#OP I’m so sorry you pressed the wrong buttons in my brain

[jeannefostergoriot]

Azaadrejfyt post triggering my need to not shut up ever about Greek mythology.

Second, yeah, « I know what I’m doing », OP sure did, got 22K notes in 33 hours. (At the moment I started this)

And honestly qualifying Apollo of « the dodgeball one », I’m sure he’d love it.

To OP, @cyber-corp : there are dozens and dozens of hundreds of gods, nobody can name them all, cause as any polytheist religion, they got a god for everything on earth - though Apollo and Hermes tend to get a loooot of attributions. Each god is characterized by attributes, the objects they wear to get recognized in sculptures, and they have epithets, words qualifying them.

The main gods are the twelve Olympians, plus Hades and Hestia. They’re from the third generation of divinities. Well the six olds are the third generation.

First generation is the primitive divinities. Chaos (divinity of chaos), Hemera (the day), Nyx (the night), Gaia (the Earth), Ouranos (the organized universe).

Ouranos and Gaia get together and have three groups of children.

The three original Cyclops, Brontes, Steropes and Arges. Their father is scared by them, and put them down in Tartarus (hell).

The Hecatonchires, or Hundred-Handed Ones, thrown into Tartarus too.

And the twelve Titans, six boys and six girls. The youngest is Kronos, who later becomes Chronos, divinity of time. But originally he isn’t linked to it.

Gaia is tired of having children just for them to be disregarded and asks if one of the Titans will agree to stop their father with a giant magic scythe she made. Kronos takes it and cut Ouranos’ penis, and becomes king of the universe.

(Ouranos’ blood will give birth to both the Giants and Aphrodite, the Giants when it arrives on the ground, Aphrodite when it arrives on the sea)

Kronos dates his sister the Titanide Rhea, and starts having kids with her. Problem: his father, dying, cursed him to be killed and dethroned by his son. So to avoid that, he swallows his kids, without even looking. Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. After seeing Poseidon getting swallowed, Rhea is done and find a way to avoid this for her youngest son, Zeus: she gives a stone dressed in diapers for her husband to eat, and brings her baby to Crete, where he’ll be raised by Gaia, a goat named Amalthea whose horn will become the cornucopia. There, giants makes music to cover the baby’s cries and keep him occupied.

When Zeus is an adult, he goes to the palace of his father and becomes a servant here, serving wine. He obtains a vomitive, and puts it in Kronos’ drink, forcing him to free his siblings. Together, they defeat their father and the Titans. The boys share the universe through a game of dice, Hades gets the Underworld, Poseidon gets the sea and Zeus gets the sky. Additionally, Zeus, as the one who saved everyone, is crowned king of gods.

Hestia gets to be goddess of family and hearth.

Hera gets to be goddess of marriage.

Demeter is goddess of cereals and agriculture.

Zeus first marry Metis, Titaness of inner reason and insight. But she lacks insight when she tells him she’s pregnant with a girl but the next kid they’ll have we’ll be a boy, and he’ll destitute his father. So he swallows his wife. The daughter I’ll talk about later.

The king then marry Themis, Titaness of Justice, Law and Order. They have the Horae, divinities of Seasons, and the Moirai, divinities of destiny. Then, they divorce, iirc he was scared of having more powerful children like the Moirai.

He then has an affair with Mnemosyne, the memory Titaness, for nine days, they have the Muses, inspiration and incarnation of the arts.

Then he goes with Demeter, yes she’s his sister, no he does not care, and have Kore/Persephone with her. Later, Persephone will be captured by Hades, which sends Demeter in a despair. She asks that Zeus gives her daughter back to the live on the surface, but Persephone ate a pomegranate in Hades’ palace and is now linked to the Underworld. Zeus rules that as she only ate a third of the pomegranate, she only has to spend a third of the year in the Underworld. Giving explanations to the seasons.

After this, Zeus marries Hera, and let’s go in problems. She’s goddess of marriage, hence the fact that she absolutely does not like the fact that he’s a serial cheater. And he cheats *a lot*

Well, first they got Ares, god of war. Attack war, and the bloody part of wars. They also got Hebe, goddess of youth and Illythie, goddess of birth-giving and pregnancy.

Then he goes with a whole bunch of nymphs and mortals who we don’t care about for now.

Then he gets with Leto, who Hera curses to not be able to give birth on any stable land. She finds herself pushing through, getting chased by a giant python, and finally arriving on Delos, a moving island, where she gives birth to Artemis, all by herself cause Hera kept Illythie near her. Once born, Artemis will help her mother give birth to her twin, Apollo. The twins will get a whole set of attributions. First they replace twins Titans to the lead of the Moon and Sun chariots, Moon for Artemis, Sun for Apollo. Due to her help, Artemis is also a goddess of birth, of infants and of complicated pregnancies. She gets to be a Virgin Goddess (no contact with men), and the Huntress goddess. Apollo gets to be god of the arts, leader of the Muses, of music, the god of medicine and of divination.

Then, Hephaestus. Hera was fond with her serial cheater of a husband and decided to get a kid on her own. So through sheer will, she became pregnant. Kiddo was so ugly at birth he got yeet from Olympus (by Hera or Zeus depending on the version). Which left him even more ugly and crippled. Was welcomed back as an adult, became god of metallurgy, forge, metal-work, fire and volcanoes.

Now, Aphrodite. Took time to spring from the blood of Ouranos spilled in the sea, to come to shore, where she was welcomed by the Horae and dressed up. Goddess of beauty and love, she is forced to marry Hephaestus but starts a long-time affair with Ares, in which they’ll have multiple children. Including Harmony.

Then um. Zeus gets a headache, asks Hephaestus to break his skull open so it’ll get away and it’s the birth of Athena, Metis’ daughter who has been trapped in her father’s body all this time. She emerged fully dressed in armor, goddess of defensive war and strategy. As well as weaving. Extremely clever.

Only two more to go, yeah!

Dionysus, whose mother was a mortal, the princess Semele. Zeus fell in love with her, and she became pregnant. But Hera heard about it and decided that she would kill Semele. So she suggested to the girl that she tests Zeus’ love by making him swear on the Styx (one of the river of the Underworld, most sacred oath) that he’d do whatever she asked. And to ask to see his true godly form. Which is a condamnation to death. So she burnt alive. But Zeus saved the fetus and put it in his thigh to carry to term. Dionysus inherits from this story to be god of rebirth, resilience, as well as being god of wine, craziness, party, and theater. Said to play with gender a lot.

And the youngest, Hermes. Zeus fell for the Titaness Maia, and had Hermes with her. Barely born, the kid stole Apollo’s cow, created the lyre with the corpse of a turtle and made a good bargain with his older brother. God of the tricksters, the stealers, the merchants, the thieves, the travelers, and the messenger of the gods. Took divination by dices in the bargain to give back the cows.

And done. You have the main!

this website’s easy watch. *dangles a bunch of greek gods like keys*

[kazewhara]

I don’t know if anyone’s said anything like this before or not so I’m saying it anyway

You know that one post on tumblr where OP (I’m so sorry I can’t remember who it was) was like “that trope where character A loses their memories but they just KNOW they can trust character B except they’re completely wrong and B is their worst enemy”

Yeah that but with Mean!Kazuha

Just. My brain isn’t working but I love that trope and I love Kazuha okay goodnight

sometimes i wish i could respond to everything with voice notes because the sound that just came out of my mouth?@&@&@#&;#;# THIS IS SUCH A GOOD FUCKING IDEA???

i haven't seen that post before, so if anybody else knows it, i'll edit this with the link or @ soon as i can!

(edit: HEYOO IT'S HERE)

but but but holy fucking shit no i love this because kazuha was probably your actual worst enemy beforehand... DUDE WAIT OKAY DO YOU MIND IF I COMPLICATE IT A BIT?

just think: you're childhood friends with kazuha. you two were inseparable and there was some puppy love between you two as you got older, but then, you joined the shogun's forces (against your will, but you were young when it happened, and so you're a dedicated soldier.)

gone is the love between you -- kazuha despises you for carrying out the vision hunt decree despite being a vision holder yourself. you're a hypocrite to him, and he's a fugitive to you. enemies, y'see?

but when the incident with tomo happens (bonus points if you were at the shogun's side when it happened, unable to do anything), you feel bad and try to help kazuha out of the country.. maybe you two bicker and get caught, and a battle happens with you and your (now former) colleagues, and you get hit. HARD. you're like, half-dead. head trauma is serious. kazuha can't just leave you to die, though. so he makes it to ritou with you in tow, and you two climb aboard beidou's ship.

when you wake, surprisingly, the first person you see is kazuha. he doesn't know why he waited by your bedside when you're a traitor to him, but when he sees your eyes light up when you finally focus on him, he's caught between leaving and fretting over you.

and so we have mean (-ish) kazuha who can't help but press your buttons. sometimes he's a little meaner than usual, but it's because you won't stop seeking him out. stop clinging to him, dammit, stop making him love you again, you're a selfish, disgusting hypocrite, stop it

and god only knows what'll happen when you remember what happened.

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 12

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez X Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Summary: Healy and the Jimenez’ are gearing up for war. Jazmine’s getting antsy waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Previous Masterlist Next

Rating/Warning(s): Mature (+18 or I call the police). post-coitus fluff, swearing, anxiety, time skip, canon typical violence (I think...?), all plot, gringo using google translate Spanish and half remembered high school classes (sorry in advance), mentions of grooming/pedophilia (don’t worry, Porsche’s OK)

Word count: 2.2k words

Author’s Note(s): yeah so I wrote this back in December and just didn’t have the heart to put it out. I wanted to try and finish the other chapters (thinking I’m gonna wrap up at seventeen chapters) and I couldn’t. I have a problem with finishing anything I start, it never feels strong enough. I’m gonna try not to let that stop me though, promise. 

Waking up in Diego’s arms, Jazmine never expected to feel so calm. Truth be told she didn't really wake up, but drifted in and out of sweet harmonious consciousness to find Diego, whether he was cradling her or sitting up or rubbing her back. She finally managed to convince herself to get out of bed and by then it was already 2 in the afternoon. Diego had his pants and shoes back on but nothing else, so she relaxed a little. 

"You need to eat," he whispered, "come on, get dressed." 

Jazmine blinked slowly. "I need a shower. Maybe a wheelchair, too." 

