#Smash Direct Spoilers

[tropeifier]

Originally posted online on June 30, 2024.

A comic based on the recently-revealed "Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom".

Zelda is always asking enemies to "please crow away", but when they drove her stark raven mad, she fought them owl by herself, with no egrets about the experience. But that's enough wise quacks from me!

[broodygaming]

I sure Hope Imogen does the thing! Character repercussions aside it’d be wicked interesting.

[several-ravens]

I LIED i'm actually back between episodes 79 and 80 hehe

things are going south and i live for it

[hugsohugs]

a legend of zelda game that's actually ABOUT zelda??? hot damn

new mario party looks cool too, hopefully it's better than the last one with the "super" title tho

[alastor-simp]

Get Radio-Jinxed!- Alastor Reacts To Jinx Reader

❥Summary- A new addition has arrived to the hotel, catching Alastor's attention. He finds them highly entertaining despite the "explosive" tendencies that they have.

❥Tags- Alastor x Jinx Reader, Jinx, Arcane, Alastor x Jinx, Some spoilers of Arcane S1 and S2.

❥Notes- I have finally finished the Arcane series and OMG I LOVE JINX SO MUCH. I decided to do an Alastor x Jinx Reader because I wanted to experience how would Alastor interact or respond to a character like Jinx so here we go! Enjoy!

❥Credit- Divider by @the-voice-beckons-below

💙Alastor didn't know what to make of you when you entered through the doors of the hotel. Your form was shrouded by a black cloak, but he was able to make out your sky blue hair and shimmering violet eyes. "Hmm what have we here? A sweet little blue bird has decided to join our establishment?" Bending down, Alastor comes close to your face, hoping to get some sort of reaction from you.

🩷The stone cold gaze you threw back at him manage to stun him a bit, before the frown plastered on your face turned into a smirk. "Huh, so your the radio bozo that everyone yaps about in the streets. I expected you to be a tad more intimidating, but ya look like an overdressed Bambi." The smile etched onto Al's face twitched, clearly realizing that this little bluebird had a feisty side to them. "I can assure you this "bozo" in front of you could rip you apart, limb from limb," His fangs sharpened, as a eerie glow began to emanate from his body, powers leaking out.

💙A brunt object had pressed against Alastor's stomach, forcing him to look down, seeing an odd-looking gun pointed directly at his abdomen. "Well, this little "bluebird" can blast so many holes into ya that you'll look like swiss cheese. Wanna test it out?" The both of you continued the stare off until Charlie grabbed you, slowly pushing you away to avoid a brawl. Well it was clear that the two of you disliked each other after that incident, resulting in a few clapback fights between the both of you. Alastor detested how direct to the point your insults were towards him, making it very difficult for him to control his temper, but he promised dear Charlie that he wouldn't harm any of the guests at the hotel.

🩷The relationship did take a turn one day. Alastor was performing his usual walk around the hallways when he hear the sound of a loud smash coming from one of the rooms. Teleporting to the sound, he discovered that sound was caused by you, having smashed the mirror. He found you curled on the ground, hands placed against your ears, appearing so small that it soften his heart a bit. "Having another one of your temper tantrums again, little bluebird?" He snarked out, preparing for you to fire back at him. "St-stop." That wasn't the response he was expecting resulting in him to tilt his head at you. "Stop what?" Alastor questioned, crimson eyes filled with concern once he noticed the tears on your face. "The voices....make them go away. Th..they never stop...always whispering in my ear. Please..make them stop."

💙Al was still unclear what you meant by voices, were you cursed by someone perhaps? Either way, he couldn't bear to leave you in this sorry state. Snapping his fingers, the both of you were transported into his bayou dimension room. He figured the tranquility here would be enough to drown out whatever voices that were pestering you. His shadow also turned on the record player, soft jazz music flowing throughout the room.

🩷Getting on his knees, he placed his hands on top of yours, as they were still covering your ears. "My dear, there is no need to worry now. No voices will be able to enter my domain." Slowly but surely, the hands that clawed at your ears were pulled away, the whispering voices finally disappearing. Pink eyes gazed around the room, taking in all of the nature and peaceful ambiance, leaving you speechless. Al opened his mouth to say something, but closed it upon seeing the shine in your eyes.

💙You avoided him, sparking some annoyance from him. He went out of his way to help you with your voice problem and this is what he gets? It irked him, claws digging into the chair he was sitting on, causing some of the cushioning to rip. His irritated behavior was very easy to spot from the other residents, hinting that it be best to avoid him for the time being. "Hey." A soft voice spoke next to Al, snapping him out of his thoughts, head turning to see you standing, hands behind your back. "Come out of hiding, have we?" Alastor's smile had grew, showing off his large teeth, as he noticed your shy nature.

🩷 Normally you would insult him, but this time you presented him with a radio? Removing the object from behind your back, you revealed a small radio to him, resembling the one that got destroyed from the last extermination. Handing it to him, you looked away, fingers twirling your blue braids. "Never tinkered with something this ancient before, so it took a while to get all the parts working. Figured it was a way to thank ya for.....ya know." Alastor continued to look at you, eyes widen in awe. You did this for him? It made his black heart soften.

💙 "Why thank you, little bluebird! I must say, you have a real knack for this." Lips drew into a soft smile, as the radio in his hand had vanished, having been teleported into his room. "Jinx," you muttered out, earning a head tilt from the red man in front of you. "Jinx?" Alastor repeated, confused at what you said. "Yup that's me. That's my name. Don't wear it out, deer man." You said, rolling your eyes at him, as you walked away, going back to hide in your room. Well well, the little bluebird has a name, Al thought to himself, smiling even wider.

🩷It was nice to see that the two of you weren't butting heads anymore, the both of you could actually manage to stay in a room together without causing Charlie to worry. Alastor greatly admired your talent at inventing, especially weapons. He never heard of "Hextech" before, but he preferred it more to the so-called Vox tech that his rival created. You even offered to fiddle with his microphone, which he refused, "Come on! I ain't gonna break the thing. Just wanna add some things here and there to it." Grabby hands aimed for his staff, which he held out of your reach. "No thank you, my dear. I like my staff the way it is, thank you." Groaning, you placed your hands on your hips, "Jeez! You're such an old man." Scoffing at you, Alastor twirled his microphone staff, while giving you a playful glare. "I may be from the 1900s, but I'm not an old man, little blue bird." Chuckling, the violet eyes of yours did a roll, "Fine, then you're an old deer." Only response you got from Al was a small chuckle, giving your forehead a small flick, before he disappeared.

💙This was the Jinx that Al had gotten to know better, he hadn't seen the Jinx that roamed the streets of hell, and boy were you a spectacle to watch. The quickness of your moves outmatched your opponents, and not only that, you were a very good shot. The weapons you yielded either left your victims with holes through their heads or parts of themselves being blown up from your chomper bombs. Quite impressive. He wouldn't mind you joining him during one of his hunts, as your fighting skills would be greatly appreciated.

🩷 His radio tower was your safe haven during one of your "episodes." The past always came back to haunt you, visions of your trauma taunting you wherever you looked. Al was always present in his tower when they occurred, his presence being enough to get you through them. He knew that you had a bit of an aversion to physical touch like him, so he chose just to sit next to you, then wrapping his arms around you or holding your hand. He heard you mention some names like "Vi" and "Vander," but he never questioned you.

💙The episode finally ended, making you extremely tired, resulting in your head falling on to Al's lap, causing a radio screech to sound out. Alastor raised his hands up in the air, not expecting you to drift off so quickly, and on his lap as well. The feelings of unease he felt was prickling at his back, yet they quickly went away as he calmed down, trying to get use to the sensation of you touching him. His crimson eyes caused at you, laughing a bit at the little snore that came out of your mouth. His gaze started to focus on your long blue braids, grasping on of them in his hands, wrapping the softness in his fingers. He never was a fan of blue, but he slowly came to admire it a bit when he was with you. His shadow had emerged from the ground, teasing him by making heart shapes in his eyes, which Alastor ignored, shooing the entity away. His shadow left, leaving just you and Alastor alone, as Alastor continued to play with your hair as you continued to doze off.

-END-

Sinners:

@alastorsgoldie @91062854-ka , @delectableworm , @iiotic

@cookiekyo , @demoarah , @danveration , @beebsbea ,

@veethewriter , @forbidden-sunlight , @pinkcrystal44 , @luujjvi ,

@unholycheesesnack , @saturnhas82moons , @jyoongim ,

@aceofcards0-0 , @ghostdoodlen , @yourdoorisunlocked ,

@starshipcookie , @ainsliemac , @aria-tempest , @nobuharashinyao

, @sweet06tart , @blakedbeanss , @ihyperfixatedagain , @ktssstuff ,

@yakultt-art , @mooniee123 , @nightmarenaya , @darischerry ,

@sadnessiscoldtea , @alastorssimp , @imacollasaltitan ,

@dilucragnvindr-my-beloved , @batmanmonstarr , @felice-jaganshi ,

@justchillaine , @crazed-flower , @ohmylovewhereartthou-blog ,

@akiooshizuka , @lokis-imaginary-friend ,

@themysteriousslenderman , @huntlowfan , @futureittomainn ,

@christinaatyourservice92 , , @just-trash-yeah-thats-it ,

@angelinevalentine89 , @yunimimii , @staryosh1 ,

@mihawksdemoness , @crystalreads , @blahblahbruhmeow ,

@madam-strawberryrose , @inkslayer , @azazel-nyx , @lixanjewel ,

@artemisandhunters , @thereeallink , @ask-theradio-demon ,

@lousypotatoes @l4zyb0n35 , @midorichoco

@lillyisfreakyy , @alastorthirsty , @yukiinee ,

, @aconstructofamind @angiiiiiiiiie

@pumppkinlynn @erikaafernns , @silverpaw2 ,

@cosmiccandydreamer , @killer-nightmare0 , @visara-valentina

@thereallsaturnstar , @coffee-or-hot-cocoa ,

@fckedupandbeautiful , @fries11 ,

@toneystank-3000. , @doll-babe-a-tron-queenthousand

, @alastor-the-radio-demons-blog , @twistedvanillacoffee

@morganodaidiot , @boldlyenchantingfox22 , @verona2314 ,

@angelmoonlight , @thatbadassauthor , @wantondoe ,

@doorknobhater , @the-stereo-demoness

[irisintheafterglow]

if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom

summary: the strawhats are summoned back to baratie so sanji can cook for a high-class diner. they can't figure out why zoro is so nervous. (opla!zoro x you)

wc: 2k

cw/tags: swearing, mentions of food and eating, established relationship, pet names (sweetheart, doll, lover, pretty), spoilers if you squint, sanji being himself and zoro having absolutely none of it

note: this was requested by an anon a few weeks ago and i finally got around to writing it!! every time i write for zoro, i have a new favorite fic i've made because he's just so fun to write for. hope you enjoy!!

likes, reblogs, and replies are always appreciated <3

“You know, they’re a lot hotter in person.”

