeing the upper level Senators doing such amazing work on billboards and online seemed like a decent way out.

Little did I know most of it was an act. Nearly every Senator not associated with Bail or Padme was a blood sucking leech on Republic society. Either profiting off of the suffering of their own people or secretly funding the very exhaustive war. At least I was helping expose and rid the underworld of actual crime. The lack of decency around me only made me want to push harder to get into an important role in the Senate. Which all seemed for nothing now. I was right back where I started, a scrappy underdog in a battle for something far bigger than myself. Ironic. Maybe it was always meant to be this way.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something interesting. A number. CT-9904. I wracked my brain trying to remember where I’d seen it. Then it dawned on me. The Bad Batch. Wrecker had this number etched onto his chest plate next to all the other boys.

I opened the file and up popped a pretty menacing looking Crosshair, the only member of the batch I hadn’t met. The file was filled with details on something called Project War Mantle. I tried to open it, but the entire project was sealed. However, the notes on each individual mission log were not. I played the first one and it was someone by the name of Vice Admiral Rampart noting the effects of chip removal on Crosshair.

“Most clones we tested the chip removal on showed dangerous and erratic behavior and were terminated. CT-9904’s chip removal has been an outlier. He exhibits total loyalty to the Empire with no undesirable effects and has forsaken his old squad and the Republic completely.”

“Interesting findings. And what of the testing of the termination order?”

Tarkin’s voice. Without a doubt.

“On those we tested, it has been successful, but CT-9904’s leadership skills are proving useful. His unyielding belief in the Empire seems to be keeping remaining clone troopers in line.”

“Excellent news. Would be a shame to let such superior soldiers go to waste. But need I remind you, Vice Admiral, that if there is even a whisper of dissent or rebellion amongst the remaining troopers, I am on strict orders from our Emperor to move forward with the eradication procedure. Ensure that CT-9904 plays into our hands and follows instructions or you and your vision for our Empire will receive the same fate as the rest of the former Republic’s army.”

“Yes, understood, Sir. Thank you, Governor Tarkin.”

I gulped, shutting off the audio recordings and scrolling through the list of clones, human men, who had participated in the trials. Nearly all of them were marked as terminated. The select few that had passed rigorous loyalty tests were now identified as In Training and multiple holorecordings of clones suited in black armor like I’d never seen before were undergoing what looked like torture tests.

Each man watched as simulations of civilians cried out for help while Galactic Empire propaganda played overhead. The men who caved to the cries for help were dragged aside while the ones unaffected sat unmoving and glossy-eyed, like they were in some sort of trance. The screams on the recording were not just civilians either. In the background, voices exactly like my Rex’s were crying out for help too.

The clones in the experiment were being repeatedly taught to leave any fallen troopers behind. A sentiment that was against everything the men I knew ever stood for.

I shut it off, rubbing the tears from my eyes and jamming a holodisk in the projector. This was evidence and Bail needed to see it. Needed the atrocities I saw to be confirmed to prove to the Rebellion that the clones needed to be saved. That no man, nat-born or otherwise, should ever be subject to the indoctrination and brutality I just saw.

I shuddered imagining what Rex would’ve done if he saw that. I hoped to all the stars in the galaxy he’d never have to.

The holodisk ejected back into my hand and I stuffed it into my pack. All I could think about was getting out of there with the evidence, and Rex and Gregor, safely. The sight of all those innocent clones being brainwashed further, the idea that Crosshair was supporting it willingly, Tarkin’s threats to kill them all if they found evidence of clones rebelling. There was too much at stake for just the three of us to deal with alone.

No, the Rebellion had to know. The Senators, with whatever power they had left, had to listen to this. Listen to us.

I stood up, spinning around to head out of the room and toward the drainage pipe entrance we came from when I ran directly into another lifeform, hard.

“Hi Sunshine…”

Suddenly, I was face to face with the bright red helmet of one of my dear friends. Commander Fox.

I stood wide-eyed, looking up into the black visor where I knew the eyes of my friend should recognize me. “Fox…” I muttered breathlessly, reaching for his chest plate and getting almost close enough to touch it. A black glove shot up and gripped my wrist roughly.

“Senator’s aren’t permitted down here. And certainly aren’t permitted to do what you were doing.” He spat, the cool, sarcastic and witty tone that I was accustomed to completely gone from his voice, just like it had been the day the Order was activated. “You fucking traitor.”

“Fox…this isn’t who you are. You’re being used. There’s a chip in your brain. In every clone-” I began to explain slowly and gently.

He tugged me forward into his chest and glared down at me. “This is exactly who I am. This is what I was born to be.”

I scowled up at him, “No, Fox. This is what they made you to be. It’s not who you are. He took that choice away from you. Just like he tortured you before.”

He shook me and let out a chilling and sick laugh, “You should never have come here. Because I know exactly who you are. And I know why you came. There’s nothing you can do to stop the Empire. You’re coming with me, Sunshine. My brother can’t save you now.”

Before I could even think about turning to run, he stunned me and all the lights went out.

–-

Everything was fuzzy. I groaned softly, a numbing pain all over my body and finding myself barely able to move. I blinked repeatedly, the fog in my eyes starting to dissipate. I was in a dark cell, my body shoved onto a flat platform with nothing but a small sink for water in the corner. I struggled to stand, my knees wobbling as I stepped forward. Just as I moved toward the sink, my cell doors slid open.

Fox stepped into my cell with the hum of an Interrogation droid following behind him. He didn’t look any different, but his demeanor was all wrong. There was nothing about him I recognized. No warmth, no jokes to cope with his pain, no quiet compliments. He was stone cold, focused and terrifying. My mind rushed toward Rex and Gregor, praying they weren’t found out, even if I was. He stalked toward me, my weak knees collapsing underneath me and I fell on the floor in a heap.

“Where is he?” Fox boomed, standing over me with his fists held behind his back. “Where is CT-7567?”

“Dead. He’s fucking dead.” I lied, pushing the very real tears I wanted to cry for an entirely different reason forward and coughing. I pushed myself up to my knees in front of him and glared up at him with what I hoped looked like the most misery I could ever muster. “How dare you ask me about him.”

Without a word, Fox knelt down before me, his helmet face to face with mine. He raised his hand to my jaw and squeezed, turning my face from side to side. He tutted menacingly, “I’m not asking. I’m ordering.” He let go and shoved me back, “Don’t lie to me, cyar’ika. I know you too well. You’d be a fucking mess without him. You wouldn’t have any fight left in you if he really was gone.”

“Then you don’t know me as well as you think, Fox.” Fox waved the Interrogation droid forward and started to corner me.

“Well…if you won’t talk to an old friend, then I guess I’ll have to make you.” He hissed angrily, as I shuffled away from him, with nowhere to go but the corner I woke up in. I scrambled against the cold metal wall, wishing I had something, anything I could use to fight him off with. My bare hands would be useless; all the clones were just too strong for me.

And I couldn’t hurt him anyway. Somewhere inside was my friend and it wasn’t his fault this was happening to him. It was the chip. The Fox I knew seemed completely lost to it. He was out of his mind and beyond his own control. All I could think to do was try to jog his memory.