She didn't miss the proud smirk that suddenly graced his handsome features. As he put on his shirt, Jazmine glanced past him at the open door of the closet. It was empty inside save for a few hangers, but it left a bad taste in her mouth and a lump in her throat. Diego followed her line of sight and said nothing. He let her shower, never more than five feet away (which is exactly how far the shower curtain is to the bathroom door). They ate somewhere family friendly, a pancake house she barely remembered the name of. Her legs still suffered from tremors and her pelvic region ached, but they were good feelings and she tried to make them last as they put a smile on her face. 

~

It's been about a week and Jazmine has seen neither hide nor hair of Haagen and it's starting to worry her. 

The only relief she had been able to accrue these past few days had been Healy's announcement that they had made a huge connection and were in the process of setting up task forces to take Haagen down. Alicia was confident that Haagen knew nothing and was continuing on with business as usual (or so she heard through the grapevine), and even Diego seemed to be relaxed about it. 

That was another thing that bothered her. Diego, relaxed. Diego doing more hands on business and clubbing at all hours of the night. He'd barely said two words to her after coming to the rescue and fucking her silly in front of Haagen. 

Sitting alone in the penthouse, Jazmine scratched at every itch and tugged on every baby hair like her skin was diseased. She didn't want to go outside, she was too afraid of Haagen's next move. She had been texting her mother regularly again just so she wouldn't call and have to explain why she sounded so nervous. It would have taken LaShawn all of ten seconds to realize something was wrong: so why couldn't anybody else see it? 

Maybe she was overreacting. Jazmine drew a hot bath in the jacuzzi sized tub and turned the jets on, finding bubble bath solution and a pink rubber ducky to cradle. The bathroom had a dimmer switch she turned down to near zero and let silky smooth R&B from the 90's wash her worries away. Her fingers worked to squeeze the ducky like a stress ball, and a traitorous part of her brain whispered longing thoughts. 

I wish Diego was here to massage my back.

She shushed her thoughts: at least the bath is perfectly hot. 

She washed her body and spent the better part of the day deep conditioning her hair and shaving her legs just for the hell of it. The music never stopped, it simply rolled from R&B to classic rock and then back again. Miguel checked in only to make sure she ate, and Jazmine managed to convince him to eat with her and play a co-op mobile game for a few hours. She plucked at the listening device in her ear for the thousandth time and decided to just call Healy. 

"Hey can't talk right now," were all the words she got out of him on the second call and then an immediate hang up. 

Jazmine growled and crossed her arms, suddenly reminded she was still wearing nothing but a bathrobe. She slipped into a pair of jeans and a tank top, and feeling bold, she marched up to Diego’s room and swiped a black button down that smelled like him. She tucked it unbuttoned into her pants and swanned up to the penthouse roof with a bottle of wine and one glass. 

She knew she would miss this level of extravagance. Never worrying about paying for rent or for food or selling her time and labor for someone else and next to nothing pay. Jazmine wondered what Diego would say to becoming her sugar daddy after this whole human trafficking business was over, but shook her head and topped her drink off. 

Probably overstayed my welcome, she thinks, that’s why Diego’s been distant lately. 

~

Jazmine was unnaturally quiet on her end, though Healy recognized the tinkling sound of bottle to glass. Probably on her fourth drink if he was counting correctly. No matter– she was safe for now at Diego’s penthouse suite and there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Brasa was leaning over each and every agent sat in the boardroom as if to intimidate them into obeying her every command. She was a good detective, really she was, she just needed to work on trusting the people who trusted her. Her partner Holbrooke was no help at all– selective mutism was a nasty habit to overcome. Brasa had not breathed a word of thanks in Healy’s direction, but he had expected that. This wasn’t about the praise– it was about justice. 

When he could finally break away for coffee and a piss, he sent a text to Alicia. No doubt los hermanos Jimenez would be thrilled with the intel– but what would happen next? 

The safest place for Jazmine right now is Diego’s place, he thought, but for how much longer?

~

An address and a transcribed photograph of the documents they came from. Healy had told them that the most likely scenario for Porsche’s whereabouts was ‘adoption’ by people who did not want any adoption documents to surface later on. The family probably has prestige, they may have lost a child recently and are looking to replace it like a goldfish and hope no one notices. 

It didn’t stop Diego’s trigger finger from inching closer and closer to his gun at every small pump of the breaks. 

“Tranquil, hermano,” Alicia soothed. “We’re almost there. We can kill them after we get la pequena back.” 

Diego sniffed and hopped out of the car as soon as it finally parked. Alicia was right behind him, checking her peripherals on the well lit streets of this upscale neighborhood. It was them two and one guard each, a second car bearing two underlings coming in from the back door and four cars with heavily armed back up around the corner in case things went south. Brother and sister climbed the porch steps idly, slipping their guns back into their hidey spots before knocking on the front door…

~

“Fuck.” 

Jazmine’s phone battery flashed at 3%. She didn’t remember finishing the bottle, but she did really have to pee so she stood up from the pool’s edge to relieve herself. Miguel was asleep on the white leather couches in the living room, mouth open and drooling with his gun on the table. The woman’s steps were a little unsteady and her vision came in waves, but she felt that fuzzy warm buzz and decided she had better not drive. 

She shook the young man awake with a sigh. “Hey, I left something at my apartment. Can you drive me?” 

Miguel pursed his lips. “I don’t think jefe would want–” 

“Please,” she said, “it’s important.” 

Miguel relented, swiping the keys to a Ferrari from the rack by the elevator and handed Jazmine her coat. Just a few more items she couldn't live without. The way Miguel drove meant they were there in no time at all, and every light they passed by in the dark somehow made Jazmine feel lighter, less jittery and anxious. She had Miguel drop her off by the backside of the apartment and climbed the steps alone after insisting she would only be a minute. All of her doors and windows were locked, the place looked exactly as she had left it. 

“Thank god.” 

She had to search for her charger, a sparkly teal thing with a cat and an alligator charm on it. She found it hiding under her bed, then found her way into the bathroom to check on her face in the mirror. Jazmine fingered the black hickeys on her neck, smiling to herself. She caught sight of something white hanging out of the trash and dug it out: her Chicago shirt. Stuffing it into her back pocket next to her phone charger, Jazmine took one last look at her apartment and blew a kiss to it. 

“Bye,” she whispered, peaking into the dark and lingering on the memories she was about to leave behind forever until finally the lock clicked into place. Oh shit, this was the wrong door. Miguel was waiting out back– 

Pop-pop-pop

Gunshots rang out from behind the building, the returning fire was short and stilted, overwhelmed by the repetition of an automatic. Jazmine took to the stairs at the far side of the building and ran down them wishing she was in something other than slippers. Her heart began to pound in her chest and her breath billowed in heavy clouds before disappearing. The second she stepped off of the last stair, she tripped. Her flimsy footwear slid on the thin layer of ice and she fell, her eyes and ears following the clink clink plop noise of her phone literally going down a storm drain. 

She barely had time to scramble back to her feet before she heard tires come screeching around the corner down the street and she stumbled into a run. 

Jazmine wasn’t sure how far she’d gone, and she can’t recall how many streets she turned on, or even if she was being chased at all. Every sound made her jump, and every car coming her way made her anxious. Her lungs burned for air as she finally collapsed against the window of a minimart. There were tears streaming down her cheeks as she pushed the door open to hide among the tiny rows of snacks and gum and cigarettes and refrigerated beverages. The store owner was wearing headphones and didn't bother looking up. Deep breath in. Exhausted, shaking breath out. Jazmine curled tightly around herself to try and calm down before her heart exploded in her chest. 

~

Alicia and Diego have the father on his knees and bloodied. His wife and children are being held upstairs in one of the bedrooms, terrified. Diego wipes at a small spot of blood from his sister's face. 

"Donde esta el bebe?," Diego said, grasping the man's ear and dragging his head back to look at him. "I won't ask you again." 

"What baby?" The man coughed dryly, his eyes nearly swollen shut but still glimmering in fear. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

Alicia kneeled down in her white pantsuit. "The baby you bought from Jeremy Haagen, Mr. Fletcher. A beautiful little girl with dusky hair and big brown eyes. A baby that belongs to us." 

Fletcher squirms under the murderous gaze of los hermanos Jimenez but doesn’t break. 

“You know, Diego,” Alicia said leaning on her brother’s shoulder, “I didn’t see a fourth bedroom.” 

Diego pursed his lips. “So?” 

“So the contract specified a room for our mariposa, and he already has two children. Where’s the other room?” Alicia’s heels clicked as the gear turned in Diego’s head. “I bet la senorita Fletcher might know.” 

“No, please,” he begged, “leave my wife out of this– she’s got nothing to do with this!” 

“So you do know what we’re talking about,” Diego’s aha motion garnered a vague threat with the point of his gun– gold plated, of course. Emeralds in the hilt this time. 

“Secretly adopting a baby girl,” Alicia tsked, kneeling before Fletcher and brandishing a knife, “when you have two perfectly healthy girls of your own? Ay dios mio, what’s the matter? Three’s your lucky number, but your wife doesn’t put out anymore?” 

Fletcher stumbled hard over his words and made next to no sense. One thing that did make it clear through the haze of nonsense struck a nerve with the Jimenezes: “I didn’t know she’d be that young!” 

Alicia exchanged a queasy look with her brother. She had heard of it before: grooming. Usually starts when a girl is anywhere between nine and eighteen. Fletcher continued to ramble, about hiring a nanny and raising the baby anyway since Haagen didn’t do resales. He was probably just trying to get the baby off his hands…

Before Diego could pull the trigger, his phone rang. So did Alicia’s, both projecting the same number from a burner phone and three emojis to designate the caller: Healy. Alicia answered for Diego, jerking her head towards the door and mouthing, ��I’ll take care of it from here.’ Diego reluctantly slipped outside, glaring at the nosy neighbors in the window who disappeared in a flash. He put the phone to his ear just in time to hear:

“– I need you to get to Nassau now: Jazmine’s in trouble.”

@mental-bycatch @kid-from-new-zealand @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @nicke0115 let me know if I missed anybody, I’m sorry it’s been so long

[doc-pickles]

i won’t hesitate (for you) chapter three

Jo is happy, at least she feels like she is. When someone from her past shows up, will her and her daughter's world ever go back to normal? Or will things change for good?

“One more big push Jo, you got this!”

Jo’s whole body was in pain, but she put as much energy as she could into pushing and was granted with a rush of relief flooding her body. She let her body fall back, Meredith rubbing her shoulder and congratulating her. Suddenly, a small cry rang through the room and Jo felt more alert than she had in hours. 