“Shut your mouth, waiter, or I’ll skewer it closed,” he mutters with palpable distaste. Another swig of rum burns down his throat and, for the first time that the crew can remember, Zoro seemed nervous. It wasn’t obvious, but they’d sailed long enough to know that he never stopped surveying a room for threats, no matter how familiar he was with it. Today, though, the only thing that took his attention was the rim of his glass and he was subtly avoiding the eyes of the crew’s target. “This is the dumbest idea you’ve had in a long time.” 

“Thank you for your input, Zoro. I will, however, be belaying it,” his captain replies brightly, unfazed by the blank expression of his first mate. The uneasy faces of his crew only makes him beam more, giddily excited for the anticipated challenge. “C’mon, guys. We’ll be fine. They just need to see how awesome we are and they’ll totally give us a new sail!”

“Loud, loud, too loud,” Zoro warns in response to the increasing volume of Luffy’s voice. They were already causing enough of a scene, as is, and he damn sure didn’t want other guests looking in their direction. To make matters worse, the amount of alcohol in the table’s bottle was dwindling too quickly for comfort. 

“Hey, if we’re lucky,” Usopp offers, “we might just get a whole ship. You know, maybe one that Captain Usopp can command as the second ship in the Straw Hat fleet.”

“You think we’ll get a whole fleet?”

“Hell yeah. Maybe, we can all captain our own ships–”

“Alright, let’s get our heads out of the clouds,” Nami cuts in. “We still need to figure out how we’re going to get over there, in the first place. And just for the record, I’m with Zoro on this one.” 

“First time for everything,” he deadpans. She smartly elects to ignore his sarcasm and continues to argue why the plan is a bad idea. The call from Zeff came at an opportune time and during an unfortunate situation when the Merry sailed straight into a torrential thunderstorm that ripped the main sail clean down the middle. Despite their best efforts to patch it up, it was beyond repair; with the Marines constantly on their tail, having a working sail was a matter of survival. Zeff’s reluctant summons for Sanji to cook for a special guest provided a means to buy a new sail and have a little extra spending money. But, in his wildest dreams, Zoro could not have predicted that the special guest was you. The smug look on the chef’s face snaps him out of his thoughts. “Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen, waiter?”

“Shouldn’t you be downing the rest of this bottle, drunk?”

“I’ll smash this damn bottle on your head, I swear–”

“No, no. Zoro has a point,” Luffy agrees. Sanji gives him an odd look and he quickly realizes what his statement insinuated. “Not about smashing the bottle on your head. We need you to bring them your food so then I can go over and talk with them.”

“You don’t think I can charm them on my own?” 

“Don’t look so aghast, blondie,” Zoro answers and receives a knife-sharp glare in response. “This is not someone who will entertain your theatrics.”

“How would you know anything about them, hmm? I believe you’re a little too dead inside for their liking,” Sanji baits and Zoro’s on the verge of biting before Nami steps in again. 

“Sanji, get in the kitchen. Let’s just get the money and get out of here.” Zoro silently thanks her in his head for effectively ridding the chef of the table for the time being. His gratitude turns into a grimace when she turns to him expectantly. “You’re gonna hate me for asking–”

“Then don’t ask,” he finishes. She doesn’t relent. 

“How do you know them? It seems like you’re nervous about being here, but we’ve never met them before as a crew.” Hitting the damn nail on the head. “So, you must’ve met them when you were still hunting down pirates. Am I right?” He grumbles an unreadable response, but the slightly pink shade of his face tells the table everything they need to know. “You’re terrible at covering up secrets.”

“I don’t remember asking.”

“Ah, you’ve got him on the run, now. He’s deflecting,” Usopp chuckles, immediately shutting up when Zoro shoots him a deadly scowl. He hated that all of them were right and would never admit it to save his life. After all this time, seeing you still made his heart rate skyrocket and cause his hands to clam up with boyish nervousness. You were just as beautiful as the last time he saw you, instances that were too few and far between for his own liking. Your father would have a fit if he saw you in such an unregulated environment as Baratie, but he knew that you were safe. As long as you breathed the same oxygen, he vowed no harm would come to you. 

“I met them when I first started hunting,” he admits and the words felt wrong on his tongue. Every nerve in his body was telling him to stop revealing his relationship to you. It didn’t matter if he’d almost died surrounded by his crew; his connection to you was sacred and something he was going to take to his grave. It was mostly for your safety, the late-night sneaking out and stolen displays of affection. In another life, he wouldn’t have to hide you from other hunters that wanted to see him fall. “Their father is a captain in the Marines. When I first met them, they were training with Mihawk. Their father wanted them to be the most feared Marine in the seas.” The jaws of his friends fell to the table and he knew how wild it sounded, a legacy Marine trained by a pirate lord. “But, Mihawk taught them more tricks than just swordfighting and their father fired him on the spot.”

“He taught them sympathy for pirates,” Nami concludes and he nods. “Why are you so shifty around them?” He shrugs half-heartedly and tries to make it look like his face wasn’t on fire.

“Just haven’t seen them in a while,” he states, zeroing in on the blonde asshole waltzing to you with a plate. Your surrounding guards stiffen, hands flying to the weapons at their belts. You, however, roll your eyes and tell them to stand down. He knew you hated going out with security because they were always watching, watching, watching. “Eyes up. The waiter’s making a move.” 

A strange sense of nausea washes over him as he watches you smile politely at Sanji, laughing softly at his jokes and kindly nodding as he explains the dish to you. You trust them, Zoro keeps telling himself. That waiter doesn’t stand a fucking chance. All the reassurances don’t stop his gut from churning when Sanji does his signature lean-down-and-whisper-suggestively into your ear. To his surprise, however, you don’t immediately meet the chef’s eyes. Your attention flicks to Zoro, instead, with a look that he knows all too well. 

Please get me out of this. 

Despite the protests of the table, he’s standing in an instant and walking with his hands on his swords like your guards didn’t even exist. His sight becomes tunnel-vision on nothing but you and he bypasses your guards with ease. Your shoulders relax when he stations himself protectively behind you, much to the confusion of the chef in front of you. As subtle as he can, he rests his hand on the back of your chair, inching closer until he’s just barely touching your shoulder. It’s small, but speaks wonders for his presence. 

“Zoro,” you murmur without looking up, your fingertips brushing against his knuckles. Your touch on his skin after so much time away feels electric.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Sanji stiffens at the term of endearment so easily leaving Zoro’s mouth and you can sense the boost it does for his ego. “Whatcha got there?”

“My new friend was just telling me about the dish he made. He said he crafted it especially for me, with his own hands,” you inform him with a sly sparkle in your eye. His jaw clenches unconsciously. You knew exactly what was going on in Zoro’s mind and he knew it, too. “Apparently, he can work wonders with his hands,” you remark casually and you can hear the chair crack under the force of the swordsman’s hand gripping it. To your delight, Sanji’s face has also taken on a slightly darker shade of red at how crassly you echo his suggestion. And in front of his rival, no less.

“Was he, now?” His tone is lethal and it sends goosebumps up your arms. “Well, it best be time for him to get back in the kitchen, no?”

“Mmm, but he said he had a proposal for me–”

“I had one for you too, though I did ask you in a much finer establishment than this one.” You can’t help the smirk that spreads on your face and you have to look to the side to keep from laughing aloud. Zoro’s jealousy was rearing a very indignant head; you’d be lying if you said you didn’t find it a little hot. “Got that stone on your left hand to prove it.” Sanji’s eyes darted to the band wrapped around your finger, a ring that looked suspiciously like the one hanging from a chain around Zoro’s neck. “Give us some time alone, yeah?” His question becomes rhetorical as he pulls out a chair next to you and tugs your seat closer until you can cross your leg across his. His palm rests possessively over your thigh and the chef gapes for a few moments more before turning back to the kitchen. 

“That goes for all of you, please,” you order your guards without looking at them, absentmindedly tracing Zoro’s jawline with the back of your pointer finger. “Take my bag and buy however many drinks you want. I’m safe,” you state with absolute certainty. Once they’re gone, all you see, feel, and know is him.

“Hi,” he breathes.

“Hi,” you smile just as softly. “What’re you doing in a place like this?”

“I can ask you the same question, pretty.” His eyes shine with nothing but adoration. You forgot just how much you missed him.

“Took a detour to prolong my time at sea. I didn’t want to go home just yet.”

“Your old man’s being an ass again?”

“You know how he is,” you reply. “Why are you here?”

“Believe it or not, that blonde shithead is my crewmate. We’re here to get some extra Berry for a new sail.”

“Sail, hmm? I always knew you had a little pirate in you,” you tease and he sticks his tongue out immaturely. “Heard you fought my esteemed mentor. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking.”

“You don’t think I can beat him?”

“I don’t think I can fathom what will happen if you don’t,” you say quietly, swallowing a lump in your throat. “Don’t do any dumb shit, okay?”

“You’re acting as if I’m already leaving you again.” 

“Aren’t you?” Your smile is sad and it makes his chest ache. When he beat Mihawk and killed your bastard father, he was going to give you the life that you deserved. 

“Not yet,” he promises. “I don’t wanna go yet.”

“I don’t want you to go, either. How much do you need for that sail?” He gives you a number and you don’t even blink. You just nod and reach into your coin purse, fishing around and deciding to just give him the entire pouch. “Will that cover it?”

“Doll–”

“It’s a yes or no question, husband,” you say with lighthearted sternness. He shakes his head in exasperation but can’t hide the grin painting his features. 

“Yes, lover. It’s more than enough.” He presses a kiss to your forehead and you hum in contentment. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Of course. D’you mind introducing me to the rest of your crew besides the flirty waiter?”

