#I would say it’s cannon but in most shots he’s flat so…shit

[devilheartsblog]

Idfk what to post take this out of context sketch of Gantlos in Riven’s hoodie cause the server my friend and I are in agree he’s bustier than usual 😭

[percontaion-points]

Gate Crashers chapters 33 & 34

Click here for the rest of the series!

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 33

The EM pulse cannon was one of the most feared and effective weapons yet devised, which in its case didn’t refer to electromagnetic, but emotional maturity. It worked by manipulating the bioelectrical fields present in any carbon-based species with a centralized nervous system. Anyone caught in its area of effect immediately recognized any common ground they shared with their foes, threw down their weapons, and found a more constructive way to solve their problems. This usually involved a lot of hugging and offkey singing. It was devastating to troop morale, and its use was outlawed in much of known space. 

I think I would prefer to see Maggie and the other ship being completely blown to pieces by this alien ship. 

I know that I complain a lot about how tired that the tropes are in the books that I read. But in the case of this book, I would welcome it. If only because these characters are whiny and without purpose. 

And mainly because then the book would mercifully FUCKING END. 

“Mr. D’armic, shall I presume that was your best shot?”

 “Yes, it would appear so. Before you destroy my vessel, may I request that a short personal note be forwarded to my family?” 

The book says that humans were immune to the emotional blast… But honestly? The crew of the two human ships was immune because they didn’t fucking do anything. Allison was literally trying to tell this asshole about this, but he shot at her anyway. Regardless of the fact that it’s an “emotional maturity” weapon or not, he still fucking shot at her. 

“May I introduce my first officer, Commander Marcel Gruber.” 

Gruber nodded and extended his hand. “An honor, sir.” 

Allison continued down the line. “My chief engineer, Steven Billings.” 

“Mornin.’” 

“My flight ops officer, Lieutenant Jacqueline Dorsett.” 

Jacqueline shook hands with D’armic nervously. “Um, hello.”

 “Captain Maximus Tiberius of the AEUS Bucephalus.”

I’d like to remind readers that, although there is quite a long list of characters in this novel… Name off literally one personal struggle that any one of them had to overcome in the course of this book. 

If you can’t think of any, then it’s because there isn’t one. The plot revolves around technology, and holds no bearing on character growth. 

And I’m not saying that it’s not an interesting plot. 

But my problem is that so much time has been spent with these characters. We’re literally in chapter 33, for fuck’s sake! Yet all of them are about as dimensional as a flat piece of printer paper. 

“Should have stayed in the cave, my little Lividite.”

Chapter 33 summary: As mentioned, D’armic’s weapon was one of emotions rather than physical damage. The humans were immune. After a while, they invited D’armic onto Maggie, where he looked through their logs. After doing this, he determined that their current technology was not enough to have destroyed the planet. 

He then starts to explain about the experiment being done on the planet. That although they are observing the human communications coming from their planet, they were getting mixed results due to their media. He also explains that the human preserve area is a warning for other aliens to keep away, not for the humans to keep out. Allison says that their only goal is basically to talk to the leaders and establish communication between the aliens and the people of earth. 

He also explains about the dead planet below them currently. Unless this comes back around and is actually relevant, I don’t give a shit. 

D’armic goes back to his own ship, and starts to review the data he’d collected. The human ships leave, but then the evil aliens show up. They’re ready to cause more destruction, and are frustrated that D’armic is there. They then start to set him up to make it look like he’d committed the geocide. 

Chapter 34

Harris wasted no time. “Bucephalus, Harris. Break out the good china. We’ve got company.”

Chapter 34 summary: The humans land on another planet to look around. As they’re doing that, the evil aliens come up behind them. The aliens are confused because the planet only contains, as I quote “rotting resorts and vacation homes”. It doesn’t take long for the humans to figure this out as well. 

However, as the humans are debating their next move, they sense the alien ship in orbit above the planet. 

[666prophet]

Fallout S1:E5

This episode feels like a good balance between developing the main characters and how the see the world. But it felt like it focused more on the world, specifically Vault-Tec. Honestly the main plot was lost, or at least put on the back burner, in favor of the subplots. Its generally ok, but nothing great. Borderline filler feeling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spoilers and Deep Dive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ummmm alright I guess Maximus and Thaddeus are besties now. Never mind, friendship over. Wait...what the fuck was that? Since when do fusion cores require a key?!?!?! Oh Todd, you and just making stuff up. That's the most radroaches we've seen this whole time. I am also surprise that no one seems to give a shit about ammo except for The Ghoul. So that radiation poison set on pretty fast from just a few handfuls of water. Usually it would take basically swimming in irradiated water or eating a shit ton of food to build up that kind of rad level. He saved you from getting shot in Filly, but suddenly now you cant trust him?

Chet is the definition of a Vault dweller. He's happy to not fuck with the status quo and doesn't want to know what's going on. I think his relationship with Norm is a good contrast. I wouldn't be surprised if Norm left the Vault next. Also Betty is obviously sus as shit.

Ah yes wishy washy Lucy. So a little bit ago you were nervous to trust him, now you wanna make a deal with not only him but the BoS. Whom you have never met or interacted with. Bold strategy cotton, lets see how that works out for you.

Another classic Fallout shtick. It's odd that Reg didn't vote for himself. Its weird that she would bring up flat vs round earth, like Vaults haven't been around for that long. That's not ominous or strange that everyone who has been overseer has been from a trade with Vault 31. Including Betty, twice now.

See this is what I mean about the portrayal of the BoS. Like that very basic blurb of a summary could also apply to the Enclave. The difference being that the closest game time-wise was Fallout 4. They were focused on controlling weapons technology and trying to keep scientific advancements in check lest they lead to disastrous consequences. Lucy once again showing her naivete. She shouldn't be shocked with Fiends, seeing as The Ghoul LITTERALLY carved ass jerky off another ghoul.

That saying, along with the info Norm found, feels very brainwashy. So I guess Stephanie and Chet are a couple now? That makes sense 🙃. So no one can say how Vault 31 was like, and no one outside of Vault 31 has been traded to them. Interesting.

Oh shit the NCR and Shady Sands. Sooooo then this happened after a lot of the games. Shady Sands was there all the way to New Vegas. Lucy is very gung-ho suddenly again, interesting to see. I'm not sure I would charge into a Vault-Tec medical R&D facility. Then again she still has the impression that Vault-Tec are the good guys. Called it.

So obviously Betty, with the possibly help from the other former Vault 31 inhabitants, is doing a MAJOR cover up. So with a broken terminal how is the yet unelected overseer of Vault 32 supposed to communicate with the other two Vaults? The emphasized and showed that they keep even the connecting Vault doors sealed. Two former inhabitants of Vault 31, how convenient.

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Well this one brings up a lot of lore questions. I'm not sure how they are gonna write there way out of this. Fingers crossed it doesn't just start tossing and adding cannon things for the sake of the show. I'm starting to get whiplash with Lucy. She jumps too much from naive Vault dweller to I can handle myself ok wastelander.

Final Score - 6/10

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #32 - Nobody’s Ever Actually Dead in Comic Books

Our band of merry guys-who-weren’t-on-the-Lost-Light-in-issue-#1 approach the shattered husk of the Lost Light, in a gruesome scene that is only slightly marred by the graphic design.

Font doesn’t really suggest danger, does it? Here, for comparison, is something I slapped together in fifteen minutes (including recreation of background) using a font I got off a free font site.

Now, one could say that my version is rather derivative, flat, and arguably cliche, but you know what else it is? Appropriate for the fucking mood of having found a destroyed, hemorrhaging ship after everyone you knew disappeared.

I’m available, IDW! Hit me up.

Theorizing that this is the ship that the Coffin Rodimus came from- remember that? It was a few issues ago- the gang flies in for a closer look. The ship blood is actually something called quantum foam, which allows for quantum space travel to happen. It’s not supposed to be outside of the quantum quills, but the ship’s pretty junked up, so it is.

Because the ship is so very full of holes, the gang can set down for repairs pretty easy. They land in Swerve’s, finding it in less-than-pristine condition. They also find evidence of Crosscut having gotten creative, as a poster for the play he was working on is hung up in the room. Considering he was still writing it when he disappeared, this might seem a bit odd. But then you remember that this is a ship from the future, and it stops being so odd.

Because this is a future ship, with evidence that Crosscut did some stuff, it stands to reason that, at some point, everyone is going to come back from being disappeared.

Just to die.

Which is a bummer, but one crisis at a time.

Megatron disembarks the Rod Pod, with Ravage following, and everyone is just a touch put off by the duo. Everyone but Nautica, who proceeds to commit a microaggression.

Nautica, that’s Soundwave’s father you’re petting like a common animal.

Ravage, angered by this over-familiarity, swats at her. Skids questions letting an active Decepticon roam around, but Megatron brushes off these concerns, saying that finding any still-living crew members is more important. With that, the search begins.

The gang splits up to look for clues, despite Riptide thinking this is a horrible idea. They’re on the clock for this one- the quantum foam is liable to explode if it touches anything, and there’s an awful lot of the stuff floating around right now.

Nightbeat and Nautica leave the rest of the group to their own work, seeing as Nautica has the most appropriate alt-mode for traversing the gaps in the ship.

Man, that’s pretty cool. Wish Nautica hadn’t been regulated to being “girl best friend” for her character arcs, I would have loved to see her do some neat stuff for her own development. Guess that’s what happens when you get introduced as main cast late, and have to compete with all the faves who had dozens of issues to be established and who also don’t have to deal with the whole “token girl character” thing.

The rest of the gang- Megatron, Ravage, Riptide, Skids, and Getaway- start looking in the area they’re already in. Seems a little lopsided, but whatever.

Ravage finds someone almost immediately, identifying Ultra Magnus through smell alone. Only, it isn’t just Ultra Magnus.

The Magnus armor lays not terribly far away, having had its hands cut off to prevent the recall signal from being activated before being gut-murdered.

Gut-murdered wiTH A FUSION CANNON, MEGATRON

Of course, Megatron was forced to destroy his fusion canon after it was decided he would be joining the Lost Light, but you can buy these things off the black market like it’s nothing. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brainstorm had a few stashed in his lab.

As it currently stands, nobody can trust the guy who has a storied past of killing Autobots, on a future ship where the only folks who could stop him are dead. Megatron, at least, has the good sense to not argue this fact, and suggests that the boys lock both Ravage and himself up until they suss out exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, over with Nautica and Nightbeat, we run through all the weird shit that’s happened in the last day or so.

Nautica, you’ve been on this ship for months now. How did you miss the fact that the only couple within 800 miles got annihilated by way of Phase Sixer? I feel like that attack might have come up at some point.

Since they’re on the subject of spouses, Nightbeat asks Nautica if she’s married, or if she has friends. Though noting that such a direct line of questioning might get him slapped with someone else, Nautica reveals that she is single, though she does have a best friend. Nightbeat is also single, probably because he pulls shit like this.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica uses her Sonic Screwdriver wrench to open a door with the literal push of a button. Brainstorm tricked out her wrench so hard it turned into a magic wand, which is good, because they’re going to need all the help they can get now that space is literally warping around them thanks to the quantum foam.

Nautica kicks something on the elevator, and that something turns out to be Brainstorm’s mysterious briefcase. Too bad Swerve is gone, he was so invested in what it contained. Luckily, Nightbeat is just as interested.

Back over on the other side of the ship, it seems as though Megatron kept his word about not resisting, as both he and Ravage have been locked in a cabinet. Wonder how that’s going for them.

Oh, better than I expected.

Ravage is fucking pissed that Megatron joined the Autobots, thereby turning his back on everyone who supported his cause during the last four million years. Despite this grievous betrayal though, the Decepticons haven’t stopped moving. Turns out, Galvatron’s in charge now.

But only if Autobot Megatron isn’t some sort of ploy.

It’s at this point that we learn just why Ravage is here to begin with- to see if Megatron’s truly given up the Decepticons, and if he has, to murder him. But first he’d like to know why this is happening.

Megatron views himself as a monster, having perpetuated a war that ended the lives of billions, destroyed the Cybertronian way of life, ostracized his race from the rest of the universe, and killing just to have something to do. He doesn’t like feeling this way about himself, so he decided to walk away from that life by joining the other team.

Don’t think it’s quite that easy to do, but okay.

Ravage isn’t so sure that this change of heart is going to stick, still convinced that Megatron will snap back to his old self with just a bit more time. Problem is, Megatron may not have a ton of that resource left.

Didn’t they build that body in like an hour so you wouldn’t die? Yeah, no wonder it feels as ill-fitting as a twenty-dollar suit. Thing’s probably made out of pig iron and duct tape.

The lights come on before further self-reflection can be done, and the duo realize that they’ve had guests this whole time.

Someone put the kettle on.

Obviously some fucked up shit happened on this ship. Megatron isn’t so sure that it’s him who did these dirty deeds, however, as he reaches into Ratchet’s mouth and pulls out his brain. Which feels like something that doesn’t really absolve one of guilt, but okay.

Also, ew.

Back with Nautica and Nightbeat, things are getting weird.

Now, this sequence might seem confusing at first blush, but this is because the laws of reality are collapsing around them. Going by clues in the background, we can find the proper, linear progression of time, and thus is conversation. This is what is actually happening:

With the mystery of Brainstorm’s briefcase eluding us once again, we move on to see more graphic aftermaths of violence. Poor Tailgate has been nailed to the wall with a chunk of a metal beam that’s almost as big as he is. The mood lighting for this scene is gorgeous, but I’ve hit my limit for exposing y’all to gore for this issue, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Then they find something even more interesting.

Who’s ready for Under Cold Blue Stars… 2!

Back over on the opposite side of the ship, Riptide’s found something nasty. It’s a bunch of dead bodies!

Including, uh, Pipes.

Who already died a while ago.

Hm.

All the bodies in this room are in their alts, and it looks like they’ve all been shot and drilled into, for some reason. Skids brings up that he had a friend who could identify the placement of any robot’s brain module just by knowing what they turned into. Then he reaches into a corpse to see what the drill-hole’s all about. It makes him sick, though maybe not for the reason you might think. He gets on the phone with Nightbeat, who’s called to tell them that they’ve found Overlord.

Still locked in his weird body harness.

And decapitated.

Megatron is on the other line, calling because he’s figured out the same thing Skids has. Someone paid a visit to this ship. Someone nasty.

The gang regroups, and Nautica gets the basics on the DJD, because I guess nobody’s mentioned them even in passing in the last six months, either.

God, what do they even talk about on this ship? Certainly not their feelings.

The reason that one room was filled with alt-modes was because of Tarn’s addiction to transforming; t-cogs are easier to remove when they’ve been used recently.

We get a quick 4/5ths-page gore-fest, then it’s back to making it all about Megatron.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you FUCKING DEFECTED, YOU POOL NOODLE.

Nightbeat’s beginning to put two and two together. There’s an Overlord in the basement. That shouldn’t be, because Overlord got exploded by Chromedome when he mercy-killed Rewind. Something is off about the past of this ship.

Before he can establish his MTMTE everybody-lives-but-then-dies AU though, the quantum foam fucks with the ship. These sons of guns need to get the hell out of here, pronto.

Oh god, what now?

Ravage smells someone inside the Magnus armor, someone who isn’t a part of the usual nesting doll lineup. Megatron reaches into the Crackerjack box and pulls out one hell of a prize.

HE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES

Chromedome would be so thrilled, if he still existed.

[concussed-to-pieces]

Stay Safe Part Six: Go Alone

Fandom: The Mandalorian [Star Wars]

Pairing: Eventual Mandalorian [Din Djarin]/Reader

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Welcome, welcome! I hope you all are doing well. We get a touch salacious in this one, you could say. Enjoy!

Tag List: @huliabitch @wrestlingfae @toxiicpop @helplessly-nonstop @culturalrebel @sinnamon-bunn @literal-fand0m-trash @fioccodineveautunnale @hxldmxdxwn @lizajane3 @thewaythisis @nellyneko @absurdthirst @kylolover96 @crownofmanga @eli-bourne

Part One: Should Have Known Better

Part Two: Tranquil Turmoil

Part Three: Vibroblade Mettle

Part Four: Reaching Out

Part Five: Dark Past

"So…" you began, swinging your legs back and forth nonchalantly from your customary spot in the co-pilot seat.

"If you have something to ask, then ask." The Mandalorian replied curtly.

Well that was encouraging. "I know it's none of my business, but I was...um, you and Xi'an, did you guys ever…" You trailed off, the reflection of your face in the back of his helmet reminding you anew of the prudence of silence. "You know what, f-forget I even asked, I'm sorry, I know I-"

"We did not." He interjected stiffly.

"Oh!" You hated the relief that bled into your voice, over-certain that he had picked up on it. "But...I mean, the way that she-"

"Ran asked some...things of me to, er, maintain the status quo on the team when we operated together. Xi'an was a...a loose cannon, too useful and dangerous to be left to her own devices." The bounty hunter explained. "She enjoys the hunt. So I was the unattainable quarry."

"Oh." You weren't quite sure what to make of that. "She...hunted...you?"

"Not literally. She'd be dead." He said flatly. "Figuratively."

"But you guys didn't like...y'know." You barely refrained from making some weird, suggestive gestures. You were relatively certain that would get you slabbed immediately, despite his assurances to the contrary.

He shrugged. "Nope. Wasn't interested in the compromises she offered, and she, even if she didn't know it, preferred the mystery over the man." His voice was soft. 

You wondered if he had wanted her to know him. Really know him. Asking that would be incredibly invasive though, even more so than you had been already, so you bit back the query in lieu of pretending to check the munitions terminal.

"Why?" 

You jumped at his question, even though he hadn't been overly loud or sharp. "I uh-! I just...I was just curious, that's all." You blustered, rushing to unbuckle the seat harness. "Sorry, excuse me, I hear the-"

He reached back and touched your wrist, halting you mid-flight. He didn't say anything. Hell, he didn't even turn in the seat. 

His fingers slowly wrapped around your wrist, squeezed once, and then he released you. 

Confused, flushed, your heart hammering in your throat, you escaped down the ladder into the sanctuary of the hold. 

Once there you sank to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest after a moment. Your face felt like it was on fire. What was that?! you asked yourself in a panic, your hands curling into tight fists over your knees. Was that his way of chastising you for being so nosy? Or was it something a little more difficult to define?

You could still feel the weight of his armored hand on your wrist, the gentleness of the squeeze that belied the raw strength he had displayed numerous times.

The child yawned awake in their bassinet and you lunged upright, more than ready for the distraction.

…

"Oh baby you're the only thing in this whole world that's pure and good and right." You began to sing several hours later, poking the frowning child and grinning when they burst into giggles. "And wherever you are and wherever you go, there's always gonna' be some light. But I gotta' get out, I gotta' break out now, before the final crack of dawn."

You scooped the kid up, swaying them back and forth in time with your singing.

"So we gotta' make the most of our one night together, cuz' when it's over, you know, we'll both be so alone…" You dipped the child, laughing through the chorus as they squealed and waved their tiny hands in glee. "Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes! When the night is over, like a bat out of hell, I'll be gone, gone, gone. Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes!"

You paused, posing dramatically and then continuing your madcap choreography with the child. They were clearly enjoying themselves, babbling along as you belted out the next part of the song and twirled through the hold.

"But when the day is done, and the sun goes down, and the moonlight's shining through...then, like a sinner before the gates of Heaven, I'll come crawling on back to you…" You gently tweaked the baby's nose, "you, youuuuu-" 

You spun around while taking a deep breath to carry on with the next verse, only to be met with the featureless stare of one Mandalorian bounty hunter. Your tune abruptly ended with a sharp hurk.

"You do cantina shows?" He asked casually after you had turned every shade of red imaginable. "You and the kid would be a hell of a performance." He slung one ankle over the other and leaned against the wall. "Came down to tell you that we're about ten minutes out from Sorgan."

"H-How long…" you trailed off, not sure if you really wanted to know. 

"Chorus." He answered the unfinished question. 

"Good. Great. Wonderful." You ducked your face to blow a raspberry on the child's cheek, using the time to effectively hide. Maker, this was so embarrassing!

"Was about to join in, but I prefer to leave singing and dancing to the professionals." He shrugged. "Singing is easier with a group of people who also wear armor and can't carry a tune to save their lives."

"You're not funny." You replied weakly.

"You sure about that, stowaway?"

"Positive. Unless you mean funny-looking."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "That cuts deep." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back slightly, giving you the impression that he was studying you. "I've set up a rendezvous location with Dune. Hopefully, I'll be there and back by tomorrow morning."

"Oh! She agreed?" You exclaimed, more than a little surprised.

"All I had to do was tell her the Imps were involved and she was chompin' at the bit." He hesitated for a moment, then continued. "That being said, I'm gonna' take the kid with me and have you mind the ship."

"W...What?" You asked, uncertain if you had heard him correctly. 

"Look, it makes sense this way. Tracking fobs will be on the child. If I have him with me, both myself and Cara can keep him safe. Meanwhile, you have the ship primed and ready for takeoff. The failsafe."

"But…"

"You have to see it the way I do. If someone came after you and the kid while I was gone-" He cleared his throat. "I don't want to consider the outcome. So I'll bring him with me."

"No, I get it." You said shortly, moving past him to secure the child in their bassinet for the impending landing. They pouted, seeming upset that their playtime had come to such a sudden end. "I know, little one. We'll have more fun later. I promise." You whispered.

"Please don't be angry." The armored man sighed.

"I'm not angry." You retorted, "I'm...I'm peeved."

"Sounds kind of like you're angry." 