As the Interrogation droid closed in I cried out, “Fox, please. Don’t. You know how this feels. I know you do.” Fox stopped, holding out his hand and keeping the droid hovering over his shoulder. “When he used to make you fight for him and you’d come to me bruised and bleeding…I helped you. Do you remember, Fox?”

He muttered quietly, “that’s- I don’t answer to that name anymore. I’m CC-1010.” His hands were balling up in fists, like Rex’s did when he was fighting anger or fear inside. His arms were shaking like he was trying with all his might to fight off the urge to follow an order he didn’t want to obey.

I crawled toward him, slowly and calmly whispering, “yes, you do. You’re Fox. You’re my friend. 

I care about you. I helped you when he did things to you that hurt…things that you couldn’t remember.”

Fox shuddered, his head lolling and his gaze falling to the floor, “m-milk and two…two sugars. You like it..sweet.”

I slowly stood up, nodding as tears brimmed in my eyes. “Yes, Fox. M-my caf order. You like yours black or however you can get it.” He stood motionless, his shoulders rising and falling as he did nothing but shake and breathe. Carefully, I reached up, placing my hands on the rim of his bucket and pulling it off him. The sight before me shattered me into pieces. The same gut wrenching pain I felt when I saw Rex for the first time after the Order.

His hair was a graying, curly mess, frazzled and unkempt. His cheeks, chin and forehead were covered in cuts, bruises and what looked like shock marks. As if he was hit with a bolt of lightning. Maybe several. He always looked tired, but this time was different. The dark circles under his eyes were deep and purple, combining with a black and blue shiner over his left eye to make it look like he hadn’t slept in months.

But his eyes themselves frightened me most. Normally warm and kind in the face of unspeakable cruelty, his pupils were dark and gloomy. Yet, they were dilating, the deep amber fading in and out constantly. He wasn’t looking at me. He wasn’t looking at the ground. It’s like he was far away, drifting in and out of consciousness.

I rested my palm on his cheek, the way I always did to connect with him when he needed it before. To wake him from the daily nightmare he lived under the Chancellor’s orders. The vulnerability, the need for softness and care. That was Fox. The way I knew he really was. The way I seemed to be making him recall.

“Fox…what did he do to you? Talk to me, I can help you. But…you have to let me go.” I offered, wiping the dripping tears off my cheeks. His eyes slowly traveled up my frame in front of him, the pupils narrowing and opening over and over. He blinked hard like he was trying to clear a fog from his eyes. Finally, his eyes met mine, blankly gazing at me and cocking his head like the right thing to do, who he really was, sat just out of reach.

“H-help-” He muttered so softly it was barely audible before suddenly his eyes darkened again and his frayed brows furrowed at me touching him. His painfully forceful grip latched underneath my arms and he lifted my entire body off the ground, pushing me roughly onto the platform. The Interrogation droid buzzed as Fox moved aside, motioning his directive with two fingers pointed on me. “Scan her for base vitals and then put her under.”

The droid’s red scanner ran over my body quickly, calculating all the information it was gathering as it floated toward me with the anesthetic needle ready. “NO! FOX! PLEASE DON’T!” I pleaded, fighting and kicking him, but unable to move him away from restraining me. The droid beeped to signal the scan was complete and rattled off my vital information.

Fox just growled as I fought as hard as I could. He was probably hoping I’d tire myself out soon. The droid inched closer until I was backed into the cool, metal corner of the room again, the outstretched needle inches away from pricking the side of my neck. “Tell me where he is, sunshine. No use struggling, you won’t win.” The sinister tone of his words made me sick, my stomach roiling and flipping in knots in a way I’d never felt before. The overwhelming need to puke from the stress of the situation, the fear of the unknown and who knows what else.

I felt a slight prick and a searing heat cascading through my bloodstream, the noise of the droid's mechanical voice echoing in my ears.

“Species. Human. Type. Female. Temperature rising. Heart rate slowing.”

My vision was fading again, the darkness of unconsciousness circling tighter and tighter until I could barely see anymore.

“How much longer?” Fox’s gruff voice demanded impatiently.

“Heart rate level adequate for interrogation. You may begi- Warning. Warning. Warning. Additional lifeform reading detected. Additional lifeform reading detected.”

“Piece of shit clanker. There’s no one else here, but me. Re-scan.” He shouted.

“Rescanning….Rescanning…Rescan Complete. Additional lifeform is detected internally. Age approximation 8 weeks.”

No. 

It…it can’t be. 

I tried to cry out, but the drugs were too strong. 

8 weeks ago. On Saleucami. Only 2 days after the Order.

“What?” Fox said incredulously.

“Biometric Parental Genetic Match Found. Paternal Match. 50% Jango Fett. Species. Human. Shall we continue the Interrogation, Sir?”

And now he knows. They all will know. I gave him up without even trying.

“Well, well, well…the Captain lives. Looks like we’ll have much to discuss when you wake up.”

And with that I went out.

–-

Mando’a translation note:

dinii = lunatic

NOTES: sorry for the long wait…summer time is busy and work has been a nightmare. but i'm here now :) and more exciting stuff soon :)<3 I love all of my readers so much and I cannot thank you enough for your support in helping me love and find writing again

taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added/removed):

@literallydontlook @moonstrider9904 @thefact0rygirl @pinkiemme @galacticgraffiti @queenquazar @ashotofspotchka @kaminocasey @fett-djarin @zinzinina @pedropascalsx @captainrexi @starwarsmeninhelmets @rexandechosandwich

[4dtk]

he's gone soft!

hi can u tell i love cats? and i also love hesitant cat owners who eventually warm up to their cats <3 got inspired by grumpy dads who eventually starts cuddling and cooing at the cats they adopted lol. also, adopt don't shop!

"you... you want what?" megumi asks, putting on his uniform as you scrolled aimlessly on your phone.

you were sure he heard you since he was just a metre away from you, but even you knew that the boy had hearing problems sometimes. you could listen to the pleads of his divine dogs at the mention of another pet, curling up to you as a way to win back your heart.

"can we get a cat?" you ask again hopefully, scratching at the white dog's ears as a way to calm their whining while he buttons his top. you're prepared for his reply, anyway, having asked him about this for the longest time.

he sighs, too used to the black and white fur decorating his already messy bed. plus, he wouldn't want to add another animal to the mix, knowing how much he adored his dogs.

with megumi's sigh and delayed answer that never came, you shook your head to your question, putting on a smile so you could head out to a mission without facing your feelings.

"it's okay, babe, i was just trying my luck," you kissed his cheek as you walk past, holding out a hand for him to take. megumi lets out another sigh before deactivating his divine dogs, taking your hand hesitantly as you met up with gojo-sensei just outside the campus.

the exorcising was an easy job since it involved several grade three curses and a terrified child. still, it was nothing uncommon to see in a place where kids willingly skip into abandoned scary buildings on a dare.