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[caughtthedarkness93]

Not to do more Furiosaposting (and SPOILERS AHEAD), but a couple more things I noticed on a second viewing:

• I think Dementus is being honest about how he lost his family when Furiosa confronts him about it, and that's a big point the film is making. Furiosa isn't like Dementus when she finally chases him down. But she recognizes that she could become like him - a vile, cruel warlord who uses his own pain as an excuse to run roughshod all over the wasteland, smashing everything in her path, using her pain as an excuse to take from others. By that point, she's already a part of Immortan Joe's war machine. She is already complicit. And he does say to her that killing him won't give her what she wants. She resists the idea, but ultimately, it sure seems like she realizes he's right. And ultimately, that leads to her big choice - make a positive change rather than simply trying to hurt the people who hurt you. Granted, she still does do plenty of hurting the people who hurt her (Nice face you got there, Joe, be a shame if something happened to it). But the big, real legacy she builds is taking the Citadel in the name of a greater cause than fueling Immortan's cult of cruelty.

• Praetorian Jack is also complicit, honestly. And it's something he seems to recognize. He outright says that he's looking for a righteous cause. There's a lot we don't know about this man. He tells us very little of his history, nor do we know why he chooses to ride for Immortan Joe. But we do know that after meeting Furiosa, he wants to do everything in his power to help her. She becomes his righteous cause. So the whole film, Furiosa is kind of pulled between those two directions - Dementus, and Jack. Do you defeat the pain you carry by throwing it back to the people who gave it to you? Or do you seek a righteous cause to build it into something positive?

• Perhaps one of my biggest takeaways is related to Jack's death. It's not until Dementus kills Jack that Furiosa gets really set on revenge. Like she clearly loathes Dementus before that. Her first time meeting him as an adult, she goes straight for her gun. The camera highlights their relationship a lot, and I'm pretty sure her vengeful drive towards him has its own musical motif - listen for that driving, distorted noise that you hear sometimes. But revenge doesn't become her biggest driver until after Jack dies. Even as she feels clear hate and rage towards this man, she's still set on getting home all that time. But when Jack dies, she goes out of her way to try to kill him. And, relatedly, when Jack dies, she loses the arm that has her star map tattoo on it. So to put it another way, when she chooses to commit to vengeance, she loses her way.

• We need to consider perspective and narrator here, as this isn't like Fury Road where it's from the point of view of Max, who was directly there. Because this film's opening shot isn't of Furiosa. It's of another character - it's of the History Man. The first line belongs to him - "As the world falls around us. How must we brave it's cruelties?" The closing narration is his as well. Something that sticks in my head more and more is Dementus' ultimate fate. What gets me about it is that it feels implausible. Not only for Furiosa as a character, but for the way the series usually handles injuries. So George Miller was a paramedic before he was a filmmaker. In fact, his work as a paramedic is what partly inspired the first Mad Max film and what funded it. And in these films, Miller has put his medical knowledge to use. The characters' injuries are usually handled in a realistic way, with a few flights of fancy for people to make it through frankly absurd car wrecks. You see this especially in Fury Road, which takes the time to establish that Max is a universal donor twice so it makes sense to have him give a blood transfusion to Furiosa at the end. It talks about the ultimate effects of her collapsed lung and how to treat it. The injuries in these films feel realistic in a way movie wounds often don't. Dementus' final fate does feel a little complicatedly cruel for someone as pragmatic as Furiosa, but what really gets me is how medically implausible it is. We're supposed to believe that Dementus has been stuck in the citadel with a peach tree growing out of him for five years without dying? I...kinda don't. Why does this matter? I think it signals that aspects of the story fall to unreliable narration. These films are campfire stories from a world that fell and rose again. Always have been. But this one has a more direct narrator. The History Man is telling this story. It is filtered through his perspective.

• And that adds another layer to things, considering Furiosa and the History Man's backgrounds. We see the History Man, we see a guy who is clearly horrified by Dementus' actions. When Furiosa's mom is getting executed, he cries. He tells Furiosa that she needs to make herself indispensable - likely because he feels that it's the best way to protect her. But he still does Dementus' bidding, often without question or argument. In a word, the thing that ultimately separates the History Man from Furiosa is that where he was complicit until the very end, Furiosa chose to rebel.

• And I guess if I had to boil it all down, I think there's a great big takeaway from this film. Don't seek hope. Become hope.

Man, I love this movie.

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard art book pages, under a cut due to spoilers:

This sequential series was another way to explore the story structure that was solidifying. It relates the story of Rook, who returns to her ship to find the Inquisitor waiting and expecting a report. Rook tells of the Necropolis mission being interrupted by Solas. Making uneasy alliances. Going undercover with the Qunari, rising in the ranks, and then betraying them to Tevinter. Finally heading to Weisshaupt, stopping the Wardens from making a huge mistake, and ultimately joining them and slaying an Archdemon.

The Dumat The ship idea was coalescing. The name Dumat was pulling ahead (named for the first Archdemon). We were on Frostbite, so we knew we could probably borrow some of that awesome ocean tech from Battlefield! One problem was that thematically, boats didn't quite line up with the spy theme. They're too easy to spot and attack. But you know what's not easy to spot? Submarines. The idea was completely insane... so we had to try it. This brought up the challenge of anachronism. Submarines don't fit in fantasy games. Obviously. But what if we found a way? The first attempts were to make a submersible boat. Something that looked mostly like a boat but could plausibly dive under the surface.

The more we researched and referenced submarine mechanics, the more nautical they became. Subs are incredibly sophisticated marvels of engineering, but the more we referenced them, the more we strained the believably of our fantasy world.

Top: Submarines provide the element of surprise. It was fun to explore how to exit and enter the ship for each mission. Bottom: Sneaking past Qunari dreadnought fleets and giving fishermen nightmares.

We thought it would be fascinating to have a mysterious prisoner in your brig. Do you let him out?

Dragon Sub To make a submarine that fit into our world, we tried to make it look more like a sea monster. We had already named it after the dragon Dumat, so it felt like a natural fit.

We tried to disguise the sub as a natural creature, making it look more like a dragon or a sea monster.

Dumat cutaway. We wanted the interior of the Dumat, built in Tevinter, to feel luxurious and mysterious.

Top: To help give a voice to the Dumat, we explored having a captain and an engineer. They had been shelved, along with their experimental vessel, for decades. We even explored them having an unrequited love story. Bottom: We designed a mystery engine that the engineer had to feed seemingly random objects into in order to keep it running. Ten dried lavender flowers, five quail's eggs, three brass belt buckels, etc... It would have served as a way to offer up some light fetch quests: "While you're out, could you pick up ten giant spider fangs?"

Underwater Mansion The direction that started to feel the most correct was the underwater mansion on the back of a creature. It was much more mysterious and appropriate to the fantasy genre. It still gave us the awesome underwater vistas, but we weren't limited to the claustrophobic restrictions inherent to submarines.

We explored having a giant golem or a colossal sea creature carry the Dumat mansion.

The mansion on the back of a giant... something that you would only catch small glimpses of. Is it a giant sea monster? A colossal construct?

Covert Commandos "Covert commandos" was our answer to the "fantasy spy" theme. Rather than slipping into the rogue mindset that that implies, it left room for warriors to smash things and mages to light things up with fireballs. We tried to imagine what the high adventure of covert commandos might look like. It was a lot of fun to explore different team-ups between classes and factions. How do they solve problems differently? Bottom left: Going undercover with a trading caravan to make a map. Bottom right: Escaping a dragon on griffon back.

Top: A heist becomes a rescue. Center left: Evading guards in the Undercity. Center right: Three brave warriors hold the gap while civilians escape. Bottom: Everyone is on edge when an Antivan Crow enters the room.

The palanquin heist.

Top: Switcheroo at the prisoner exchange. Bottom: The party holds a chokepoint.

Top: Complicated ecosystems. Center: Sneaking through the streets of Minrathous. Bottom: Scoundrels flee when the Crows come to town.

Top: Steal some uniforms and bluff your way past a guard. Bottom left: A high-speed aravel chase. Bottom right: The team using its skills to outwith some bandits.

Bottom left: Clearing a roadblock. Bottom right: Sabotage down at the docks.

Killing time until the monsters show up.

Top right: Discovering the griffon sanctuary. Left: Just five more seconds! Bottom right: End of the line.

Early NPCs The early stages of character design are exciting. Writers and artists will develop simple sketches or descriptions to start filling up the blank canvas. We start simple. If a character works as a thumbnail sketch, they'll work when blown up to full size. It's a great way to keep an eye on shape and color, to make sure they all stand out from one another (an important element on the battlefield). We explore NPCs throughout the duration of a project. They change constantly as we discover more about the project and have new problems to solve. Top left: An early idea for Cole to act as a compassionate voice for Solas. Bottom left: Some characters are strong right out of the gate and change very little, like Emmrich here. We won't know until the project nears completion. Bottom right: It's always fun to bring old characters into newer games. In this case, explored Sten from Origins as a dreadnought captain.

From where we left off in Inquisition and Trespasser, we knew Solas would be a central figure. We wanted to show Solas having cast off his hermit disguise. He was never flashy, but he was calculating and intentional, so we gave him the ancient elven god equivalent of a business suit. --- In the early stages it helps to explore simple expressions of each character. It forces us to exaggerate, focus on fewer details, and really emphasise what matters most. Eventually we can start getting more specific, but this is a valuable stage not to skip over.

Top: Early sketches of Ghilan'nain and her experiments emerging from the sea. Center: A dwarf and her construct friend. Bottom: In earlier drafts, Solas had a partner who could play bad cop to Solas's good cop.

Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain were the two remaining elven gods. From the beginning of the project we were excited about a double Blight. --- Bottom left: Ghilan'nain is the mother of the halla, goddess of monsters. Bottom right: Elgar'nan is the god of vengeance and the sun, fire and shadow. The eclipse motif made sense very early on.

An early version of the party meets up in a private booth at the Blue Blood club.

some other pages -

Some opening pages

Foreword

Google Books preview pages Part One

Google Books preview pages Part Two

Amazon preview pages

Book art credits:

BioWare art: Matt Rhodes, Ramil Sunga, Albert Urmanov, Christopher Scoles, Nick Thornborrow, Steve Klit

Volta art: Gui Guimaraes, Stéphanie Bouchard, Akim Kaliberda, Alejandro Olmedo, Alexey Zaryuta, Julien Carrasco, Maksim Marenkov, Marianne Martin, Mariia Istomina, Marion Kivits, Matti Marttinen, Mélanie Bourgeois, Pablo Hurtado De Mendoza, Rael Lyra, Rodrigo Ramos, Thomas Schaffer, Tiago Sousa, Tristan Kang, Vladimir Mokry, Yintion J, Joseph Meehan, Stefan Atanasov, Julien Carrasco

Additional art: Marc Holmes, Thomas Scholes

[fantasydreamland]

My Saviour

jon snow x fem reader

Summary: After escaping a wildling raid you find yourself being chased by a hungry wolf until a man of the Nights Watch rescues you. Your first night sleeping at castle black has you shivering to the bone until you seek warmth in your rescuer.