“Are they okay? Is my baby okay?”

“She is perfection, Jo,” Carina smiled at Jo, placing the tiny screaming baby on Jo’s chest. A head already full of wispy curls greeted Jo’s sight as she held the baby against her tightly. A soft hand rests on Jo’s shoulder and she has to tell her brain that it’s not Alex, that he isn’t here to meet his daughter like she so desperately wished he was.

“You look just like your daddy,” Meredith mused, looking over Jo’s shoulder at the infant. “You have his nose and chin.” 

“And by how long it took you to get here I’m gonna guess you’re just as stubborn,” Jo laughed wetly as she looked down at her daughter. “Meredith, say hello to your goddaughter, Harper Josephine Karev.”

“Oh, Jo…,” Meredith looked down at her friend, noting the watery expression she wore. “You shouldn’t have to…”

“I wanted to,” Jo sighed as she stroked her daughter's head. “She deserves a last name that means something. No matter what happened between Alex and I, she deserves to know she has a family who loves her.”

  Jo couldn’t stop thinking about the day she brought their daughter into the world. How when her water broke while her and Meredith were doing post op rounds she had cried for Alex and then continued to cry when she realized he wasn’t there. How she had dialed his number four times but couldn’t click the call button. How she held her daughter close to her body for hours after she was born because the little heart beating under her fingers was half her and half Alex. 

And now Alex was sitting next to her in an elevator while their daughter was somewhere else in this hospital scared and confused. Jo couldn’t help but wonder if God was punishing her for everything she had done wrong.

“Alex, I’m so sorry,” Jo sighed. He hadn’t said anything since she had told him that he really was a father. “I should’ve called you and I didn’t and-”

“Why are you apologizing?”

Looking up from her hands, Jo noted that instead of an angry expression, Alex looked sad. She can’t imagine why, she lied to him and kept his daughter from him for three years. She had done exactly what Izzie had done to him. Well, what he thought she had done anyways.

“Jo, I left you , you had every right not to tell me you were pregnant. I would’ve been upset too if I was in your shoes. If I hadn’t left we would be raising our daughter together right now,” Alex sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at his feet. “I’m trying to be mad with you but I can’t. These past few years have been eye opening to me, they made me realize that I made a mistake when I left you. When everything with Izzie’s kids happened, I realized nothing was stopping me from coming home anymore. I came straight to the hospital from the airport because I needed to talk to you. 

I’m so sorry for leaving you, I was confused and upset and I… I didn’t think about you. And I am so sorry for that, more than I can tell you,” Alex looked at Jo, whose cheeks were wet with tears. He grabbed her hands and looked her in the eyes, his voice uneven as he spoke again. “I keep apologizing but it’s all I can do right now. I wish I could take the past three years back more than anything but I know I can't do that and you’re probably still pissed at me. But I want to be there for you and our daughter, if you’ll let me.”

Jo nodded, swallowing thickly because her brain couldn’t quite think straight yet. Before she said anything she might regret, she stood and went back to banging on the doors. She needed a distraction to stop her from absolutely losing because she was on the verge of a breakdown. She didn’t like to admit it, but motherhood had made her soft.

“Please somebody, open the damn doors,” Jo’s voice is louder this time, her voice more urgent. “Damn it I don’t even know what floor we’re on or what we’re near. We could be anywhere in this death trap!”

“They didn’t call it Seattle Grace Mercy Death for nothing,” Alex chuckled. “We could be stuck here for hours and there’s no cell reception in these metal boxes. You should sit down, you’re gonna wear yourself out banging on those doors.”

Jo pressed herself against the cool metal of the door, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths as she tried to calm her breathing. Her heart began to beat out of time and her breathing became shallow. Jo could feel the overwhelming panic and anxiety she had been trying so hard to push down finally rising up. 

“What’s her name?”

Alex’s voice was soft and calming, breaking through Jo’s overwhelming thoughts and bringing her back to reality. She felt slightly relieved that she was stuck here with him instead of someone else. Even after all this time, he was still able to calm her better than anyone.

“Harper. Harper Josephine Karev,” Jo opened her eyes again to watch Alex’s face soften. “She needed a last name that meant something.”

“Birthday?”

“July 31, five days past her due date.”

“Does she like princesses? When Zola was her age she was obsessed with them.”

“She watches Moana every night before bed,” Jo laughed as she slid down the cool elevator doors to sit next to Alex again. “I think even at two she could say the whole script from memory.”

“Do you have pictures? I know I don’t deserve anything from you right now, but I at least wanna see if she looks anything like me,” Alex shrugged. 

“She looks exactly like you,” Jo pulled her phone out and found a photo, passing it to Alex. “This is her last week when she got her hair cut. She was so excited because I promised her we could get ice cream after.”

Alex stared at the photo in awe, Harper’s wide grin highlighting the Karev features of her face. Her nose, chin, and eyes were all Alex. But her smile and the cheekbones above it and sparkle behind her eyes were all her mother. Alex teared up looking at the perfect mix of him and the woman he loved. Loves . 

“Jo, she’s,” Alex smiled as he looked up at Jo, his eyes watery and tears hitting his cheek. “God she’s perfect. You did good.”

Jo nodded, she didn’t think she could say anything tangible at the moment. But she was stressed and Alex showing up had thrown her for a loop and there’s someone with a gun outside the elevator doors, someone that could be in the same room as her baby. 

“I’m so scared, I don’t think I’ve ever been this terrified in my life, not even when Harper was born,” Jo’s voice trembled as she looked at Alex. “I- she’s down there all alone. She must be so scared! She’s only two, she doesn’t understand what’s happening. Harper is afraid of the dark, she’s probably crying and and-”

Jo had finally descended into full hysterics, tears that she had been holding back all morning springing to her eyes as she began to sob. Alex moved forward, wrapping his arms around her as he comforted her the best he knew how. 

“Jo, she’s gonna be okay. I lived through one of these shootings, I’ve done this before, you know that,” Alex took a deep breath and turned to look into Jo’s eyes. His fingers moved to wipe away the tears on Jo’s cheeks as she took a deep breath. “And you… well if Harper is anything like you, she’s a fighter. And she’s gonna do fine. I can’t stop you from worrying, but I can help distract you.”

Jo looked up into Alex’s eyes, her breathing calming slightly. She knew she should be mad, furious even, that Alex left her and their baby girl. But… the rational part of Jo’s brain was turned off, her body running on pure adrenaline. Right now she was just grateful that Alex was there to comfort her. 

“Alex…,” the name came out breathy as they stared at each other. Jo couldn’t help herself as she leaned forward and captured Alex’s lips with her own. Her hands came up to hold his face, fingers tracing over the light layer of stubble as Alex’s own hands met her waist. 

She missed this, the feel of him so close to her. Jo revelled in the warmth that Alex was radiating as he pulled her fully onto his lap, his arms wrapping firmly around her. One of his hands snaked up and under her top, brushing against the underside of her breast and then going fully under her bra to squeeze her and pinch her nipple. 

Jo melted into Alex’s touch, her own hand slipping down and palming him through his jeans. She was quick to pull the zipper down and thrust her hand inside, her fingers running over him eagerly as if trying to make up for their time apart. 

“Jo,” Alex barely got her name out, his hand having gone from her breast down to the waistband of her jeans. His fingers were poised to unzip them, merely waiting for her response. “You sure?”

“Please,” Jo moaned as her eyes fluttered back open to meet his. “Alex, please. Don’t make me ask again.”

At Jo’s insistence, Alex continued what he had been doing. The duo collapsed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs, filling the small space with their moans and the sounds of their clothes hitting the floor.

[ravenforce]

Ta ta touch

Prompt: “Hi! If you feel like writing something. I have an idea: Lena x f!reader with a prompt: "Please stop petting the test subjects". Something cute and fluffy where the reader is visiting Lena's lab for the first time and wants to touch everything, press all the buttons since everything there is fascinating and exciting to her. Lena tries to keep her gf from causing problems to herself or L Corp.”

Requested by: @pentagoniablue

Pairing: Lena Luthor x Reader

Word Count: 2825

Warning/s: None.

A/N: I will go ahead and apologize for that ending. Was it intentional? Maybe. LOL. I hope you guys like it. If there are any mistakes that escape me, please forgive me. Let me know what you think!

***

You've been best friends with Alex Danvers since you were kids. You've been the honorary youngest Danvers since you moved next to their house in Midvale, and you just moved back to National City after living and working in your family business in France. You can hear multiple voices inside the address Alex gave you, you're not really nervous but you double checked yourself before you attempted to knock on the door. Before you can knock though, the door was almost ripped out of its hinges when Kara opened it in excitement.

"(Y/N)!" Kara squealed as she pulled you into a hug.

You laughed at her enthusiasm, at least that didn't change. Alex walked out of the kitchen and into your periphery looking like the broody big sister she has always been. You walked directly towards Alex for a hug after Kara released you. She wrapped her arms around you and you rubbed your face on her shoulder. She let out a laugh remembering how you used to always do that.

"Welcome home," Alex said against your hair. You pulled back when a girl with long hair cleared her throat. You peered over Alex's shoulder and fought the blush in your face at the number of people witnessing your moment with your sisters.

"Hi, I'm Nia. You must be (Y/N), we heard so much about you," she said with a warm smile.

You extricate yourself from Alex and moved around to shake everyone's hands. Everyone seems to be genuinely nice and warm, not that you're surprised; Alex and Kara are a good judge of characters. You're sitting next to Alex on the couch when you noticed someone in the balcony, Alex saw where you're looking.

"That's Lena. Lena Luthor," Alex said before drinking from her wine glass.

***

After finishing her call, Lena came back inside Kara's apartment and almost knocked you down when she walked in the kitchen. She would have fallen if you hadn't caught her wrist using your other hand that's not holding a fresh bottle of Moscato. She fought the urge to stare and shiver at the feel of your warm hand on her skin.

"Hi, are you okay?" You asked after letting go of her wrist. Lena immediately missed the contact.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at where I'm going," Lena said fighting to get her heartbeat in control.

"It's okay, no casualties," you said beaming at her. "I'm (Y/N) by the way."

Before Lena could respond, Kara came in at the kitchen looking weirdly at her best friend.

"What's going on here?" She asked. Shit, Lena cursed in her head. Kara might have heard her heart racing.

"Nothing," you said while exiting the kitchen. "Your friend is breathtaking," you whispered only loud enough for Kara to hear.