"come. let's go somewhere," megumi says out of the blue, dragging you by the hand once you bid goodbye to the kids. you had no idea where the destination lay, only getting grunts and hums from the boy whenever you questioned him of the sudden detour.

the meows coming from inside the building shocks you, instantly bringing a smile to your face as you peeked over the display shelves and products on sale. without much thought, you entered as quietly as you could, greeted by the friendly receptionist with a grin on her face.

"hi! how can we help?" you were so immersed in the cats playing around, as well as the several others in their cages, that you don't hear your boyfriend entering and muttering something that makes you drop your jaw even more.

"we'd like to adopt a cat, please," megumi nods, taking your hand once again as you do a speechless double-take to your boyfriend and back to the receptionist. your puzzled face was apparent, but you lose it all once you see the cats running around in the shelter while she finishes up a document on the computer. soon, she stands, guiding the two of you around the place as she points out some of the dashing felines they had rescued.

"hi! hello! what a handsome boy!" you switched to a baby voice as a cat came up to your hand at the entrance of the cage, rubbing against it affectionately.

megumi watched as you greeted the many different cats, giving them nicknames of your own while cooing or making faces at them. he could only smile gently, letting you pull him every time you saw another quote-unquote 'handsome lad'.

you sigh dreamily, staring at the many cats with love in your eyes, scanning over those you interacted with over the last half 'n hour. as megumi reaches forward to point at one, the receptionist interrupts as if she's just recalled something.

"crap, i forgot to show you our older cats. they're lovely, although they might be less active and would rather chill in the sun," she explains as she walks.

"we don't have many elderly cats here, but they deserve a life with loving owners such as yourself as much as the youngins in here," she smiles, scratching one behind the ear.

you smile in reply, reaching over to pet them carefully. so fragile and wise, but they still looked charming, save for the energetic bursts that the younger cats had.

one cat caught had your eye, despite its shyness and apprehensive nature. she warmed up to you in a heartbeat, claiming your hand as a safe space after a good sniff. she purrs in an instant, headbutting your hand repeatedly as a gesture of affection.

"oreo doesn't interact with our visitors much," she says, "is she the one?"

"oreo... because she's black and white?" megumi asks, not exactly impressed with the name.

"you got it."

"yes, her," you say, cooing yet again with a voice ten times higher than the one you use with his shikigami.

the boy doesn't comment, tugging on you before you could lose yourself in the cat's eyes any longer. with a last flying kiss, you depart from oreo with a grin on your face.

"now, have you taken care of cats before? i'm sure your boyfriend here has more experience with dogs than he does with cats," you look at her in surprise, giggling at the assumption she made.

"how'd you know that?"

"just a hunch." megumi grunts again at the observation, not denying it as you answer her question.

"i have- had a cat back home. i couldn't fathom death again, so i never adopted another one," you frown, signing the papers with ease as you multi-tasked, "but i mean, this man is pretty fetching and a keeper, so it'll be nice to care for a cat together."

the two of you joke like old friends as the raven-haired boy blushes at the compliment, squeezing your hand in response.

within a few minutes, oreo was under your care, completing the process with a few toys, a scratching post as well as some food for the black and white cat.

you spent the whole evening with the new family member in your and megumi's shared room, getting oreo warmed up to the new environment and getting her to do a few tricks. she tired out quickly, but you don't mind as you lay on the floor with her, completing homework like it was nothing.

you had to retire, sometime and somehow as megumi urged you to shower, assuring that oreo wouldn't go anywhere.

you kept the shower short, regardless, dressing back up in record speed before coming face to face with megumi stroking oreo's fur as she curls up on his lap. he mumbles to her, bouncing his legs lightly as the cat rests her head on his calves.

"i just wanted to see (y/n)'s smile, but i guess you're pretty cute too," the corners of megumi's lips turn up at the soft meow from oreo, bending down to kiss her on the head.

"careful, hotshot, i might get jealous," you say, startling the poor boy. oreo doesn't give a shit, snuggling further into the warmth of his legs as he's stuck in the position on the floor.

"are cats always this clingy?"

"oreo might've had a rough time at her previous home, so she's glad to have someone to curl up against. they usually take longer to warm up to new owners but... she's a wise soul!" you laugh, squatting down to peck megumi on the lips.

"thank you."

"for what?" megumi's hand naturally rests on your thigh as you sit down beside him, while your head find its spot on his shoulder.

"for adopting a cat. for giving oreo a home, even if you like dogs a bit more."

he hums, "i like all animals, but dogs on the scale are a little bit higher than everything else."

he turns to you, causing you to lift your head off of your resting place.

"but i think if my love likes cats then, i'm willing to bump it up the scale to match it with my love for dogs."

you shove him lightly, laughing softly at his attempts at flirting.

"did gojo-sensei ask you to say that?"

the answer is clear when he rolls his eyes with a blush on his pale cheeks, but engages you in a deep kiss either way, smiling and speaking through it.

"he did but, i think it's pretty true when it comes to you."

[sugarushsuga]

In Your Own Words - CH. 15

Genre/Au's: Rom-Com, fluff with bits of angst - Coworkers!AU; enemies to lovers; Journalist!AU

Paring: RM x Reader

Words count: 7.904

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Cursing; FLUFF;

Tigering: Mentions car accident; mentions of broken leg; mentions of blood; heavy make-out (no smut tho)

Synopsis: After graduating your dream was to become a journalist and work to one of the biggest magazines in the country. But that pretty dream does not translate perfectly to reality. The magazine is on verge of bankruptcy, great journalists are moving the rival magazines and not being replaced, your boss is a jerk who doesn't even know your name. Fate seems to be toying you around to its own pleasure, can you take control of your life and achieve your dreams, or you are going to be carried away by fate's plans?

Author note: Once again sorry for the delay on the posting today. I’m already going to edit and schedule next week’s chapter then finish the last chapter of the fic, edit and schedule them all. I’m so excited!

This fanfic follows the world of the Brazilian production Procura-se um marido series. I do not own the series or original content.

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Sabrina calls you terrified, ready to leave Seokjin at the farm and get on the first bus home after reading the message you have sent her telling about Hoseok's accident. But you manage to convince her it wouldn't do any good. Your brother is out of danger, and she might as well enjoy the weekend with her boyfriend and visit him afterwards.

Lorena is perched awkwardly on the bed so as not to touch your brother's injuries. Hoseok is laughing at something she is saying. You watch the scene. Strange how a situation as bad as the accident can result in something good like their marriage.

"What are you laughing at?" You ask, tucking your phone into your jeans pocket.

“You have no idea how relieved I was when I woke up and saw this hardware around the leg. If it was plaster..." you laugh with him. You know what he is thinking. Hoseok continues telling the story to Lorena.

“I was about eight years old. I woke up in the hospital with a broken arm, and my father lectured me like that for going up on the roof after a Kite. Y/n had wrapped a towel around her arm, pretending it was a cast. Is it over there kept bothering the nurse, insisting that she needed a bed too. And she only calmed down when the doctor examined her and said that she was in very bad shape, and she needed to eat chocolate to heal."

"And I'll agreed really quickly," You agree, laughing.