Notes: 18+ ONLY!!! some violence in opening story, smut, loss of virginity, p in v, fluff, some spoilers

word count: 3004

masterlist

You just barely escaped your village being raided by wildlings. You saw some others escape in the opposite direction while everyone else was slaughtered like animals. You sprinted as fast as you could into the woods after seeing your family killed before your eyes.

Once you managed to get far enough away to catch your breath you stop behind a tree, panting onto your frozen hands. A twig snaps and your eyes dart up to meet a pair of vicious golden eyes through the thick snow watching you from another nearby tree. The wolf growls and before you have time to think it sprints towards you. You let out an unintentional scream and bolt in the other direction trying to twist and turn through trees to throw it off your path.

Frozen tears run down your face and your skin screams from the frost bite as you run for your life. Eventually you are led to a small frozen river. You carefully step a foot onto the ice and it lightly cracks. You quickly remove your foot until you see the wolf turn from behind a tree and spot you. You hold your breath and quickly tiptoe along the cracking ice. The wolf chases after you but then stops dead at the edge of the ice as if it knows the danger.

Halfway to the other side of the lake you slip and smash into the ice scraping open your exposed skin and causing the ice to form a much larger crack. You freeze in horror as you watch the loud crack slowly expand.

“Here! Quickly!” You hear a man’s voice shout to you. He spots the wolf on the other side as it turns around and leaves.

You look up to see a very handsome man in all black jumping off of his horse and pulling off his large fur cloak. He throws one end of the cloak towards you to grab onto. You grab it tightly as he slowly pulls you towards him. Your mind was in such a state of shock you no longer felt the ice nipping at your skin as you slid against it.

You began to shuffle closer and the ice let out another loud crack.

“Careful.” The man’s wide eyes met yours, he looked nearly as scared as you. “Remain still, just let me pull you.”

You nodded and put your full trust in this total stranger as he carefully pulled you off the ice and lifted you to stand. You instantly begin to fall over, your frozen bones not able to hold you up any longer.

“Gods, you’re frozen.” the man says as he wraps the cloak around you and rubs your arms to try and warm you.

“Do you think you can get up?” He says gesturing his head to his horse.

You nod, unable to speak through the shivering. He puts a hand on your back as you put your foot through the stirrup. His strong hands grab your sides and lift you up onto the horse. He quickly gets on behind you. You sigh as his warmth radiates against your back, you couldn’t help but press into him.

His arms remain tightly around you as he rode quickly. To where? You didn’t know. But the man just saved your life, you couldn’t help but trust him.

“Thank you.” You choked out in a breathy whisper.

“Shh,” he said as his arms squeezed you tighter. “You’re safe now.”

**********

You barely remember the rest of the ride as you drift in and out of consciousness.

“Rider!” You heard a man yell far in the distance.

A loud horn blows and you open your eyes again. Your blurry vision adjusts to a giant wall of ice. The wall. This was Castle Black and this was a man of the Nights Watch. You felt slightly relieved as they’ve been known to protect the people against wildlings.

The large dark door began to creek open slowly. Finally, it loudly came to a halt and he rode in.

Your mind was too hazy to comprehend your surroundings. You could barely see the blurry visions of men dressed in all black through the snow. Soon you began to drift off again.

“Who is this?” You heard a man say.

“I don’t know. I heard a scream then I found her being chased by a wolf.” Your rescuers voice radiated against you as he held you in his arms. You couldn’t even remember him taking you off the horse. “She’s frozen half to death.”

“Bring her inside.” The other man said.

**********

The next time you awoke you felt much warmer. You open your eyes to see yourself in a bed of furs in a small dark room with a warm fire going. You look to your side to see the man watching you from a chair. He flinches when you make eye contact with him.

“I- I’m sorry I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” He says shyly. You give him a soft smile.

“Thank you.” You say quietly.

He nods. “Are… are you alright?”

“I think so…” you say unsure.

“Well, there’s a warm bath and fresh clothing waiting for you.” He gestures to a tub in the corner.

You sit up and hiss in pain. You suddenly became more awake and aware of the pain radiating throughout your entire body. The man jumps out of his chair to help you out of the bed.

“Thank you again, sir.”

“Jon,” he says. “Jon Snow.”

“Jon.” You smile at him as you take his hand. “I’m (y/n).”

He gives you a sweet smile. He helps you up and leads you to the tub.

“I’ll give you some privacy.”

“Could you…” you quickly say. “I don’t know if I can do this on my own right now…”

“Oh, um, yes. I can- I can help you, if you want.” He says timidly.

You nod and turn your back as he comes closer to you. He unties the strings of your tattered dress and his fingers brush against your skin causing electricity. He turns his gaze away as you slowly pull your dress off your body, leaving you fully exposed. Your heart races as he lends you his hand to hold while you step into the tub. Heat rises in his cheeks and it takes all his will power to not stare at your naked body.

Your weak arms shake as you lower yourself into the warm water. Your hand grasps on the edge of the tub as your other squeezes tightly onto Jon’s. The warm water soothes and stings your skin at the same time. You lean forward so all he can see is your bare back which was covered with cuts and bruises.

The air is tense as you both move in silence. He sits down on the stool beside the tub. He grabs a sponge and soaks it in the water before lightly wiping your back. You hiss and quickly he pulls away.

“It’s ok.” Your eyes meet his with a soft look.

He nods as he continues to gently wipe the dried blood from your skin. The tenderness of his touch makes you sigh. When he’s finished he grabs a small pale beside the tub and scoops up some water.

“Lean your head back a little.” He says almost in a whisper.

You do as he says and lean your head back. You close your eyes as he pours water over your hair. You sigh and lean more into his touch as his fingers work through your hair. The new angle giving him a slight view of your exposed breasts makes him nearly choke on air.

You turn your head and look into his eyes as he gently wipes the remaining blood from your face. The world felt still as you gazed at each other. Staring deep into each others eyes felt like you had known one another for a lifetime. He softly wipes the blood from your lip and couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to kiss them. He thought you were the most beautiful and intriguing woman he had ever seen.

“What happened?” He breaks the tense silence.

“Wildlings raided my village…” you said quietly, turning away and looking down into the water. “I barely escaped. I was running from them then suddenly I was running from a wolf chasing me… I don’t know how I’m still alive right now.”

“Did anyone else get away?” He asked.

You met his eyes. “Some. I saw people escaping the other direction.”

He nods, a sad expression on his face. “And your family?”

You shook your head looking back down.

“They could have escaped…” he says reassuringly.

“No.” You said flatly. “I saw the savages kill them.”

“I’m sorry.” He said lightly brushing your shoulder. Your breath catches at the touch.

Jon grabs you fresh robes and sets them on the stool before turning to help you up. You take both his hands as he lifts you from the water. The candle light illuminating your naked frame. He can’t help but glance at your wet body before meeting your eyes again, making you blush. He awkwardly looks to the side with red cheeks as you step out of the tub holding onto his hands. He passes you the robes to put on and steals one last glance of you from the corner of his eye.

“I’ll be in the room right next door if you need anything.” He says shyly.

“Thank you, Jon.” You stand near the bed as he heads towards the door.

“Goodnight (y/n).”

“Goodnight.” You say as he leaves the room and you crawl into bed.

**********

You wake in the middle of the night shivering. The fire was dull and the warm room turned cold. The wind whistled loudly from a storm raging outside. After trying hard to fall back asleep you give up and get up from bed, wrapping one of the furs around you.

You sneak out the door and into Jon’s room. Your heart stops and you gasp as your eyes connect with the red eyed white wolf laying next to Jon’s bed. You stumble back and bump into a table causing a clatter that wakes Jon.

“(y/n)?” Jon says hazily as he wakes up. He notices your terrified expression toward the wolf.

He gets out of bed revealing his exposed upper half which manages to distract your thoughts for a moment before you turn back to the wolf who was still laying down leisurely.

“I promise he won’t harm you. He’s not wild, I’ve had him since he was a pup.” He walks towards you and turns to the wolf. “Ghost, come.”

The wolf stands and slowly walks over causing you to stumble backwards again.

“Shh it’s ok, I promise. Here…” he says taking your hand.

You timidly move your hand with his towards the wolf. You held your breath as he sniffed your hand then gave you a small lick. Jon lets go of your hand as you continue to pet Ghost, all the fear easing away.

“He likes you.” Jon smiles.

You smile and stand as Jon opens the door for Ghost to leave. “Wait outside boy.”

He turns back to you, rubbing his bare arms as he starts to adjust from being out of his warm bed.

“Is something wrong?” He asks, slightly shivering.

“No, I just can’t sleep.” You say as you begin to shiver again too.

“The nights can get very cold here.” He says, noticing your obvious shivering. “We can share the bed… if you want.”

You looked at him for a moment and didn’t respond before walking past him toward the bed and slowly crawling under the furs. Your eyes met his and he followed as he also climbed under. The shivering did not stop and eventually your teeth began to chatter.

“Come here,” Jon said pulling you closer.

You let him pull you into his arms until he was cuddling you close. Your heart raced and you swear you could feel his racing against your back.

“I’m not hurting you am I?” He suddenly asks, remembering your injuries.

“Not at all.” You whisper back.

The room is still cold but the warmth of him behind you soothes some of the shivering. You shuffle closer into him but then freeze as you felt something hard pressed against you. You knew he noticed your reaction as you felt him also tense.

Your breath quickened and you didn’t know what to do. After a moment, you took a deep breath and relaxed against him. You feel him relax his arms before hugging you tighter. Although you managed to relax your body you were still filled with nerves. Pushing your fear away you boldly press yourself against him again, this time clearly intentional. Jon groans in your ear and pushes his member harder into your backside.

“Jon…” you breathe as he slowly begins kissing your neck while you grind against him.

You turn around to face him and your eyes meet full of bewilderment and lust. He takes your face in his hands and kisses you hard. His tongue demands entrance to your mouth and you happily oblige. He kisses you like it’s the last kiss he’ll ever have.