She let out a loud laugh that startled Lena. Both of them followed you in the living room to continue playing Pictionary. Winn suggested to change the game to Monopoly, which he only realized is a bad idea with two CEO in the room. At half past midnight, only you and Lena were playing and everyone else just broke off in various parts of the room to chat.

"How about we just say we're both winners?" you suggested.

Lena looked at you like it was a trick question. "Only if you buy me dinner sometime," she teased.

"Done," you said before you extended your hand for Lena to shake. She laughed before shaking it. When she came to game night today, she was stressed about work but meeting you certainly made her brain shut off anything work-related. All she can focus on really was the way you laugh, the crinkles on the side of your eyes when you smile, and how generally great you are.

***

It took two weeks before you saw Lena again. Lunch hour just passed, so the restaurant was blissfully empty except for a few others. You were looking for an empty seat when you saw black hair, pale skin, green eyes, and red lips sitting alone in the corner. The mere sight of her lifts your mood instantly.

"Is this seat taken?" You asked innocently. Lena was ready to tell the stranger off but when she looked up from her phone and saw you she instantly smiled.

"No," she answered.

Lena non-subtly looked at you from head to toe, taking in your tight-fitting trousers, loose white button up and black trench coat before she gestured for you to take a seat. You smiled warmly at her ignoring the fire in your gut ignited by the way she looks at you.

"Late lunch, Ms. Luthor?" you asked smiling. Lena can't help but return it. Something about you just makes her feel safe like Alex does, and warm like Kara does. At that moment, she realized why you're considered the youngest Danvers sister; you take on quite a few characteristics of the two. She's intrigued how different you are from both though.

"Yes, my assistant Jessica locked me out of my office," Lena said. Completely abandoning the email she was writing before you walked up to her.

"Ah! Yes! My secretary once had security drag me out of my office after I've failed to leave for 48 hours," you said as you look at the menu. Lena laughed.

Of course, she knows about your family business. Your an only child, hence the responsibility of continuing your parents legacy as one of the most successful real estate tycoons falls upon you. You're two years younger than her but also incredibly mature and intelligent. Also unbelievably beautiful and soft, which intrigues her how you survive in the industry without being eaten by sharks.

You ate and talked with Lena for almost two hours. It would have gone well to dinner if not for both your phones continuously alerting you of new messages. Both of you looked at your phones and knew it's time to go. You walked Lena back to L-Corp, secretly not wanting to end your time together.

Lena was walking to her elevator when you had the courage to speak. "Lena," you said aloud. She turned around to look at you.

"I still owe you dinner," you continued. She smiled at you.

"Sure, I'll clear my schedule for you," she said before entering her elevator.

***

Alex and Kara were hanging out at your new condo Friday night. It was apparent that something is on your mind, your sisters can see right through you. When you wiggled on the couch one more time, Alex had enough; she reached for the remote and paused the movie you're watching.

"Okay. What's wrong?" Alex asked, turning slightly on her seat to look at you. You're cuddled next to her. You nibbled your bottom lip and glanced at Kara before sighing heavily.

"It's about Lena, isn't it?" Kara asked. You tried to hide your surprise but with the smile on her face, you know you just gave yourself away.

"I hear the change in the rhythm of your heartbeat every time someone so much as mention her name," Kara teased. You sighed, there's no point lying to an alien with super hearing and a black ops.

"Yeah, I owe her dinner but I don't have her number so I don't know if tomorrow would work for her," you said. Kara laughed before she pulled out her phone, wiggling her eyebrows at you.

"Jeez, all you had to do was ask instead of interrupting my TV show," Alex said as she hit play on the remote, Kara dictated Lena's number.

Once sure that you got it correctly, you ran towards you balcony to call Lena. One ring, two rings before Lena picked up.

"Hey Lena, it's me (Y/N)," you greeted cheerfully hoping it'll hide the nerves.

"And here I thought I'll never hear from you," she can't help but tease. She's been waiting all week, she even contemplated asking Kara for your number.

"Sorry, I've been busy moving. Are you free tomorrow night?" You asked.

"For you, I will be," she answered. Is she flirting with you, you wonder.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 7?" You're bouncing at the sole of your feet.

"Sure, ask Kara for my address. See you tomorrow," Lena said smiling like a giddy teenager.

"Yes, see you. Wear something casual," you said before hanging up.

When you came back inside, Kara and Alex are smiling widely at you. You rolled your eyes at your sisters.

***

Saturday couldn't come fast enough. You swapped your black McLaren P1 with Alex's black Rubicon for the night, which she agreed to easily. You texted Lena that you have arrived and is waiting outside. Not a moment later, you looked up and nearly fell on your knees looking at how beautiful Lena is wearing dark skinny jeans, green blouse, and black boots. You felt completely underdress in your washout jeans, faded MCR shirt, black leather jacket, and yellow Adidas Gazelles.

"Is this the most casual you could go, Ms. Luthor?" you teased when she stood a foot away from you. Lena laughed, she always laughs when she's around you it seems.

"You look great," she said while running a hand on your chest over your leather jacket. You thank heaven you're still leaning on side of the car or your knees would have given out. You wonder how you're going to survive the night.

"Right," you said while opening the door for her.

"Is this Alex's car?" she asked when you sat on the driver's seat.

"Yeah, my car isn't built for where we're going," you said before reaching out at the back seat.

Lena was already secured by the seatbelt when you handed her a bundle of sunflowers. She gaped at you while you pulled out of the parking lot. She cleared her throat to hide her growing blush. It's been a while since she dated, the last one was James, and you're far more charming than him. Lena finds it very easy to talk to you about anything, she found you very smart and you showed genuine interest in her work and ideas. You don't flinch or doubt her intentions as she tells you some of her project that involves the Harun-El.

You listened to her intently while keeping your focus on the road. When you crossed the city limits, Lena wonders where you're going but not long after she saw fairy lights and soon a Ferris wheel is looming in front of you. You watch her take in your destination.

"I know I said dinner but I found this place while I was moving. Thought it's been forever since I've been in one, we can go if you hate it," you ranted. Lena looked at you and smiled.

"Hate it? I love it! I've never been in one," she admitted.

Without further ado, you jumped out of the car and waited for Lena to join you. The carnival is located in a huge clearing near the woods a little outside the city. It's huge enough not to feel cramped even though it's crawling with people. Out of reflex, you held Lena's hand all throughout the night. Lena didn't complain, wouldn't complain. She already loves the feel of your hand in hers.

***

Since she admitted to never being in a carnival, you made it your mission to give Lena the full experience. First, you made it through the parlor games; Lena absolutely sucked at shooting moving targets. Thankfully, Alex taught you a thing or two about guns since you arrived back in NC. She pouted when you won a dog plushie but she immediately smiled when you handed it to her. Second, you made her ride all your favorite carnival rides like the bump car, octopus, anchors away, Ferris wheel, and the horror train.

Two hours have passed before you both decided you're famished. Great thing there was a dedicated area for food trucks. You eyed her curiously as she surveyed her choices.

"Are you sure you want to eat here? We can leave and get food in a proper restaurant," you suggested.

"There are tacos over there," she said before she's dragging you to the said food truck. There's a small queue but Lena doesn't seem to mind, she looks so happy in that moment. Plus the tacos smells divine. Lena ordered one of each item on the menu, the trucker gave her a funny look.

"Is this too much?" She asked as she helps you carry her orders on a nearby picnic table.

"Maybe a little but I understand the logic," you said.

After finishing up on food, you carried your trash to the segregation bin. Both of you decided it's best to just walk around before heading home. If you're both being honest, you just didn't want to go home yet. You walked around the carnival holding hands, talking about everything and anything under the sun. You even shared cotton candy and took some photos together.

Eventually, you had to go home; by the time you decided that the sun is already rising. Both of you laughed at how time evades you when you're having fun. When you pulled up in front of her building it's already 7 in the morning.

"Thanks for last night, (Y/N). I had so much fun," she said before she kissed your cheeks.

"I had fun too Lee," you said unable to fight the blush that crept up your neck and face.

"When you're free next week, I'll give you a tour of my lab," she said before closing the door of the car and heading inside her building.

***

It's almost a week since you took Lena to the carnival and you want to see her already. You were watching the shadows on the ceiling of your new office when you heard your notification alert. You ignored it thinking it's probably just Alex and/or Kara. On the fifth unanswered message, whoever was texting decided to just call.

"Hey, are you ignoring me?" Lena's voice sounded on the receiver.

"Hey, no!" You defended quickly. "Well, I'm ignoring my whole phone. Sorry."

Lena chuckled. "How about that lab tour? Only if you're not busy," she said a little self-conscious.

"Be there soon," you said already grabbing your keys.

It took thirty agonizing minutes before you arrived in L-Corp with a bag of Chinese take-out on your hand. You were surprised to find Lena sitting at her assistant's table waiting for you.

"Took you long enough," she teased beckoning you to come closer. When you're at arm's length, she tugged you so she can kiss your cheeks. She took the take-out from your hand and left it at Jess's table. Then shes dragging you back to the elevator to go down to her lab.

“When we get there, don’t touch anything,” she warned. You just smiled at her.

When you entered her lab, you weren't surprised to find it sleek and modern just like her office. She watches you as you take in every detail of the lab. You asked her excitedly about anything that piqued your interest, and she answered you eagerly. Sometimes you'd forget you're not supposed to touch anything, and she'll be instantly beside you swatting your hand gently.

“(Y/N),” she whined when you picked up a petri dish. You smiled apologetically.

When you come around the part of the lab that houses the Harun-El, you were fascinated you tried to reach for its glass case but Lena stopped you.

***

In an instant, she's tugging you away from the space rock and you found yourself pinned against the opposite wall. She held your hand over your head.

"For the last time, no touching," she said with a low growl.

"Lee," you whispered but before you could apologize, she's surging forward and kissing you.

You've had your fair share of kisses before but nothing as intense as this. You lose your breath every time Lena moves her lips against yours, at every nip and tug you feel yourself getting wet. It doesn't help your cause when she let go of your hand in favor of running hers through your neck, to your shoulders and down your chest. Your breath hitched when you felt nimble fingers undoing the buttons of your oxford shirt. She slightly pulled away to look at your disheveled look, blushing cheeks, and kiss-swollen lips.

"God, you're beautiful," she said before she's kissing you again, her arms wrapping around your waist.

She walked you towards the nearest table without breaking the kiss, you're impressed and hella turned on. You felt her hand squeeze your ass before you felt your back hitting the table. She helped you sit up the table and guided your hand towards the edge.