"Well that just...shows how much you know." You grumbled, latching onto the ladder and hauling yourself up into the cockpit (theoretically to escape from the bounty hunter). But of course, he followed. It is his ship, after all, you reasoned begrudgingly.

With the two of you standing awkwardly in the cockpit, it was more than a little cramped. The Mandalorian shifted his weight, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want anything to happen. To either of you." He sounded tired. "Whether you like it or not, the kid's a magnet for trouble. And out of the two of us, I'm the better fighter."

"I know that." You whispered, staring at the floor.

"I'm not...look, I know you care about him just as much as I do. Probably more. I barely remember blowing a hole in that droid and just praying that I shot it before it shot you." He muttered. "The idea of something happening to y--to that little womp rat is...dammit, I don't know. Maybe Xi'an was right. Maybe the Creed has made me soft." His tone was more frustrated now.

"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing." 

He huffed incredulously. "In my line of work?"

"Well, you may need to get new business chits." You allowed. "Ones that say things like 'bounty hunter, father of one'." 

He took your hands in his own, ignoring your pointed ribbing in favor of staring down at you. "I'll keep him safe." He assured you.

"You…" You shook your head, and then dropped your forehead to rest on his breastplate. "You had better." You whispered harshly.

The drive system beeped rapidly, signaling that the Crest was preparing to drop out of hyperspace. 

Which it did immediately. 

With extreme prejudice. 

You lost your balance and stumbled bodily into the Mandalorian, who lost his own footing and met the rear cockpit wall with a resounding clatter of beskar. He quickly shifted himself to press your back to the flat surface, his knees bent slightly to keep his balance and arms holding you steady while the ship's trajectory smoothed out. 

"You alright?" He finally asked, sounding a little breathless. He hadn't let go of you yet, probably waiting to make certain you were secure.

"Yeah, are you?" You responded in kind, worriedly looking up at him. "I hit you pretty hard, I'm sorry."

He swallowed audibly, taking an inordinate amount of time to reply, "I--I'm fine." 

"I guess this means it's time to get ready."

"Yeah." The Mandalorian nodded. Something strange lingered in the way he had his head bent low and slightly to the side, how soft his voice was. It settled into the pit of your stomach, leaving you tongue-tied in his arms. 

Early morning sunlight poured through the cockpit's transparent shielding, warming the steely blue of his armor to a fiery bronze. What would it be like to kiss him? The thought skittered through your mind and you felt a rush of shame, averting your eyes out of the nonsensical fear that he might be able to read your thoughts. Was it wrong to wonder about something like that if the object of the fantasy was a Mandalorian? 

"You...you can let go of me now." You pointed out quietly after several seconds. "I think we've evened out."

"Oh!" He exhaled sharply, scrambling to remove his hands. He bumped his helmet into your chin in his rush, flinching when you yelped in pain. "Shit, shit, hang on." He cupped your face, carefully framing your jaw so he could examine your mouth. "I'm sorry, that'll probably bruise." He said ruefully. 

"I'll be okay. Serves me right for treating you like a landing pad." You tried to joke, waving off his concern.

His thumb swept carefully beneath your split lower lip, the motion achingly cautious. "You're bleeding." He murmured, following it with another quiet, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, I'll be fine." You answered just as quietly. "It was an accident."

"I know, I just...I'll go get something for that."

…

A comlink was dropped into your waiting palm, and then the Mandalorian tapped the side of his helmet. "That's rigged to my in-ear. Just be careful with the talk button, it sticks sometimes."

"Of course, yeah." You said absently, closing your fingers around the small tube. 

"You're not listening." He observed, his shoulders sagging a little in resignation.

"N-No, I totally am!" You protested.

"You're concerned."

"...well, yes."

"Don't be." His helmet pressed to your forehead.

"You know, as much as you want to be an infallible constant or some...untouchable warrior, you're not." You closed your eyes. "I'm scared because things seem to be getting tighter and tighter. Like a noose." There it was. The honest truth. The low-lying panic that had your stomach in knots.

"That's the plan, yes." He stated ever-so-helpfully. His hands hovered warily for a second before gripping your shoulders. "Nothing will go wrong. And even if it does, I've gotten out of worse scrapes than some Imps trying to kill me." Maker, he might be the least capable person alive when it came to the task of reassuring someone.

"Is it so bad of me to not want you to have to get out of it in the first place?" You retorted. 

"No, of course not." He replied, sounding a little confused. "But this is how it's always been."

"I know. I'm sorry, I'm just...I'm being dumb again." You sighed. "Don't mind me."

He shook his head, then tipped it to the side. "You're not being dumb," He chastised, the tone of his voice strangely gentle again. "You're being careful. It's not your fault that I fight like I don't have anything to lose in nearly every situation." He hesitated for a moment. "It's...good of you to remind me. Makes me remember that I have others depending on me now." 

The smile was evident in his voice, and you felt your face light up despite your best efforts to maintain a neutral expression. "Well, good! You'd better stay safe, then. Promise me you will?"

The Mandalorian drew his thumb down the center of his breastplate, then tapped his fingers twice against his chin. "I promise." He said solemnly.

"What does that actually mean?" You asked curiously, gesturing at his chest.

"Thought in heart," He repeated the motion, "said with mouth. Two taps with two fingers on chin to indicate solid, rigid. Firm like beskar." You pulled your thumb down your chest and then tapped your chin in an approximation of his own gesture. He chuckled, moving forward and folding your fingers a little differently. "Just the first two of your hand. Index and middle. Trigger fingers." 

"D-Do you guys have other signs?" You queried, trying valiantly to hide how his touch had made your breath shudder.

"We wear helmets." He replied bluntly. "A lot of times we have to rely on gestures or body language instead of expressions." After a moment's pause he deadpanned, "this is the Way."

"Like what?"

He touched his hand to the side of his head, then fanned his fingers out. "Aru'e, enemy ahead, indicate how many with your fingers." He instructed, "So if there's three, you tuck your pinky, like this."

"What about this one?" You attempted to mimic the motion you had seen him direct at the child many times, startled when you heard him inhale roughly.

When he finally answered, his voice had a strange rasp to it. "Ad'ika. Little one, or Foundling. Start by pointing with two fingers. Again, solid, rigid, then one finger, for youth. Drag the thumb up from the corner of your mouth, for smile or joy, keep your hand open to indicate happiness." 

You clumsily tried to follow along, running through the gestures a few times until you didn't mix them up. Your heart squeezed in your chest as you realized that he had been silently referring to the child as a Foundling, as his Foundling. Possibly this entire time.

"Very good." He praised, thumping his armored knuckles against your own. "But just wait until we get to the difficult ones."

"How difficult are we talking?"

"You have shaadlar and nari, both of which mean move, but only one of them means to move. The other means move, just in general. So the gesture is like a shove, you put your whole arm into it like this…"

...

After he and the child left, you did your best to occupy yourself with some light repair work. The day stretched on like an interminable expanse, boredom and wariness combined to settle like a block of beskar in your stomach. 

You tried not to think about it, you really did. You didn't so much as touch the comlink. You kept yourself busy by sweeping out the hold, restacking and shoving the numerous crates into some semblance of order that wouldn't topple onto you in an emergency. Hell, you even used the cargo nets to actually secure the cargo. What was the world coming to?

Rain started to fall as the sun set, clouds tinted pink and orange from the fading rays. You squinted up at the sky and heaved a sigh, loathe to close yourself up in the Razor Crest but not incredibly eager to get rained on. 

You cast one last glance out towards the darkening woods as you waited for the hatch to close, shaking your head ruefully at your own behavior. This was pitiful.

You then proceeded to hang upside down in the ladder port long enough to give yourself a headache, staggering a little when you got to your feet. You fell into the captain's seat sideways, almost toppling off the other side of it with a quiet snicker. 

You wondered what he would say if he could see your antics. Probably something like, "get out of my chair, stowaway." Or maybe all you would get is that particular sigh he seemed to reserve just for you, the one that smacked of extra exasperation. You bit your lip, one foot on the floor moving the chair slightly side to side. 

How annoying. Right back where you started.

You cracked your knuckles and spread your fingers wide, imitating his sure motions as you hovered a safe distance above the toggles, switches and buttons on the control panels in front of you. You then shielded your eyes with your hand, staring studiously out from beneath your palm at the coniferous greenery that surrounded the Crest. 

"Hmm, yes stowaway, I see the problem." You mused theatrically, pitching your voice low to mimic his modulated tone, "the T of my visor appears to limit me to only seeing things that start with the letter T. Like tree." You turned your head, narrowing your eyes. "And troublemaker." Drawing an imaginary blaster, you sauntered over to the ladder port. "Alright quarry, you got two choices." You drawled, crouching by the port. "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in-"

You stopped dead, straining your ears. What was that noise? It sounded like…

It came again, louder this time. Like a wet boot hitting the floor with a dull splat. Your heart began to pound and you reached for your knife. I'm trapped up here. How did they get in? I set the proximity alarms-!

If it was Klatoonians, you could kiss your ass goodbye. They would be out for revenge, probably assuming that the Mandalorian was onboard. But you weren't about to give them an easy time.

You waited at the top of the ladder, holding your breath for what felt like forever. Every once in a while, you would hear that sound again and it would send a new rush of trepidation through you. You waited, and waited.

And waited.

The suspense was going to kill you before whatever was in the hold could.

You finally let your breath out in a slow rush, steeling yourself. The hold was still illuminated with the running lights. You should have a fighting chance against whoever was down there. At least, you wouldn't be fumbling totally in the dark. That was kind of like having an advantage, right?

Before you could think better of essentially throwing yourself at the enemy, you slid down the ladder and whirled to face your aggressor. "I'm warning you, I'm-!" You trailed off in confusion, looking around warily at the seemingly-vacant hold. "...armed?"

Down at your feet, there was a quiet splat and a mudjumper bumped into the side of your boot.

You sighed, "you've got to be fucking kidding me." You squatted down, scooping up the befuddled creature. "You little bastard. I ought to feed you to the kid." You threatened, giving it a tap on the snout. "I thought you were somebody coming to destroy me."

The mudjumper blinked up at you, and then licked one of its eyes. You grimaced. 

"Yeesh. Alright, I'm evicting you." Elbowing the button to open the bottom slat of the ramp, you tipped the amphibious beast back out into the woods. "And good riddance." You huffed, brushing your hands off on your tunic. 

...

Late that evening you sprawled out on the floor of the cockpit, just enough room between the seats and the door to keep you comfortable. You could have slept in the bunk, of course, but you had been avoiding it. The memories of that droid staring you down were a bit too fresh at this particular juncture.

You had the comlink on the floor next to your head in case you needed it. You had checked and doublechecked the proximity alarm system. All was quiet in the woods around the Razor Crest. The only thing left was to shut your eyes and attempt to sleep.

Half an hour later you huffed in aggravation, rolling over onto your back for what felt like the hundredth time. Overhead, rain pattered softly against the clear cockpit shielding. 

Your gaze lingered on the comlink, picking it up after a momentary debate and pressing the button on the side. "H-Hey, are you there?" Your throat was so dry all of a sudden.

"Yeah." He replied almost immediately. "Trouble?"

You closed your eyes in relief at the familiar sound of his voice. "No, sorry. I just…figured I'd check in before I go to bed. Status update."

"Made it to the rendezvous point. Set up a post here for the night. Will head out at dawn if no contact." He said quietly, static softening his modulation. 

"How's the baby?"

"Tired." There was a muffled rustling noise. "He conked out as soon as we stopped moving."

"Make sure he eats, please."

"Copy."

You sat there awkwardly for several seconds before clicking the button one last time to wish him a peaceful night (which he didn't respond to, of course) and placing the comlink carefully back on the floor. You wrapped your arms around your legs, thumping your forehead against your knees in frustration. "Why is it so hard to talk to him?" You mumbled. "Gods, I just…" You trailed off, rubbing at your eyes. "This is stupid. I'm being stupid." You berated yourself, sliding down onto your back even as you spoke.

You stared up at the rain-speckled shielding for several more minutes, chewing on your lower lip feverishly while you replayed his voice in your head. Even when he didn't speak, he somehow managed to say what he needed to. You thought of the tilt of his helmet when he was studying something, the way his hands hungrily devoured his environment. He could be as bad as the kid sometimes when it came to touching things. 

Then, there was the soft hitch of his breath when he had to speak a little louder; his vast library of groans, grunts and sighs. For being so stoic, he certainly made a lot of noises. Noises that, should your mind be so inclined towards thinking in a more lascivious manner, piqued your interest.

A wicked thought came to you, riding on the memory of him being poisoned. Honest words tumbling out of his mouth in a frenzy, the way he had looked at you, really looked at you. You could feel his stare even through his visor, "nice t' look at, too."

Did he really think about you like that? And earlier, when the ship had dropped out of hyperspace...

Born of your loneliness, or maybe just touch-starved infatuation, your imagination conjured up a racy scenario for you to enjoy. The idea of him settling in between your legs with a modulator-filtered curse had your breath quickening, and you warred momentarily with your guilt. Ludicrously, you came up with the justification that as long as you didn't imagine him without his helmet, it probably wasn't that offensive. 

Effectively granted permission for your thoughts, you undid the clasps on your placket and shoved your pants down around your ankles. Tonight, you decided, you would take your time. You were truly alone for the first instance in what felt like a short eternity, and it was time to indulge. 

You rolled over and got your knees beneath you, arching your back. Your trembling palm traveled down the length of your body, the slightly-colder skin making you dream of the slide of beskar on your sensitive belly and thighs. The first graze of your fingers had you whimpering into your blanket, gods it had been too long. You were barely even wet yet and already you were aching. You sobbed out a breath, your chest rubbing against the blanket with your motions. 

In your mind, however, it was the Mandalorian cupping your breasts, the Mandalorian's fingers that tortured you in near silence. You canted your hips, whispering, "please," already begging for more. Would he keep his gloves on during the act, stain the leather with your arousal? Or would he be too hungry to resist touching you barehanded? "Stars, please-" 

You plucked at your nipple with a soft little whine and teased yourself with your fingers at the edge of your entrance. How full would he make you feel? Would he shove himself in all at once, or make you beg for it? Would he tease you?

Your fingers plunged in and you gasped, your eyes rolling back in your head when you curled your index. Just thinking about him touching you in this way was enough to have you in spasm! Stars, you had it bad. 

But what if he wanted you just as much as you wanted him? What if, what if...

"Oh please fuck me…" you moaned. "I need you, pl-please-" It felt silly, but also infinitely hotter to finally say it out loud, almost as if you were practicing for the real thing. "Gods, fuck me open with that Mandalorian cock, please please please-" you rambled, giving in to the urge to be as filthy as you wished. 

Your own sense of touch faded away, replaced with the scuff of imaginary leather or the sleek glide of beskar. What would he sound like? Would he be vocal? Or would he be stoic, silent, just taking what he needed from you?

"I'm so wet for you." You crooned, spreading your legs a little wider. "So wet, just for you…" Slick pooled in your palm when you ground your clit down against the heel of your hand, the heated noise it made startlingly loud in the quiet of the cabin. "I want to feel your cock, want to know what you feel like inside me, gods, please…"

You had never felt so boldly lewd in all your life as you fucked yourself with your own fingers, your mouth running away from you when you sped up.

"It's not enough." You panted. "Not enough, my fingers aren't enough…gods, I need my Mandalorian to fuck me right. Please, please please I need you." You bit down on the blanket, rocking your hips against your hand frantically. "Please, please, fill me up, please, fuck me, fuc-k me…" you begged into the fabric, your thighs quivering as your body pulled tight in anticipation.

When you came apart, it was like stars filled your eyes. You writhed against your own hand, hips shuddering out of sync. You wished that he was inside you, you wished more than anything that you could feel him-

"I'm coming, please-" You whimpered through your orgasm, relaxing boneless on the blanket as exhaustion finally dragged at you.

When you could move again, you wiped your fingers off on your thigh and stretched, moaning in self-satisfaction before tugging your pants back up. Then, you shakily got to your feet to go clean yourself up in the refresher. 

You barely remembered getting back to your blankets, slumber already encroaching even as you climbed the ladder up to the cockpit.

…

The next morning you awoke early, feeling incredibly refreshed and chipper. Clearly that evening of hands-on indulgence was what you had been missing from your life, and you vowed to make more time for yourself in the future.

After your hearty breakfast of canned meat and some vegetables you managed to scare up, you retrieved the comlink to check in on the Mandalorian. "Stowaway to Mandalorian, all clear on my end. ETA?" 

No reply. 

You frowned, turning the small tube over in your hand. The button to talk was still depressed even after you had released it, effectively silencing any message that might have been directed at you. You pursed your lips and tugged out your knife, carefully using the tip to free up the button. Then, you tried again, this time being more delicate with the button so it didn't get caught. "Stowaway to Mandalorian, sorry for any feedback. Technical difficulties. All clear on my end. ETA?"

"I told you the damn button would get stuck if you weren't careful." He griped, making you grin.

"Aw, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" You teased.

"Didn't sleep well. We're fifteen minutes out, Dune walking drag. No pursuers yet, but get everything stowed and ready." He ordered curtly.

"Will do." You replied, saluting even though he couldn't see you. 

It didn't take much time for you to have all equipment squared away in preparation to launch, and you waited impatiently at the top of the loading ramp to spot the gleam of his armor through the trees. 

Soon enough, out he and Cara strode with the child in tow. The little one was babbling wildly as they toddled along beside the two adults, obviously carrying on quite the conversation. "Dune!" You greeted the ex-trooper happily, getting pulled into a rib-cracking hug for your trouble. "And I missed you!" You sang to the kid, scooping them up off the ground to briefly fly overhead. "Were you good for your papa?" You asked, beeping their nose softly. "Didn't cause him any trouble, right?"

You heard the Mandalorian sputter strangely, the armored man suddenly struck by a fit of coughing. Cara thumped him on the back worriedly. "Tadpole's an angel. Eats all his vegetables and everything." She assured you with a grin.

"Enough small talk. There's still one more stop after this." The Mandalorian managed to say, straightening back up and fidgeting with his gauntlets.

"Are you alright?" You asked, reaching out a hand to touch his arm. He actually jumped at the contact and you pulled back, confused.

"Sorry, I...I didn't get much sleep." His chuckle sounded forced, but he still bumped his helmet briefly against your forehead before he headed up the boarding ramp. 

Carasynthia cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowed at the armored man's back. But all she did was huff out a breath and follow after him, leaving you to bring up the rear with the child. "All that battle-rattle must be scrambling his brain." She muttered to you, making you snicker.

"Sit down and strap in." The Mandalorian called, already halfway up the ladder to the cockpit.

"Well pollywog, you heard the boss." Dune shrugged at the child, smirking when they started giggling. "Stars, why can't human kids be as nice as this one? Human kids always look like angry piglets."

…

The final stop between Sorgan and Nevarro was on Arvala-7.

An old Ugnaught came to greet you all at the door of what was clearly his modest moisture farm, his deep-set eyes roving over the group laid out in front of him. "I see your family has grown, Mandalorian. More Foundlings?" He asked dryly.

"I need your help." The armored man rasped, getting right to the point.

"I assumed as much. Why else would you return? Come in, all of you. Whatever you need, I'm certain it can wait until after supper." The Ugnaught urged, waving for you to follow.

The small dwelling was somewhat cramped with everyone squeezed into the common area, and you kept accidentally bumping elbows with Cara. After the Ugnaught had plated some strange-looking concoction (which ended up tasting surprisingly good), he settled down into his chair with a grunt. "I too have gained an addition, my armored friend." He mused, gesturing towards the doorway.

A tall, thin droid carefully bent nearly double to enter the structure, a tray gripped in its digits. "Would anyone care for some tea?" It enquired.

Before it had finished speaking the Mandalorian had his blaster out and aimed. You blinked up at him, a little startled. The Ugnaught raised a peaceable hand. "Please, please, lower your blaster. It will not harm you."

"That thing is programmed to kill the baby." The Mandalorian snapped furiously.

"What?!" You shrieked, hurrying to unsheath your vibroblade. Cara's elbow slammed against your bicep as she pulled her own blaster out and you yelped, almost losing your grip on the knife.

The droid's multiple sets of eyes whirred in the silence that followed, the metallic being observing the weapons leveled at it. "That was its intended purpose, yes. But I have rebuilt it." The Ugnaught answered serenely.

"How much of it, though?" You waved your hands, sputtering, "I don't mind droids, but hell."

"Your Mandalorian trusts me, or at least my work. IG-11 no longer poses a threat to the child." 

"I trust it under certain circumstances." The armored man muttered, his blaster staying exactly where it was. "Is it still a hunter?"

"No. But it will protect."

The IG unit seemed to be staring at the Mandalorian, who was glaring back at it harder than you had ever seen him glare. Really putting his shoulders into it.

"Tea?" The droid offered him a steaming cup, clenched in spindly fingers. You heard the Mandalorian exhale hard as Cara nodded in his stead, holstering her blaster and gingerly accepting the cup. At least one of you could be polite!

The Ugnaught rose from his chair after several tense moments had passed, stating that he needed to feed the blurrgs. The Mandalorian stalked out behind him, the armored man transparently attempting to have a private conversation. "Watch that." He ordered you curtly, gesturing at the droid.

You nodded, gamely turning to stare intently at the machine that was currently standing in a...well, not very menacing fashion. You imagined most individuals, even trained killing robots, wouldn't look particularly threatening while balancing a tray of tea-things. 

"I appear to have upset him." IG-11 commented after a moment of enduring your stare. "This was not my intention."

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Cara remarked with a touch of amusement. "He's got some weird thing about droids."