“Then I was released, and we went back home, and the brat thought she had to take care of me. She brought me food, let me choose channels on the TV. It was irritating! I wanted to go out and play on the street, but I couldn't because of the cast, and I got pretty upset. Then, one afternoon, I slept on the couch and Y/n took some pretty colored markers... What in her definition were pink, purple, and blue..."

"And they were pretty!" You object.

"And made thousands of little flowers all over my cast, to cheer me up." Your brother completes. Lorena burst out laughing and shakes her head, looking at you.

"Hoseok didn't come out of the house for weeks," You teel her. "And in my defense, I want to make it clear that I was only six years old."

“She was annoying at that age, and she still is today. And she was so cute too small... Not that it's much different now. She was always beautiful" Hoseok mumbles awkwardly. "I couldn't stay mad at her for more than two days. I never did."

Someone knocks on the door. You get up with your heart racing, but it isn't Namjoon. It's the nurse with a tray of medication. She jabs the syringe in the rubber of the serum plugged into Hoseok and turns off the lights, leaving them on just the sconces next to the door. Lorena pulls one of the chairs closer to the bed, but your brother doesn't like it.

"There's a son of mine in there, babe girl. You can go stretch out on the couch. I'm fine."

"But Hoseok..."

"Please, Lorena, you need to take care of our baby."

A little annoyed, she settles herself on the couch, and, perhaps because of the flush of adrenaline earlier or due to the variation of the pregnancy hormones, falls asleep in ten minutes.

You take the chair next to Hoseok and looks for a comfortable position, keeping your eyes locked on the hospital bed, to make sure he keeps breathing. The leather creaks under you, and Hoseok shoots you several slanted as you try to straighten yourself out. You shift position, folding your legs underneath you.

“Oh, for God's sake!" groans your brother, stretching out his good arm for you to get closer. "Come closer, but I'll throw you away if you drool on me."

You rest your head on his healthy shoulder. "To drool, I'd need to sleep, which won't happen, since you snort like a pig." But you don't move, you just stay there, still, leaning against your brother.

A few minutes later, he strokes your hair. “Thanks for taking care of her,” he murmurs. "Lorena freaks out easily."

“Not without reason. You did the right thing, Hoseok. You will be very happy together."

"I know. I love this woman. And... love you too."

You lift your head, eyes widening. "Oh my God! I'll get the doctor. You must have hit it hard with the head to get all mellow like that."

"Don't be an ass!" But he is smiling.

“I love you too, Hoseok.” And you snuggle even closer to him.

Okay, your brother isn't an idiot all the time.

You keep your eyes closed and end up smiling when, moments later, his snoring fills the room. You try to wait for Namjoon to come back, but tiredness gets the better of you and, when you open your eyes again, it is already day. Your brother is kind of leaning on the bed, having oatmeal feed in his mouth.

“Finally, Y/n,” Grandma say, taking another spoonful and feeding your brother's mouth. "You still sleep like a baby, you haven't even woken up with Vladimir's shouting."

"Leave her be, grandma," Hoseok says with his mouth full. "Y/n slept badly on that chair."

"You need to stop trying to protect your sister from everything, Hoseok. She has to learn to walk alone."

"I'm not protecting," he objects, making a face that makes you laugh.

He is fine and, right after breakfast, he is taken in for further examinations, whose results are more than encouraging. The doctor assures that the worst has already passed and that you can breathe a sigh of relief.

You are a little disappointed that Namjoon didn't keep his promise, but also relieved. You could imagine how your grandmother would dissect it.

"Did you see the accident in the cards?" You ask grandma during lunch at the cafeteria.

"No. Lorena called telling me. It was dawn. We got here when your friend was leaving."

"Namjoon? He returned? Oh, damn it! And saw me drooling over Hoseok? Why didn’t he wake me up?"

“He said you needed to rest. Was worried to see you all crooked in the chair, but I didn't want to disturb you. Hoseok didn't want too either. I spoke a little with him. That Namjoon of yours is a good boy." She bites her sandwich.

Shocked, you swallow a bite of your sandwich at some cost. “He's not mine. What did you talk about?"

"About you." She runs a delicate hand over her pale green skirt, getting rid of crumbs. Her bracelets jingle like bells.

"About what exactly, Grandma?" Oh please, not about the sharpie story. Please!

“He was just worried. Told me how you were after you found out about the accident, that you hadn't eaten much and made me promise that I would make you eat when you wake up. And I'm keeping my promise. Eat, darling."

You hesitate, looking at your grandmother expectantly. "You didn't say anything to him about what you saw in the cards, did you?"

"Of course not." But you aren't so sure, since one of the corners of her lips lift slightly.

The day goes by and, when you find yourself, the night is already pouring out its shadows outside. It is a blessing to hear your brother complaining that he wants to take a real shower and begging to be taken to the bathroom. Grandma is patient and explains, like a zealous mother, that he can't not stand up yet and that he will have to use the urinal. She will spend the night with Hoseok, as well as Lorena, so you were let go.

"But I have nothing to do at home," You object.

"Yes, you have. To sleep. You look like a zombie, Y/n,” Hoseok scoffs. "That was close. But it takes more than a bus and a van to send me from this to the better on. Go home, little sister."

"But I can't leave! You scared me to death, and I thought that I would lose you and..."

“Don't start fresh now." But he smiles. "You do have your life, and I'm fine. Grandma Cecilia will make sure I don't get out of this bed."

"I'm really going, even if it's by force, boy!" She speaks from within the bathroom, where she finished preparing, under the indignant protests of the nurses, a poultice of herbs for Hoseok's wounds.

"See? Besides, you look more broken than I do. That chair doesn't look very comfortable. You grumbled most of the night."

"I don't care about that, Hoseok."

“But I do, and so does Namjoon. He was worried about you. You know, I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that he's not a bad guy. Talked a little with him this morning."

Ah, every woman's dream: her whole family talking to the guy with whom she had an affair while she is unconscious.

"It's just like you to say he's a nice guy, now that we are not together anymore."

"Oh, wait. I never said he's cool. Said he's not bad."

You roll your eyes. Hoseok shakes your hand.

“But I'm serious, little sister. I like the way he cares for you. He wants to protect you, and that's what every big brother wants."

"What did you talk about?" You want to know.

“About the accident, basically. Don't worry, I didn't scare the guy. Now go home and give me some peace of mind. I don't like to see you broken like this."

"Okay, I'll go. But tomorrow I'll be back, and you better get better, or I'll bring some plastic flowers to decorate all these pins."

"Call me as soon as you set foot home."

"Okay." You lean over him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Hoseok. Get well."

You tense muscles throb begging for rest as soon as you park the car in front of your building. You drag yourself up the stairs, feeling the last drops of adrenaline disappear and exhaustion overtake. Cursing Sabrina at every step for choosing a building without an elevator. You call Lorena's phone from there, letting her know you are at home, and is relieved to hear, in the background, Hoseok arguing with grandma for some reason.

You almost cry with relief as you cross the long, wide hallway of the third floor in search of door 332. Your house has never felt more cozy. You have the key in your hand when the door behind you opens.

“Hi,” Namjoon says.

He is all dressed up—or dressed up enough for him—in jeans and Star Wars black t-shirt. He doesn't seem to have gotten out of bed or be about to go lay.