You pull him closer against you before your hand moves from his waist trailing down his torso. He gasps into the kiss as you lightly grab his hard member over his trousers. You reach for the strings of his pants but he quickly grabs your hand to stop you.

“I can’t…” Jon says with a pained look on his face, clearly not wanting to stop.

“Why not?” You whisper.

“I- I swore a vow. As a man of the Nights Watch.”

“Oh… They make you swear not to lay with a woman?”

“Something like that… we swear to never marry or father children.”

“So… you do not actually swear off of… sex.”

“Well I- Yeah… I guess not…” Jon furrows his brows at the realization.

Without another word he throws caution to the wind and reaches between you to pull the ties of your robe before pushing it off your shoulders. He grabs your breast and leans forward to put the other in his mouth making you let out a quiet moan. His lips make their way up your collarbone to your neck until they land back on your lips. His hand begins to explore your body until his fingers lightly brush against your most sensitive area causing you to gasp and break the kiss.

“Jon…” You sigh, “I have never…”

“Me neither…” he whispers back.

You smile and lean over to capture his lips again. This time he lets you pull the strings of his pants before he pulls them fully off. You barely get a glimpse of his lower half before he’s on top of you littering kisses all along your jaw and neck.

“Are you sure?” He whispers as you feel him rubbing his length against you.

The feeling makes your brain fuzzy and you quickly nod staring deep into his eyes.

“It is going to hurt… at first.” He says.

You nod again and he pushes into you making your jaw drop and your face scrunch in pain as you grab hard onto his biceps. He stops but you pull him closer signaling to keep going and you hear a low groan escape him as he pushes through. Once he’s fully inside you he stills. You pant through the pain as you adjust to him. He waits not just for your sake, but with the way you squeezed so tightly around him he was already struggling to not lose control and finish before this has even begun.

After another moment he begins to move slowly as your foreheads are pressed together. You breathe through the pain as it starts to fade. Your pained expression soon turns into pleasure and you’re suddenly desperate for more of him.

“Jon please… faster.” You whisper to him.

Without another word he starts thrusting faster into you until your moans begin to fill the room. He kisses you hard in a failed attempt to keep you quiet.

“Shh.” He smirks down at you, slowing his pace. “You are going to wake everyone up.”

“Sorry…” you whisper and giggle.

His speed picks up again and you bite your lip to hold try and hold back your loud moans. Your hands tangle into his curls and tug hard. He groans in your ear and gently bites your neck in response then kisses the tender spot. It becomes harder and harder to keep quiet as he slams into you harder and harder. You bite down on your lip so hard you thought it might bleed again. You gasp his name as the pressure in your belly builds. Every cell in your body ignites and you begin to see stars. Suddenly everything snaps and he quickly covers your mouth as you scream out. His thrusts become more sloppy as he quickly reaches his own peak and pulls out. He can’t stop himself from grunting loudly as he spills himself onto your stomach. In that moment his mind was so blurred by the feeling of you he completely forgot where he was. You nearly faint at the gorgeous sight of him above you as he came.

He crashes down beside you and reaches for a cloth before cleaning you up.

“You are going to wake everyone up...” You tease.

He chuckles, “I would be very surprised if we did not.”

“Well… at least I am no longer cold.” You give a shy smirk.

He smiles and kisses your temple before pulling you in close so you’re laying on his chest. You would face your problems in the morning. Right now you just savor the feeling of your saviours strong arms wrapped around you and his heart beating against your ear as you both drift off to sleep.

masterlist

[absurdthirst]

Kinktober 2024: October 29th

Day 29: Branding // Hunter - Prey // Uniforms

Pero Tovar x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: Forced marriages, escaping/running, being chased, slightly dubious consent, vaginal sex, rough sex

|| Kinktober List || MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

You can hear the dogs barking, the hounds going crazy for your scent. Hunting you, chasing you down. 

Your dress is in tatters, ripped and muddy, heavy around your ankles as the slippers you are wearing provide no protection from the sticks and stones that cover the ground you have to trek. 

It’s a race for freedom, for escape. It feels useless with the number of coins that have been offered for your return. Your very life depends on not being caught but the sounds of the horses get closer, the pounding of their hooves sealing your fate. 

You are running for your very life, the man you are to marry is more monster than man. Sure to kill you like he had killed his other wives. Terrified of him and the scar that bisects his left cheek, a reminder of his violent nature every time you had look upon him. 

The stream is nearby. Stumbling to your knees, you cry out in pain when your knees hit the stones and you feel the bite of the rough surface scratching against your palms and cutting them. 

Panting, you struggle to your feet, nearly falling again and cursing your sex. If you were wearing trousers, you would be farther than you have made it. 

Pushing away the need to sob as you clutch your hands and rush towards the water that could conceal your scent from the hounds. It could provide you an escape. 

The pounding of the horses' hooves gets closer, breaking through the clearing and you hear a shout of your name. Making you scream as you break into an awkward run. One last push to get away. 

He swoops in, leaping off the beast’s back and snatching you up by your waist. Your flailing is no use against his strength and agility. He has been a mercenary his entire life, only newly made a lord after saving the king’s life. 

“Let me go!” Your kicking and beating on his arms does nothing but make him chuckle. Amused by your feeble attempts to rescue yourself from your fate. 

“Never.” He growls the word into your ear, holding tight to you and carrying you off towards the small cave. Whistling to his horse, you curse the beast as he dutifully turns and follows his master. 

The sounds of the dogs faded, the men who had been riding with Pero Tovar obviously moving in a different direction, but it is no use. He has you. Not letting you go even as you fight him every step of the way. Screaming out curses and struggling to get out of his tight grip. His prize to have. 

The rain starts to beat down on you right before he reaches the edge of the cave, soaking your already soaked dress and making him spit out a curse that is the only grim satisfaction you will have. Dropping you to the cold ground and reaching for his belt. 

His attack is quick, fierce. His lips smashing agaisnt yours and his tongue forcing it’s way into your mouth as his hands unlace his breeches and push your skirts up to your hips. 

“Per-” 

With an accuracy that forces the air out of your lungs with a sharp yelp, Pero drives into you. Burying his cock deep with a hiss of pleasure when your walls squeeze him and he immediately starts to rock into your body harshly. 

“Fuck.” He growls, his weight pinning you down and holding you in place while he takes you. Claims you. Ruins you. “You will never escape me.” He promises, kissing  you again so you cannot argue with him. Swallowing your sounds down greedily as he ruts on top of you. Your cunt aches, stretched out on his thick cock and you fear that he will split you in two. 

His grunts are harsh, rough, just like he is. Greedy for the softness and pleasure your body brings him, he pushes inside you again and again. Feeling how tight you are, how your cunt takes him with ease. 

Your fingers dig into his hair and you pull it, but that just makes him fuck you harder. Snapping his hips forward with a determination to breed you right here in this cave. To make sure that everyone knows that you are his no matter how often you try to run from him. You will never make it far. You are the prey and he is your hunter. 

Your body heats up, cunt weeping from his cock hammering into it and your stomach twists in pleasure. Starting to thrash under him for another reason rather than trying to escape. Your moan makes him chuckle breathlessly. 

“That’s it.” He growls. “Moan for me. Your cunt wants me, even if you don’t. I will just keep you pinned to the bed with my cock, no?” He flashes a grin as he thrusts deep again and you cry out. “Good girl.” He hisses when your walls clench down. “Taking my cock so good.” 

You want to hiss and spit at him, but you can’t. Not when every drive of his hips takes away your ability to speak. To even think, so you just yank on his hair again. 

That spurs him on. Another bruising kiss slotted against your lips and his tongue curling into your mouth to tangle with yours. He loves this. The chase is in his blood. He is a hunter and now he has his prize. 

Squeezing your eyes closed, you squeal into his mouth, your body shaking under his when he pushes deep and presses against something incredible inside you. Making stars burst behind your eyes and your cunt gushes around the ever deeper thrusts of his cock. 

Pero groans, his pace faltering when he feels your walls quivering around him, plunging deep and painting your walls with hot spurts of his sticky seed. Planting his seed deep in the hopes that it takes. 

Your limbs feel heavy and your hands fall away from his hair, listening to him pant against your neck before he starts to chuckle. “You almost made it to the river this time, amor.” He rasps out, squeezing your hip and twitching inside you. Your walls contract around his softening cock and you huff as he kisses your neck softly. 

“I did, but the damn dogs were rushing me.” You point out. 

“Just like the first time you ran from me.” He hums in amusement. 

“I really was scared of you then.” It seems so silly to have been so afraid of your husband so many years ago. How you had listened to the rumors of his brutality. 

“Come, the servants will have your bath ready when we get home.” He murmurs, pulling back and slowly pulling out of your body. 

Home. A place you had once feared and now delighted in returning to. You had run and he had caught you, both of you discovering you had delighted in the chase and now this game had been born of it. Marking the yearly anniversary of your initial race for freedom and your mercenary catching you. 

[blednokrov]

I've been having lots of fun designing random OP fusions for a hypothetical AU where people can fuse... Feel free to drop a combo of any two Strawhats in my asks for me to draw a fusion of them (I'm only reading impel down rn so please no spoilers)

More on these:

Mickey (Nami + Franky) - ultimate Big Sibling fusion. She's very balanced in her sense of responsibility, desire to take other under her wing and general "fun but let's keep it sane and safe" vibe. One of favorite fusions of Strawhats as her appearance often means "supervised fun that is otherwise strongly off limits" and they just love her in general. Overall, Mickey's cool, fun and sexy (and not allowed in many public places because she only wears bikini swimsuits). He fights with electrocution.

Didja miss me? Well, now you can look at my pretty face all you want - we're gonna have so-o-o much fun~

U.V. or just Violet (Usopp + Vivi) - the big dreamer one. She is really sweet and emotionally open - probably one of most child-like fusions, but often gets timid and unsure when it's time for her to to stand up for herself. She loves fantasizing and excitedly ranting about all these ideas on how to make world a better place, but goes into very absurd territory without noticing. They fight with a sling and explosives.

No, wait, but listen. But what if The World Government, like, printed money so that everyone can have some, and- No, wait, i don't think this is how economy works. Okay, what if we all just...