Your mind flew back to Z, the droid that had cornered you in the bunk. "I kind of understand why." You said quietly. "There was...well, an incident, with the kid and I." Cara raised an eyebrow. "We got...we were, um. We were trapped, in the bunk."

"Oh." The ex-trooper said weakly. "Well. I guess I can...I guess I'll give him that one then. Someone was going after the tyke?" She asked, reaching out a gentle hand to said tyke. The kid babbled happily, their little fingers grasping at Cara's.

"Yeah, it was a droid. One of the compound-eyed ones, too fast for me to stop it." You mumbled. "All I had was my knife."

Cara was quiet for a while, just swinging the baby's arm to and fro. "If you do not require further libations, I shall go and assist Kuiil." The droid announced stiffly, breaking the silence. 

"Wait!" You exclaimed, rushing to stand. "Just, um, wait until they come back, please?" You went on to hastily suggest, "can you, uh, show me where to put the dishes? Maybe we can clean this up while they're busy."

The droid's head rotated on a strange axis, so it took you a second to realize that it was nodding at you. "Of course. It is part of my normal duties to clear the table. It would be wise for me to accomplish this task before attempting a new one."

Inwardly you breathed a sigh of relief, almost positive that you had saved this droid from certain doom. You couldn't help but wonder how the Mandalorian knew this particular IG unit was programmed to kill the child. Perhaps they had crossed paths previously?

…

The Mandalorian's discussion with the Ugnaught Kuiil secured him not only his support, but the help of the droid as well and apparently, several blurrg. 

You were certain this trip would be a logistical nightmare. Good thing you had spent nearly an entire day cleaning out the hold! Even with the room made by stacking things properly, it would no doubt be a snug fit.

Kuiil insisted that you all stay the night either way, the Ugnaught's tone brooking no argument. The Mandalorian had heaved a sigh, but acquiesced. 

The child was already drowsy, the potent combination of a full belly and busy day working overtime to ensure a restful night. Kuiil actually rustled up a small crate for the kid to sleep in, his large hands remarkably careful as he swaddled the yawning child in an old quilt.

You were just settling them into their makeshift bed for the evening when you heard the familiar rattle of beskar. The armored man poked his head into the room after a momentary delay, his voice quiet when he requested your presence in the Crest as soon as possible.

You glanced up at him, a little confused. "Me? But-" You began to protest, indicating downwards at the child.

Cara nudged you towards the doorway, her lips quirked into an odd, almost smug smile. "I can manage tucking in the pollywog for tonight. Go help him out." She urged.

Part Seven

[unicyclehippo]

Kairos - a propitious moment for decision or action. For beaujester?

There are rules for this world. There are rules and ways of doing things correctly, which means, conversely, that there are ways of doing things incorrectly. For some, this means that they are liable to be caught in the harsh, designated lines of decreed law: things simply are as they are, as they have always been, and to fight against this is... arrogance, some might say and be correct in that. Arrogance and folly, and deeply sad. To struggle, forever, against something that is permanent. Immutable. 

There are very few things in this world that are permanent and immutable. There are many things in the world that, upon one’s first, and third, and nine-hundredth examination seem permanent and immutable. For example, on Tarth Wavesinger’s first, third, and nine-hundredth attempt to sing the wind into their sails - and on every attempt between - they failed. On Tarth Wavesinger’s nine-hundredth and first attempt, however, they discovered a shred of a song that, in storybooks and tales is said to have delighted the winds so much that it was eager to help, just to hear what the next note might be. And now, if one is patient, if one has the time and energy and knack for it, if the sky is clear and the wind is not engaged elsewhere, it is possible to call on the eastern wind. 

Beau taps the dull end of her pencil to the page, reads over the words again. 

‘D’you think this is real? Caleb?’

‘Hm?’

‘This book says that it’s possible to sing a song and the winds will listen to the call of ancient humans, who once sailed the seas alongside their elemental ancestors. Does that - sound like something that’s real, or does it sound like a story? I guess it could be both.’

‘Ja.’

‘Are you listening to me?’

‘Ja.’

‘Do you smell like cat piss?’

‘Ja.’

Beau throws her eraser at him, smirks when it hits his temple, knocking him to the side. ‘Hey!’

‘You weren’t listening to me!’

‘I was, though! You asked about elementals and conjuring wind, and if I was listening, and if I smell like cat urine.’

‘Piss.’

‘it is the same thing, Beauregard. I heard you.’

‘Why do you smell like that?’

‘I don’t know how many times I have to tell you and Fjord this,’ Caleb says with a heated note banked like an ember in his reasonable tone, ‘but Frumpkin is a real cat. Sometimes, he takes a piss. Sometimes, he does it on my coat. If it bothers you so much, you do not have to sit and read with me.’

‘Is that you being polite and you want me to leave, or...’ Caleb fixes her with ice-blue eyes for a second before returning to his books. Beau begins to make all of the most annoying sounds that she can imagine, lounging as she is on Veth’s bunk in their shared cabin. Eventually, she starts to entertain herself by trying to hoot like a monkey, not the same as what Frumpkin had been but more like the raucous creatures that had swung through the canopy of the creepy snake island they’d gone to with Fjord, before Caleb finally caves and lifts his eyes once more. He’d stopped reading a full three minutes earlier but she can admire his determination to ignore her.

‘Beauregard.’

‘Yeah, man.’

‘Please get out.’

‘Aye, aye. Don’t forget to eat something or you’ll get scurvy.’

‘I will eat something.’

Beau rolls off the bunk and, largely unread book on the fucking secrets of the universe or whatever she’d brazenly lifted from the stacks of the Cobalt Reserve tucked under her arm, she saunters from the cabin and up onto the deck. Everything smells heavily of salt and a little bit like smoke and some acrid, chemical scent Beau can’t place until she looks to the stern of the ship where one of their new friends is showing Veth a strange, tube-like device she calls a rifle. The gunpowder used for the cannons smells similar, though not entirely so, and within a few minutes of watching them Beau can ascertain that the contained explosion with the use of the powder packed into it and the small ball-bearing type ammunition would create a propulsive mechanism with the use of - what? flint maybe? - to send a metal ball flying at considerably high-speed and impact with considerable damage. 

‘Do you think it’s safe for them to be doing that on the ship?’ Fjord asks as Beau climbs to the wheel where he has taken his place.

‘No, absolutely not. I don’t think you should ever have given Nott - Veth - access to the cannons, I super don’t think she should have been your cannon person, gun monkey, whatever they’re called - ‘

‘Too late to take that offer back.’

‘ - and I think that Luc is gonna get a gun for Summer’s Eve and I can’t - I don’t think I can catch those.’

‘You can try.’

‘I got shot by Veth already once and that bullet is still in my ass,’ she tells Fjord, whose face creases into a strange expression, half laugh, half grimace. ‘I’m not going anywhere near them.’

‘Well, there’s closer to Veth and the weird weapon she’s pointing right at us,’ Fjord says with a true note of fear to his voice, ‘or there is Jester at the front of the ship,’

Back of the ship, then, Beau’s brain immediately supplies. 

‘There’s a guilty face.’

‘Huh? What? Who?’

‘You.’ Beau scoffs, loudly, insincerely, and unconvincingly. Fjord looks pained for her. ‘I don’t know what is going on between the two of you,’

‘Nothing.’

‘- but whatever it is, sort it out.’ He gives her a little nudge with his elbow, nods toward Jester. It’s fate conspiring against her that Jester turns in that moment and catches them watching, catches Fjord pointing Beau toward her, because even at a distance Beau can see the way she turns hopefully toward her. And how she draws back, draws closer to herself, arms wrapping around her waist.

‘She looks like I’m gonna hit her or something,’ Beau mutters.

‘You should probably fix that.’

‘I don’t know how, dude.’

‘Maybe, and I don’t know how good of advice this is, but maybe - just putting it out there - you could try, oh I don’t know, talking to her?’ He laughs when Beau shoves at him, pretends that he didn’t actually get shoved several feet off-balance. ‘Go on. It’s not like we have anything else vital to do before we meet up with the other armada.’

She still has the book with her, Beau realises as she makes her way down the steps toward Jester. She still has the book and ink stains over her fingers and she knows she hasn’t washed her hair in days because they don’t have bathtubs on a boat, and she had picked up this book totally at random from the shelves of the Reserve but maybe, maybe, it has some kind of secret meaning in it and she can find whatever that meaning is in the two seconds before she makes it to Jester’s side. Beau has enough time to read the title once - The Accounts of Immutability and Invention - before she is standing beside Jester.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey,’ Jester says back, musters up a smile for her. 

The sea is flat and still, as flat and still as the sea gets, which is not so much like the mirror-glass stillness of a lake or pond but more like the slow and lazy breathing of a creature at rest, the water rising and falling and the boards of the ship still sometimes falling away from under her feet. Beau’s stomach lurches as the deck tilts again, and she rights herself with a shift of her feet, rolling with it. The air is still as well, the sails fallen slack. 

‘Did you know there’s a song to conjure wind?’ Beau blurts out. ‘It was discovered early in the Age of Arcanum by a human called Tarth Wavesinger and it’s thought to be one of the earliest recorded instances of music being used as a focus for magic.’

Jester frowns. Brushes her hair off from her face. ‘Like, a gust cantrip?’

‘Uh - yeah. Probably.’

‘That’s cool.’

‘Yeah.’ Beau swallows. Flicks her eyes to the ship most closely sailing by The Balleater, a small Dwendalian vessel. She can’t make out the name at this distance but pretends to be trying. 

‘Is that it?’

‘Huh?’

‘Is that all you wanted to say?’ Jester asks, and when Beau dares to sneak a look sideways at her, she sees that Jester is holding herself very still and her face is a performance in nonchalance.

‘Uh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess.’

Jester purses her lips. ‘Okay.’

For however displeased Jester is with her - Beau suspects mightily displeased - she doesn’t move away. And as the boat rocks underfoot and as the wind picks up, and falls, and the booms shift overhead as they tack into the fleeting wind, Beau thinks about Tarth Wavesinger singing their song and adjusting it minutely note by note until finally something answered. She wonders how many times she’s spoken to Jester; there have been hundreds of conversations between them now, easily, she knows. Nine hundred? Maybe. Not that it is a magic number or anything, or that she knows what she wants to conjure, or change, if indeed she did want anything to change. 

Well. 

That isn’t entirely true.

‘Are we okay?’

‘Are we?’ Jester shoots back with barely a breath between Beau finishing her question and her response. ‘You tell me.’

‘I’m gonna go with a no? Just...picking up on that...feeling.’

Jester whirls from the railing to stand face-on with Beau, staring at the side of her head until Beau also turns to face her. ‘Do you really think he’s predatory?’ Jester demands.

‘Oh. Shit.’

‘Well? He’s a god, Beau,’

‘I mean, he isn’t though.’

That was the wrong thing to say. That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Jester’s expression makes that abundantly clear. If there was anything between them that might have happened with this conversation, any fractured paths laid out as possibilities like a great wheel of a ship waiting to be directed, they are all pointing unerringly toward the singular option of Beauregard fucks up. 

‘Wow.’

‘That’s - it’s turning out, like, if there were degrees in which the whole situation could be so super shitty,’ Beau holds one hand out far to the left, ‘and like, the best possible options,’ she holds her other far out to the right, as far as her arm will extend with the book tucked between elbow and chest, ‘then, y’know,’ she tries to sound encouraging, tilting her head from one side to the other non-committedly, ‘it’s going not terribly.’

‘So you were basically lying when you said all you said about having chaos in your heart and following him wherever and liking the Traveller and him doing cool stuff and,’

‘I said I’d follow you. I don’t know the Traveller - Artagan,’

‘Traveller.’

‘Artagan,’ Beau says again, more firmly, and when she meets Jester’s eyes it is to see a gleam of hurt too profound for Beau to have been the entire cause of it. She lowers her hands to her sides, steps forward. ‘Jes,’

‘Don’t.’

Beau stops, hand frozen where she had gone to touch her friend gently on the elbow. Guilt claws in her chest. She looks back over her shoulder to Fjord, much too far away to hear anything and yet shaking his head, obviously able to pick up on the fact that she’s fucked it up again. 

‘Jester,’

She drops her head to her chest, hiding her face from Beau. 

‘Shit. Crap. Please don’t cry.’ Beau shuffles her things around, pulling the cloth belt from around her waist to offer to Jester. She tries not to regret it when Jester blows her nose forcefully into the cloth. ‘Okay. Uh - look - I’m an idiot and an asshole, we know that,’

‘Don’t make me disagree with you when I’m angry with you, Beau.’

‘Okay. Okay. You’re right. Okay. I - am not always...’ Beau pauses, considering her words carefully. ‘I have issues with authority, and dads, and sketchy corrupt figures who tell people to do things and who aren’t around to take responsibility for their actions. I think the people who take all the flak for that, the people who take the fall, the people who are fighting the wars on behalf of generals sitting behind their fucking desks and playing paper wars deserve better. And maybe I’m crossing ideas in my head that don’t need to be crossed and defending you when you don’t need to be defended, but I see this guy and I hear that he found you when you were a kid and I start thinking of all the shit that could have happened and about what he wants you to do for him now and - I think you deserve better,’ Beau tells Jester. ‘I think out of everyone in the world you deserve someone who deserves all of your trust and faith and,’

‘I love him, Beau.’ Jester shakes her head, sniffles. ‘He’s been my best friend forever and I know he’s not what I expected but...no one is. Right?’

Beau sighs. ‘I guess not.’

‘I think...the further away from mama and the Chateau I got, the more people I met, that’s what I keep finding out. That people lie all the time and they’re not who they say they are and they do good things and bad things. And the bad things they do...don’t erase the good things,’ Jester tells her. ‘The Traveller has been my friend for years and years and years and he’s saved my life and yours.’

‘Yeah.’

‘And so, okay, he’s not a god. He was a god to me, and he’s a god to a lot of people still, and maybe it isn’t great that he’s not actually a god and it’s kind of a lot and scary and maybe I’m hurt right now but...he is helping a lot of people with the lie. Lots of people made friends and had fun because of him. That’s not bad, is it?’

‘...No,’ Beau admits. ‘No, it’s not.’

‘So when you think about it that way, do you still think he’s a creep?’

Jester looks up at her with diamond across her skin and diamond motes of light in her eyes, and Beau knows this could be the moment - she could say no, say that she trusts the Traveller and Jester and that everything will be great, and Jester will forgive her and more importantly be happy again, and,

‘Yeah.’

Jester stares at her. ‘Oh.’

‘I don’t trust someone who doesn’t...’ Beau frowns heavily, trying to pick her words. It doesn’t fucking matter at this point, she’s lost Jester for good probably, but she still loathes the idea of hurting Jester worse than she already is, so she picks her words carefully. ‘I don’t trust someone who doesn’t at the core of themself...care. I know what that sounds like coming from me, I do, but Jes, so many things go wrong in this world because people don’t care about other people. And Arta- the Traveller said himself that the only thing that matters is what he wants, right in that moment.’

‘Right, but,’

‘What if,’ Beau suggests softly, ‘he decides one day that he wants to turn every one of his followers into a tree.’

‘That would be cool.’

‘I don’t think it would be. I’m a hundred per cent biased about it, but I don’t want you to be a tree, Jester.’

‘I’d make a pretty tree.’

‘You’d be lovely. But you wouldn’t be Jester. And I don’t know if he would find that fun, or if he could change you back, but if he wanted to do that to people - do you really, honestly think that he would ask first?’ Beau ducks her head, crouches a little, to try and catch Jester’s eyes with her own. ‘Do you think he would ask?’

‘I - yes. I’ve known him forever, Beau, you only just met him. He’s not bad,’

‘I don’t think he’s bad. But I also don’t think he’s good. And there’s a big grey area there that I’m not comfortable with. I’m sorry, Jes. I wish - I really wish I could tell you that I like him and that I’d follow him, I really, really do.’

‘But you won’t,’ Jester says, with a rueful twist of a smile. ‘Because it’s not true. And you never lie.’ There’s a bitter note to the words that stings like salt in a wound and Beau stares at Jester for a moment. She isn’t sure if she’s daring Jester to ask her something, or tell her something, or working up the courage to speak herself. She just keeps staring. ‘I think... I want to be alone for a bit,’ Jester says.

Beau swallows hard. Her mouth is dry, bone-dry and all she can taste is salt.

‘Okay.’

[imastrangeone98]

Chapter 4: The Child

(A/N: I'm baaack with another chapter that no one reads!!! Yaaaaaaay- it's time my dudes. Bebeh yoda has entered the chat!)

After tying the blurrg to a large rock, the duo carefully made their way to the edge of the cliff, observing the large camp beneath them.

"Shit," Kyla muttered under her breath, ignoring the way Mando's helmet jerked towards her. "There's a ton of them."

"How do you see that far?" he asked, more for himself than for her- he already knew the answer. "I'm the one with the helmet."

But he pulled a eye scope from his pocket and began scanning. "Over twenty of them. And..."

Her eyes widened. "Is that a...?"

"Bounty droid," he confirmed, tucking the eye scope back into his pack.

"It's going to announce subprotocol sixteen," she murmured. "If we don't stop it, it'll send the entire place in lockdown."

He sighed. "Right."

They made their way down the side of the cliff and entered the flat, cautiously avoiding the bounty-hiding mercs. Thankfully, all of their attention was on the IG unit.

"I'll talk to it," Mando whispered beside her. "It'll shoot first, and I have the armor."

"Alright."

He quickly made his way to the side, out of the droid's line of sight, waiting for the right moment to speak to it. She could only hope and pray that if it shot him, it would hit his pauldron and not his vitals.

"IG unit!" she heard him yell. "Stand down-!"

BAM!

There was a loud thud and a groan. Unable to take it, she ran from cover and kneeled beside him, immediately checking for injuries.

He pulled her head down into his chest as he called out, "I'm IN the guild!"

The robot lowered its blaster. "You are a guild member? I thought I was the only one on assignment."

"Well, that makes three of us," Kyla said, helping Mando on his feet before hiding behind a column. "So much for the element of surprise."

Its turret eyes swiveled. "Sadly, I must ask you for your fob. I have already issued the writ of seizure. The bounty is mine."

She didn't need to see his face to know he was rolling his eyes. "Unless I'm mistaken, you are- as of yet- empty-handed."

"...This is true," the droid conceded.

Kyla thought for a moment. "I have an idea."

"Proceed."

"We split the reward. Half goes to you, and the other to us."

It pondered the offer for a second. "This is acceptable."

"Great," Mando muttered. "Now let's regroup, out of harm's way, and form a plan."

"I will, of course, receive the reputation merits associated with the mission," it went on, completely undeterred by the human bounty hunter's words.

"Can we talk about this later?!" he hissed.

For a brief second, it was silent. "I require an answer if I am to proceed-"

BAM!

"Oh, kriff." Kyla noticed the mercenary hiding on the rooftop, and immediately grabbed her blaster. She fired a shot right at his chest, and the man fell screaming.

More blaster shots fired into the air. More soldiers came out from their hiding spots. The entire place was becoming a miniature war zone.

"Let's go!" she heard him yell over the noise. Nodding, she rapidly fired her dual pistols into every unfamiliar face that she could see. Bodies fell left and right. They were never-ending, coming out from every direction and armed to the teeth with weaponry.

Ducking behind an old speeder truck with the IG unit covering her back, she continued to fire. Mando fiddled with the fob just beside her.

"He's in there!" He motioned to a large, metal door just a few feet away.

"Affirmative."

"I'll cover you!" she yelled. "Go!"

As he ran towards a pillar, she and the droid continued to fire off shots towards the enemies, aiming in every possible direction, slowly making their way towards cover.

But their efforts weren't enough. More kept coming- as if there were boxes filled with nothing but soldiers.

"Ah, kriff."

"It appears we are trapped," the unit announced. "I will initiate self-destruct sequencing." On its chest, a small orb appeared, pulsing with red light.

"Oh, no!" she hissed. "Don't you dare!"

"Manufacturers' protocol dictates I cannot be captured," it explained. "I must self-destruct."

"Do not self-destruct!" Mando gripped his blaster. "Cover me!"

He dashed to the door, slamming open the lock mechanism and fiddling with the wires. Kyla immediately peered out of hiding and kept firing.

It wasn't enough.

"There's too many!" she called out.

With a harsh grunt, he pulled away from the wiring and his back behind the pillar.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw an E-Web being carted onto the grounds.

"They got us pinned!" she whispered. "They're bringing in heavy artillery."

"Describe it."

"E-Web."

"...Shit!"

"I will initiate self-destruct," the droid offered.

"Do not self-destruct!" Mando yelled. "Were shooting our way out!"

"Not yet, we're not!" Kyla fixed, staring at the blaster cannon. "They're gonna fire!"

And on cue, her vision exploded with dust and debris. Shards of stone flew everywhere, blanketing her face with powder. Her nose felt clogged, and she choked.

"Beginning self-destruct countdown," she thought she heard the droid say.

"No, stop it!"

The mercenary was laughing. It sounded too loud for her ears, even through the heavy artillery.

"One of you draw their fire!" she suddenly said, turning to the others. "I might be able to sneak up and take them out!"

They nodded, and moved to the other side. And like magic, the operator shifted the gun to fire at them. She could only hope that his armor held up against the heavy beating.

Staying low to the ground, she managed to catch him off-guard, shooting into his face before taking control of the E-Web. Swinging it around, she fired into the mercenaries on the rooftops, on the ground, behind the pillars. They fell like rocks.

And there was only silence.

With an exhausted grunt, she released the gun and just had the strength to keep herself standing. Mando rushed up to her and gripped onto her shoulders, checking for wounds. He was probably the only thing that kept her upright.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Just fine, actually," she reassured him with a pat on his back. "Nothing I can't handle."