"Are you going out?" You ask.

"More or less." He closes the door behind him, trapping Yeotan inside. "How is Hoseok?"

"Fine thank God. He took new exams. He should be released tomorrow."

He nods, approaching. “I went to the hospital yesterday after I got out of the magazine, but it was late, and you were asleep."

“I heard." You opened the door but does not enter.

"I thought about going over there today or calling you, but I didn't want to get into family's matters. Since you didn't call me, I figured everything was fine."

“It was."

"That's good, I'm happy." But he doesn’t look happy, he looks... about to explode for some reason. And, in a way, he does. "What did you want say, Y/n?" he asks, distressed.

"What did I want to say when?" You ask cautiously. You aren't sure the content of the conversation he had with your grandmother or with your brother. His question could have a thousand meanings.

"There." He takes a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket, handing it to you. It is your printed email. That last one. And the words “I'm sorry” bounce off the page. “What do you regret, Y/n? To have met me? Have kicked me? Playing cat and mouse? what did you want to say?"

You close your eyes and takes a deep breath. "Namjoon, I have so much to tell you, to explain, but I'm exhausted, I need a shower, something to eat and..."

“Alright, I wait."

And with that, he pushes you into the house. Closing the door, Namjoon picks up your bag, throws it on the coffee table, and continues pushing you towards the bathroom.

"You mean you're going to wait here?" You ask, horrified.

“It's past time we have this conversation. I know your day was exhausting and... scary, but I'm going crazy, Y/n. Go take your bath, I will wait here."

"But Namjoon..."

"Please, Y/n! For pity, charity, or whatever you want to call it, take your shower, eat something, but talk to me." He runs his hand through his hair, takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. Frustrated. Very Frustrated. "I know the timing is bad, but I need to understand what's going on, or…I'll freak out. One minute you want me, the next you say no. Say one thing, but do another. I've never met anyone so…incoherent. I need you to explain this game to me. Please!"

"I take a long time in the shower."

“I'll wait as long as it takes."

"Probably the hot water will make me limp and I'll end up snoozing while we talk,” You warn, hoping he will back away, and you can have this chat when you are aware of everything that is going to come out of your mouth.

"I'll take that risk."

A bit annoyed, you grab a pair of pajamas from the bedroom and goes to the bathroom. About fifteen minutes later, you are showered, your hair dripping on your back and skin flushed from the heat of the water and feeling sore in several points. You find Namjoon on the couch, legs apart, elbows on knees, hands clasped, fingers drumming impatiently. He examines you from head to toe before shifting his eyes to his own hands.

"I made you something to eat." He indicates the plate on the coffee table.

You examine the dubious-looking food. The orange juice is easy to identify, and you think that one day those scorched squares covered in bright red goo were slices of bread. You get emotional. It is the first time he cooks for you.

"Thank you, it looks delicious." You sit down and grab some toast. It's a little bitter, but the raspberry jam disguises the taste well.

“I'm terrible in the kitchen. Sorry." He gives you a sad smile. “You don't need to eat it. Want me to order a pizza?"

“No. I want the toast." You take another bite.

No man had ever bothered to cook you a meal. You will eat what he offers you even if it tastes like cardboard. Finally, you understand why Bea tolerates Taehyung's culinary experiences with that smile glued to her face.

“You look very tired."

"And I am." You take a few sips of juice under his determined gaze and go for the second toast.

Namjoon lets out a long breath and stands up. “Sorry, I… wasn't thinking straight. I think I can wait some hours longer. People talk about..."

"Wait." You wipe you mouth on the back of your hand and drinks the rest of the juice before taking a deep breath, building up courage. "Stay with me."

The confusion and surprise on his face makes you blush.

"Do you want me to spend the night here with you?" he asks cautiously.

You nod, wringing your fingers frantically. "I don't want to be alone and... you... calm me down, I feel more..."

“No need to explain, Y/n. I'll stay."

You let out a long sigh of relief. "Thanks."

After an embarrassing moment, in which the silence is broken only by the sound of your breathing, he asks, indicating the plate in front of me: " You're done?"

"Yea."

He stretches out his arm. "So, come. Let's go to bed."

A tremor reverberates through your body, but you accept the extended hand. Namjoon helps you put the mattress on the bed after you make sure nothing else drips from the ceiling. Then he takes the bucket to the laundry area. Meanwhile, you change the sheets. He returns at the moment you are getting ready to stretch the duvet over the mattress.

"I'll do it," he offers quickly.

He fumbles a little, but he stretches the piece until it is smooth and perfectly positioned on the mattress. Then he lifts one of the corners for you to lie down on. Once you are settled, he covers you. Then Namjoon rounds the bed, takes off his shoes and glasses, placing them on the nightstand, turns off the light, and lays down next to you, facing you.

"Come here, Y/n." He pulls you closer, hugging you. You bury your nose on his neck, feeling his delicious aroma permeate you, the heat from his body warms your cold skin. Namjoon blows out a breath with force a mixture of tenderness and frustration, and it makes your chest ache.

“Sorry,” You mutter into his neck.

"Because? For being honest?"

“I wasn't honest, I was immature. I was furious with you and ended up talking the first bullshit that crossed my mind. On Saturday I told you things that didn't want to say. And I'm sorry about that. Nothing I said is true. It is not anymore, at least. I just wanted to... hurt you, just like you had hurt me."

He moves away and you think he's going to leave you there, but he just reaches for the lamp. You blink at the unwanted light and takes a moment to adjust the view. When it goes back to normal, you find his face practically glued to yours. Namjoon looks exhausted too, but there is that expectation glowing in his brown irises.

"How so?" he asked, anxious and hopeful.

"I didn't like knowing that you and Delilah were alone in my grandmother's,” you confess, embarrassed. "I didn't like it at all, I was furious and... I went after you to find out what was going on. I entered the house through the kitchen, and I heard you talking about me. I heard everything."

"And by 'everything' you mean…" He stops, stiffening to your side, waiting for you to continue.

“I heard you tell her we were just friends. And when she asked if you wanted me, I also heard you saying... no."

He stares at you, stunned, and opens his mouth to speak, but you raise your hand in supplication and you rest it on his chest. “I didn't mean to spy… much." Your face burns. It would be so much better if he turned off that damn light. "I turned around and was on my way out when I tripped over something. And the rest of the story you already know. And, okay, Namjoon. I understood. You're not in the mood for commitment right now, and you're right. You just got out of a relationship, you shouldn't jump into another one that fast. But you care about me. And I know you enjoy being with me... part of the time, at least. And, you know, we don't have to assume a relationship, I mean, we can just..."

"Hey! Wait!" He interrupts you. “You're going too fast. I hurt you for saying I didn't want you, was that it?"

You look away from his shirt. Warm fingers touch and lift your chin, but still, you can't look at him.

"Look at me, Y/n."

You can't. You fear that looking into his eyes, they'd shine the way it always happens when you are this close, and with that you'll lose the logical reasoning and do something stupid. Like saying you are in love with him.

“Look at me, please. Look at me and tell me what you see."