Roro (Zoro + Robin) - arguably the most unhinged fusion of them all. With Robin's morbidly creative mind and Zoro's general disinhibition in most generally dangerous situations, Roro is pretty much unstoppable once he set his mind to do something reckless, dangerous and possibly really violent (as they both don't have any qualms about murdering or causing severe bodily harm). However when not in "focused on following through with an insane idea" mode, Roro is actually a rather pleasant company! They're calm, collected and thoughtful, yet shamelessly silly, especially with Luffy and Chopper who they adore. Most of the crew is rather cautious about them (except for Luffy who whines how he misses playing "multiarmed tags" with Roro) because they can cause much trouble without supervision. On the other hand, they're very strong. They fight combining swordfighting with generating extra limbs (which also means an arm slashing you with a sword can sneak on you from any direction).

Oh. I see. How about we send his head- okay, his fingers in a box to his captain as a warning?

Note: Luffy has the privilege of naming all fusions and usually just smashes names together until it sounds like an easy to remember name... Sometimes inner logic of how the name was made is lost even to him

[pikahlua]

MHA Chapter 412 spoilers translations

This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.

tagline 迫る崩壊にデクは⁉︎ せまるほうかいにデクは⁉︎ semaru houkai ni DEKU wa!? Deku [faces] the approaching decay!?

1 内側 うちがわ uchigawa Inside [his body],

2 防御に徹して身動きが取れなかった間 ぼうぎょにてっしてみうごきがとれなかったあいだ bougyo ni tesshite miugoki ga torenakatta aida while he was completely unable to move himself in defense,

3 「黒鞭」で無理矢理筋肉を伸縮させ続けた 「５TH」でむりやりきんにくをしんしゅくさせつづけた 「5TH (kanji: kuro muchi)」 de muriyari kinniku wo shinshuku sase tsudzuketa he was able to continue to force his muscles expand and contract with the 5th (read as: Black Whip).

4 筋力限界蓄積「発勁」 きんりょくげんかいちくせき「３RD」 kinryoku genkai chikuseki 「３RD (kanji: hakkei)」 Muscle strength accumulation limit of the 3rd (read as: Fa Jin)

1 による ni yoru And by doing that...

2-3 風圧発散 ふうあつはっさん fuuatsu Wind Pressure Emanation

1 デラウェア DERAUEA Delaware

2 スマッシュ SUMASSHU Smash

tagline No.412　史上の最狂のヒーロー　堀越耕平 ナンバー412　しじょうさいきょうのヒーロー　ほりこしこうへい NANBAA 412  shijou saikyou no HIIROO   Horikoshi Kouhei No. 412 History's Craziest Hero  Kouhei Horikoshi

1 ハハッ HAHA "Haha!"

2 極致だな緑谷‼︎ きょくちだなみどりや‼︎ kyokuchi da na Midoriya!! "That's peak*, Midoriya!" *(Note: The word Tomura uses here to describe Izuku's use of his quirks means "ultimate, extreme, pinnacle, acme.")

3 「崩壊」の予測範囲ごと 「ほうかい」のよそくはんいごと 「houkai」 no yosoku han'i goto The entire predicted area of Decay

4 風圧で抉り飛ばしやがった ふうあつでえぐりとばしやがった fuuatsu de eguri tobashiyagatta he gouged out with wind pressure.

5 伝播の媒体自体を減らして でんぱのばいたいじたいをへらして denpa no baitai jitai wo herashite By reducing the medium of transmission itself,

6 進行を限りなく弱体化…！ しんこうをかぎりなくじゃくたいか…！ shinkou wo kagiri naku jakutaika...! the progress [of Decay] will weaken without limit...!

7 ーーだが --daga "--But"

8 その場凌ぎ！ そのばしのぎ！ sono bashinogi! "[that's only] a stopgap measure!"

1 何度でも触れてやるよ なんどでもふれてやるよ nando demo furete yaru yo I'll touch you however many times!

2 土煙が つちけむりが tsuchi kemuri ga The dust cloud

3 散っていかない ちっていかない chitte ikanai isn't dispersing.

4 なるほど‼︎ naruhodo!! "I see!!"

1 「煙幕」に「変速」"一速"を付与！滞留させる！ 「６TH」に「２ND」"ロー"をふよ！たいりゅうさせる！ 「6TH (kanji: enmaku)」 ni 「2ND (kanji: hensoku)」 "ROO" wo fuyo! tairyuu saseru! Confer the 2nd's (read as: Gear Shift's) low gear to the 6th (read as: Smokescreen)!

2 視界を遮断して「煙幕」を展開 しかいをしゃだんして「６TH」をてんかい shikai wo shadan shite 「6TH」 wo tenkai To block his vision, deploy the 6th (read as Smokescreen).

3 死柄木の「危機感知」を鳴らし続ける しがらきの「４TH」をならしつづける Shigaraki no 「4TH」 wo narashi tsudzukeru Keep sounding [the alarm] of Shigaraki's 4th (read as: Danger Sense).

1 その間にーー‼︎ そのあいだにーー‼︎ sono aida ni--!! And in the meantime--!

2 「危機感知」に頼るリスクはよく知ってる！ 「４TH」にたよるリスクはよくしってる！ 「4TH」 ni tayoru RISUKU wa yoku shitteru! I understand well the risks of relying on the 4th (read as: Danger Sense).

3 "溜め"を作る為にここまで…！ "ため"をつくるためにここまで…！ "tame" wo tsukuru tame ni koko made...! "All of this to create a stockpile...!"

4 けど…９代目‼︎ けど…９だいめ‼︎ kedo...9daime!! "But...Ninth!!"

5 死柄木は しがらきは Shigaraki wa Shigaraki

6 「サーチ」でこっちがーー‼︎ 「SAACHI」 de kocchi ga--!! [can see you] over here with Search--!!

7 ぐあっ gua "Gwah!"

8 見えてんだけど？ みえてんだけど？ mietenda kedo? "But I can see you?"

9 位置も いちも ichi mo "Your location, too."

10 弱点も じゃくてんも jakuten mo "And your weaknesses."

11 この目で見た人の情報100人まで丸わかり！ この目でみたひとのじょうほう100にんまでまるわかり！ kono me de mita hito no jouhou 100nin made maru wakari! I completely know information about up to 100 people I see with these eyes!

1 おまえ息できてないだろ おまえいきできてないだろ omae iki dekitenai daro "You aren't able to breathe, right?"

2 "変速"の反動‼︎切れた！ "へんそく"のはんどう‼︎きれた！ "hensoku" no handou!! kireta! "Gear Shift's recoil!! It cut off!"

3 さっきの"溜め攻撃"も さっきの"ためこうげき"も sakki no "tame kougeki" mo "That stockpile attack from before also"

4 そう乱発できるモンじゃないな そうらんぱつできるモンじゃないな sou ranpatsu dekiru MON ja nai na "isn't something you can fire over and over."

5 腱や筋肉を内から直接補強… けんやきんにくをうちからちょくせつほきょう… ken ya kinniku wo uchi kara chokusetsu hokyou... "Direct reinforcement of your tendons and muscles from within..."

6 肌から透けて見える黒鞭が物語ってる はだからすけてみえるそれがものがたってる hada kara sukete mieru sore (kanji: kuro muchi) ga monogatatteru "That (read as: Black Whip) that's transparently visible through your skin tells the story."

7 まともにくらえばさすがに俺も無事ではなかったかもな まともにくらえばさすがにおれもぶじではなかったかもな matomo ni kuraeba sasuga ni ore mo buji de wa nakatta kamo na "If I had taken that [hit] normally, maybe even I wouldn't have been all right."

8 守るもんが多くて大変だなァ緑谷 まもるもんがおおくてたいへんだなァみどりや mamoru mon ga ookute taihen da naA Midoriya "It's tough when there are so many things to protect, right, Midoriya?"

9 …だからって… ...dakara tte... "...I said that's why..."

10 泣いていたあの少年を…諦めはしない…！ ないていたあのしょうねんを…あきらめはしない…！ naite ita ano shounen wo...akirame wa shinai...! "I won't give up...on that boy who was crying...!"

1 人は狭い窓から世界を解釈しようとする… ひとはせまいまどからせかいをかいしゃくしようとする… hito wa semai mado kara sekai wo kaishaku shiyou to suru... "People try to interpret the world through a narrow window..."

2 どうなった⁉︎ dou natta!? "What happened!?"

3 見えない みえない mienai "I can't see."

4 遠くに行っちゃった とおくにいっちゃった tooku ni icchatta "They went off far away."

5 理解のできない物事に理由をつくって楽になろうとする りかいのできないものごとにりゆうをつくってらくになろうとする rikai no dekinai monogoto ni riyuu wo tsukutte raku ni narou to suru "They try to make things easier by making up reasons for the things they don't understand."

6-7 おまえは自分の狭い解釈に俺を落とし込みたいだけだ おまえはじぶんのせまいかいしゃくにおれをおとしこみたいだけだ omae wa jibun no semai kaishaku ni "You just want to fit me into your own narrow interpretation."

8 見えてんだろ みえてんだろ mietendaro "You can see it, right?"

9 俺に"幽霊ども"が見えてるように…OFAを通じて俺の中が… おれに"ゆうれいども"がみえてるように…ワン・フォー・オールをつうじておれのなかが… ore ni "yuurei-domo" ga mieteru you ni...WAN FOO OORU wo tsuujite ore no naka ga... "It's like you ghosts can see me...[see] inside me through One For All..."

10 だから煙の中おまえも俺を捕捉できた… だからけむりのなかおまえもおれをほそくできた… dakara kemuri no naka omae mo ore wo hosoku dekita... "That's why you even were able to catch me in the smoke..."

11 しっかり見ろ しっかりみろ shikkari miro "Look carefully."

1 泣いていた少年はもうとっくに乗り超えた ないていたしょうねんはもうとっくにのりこえた naite ita shounen wa mou tokku ni norikoeta "The boy who was crying already got over it long ago."

2 どこまでも解釈を拡大し どこまでもかいしゃくをかくだいし doko made mo kaishaku wo kakudai shi "I expanded my interpretation without end,"

3 少年は死柄木弔になった！ おれはおれになった！ ore (kanji: shounen) wa ore (kanji: Shigaraki Tomura) ni natta! "and I (read as: the boy) became me (read as: Tomura Shigaraki)!"

4 俺ぁ何も困っちゃいないんだよ！ おれぁなにもこまっちゃいないんだよ！ orea nani mo komacchainainda yo! "I am not in any kind of trouble!" (Note: Tomura means he's not a person who needs to be saved from anything.)

5-6 僕はあの子を救けたい ぼくはあのこをたすけたい boku wa ano ko wo tasuketai (kanji: sukuetai) I want to save that kid!

1 諦めろ あきらめろ akiramero "Give up."