"...You're right." His voice sounded husky- most likely from the dust.

For a moment, it was quiet again. They kept staring at each other. His hand was raised, as if to brush against her cheek.

"Well done," a mechanical voice said.

They both turned to look at the buzzing droid.

"I will disengage self-destruct initiative." The glowing red bomb deactivated and disappeared back inside its chest.

She walked towards it, unaware of the Mandalorian's displeased aura. "That blaster hit looks bad. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Running a quick diagnostic." A series of beeps erupted from the machine, all too familiar to Kyla. "It has missed my central wiring harness."

"Well, that's good." She stretched. "You said the bounty was behind that door, Mando?"

"Yes."

They all stared at the metal door, pondering on what plan of action to take. Kyla turned to look at the E-Web. The others did as well.

...Well. Better than nothing.

[...]

The door was easy to take down. And when the one yet undead mercenary was made undead, there was really nothing much else to do except find the bounty.

"The tracking fob is still active," the robot noticed. "My sensors indicate that there is a life form present."

Mando's visor was locked on the fob. He scanned the room, locking onto a small pod near the back that was covered in netting. As he moved towards it, the fob's beeping grew louder.

Removing the netting, he pressed a small button on the side of it, and it folded open, revealing a...

A...

"Wait," he said, utterly confused. "They said fifty years old."

"Species age differently," the IG unit said. "Perhaps it could live many centuries."

A small, three-fingered hand reached out, pushing down its blanket. A small face with big, moony eyes peered at them, a small squeaking noise escaping it.

She was frozen.

A baby. It was a baby.

"Sadly, we'll never know." The droid lifted a claw, and Mando pushed it down.

"No." His voice was stern, yet soft- as if he was afraid to scare the infant. "We'll bring it in alive."

"The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated." It aimed its blaster at the child.

For a moment, flashes of an old IG unit and a blaster in her face flashed behind her eyelids.

She screamed, "No!"

BANG!

Her eyes burned from the sudden red flash. There was a heavy, metallic thud as the now-terminated droid fell to the ground.

Mando watched her for a quick second, analyzing for any bad reaction. There was none. She immediately went to look at the baby, who let out another soft squeak and reached out with a tiny hand towards her.

Mando stood beside her. Carefully, he reached out with a finger, wiggling it around so it would grasp the digit.

And the two watched with wonder as it grabbed his gloved hand and giggled.

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

A/N: I rewatched the mandalorian for the sake of this series and I remembered the fierce love I have for baby yoda

[thewritingstar]

Bite my Tongue

Pairing: Blossom x Butch (blossutch)

Fandom: PowerPuff Girls

Words: 6027

So I had this idea a while ago and suddenly i was struck with inspiration. This is probably the longest one shot ive done and im actually really proud of this so please be nice and show some love! Im sorry to everyone not in the fandom and just waiting for me to get off the ppg high but ahahhahah no. Anyways i hope you enjoy. 

----

Blossom was never one to shout out her opinions. She always thought them through before letting others know what she had to say. She took into consideration every perspective and point of view and if it was a question relying heavily on morals, she had already decided the right answer in her head. She was bold but never brash, unlike Buttercup who would jump straight into anything and figure out the ending later. Even Bubbles’s heavy heart could cloud her judgement at times, Blossom tried to be the one to even out the score. 

She could hold her tongue if she didn't agree because it was too much of a headache to correct every single person, she wanted to, but she knew her limits. She was an extremely educated woman. She taught herself how to read and do basic math days after she was “born”. She graduated top of her class in every school, preschool, elementary, middle and high school where she had to unfortunately share the top spot with Brick who had the same exact GPA as her down to the 11th decimal point. Yes, they checked that far. 

She went to an elite college and worked her way into a PHD for Organic Chemistry, Marine Biology and even Law. No one knew more than her, except maybe Brick, but that was still up for debate because she graduated one week before him. They had a conjoined party and they spent most of the night debating. Most people thought they hated each other but they had a really close bound like siblings. 

The moral of her life is that she knew best. She knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it and if she didn’t she would find a way. It’s what made her such a determined and born leader. No matter the situation being a group project for English class or a monster fight, the calculations in her head were ready and thought through before leaving her mouth. 

And if she ever did yell or scream without thinking, it would only be a millisecond before she had facts to prove her point. 

However she didn’t know how much of a loose cannon she would be when it came to her boyfriend. The notorious ex villain RowdyRuff Boy Butch. Aka the most unsuitable man for Blossom Utonium according to every single person's unhelpful opinion. 

She remembers when the feelings arose during high school. For some reason he had come to her for help on his mid terms. Of course she was more than happy to help and she wondered if it was because he liked to tease her or to get under his brother's skin. Whatever the case, she happily agreed. 

“I love doing charity work.” She said smugly and the dark green eyes looked at her before making her blush from the stare. 

“Damn Pink, no need to be harsh.” His voice was light and she was thankful he didn’t see it as a threat. She liked that she could joke with him because if she had said that to Brick, let’s just say another argument would break out. 

Weeks passed by as she would spend lunch and after school time with him studying. She didn’t know when he looked so peaceful when doing his homework or how much she truly enjoyed his company. They would go to small cafes or sit in the park with their worksheets spread around them. 

There was this small feeling deep within her heart that she hadn’t quite known. She thought she was getting sick or light headed but the pressure built up as she heard him laugh. She left that day and spent the rest of the night quietly staring at the ceiling, her mind for once empty as she didn’t know what to say or do. 

It was one of the first moments that she didn’t think through. It was a sudden loose thought and she ran with it. Her heart screamed at her after he came running up to her after fall break to show her that he had gotten high scores on his exams. His smile was breathtaking and she spun her around, flying them into the air before setting them back down. Those few seconds in the sky as he held her close and genuinely laughed made her have a heartfelt thought. 

Her feet landed on the ground and she was thankful that they were alone because while he was rambling on and on about how she helped him, she wrapped her fingers around the strings of his hoodie and pulled him close before crashing her lips against his. 

He wasted no time kissing her back. His lips were unbelievably soft and she had kissed others before but for some reason, this felt right. Her clouded judgement of whether she should have done this or not washed away when they pulled apart and he stared at her with wide eyes and an even wide smirk. 

“I’m proud of you Butch.” Her fingers were still around his hoodie but he made no intention to move out of her grasp. “In fact you can thank me by taking me out on Saturday.” 

To say they were both surprised was an understatement. His smirk somehow got bigger and she swore that she picked up on the blush on his cheeks and there was no doubt that her face was matching his. 

He said nothing but continued to stare and she suddenly felt like she read all the signs wrong. Maybe the shoulder touches and the knees touches weren’t what she thought. Maybe the light flirting and the teasing was just that, a joke. Maybe, oh her head was now racing. She knew better than to run all the options and pros and cons of each situation. 

She had a hand on her waist before she was pulled closed. Her hands now flat against his chest, she didn’t even know she had looked away from him. 

“You’re cute when you think too much.” So he saw those gears always turning in her head. The concentration on her face was mostly present throughout the day, the inner superhero in her. “Saturday it is Pink.” He whispered and she closed her eyes as his lips fell on hers again. Her mind now at ease.

--  

The moment the world heard about their dating, which started in high school mind you, the news exploded. Time after time they asked why she didn’t date her counterpart and time and time again she would say “Because I don’t want to”. Which was true. There was no spark between them like that. Brick had taken eyes for the joy and the laughter sister while Boomer was busy swooning over the toughest fighter, she was happy for them. Everyone was happy for those pairs. 

But Butch and Blossom received the most criticism. They understood the dynamic between the scary bad boy and the sweetest girl to walk the earth and the relationship between the best damn sports girl and the best damn musician. The dynamic of the perfectionist and the far from perfect was not everyone's cup of tea. 

At first she was annoyed. She would shoot reporters cold glares and say that her personal life was her business only. She never let Butch know how much it hurt her when people would talk down about them together. She would always be chipper around him and make sure that he always felt loved by her, she would hate to make him feel bad because of what stupid reporters would say. 

Luckily for Butch he genuinely couldn’t care less what the press thought. He spent his entire life being hounded down for his behavior and has taught himself to let things just roll off his shoulders, he had super powers, what did they have? Nothing. 

And although he could let things slide, he saw it in her eyes one day when they were hanging out. The nice summer's day was interrupted by an attack from a brutal monster. The girls saved the day as usual and as she landed and went to talk to the police, an interview got in her way. The man said something about her being better than her boyfriend and how she could allow herself to date someone who was a villain. It wasn’t even the worst comment she had received, but her body ached and all she wanted to do was curl up into her bed and cry. 

Without thinking she turned and used her ice breath, freezing his camera and making it shatter to the ground. 

“I think they are the cutest.” Bubbles said behind her and she was thankful that her sisters supported her. They were all in the same boat after all. 

Buttercup passed the guy too and shot a glare. “That’s my counterpart so saying shit like that is insulting to me buddy.” The man began shaking as the threat came from her. Buttercup never liked to use the ‘counterpart term’ but she would if it meant defending her sister and her best friend. 

Her sisters saw that strong exterior crumble. They have had their fair share of comments but watching Blossom slightly shake and bite her quivering lip as she flew home made them both sad. Bubbles wrapped her arms around her and Buttercup kissed the top of her head while texting the green eyed boy to call his girl. 

She almost didn’t pick up the phone when he called. But eventually he got her to sit on the edge of an abandoned building's roof, one of their many secret spots. He sat next to her, arm over her shoulder as he held her. Her tears came as a surprise and he let her use his shirt to soak up her pain. 

“It isn’t fair.” She whispered as she held his hand. 

“I know.”  he kissed her head. 

“It's okay if you’re done.” She cried. “I understand.” She began to move away from him. Ashamed that she had let all these people say these terrible things about him. It wasn’t fair and he deserved better. They had only been dating for about two months, she would be okay. 

It's happened before. All her past relationships had left because they couldn’t take the heat and she would try to tell them that it wouldn’t matter, because it didn’t. But for this one, it hurt. She wanted to be able to say that she wasn’t affected by the press, she wasn’t before so why now? She had become numb to paparazzi in the past but every since they practically hounded Butch every chance they got, she was afraid.

She was frightened to acknowledge that it was all wrong. Before accepting any of her other boyfriends, she had a day or two to think about it. How would they act? What would dates be? All those things played over and over in that massive mind space but this was completely blind. She had stopped thinking around him, not literally but in the means that she didn’t have to and she liked that. 

But she was now looking at the consequence of it all. Butch, who has done so much to clean up his reputation with his brothers and become civilized as much as possible, he still would fight with BC constantly but there was nothing she could do about that. He deserves someone better. Someone who wasn’t stuck up and held their head too high for anyone to touch her crown, not that she believed she did that but that's what the rumors said. Bossy Blossy as they say. 

It wasn’t fair to make him suffer. Not when his brothers got off easy. Brick was somehow adored by the press when he did something so little as smile at Bubbles and Boomer was the golden boy as he opened doors for Buttercup. But Butch, no. When the cameras captured them together, Blossom was always laughing and yet, they still said he was no match. 

So when he grabbed her arm gently and pulled her to his chest. She was surprised when she felt the tears drip onto her shoulders. She looked into those green eyes she grew so fond of, they were a great color, and saw them brimming with matching tears. 

That was something she adored about him. He was naturally so tough and rough and felt the most confident with dirt caked on his face and blood dripping from the scraps. And then there was this side. The delicate and softness that no one thought he could have. The way he touched her and talked, he was always so sweet with her. 

“Blossom.” He rarely used her name. It was always pet names and endearments but when he did use her name it was for the sake of love and pain, almost like he had to save it for a special occasion. “You may not believe me but I do not give a single fuck about what those nobody's say.” 

She sniffed as his thumb caught one of her tears. “Really?” Her voice was trying to regain its strength. 

“Yes. Why would I? They say I don’t deserve you and sure I felt that way too, but then I remembered something.” He laughed a little which made her smile. 

“What?” She sniffled. 

“I remembered that I was dating Blossom Utonium. The girl who thinks everything through before diving in. She never once goes back on her promises and is so incredibly smart that she could do anything she sets her mind too. That's why I don’t worry because if you decided that I am worthy of dating you, then why would those people mean anything? You are already enough and every time I get to kiss you, for fucks sake Pink, it all washes away. So let them say shit because I have all the proof I need.” 

“You always know what you want Butch. That's what I admire about you.” 

“So do you. Maybe sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses.” 

“How sweet.” She kissed his cheek which was now fully dried of tears.

“Only for you Pink.” 

--

As years passed Blossom learned how to bite her tongue more. He taught her to not give, as he said, a single fuck and no one dared to talk about them unless it was with praise. Blossom really did try but a Reds ' patience could only go so far. Whenever someone insulted Bubbles, her husband would not hesitate to snap on them, she understood completely. Maybe that's why having a boyfriend who was cool and calm and just went with the flow was perfect. She could get fired up and he would simply cool her down. 

On the flip side, once you made a green mad, it was over and she knew better than to try and stop him. She may have enjoyed watching her boyfriend and sister beat the shit outta nasty reporters a little too much. 

She could only take so much and today was proving it. 

She was a lawyer and even though her office was filled with highly educated people, she was stuck in the back corner with three other girls who were only there as personal assistants. Then again she was only here temporarily due to her private office being constructed upstairs. Yes, she was that good. 

She couldn’t wait to have her own space. It would be nice to have a quiet place to work and if there was an emergency involving robots or monsters, her office had the perfect balcony to fly from so that she wouldn’t disturb her coworkers. But she hated being in that corner. 

In the last hour as she was finishing filing all of her neatly done paperwork, the conversation went from lip injections, the new outlet shops, the hottest men in really expensive underwear and now the topic of the ever so light gender bias was upon these ladies. 

“Did you see what happened with the actress from the giant squid film?” Haley said. “She got engaged and she was the one to propose to him.” The other two girls gasped as they fixed their nails. 

“I just don’t think that women should be allowed to ask her boyfriend to marry her. A man should propose.” The uptight blonde, Peggy said. 

“Absolutely not.” Gertrude said. “What do you think Blossom?” All eyes were now on her and she rolled her own before turning in her chair. She felt a headache coming on. 

 “I don’t see the problem.” She simply stated as she filed another paper neatly. “Good for them.” 

“You don’t think it's wrong?”

“Nope.” She didn’t have time for this; she was trying to find her stapler. 

All eyes turned to her as the other women who shared the space scoffed. “I highly doubt that your boyfriend would let you.” Gertrude said. Where was it?

Blossom’s left eye twitched and now she turned in her chair to see their faces. “My boyfriend?” She asked with a scolding tone. Fuck the stapler.

“Butch?” Haley scoffed. “Oh he is too prideful to let even Blossom propose. I mean face it Blossom, you are this big successful woman who saves the world and is crazy smart. All he does is listen to your commands. You already wear the pants in the relationship so you should agree that he should be able to make at least this decision.”

The sound of Blossom slamming her filing cabinet echoed through the office. If her man taught her one thing, it was to let the comments slide, but this, this was unacceptable. She had been through the tabloids, the paparazzi and her own “friends” questioning the integrity and well being of Butch. If he could see her rage boiling, he would have told them to “fuck off” and wrap his arm around her shoulder before they went and got smoothies. 

But he wasn’t here. She didn’t need him here to defend herself. She let that lid that was secured on her anger to screw loose and fly off. These women could criticize her all they wanted, but not her boyfriend, she wouldn’t allow it. 

“My boyfriend is a successful teacher. So he may not have the same degrees as me but he loves teaching his students and also fights to save this city and your sorry asses.”

She turned to them before grabbing her purse. Her stare was as ice cold as the power that trembled in her blood. She never used her power as intimidation against people around her but the way her palms sparked with a hot pink temper, made the ladies shut their lips. 

“Before you dare say anything about him, just know one thing. He has done more things in his life than you will ever. He may not be passionate about the same things as me but that does not make him any less of a man or any worthy of dating me. If you are going to slander his name, do it when I am not here because if you saw how much he cares about me, you would be begging to be the one dating him. He is capable of doing whatever he pleases and unlike your failed excuse of a boyfriend Gertrude, his masculinity wouldn’t crumble if I were to ask him to marry me.” 

The women were speechless as she turned and watched her walk away. 

Blossom could bite her tongue. She could be professional. She could be the perfect everything nice and fake a smile if needed. But she would and always be Butch’s biggest cheerleader. She was proud of him beyond belief when he got his bachelors in forensics science. He went on to help police officers in the labs and two years later got his teaching credentials and taught students about the mess of a murder scene. He loved it. And she loved how happy he was. 

So yes, Blossom could bite her tongue, but she could smack a bitch too. Princess Morbucks knew that first hand and had stopped commenting on her relationship. 

--

He heard the door slam with a loud shut and was thankful that he had installed those heavy duty door frames. The amount of heat literally sparking from her body was almost threatening to say the least as she set her bag on the table and he threw one of the glass figures they had on the coffee table into the air and she blasted it with a powerful force from her palm. 

He grabbed the small vacuum cleaner and grabbed the glass to make sure it didn’t stay there long. It was a nice routine they had. Get angry, break a glass figure and then drink wine. It worked to say the least. 

“Rough day babe?” He asked before setting the vacuum down and walking to their wine cabinet and pulling out two glasses. 

She was pacing in the kitchen. That was his sign of knowing that she was about to say something he was going to disagree with or love. He was hoping it was love because watching her all fired up made him slightly tingly and there was nothing better than seeing his lady in control. 

She didn’t look at the wine glass placed in front of her. Instead she kept pacing back and forth and he sat on the bar stool and watched. He knew better than to interfere with her thoughts. If she couldn’t think it through, then there was no point. The only time she didn’t run through things is when she kissed him that high school day, he loved that day.

“Blossy?” He asked a minute later and she stopped and looked at him. 

Her eyebrows were knit together and she held this look of uncertainty in her eyes, a rare scene. Those vibrant pink iris sparkled as the sunset came through the window. He wanted to say something coy but he also knew when to bite his tongue, she taught him that. 

“Would you be threatened if a woman proposed?” She asked. 

He was taken back from the question. His shoulders now tensed up but he dropped them quickly as he thought about it. He took a swig of his wine glass and shrugged. “I thought a man was supposed to do that?” 

She bit her lip before sighing and grabbing her glass. He thought again for a moment before talking again. “But then again, what's the big deal? I mean if you love them, then it shouldn’t matter who asks.” 

She nodded. “I agree.” Her shoulders visibly untensed and she leaned her elbows on the counter before rubbing her head. 

“Is that what's bothering you?” He asked before filling her empty glass. 

“It's just-” She took a sip. “The stupid women at the office. They said that a man should never allow a woman to be in control of that. That made me angry but then they said you would never let that happen. That I am always in control of you and you should be allowed to make at least that decision.” She felt a chill go through her body as she avoided his gaze. “You don’t think I am controlling, right?”

He made a combination of a snort scoff thing and just rolled his eyes at the statement. “No, you are a leader, Brick is controlling.” She rolled her eyes. “That's a fact.” He pointed out.  

“It's just sometimes-” He saw that look in her eyes and interrupted her. 

“No, no, no. Don’t do that.” He stood. “Don’t let those nasty hoes have that power over you. So you might have more degrees than me, big whoop. But I’m not some helpless guy who clings onto the success of his girlfriend, that's Boomer’s job.” She ignored the jab at his brother. 

“But do you-”

“Blossom.” He came around and lifted her chin up to meet his eyes. “I am so incredibly happy so please don’t worry. Plus.” He stepped closer to her and pulled her close. “When have I ever been one to complain about being controlled by you?” His eyes narrowed and she blushed. “I think it’s hot.” She slapped his arm playfully and buried her face in his chest. 

“Those women are dumb.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt. 

“Yeah they are. Now have some wine, I’ll be right back.” He left her as he walked into their shared bedroom. 

She took a seat at the high counter and grabbed her glass. She popped open the cork and tried to calm down. It wasn’t fair. Neither of them had the upper hand in the relationship. It was never about sizing up the other one, it was equal. Maybe in certain cases she got her way and he got his and maybe, just maybe, she knew how to persuade him. It wasn’t hard considering she could grab his attention with just the removal of her shirt, but that's besides the point. 

She grabbed her glass again and chugged. What did those women know anyways? Nothing, that's what. 

He came back a few minutes later and sat next to her. Their knees touched as he grabbed his own glass. 

“Do you remember what I told you when we first started dating?” He asked. 

She raised her brow. “That you wanted to see what was under my skirt?” 

His face flushed red as he almost choked on his wine. “No-no.”

“Really because when I asked you out you said and I quote.” She puffed out her chest. “Damn Pinky, I’d be more than happy to be your man because I’ve been dying to see those legs and what's under that skirt.” She said in a deep mocking voice. 

“That wasn’t what I said the day you asked me out though” 

She giggled. “Maybe, but you said that on our first date.” 

“And you let me see.” He said in a cocky tone and she pursed her lips and looked to the side. 

“Touche” 

He let out a laugh. “But that's not what I meant.” She looked at him and crocked her head to the side. 

“Then what?”

“I told you that if you decided that you loved me, that was all the proof I ever needed.”

That small laugh that bubbled from her lips made him smile. She looked at him before nodding her head. 

“And not to care what anyone thinks.” she finished and he nodded before leaning over and kissing her forehead. 

“Exactly.” He smirked before plopping something down on the counter. She looked towards it with confusion before he pushed it her way. “Go on, open it.”