"Hold on, (Y/N)," she said while looking at your eyes.

"You let go, and touch me I will stop. Do you understand?" She husked.

[hetalialoverwrites]

Ways to be Wicked

Part 6

First  -  Previous  -  Next

        In Auradon, Ben sat at his desk in his office, filling out paperwork and continuing his kingly duties. Pressing a button on his desk phone, he asked, "Deborah?" "Yes, you Majesty?" A female voice asked. "Can you ask Lumiere to call me regarding Cotillion?" Ben asked. "Yes, sir." "Thank you." And the call ended just as the door opened with a clear knock. "Ben?" Evie called, peering into the room with a concerned tone. Looking up from his work, Ben jolted out of his desk, "Evie! Come on in." He invited, standing at the side of his desk and waiting to hear whatever she had to say, a small smile on his face. Evie took a steadying breath and shut the door before turning to look at Ben. "Mal and (Y/n) are gone. I think they've gone back to the Isle." Evie breathed seriously. Ben's smile slipped off his face as he tried to understand what she was saying. Seeing he wasn't getting it, Evie waked forward and braced herself for the upcoming conversation. "Mal wrote this note and left it in our dorm... I think you should read it." Evie said, holding out the notebook paper for him to read. Ben took it almost in a daze and read the note,

'Evie,

I'm so sorry to leave in such a rush so suddenly, but something's wrong with (Y/n). The forest says that she needs my help, so I'm going to her to try and fix whatever it is. It said that plants are dying because of her... Something must be really wrong... With all the stress she has been under lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we have to leave Auradon for awhile.

See you later,

Mal.'

        Taking a sharp breath, ben folded the paper back up and wracked his brain for a solution. "No... This is my fault... This is my fault!" Ben exclaimed, backing up into his desk chair as the realization hit him. "I did this. She had been under so much stress with the kingdom and learning all our ways... And she had been closing herself off--! I saw it happening!" Ben yelled before getting his teeth, "And I just went all beast on her!" Ben leaned on his desk, unaware that Evie was tearing up beside him. She didn't notice both of her best friends cutting themselves off... Limiting themselves and being in pain... She didn't say anything either... "I have to go there and apologize..." Ben realized before standing straight up, planning to go immediately to the Isle. "I have to go there and beg her to come back. To forgive me." Ben was stopped by Evie, "Ben, how are you going to find her? The Isle is like a maze and you've never even set foot on it before. You need to know the Isle and how it works!" Evie explained. Ben turned away and looked out the window.

        He didn't want to hear that. He didn't want to hear any of that. He wanted to find you and Mal and apologize for everything. He wanted to find you and apologize for everything that happened and beg for your forgiveness. "You have to take me with you," Evie said quietly, jolting Ben into motion. "Yes! Wait, no, are you sure?" Ben asked, spinning around to make sure Evie was okay with it. "Mal and (Y/n) are my best friends. Practically my sisters. I didn't notice anything either, I have to apologize too." Evie said, looking down at her hands and blinking away a few tears. "But... You have to promise me I won't get stuck there again." Evie shuttered at the thought and looked at Ben seriously. He nodded, "I promise." Evie took a moment, deciding whether or not to trust him before jumping into action as well. "Alright, we'll need to be stealthy since no one really likes us over there right now. Mal and (Y/n) will be okay because of their rep, but not us. And we'll bring Jay and Carlos too because there is safety in numbers." She mumbled to herself, pacing the floor before turning sharply to Ben. "And you aren't going like that." 

                 Back on the Isle, Mal was dragging you down some streets. Well, not really dragging. It was more of her leading you a bit too fast. "Mal, where are we going?" You asked, trying not to trip over your feet. "Here!" Mal said, stopping at the door to Dizzy's place. You smiled brightly at the thought of seeing the young girl again. The children of the Isle were always so accepting and unafraid of you and Mal, Dizy just had been one of your favorite munchkins. You entered with Mal going in first and heard squeals, "MAL!" You heard Dizzy yell happily. After a hug, Mal moved out of the way and you were seen next. "(Y/N)!" DIzzy squealed once again before launching herself at you and hugged you tightly. "Hey, Diz!" You greeted happily, picking the girl up and spinning around with her. "Is Evie here too!?" Dizzy asked excitedly as you put her down. "Um, no." You replied gently while Mal scoffed, "As if." Dizzy looked a little sad before she shrugged it off, "So what brings you two here?" Dizzy asked curiously, leaning on her broom. "Well, we came to get our hair fixed. The whole dull princess look just isn't our thing, you know?" Mal asked, looking around the place. It hadn't changed a bit. "Sorry, it seems we forgot this place doesn't open until midnight." You apologized to Dizzy, patting her head as ruffling her hair would get you a lot of pouting for messing up her buns.

        Mal hummed as Dizzy told you two it was no problem and fille you in on how things were going with her and her grandmother. "Say, Dizzy..." Mal piped up. "Yeah?" Dizzy asked, turning her head over her shoulder to look at the blonde. "You used to do Evie, right?" Mal asked and you knew where she was going with this. "Yeah! I thought of the little braids." Dizzy looked so proud of herself. It really lifted your spirits seeing her this happy. "Any ideas for us?" You asked curiously. Dizzy paused a moment and started looking over you two. "Washed out blonde with faded purple tips? The best of no worlds. You can't see where your face stops and your hair begins. And (Y/n), that (h/c) is sooooo not right on you. Again, faded red amber tips?" Dizzy tutted at you both before moving onto your nails. "Ugh! What is this, bored to death pink?" Dizzy asked, unhappy with the color. "Certainly feels like it." Mal piped up, making you laugh a little as the initial burst of joy after seeing Dizy faded. "Go ahead and sit down ladies, I got a few ideas for you two," Dizzy said, motioning to hairdressing chairs in front of some mirrors. You and Mal followed her instructions as Dizzy walked over to her tools. "So... How far can I go?" She asked. You and Mal shared a look, "The works. Whatever makes us feel like us." You both echoed. "Yay!" Dizzy cheered, turning around holding some extremely large sheers covered in paint and dye. You and Mal only grinned, confident in the girl. 

        Once she was all done, dyeing, rinsing, cutting and styling yours and Mal's hair, she painted your nails to match your wings. Letting Mal have the first reveal, Dizzy finished the last touched on her hair before spinning her around to look in the broken mirror. "Hey, there I am!" Mal smirked, chewing her gum she had gotten earlier and looked in the mirror. Mal now had hair to the middle of her upper back, straight, and a slightly lighter shade of her natural color. It was going to look wonderful when her roots started growing too. "Yeah?" Dizzy asked, excited to get praise. "Yeah. Here kid." Mal handed Dizzy some cash, "For all of it. You did a good job." Mal said before going off to the side and waiting for your reveal. Dizzy excitedly turned the chair back around and sat you in it, doing the last minute touches to your hair before spinning you around to look in the mirror. Standing up, you were amazed at your hair. It was your natural red amber color! It was cut and styled perfectly, just long enough to style however you liked but short enough that it still felt like you. You felt tears start to well up in your eyes at having another part of you back and you hugged Dizzy tightly, "Thanks Diz." You thanked her, feeling her hug you back just as tight. Once she let go, she skipped off to the register to finish up the appointment. Then... Harry Hook walked in. 

        Your eyes widened at the sight of him and you looked to Mal who was watching him carefully as he stole Dizzy's and the shop's money. It seemed like Mal didn't expect him to be here either. "Fork it over, you runt." Harry drew out smoothly, holding out his hand for the money. Dizzy sulked as she handed the money over. "All of it." He insisted. She groaned quietly and took out the money from the register, handing it over to Harry. "Still running errands for Uma, or do you actually get to keep what you steal?" Mal called, making Harry stop and turn to her. You were hiding behind the wall the broken mirror was on. "Well, well, well... What a nice surprise." Harry turned around and looked over Mal, being his usual overzealous self. "Hi, Harry." Mal greeted. "Just WAiT until I tell Uma you're back. She'll never give you back your old territory." Harry walked closer and smirked with a smug air to him. Mal rolled her eyes, "That's nice, but she can keep it. We're just stopping by for a little while." Mal said, not enjoying how close he was to her. Though it did amuse her to see how he stopped suddenly and the look in his eyes changed. He stood up straighter and looked around the shop, "We?" He echoed. Mal glanced at you and he caught her look, following her gaze to see you moving out from your hiding place. "Hey, Harry..." You whispered your greeting. 

        You were bracing yourself for his reaction, eyes squeezed shut as if it would protect you in some way. You had been best friends after you broke up and then you just left one day without saying anything... And hadn't come back for over a year... So needless to say, you were surprised when you felt two hands caress your face gently. "Hey... Come on, look at me." Harry's soothing voice made you open your eyes, locking with his pricing gaze. "Hey, lass." He greeted like usual, though in a much softer tone. Dizzy was at the counter, watching you two with a starstruck expression that was morphing into a fangirl's glee. You opened your mouth to respond but couldn't get your usual greeting out, so you shut it once more. Taking a deep breath, you hardly noticed when Mal backed off a bit to let you two have your moment. "H-Hey hook..." Your voice broke and tears flooded your eyes, pouring down your cheeks as you greeted him earnestly. You felt so sorry to have left him behind for so long without saying anything. But you felt so relieved to have your best friend back. You felt strong arms wrap around you and a chin rest between your horns as you were pulled into a firm hug. "It's alright lass... It's alright..." 

[katiecomma]

Can I get a “we’re about to get caught in a club, quick, kiss me” Macdalton ?

You absolutely CAN ;) I’ve never actually written one of these.

Mac looked around frantically, and his brain came up empty.

Tucked into the corner of a busy nightclub, surrounded by bodies, and cornered, there wasn’t anything he could do to keep them from being found.

Morelli’s men had spread out and were coming at them from all sides. They still hadn’t been spotted, but it wasn’t going to take long.

Mac did his best to calm down and not look like a deer in headlights, but it was difficult while he was searching around for an option.

“Alright dude, you’re obviously stuck,” Jack said, sounding irritably calm. But Jack was used to be in tough situations and not panicking. The guy was ex-Delta Force. And a Delta team lead at that.

“You got an idea then, Jack?” Mac asked irritably. “Cause I’m all ears.”

“I do, but you ain’t gonna like it none,” Jack said, stealing Mac’s line.

“Whatever, let’s do this,” Mac said.

“Alright then, get your shirt off,” Jack said, not waiting for Mac and pulling the plaid button up out from where it was tucked into Mac’s Levi’s.