2-3 救いようの無い人間はいるんだよ出久くん すくいようのないにんげんはいるんだよいずくくん sukuiyou no nai ningen wa irunda yo Izuku-kun "There are people who cannot be saved, Izuku-kun."

4 君の掲げたヒーロー観にとって きみのかかげたヒーローかんにとって kimi no kakageta HIIROO kan ni totte When it comes to your views on heroes,

5 こいつは最大の壁であり こいつはさいだいのかべであり koitsu wa saidai no kabe de ari this guy is the biggest wall.

6 超えなくていい壁だ こえなくていいかべだ koenakute ii kabe da It's a wall you don't have to climb over.

7 一撃で跡形もなく消すしかない いちげきであとかたもなくけすしかない ichigeki de atokata mo naku kesu shika nai "There's no choice but to erase him with one blow until no trace remains."

8 堪えろ出久くん！ こらえろいずくくん！ koraero Izuku-kun! "Bear with it, Izuku-kun!"

9 溜めろ‼︎さっき以上に！ ためろ‼︎さっきいじょうに！ tamero!! sakki ijou ni! "[Gather a] stockpile!! Even more than before!"

10 嫌だ… いやだ… iya da... "No..."

11-12 じゃあ何であんな寂しい過去を…心に据えてたんだよ…‼︎ じゃあなんであんなさびしいかこを…こころにすえてたんだよ…‼︎ jaa nande anna sabishii kako wo...kokoro ni suetetanda yo...!! "So then, why [did you fix*] such a lonely past...into your heart...!!" (Note: By "fix" here, Izuku means "place, lay as a foundation." Essentially: "Why is such a lonely past in such a foundational position inside your heart?")

13 蓋を…しただけだろーが… ふたを…しただけだろーが… futa wo...shita dake daroo ga... Literally "A lid...you just put one on, didn't you..." Contextually "You just...covered it all up, didn't you..."

1 守れなかったモンを見ないフリして まもれなかったモンをみないフリして mamorenakatta MON wo minai FURI shite You pretend not to see those you couldn't protect,

2 傷んだ上から蓋をして いたんだうえからふたをして itanda ue kara futa wo shite and covered up their pain from above. (Note: The official translation of the above two lines is: "You pretended not to see those you couldn't protect and swept their pain under the rug.")

3 その蓋ブッ壊れるまで そのふたブッこわれるまで sono futa BUkkowareru made "Until that cover breaks,"

4 殴るのを止めない なぐるのをやめない naguru no wo yamenai (kanji: tomenai) "I won't stop striking at it."

1 だから dakara "That's why"

2 反対していたんだ はんたいしていたんだ hantai shite itanda "I reversed [my stance]."

3-4 "宿敵を救けたい"なんてイカレた幻想に俺たちの歩みを委ねるのか？ "しゅくてきをたすけたい"なんてイカレたげんそうにおれたちのあゆみをゆだねるのか？ "shukuteki wo tasuketai (kanji: sukuetai)" nante IKAREta gensou ni ore-tachi no ayumi wo yudaneru no ka? We’re gonna entrust our footsteps to this crazy fantasy of ‘I want to save our nemesis’?

5 平和ボケした傲慢な考えだと へいわボケしたごうまんなかんがえだと heiwa BOKE shita gouman na kangae da to "It's the arrogant idea of a peace-loving fool."

6 だが裡から見てきて だがうちからみてきて daga uchi kara mite kite But when I began to look within, (Note: It's not clear from these words if Kudou is talking about looking within Izuku or looking within himself. The imagery of the rest of the page could imply that he's looking within Izuku.)

7 わかった wakatta I understood.

8 この少年は このしょうねんは kono shounen wa This boy

9 縋っているのだと すがっているのだと sugatte iru no da to is one who clings [to others].

10 嫌悪すべき人間だろうと けんおすべきにんげんだろうと ken'o subeki ningen darou to Whether it's a person he should hate

11 無個性の人間だろうと むこせいのにんげんだろうと mukosei no ningen darou to or a person who lacks individuality*, *(Note: This word, mukosei, is the MHA world's term for "quirkless," but whenever it means "quirkless," it is written in quotes in the manga. Here the word is not in quotes, so it should mean what the word mukosei normally means in Japanese: "a lack of personality/individuality." I think here the word may be intended to refer to the other kid with the long fingers who also follows Katsuki around.)

12-13 その奥には等しく人の心があるのだと そのおくにはひとしくひ���のこころがあるのだと sono oku ni wa hitoshiku hito no kokoro ga aru no da to he is one who [believes that] deep down people have the same* hearts. *(Note: This sentence is awkward to write out in English because the word "same" is actually an adverb in Japanese, like "similarly, equally." It means something like "All people are equal in that they similarly have human hearts.")

14-15 信じたいのだ しんじたいのだ shinjitai no da He is one who wants to trust*. *(Note: This word could also be translated as "wants to believe [in others].") (Update: I now believe this line should be translated as "He is one in whom I want to believe. Please see here for a bit more detail.)

1 …… "......"

2 キレイ事は…嫌いじゃない キレイごとは…きらいじゃない KIREI goto wa...kirai ja nai "I don't hate...such idealism*." (*Note: This word in Japanese literally means "lip service." This is the same word used by All Might (in a flashback) and Mirio in chapter 367 when talking about how heroes have to talk the talk of positive thinking before making those ideals into a reality.)

3 今から俺の言う通りにしろ いまからおれのいうとおりにしろ ima kara ore no iu toori ni shiro "From now on, do as I say."

4 おまえに賭けるよ９代目 おまえにかけるよ９だいめ omae ni kakeru yo 9daime "[I'll] bet on you, Ninth."

5 OFAを手放すんだ ワン・フォー・オールをてばなすんだ WAN FOO OORU wo tebanasunda Let go of One For All.

tagline ２代目の秘策ーーーしかしそれは… ２だいめのひさくーーーしかしそれは… 2daime no hisaku---shikashi sore wa... The Second's secret plan--but that...

[ghoooooooooooooooost]

(カエラズの遊園地 spoilers)

some fun character bits from the new dm1 amusement park dlc (based on my reading skill lmao so not guaranteed 100% accuracy but i think i understood most things):

(mashita's office)

shou goes to mashita's office to clean up n do chores 2 days a week. also, mashita has a shrine in there because moe told him to get one (to protect him from being cursed). mashita drinks expensive-looking brandy in his office at night. he drinks it straight

mashita has a drawer with a memo that says "don't touch" in red pen, n opening it sets off an alarm that can only be stopped if you hit the switches in the right order (moe smashes it instead)

mashita's lighter is from his old senpai (a photo of him with said senpai is in the alarm drawer. moe thinks that pic must be important to him; he's smiling in it)

(daimon's office)

moe says she heard (a rumor?) that daimon was a band member in the past. she wonders if he performs for his patients, since he has a guitar in his office. she also says it looks like he has a lot of western music records

there's a specific music track for his room

at some point daimon casually picks up a snake n asks moe if she wants to touch it. turns out it's just shed snake skin

the banter between moe n everyone else is really funny but there's also rlly nice moments between her n the others, esp daimon. one part that stuck out to me was when daimon was telling her to let the adults handle this n she argued with him until he gave in; he responds with "please lend me your strength, watanabe-kun"

also multiple moments where we see how yashiki influenced her

spoiler + body horror cgs under the cut

i really like what they did with mashita (like leading up to it) n also these cgs r so pretty. he gets tased

kaerazu-sama is also pretty to me. and she's HUGE

this dlc was fun... unfortunately it still has an unnecessary fanservice moment (very skippable this time too) but i hope they keep going in this general direction instead of whatever was going on in the writer's room for dm2

[blakbonnet]

S2 Spoilers from the articles so far

- Lucius has a brooding, bitter arc

- Mary and Anne are murder wives, literally, retired and plotting new ways to kill each other everyday and keeping the relationship fresh

- Ed and Stede go on a double date (possible the chair smashing scene)

- the phrase "snuffed out" was used for tealoranges in one of the articles, make of that what you will, hints of possible poly Jim x Olu x Archie maybe

- Izzy redemption arc, meaty storyline

- Pirate Queen Zheng Si Yao vs Prince Richard (Errol shand) is the major background story

- Episode 6 is major! Romance and otherwise and has loads of emotional tears shed

- "Susan" Ruibo's character (Queen Zheng) is a bit of a frenemy and really lauded for her part

- The crux is romance and Ed and Stede's romance in particular

- The only major complaint seems to be that it's very fanservice, so okay lmaoo good

- Very suicidal Ed in the first few episodes but some of it is balanced by humour but again, fairly dark

- Ed does seem to be doing direct violence and is pretty down in the dumps, raiding everything he sees, killing bystanders etc

- Reunion is pretty early on (ep 3 maybe) and there's plenty of banter between Ed and Stede

- Archie is a super fun character who looks up to Ed a bit and has great chemistry with everyone else

- Toxic workplace style discussion about Ed's management

- Ed plays mindgames with the crew when he's not maiming them apparently and it's pretty angsty and funny

- Stede is working at Spanish Jackie with the crew cause he's broke af

- Stede's major plot is getting to Ed and finding Ed and he writes him a love letter every morning while fantasising about him at night in the form of wild dreams absjsjd

- Stede has a bunch of bitchy moments and one liners

- Swede has found true love with Jackie

- Ed cuts more of Izzy's toes (at least 2 more)

- Izzy mediates Ed and Stede's relationship

[hugsohugs]

first announcement and the direct is already insane holy SHIT

[the-little-ewok]

Collateral Damage

Poe Dameron x G!N reader

Rating : M

Wordcount : 6800 (ish)

Warnings : Friends to lovers, sort of slow burn I suppose, angst, fluff, reader has a fear of flying, arguing, vague illusions to Poe's torture by the FO, vague mention of parental death (Poe's mom), mentions of panic attacks.

Summary : Poe finds out you are scared to fly, and makes it a personal challenge to fix that. Only spending so much time together, causes some complications.

A/N : there's a few bits here that mention Poe's past as a child which is from Freefall however there are no direct Freefall spoilers contained, and it isn't necessary to have read it to enjoy this.

To the anon that requested an angst to fluff Poe fic...I hope you enjoy!

~

"Poe, please don't look at me like that!" You beg.

"Like what?" Poe gives you a genuinely confused look, as though he hasn't been staring at you for the past ten minutes like you're a particularly complex puzzle he needs to work out.