She took the item in her hands. A soft plush box with a simple golden latch. She knew what it was instantly. Sure they had talked about marriage, they have been together for so long that some people just assumed they had secretly gotten married. They once spent a weekend in Vegas and drunk Blossom said that the 24 hour chapel was just across the street. 

She’s thankful that slightly less drunk Butch carried her to the hotel room instead. Marriage has been talked about in serious times and not so serious but at the end of the day, it was something they both wanted. 

The top opened and she stared at the giant diamond ring. It’s sharp fragments sparkled in the light and she felt a tug in her throat. “Butch.” 

“You care so much what people think, don’t give me that look. I’m right and you know it.” He stated and she continued to look at the precious stone set on a silver band. “But I also know that you love proving people wrong and challenging the odds.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

The box was set down and her hands were now in his. “When you are ready, I want you to ask me to marry you.” He said simply. 

Tears came from her eyes as she looked between him and the ring. “But-”

“But what? It doesn’t matter who asks who. I love you so fucking much that I would be an honor to be asked by you. Imagine turning down the hottest, smartest and bravest woman in the universe. I could never.” he winked. 

Her head turned towards the ring and he could see the gears in her head turning. He waited for her answer and was curious about how she would react. He loved that about her. She was constantly full of surprises even when planning it all out. 

He grabbed the box and held it to her. “Or if you would like, I would love to ask you to marry me.” 

She took the box from him hesitantly. It was a rare sight to see her so unsure of herself. She placed it onto the counter before sliding into his lap and hugging him. “Thank you.” She whispered and his arms came around and tightened around her. “I love you too.” 

“Of course Bloss.” He kissed her softly. He stood after they pulled apart and lifted her up with ease. “Now I’m going to show you who's in control.” He whispered into her ear as she let out a giggle. 

—— 

It was a few months later before it happened. She suggested a day trip to anywhere he wanted and she remembered how excited he was about the new beach opening. The warm sun of their skins as they walked down the boardwalk and enjoyed the simple company of each other. It was perfect. 

They sat on the beach, the wild crowds had fizzled out leaving them in a quiet bliss as the sunset that was a mix of pinks and oranges sat on the horizon. 

She turned towards him and smiled at him. She reached into her bag and he laughed a little. 

“Proposal on a beach with a magical sunset? Little cliche even for you.” She only rolled her eyes with a smile. 

“Perhaps.” She moved until she was kneeling next to him and placed a box in his hand. She ushered him to open it and it was the same diamond ring set on a silver band, the one he gave her. 

“Or maybe it’s a rejection.” He forced out a laugh as her eyes widened in horror. 

“No!” She quickly made him get rid of the thought. Instead she held out her own matching box. 

The latch popped open and inside was a silver wedding band. 

“You told me that you would love for me to ask you, but I’ve always wanted you to ask me. And I thought about it for a long time and instead of it being one of us.” She grabbed his hand. “Why not both of us?” 

“So we both propose?” He looked at the pair of rings and back up to her. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.” 

“Alright then.” She bit her lip. Why was she so nervous? It was Butch after all, they had been together for over seven years. She wanted it to be perfect. This moment to be captured just like the movies. 

She felt a hand go on her leg and she was pulled out of her trace of thinking. He sat smiling at her and she felt a little embarrassed at how she always got lost in her head. 

“Why don’t I start?” He said and she nodded. “Well my love. I spent most of my life thinking no one would ever give a damn about me and when i met you, well it was true since i did try to kill you.” He laughed and she only shook her head with a giggle. “I'm not good with words and you know that so bare with me babe.” 

“Anyways when I grew up and got my act together, there was always this blinding light around you. My attention was your the moment I saw you again in middle school. I was always you but I couldn't approach you. I wasn’t worthy of loving you until I became someone I wanted to be. I was so nervous asking you for help that day. Brick told me not to bother but your smile, that damn smile Pink, you were so kind and I just wanted to kiss you right then and there.” He smiled. 

“But you know all that.” He huffed. “Ya know people always asked me what my favorite thing about you was. I mean how do you answer that? How do you tell them that everything from her selflessness and bold personality, down to her eyes and her freckles that only show during summer. You can’t. Blossom, you believed in me when no one else did, not even myself and that what i love about you. You never give up and you make people feel safe and cherish. Plus you are so incredibly hot that I could just take you here right now and-you aren't stopping me? You usually stop me when I’m about to say something nasty.” 

“It's a special occasion.” She shrugged. “But yeah tell me later.” She winked and he took her hand. 

“What I'm trying to say, Blossom, is that I love you. Every up and down is going to have me next to you without hesitation. So Dr.Blossom Utonium.” She smirked at the use of her title. “Would you give me the chance to become the hottest wife the world has seen and allow me to love you for as long as I breath?”

He watched as tears formed in her eyes. “The hottest wife in the world?” She cried-laughed and he wiggled the ring. 

“The hottest.” 

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She kissed him and he placed the ring on her finger. 

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, trying not to ruin her makeup. “Okay my turn.” She grabbed the ring.

“I always know what to do or say but when it comes to you, im left speechless every time. Sometimes I feel like I never know the answer or I'm somehow wrong but if there is one thing I am certain about every single time it's you. My heart guides me without fail and it has always ended up in your hands. Time after time as my sisters were talking about marriage as kids, mostly Bubbles of course.”

“Of course.” He chimed in.

“I wouldn’t add much to the conversation. To be honest, I never thought I would get married, or that anyone would love me. Because no matter who I dated, I was always Blossom. Leader of the Powerpuff Girls and the stuck up smarty pants.” She stopped before taking his hand. “And then I remember when you asked me to tutor you. Those feelings I thought I would never experience happened. You never saw me as the leader, maybe in theory but I was an equal to you and I think that's why it hurt so much when people talked bad about you.” She frowned before sniffing and looking up towards the sky. 

“I was already so in love with you as a teen and I didn’t know how people wouldn't adore you that it made me mad. All I ever wanted was for someone to see me as me, and you do.” Her eyes came back down and he was crying. “So Butch Jojo. Will you marry me?” She smiled.

There was no hiding the tears as he held her hand and was practically shaking. “I love you so much Blossom, I can’t even tell you.” He hugged her tightly before kissing her breathlessly. Her own eyes shutting as tears fell and she threw her arms around him and her fingers threaded through his hair. “Yes of course I’ll marry you.” The words were lost on her lips. 

The sunset behind them stared at each other and basked in the bliss of being in love. Anyone could say what they want, but there was no denying that the pair loved each other beyond belief. 

Blossom could bite her tongue, but she would never stop herself from telling Butch how much she loved him. That was something she could count on. 

--

I hope you enjoyed it!!

[mylifeisactuallyamess]

Because why not!

Unexpected

Chapter 13

It had been about a week since Crait. Kylo had holed up in his quarters, he wouldn’t even let you in. You tried to carry on as normal, as people would expect you to do. You watched Hux closely everyday but once you were back in your quarters and your guard came down, you just cried. It felt like Kylo had gone again. You could sense he was alive but he was doing his damn best to sever your connection and it felt like he was physically ripping your heart out. You knew he was hurting and confused after the death of his uncle. To force project yourself so far across the galaxy would kill anyone. He was confused with his feelings about Leia, he wanted to succeed more than anything as the Supreme Leader but Hux had made him feel like shit about the failure on Crait. You wished Kylo would kill him and be done with it. But you also knew why he couldn’t.

You paced slowly around the meeting room as the officers discussed the new resistance force. They were recruiting and making some serious noise about it. And yet the First Order could not find out where their base was.

You listened intently as Hux talked about catching a prisoner.

‘That didn’t work out so well last time.’ You said cooly from the shadows. A couple of the officers jumped and you felt a thrill at their fear of you. They knew you were Kylo’s eyes and ears, around the ship.

‘Ah yes, sorry Commander maybe we should take a different tact. Any suggestions?’ You held in a groan as Hux had just dropped you right in it. You hadn’t really given this much thought, and he knew that.

Tell him something, anything. I need to get off this ship. Kylo’s voice rung in your mind for the first time in days.

‘The Supreme Leader and I have some ideas on what to do next.’

‘What might they be, Commander?’ He sneered your title.

‘You shall know the details in due time General. We still have a spy onboard the less details said the better.’ Some of the officers nodded and murmured in agreement.

‘Fine.’ Hux spat. You could tell he was absolutely furious. ‘I take it the Supreme Leader has asked you to oversee preparations?’

‘He has.’ You nodded curtly at the officers and left before anyone could say anything else. You wanted to run to Kylo, but you knew you were being watched. Followed. Troopers were shadowing you. You changed your course and heading to the training area. You had taken to training there recently and you had gained a lot more respect since everyone could see your power. You had asked a group of troopers to fire on you at will once, you know just for training purposes. Now people avoid you. The training area was empty and you stood in your usual spot and flexed the force around you, nobody could see it but it sent a vibration round so even non force users could feel it. Just a reminder to those following you what they were dealing with. You pulled your hood lower over your face as you sat down on the floor with your legs crossed. You placed your lightsaber on the ground next to you. Closed your eyes and concentrated. They didn’t waste any time, thinking you were vulnerable and in meditation. One went to grab your saber and you force choked him, another raised his blaster to shoot at you, you threw yourself backwards flat on the floor as the laser passed over you almost in slow motion. You used the force to help you up and kick the trooper behind you in the head. Your saber flew to your hand and ignited you spun round and sliced him through the middle as he stumbled away from you. You reached your hand out behind you to force grab the last trooper and drag him towards you.

‘Did you really think,’ you whispered to him, ‘that you could come at me with blasters and kill me?’ He made a choking sound as you squeezed on his throat. ‘Who sent you?’ You delved into his mind and he let out a strangled cry ‘Who sent you?!’ You shouted as the life began to leave him. Hux’s face was the last thing the trooper thought of before he died.

Hux just tried to have me assassinated. You sent Kylo. All you got was blind rage back.

He’s a dead man. You felt cold realisation settle on you as it hit you what Kylo was about to do. You dropped the lifeless body of the trooper and ran out of the training area, it was empty so no one had witnessed what just happened. But the attempt had been out in the open none the less. You could hear Kylo’s rage he was yelling for Hux. Officers and troopers alike were fleeing, you were the only one running towards the chaos. Kylo stood bellowing in the meeting room corridor, his saber crackling matching his intense anger. His hair was plastered to his head as he sweated, his cloak flared around him as he searched each room. You could see bodies littered the floor behind him.

‘Supreme Leader!’ You called. He looked at you his eyes red with rage. His face was taught and you could see he hadn’t shaved giving him an even more feral look. ‘What are you doing?’ He stepped close to you.

‘I am going to kill him.’ He shoved past you.

‘Kylo, Kylo you cant!’ You tried to grab his arm but he just brushed you off. The force, surrounded him, it almost vibrated it was the most powerful you had ever seen him. Through your bond you could feel just how powerful he was, it fed your anger and your power. But you had to keep your head. ‘Kylo lets just leave. If you kill Hux, it will be carnage. They might even rise against you.’ Your words had weight, he knew you were right. He gripped the handle of his lightsaber tightly. He looked over his shoulder at you. ‘Please.’ You whispered. He nodded and switched it off. You grabbed his hand and ran him down to the hanger, you got in a TIE fighter as it was the first thing you saw, Kylo in the pilots seat. ‘We need to go now!’ You yelled l. You could see the troopers getting ready to fire at you. The fighter rose up and flew for the hanger door, blaster shots shooting past you as you entered space. Kylo turned the fighter.

Take out the turbolaser or we aren’t going to get very far. You shot it and it blew up. They will use the ventral cannons next. You nodded even though Kylo couldn’t see you. Warhead launchers fired at you, you easily shot one, then the other. Another one blew up on debris from the ship due to Kylo’s expert piloting skills. You breathed a sigh of relief. Then you started to laugh, some weird hysterical laughter, you were leaving your entire life behind and you just did it. You didn’t even think! You wiped a tear from your eye. You gasped loudly

‘Kylo!’ You screamed as a warhead clipped the Tie fighter and all of a sudden you were spinning out of control. You were going to die and there was nothing you could do.

[anonfanfic]

Small town au! Clexa. Dun dun dun... when they get caught the first time

**They do not actually have sex. Just wanted to state that before people got into the story. (Light smut involved)**

Lexa finally had Clarke all to herself. She had managed to sneak into her cousin Lincoln’s place while he was helping their uncle. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Ever since they had decided to date it felt like the walls had started to close in on them. Everywhere they went Lexa felt eyes following their every move. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and get out of their shitty town.

She wanted to be able to hold Clarke’s hand at school without worrying about what the other kids would say, or more importantly who they would say it too. She wanted to kiss Clarke goodnight when she dropped her off, but she knew every time her truck pulled into the driveway Clarke’ mom was watching from a window, ready to pull her daughter out of the truck.

More than any of that, Lexa wanted Clarke to feel safe to be herself. She knew how hard it was to feel trapped in your own skin. Now that they were together it had made it a little easier to find themselves, but the closer they got the harder it was for Clarke to escape the suffocating confinement of her family. 

“I like this,” Clarke sighed happily as she rested her head on Lexa’s shoulder. Lexa had made some snacks and made sure to get the cheesiest romantic comedies she could find for their night together. 

“I do, too.” Lexa grinned and tilted her head so she could kiss the top of Clarke’s head. Their hands were resting in Lexa’s lap, fingers intertwined while Lexa’s rubbed soft circles against Clarke’s skin with her thumb. 

“When will Lincoln be back?” Clarke asked, and Lexa could hear the concern in her voice. Lexa hated that she was so on edge about people finding out about them. She knew it was something Clarke was always anxious about when they were together.

“We have a few hours still,” Lexa squeezed Clarke’s hand. “Gus just got a new set of shelves for the stockroom. It’ll take them a while to get those set up.”

Clarke relaxed again and Lexa felt her curl in closer to her body. Lexa licked her lips, feeling Clarke’s warm body pressed against her side.

They both went back to watching the movie, Lexa still gently caressing Clarke’s hand with her thumb. As the movie went on the touching became more purposeful. Clarke moved her hand to begin to rub up and down each of Lexa’s fingers. Lexa’s breathing hitched, but she didn’t look away from the screen in front of them. Her own hand started to snake up Clarke’s arm, her fingers dancing along Clarke’s forearm and back down again. 

Lexa saw Clarke smirk out of the corner of her eye and suppressed her own grin as she started playing with Clarke’s fingers. After a few minutes, Clarke took Lexa’s hand in her own and held it while the movie played in front of them. Lexa had no idea what was happening on the screen. She felt Clarke pull her hand up and rest it on her stomach. 

Lexa couldn’t help but look over at Clarke in shock as she felt Clarke start to guide her hand up to rest on her chest.

“Clarke…” Lexa swallowed heavily, looking down at where her hand was now resting and then back up at Clarke.

“Shhh,” Clarke smiled and leaned in to kiss Lexa. “I trust you. I want you.” Clarke murmured against Lexa’s lips. Lexa felt a warmth start in her stomach and move down. Her legs tingled as Clarke moved to straddle her.

Lexa moved her other hand to the small of Clarke’s back, lifting her shirt and running her hand up and down Clarke’s back. 

Clarke’s arms wrapped around Lexa’s neck, pulling her in to deepen the kiss. Lexa had never felt like this before. Her body felt light, but also heavy at the same time. Her limbs felt like they were radiating electricity. She could feel herself shaking as she moved her other hand down and under Clarke’s shirt. Both of her hands now flat against Clarke’s stomach. 

Clarke’s mouth moved down to her jaw and then her neck. Lexa couldn’t breath, everything was happening so fast. All she wanted to do was remember every single moment. She wanted to take in the way Clarke’s body felt against her fingers, the way her lips tasted, and how the weight of her body felt against her own. 

Lexa’s hands moved up tentatively, reaching the edge of Clarke’s bra. 

“Clarke..” Lexa’s voice was unsteady. She wanted to keep going, but she didn’t want to make a move Clarke didn’t want or would regret later.

“It’s okay, Lexa. I’ll tell you if I want to stop,” Clarke whispered into her ear. 

It was something about her tone that pushed Lexa forward. Clarke hadn’t sounded this confident in so long. She truly did want Lexa as much as Lexa wanted her. 

Lexa cupped Clarke’s breasts over her thin bra. She could feel the small bump of her nipple and ran her thumb over one and then the other. She heard Clarke gasp and smiled, repeating the action.

Clarke’s lips were back on her own kissing her deeply as Lexa continued to explore Clarke’s breasts. 

Lexa felt Clarke’s hips press down against her lap and lifted her own without thinking to create the friction they both needed so badly. 

They broke apart, both staring at each other, breathing heavily with swollen red lips. Clarke reached down to the hem of Lexa’s shirt and gave Lexa a tentative look. Lexa nodded and lifted her arms to allow Clarke to remove it.

Clarke tossed the shirt to the floor and repeated the motion with her own shirt. Lexa took in Clarke’s body, running both hands up Clarke’s sides and back down. Clarke bent down again and kissed Lexa, her hands moving to rest on Lexa’s chest. 

Lexa moaned as Clarke’s fingers found her own nipples and pinched them under the cloth of her black cotton bra. A brief thought went through Lexa’s mind about her choice of bra for the evening, though how was she to know this would happen. Lexa almost laughed at the idea of giving a shit about any of that in this moment.

Lexa reached up and around to the back clasp of Clarke’s bra. She waited a long second to make sure Clarke had time to stop her before unclasping it easily with one hand. 

“Done that a lot?” Clarke joked, giving Lexa a peck as she pulled away to remove her bra. 

Lexa’s face turned a light shade of pink that only grew more intense as she saw Clarke’s naked chest for the first time. 

“Holy shit…” Lexa couldn’t stop herself. Now it was Clarke’s turn to blush. Lexa looked up at Clarke with a bashful smile, hoping she didn’t overstep.

“You’re beautiful.” Lexa grabbed the back of Clarke’s head and pulled her down into another kiss. 

The movie had ended, though neither girl seemed to notice. Neither of them noticed the car pulling up or the front door open. It wasn’t until Lincoln walked into the room that the girl’s knew they were no longer alone.

“What the fuck, Lexa!” Lincoln exclaimed, throwing both hands over his eyes and turning to face the front door.

Clarke leaped from Lexa’s lap and scrambled to find her bra and shirt. Lexa was in complete shock. It wasn’t until her shirt hit her in the face that she even registered what was happening. Clarke already had her bra on and was fumbling with her shirt before Lexa even stood up and put her own shirt on.

“Lincoln?” Lexa blinked several times, hoping this was some sort of nightmare.

“Is everyone…decent?” Lincoln asked, a mixture of frustration and embarrassment in his voice. 

“Yeah,” Lexa thought her voice sounded very far away. It was like she was in a tunnel talking to Lincoln through one of those tin cans with a string. So far away from everything. 

Lincoln dropped his hands and turned around. He looked from Clarke to Lexa without saying a word.

“I’m gonna say this again, but this time an answer. What the FUCK, Lexa?” Lincoln’s hands moved to his hips as he waited for his cousin to reply.

Lexa took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to actually speak again.

“Lincoln, I thought you’d be gone most of the night and…” Lexa’s voice shot out of her like cannon fire; fast, loud, and messy. 

“You thought I’d be gone for the night so you were going to…and Clarke Griffin…her parents…my job…I just don’t…how the…fucking fuck.” Lincoln was pacing now, each train of thought interrupting the other as he tried to figure out what to say next.

“Lexa, do you fucking know who the fuck her parents are?” Lincoln pointed to Clarke. 

“Lincoln, it’s not…I didn’t want you to find out like this. I-We’ve been seeing each other for a few months now.” 

“Mon-Months?” Lincoln repeated, his hand still outstretched toward Clarke.

“What-How do you think this is going to go?” Lincoln pressed, his hand moving to rest on the top of his head and his eyes wide as his mind still tried to process what he had walked into in his own house.

“Lincoln…..I-I love her.” Lexa finished sheepishly. She hadn’t wanted it to go like this. She had a whole thing planned to tell Clarke, but she couldn’t stop herself. 

Lexa chanced a look at Clarke and saw the other girl just staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“Well shit Lexa, guess that’ll make all the difference. Why don’t you just go tell Coach Griffin you’re in love with his daughter. I’m sure he’ll throw a fucking parade.” Lincoln let out a humorless laugh and put his hands on his hips.

“Lincoln…are you going to tell them?” Clarke finally spoke, taking a step forward. Her face had no color and it looked like a sneeze would knock her on her ass. 

Lincoln stared at both of them in turn and once again let out a laugh, this time sounding a little more insane before running both his hands over his bald head.

“I’m not going to say shit to no one because you guys were never here.” Lincoln took a step away from his front door and gestured for them to leave.

Lexa grabbed her jacket and keys and followed Clarke who was already out the door. Lincoln grabbed Lexa’s arm before she could leave.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing with her?” Lincoln’s eyes searched Lexa’s face and Lexa could see his dark eyes filled with empathy for the path his cousin had chosen.

“I’m sure that I love her. That’s all.” Lexa replied, and it was the truth.

Lincoln kept his hand on Lexa’s arm for an extra beat before slowly nodding and releasing her. 

“Your secret is safe with me. You’re my family and I love you. You know that, right?” Lincoln asked.

Lexa smiled and leaned in to hug him. “I know.”

Lincoln squeezed her tightly and sighed. “Get out of here and get her home.”

Lexa pulled away and jumped off the porch to the driveway. She saw Clarke already sitting in the passenger seat of the truck. 

Lexa got in and let out a long breath looking over at Clarke.

“I’m so sorry. He’s not going to say anything. Lincoln’s a cool guy, he just was…ya know a little shocked at the whole…” 

“I love you, too.” Clarke interrupted Lexa, looking right at her. 