“What the hell?” Mac asked, watching Jack but not moving to stop him. Instead, looking around guiltily while Jack undid the buttons on his shirt.

“Are you gonna help, or what?” Jack asked.

Mac slapped Jack’s hands out of the way and finished opening up his own shirt. “Wanna tell me what your plan is?” He narrowed his eyes at Jack.

“Well, this plaid shirt’a yours don’t exactly let you blend in, in this place,” Jack prompted. “Once you got it off, we’re gonna wander out into the crowd here and try to lose ‘em. Once they’ve come around this way, we can force our way through to the other side and skidaddle.”

Mac nodded his head, and slipped the shirt from his shoulders. Jack wasn’t wrong. In the clingy white tank top Mac wore underneath, he definitely fit in better with the crowd of guys who were half dressed and hoping to get laid.

Jack already looked the part, all leather jacket and dark t-shirt.

Jack leaned in close to Mac, his breath hot in the already sweltering club. “Don’t let go,” he advised, taking Mac’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

The way their hands fit made Mac’s stomach flutter, but he didn’t have any time to think about what that meant before Jack tugged and pulled him into the sea of people.

Everyone around them was moving constantly and it reminded Mac of swimming in the ocean. Occasionally a different current would come along and try to pick them up, and carry them away, but Jack was determined and headstrong and pulled Mac away.

Once they got to the middle of the floor, Mac hesitantly looked back. Morelli’s men had circled around to meet each other and were talking heatedly. He took one more look back a minute later to discover that they were starting to make their way into the crowd.

Mac tightened his fingers in Jack’s as a signal, and Jack looked back.

Jack stepped close to Mac and spoke into his ear over the loud music. “Shit, I didn’t think they come into the crowd right away. Thought they were gonna try and do this quiet like. If we start heading for the exit they’ll spot us right away.”

“So what now?” Mac asked, looking around. But there was nothing he could improvise, or make, or do in the middle of a floor of people. Covert ops situations were more Jack’s forte, so he deferred.

“See, I thought this might happen,” Jack said into his ear, hesitantly. And it sent a thrill through Mac. Why should Jack’s breath on his ear get him so worked up? “And this is the part of the plan you really ain’t gonna like,” Jack continued.

Mac had a feeling he knew exactly what Jack’s plan was, and that he wasn’t going to hate it at all.

Jack slipped his leather jacket off, and held it out for Mac to slide into. The silky lining was warm and the thing smelled so much like Jack that Mac wanted to stick his face inside and breath it in. He didn’t.

The jacket changed their appearance just that much more; Morelli’s men were looking for Jack in a leather jacket and Mac in a bright plaid shirt.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Mac said.

Jack rolled his eyes. “That ain’t the bad part.” He grabbed Mac’s waist and pulled him close. Jack nuzzled into his neck. “Keep an eye out,” he said into Mac’s ear. “Let me know if one of them gets close on your side.”

They swayed and moved with the crowd, blending in perfectly in a sea of people who were lost in the music and each other.

Mac turned to speak into Jack’s ear this time. “Ten feet out at four O’clock,” Mac said loud enough to be heard over the thumping of the bass.

Jack shivered a little, and Mac felt, more than heard, Jack let out a sound into his neck, a growled vibration. Jack moved back and met Mac’s eyes. There was apology in his face. “This is the part you ain’t gonna like,” Jack said. Even over the sound of the music Mac heard the “I’m sorry” tone in his voice.

Jack took Mac’s face in his hands, warm callused soldier’s hands, and pulled him in for a kiss. Mac opened his mouth immediately to it, like he’d been waiting years for this and not just minutes since he’d discovered he loved the idea of it.

Jack growled into his mouth, the same possessive and frustrated growl he’d pushed into the skin of Mac’s neck.

Their tongues met, tentatively at first, and then more confidently as they both realized this was way more than just a cover to escape. 

Mac wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck and pulled him closer, as though somehow they could actually get closer. Their bodies pressed against each other from hip to chest and Mac was lost in the way Jack tasted which was, somehow, familiar. He ran a hand up into Jack’s buzzed hair, feeling the soft prickle under his fingertips, and Jack growled again. Mac was really getting to like that noise, and the way it felt travelling down his throat.

Jack’s hands travelled up into Mac’s hair, and he was done for, breaking his lips from Jack’s for a moment so he could groan against Jack’s stubbled cheek.

This was the best bad idea Jack had ever had.

“Hey, uh, Jack? Mac?” Riley’s voice tentatively cut in over comms.

Mac hoped his groan had been lost in the noise of the club.

“Yeah Riles, what’s up?” Jack asked, nuzzling back into Mac’s neck to hold their cover. HIs hands moved away from Mac’s face, snaking around his waist underneath the jacket. He peeled up the back of Mac’s tank top and set his big warm hands on the skin of Mac’s lower back.

Mac wanted to groan again it felt so good. How had he never pieced this all together before? Why had he never looked at Jack that way? Had Jack thought about it? Or was it an accidental discovery for both of them? Whatever it was, Mac didn’t even care about the mission anymore, he just wanted to get Jack alone; to talk or... other things... he wasn’t sure yet.

“They’re gone,” Riley confirmed. “You guys can get out the back way. I’ll give you directions if you make your way toward the DJ.”

“You sure they’re gone?” Jack asked, stubble scraping Mac’s cheek as he scanned the crowd.

Mac checked his side of the club, arms still tightly latched around Jack’s neck.

“Oh yeah, I’ve got the surveillance for the whole place up on my rig,” she said.

“For the...” Jack faltered, his fingers tensing a little on Mac’s lower back, pulling him closer still. “Whole club?”

“Ummm, yup,” Riley said, amusement in her voice. “So, just behind you Mac, you guys can head straight that way and I’ll guide you out.”

“Thanks Riles,” Jack said unenthusiastically, but not stepping away from Mac, still holding on.

Mac couldn’t find it in him to let go either.

Instead Mac kept an arm around Jack’s shoulders, Jack’s arm around his waist, while they walked through the crowd, heads close together, looking like a couple headed home for the night.

Who knows, maybe that’s what they were now.

[gamerwoo]

Wonwoo: All Fun and Games (part 10: will it kill me?)

Summary: It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

ignore the timestamps

previous | next | masterlist

-

As you stood in front of the door to the apartment number Wonwoo gave you, you couldn’t help but feel...nervous. Sure, Wonwoo was cute but you hung out with him once. You couldn’t like him already, right?

The door suddenly opening was what broke you from your thoughts.

“Are you going to stand there all night?” Wonwoo joked with a chuckle.

You frowned playfully, walking into the apartment when he gestured for you to come in. “I was about to knock!”

“Then why were you standing there?” he laughed.

“Why were you watching me?” you quipped, kicking off your shoes by the door.

“I-” his mouth hung open as his brain grasped helplessly for an excuse, but he came up with nothing, his face turning redder than a tomato. “Please don’t think I’m creepy.”

“If I thought you were creepy, I wouldn’t have come over. You’re actually the first person I’ve accepted the invite from.”

“...Who else has invited you over?”

“Rawkus from the Outlaws, Babybay from Shock, Profit from Spitfire. Um... Wait, I actually did go hang out with the Gladiators before, but they just wanted some Korean barbecue. I mean, I hang out with Vernon and Boo a lot, but they’re close friends of mine. Vernon and I go way back, but...most guys are just...yeah...”

Wonwoo made a face. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that, mo- ___.”

You giggled quietly at his slip-up before waving his apology away. “Ah, don’t worry about it. My team is really good about backing me up; especially Seungcheol.”

Wonwoo realized that this probably wasn’t the best conversation topic to help his case, so he quickly changed it. “Are you hungry or anything? I ordered pizza.”

“You’re asking me if I want food after you already ordered it?” you quizzed playfully, smirking as you sat down on the couch of the relatively bare living room.

“I had to be prepared!” he insisted.

“Did you prepare anything to do?” you wondered, looking around the room. 

“I did, actually.” it was his turn to smirk as he turned on the TV, and walked over to the stand, pressing a button on the old-looking GameCube. “Super Smash Bros.”

You gasped, sitting up straight as Wonwoo walked over with two controllers in hand. “I love that game! God, I haven’t played in years!”

Did Wonwoo already know you loved and missed the game? Yes. He was an avid watcher of your streams. Did you need to know that? No. His knowledge of things you liked would probably make him seem as creepy as the other guys.

You eagerly took the controller, testing the buttons and joysticks to remember what did what. As the game loaded, you were practically bouncing in your seat, excited to play the game you’d missed for so long. The last time you played it was with some cousins of yours, but one of them raged and threw the console on the floor.

“So, who do you pick?” Wonwoo wondered, curious as to who your favorite character was -- that was something you’d never mentioned.

You moved your selector to Samus Aran, smiling proudly. “The best character.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” he scoffed, going straight for Kirby.

“Oh come on!” you whined. “He’s way too OP!”

“Then maybe you should’ve picked him.” he sneered playfully before going to the map select. “Map of choice?”

“Anything but the fuckin’ dragon thing.” you frowned. You’d lost too many battles there just from not keeping up with the movement of the map. “Pokemon arena is fun.”

And so that was the map you battled on. You and Wonwoo played for hours, only stopping to answer the door for the pizza when it came about 20 minutes into playing. The two of you ate pizza, shouted, and laughed so hard that you almost cried your mascara off. 

As you played, the two of you slowly moved closer and closer together on the couch until your arms were touching, and you were gently nudging each other in an attempt to create a distraction. If Wonwoo had been paying full attention, he would’ve been a blushing, flustered mess. However, this Wonwoo was cocky and confident, softly leaning into you to push you over as his deep laugh filled the room.

Little did you know that Chan and Soonyoung were in Soonyoung’s room, listening to everything and teasing Wonwoo together between eye rolls and quiet snickers. But they had to admit it was nice seeing their friend open up to the girl he’d had a crush on for far too long.

Could it even be considered a crush anymore?

After three hours of playing, Wonwoo called for a pause so he could grab some drinks. You followed as he got up to grab more sodas, too engrossed in the conversation to put it on hold until he got back.

“I’m telling you, the battle of LA is better enjoyed at the arena.” you insisted, following behind Wonwoo as he just chuckled and shook his head. “The chants, the fans, the energy -- c’mon you have to come with me!”

“I don’t even know any of the team.” he shrugged, going over to the fridge.