Hesitantly, you dare to stare at his face for just two seconds before facing his shirt again.

“I see a handsome man,” you mutter.

"Is that so?" The surprise in his voice almost makes you laugh. "With glasses and everything?"

“Especially with them,” You admit. “You are the only man on the planet who manages to look good wearing that hideous thing. Well, you and Clark Kent, but since he doesn't exist..." He laughs, still holding your face.

“And what else do you see?" You peek again, ready to look away, but he stops you. “Don't run away, my angel. Look at me."

As soon as you lock eyes with him, you feel unable to escape. They are loving and, at the same time, contain something sinful, hot.

"What do you see, Y/n?" he insists.

“A beautiful man with incredible eyes,” You sigh.

"And what do you see inside them?"

"I-I think... tenderness."

He shows a half-smile. "What else?"

You swallow hard. “There's a good bit of madness too."

“That's right, angel." He caresses your cheek with his thumb the smile grows. “It's going very well. Please continue."

"L-looks like there's something burning inside them." And, oh they send sparks straight to your core.

“They burn. Every time I look at you. I know you've seen them like this before."

Helplessly, you nodded.

"So," he continues, "I'm here wondering how you can you think, for just a minute, that I don't want you?"

"I told you! I heard you saying that..."

"That I didn't want to own you!" He interrupts you. "I don't want that. I want to be your partner, your companion, to be everything to you, but I want you to stay with me because you chose. I want you to decide to belong to me, not to take possession, as if you were an object. I want you to want me just as sickly and crazily as I want you. And oh Y/n, believe me, I want you."

And with that, he brings his lips down to yours. Your hands are tangled in his hair, perhaps because it is strange to see them tamed like that, you don't know... The fact is that you need to hold him close to you, bring him closer, and the thought that you will never let him go again is so intense and determined that it scares you, takes your breath away, leaves you trembling.

Terrified by the idea, you try to release it, but your fingers rebel, and, when he nibbles your bottom lip and then slides his tongue inside your mouth, you give up and surrender to the kiss, to Namjoon, forgetting everything, who you are, where you are, what he is. All that matters is that he is kissing you, sucking your sanity with every caress, returning passion and tenderness with every movement.

“I don't want anyone else, Y/n. Only you,” he mutters into your mouth, rolling over you, his hand slowly moving up your belly.

"Oh, Namjoon!" You sigh under his lips. “Don't tell me that." You grab his shirt, twisting the fabric between your fingers to get rid of it. "Please, don't make me feel special like this."

The soft laughter against your skin shakes your already fragile common sense. Namjoon separates from you only to finish what you have started, taking off his t-shirt in one quick motion.

"You are special. I have no way to change that."

He kisses you again, threading his fingers through the hem of your shirt. You raise your arms in a brazen offer, and he accepts without hesitation. You've done this a few times before, and you know every curve and muscle well, every angle of that perfect body. But none of the times that you were together was this way, so sweet and so…disturbing. The fact Namjoon's not taking his eyes off yours is both intense and delicate, and it is hard not to catch what they are telling you.

He undresses you first, caressing you in the right places—and the wrong ones too, and even those feel right—before taking off his jeans. Naked your skin sticks to his, and you feel goosebumps starting on your toes and they go to the back of your head, bristling everything in their path. When he puts his body over yours, his muscles are taut, that part of him investigating, searching… You close your eyes, arching your hips to meet his wanting that union, which always makes you feel complete.

“Open your eyes, Y/n,” he whispers, not allowing you to reach him.

You obey immediately. He is serious, focused, and sexy as hell with his broad shoulders hovering over you. Looking up, taking in every feature of his beautiful face, you get lost when reaching his eyes. So, Namjoon moves precisely and bringing you together.

Slowly and deeply.

You resist the urge to squint and lose yourself in the sensations. Something greater than carnal pleasure is taking place there. He starts to move,

without ever taking his eyes from yours. Physical pleasure mixed with feelings, and something great, which starts in your chest and spreads through your whole body in seconds, it takes your breath away. The fire in Namjoon's face is the trigger, to decimate any trace of sanity in you.

He wraps an arm around your waist, lifting your hips a little. Hugging his neck, you try to keep yourself in place, as his thrusts grow stronger, longer, impossibly deeper, as if he is trying to merge with you forever. And, in a way, he is succeeding. You have the impression that you'll never be able to get Namjoon out of your heart again.

You stretch an arm across the sheets, looking for something to hold on to, in an attempt to keep yourself on the planet and in that bed. Since you feel you are taking off, and in any moment, you'll float towards infinity. A big warm hand captures yours, curling up the same way your bodies do. The long fingers press against yours, face twisted with pleasure and something else. His chestnuts eyes remain locked in yours, two glowing embers that invite you to enter and see his soul and everything that is going on inside him.

What you see there makes a myriad of emotions in you swell until it becomes greater than you, subjugating yourself. You pour it all out with a hoarse cry. Your lips are captured by Namjoon, as if he can't stand the idea that it would be lost in the air. He shudders, squeezing you tight, exploding inside you.

Namjoon let his head drop, burying it in your neck, breathing with difficulty, his fingers still laced with yours. With your free hand, you touch his soft hair, damp with sweat, and you wonder why you can't stay like this, with him in your arms, for, let's say, forever...

Oh yeah, because you haven't told him how you really feel.

“Namjoon,” You call, your voice still hoarse and your breathing ragged. "I think I... I'm... I didn't mean to, didn't plan, but I...” You swallow, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

“Alright, angel." Kissing your shoulder, he raises his torso and props himself up on one elbow, so his weight doesn't crush you and stare at you with eyes on fire. "I'm too. Much longer than I could realize."

"No, you're not!"

"No?" He laughs, his forehead creasing.

“Not like me. I... I lost all common sense! I can't think of anything else, just you and... Seriously, Namjoon! Don't smile like that!"

"Excuse me." He tries once, twice, but he is unable to stop himself. The huge smile, satisfied and somewhat amused, does not fade and seems to increase. “You look like a scared little girl."

"I'm scared! I've felt this way before, but…” You shake your head. "No, it was never like this, not with all this… madness. I..." You rub your face with your free hand and watch him.

He is just as confused as you are.

"Do you want to know why I broke that damn cup at my grandmother's house?" You continue, speaking quickly so as not to lose courage. "I didn't want to know your future. There, that's it. I didn't want to know what fate drew for you. I broke the cup because I couldn't bear to know that... that I wouldn't be part of it."

You avert your eyes to his broad neck. His pulse is still accelerated, chest still expanding with short breaths.

"Y/n, look at me." Reluctantly, you obey. The fun on his face giving way to seriousness. “If you let me, I'll make you happy. Very much. Not only

because you deserve it or because I want it more than anything else, but because I need to see you happy. It's like I depend on it to breathe." Two fingers run down your cheek. "You have no idea how much power you have over me Y/n. You may not be mine, but I am already yours, all yours. I choose you."

"Namjoon..."