Lexa froze, staring at Clarke astounded. 

Finally, she smiled and leaned over to kiss Clarke before starting the truck.

“Let’s get you home.”

If you enjoy my writing and would like to support it, please consider going HERE and ‘buying me a coffee’. If you can’t or don’t want to, I appreciate you reading either way! Thanks everyone who reads!!

[hyperionswrath--archived]

@irvinexxkinneas:

Irvine rolled his eyes at the notion of doing thirsty more pushups after the spar. If it kept the man off his back, he supposed he would do it, though he had little choice in the matter in the end.

“So, I’m to spar, then do more pushups? I think you just like seeing me on the ground. I’d say on my hands and knees but….” he cocked a brow letting the comment die on his tongue, and turned away to face Solus while turning out most of Seifer’s orders to the other man. Irvine twisted his arm around and rolled his shoulders as he waited. If he was being honest, there was a small part of him that wondered if this kid would beat him. He recalled some of his basic training, and moves he had done to protect himself out on jobs when Exeter wasn’t going to cut it, but the kid was told to use stuff against him that was new. Warping? What was that?

With a nod, Solus came at him, weapon raised. It was swung too wide, and easy to block, but Irvine knew better than to take that as a sign he would be able to win. Feign skills from the beginning to come out with a better attack at the end, he’d seen it before. Pushing off from Solus, he grinned, and brought his sword up from the ground towards his side, which was easily missed.

Thus, began their spar.

They danced back and forth in the dirt, each getting a few taps and jabs in. Solus was definitely more skilled than Irvine was, but the man knew how to hold his own, and managed to smack Solus a few times that would definitely bruise. He knew better than to get too cocky, especially with Seifer watching nearby.

After a few more well placed hits by both men, Solus had turned and ran off away from Irvine, leaving him confused. Why was the man running away? “Oi!” Irvine yelled as the man flipped around with a determined look on his face. The last thing he saw was the wooden sword being flung in his direction and a dazzling flash of blue, before the wind was knocked out of his chest and he was flat on his back.  

Irvine blinked a few times, realizing what had happened, before he brought his gaze to Solus, who had a smug look on his face, but was holding out his hand for Irv to grab.

“So that’s warping…”

Grateful for the hand, Irvine got up with a groan. “That was unexpected kid, but good. I can definitely see why y’all train as much as ya do. I’ve got a lot to learn.” he chuckled lightly as they made their way back to Seifer.

“So, ya gonna run off to Cor, tell him that I’m no good, or are ya gonna teach me a thing or two? I can’t be that bad. Kid’s here got a few well placed marks on him.” Irvine smirked, placing his free hand on his hip, twisting the sword in the other. “What say you, Almasy? You gonna put me on my back next?”

It was up to Seifer to roll his eyes now, the notion he liked the Cowboy to his feet being an obvious taunt he was not going to indulge. Honestly, commanding the obnoxious man to do as he deemed right was kind of a power rush, but far was he from actually voicing that out loud. If the guy wanted to be cocky with him, he’d put him in his place, end of story.

Aside from that, he was, in fact, curious to see what the Marshal thought was useful for them in the long run. Could Kinneas really handle their training? And how would he react to a sparring partner that could warp - if poorly?

Feigning disinterest, however, Seifer made a point of not looking too obviously into the general direction of both men going at each other then. He was paying utter attention, his gaze slipping over the important motions when Solus took his fighting stance, analyzing Irvine’s as well, all the while seemingly being more interested in the structures of the Training Grounds.

Admittedly, both did quite the good job, all things considered. Solus was still sloppy in his approaches - he knew that much. The young Glaive had only joined their ranks a couple of weeks ago and thus was still mostly occupied with getting the ropes of how to warp and command the King’s magic in general. It took time. Kinneas, on the other hand, was mainly accustomed to guns and it showed, although he managed to not make a fool of himself in the way he handled the training sword, as well as the attacks directed at him by the Glaive.

Maybe it wouldn’t be too much of a pain to teach him. Naturally, he’d prefer to kick the brunet out right away, but seeing how low their numbers had become he knew better than to actually approach the Marshal with such thoughts. Even the worst trained Glaives were still better than none, as macabre as it might be to consider them nothing but better cannon fodder.

When Solus finally turned his back on Kinneas and darted away, Seifer quirked a brow, taking mental note of the situation to address it later. He knew what was coming now. Irvine, however, didn’t - and was knocked over when the young Glaive warped directly at him, bringing the tall man down on his back, sword pointing at him.

Huffing through his nose, Seifer pushed off the boulder he had been leaning on then, steering his steps back to the both of them when Solus helped the Sharpshooter back to his feet.

Ignoring Irvine, he turned to the younger man and shook his head. “Never turn your back on your opponent. Not even to get some distance so you can warp,” he admonished, eyes narrowing as he shot a sideglance towards Kinneas, nodding briefly in his general direction. “Kinneas is a sharpshooter, kid. He could have killed you then and there had he the means to. You wanna create distance?” - and without any preamble he flicked his right wrist, summoning Hyperion from his amiger, flipping her at Irvine and pushing her flat side against the other man, supporting the blade from the other side with his free hand and giving a firm shove in an attempt to force the Cowboy a couple of steps back, or send him back into the sand if he was able to surprise him enough.

“Push. Shove. Use what you have and force the distance. In a real spar, you might wanna consider using magic too. And if it’s not enough?”, he took a step backwards then, letting Hyperion vanish again, “...warp away before attacking again.”

Clicking his tongue, he shot the young Glaive an inquiring look, which earned him a quick nod from the man. “Y-yes Sir, sorry Sir!” Seifer snorted at that, giving a dismissive gesture with his right hand. “Cut the Sir, we have no ranks below the Captain and the Marshal. Now back to practise with you.”

Only when Solus scampered away did the tall blond turn back to Irvine, crossing his arms in front of his chest once more to size the man up once more, a sigh heaving from his lips. “Shit dude, you can’t even defend yourself against a new recruit… what did’ya do all those years?”

One hand went to his neck then, scratching while he grimaced, not liking what he had to do next. “We’ll see what you can do in the upcomin’ weeks.”

[chaniters]

Monsters

Reaper’s doomsday threatens to destroy the entire city of Phoenix. Rangers rush to stop him for a final, bloody confrontation. Catastrofiend seeks a second round with Awan.

Next part of @kruk-art ‘s Awan Cormac’s fanfic!

Enjoy! 

_____________________________

“Good evening,” Reaper says holding a mic. “Good evening everyone, how are you liking the party now? Pretty good, am I right? It’s good to be able to address the creme and crop of the West Coast’s corporate world” he says. 

You struggle with the impulse to shoot Reaper right now, and instead, keep moving to the side. You know better... 

It is hard to make way, engulfed by a sea of terrified civilians trying to figure out what’s going on as this skeletal man that has just killed one of their own starts the opening of a typical villain monologue. 

You’re not sure if it’s just the wardrobe or the much deeper tone he’s using, but he sounds like the physical manifestation of death right now, and it’s very demoralizing.  

According to your instructors, your main objective now would be to get into the best spot to get a clear shot at the enemy the moment your team leader orders it. Team leader... That would be Ortega right now in your mind, even if you’re not a ranger proper. 

At the corner of your eyes, you catch a glimpse of a couple of guards rushing towards the stage as you anticipated. You stop to study what kind of countermeasure Reaper’s planned to stop them. It’s pretty obvious the villain would have something prepared for this eventuality in a plan this complex. Still, you never know, right? Maybe it all backfires and he gets arrested on the spot?. That would be fun! 

You watch with anticipation as they start approaching Reaper who doesn’t even turn to them… And there it goes. They stumble on their feet and fall flat, their powered carapace armors malfunctioning as one, the joints releasing smoke and the stench of burnt circuits. A quick glance reveals the same is true for every other guard in the room. Also, more importantly, all the dampeners go down simultaneously.

“I’m afraid we will have none of that, my fellows” Reaper goes on “My AI system Charon has taken full control of the network that connects every system in this facility, including your mercenaries armors. I just have to thank your wonderful management for outsourcing most computer systems to my company” he adds dusting off his skeletal hands “It made my infiltration today a lot easier, yes, thank you for that.” 

If his AI took over all the systems that means he could overhear your intercoms. You send a mental suggestion to the woman next to Ortega, making her tap his shoulder before unconsciously pointing at you and each of the other rangers in the room, letting him know where everyone is. Having a telepath on the team is good for stuff like that.

Ortega quickly catches on because it’s not the first time you pull something this weird on him, and he gestures for you all to fan out and surround the enemy, a command you quickly pass onto all of your team with wordless thoughts. 

Sunstream and Steel move on to opposite ends of the room, while you waddle through the crowd to do the same with a hand to your gun’s grip, so that makes you three the shooters. Anathema, Elyise, Sentinel, and Ashfall remain now hidden in the crowd to intercept him. All four have powers that could prevent Reaper’s death touch, so it’s a pretty solid plan, at least in your mind. 

“Have you gone mad? What do you want from us?!” A woman asks. You recognize her as one of the company’s most priced Geneticists, Dr. Laverne. You read about her in a magazine, she developed the energy source in the Arcology.

“What do I want, you ask, Dr. Laverne? Well, to begin with, I’d like you all to have a taste of your own poison. Charon, proceed” he commands as he adjusts something to his face. A gas mask? Yes. Oh shit...

Ventilation shafts open up into the ceiling, making everyone look up which soon proves to be a mistake. Columns of dark brown gas descend rapidly upon the crowd, engulfed everyone into the acrid stench of the cloud outside. He must have disconnected the air purifiers, and started pumping the poisonous air directly inside. 

The people around you immediately cover their mouths and eyes, entering coughing fits, and you have to hold onto a wall while you adjust your gas mask not to fall into it as well. 

“W... What are you…?” Laverne coughs heavily, as reaper comes down the stage, walking up to her. “Why are you doing this? This is … my life’s… work. We are protecting the people in here” she says trying to stand to him.

“You, who have built this monstrosity... You, who are literally throwing a party while everyone outside is poisoned... You call this protection?”

“Not true… this… project is open… open to everyone!” she protests

“Everyone who can pay, you mean. Your greed has blinded all of you. You praise yourselves in having brought a handfull of powered heroes to the world, while your product kills thousands who try to live the dream... But it ends now. I’m not only funneling the cloud into the living spaces of this Arcology. It’s going straight into the power plant’s core, Dr. Laverne.”

The fear that creeps into her brain upon his words is hard to miss, even at this distance, in a room full of terrified people.

“J-just stop… we can… we can do whatever you want. We can offer you anything just...” she tries to negotiate under the gas

“Please doctor, I wouldn’t have gotten this far if all I wanted was extortion. The biomorphic fungi abomination you engineered is a truly remarkable lifeform.  It resists extreme temperatures, toxins of all kinds, and more importantly, grows incessantly while generating and metabolizing hero drugs turning the reaction into power. Quite brilliant I must say. Well, as it turns out, the toxic waste poisoning the city’s sky just happens to be the fungi’s ideal feeding ground. Now that it’s entering the core, the creature must be growing at a rapid pace, don’t you think?  It will soon overgrow its containment unit… Charon believes once it’s free it will grow through the whole Arcology exterior, maybe the whole city. Perhaps it can turn the entire cloud into hero drugs, given enough time.”

“You are mad! You will destroy the entire city! You will kill hundreds of thousands!”

“I’ve thought of it too, Doctor… but the thing is… isn’t it worth it to sacrifice one city if it means the whole country will realize the danger that your corporations represent? What lack of all regulation truly means? There won’t be any way for them to still support the economic free-zone and lack of all regulations after this.”

“Please.. You can’t do this!”

“Oh but I can. I am the Reaper, and you Dr. Laverne, you will die. You will ALL die. Want to escape?” he asks turning to a few executives rushing to the door “Be my guest of course, but remember, there’s a riot outside. I finally found a use for Psychopathor, and let me tell you, he’s already surrounded the whole building and the people are MAD. If you somehow manage to make it out, you will be torn to pieces on the streets.” 

By now, there is general chaos, as everyone rushes to the exits. Reaper raises his scythe to strike at Laverne… 

“I am the Reaper, and I have come for your sou…-”

“NOW!” Ortega says giving the signal. 

 You draw your gun and take two shots. You can see Sunstream sending a golden beam, while Steel’s activates his plasma rifle at the same time. 

Sunstream’s beam hits instantly, producing a flash of heat, followed by the explosive plasma blast from Steel’s cannon and your blasts at roughly the same time.  Anathema’s times his jump along with you and is now holding Dr. Laverne, safely out of Reaper’s reach. 

For one, hopeful, brief instant, you’re sure you’ve got him… But your mind quickly realizes the truth. 

“Watch out, he’s still in there!” you say trough your intercom

“How?! We just blasted him!” Sunstream asks.

As the cloud starts to dissipate, Reaper laughter cackles through the room.

“Now this is a surprise... Rangers! I expected you to be outside fighting Psychopathor… Well, I must admit this is awkward… I’m not used to being on the baddies side. Was it too much monologuing?”

“Simply the worst” Charge says standing up to whatever’s left to him. “Now please surrender”

“I think I’ll pass... It’s a bit too soon for that, don’t you think?” 

You begin to make out his figure, walking out of the mist. He looks unscathed, but translucent, glowing with white light. Shit, you’ve seen this before at the farm! So that’s why he had invisible skin…

“Everyone, be careful! He’s boosted twice! Those must be some sort of intangibility power!” 

“Shit, so he kills on touch and we can’t even touch him?” Anathema asks. 

“Yeap. Couldn’t possibly be worse” you say, immediately regretting the choice of words. 

“Alright Rangers, let’s do this. Let’s have this little fight. But what is a Halloween party without a proper monster? Charon, please do close the doors so we can keep our partygoers here for the main attraction. Oh, and while at it...  take over the speakers, and play... hmm… the Monster Mash?. I always enjoyed a classic when working on Halloween.”

“Main attraction? What do you mea…?” Ortega asks. 

Too late. The sudden strain of nausea, pain, and rage makes your vision blur, forcing you to stop in your tracks.  You lift your gaze, and manage to get a glimpse of it, falling onto you from one of the shafts. You get just enough warning to dive to the side, as it’s blades slice the man to your left instead of you. 

Catastrofiend lands where you had just been standing roaring, it’s eyes glaring straight into your yours. It raises its blades, ready to strike. 

It hasn’t forgotten it was you who shot it last time, and whatever it is you did, the fiend didn’t like it. It wants to pay you back. A quick scan reveals none of your allies is close enough to help you right now. 

Everyone who survived that night had their own version of the events, but the one thing all witnesses agreed on is that Reaper sang along with that stupid song the whole time. You still have nightmares about it.

Catastrofiend, smiles, before leaping straight at you. 

Shit.

___________________________________________________

My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[xelinielx]

Wednesday - A JadeRoxy pirate AU one shot

This story is for my friend @tentiginouslogophile (Jade) whose birthday is today!! I failed at drawing pictures to this so you’ll have to settle for a short story heheh. It’s a bit messy because it’s hard for me to find motivation right now, though I really wanted to give you something today. I hope you’ll like it anyway. Happy birthday again! I love you!! I will probably rewrite this when I get my motivation back so it will be as great as you are 💕

Warning: contains a lot of fluff, the striders being dumbasses and implied smut.

-

Out of all the pirate ships sailing the Sburban sea, two stood out and were renowned as led by the scariest captains by all who saw them - but their crew wouldn’t agree.

Pirate captain Roxy Lalonde on the Mutie was actually one of the most absent-minded people on the planet. If they were born in the 21st century, her crew would have likened her with the pirate captain Jack Sparrow from the pirate movies, and Roxy would find that absolutely hilarious.

She was a good captain though, despite not always acting like one. In battle, she was a scary blur of swordstrokes, and she had gotten the nickname The Cat from her enemies. They all saw her as a terrifying force of nature, but her crew, who had more than once seen her throw up over the edge of the ship and fail to pet their aggressive ship’s cat, didn’t agree in the slightest. There was only one pirate brave enough to fight her.

Captain Jade Harley.

They had been fighting for as long as they could remember, always chasing each other and trying to beat the other. Today was the day they would clash again.

Jade Harley was seen as eccentric by her crew. She was brave, fast and had no hesitation in throwing herself in dangerous situations when needed. Also when not needed. That’s why her crew felt more like babysitters most of the time. “No captain, diving from the top of the mast is not a good idea in this storm.” “Captain, if you try to steer the ship through that gap it will sink.” “JADE FOR FUCKS SAKE DON’T TRY TO SHOOT THE SEAGULL WHILE WEARING A BLINDFOLD!”

Her enemies called her The Witch. She appeared out of practically nowhere with her ship, cannons firing rapidly. In the harbors there were people spreading stories about how she must have contacted Feferi the fabled Sea Witch and sold her soul for power.

The first time Jade heard those stories, she’d laughed so hard that she got the hiccups and couldn’t talk normally for the rest of the day. After that, she of course made sure to scream some long difficult words that sound like a spell to spur the stories even further when she fought the crews who dared oppose her.

-

Jade kicks the door to her quarters open with a well-aimed strike and steps out onto the deck, striking a grin. “Good morning everyone!” she exclaims and puts her captains hat over her unbrushed mess of black hair.

“‘sup Jade!” Dave calls out from atop some barrels where he’s sprawled out, eyepatches over both eyes. He was supposed to be the lookout but he was usually too lazy to do so. He also never wanted anyone to see his eyes, so he looked rather comical with the eyepatches.

“Is it Wednesday again?” Rose, the first mate asks and rolls up the map she was analyzing. Jade saunters over and smacks her hands on the table with a huge grin.

“It sure is! Let’s go to that island we passed last night. I’m sure they’ll be there.” Rose had long since learnt not to question her captain’s directives. Somehow, she always manages to get them to where they are supposed to go — even if it’s the complete wrong way according to Rose’s very accurate maps.

Sometimes she felt like she wanted to believe the sea witch rumors. “John! Prepare the cannons,” Jade shouts down a hatch, jousting the poor boy from his sleep by scaring him so bad that he crashes into the ground.

“Not Wednesday again,” he mutters and goes off to work the cannons while wrapping a blue napkin around his head.

Jade flops down on the deck and starts to pick apart her gun to clean it. It’s an important day after all, and she can’t have it ruined due to poor gun maintenance. What would grandpa say? The fact that she cleaned the gun yesterday doesn’t matter.

Dave groans as he hears the telltale clang of metal objects hitting the wooden deck and Jade humming.

“Is it fucking Wednesday again? Wasn’t it Wednesday like yesterday?” Jade giggles and throws a dirty rag on Dave and takes out a new one. Dave jerks back and almost falls off the ship.

“Shit man don’t scare me like that.” He slips off the barrels (in the right direction) and takes a seat with his back against them. “Like do you want me to die before we even fight? That is so uncool of you. And you call yourself our captain.”

Jade shuts out Dave’s usual rambling and focuses on her gun. When she’s gone over it three times, she’s satisfied and puts it back together.

“There’s a ship to starboard, Captain,” Rose calls out after a while. Jade gives Dave a disapproving look that he doesn’t see.

“And what a good lookout you are then,” she complains before running up to Rose, who is steering the ship.

She could identify that flag anywhere. “It’s them all right,” she says, face turning serious. From the way people start moving on the other ship, Jade knows that they have seen them too.

I mean not that a huge pirate ship is that easy to hide.

“To your stations!” Jade calls and runs over to the side of the ship, tying a rope with a hook securely to the side. “We’re boarding them!”

It doesn’t take long for the ships to close in on each other. Jade scans her opponents with a stern face. There is the black haired guy who wields two small guns and uses weird words to threaten them. What even does “Tally-ho!” mean? Then, there is their cook who doesn’t really like to fight. She holds a kitchen knife in one hand and looks uneasy. She will be easy to take down.

There is the blonde guy who wields an odd sword and looks even dumber than Dave. They seem to have the same mindset about letting people see their eyes- and seeing, apparently. The only difference is that this guy’s eyepatches are cut into triangles. How does that even work?

And then, staring straight at her, a sword and pistol in each hand, blonde hair flying in the wind is no one else but the ship’s captain and Jade’s nemesis.

“Roxy,” she says, and the grip on her gun tightens.

Roxy’s painted lips curl into a smile, and the sun reflects off the small black cat she has dangling from an ear. “Hi there Jadie.” She places the back of a hand against her hip and blows a lock of hair away from her face.

Jade takes a moment to take note of the sleek, fancy pink coat with golden buttons adorning Roxy’s body, the headband she has tied around her head and the white tights ending in knee-high boots.

She can feel Roxy’s eyes scanning her, seeing the loose white shirt, her large captains hat and green pieces of fabric tied around her waist into a loose, comfortable skirt.

Jade can almost feel Dave roll his eyes. “Prepare to be boarded!” Jade suddenly shouts, knocking everyone out of their staring contests. She throws the rope over to the other ship and runs over on the taut line without even swaying. Her crewmates (except for John, who runs down the hatch to the cannons) grab ropes and throw them onto Mutie’s mast, swinging themselves over. They are not going to run over a rope. In just a few moments, swords are clanging and shots are fired.

Dave and Dirk engage in a fierce battle in the front of the ship. Their swords clash together with skill and precision — the fact that neither of them can see doesn’t seem to matter. They attack and block quickly, engaging in a dangerous dance.

On the opposite side of the ship, Rose is using her sword to strike Jake’s pistols rapidly, trying to keep him from shooting. She uses the ship to her advantage, swinging her sword to urge Jake into a more vulnerable position. Jane seems to have disappeared down into the ship again. That’s just as well.