It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to hang out with you -- actually, his stomach was erupting with butterflies because you were asking him to hang out. He was worried about Junhui finding out and giving him an earful about it later. Even this was too much by Jun’s standards, and it was just you and him having pizza and shit-talking each other while playing an old video game.

“Who cares? I’ll let you borrow one of my jerseys and everything! You can wear the Surefour one if you want to! Please?” you begged, reaching out to tug on his wrist without even thinking. You two had already been so close the last hour and a half that it didn’t seem like something you had to think about now. “I’ll pay for snacks, too!”

He let out a sigh that expressed his fake exhaustion. “Fiiiiine, you win.”

“Really?!” you grinned, bouncing on your toes with excitement.

“On one condition,” he decided, gathering all his courage before he spoke, “I pay for the snacks.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “Why would you want to pay for snacks to see a team you don’t even- ...Oh...”

“Yeah...” Wonwoo’s face, ears, and neck had all stained red from embarrassment as he watched you put two and two together. “Look, ___, I-”

“So you like me then?”

Wonwoo opened his mouth, closed it, and re-opened it. “...Are you asking me or are you stating it?”

You shrugged. Wonwoo definitely wasn’t a bad guy from what you could tell. If he was just interested in sleeping with you, he would’ve done it by now. He wouldn’t have took you out for ice cream, walked you back to your car, and left it at that. He wouldn’t have bought you pizza before you even showed up, and he wouldn’t have challenged you to Smash Bros for the last three hours. Yes, there was still a chance that he didn’t actually have feelings you, but hey, why not give the guy a chance after everything he’s done for you, right? Besides, you two had too much in common for you to just brush him off so easily.

“I mean...I kind of like you too.” you said slowly, remembering you were holding onto his wrist, and letting your hands drop. “So...do you like me?”

“Well...yeah, kinda.” he admitted sheepishly, giving a shy smile as his eyes found the floor behind his round glasses. “Is that okay?”

Why did Wonwoo have to be so cute? Here was the giant who looked like he would crush a man’s skull for looking at him wrong, and he was blushing at the floor because of you. Everything inside you wanted to just step forward, lean up, and kiss his cheek.

So you did.

Wonwoo froze. He stopped breathing. He was sure he stopped living for a couple seconds. You had kissed him. You kissed him! It would be such a small gesture to anybody else, but man, was he on cloud nine because of that little kiss on his cheek.

His eyes finally flickered up, looking back at you. As the two of you looked at each other, wondering what to do next, you both just kind of...felt it. It was like a telepathic thing where you both just leaned in and closed your eyes, your lips softly touching in the middle.

As if you’d kissed him a million times, your arms went up around his neck, resting there comfortably. His hands found your waist, holding you gingerly like a glass doll as he kissed you tenderly, not wanting to ruin the sweet moment.

Both of you felt your phone vibrating in your pocket, causing both of you to jump back all too quickly than either of you wanted.

“Shit, I’m sorry!” you laughed awkwardly, mentally slapping yourself. You took your phone out anyway as your face turned pink this time. “Even when they’re not here, my team still manages to keep guys away from me.”

“Don’t worry.” he chuckled, finding it so adorable how you were flustered now.

You checked your phone, your heartbeat picking up in speed. “...It’s Hongbin. He knows I’m not home.”

[tk-duveraun]

Title: Fallout 4/4 Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic Rating: T Genre: Romance & Drama Warnings: Some violence Summary: Continuation of Resilience. Morathis continues to try to convince Fox to do something they both want him to do. Notes: Vasili next! I swear! Probably! Not super thematically great, but take it anyway.

Parts: One Two Three

Once Fox is settled into their bed to mope with a snack and promises of a puppy the next time they go to Dromund Kaas (this is the fourth puppy Rathi has promised him and so far they have none, so he’s not concerned), Rathi returns to the capitol building to settle accounts and read reports while he waits. Dawn’s light is coming through the windows by the time Hound arrives, but she still does.

Her hair is frazzled and there are dark rings under her eyes. Her armor is even still streaked with mud and grass. Her eyes are narrowed and there’s an angry crease between her eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” Rathi responds. He can tell his cool demeanor is just annoying her further, but his beloved cried himself to sleep and even if it was Fox’s own fault, Rathi doesn’t particularly care.

“You know what I mean,” Hound all but growls at him.

“If I wasn’t here, some poor underling would be faced with your wrath.” Rathi yawns and deactivates his datapad.

“I’m still angry,” Hound says.

“I can see that.”

“But I found out why this whole planet is ass over tits for Faximil,” Carina says. She nearly spits out the words with how grudging they are.

Rathi just waits silently, waiting for her to get to the point.

“Don’t look so fucking pleased with yourself. It was your brother that ran his mouth when I was in the hospital seeing to Atonai.”

Rathi shrugs. “Tava gets ahead of himself sometimes. He hates my wife more than I do. He’s wanted a real sister for a while.”

“You have a wife? You know what? Not now. Not fucking now. For right now, you’re going to tell me whatever the fuck else you two are hiding from me.”

“I thought you didn’t want to hear about my wife,” Rathi says, grinning.

Hound slaps his chest with her open palm and makes a pleased sound when Rathi just crumples in his seat. “I want to know what you’re hiding, not things that don’t actually matter.”

“Ow,” Rathi gasps. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re a bastard and I’m proving that I know there’s something wrong with your chest so you don’t fucking try to hide anything else.”

Rathi stares at her for several long moments before shaking his head. “He’s dead in eighteen months. Maybe a year. There’s no way to know exactly when and after the last time he refuses to even discuss trying to stop it.”

Hound looks like Rathi just whacked her in the chest. The anger is a distant memory, replaced by something close to helplessness that she clearly doesn't have experience dealing with. When she finally finds words, Hound’s voice is small. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“He’s a Sa’alle. His secrets could never be anything good.”

She covers her mouth and shakes her head. “I suppose not. What happened last time?”

Rathi sighs, but doesn’t hesitate before he starts undoing the tiny buttons that hold his uniform jacket closed. Even without looking, he can feel Hound’s hard stare. He opens up his starched, uniform shirt and then grabs the hem of his black undershirt. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I’m going to find out eventually. Might as well take it all at once,” Hound says, her voice certain, if still only a fraction of her normal presence.

Rathi pulls his shirt up, revealing the blacken skin and bright red crystals. They’re still pulsing with the energy captured from the padawan’s attempted Mind Trick.

“How… Why?”

“Lord Sa’alle wanted him to suffer while he died, so she killed me with my own knife and had her slaves drop me, dying, at his feet. He pulled these out of priceless Force relics and…” Rathi lifts his hands and sighs. “Did Afflicted nonsense. He shouldn’t have survived it. I shouldn’t have survived at all. Now here we are and he doesn’t want it happen again.”

“That’s stupid,” Hound says. “If Sa’alle tried to kill you the first time, why would this time be any different? If anything, she’ll make sure it sticks. What is in his head? Flutterwings and Force kark?”

Rathi lowers his shirt. “Mostly puppies.”

“That’s- What?”

“...Surely you know what puppies are.”

Hound rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Yes, I know, but I was being facetious with the flutterwings bit.”

“He loves cute things and has been angling for a puppy for years. His brain is completely filled with nonsense. Why do you think I was pushing you both so hard to get together? I need someone else to help keep him in line.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

“I haven’t yet.”

Hound considers his answer for a moment and then starts pacing. “Alright, we’re in this together, Rathi.”

Rathi raises both eyebrows at her while buttoning his shirt back up. “That’s presumptuous, isn’t it?”

“You sold out your partner to me, you don’t get to complain that I’m being familiar. Anyway, we’re in this together now. You’re not telling him we spoke. I’m still angry. He’s going to sweat a bit.”

“Alright. I’m keeping him busy, but what will you do today?”

“Preparation.”

“For what? The op is over.”

“You’ll see.”

---

Rathi doesn’t sleep. He waits for Fox to wake up and whispers comforting things in his ear when Fox makes a sound like a wounded animal and tries not to cry. Fox’s grief is sharper than Rathi expected and getting him out of bed and showered takes longer than he planned for, but the point of the day is to keep him busy, so it’s no big loss. He has a few theories about what Carina might have in mind, but most are outrageous or decisions he would make based on knowledge she doesn’t have.

The day after a successful op is always the worst time to be on Olkin II. Everyone is so grateful and wants to show their appreciation and touch Fox. But Rathi keeps his annoyance off his face and simply bears it with a strong desire to grit his teeth. Thankfully, Tava finds them halfway through the city and mercifully convinces Fox that yes, it’s sad that Carina left him, but he still has to eat.

“We likely won’t stay long after the Mandalorians pack up. We’ve been here longer than we should have been as it is,” Rathi says. He doesn’t know why Tava loves this restaurant. The neon curries always turn his stomach.

“And after you get me that puppy.”

“If we have time, dear heart.”

“Actually, the Armandes’ neighbors’ dog just had puppies,” Tava says excitedly. However, he deflates as soon as he sees Rathi’s expression. He mouths ‘sorry’ across the table, but the damage is done.

Fox laughs so hard he has to hold onto the table and gasp for breath. “Finally! Finally, I’m getting one. Does this mean I get four puppies?”

“No, you get one.”

“They’ll give me as many as I want.”

“You’re only getting one,” Rathi says firmly.

“You owe me four.”

Rathi sighs and just presses his forehead into the table. He bangs it repeatedly on the wood. Fox laughs, so the embarrassment is worth it. He suffers through the rest of the meal, it’s mostly Tava describing the puppies and showing Fox holos. They’re some weird short-legged breed, but apparently also runts on top of that? Rathi should be more interested. He’s going to be stuck watching the thing.

After the requisite fifteen minutes of talking the owner out of waiving their bill, Rathi trails behind Fox and his brother. He listens with half an ear, apparently the neighbors also have small children that Tava babysits some weekends because the Armandes treat him like a human teenager, even though he’s a fully functioning adult doing his residency at the hospital. Rathi hangs back as Fox is mobbed by the chubby puppies that trundle along, wagging their entire backsides because apparently they don’t have proper tails, either.

Each one is presented to Rathi and given the opportunity to belch it’s horrific breath in his face before licking him, usually on the nose, and then being replaced by another puppy, this one somehow with worse breath. Fox kneels on the ground, heedless of the mud ruining his robes, not that the puppies haven’t tracked it all over him, and talks to the children. They look human, at least mostly, maybe five years olds, but Rathi doesn’t mind children, so he has no idea. They’re inarticulate, so all he really has to do is yes “Yes that’s wonderful” every few minutes to keep them appeased.