"I'm not finished yet." He interrupts you, with a pleading expression in his face. “You don't know how helpless I felt in the flower episode. And before that, with that wedding invitation... It broke me in half to see you crushed on the stairs, curled up, as if you wanted to disappear. And the most painful, is that it made me realize how small and useless I am, when you received the phone call from your brother's accident. So scared, so hurt, so alone..." He closes his eyes, shaking his head. "I never want to see you like that again. I will never let anything hurt you like that again."

“How can you promise that?" You ask, stunned by the speed of the beats of your heart. "How can you promise something you can't control?"

“I can't stop bad things from happening. I know I can't protect you from the world, but I can and will be by your side no matter what. To bear your pain, listen to you if you need to, save you from a killer bouquet..."

You end up laughing, and he kisses your lips lightly.

"I really want to believe you, but I don't know if I can," You reveal. "You just got out of a relationship, and soon you'll realize..."

He stops you from continuing, putting his index finger on your lips. “I already realized, angel. Want you."

“So, you've forgiven me for the things I said on Saturday?" You ask with a sigh.

He takes your face in his hands, leaning in to kiss you, a splendid smile on his perfect mouth.

“I crawled into your bed without us talking anything out. What do you think?"

"That you don't know what you're doing." You yawn.

"Yes, I know. And I'll prove it to you until there's no doubt left in your beautiful little head. But now you need to sleep. You are almost shutting down." He rolls to the side and pulls you to him, until your back is against his chest.

“I'll never forget what you did for me yesterday." You lift your head for him to put his arm under it and lay on his biceps. "I will never forget how attentive and careful you were to me. As if I were to..."

He covers you with the sheet, kisses your neck and rests his head there.

"Too precious," he adds.

"That." You yaw again. “You said that once."

“And I'll say many more, since you don't hear what I say."

You don't remember fitting in someone else as well as you at that moment in Namjoon. It is like he is a lost part, an extension of you. And not only now, after satisfying your body and soul, but to really fit in, to be part of him and he of you, as if you are only one.

You don't have the strength for anything else, your eyes closed by their own, but a silly smile insist on curving your lips. You let out a satisfied sigh, and Namjoon chuckles softly in your ear.

“I love the way your body fits mine. You were made for me, Y/n,” he grumbles, echoing your thoughts.

A shiver makes you shrug your shoulders and press yourself even tighter against his hot chest. You are exhausted to the point of falling asleep, but before you wander off to the unconsciousness, you have to say something very important to him.

“I think I love you, Namjoon,” you whisper with your eyes closed.

The arms that hold you captive tighten even more, lips soft and warm touch the delicate skin behind your ear, the big hand looks for yours, his long fingers locked with yours, forming a tight knot.

“And I'm sure of it, angel,” he whispers in your ear.

You have every intention of asking what he means by that. if he is sure, you love him, or if he is sure he loves you, but the fatigue, physical and emotional, exhaustion speak louder. And you black out three seconds later.

The first time you wake up in Namjoon's arms is…warm. A muscular leg, resting on your hips, a hand is touching your left breast, chin resting lightly on top of your head. “Possession” is the word that crosses your mind.

You slip out of bed trying not to make any noise. Namjoon grumbles lightly and turns to the other side. So, you hurry to the bathroom, wearing his t-shirt on the way. You close the door carefully and almost scream at the sight of your reflection in the mirror. Your hair feels like a ball of yarn after having passed through the paws of a cat. Tufts pointing in all directions. There isn't a single strand in place. You abuse the water, trying to tame the hair and apply an absurd amount of cream to comb and kneaded the strands, which start to take shape.

You are just finishing brushing your teeth when the door swings open. Suddenly, and stumbling, naked, Namjoon scrambles across the cold floor.

“Good morning,” he grumbles, hugging you and kissing you lightly.

“Hi,” You grumble, smiling. “I didn't run away."

"You are very brave," he points proudly. "But that bed is very cold without you."

“I need to go to the hospital, Namjoon."

He presses his mouth to your forehead, then releases you.

"I know. I will take you." He stops in front of the toilet, lowers his head, and that unmistakable sound fills the room. Is he...?

Oh, he is. With you in there!

You are getting ready to sneak out, but he says: “I want to take you somewhere today. A party. If your brother is okay, will you agree to accompany me?"

He finishes what he is doing, flushes the toilet, and goes to the sink to wash his hands.

"What kind of party?" You ask, somewhat stunned.

“A family reunion, and I really want you to come with me. Which of theirs is yours?" He points to the cup with the toothbrushes on.

"The blue one."

He laughs.

“I don't even know why I asked." And unceremoniously takes possession of your toothbrush. You look at him, astonished at his lack of manners. Or excess of intimacy.

"What's it?" he asks with a mouth full of white foam.

"Nothing." You shake your head. You had more pressing matters to think about than Namjoon imposing himself that way. "This party... your parents are going to be there?"

"Eh." He spits, rinses his mouth, and dries it on the towel. Some lint stuck in the stubble. “My parents and some of their friends. It's their wedding anniversary. Thirty-eight years."

It's cool. It's ok to use the toilet with you in the bathroom and it's ok to use your toothbrush as if you are that close, but meeting his parents is asking too much.

“Oh… I don't know if it's a good idea."

"It is. Besides, if you don't go, I won't have anyone with less than sixty years to talk to."

“Namjoon, your parents will be there!"

"I thought I had already clarified that point." He laughs, slipping the shower door and turning on the shower.

"I'm talking about your parents! Those people who probably expect to see you with Alexia, your wife, not with me."

He shoots you an angry look. “For the last time, Y/n, Alexia was never my wife. and I would appreciate a lot if you didn't keep bringing someone else into our relationship all the time."

"But I can't..."

"Of course, you can." He stands in front of you, holding your wrists and lifting them over your head, then taking off your shirt.

"If I was able to survive a similar situation at your cousin's wedding, you will be too. Unless you don't want to go for another reason."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That you don't want to appear with me in public because you don't have the intention of having a serious relationship with me." He speaks all this in a jokingly tone, but the apprehension in his eyes is real.

"It's not that." You cringe. "But it's just that... meeting your parents is...too soon! You just came out of a..."

“Here you go again,” he huffs, stepping into the shower and putting his head under the water jet. "You forget you also just got out of a long relationship, and that's not why I keep reminding you all the time, nor I hide behind this excuse."

“It's different, Namjoon. Jimin and I didn't live together. We just dated. Nobody expected us to get married. Not even me. You and Alexia lived in the same house until last month."

“It's been two months. And stop changing the subject! do you want to go or not with me at this party?" He runs his hand through the dark mass of hair, small drops floated around him. A waterfall running down his scarred abdomen, creating amazing designs. It is difficult to tear your eyes away.

“My brother might need me,” You snapped, swallowing hard and licking your lips.

"He has Lorena and your grandmother. I think he can survive a night without you, but that's okay. Let's go to the hospital and then we'll see that. Now stop looking at me like that, or I'll end up wetting the whole bathroom. Come here, Y/n."

You take a step forward, but stop, placing your hands on your hips.

“Hey, you're not the boss around here, you know that? Not everything boils down to a simple, Come here, Y/n."

“Well, it works most of the time,” he jokes.

"Well, it's not working now," You lie.