In the middle of the ship, Jade and Roxy cross blades. They whirl around each other, anticipating each other’s moves. Roxy makes a jab with her sword, and Jade slaps it away with the front of her gun, twisting around to pound the back of it into Roxy’s stomach and make her loose her footing for a moment.

But only for a moment. Roxy charges immediately, knocking Jade against the edge of the ship with her shoulder. Jade kicks Roxy’s legs before she can regain her balance, but Roxy slips her gun behind Jade’s back, knocking her to the ground with her.

They tumble around for a moment, Jade knocks the gun from Roxy’s hand with a slap from the flat side of her blade as she struggles to get out on top.

Roxy fights back and straddles Jade, holding her sword at her throat. She feels some metal touch her chin, and her eyes dart down to see Jade smirking with the nozzle of her gun aimed at her. They make eye contact for a second, then two.

Unanimously, they drop their weapons, and Roxy leans down to kiss Jade as Jade leans up to meet her lips. Jade’s hands land on Roxy’s waist, and Roxy places her hands on either side of Jade’s face, gently brushing her hair out of the way.

The rest of the world fades away as the two of them relish in the feeling of each other. The closeness of their bodies, the beating of their hearts, and the taste of the each other’s lips.

Roxy knocks the stupid hat off Jade’s head, grinning against her lips. Jade retaliates by slipping her hands under Roxy’s coat, feeling the soft skin of her stomach.

“Hell no, I’m not watching this.” The two of them part to look at the intruder. Dirk is staring straight up into the sky, triangular eyepatches still over his eyes. Roxy snorts and gives Jade another peck on the lips.

They slip into Roxy’s quarters and shut the door as their crewmates sit down together at the back of the ship. Jane comes up to join them with a few bottles of rum, and John shows up too after a while.

“You’re getting better,” Rose tells Jake after taking a swig of the rum. “Just a few more years and you might beat me.” Dave snorts and almost chokes on the drink.

They chat and joke together until the sun sets. There are several empty bottles of rum between them, and at some point, Jane went away to get them some food to snack on as well.

They hear the giggling before they see Roxy and Jade slip out of the hut. Roxy’s coat is buttoned in the wrong holes, and Jade’s hair is even more of a mess than earlier.

“Clean up after yourselves,” Jane groans and rests her head against the floor, knowing that no one will listen.

Jade and Roxy hold hands, smiling warmly at each other. Jade leans forward to place another kiss on Roxy’s lips. “Same time next Wednesday?” she asks. Roxy can see the sun set in her green eyes.

She places Jade’s hat back on her mess of black hair and kisses her nose with a giggle. “Next Wednesday.”

With those words, Jade’s crew returns to their own ship and Rose sets the course for wherever she likes, as she does every Wednesday.

As the ships part in different directions underneath the night sky, two captains stand at the far back of their ships, staring longingly at each other across the sea that mirrors the stars in the sky until the other ship disappears from view, waiting for the next Wednesday.

[cryptidswrite]

Reckless Abandon

Pairing: Jeongguk x Reader

Genre: angst mostly, a teeny bit of fluff, overwatch au, one shot + epilogue

Warnings: hella geeky with a touch of violence

Word Count: 3,976

Description: Jeongguk is Busan’s pride and joy. He protects the city from all enemies; omnic and talon alike. His face is plastered on every billboard and every street corner. You can’t even drink a can of soda without feeling like he’s watching you. The glitz and glamour he receives is endlessly irritating to you, his mechanic. When will he wake up and see that there's more important things than fame?

Author’s Note: D.va’s animated short had me feeling some type of way. So this is pretty much based off of that. Thanks, Blizzard. If only they’d make a kpop idol D.va skin. Only then will all my dreams have come true. This is my second attempt at truly writing a fic so bare with me.

“Former ESports Champion turned meka pilot, Jeon Jeongguk has done it again! Just last week he risked his life to save Busan from the Keishun ominics. At just 20 years old, he’s become South Korea’s star in the line of defense. Quick to respond to the surprise attack, Jeon and the meka squad were -”

You click off the holovideo with a roll of your eyes and pick up a clean rag to wipe of your greasy face. Rummaging through your tools, you scoff at the latest headlines. Here you are fixing up his mech from the previous week’s battle. He’s all but killed your poor baby, Bunny. The name is lame, you know and Jeongguk reminds you often. Watching how the mech bounces through the battlefields, you feel the name suits her well. So, you’ve lovingly named her Bunny. You nearly took off his head when he brought her back for repairs. The right fusion cannon had been entirely blown off, meaning you had to build a new one from scratch.

Did he care that building that cannon had caused you two sleepless nights? You doubt he’d care much if he knew. He’d probably say “Suck it up, buttercup. The enemy waits for no one.” So you grabbed your wrench and you sucked it up. As much as you hate to say it, the city does depend on him. Hell, the country kind of depends on him. It seems like too much for any one person.

You sigh and hoist yourself inside the mech to finish repairing the inside control panel. You and Jeongguk have been friends for as long as you can remember. It’s funny how you were once modifying his hoverboard when you were kids and now you’re fixing his mech as he comes home from yet another battle. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t worried about him. The boy, who was once carefree and blithe, now shoulders the responsibility of protecting an entire nation. You don’t know how he does it and honestly, you wish he didn’t have to.

Jeongguk taps on the thick glass of Bunny’s windshield. You were so immersed in the control panel, you didn’t hear him come in. Why is he here? You furrowed your brows at him as you opened the back hatch of the mech.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out taking pictures with your fans or something?” You say, sounding a little more bitter than you had intended.

He sighs, “Don’t be like that, y/n. The fame thing is annoying and overrated. I’ve told you a thousand times.”

“Whatever. Really though, I told you I’d call you when I’m done with repairs and updates. She’s nowhere near ready. I need at least another week.”

“Another week?” he whines, “I don’t wanna wait anymore.”

You roll your eyes in annoyance and move to get out of the mech. He holds out his hand as an offer to help you down and you take it. “Guk, what’s the rush? The Keishun probably won’t attack for at least another couple of months. You really need a break,”

“You know I can’t take a break. We barely won last time. The enemy is out there evolving and finding ways to become stronger. I have to stay a few steps ahead of them. My squad, this city, the country… They need me at my best. We can’t afford to lose. If I lose, than we lose everything. I’m not going to risk that.”

“Stopping putting all of this on yourself. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. You’re only human, Jeon.”

He shrugs and says, “I know. I’ve got this.”

You know he’s not listening to what you’re saying. You sigh and give up on scolding him. It’s an old fight, you know it will come up again. He’s always worried about everyone else and never himself. It makes you so angry you could scream, but you won’t. Having been his friend for so long, you should probably learn to accept his fearless martyr attitude. But why should you have to accept it? It’s entirely unfair. While he’s off worrying about the rest of the world, someone needs to worry about him.

You turn your back to him and grab the large cable laying on the ground. You plug it into the main computer that programs the mech. You need to push this matter aside and focus on running program tests for Bunny.

“Can you please get in the mech and see if the right arm has decent mobility?” You say gently, without looking at him. You know that if you look at him right now, you might cry out of frustration and that will upset him. He has enough on his plate without worrying about you too.

“Alright.”

Once you hear the closing clicks from the back hatch of the mech, you allow yourself to turn around. The mech immediately comes to life around him and he’s fully focused on the task at hand. He does as you say and moves the right arm through a full range of motions. Somehow, he looks the most natural inside the mech. You can’t explain it.

Maybe it’s because you’re so used to seeing him in the mech. Somehow, it’s almost like Bunny has become a part of him. Maybe it’s the fluid way he pilots the mech. There’s never a hiccup or pause between his thoughts and the mech’s movements. He’s really an incredible pilot, you must admit. He never fails to leave you in awe. You’d never tell him this though. His ego is already much too big for your liking.

“She’s moving better than ever. The arm even feels lighter! How’d you do it?” He turns the mech towards you, excitement radiating through his smile. You can’t help but grin back, feeling your chest swell with pride. He did recognize your hard work.

“I’m glad you’ve noticed. I wanted to experiment with using carbon fiber material instead of the steel we have been using. It’s much lighter, but just as strong. We’ll see how this one holds up in battle and then I might replace the left cannon with the same material.”

He ejects himself from the mech to closer inspect the fusion cannon. Running his fingers along the bright green paint, he turns to you with a grin.

“This is fucking incredible, y/n. Do you know how much faster I can move? Imagine a whole meka made of this stuff. We’d be lethal!”

You laugh, “You already are lethal, but yeah. That’s the end goal. Even with just the cannons replaced, it’ll tone down the overall bulk of the mech. I’ve also been working on ways to narrow down the spread of the cannons so you can be more precise with your aim.”

“You really are brilliant, you know that?”

You smirked, “Obviously. You’d be screwed without me.”

“Honestly, I would be.”

You move around him and climb back into the mech. “Okay. Enough of the sappy shit, Jeon. Bunny and I have tests to finish running.”

“I can help, you know. It is my mech after all.”

You open your mouth to argue, but something on the computer monitor caught your eye. That can’t be right… An incoming enemy? You get out of the mech, scrambling to get a better look. The monitor flashes blood red and you can hear the shrill city sirens go off, signaling for the people of Busan to take cover. Four aircrafts are making their way towards the meka base.

“No, no, no. It’s too early. They attacked just last week. How do they have more omnics ready?”

Jeongguk had already pulled the heavy cable from Bunny and locked himself inside. His headset was on and he began checking each system to prepare for take off.

“Guk, no! Y-you're not ready. I’ll call the rest of the team. You have to sit this one out!” You say firmly, stepping in front of Bunny.

“We can’t wait for backup, y/n. The omnics will be in the city by then. I can’t let that happen. I’m going.” He looks at you fiercely and from that one look you know that you’ll never be able to talk him out of it. You feel your heart break as you step aside for him take off.

Soundlessly, you sit down at the monitor and slip on your headset. If he’s going to be an idiot and charge into battle, than you’re going to be there to talk him through it. There’s no way in hell you’re going to just sit on the sidelines and watch him get hurt. You quickly pull the radar onto the screen to find the direction the Keishun are heading.

“It looks like they’re heading north, towards Suyeong-gu.” Your voice cracks slightly as you say this.

If he recognized the hesitance in your words, he didn’t show it. “I’m on it. Boosters engaged!” He calls.

Without even a glance, he takes off from the meka base and toward the Keishun. You kept telling yourself not to cry. You have to stay focused right now, you don’t have time to cry. You pulled the mech’s dash camera on to the screen, this way you could see exactly what he sees. You also pulled up a screen from the mecha hud, in order to monitor Jeongguk’s vitals.

You watched as he soared through the sky. The enemy’s small dots on the radar grew closer and closer to Bunny’s. The aircrafts took form before the camera on the dash. They’re much smaller than you had expected, about half the size of a jet. However, you knew better than anyone not to dismiss the omnic based on the size of the aircraft. The body of the craft is flat and triangular with four cord like appendages spinning behind it. As stupid as it sounds, it reminds you a little of a mechanical squid.

The omnics spot Jeongguk immediately and aim a barrage of missiles toward him. The missiles streak through the sky at an unforgiving speed, but Jeongguk was a step ahead.

“Activating Defense Matrix.” You hear his voice through your headset, tone calm and even.

The missiles soar into the matrix and explode meters away from their obvious target. Jeongguk gave them no time to react before flying into an attack of his own. He wove through the sky and aimed his micro missiles at the nearest omnic, effectively removing it from the battle. The remaining three went separate ways; One retreating, one racing towards the meka base, and the last flew straight towards the city.

“Watch it, Guk! They’re splitting up.” You warn, voice tense.

“I see it!” He calls as he races toward the omnic retreating.

You don’t care what Jeongguk said, you’re calling Jimin for backup. You quickly type in the code to have the meka base system send for help. You pray Jimin will make it there in time.

 Bunny caught up to the enemy in mere seconds. Jeongguk flew above the omnic and shot it down from above. ‘Two down, two to go.’, you thought. Maybe you shouldn’t have signaled for Jimin to come. Just as you thought that, the Keishun omnic that was headed toward the base flipped around and headed straight for Bunny.

“Jeongguk! Behind you!” You cry, feeling your heart jump into your throat..

Caught of guard, he turned Bunny around just to be thrown in the midst of the enemy’s missile attack. He didn’t have enough time to activate his Defense Matrix, he’d have to try and dodge the oncoming missiles. He swerved sharply to the right, but he wasn’t fast enough to save Bunny’s left arm.

“Dammit.” He growled through clenched teeth. He aims for the Keishun using only his right fusion cannon. His bullets caught the enemy’s craft and the omnic fell from the sky.

“Y/n. Where’s the last one?”

“He’s headed toward the city. You’ll have to hurry.”

Jeongguk whipped the mech towards the city and sped off, pushing Bunny as fast as she could go. You could hear his bated breaths through the headset and his pleas for Bunny to make it there in time. Your chest felt tight and you thought you were going to puke. You gripped the desk fiercely, knuckles white, in a desperate attempt to ground yourself.

With the last omnic in sight, Bunny unleashed an array of missiles and bullets toward the enemy. You’ve never seen Jeongguk miss a shot, never, but this time he missed. Something definitely feels off. You check Bunny’s hud for Jeongguk’s vitals and run a quick damage report on Bunny. Jeongguk is fine, but he had pushed Bunny too hard. Her boosters are beginning to fail, which is causing the mech to drag.  

“Guk, Jimin should be on-” The remaining omnic took you both by surprise. It turns it’s aim from the city and races toward Guk’s mech. He raises Bunny’s right fusion cannon to aim, but it’s too late. The omnic slams into Bunny and wraps it’s four tentacle-like arms around them. Jeongguk tries to aim the right fusion cannon towards the omnic, but the omnic was too strong and snapped the mech’s arm clean off. The Keishun was trying to crush the mech.

“Y/n. I need your help. I need you to override Bunny’s system.” His voice is calm and sure. If he’s afraid, you can’t tell.

“I-I can’t. You know that will cause her to self destruct.” You say. You didn’t realize you’ve been crying until you heard your voice crack. Dammit. This isn’t the time. You will yourself to pull it together.

“I’ll be fine, y/n. Trust me.” He tells you softly. To your right, you can see Jimin’s meka on the landing strip getting ready for take off. You quickly send Bunny’s coordinated to Jimin’s meka. He will be there soon. You just need to buy him a little time.

“I need you to buy me a few minutes to override the system. Can you do that, Jeon?” You’re lying through your teeth. You know each program on that mech like the back of your hand. You could do it in seconds, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Hell yeah, I can.”

He uses what’s left of Bunny’s left arm to swing at the omnic. You hear the sharp sound of crunching metal as he lands the hit.  He grabs his hand-held blaster from beside him, sticks his arm underneath Bunny’s windshield and fires at the omnics lower left arm. The metallic tentacle falls dead weight. Out of the corner of your eye, you watch Jimin’s mech take flight toward the city. So you begin to override the system.

“Alright, I’ve got it. You have sixty seconds until Bunny self destructs. Jimin will be there to catch you.”

“That’s not fast enough! We’ll be in the city by then. It’s gotta be now.” He says. You can hear the distinct clicks of the back hatch opening. You know exactly what he’s planning and your eyes widen with panic.

“Jeongguk, don’t you fucking dare.” You cry, vision blurring.

“I’ll be alright, y/n. I’ll see you soon, okay?” He didn’t give you any time to answer. He ejects himself from the mech, uses his blaster to take careful aim at Bunny’s core and fires.

You run to the window in time to see a green light flash across the sky. You know somewhere Jeongguk has fallen into the water bellow.

_____________________________________

Jeongguk can only remember small fragments of events after the initial blast. He remembers briefly fighting against the water with his lungs burning and his legs heavy. He remembers a bright light shining down on him and people shouting as the waves lapped against his listless aching body. He remembers your warm hand grasping his as he was being wheeled along under fluorescent lights. He could here your pleas for him to hold on. He wished he weren’t so tired. He wished he could squeeze your hand back and tell you he was alright.

The lights were bright and they make his eyes ache. He wishes someone would turn them off, or at least dim them. Jeongguk turns his head to the side and finds you curled up in a chair, staring out the window. He wonders what you’re thinking about. He swallows harshly, lips and throat feeling dry.

“Hey.” You hear him say, voice hoarse and tired.

You reply with a soft ‘Hi’, attention still on the street bellow. You feel exhausted. You haven’t been able to sleep since he’s been in the hospital. The doctors have offered you a bed and pills to help you fall asleep, but you don’t want them. You wanted to be here when he woke up. Now, you’re really not sure why. You’d cried all day yesterday, how do you still have anything left?

Nonetheless, you felt tears spill down your cheeks. You really don’t want him to see you cry. He hates it when you cry.

“How long have I been out?” He asks, wincing as he moved to sit up. His arms and back are still so sore. He wonders how far he fell.

“Two days, not too long.” Your voice is barely above a whisper.

“Are you crying? God, please don’t cry. You have the ugliest crying face.” He teases you, hoping to ease the tension surrounding the room.

You turn toward him feeling absolutely furious. Standing up, you march to his bedside and deliver a sharp smack to the back of his head.

“Ow, what the hell is the matter with you?” He rubs his head glaring at you.

“What the hell is the matter with YOU? Do you know what it’s been like fucking waiting here while you were in surgery? While you’ve been sleeping? This whole thing could have been prevented if you’d just let someone help you, but God forbid you let someone else steal your fucking spotlight. You run headfirst into these life or death situations without thinking of the consequences and I’m fucking sick of it. I never should’ve let you go out there alone. I should’ve locked Bunny down and made your dumbass wait for backup. Never again, Jeongguk. I swear. I’ll never let anything like this happen again…” Your eyes are brimmed with tears and burning with a kind of anger Jeongguk has never seen from you.

“Do you really think I did all that for a headline or two?” He sounded sincerely hurt and you almost felt bad for implying that.

“I don’t know, Jeongguk. I can’t figure out if you’re extremely selfish or just stupidly selfless. All I know is that I can’t watch you kill yourself.”

“I'm not gonna die, y/n. Jesus. Will you please-”

“I love you too much for that. I….I don’t think I can be your mechanic anymore.” You cut him off, tone much softer than before. You’ve been thinking about this for weeks now and you wish it hadn’t come down to this, but it feels like it has too. You can’t watch him destroy himself with his reckless decisions.

“Y/n…..I can’t do this without you. This isn’t about fame, it never has been. I just want to protect this country and everyone I love. I’ll admit, I should have waited for backup. I pushed Bunny to hard and I destroyed her. I did it to protect everyone, not for the fame. Please, I need you there…” Ignoring the plea of his body to stay resting, he leaned forward and took your hand.

You couldn’t look at him right now because you know you’d give him anything he wanted if you did. You muffled a sob with your other hand. Why does he have to make this so difficult for you?

He tugged you closer to him with a grimace and you didn’t put up a fight. You know you should have, but you couldn’t. Not when you heard the break in his voice as he whispered ‘come here’. He pulled you close and felt the sobs you had been fighting rake through your body. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat and held you as close he possibly could.

“I know I’m reckless. I know I don’t think things through like I should, but I can try to be more careful. I'll take a break even. I just…. I didn’t know it upset you so much. Please, y/n. Just stay.”

“I'm sorry, Jeongguk. I-I'm so sorry.”

You tried to pull away, but he just held you even tighter. You felt his tears soak through the shoulder of your shirt. Why are you so weak? Your mind was screaming at you to get up and leave, but you just couldn't. Not with him choking out hysterical apologies and clinging to you the way he is. The dam was broken now and every little emotion that he had held back was hitting him full force. You couldn’t leave him like this. Your resolve was crumbling fast, but it didn’t matter anymore.

You laid down next to him and he clung to you. You ran your fingers through his hair while he cried. His shaky breath began to slow down and you knew he was falling asleep. You let your mind wonder.

Maybe, you could stay. Maybe, he meant what he said and he just didn’t know how seriously this affected you and those around him. Maybe, you’re just thinking too hopefully. Maybe, you’re just exhausted and incapable of making any kind of decisions right now.

“I love you, Guk.” you whispered to him. You doubt he heard it.

Your eyes felt too heavy to keep open and you let yourself finally drift into sleep.

___________________________________

You were gone when he woke up. He should've been able to predict that, but it still stung. He'd hoped that maybe you would change your mind, as selfish as that sounds. Maybe he should listen to you. He’s been in battles much worse, but this time around even he couldn't deny that he had taken it too far.

Did he really expect to be able to live a long and healthy life like this? You're right and he knew it. It's just hard to understand the reality of the situation. He needed to make some changes. It seemed dramatic when you said it, but it's true. He's killing himself and he can't keep it up anymore.

He tapped the button to call the nurses in. His head was pounding and he wasn't sure if it was the injuries or the thoughts swirling around his skull. He wandered where his phone was, if someone would bring it to him. He's ready to give up piloting mekas for good if that's what it took to keep you there. None of it really mattered if you weren't by his side. He loves you and it’s time for him to tell you.

[pyropsychiccollector]

            Ten identification markers. They were ultimately what stood between Fairy Tail and victory. The other forces of Alvarez, while overwhelming in number, could be beaten back with enough tenacity and perseverance. The ten marked enemies on the map, however… the remaining Spriggan Shields… They still posed the most imminent threat. Natsu might have taken down two of the Spriggan Shields and Zeref in one fell swoop, but some of the most powerful commanders of the enemy army were still advancing towards Fiore and Magnolia.

            As Makarov stared at the map hologram with grim determination, Mavis floated over to his side.