Finally, Fox presents him with a puppy that is apparently brindle-colored, not that that word means anything to him. And the dog’s name is Clover. “Clover.”

“Yes.”

“Like the weed?”

“Clover isn’t a weed!” One of the children, the blonde one, insists. At least, she tries to. She can’t really pronounce her rs.

“It’s a very nice name,” Rathi says with a complete lack of sincerity. He can see the Armandes laughing at him from their window and plans to send them a very terse email this week.

When they can finally make their escape, thankfully with only one puppy, Rathi sighs and drapes himself over Fox, as if he’s so drained from the ridiculousness that he can’t walk on his own. “He’s not sleeping in the bed.”

“But he’s so little,” Fox says, clearly offended on behalf of the puppy riding in the hood of his robes. Instead of barking in agreement, it snores and kicks Fox in the ear. He’s charmed.

“He’ll be crushed.”

“No he won’t.”

“He’s not sleeping in the bed.”

---

Rathi doesn’t sleep well that night. Not out of any worry or concern about Carina and her plans, though Fox got mopey and purposefully undid his braids twice so Rathi would redo them. No, it’s because his lover is insufferable and stubborn and several more adjectives that are far less kind. Clover technically isn’t sleeping in the bed. Clover is sleeping on Fox’s pillow. But Fox is not the only one who uses his pillow. So Rathi wakes up seemingly every five minutes to tiny feet kicking his forehead.

An hour before he normally gets out of bed, his comm unit chirps with a text-only message, so Rathi gives it all up as a loss, kisses the back of Fox’s neck, and gets out of bed. Rubbing the irritated sand out of his eyes, Rathi reads the message.

I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Be dressed. We need to present a unified front.

Instead of her name or title or her clan name, Carina has signed the message with a picture of a dog. Rathi is tempted to tell her to pound sand. Instead, he gets dressed in the uniform Fox calls blindingly white and instructs the door guards to let her up when she arrives. Five minutes before she said she’d be there, Carina quietly opens the door to their suite.

She’s in her full armor, not that that’s anything new, but it’s adorned with something that Rathi supposes is the Mandalorian equivalent of a tabard and there seem to be trophies attached to her belt. Her expression is cold and calculating and reminds Rathi of why he likes her so much. “He’s still asleep?” Is all she says before going into their bedroom.

Silently, Carina points to Clover and she and Rathi exchange exasperated gestures for a moment before Rathi carefully relocates the puppy to the thick pillow and warm blanket that they bought for it.

Once it’s safely out of the way, Carina lunges at Fox and grabs him by the collar of his thin nightshirt.

Fox is instantly awake and his eyes glow yellow with power for a moment before he realizes who’s attacking him. “Carina? What?”

“I’m giving you exactly one chance, Fox. You have a choice. There are two options. I will not be negotiated with, chided, wooed or cajoled into a third option and if you think you’ll intimidate me into one, you have another thing coming. Got it?”

Wide-eyed, Fox glances at Rathi, standing at Carina’s shoulder just as he always stands at Fox’s, but Rathi gives him nothing. Fox nods.

“We are killing Sybil Sa’alle. The only choice you have is whether you help us, or if Rathi and I do it alone.”

That’s not what he expected Carina to say. It’s an option he tossed out immediately as ridiculous, too dangerous and too outrageous. But now that she has said it, now that she has forced the issue, Rathi has no hesitation in backing her up. This is what he should have said to Fox five years ago, as soon as they’d recovered. This is what they need to do to have any kind of future.

It makes so much sense, now that the gauntlet has been tossed. Carina’s not going to waste her present if there won’t be a future. Even Rathi knows enough about Mandalorians to understand that. And he certainly understands the fire burning in her eyes as she looks at Fox.

Fox’s expression is pained, just as deeply marked as it was when he thought she had left for good. He puts both hands on her wrist, but doesn’t try to squirm out of her grasp. “Carina, you don’t understand what you’re-”

“I know exactly what I’m up against. You always think you know best. You just make decisions for other people because you’re so kriffing smart and powerful you must be right, and then you don’t even give them a choice. I’m mando’ad. I’m ver’alor of Clan Meshurok and like hell am I going to let some scrawny, long-haired, spoiled, silver spoon-fed, trust fund, dar’jetii brat tell me who I am and am not allowed to kill.”

Again, Fox stares at both of them, but Rathi keeps his expression as hard and cold as Carina’s. He doesn’t like the hurt on Fox’s face, but better that his feelings be hurt now than that he be dead in eighteen months. Finally, Fox wilts and sighs. “That’s not a choice. I can’t leave you to face her alone.”

Carina releases him and Fox falls back onto the pillows, though he doesn’t let go of her wrist. Her expression is still unmoved. “And don’t try to Mind Trick us or make us forget this happened. I’m resistant and those crystals in Rathi’s chest shield him.”

“I won’t. I won’t pretend that under other circumstances I wouldn’t consider it, though. The time for lies is over.”

“I’m glad you realize that,” Carina says. Her voice is stern, but the frozen distance is gone.

“But I’m keeping the dog. And my hair. Rathi won’t let you cut my hair.”

“What?”

“It was part of your rant,” Rathi reminds her.

“Well it’s still ridiculous.”

Then Clover wakes up with sneeze so violent, he rolls off of the pillow and all hope of a serious conversation is lost.

[izzyovercoffee]

I have a question about clones and cloning faults. Would it be possible that a slight fault in cloning would cause a clone to be less loyal towards the republic? Like they're still dedicated to the republic and they still fight for it, but it'd be easier to influence them against the republic than another clone who is completely dedicated. Maybe even some clones are less dedicated than others too. Would you say that's a possibility?

I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to respond to this B(

So… yes, and no. I absolutely think that it’s possible to influence some clone troopers to be more or less loyal towards the Republic, and that some can (and were!) influenced to move against the Republic — but I’m hesitant to blame genetics in this specific case, because the situation is too complicated for an easy answer.

The clone troopers are bred with specific … alterations to their genetics to encourage and enforce loyalty. They’re hardwired for bonding, but I’d argue that the extremes of their loyalty come from the flash training and extensive mental conditioning over the course of the 10 years they were raised on Kamino. 

Don’t get me wrong though: it absolutely is possible for some clones to be less dedicated than others, or more dedicated than others. We even have evidence of it in Legends and Canon, so it’s something we see clone troopers struggle with over different arcs. And genetics might make them more susceptible to influence, or less susceptible, but again … genetics isn’t anywhere near a strong factor as it the indoctrination they were raised with.

Ten years is a long, long time to be under direct brainwashing in a closed, controlled, environment with no other options and no other examples to compare to. You also have to remember that the situation the clones are in is like … the ideal environment to get as close as guaranteeing loyalty as possible through just brainwashing “flash training”, genetics be damned.

They might get some leave, maybe, or they may have off hours, maybe, but they’re essentially trapped in a system that has already sacrificed their lives to a cause they have no actual stake in. Unfortunately, the Kaminoans have had centuries to perfect an effective “mental conditioning” program to encourage the most loyalty towards their client (in this case, The Republic being the client). And beyond that, if one of them can be influenced in going against the Republic, is that brother also willing to go against his other brothers? Some might say yes, but many more would say no.

Our biggest canon example of it being possible is: Slick. I think we all remember him, right? He was clearly influenced to defect, and that influence was successful … but whether that’s due to faulty genetics or his full eye-opening realization of his position in the Republic and a willingness to abandon his brothers to try to get a better life for himself? That’s something else entirely. 

Could it be genetics? Sure. Do I think it’s genetics? Not really. 

[and under a cut bc length]

What I’m saying is that a lot of different forces goes into whether an individual clone trooper, in this situation, would be willing to act against the Republic, beyond just the potential created by genetics — though it definitely is possible that a group may have been developed with slightly less inclination towards loyalty. 

The issue though is that on top of the potential of loyalty set up by genetics, their brainwashing is from “birth” to adulthood — and these years are the most important formative years of any person’s life. Their whole worldview is determined in the early, early developmental period, and the Kaminoans had full control over them during those years.

And then … different clones were then placed into different programs, or raised in different programs, depending. So really, what we need to consider is the clones’ experiences: 1) during the 10 years on Kamino, 2) the years after Kamino during The Clone Wars, and 3) are they willing to leave their brothers behind.

Genetics sets up the potential, but in this case, your clone troopers have to break through a decade’s worth of brain washing … and some troopers just wouldn’t have the acuity to, because of the program they were raised in.

Say they were the standard clone troopers, no officer training, raised in large platoons? They aren’t trained for individual thinking. Can they think for themselves? Yeah, sure, to a degree — but following orders, respecting chain of command, viewing the Jedi as the authority figures and physical representations of the Republic they were raised to serve, why would they then question it? It’s all they’ve ever known, and it’s safe for whatever given understanding of safety they have. Their brothers, the Jedi, and the Republic is, quite literally, their whole world.

Compare this to … a standard clone trooper who lost his entire platoon early, who was kicked upstairs into a higher position (let’s go with ARC Lieutenant) and given training to match. ARCs are expected to operate alone, to go head first into really serious situations alone, and encouraged to think for themselves and problem solve to more extreme degrees than a standard CT. Creative thinking is great for solo operators, but it’s not great for maintaining mindlessly loyal servitude.

So, now you have a clone trooper with a history that at least potentially breaks that mental conditioning, and is given way more autonomy (ARC) than he had before (standard CT) with the method and the means to follow through on that newfound autonomy … and the encouragement to think creatively, outside of the box, with a critical eye on the current situation.

And then, these two examples in mind, how does their personality come in? Are they willing to say “to hell with the Republic”? And if they are … are they also willing to say “to hell with my brothers”? Because some can say yes to the first, but under no circumstances can they say yes to the second, and sometimes it only takes “I can’t leave my brothers” to keep them committed, regardless of how they personally feel about the Republic.

And moving beyond the standard CT it gets even more complicated. Pilots have a radically higher rate of KIA compared to everyone else. Alpha ARCs were drilled even more viciously by Jango to be loyal to the Republic. Commandos and Covert Ops were given more leeway in loyalty to the Republic, but that was offset with absolute loyalty to each other, and they’re all trapped in a system they can’t escape. 

So then from there, what kind of influence are you talking about? Is it from the inside? Is it from the outside? Were they captured? Tortured? Working alongside non-clone personnel? Would the person trying to influence them know which buttons to press — and how would they know? Are they using the Force? 

That kind of thing. Hope this helps B’)