"Oh, no?" He arches an eyebrow and smiles in that languid way that makes your heart perform acrobatics in your chest. When he speaks again, his voice is pure honey and velvet, like a siren's song. “Come here, angel."

Oh, god... You go.

Two hours later, Namjoon and you had breakfast at the bakery across the street and you went to the hospital.

You hand over the suitcase with some changes of clothes and snacks you have prepared for Lorena. She enthusiastically thanks you. The reason for such euphoria is Hoseok's visible improvement. You find him already sitting on the bed, doodling on a pad. his face flushed, the bruises no longer contrasting with his skin so much, looking like the old Hoseok again, only with his leg stuck in a horrible cage. He smiles when he sees you, showing his chipped tooth.

"Shouldn't you be lying there moaning and complaining about the cruelty of the nurses?" You scoff.

He laughs. "I think so, but I'm too happy to sulk." Hoseok looks away glancing at the bathroom door where Lorena closed herself for a quick shower. "The doctor says I'll be able to leave today at the end of the day, at the latest tomorrow. There's nothing wrong with my head."

“Out of the usual, you mean."

"Hey dude?" He smiles at Namjoon. "I didn't think I'd see you here again."

"I wanted to stop by to see how you are doing." Namjoon pushes the glasses up with his index. "In case you get sick, and I have to hold you, those kinds of things."

“I knew you were going to fall in love with me, it was that punch, wasn't it? That made you fall for me?" He points the chair for Namjoon to settle in. He sits up, stretching his legs, crossing his ankles.

Lorena comes out of the bathroom at the same moment and looks at Hoseok sideways.

"You're not going to fight with your sister's boyfriend again, huh, Hoseok." She warns.

“Number one,” he begins, “Namjoon is not Y/n's boyfriend. Number two, I hit Jimin's ass because he needed someone to teach him not to make my sister cry. Number three, I'm the big brother. I don't need an excuse to kick any guy who plays my little sister." And with that, he raises an eyebrow, glaring at Namjoon.

Namjoon manages a smile and nods once, as if in agreement with Hoseok. You roll your eyes.

“What do you have, Y/n?" Hoseok asks.

"I? Nothing, why?"

He's studying you intently, frowning. Oh, damn, why did everyone decide to stare at you? Isn't it enough that Namjoon, does it?

"Yes, you do. You're different. It looks... I don't know, like you're glowing."

“It's the new shampoo,” you say without blinking.

You brother narrows his eyes. "What made you so happy?"

“If you had hair like mine, you'd understand."

Lorena covers her mouth with her hand, trying—and failing—to hide her laughter. Hoseok looks at her and back at you, then finally at Namjoon, who looks oblivious and keeps all his attention on your scorching face.

Hoseok frowns.

“You are going at my sister again, you son of a bitch?" he spits at Namjoon.

"Hoseok!" You yell, offended.

"I'm not going at your sister," Namjoon explains quietly, before Hoseok continues with his big brother attack. "I am trying to convince her to date me."

"What?" Hoseok's eyes widen, glaring at you. "How are you trying to convince? Are you playing the guy, Y/n? What's wrong with him, huh?"

"Hobi!" You moan again, blushing even more.

And what about you be playing Namjoon? You barely made up. And at no point he brought up the dating topic. How can you be sure if he really wants it or is he just saying what your stubborn brother wants to hear?

"The guy's not bad," Hoseok goes on. "I think he might be a good boyfriend for you. I don't want my sister doing naughty things around. Why the hell don't you want to date the guy when he wants to date you?"

“Oh, I also want to know. You match so much!" Lorena grumbles by your side. And you stare at her, the word “traitor” glowing neon on your forehead.

"I wouldn't mind hearing the answer." Namjoon clasps his hands behind his head, relaxed and satisfied. “I even invited your sister to meet my parents today, but she refused, made a thousand excuses."

You glare at him. “I'm going to kill you,” You warn Namjoon.

"No, you won't," Hoseok interjects. "You're going to meet the guy's parents today and, end of story. Or am I going to tell Namjoon some pretty embarrassing stories about you."

"You wouldn't dare..."

"Let me see, where do I start..." Your brother drums his fingers on his chin. "Oh! I remember a good one. Listen to this Namjoon, when Y/n was six, she swallowed one of my marbles. Of course, she didn't tell anyone at the time, until she started to turn purple, and I had to turn her upside down to unmount, only she had just finished lunch and when I squeezed her belly..."

"Cool! He wins!" You jumped off the couch. "I will go! I will meet the parents of my boyfriend. Now shut up, Hoseok, or you'll end up staying in the hospital for at least another week!"

"Excellent!" Hoseok flashes an idiotic smile, but turns his attention back to Namjoon, who just gives you a very satisfied nod.

You are going to kill them both!

"So, when I squeezed her belly," Hoseok continues, "the little marble flew far away, only that with it came a jet of pasta, which washed the carpet of the living room. She looked like the Exorcist's girl. I thought that the goo wouldn't ever stop to come out."

You drop onto the couch, burying your face in your hands.

"I hate you, Hoseok!"

“I know, little sister. Oh, and there's the pens too. This is best..."

Hoseok continues telling the embarrassing moments of your life, including some that you would rather die than remember, like when you were in sixth grade and was caught in the staff room trying to figure out the questions of the physics test. You always hated physics.

Namjoon laughs so hard he actually slumps in his chair. You are relieved to see the nurse comes in to bathe Hoseok. You are about to leave the room, but he calls you back.

“I don't want you to stay here. Grandma must be arriving. It's no use stay here,” he adds when you try to protest. "You were so shaken yesterday, and Namjoon seems to do you good. You will have fun. I won't go anywhere. Also, soon they will ask you all to leave anyway. I'm very much alive. In fact, I'd rather if you didn't stay too long in here. There are so many bacteria and viruses in the air, you could end up sick."

Your brother could have all the flaws in the world, but no one ever can accuse him of not having a big heart. He always worries about you, you think even more than your father. Hoseok will be a wonderful father, you are sure of it.

"I'm not five years old anymore, Hoseok," you said excitedly. "I don't get sick for nothing."

"For me you will always be five years old. Now get out of here. Go have fun, but if you need help, you know..."

"There will be a payback, do you hear?" You point a finger at him. "I won't forget the humiliation of today."

He rolls his eyes. "Humiliation? I did you a favor! Now Namjoon already knows the worst of your story, and if he's still here, it's because he fucking likes you. Oh! Don't you get drunk and embarrass me, huh?" He winks.

"Don't you hate not being an only child?" You ask Namjoon as soon as you join him outside the room.

He laughs. "Only when Bea is around. We can go?"

You nod and he puts his arm around your shoulder, leading you down the hall towards the elevator.

"Let's go home," he announces. “You're going to need to get some clothes."

"And then we'll trade your motorcycle for my car, shall we?"

"Of course not. Part of the fun is there, angel. I will transform your wish into reality."

You look at him, suspiciously.

“I don't remember saying I wanted to die at twenty-five."

“And you won't." He laughs and plants a kiss on your lips. "You are going to fly."

Ⓒ 2022 Sugarushsuga, do not copy, translate or repost.