            “The biggest threats right now are the forces to the East and South… Each of those armies has three Spriggan Shields assigned to them.” Mavis re-evaluated their current standing. “The Shields we know as Dimaria and Wahl are stationed in the south… Wahl was the one that nearly nailed our guild from Hargeon’s port.”

            Makarov frowned as his brow furrowed in slight concern.

            “We stationed Laxus in that group… I have every confidence he can win against Wahl, no matter how formidable that man has proven to be.” The weary Guildmaster stroked his beard. “And though we know next to nothing about Dimaria’s abilities, I hope that Erza and Kagura will be enough to defeat her.”

            Mavis continued to stare at the map with a neutral face.

            “That leaves the third Shield, who has yet to leave the ship he’s stationed on… We don’t know anything about him, so let’s move onto the Eastern front…”

            Makarov shook his head tiredly.

            “Some of the most intense fighting will be happening there… God Serena is there, as well as August, the King of Magic. We dispatched our Gods of Ishgar – we can only hope they can prevail.”

            “Apparently, the third Shield has been identified as Jacob Lessio. Some sort of assassination specialist. He might be the weakest of the three Shields on that front, as far as we know, but we shouldn’t take him lightly.” Mavis advised cautiously. Makarov could only nod his agreement.

            “That leaves Invel, leading the remains of a million soldiers to our West… Natsu chipped away at them, but they are still hundreds of thousands men strong. And then there is the remaining Shield to the North…” Makarov’s frown deepened. “We don’t know who that is, or what he or she is capable of. But as it is a Spriggan Shield, we must be ever vigilant.”

            “That leaves Ajeel, who Erza defeated.” Mavis finished off the analysis. “He remains at large, but we captured the other one that stepped into Magnolia… Brandish.”

            “Nine of Alvarez’s elite is still a tall order to meet… Yet there is no choice but to win. For my children, who are fighting with all their hearts. For our allied guilds, who have no stake in this fight except to defend Ishgar. For Natsu, who foolishly threw his life away to give us this chance…” At this point, tears were streaming down Makarov’s face, anew. No matter how long he took to try and process that loss, it filled him with sorrow to no end. “We must win. So long as the enemy keeps advancing, we will fight back.”

            At this heartfelt declaration, Mavis could only stare down at the floor with a blank expression. True, the loss of the Dragon Slayer saddened her as well... But not as much as she would have liked. Mavis knew this was the result of being afflicted with Ankhseram’s Curse… And she could do nothing about it.

            Suddenly, Warren ran up to the two Guildmasters with an alarmed expression.

            “Laxus initiated the fight with Wahl of the Spriggan Shields!”

            Makarov clenched his fists in frustration as he stared listlessly at the map.

            “Just don’t fly off the handle, Laxus… I couldn’t bear to lose you, too…” Makarov sighed with exhaustion, feeling every bit the brittle and old man that he truly was.

            ~*~

            Laxus grunted as he was smashed through another wall. Now that he’d had some time fighting this guy, he could definitely say this machine trumped the doll that he’d sent to try and bring down the barrier around Magnolia… Wahl had barely been showing the extent of his abilities, back then. The bastard had even taken on a new form no one from Ishgar had seen yet, reverting to a more appropriate stiff robotic personality.

            The Dragon Slayer got up in time to dodge the robot from stomping down on his previous position, leaving a sizeable crater in its wake. The machine then proceeded to raise its arm and fire off a volley of shots that Laxus managed to dodge by taking to lightning bolt form. But just as he got in range to punch Wahl, he got punched instead, hurtling back with the force of a meteor.

            The result was many more ravaged buildings… But it was a minimum price to pay, for going up against Alvarez’s elite.

            ‘Damnit… How the hell am I going to beat this guy?! He runs on electricity, and he can’t affect me with lightning attacks! A stalemate!’ The blond breathed raggedly as he moved around in the rubble, keeping an eye out for where Wahl would be coming from next. He wasn’t too surprised Wahl had stayed pretty much where he was, and opted to attack from a distance. A tall, intimidating gun had manifested on his back, and he was firing Magical blasts with his arms as well.

            “Now pierce ‘em…!” Wahl bellowed, firing off the devastating railgun on his back in tandem with the smaller barrage of attacks fired from his arms.

            Laxus avoided them easily enough by taking lightning bolt form again and steadily making his way over to the robot before savagely kicking him hard enough to make the robot sprawl out on his back and smash the railgun to bits.

            “Grr… Target has exceeded estimated time for elimination…” Wahl muttered to himself. He glared at the Dragon Slayer, who was stalking toward him with a murderous expression. But then abruptly, Laxus wavered in his stride, and collapsed to the ground painfully and coughing violently. To that, Wahl could only exude an aura of arrogance. “Hah… It seems the Magical Barrier Particles in your system have reached their peak stage. Soon you won’t be able to move, and breathing will become painful.”

            Laxus gritted his teeth as his body continued to fail him. His arms collapsed under him, and he was now flat on the ground, at Wahl’s mercy. The robot’s analysis was completely on the mark. He was a sitting duck, and he needed to get up and move… but… nothing was working. His whole body shook in agony as he attempted to move, but that was the most he could accomplish – he couldn’t even lift his face from the dirt.

            And as Wahl rambled on about putting him out of his misery, Laxus could only inwardly reflect on everything. He wondered if this would be the end for him…

            ‘The only reason I came back here… was to protect the guild…!’ Laxus gnashed his teeth as his face remained planted in the dirt. ‘It’s been around for 100 years already… and I can’t even beat a friggin’ machine? Natsu, wherever you are now, you’re probably laughin’ your ass off… You took down the leader of Alvarez, the boogeyman of the world of Magic, and I can’t even demolish one little psychotic toy soldier… I’m pathetic for groveling like this…!’

            A wellspring of new determination surged up through the Lightning Dragon Slayer. He recalled a talk he had with Mavis about his ancestor, Yuri. At the time, he denied being anything like that man at all. Mavis painted him to be a hero, who would do anything for his friends… go to Hell and back for them. And all Laxus could do was think about his past sins, trying to takeover the guild. He was nothing like Yuri.

            … But… Only now, in this moment, he finally realized that’s what he’s wanted to do for so long. And now it’s what he needed to do!

            ‘Like hell I’m gonna let you upstage me, damn Pyro…’ He lifted his arm with great frustration, and with his pointer finger carved out a line while channeling Magic power through it. ‘You got your dumb ass killed, wiping out our greatest enemy… I’ll never forgive you for leaving us in that way. But I’ll be damned if I let the guild go unprotected because you’re no longer here!!!’

            Wahl tensed up as an Enchantment suddenly encircled the two of them. He temporarily stalled firing his Etherion Cannon.

            “An enchantment?! Since when did something like this appear…!”

            Laxus slowly got up on one knee.

            “Got it straight from Freed… and in this Enchantment…” Before Laxus could finish, however, Wahl cut him off.

            “You fool…! Did you forget already?! Enchantments don’t work on me! Is that the best you can do?” Wahl sneered at his efforts. But Laxus wasn’t deterred this time, even as Wahl cancelled out the Magical Barrier particles.

            “Thanks a lot, Freed… There’s no Wizard alive that could break your Spells… And even if there was…” Laxus grinned cockily at Wahl, standing up to his full height. “He or she would have to neutralize the Magical Barrier Particles completely… meaning he or she would be my ‘cure’…”

            It was now dawning on the robot what it had just done.

            “Sh… Shit!!!” Wahl cursed as he convulsed suddenly. “DAMN YOOOUUU!!! Personality settings error! Personality settings error!”

            Laxus’s feral grin widened as he then surged towards Wahl, lightning crackling all over his body.

            “It’s rude to bite the hand that feeds you… But you took out one of my friends!!”

            Wahl regained some composure as he cackled madly.

            “Thunder doesn’t work!! You’re helpless!! There’s nothing you can do now!!” Wahl resumed charging up his Etherion Cannon, and Laxus kept steady on his course towards the machine.

            “Yeah, well, I’m not giving you my life so easily, either!!!” Laxus slammed into Wahl with a super-charged fist into its chest, which earned a sneer from the robot.

            “Like that would work…” The robot quickly changed its tune, as Laxus’s lightning took on a dark red tinge. “What…!! What’s that reddish dark thunder?! I can’t seem to analyze it!”

            “Raiko…! RED LIGHTNING!!!” Laxus bellowed, managing to pierce Wahl violently enough to tear off large chunks of the robot’s body – to the point that Wahl was decapitated, and there was no room for doubt that the robot was dead. Laxus breathed heavily as he surveyed his destructive work; Wahl was nothing but scraps now, his face forever froze in a tortured, soundless scream.

            ‘I did it, Gramps… Natsu… That’s a win for Fairy Tail!’ Laxus slumped on the ground in exhaustion. He’d get back into the fray after he recuperated a little… Being poisoned by Magical Barrier Particles for so long, and then having them essentially removed, it really took a toll on a man.

            No one would begrudge him a quick power nap.

            ~*~

            Meanwhile, on the Northern battlefront, a much more lenient battle was being waged, in terms of difficulty. Between Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth, and Fairy Tail’s representatives, they were easily taking down the forces that were now without leaders. The remaining Spriggan Shield wasn’t even anywhere to be seen.

            Gajeel sneered and let himself have a good chuckle.

            “Things are goin’ almost too good… I’ll bet we’ll have the Northern front cleared up before they get through defendin’ the South!”

            Beside the Iron Dragon Slayer, Levy punched his arm sourly.

            “Don’t get cocky! Once the Spriggan Shield shows up, we’re depending on you to take them down!” The bluenette huffed. She placed her hands on her hips as she glared up at him. “And anyway, how can you still be laughing?! From what Warren said…!”

            It was now Gajeel’s turn to huff.

            “Listen, shrimp. I heard the same thing like everyone else. But if we sit stewin’ over what we lost, we’re gonna get massacred! We gotta get these clowns out of our backyard before we can even think about yellin’ at Flamebrain for getting himself killed!”

            Fresh tears spilled from Levy’s eyes as her glare grew harsher.

            “Is that what you’re really going to do?! Yell at him?! You’re never going to cry over him, are you?”

            To his credit, Gajeel didn’t even take one step back from the heated accusation Levy was throwing at him. He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

            “Why would I cry over that moron? He was probably too stupid to live.” He grimaced as Levy threw her hands up in the air and stormed off, obviously upset with how cold he was being. The eater of iron ran a hand through his hair in slight exasperation. “Sorry, shrimp…”

            He was being prickly… and probably more than a little frosty. But someone had to stand up and be a wall of unbending iron. Too many would be crying their heart out. And he wasn’t exactly Salamander’s buddy to begin with…

            Gajeel dipped his head as he clenched his fists in pent-up frustration.

            How dare that numbskull get himself killed before they could settle the score? The whole reason he was in Fairy Tail was because that Pyro kicked his ass…

            Gajeel’s ears pricked up as he heard a faint sob nearby. Grimacing, he steeled his features for what he thought would be a confrontation with Levy… Only as he passed by a few trees, his eyes fell on the form of Fairy Tail’s resident Demon, leaning against a tree and cradling one of her arms, face downcast as she stared listlessly at the snow-covered grass.

            “If it’s not one thing, it’s another…” Gajeel sighed and got a crick out of his neck before ambling over. “You, too, huh?”

            Mira didn’t say anything at first. But when she did, a small, sad smile graced her lips.

            “I heard you and Levy… You’re trying to be strong for her, too.”

            At the sad, kind smile shown his way, Gajeel could only growl in denial.

            “Dunno what you’re talkin’ about… I ain’t gonna miss that moron. It’ll be a lot better without him around!”

            Mira’s expression never wavered, much to Gajeel’s displeasure.

            ‘Stinkin’ know-it-all…’ The iron eater griped in his head.

            “I know because I’m doing the same…” Mira murmured softly, eyes panning back down to the snow. “Lisanna’s beside herself. Elfman’s pulling the tough guy act, like you are, but he’s not as good at hiding his emotions as you are right now… If I don’t hold myself together, we might lose more than Natsu. And my heart… can’t take that. Natsu’s too much as it is.”

            Gajeel scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah... Could tell you had a soft spot for..."

"I loved him."

Gajeel proceeded to look like he'd scarfed a lump of coal instead of iron.

"Really?! You're really going there!"

Mira just smiled at Gajeel's flustered state, too caught up in her own emotions. She stared up at the sky fondly.

"But he always had Lisanna and Erza around, so I had no right to usurp their bonds." Mira continued, disregarding Gajeel's attempts to gain her attention. "Heck, Lisanna came back from the dead! No way I could top that."

Gajeel fell silent as he knew he had no choice but to allow Demon Mirajane to let it all out... Or he'd probably get his ass kicked...

"Unfortunately, I don't think Natsu's gonna pull the same thing off... He's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it. He saved us. So many times. And I can't repay him for everything now... It's not fair, but I have to remain strong for them. Because I'm the oldest, and it's my responsibility to look out for them."

"..." Gajeel couldn't say anything, in the face of such raw emotion.

"I have to watch out for everyone else, too, of course. Everyone in the guild. They're going to feel lost, once we get through this and return home." Mira lightly pushed herself away from the tree she was leaning on and walked in the opposite direction Gajeel was facing, only pausing as she stood beside him. "If you ever need to vent, I'll listen. Don't try to shoulder everything yourself."

With a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips, Mira began to walk off. But Gajeel's voice stopped her a second time.

"Oi! That goes double for you, alright? I'm not the best at advice, but I can listen!"

Gajeel heard the small giggle she let out in response to his declaration.

"You're such a gentleman, Gajeel~..."

... But he missed the lone tear trailing down her cheek.

~*~

Author's Note: Been a year and a half since I dabbled with the idea of Natsu's attack connecting with Zeref, and the world that endured after his death... Figured I'd write some more of it. Kinda fun to muse about.

[chuckling-chemist]

Music Meme

So you know that “put your music player on shuffle, and draw only when it’s playing then stop for 10 songs”? Yeah I did that but writing. Went and fixed up the typos plus a bit of quirk stuff, but otherwise it’s about how I wrote it. Stuck under a read more for reasons

1.  Come Together - The Beatles

Dumaas was not a small troll. Dumaas never would be a small troll. He stood, a full 7’3” flat footed with tall, imposing horns that stood straight up for what seemed like miles, with a body frame that was all bulk and little else. Every step he took forward was heavy. Other trolls were scared of him. But that’s okay. He was a purpleblood. A subjuggalator. A terror to society both inside and outside the forces of the Inquisition. They should be scared of him. Such was his purpose.

Did that upset others? Perhaps. Certainly upset the pansy-ass little violetbloods he was forced to work with. They didn’t cower, but they held their noses up and looked down on him despite being shorter. One of them in particular, a tall skinny thing who needed more food in particular, might look him down in the eyes whenever they met up, but Dumaas could smell the fear when he arrived on the scene. He hated Dumaas with a passion. That’s how it should be. That was their destiny as purple and violet.

2. The Greatest - Alabama Shakes.

Mayola flopped down onto the couch where Valeba slept on the other end. It woke the lowblood up instantly, who shot a glare over in the seadweller’s general direction.

“What the hell’s that about?” she snapped groggily. Someone was pissed. Not like it was Mayola’s problem.

“Uh….I dunno. Keep you on your toes?”

Valeba rolled her eyes and groaned. She started to settle back into a comfortable sleeping position, stopping immediately as Mayola grabbed a foot to pull her closer and get the lowblood on top of her.

“We’re fucking kismesis, you know.”

“You assume I fuckin’ give a shit.” Mayola grinned, running her tongue over too-sharp teeth. “‘Sides, I wasn’t lookin’ to do anything more than sleep right now anyway. Busy day ‘n’ all.”

“That makes one of us. I fucking hate going with you on these stupid politic meetings. Take Aisral.” Valeba shook her head, long hair getting all over Mayola’s chest. “Or Dontoc. Someone qualified.”

“You’re fuckin’ qualified on lowblood shit, ya know.”

3. Tetris Theme - Powerglove

Vodnik could see the wind move.

A strange concept, if you thought about it. You shouldn’t be able to see the wind move. The tree tops quaking when the breeze went too fast, sure. The coats and hats of trolls whip off in a windstorm, of course. Or the sails on his ship move on a pleasant day, naturally. But the wind? To see the jet streams as what they were - streams, like leaves moving about the air as if they floated down the current of a stream - was an unusual ability indeed. A shame of all the people in the universe to thank, it was the damn fairies.

He’d have to thank them for his manipulation of it too. How, if he focused and actually tried, he could push the wind into different positions, shape it like it were blocks, move it effortlessly back and forth to whatever he needed at the time.

4. Young Man Dead - The Black Angels

Gonzor took a slow drag of the cigarette in his mouth, feeling the bug scuttle about in his hand during its final moments. This one wasn’t completely dead. He didn’t exactly prefer it that way, granted, but there was something cathartic at his caste to feel something actually die for once in his life. Not just to feel it, but to see it. As a limeblood, it was so rare to even go out and explore the world as however unholy god the purples happened to worship -- which is to say, violent and messy -- that he reveled in the rare moments he could do so in such a way that didn’t simultaneously make him feel like he engaged in society the way the bitch of an Empress and her insufferable little twee-twat of an Heiress wanted. It was just a bug.

A bug that gave him a pleasant tingle in his fingertips and calmed his craving for something harder, but still just a bug.

If anything, it’s good Gonzor finally managed to get off the more dangerous shit. He always knew that would end up killing him someday if he weren’t careful, and even with that knowledge he wasn’t exactly keen on stopping. But after it knocked out one of his coworkers….

5. Flickers - Son Lux

The darkness shifted around Dontoc. It stopped him from moving, bound his feet to whatever unholy floor he stood on now. He could move his hands, but what good did it do? There was nothing to reach, nothing to grab at. Just darkness surrounding every fiber of his being like a blanket. Smothering him.

And yet, it didn’t aim to kill. It just bound him. That was new.

A figure appeared in the darkness. It looked like him, except it wasn’t him. It was twisted, warped, the cheeky smile he showed Pallia or Valeba on good days replaced with a warped grin, gnarls around an otherwise perfectly unnaturally smooth face. He held a light, a candelabra that forced his face to look somehow darker still despite it. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. Not as the figure gazed into the darkness, his light opening a hole.

But Dontoc couldn’t go down the hole. Couldn’t use it to escape. No, this wasn’t the time. Even without the bindings, he knew instinctively as such.

6. For Free? (Interlude) - Kendrick Lamar

Marching.

In all her life, Valeba had probably never marched. She ran, she stalked. Marching was something done by the fucking military in the conquest of useless planets to ravage. Yet here she was, marching her happy ass up to Careen’s dumbass oversized mansion to give the Heiress the first piece of a rust’s mind she’d probably ever heard in her fucking life.

Who’s bright idea was it to give that bitch her Chittr handle? A chittr that, mind you, was only made so Mayola could tag her in every pic she ever took. Certainly hadn't been Dontoc. Boy probably didn’t even have a chittr. But either way, Careen found it.

7. Hypnotize - White Stripes

“Fancy a drink tonight, doll?”

The cobalt rolled her eyes at Meroin, giving a short good-natured laugh as she walked away. Ah well. Another loss. No big deal.

He heard a chuckle from across the bar. Niehea. The fuchsia was everything Meorin dreamed of in a seadweller: tall, adventurous and down to get her hands dirty. To say he was smitten with her was an understatement. “You’re striking out tonight.”

8. El Scorcho - Weezer

Hey uh….you free? I’m making extra dinner tonight.

Ardeen mentally kicked himself. That sounded dumb. Extra dinner? Who the hell makes extra dinner? Certainly not someone he was trying to impress. Who might have been a lowblood that obviously needed to eat a little more than the jerky he often saw her with. Certainly not her.

He sat around on his husktop, dinking around for what felt like hours before he got an answer. Ardeen nearly jumped at the notification ping playing loud and clear over his speakers. Had his sound been that high? Guess so.

Yeah I got nothing going on now. Happen to be in the area. Want me over?

Fuck yeah

Oh shit, now that--that sounded desperate. Horribly so.

I mean yeah. Just yeah. No fuck involved.

Well shit, and here I was thinking I could fuck my ^^atesprit who i’ve fucked already. Joke’s on ^^e I guess.

….Right. They were matesprits. That’s a thing. He was seeing someone.

9. The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd

The bar was quiet when Inaeis entered. As it should be. He’d never walked into a lounge bar at 4 in the morning and found it packed with trolls. Happy hour hadn’t even began. Trolls this early were still at work, or fumbling around with whatever esoteric interest they wanted to at the time. They weren’t drinking their souls away. They had better things to do. Unlike Inaeis, who after centuries of burning and pillaging rebel troll’s belongings just wanted to drink and forget it all. Forget his atrocities. Forget the inquisition. Forget the stupid highbloods and the Empress and his library. Just zone out to the sound of the soft chords of the piano as she played some sorrowful song for an audience of one.

But he couldn't. No matter how much he drank, it only forced him to remember it all. He still smelled the smoke of his first burnt hive. Still remembered the screams of the trolls. The glare in Fospha’s eyes as the sword ran clean through her belly. The look of absolute disgust. He felt still, so much later.

He could’ve just shot her. Made it quick. But he didn’t. His own fault.

10. Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival

The trolls that gathered at the gates were not the ones expected. The leaders of the revolt expected lowbloods. The trolls most likely to be cannon fodder to the ugliest fights only, the ones ensured to never see the light of the moons or step foot back on Alternia after their first tour with the fleet. But it wasn’t. Every landdwelling caste, save the purples, gathered on the front steps with a spark in their eyes that indicated they were finished. Some of them came armed, but many others only came with angry words and furious stares. It was a wonder how they expected to survive at all.