"Like there's something wrong with me," you sigh, twisting the mug of tea nervously in your hands.

"I never said that! But seriously? You're scared? Of flying? This is a joke right?"

"I just think if we were made to fly we'd have wings is all." You shrug, trying to be nonchalant as you sip your drink, your fingers pressing hard into the china as you try to ignore his shock. You don't look up but you can feel his eyes burning into you.

"How did I not know this? How have you hidden it from me of all people! I'm equally impressed and offended." You suspect by his tone he's more offended than impressed, but it was never truly your intention to hide it from him. The secret just sort of… happened.

When you were children you barely knew Poe, not until after he returned to Yavin, his eyes a little darker than they had been before, his steps a little more calculated, though no less bold. When you started helping Kes out around the little farm he bought, you had gotten to know Poe a lot better. Barely tolerating him at first, before you fell into an close friendship. It had been easy enough to deny his requests to go flying with him in the early days, especially given the amount of trouble he got into.

Then when you were older Poe seemed to flit in and out of your life. Between the academy, the navy, and now the resistance, sometimes it seemed like he was never around.

But he always reappeared eventually. He came back to Yavin sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. He used your back garden like his personal shipping yard, but you never had the heart to tell him off about it, despite the fact you had smashed more than your fair share of crockery in shock at the sudden noise of a roaring engine coming down on your house.

Everytime he asked if you wanted to go flying you found some excuse not to, sometimes elaborate ones you aren't even sure Poe believed. You assume perhaps he thought you were avoiding spending time alone with him, which was in part true some of the time.

You could have told him the truth, but the way he lit up when he talked about flying — the freedom of it, the adventure of it — had always made the words dry in your mouth. He couldn't possibly understand, and you knew he would react, well, exactly as he had.

"I didn't! You never asked, and it never came up in conversation. It shouldn't have tonight. It's irrelevant. I don't need to fly," you shrug stubbornly, wanting to get away from the topic if only to stop the quizzical gaze he's fixed you with since it came up.

"But-but there's a whole galaxy you're missing out on!" He splutters, still wide eyed with shock. "You can't tell me you want to spend the rest of your life on Yavin."

"I like Yavin!"

Poe gives a huff of disbelief at you, folding his arms.

"Liar."

"You know Poe, not all of us have the need to fly out into the night and get blown to pieces like you," you sigh, rubbing a hand over your eyes, frustrated at his reaction. "Anyways it's late. I should go."

Getting up you put your mug in the sink and grab your jacket, intent on leaving and finding some way to avoid this topic for the next however many years, probably forever.

"Hey, hey, don't go. I'm sorry, okay?" Poe begs getting up and taking a gentle grip of your arm to prevent you moving. You ignore the fire that ignites your skin where his fingers are wrapped loosely around your arm.

"Tell me what scares you? About flying I mean? Let me try and understand," he pleads.

Taking a breath you sigh. How could you explain it to someone who spent their whole life up there? How could you explain it to someone who lived and breathed the freedom of the flight?

"Pilots die, all the time. Things go wrong, fights, pirates, technical failures…" you trail off with a wave of your hand, freeing your arm from his gentle grip, not used to his touch. "I just…can't stand the thought of dying alone out there in the cold. It's hard enough worrying about that happening to you."

"You sound like my dad," Poe sighs quietly. "He didn't want me flying either. Not after my mom."

Reaching back out you squeeze his hand briefly, knowing that while the relationship between Poe and Kes had somewhat mended over the years, some cracks ran too deep to ever be fully healed.

"You know, Kes never shuts up about you flying. Always talking about what a good pilot you are and how your mom would be so proud of you, how you fly just like her. I swear it's all I heard for weeks the last time you were here."

Poe falls quiet for a long moment, deep in thought, a frown etched deep into his brow.

"He's proud of you, Poe. I know he struggles to say it sometimes, but he is," you offer gently.

Poe waves a hand nonchalantly, as though it doesn't bother him, but you know it does.

"Well you know my dad likes to keep things to himself, but apparently not from you," he eyes you somewhat suspiciously. "He likes you, you know. He told me once I should marry you. Imagine that, us, married."

He lets out a snort of a laugh as he shakes his head at the thought. You want to make a joke about it, you want to laugh it off and tell him you'd never agree to it even if he asked, but the spark of feelings you've so carefully navigated all these years flared to life suddenly and in full force at his words.

There's always been something between you, something a little more than friendship, something you both know can't be. Something both of you have avoided talking about for a long time now.

Perhaps when you were younger maybe you could have figured something out, but Poe was hardly ever around and now, well now your worlds were too far apart. Yours here on the ground, his far off in the stars. It was better not to prod too hard at open wounds, but Poe's laughter at the thought of you together, still cuts deeply.

Something must flicker across your expression because his amusement dies and Poe gives you a half smile.

"It's just, you know, you're seeing someone. Aren't you?"

"It didn't work out." You shrug as though you don't care. The truth was it never worked out, because you would always be in love with someone else. How were you supposed to give your heart away when at any given moment the one that makes it beat could drop from the sky without warning?

"Oh," he sounds genuinely sad which only drives the knife further in. You drop your eyes from his, pulling at a loose thread on your jacket as he continues. "I'm sorry. You'll meet someone else though! Although maybe…. Off this planet?"

You sigh and roll your eyes. Really you shouldn't be surprised that he found a way to spin the topic right back to your issues with flying, which you suppose was better than your love life so at least there was that.

"Oh come on. You can't be scared if you haven't tried it! Lemmie take you!" Poe sounds like an excited child on life day. Clearly the thought of conquering your fear appealed to him.

"Absolutely not! I've seen the way you fly!"

"Did you not just say even my dad thinks I'm good at flying? And besides," he leans on the counter, a shit eating grin plastering his face, "didn't you hear I'm the best pilot in the resistance?"

You roll your eyes at his cocky statement.

"Poe, I've heard a great deal of things about you over the years, not all of them I can believe and most of them I've had to defend your good name against!"

He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head like a curious loth cat.

"Like what?"

You quickly go through the ment rollerdex of things you've heard, deciding to pick out your favourite.

"Like… the time you apparently almost married a Hutt."

Poe opens his mouth and then closes it again, suddenly becoming very interested in a tin of tea on the side. He picks it up, rolling it between his palms, purposely not looking at you.

"Well, really that wasn't even my fault," he mumbles eventually, realising you aren't going to fill the expectant silence.

He can't seriously have done that? The ridiculous story can't possibly be the truth?

"You have to be kidding me! I got into the biggest argument that you wouldn't be so stupid to get into something with them. Do I even want to know the real story?"

You had vehemently defended your friend, arguing well into the night that while yes, Poe was reckless, and yes sometimes he spoke without thinking, and yes sometimes trouble found him, you were still absolutely sure the story was completely untrue. You suppose you have a few apologies to make now.

"It's not like I intended to agree to the marriage! It just sort of… happened."

You stare at him, open mouthed waiting for the rest of the story, knowing he won't be able to resist defending himself. But instead of launching into a lengthy explanation he grins, setting the tea down slowly and fixing you with an expression you are all too familiar with. The one he uses when he knows he's about to get something he wants.

"Trade. I'll fly you somewhere. Then I'll tell you."

And there it was. He knew you wanted to know the truth, unable to resist a good story about the far off places he visited and troubles he got into. You should have predicted the bastard would use that against you.

You fold your arms.

"No."

"I'll just fly you to the other side of Yavin? Short trip, in and out."

"No!"

Poe sighs dramatically, pushing himself up off the counter.

"Fine. You drive a hard bargain. I'll tell you the whole story if you let me show you around my ship and tell you how unscary it is to fly. Strictly no piloting."

"Please agree so you can both shut up. It's after midnight, and the noise you two make will bring the first order down on our heads without them even looking!" Kes Dameron booms from the hallway, making both of you jump.

"Sorry dad!" Poe yells while he gives you a grin of victory.

"Sorry Kes! I'm leaving now." With a sigh of resignation you slip on your jacket. "Fine. No flying."

"No flying," Poe agrees with a nod, holding out his hand and wriggling his fingers invitingly. You hesitate to take it, but he slides his hand into yours anyway, squeezing your fingers. "I'll walk you home."

You try not to think about how right it feels to have your hand in his.

~

"Poe, Poe," you repeat a little louder as he continues rambling away, pointing to the different parts of his X-Wing, a misty look in his eyes. You're sure you lost him a good while ago, and he hasn't stopped talking long enough for you to explain you have no idea what he's talking about.

"You have to put your hand up to ask a question when I'm teaching," he chides you teasingly. Rolling your eyes you put your hand up, glaring at him when he grins silently at you for a long drawn out moment. Just as your patience breaks, opening your mouth to ask anyway, he cuts in first.

"You have a question?"

"Several," you respond dryly. "Firstly, can you please slow down? I've no idea what you've been talking about for the last twenty minutes. Secondly, I'm pretty sure you've told me about everything that can go wrong and now I want to be near this thing even less. Thirdly -"

"This thing? This thing?" He interupts, his eyes going wide with shock. "This thing is a T-70 X-wing. I've done a lot of work on this thing!"

"I apologise I insulted your ship," you laugh, watching his brows pull together in an annoyed frown. Maker, Flyboys! As cute as he was you couldn't really expect any other reaction.

"Don't apologise to me. Apologise to her!" He points at his ship before he folds his arms stubbornly, as though he's actually serious. You pause for a moment, realising he is serious.

"Thirdly, I don't think this is helping and I'm sure you have better things to be doing," You continue, ignoring his sulk. Poe drops his arms, his expression softening.

"It is helping," he insists. "If you know what can go wrong then you know how to fix it, or how to account for it at the least. Then that part isn't so scary anymore. I promise."

"It doesn't feel like it's helping," you mumble, wrapping your arms around your chest, the low hum of anxiety vibrating under your ribs. "I'm sorry. I'm not being ungrateful. It's very nice of you to do this."

"You don't think I can do it," he grins and you roll your eyes at him for what feels like the thousandth time since he's been back.

"I'm not a challenge," you remind him with a glare.

"You kinda are though," he grins. Trust Poe to see this as some sort of game he can win. "Come on. You can trust me. I know about these things. How'd you think I survived this long?"

"Sheer dumb luck?"

Poe laughs, a deep elated noise that brings a smile to your lips and makes your heart ache with affection. It seems so rare these days that he truly laughs like that, and when he does, here with you, it only makes his inevitable absence harder to swallow.

"Probably a bit of that too," he admits with a shrug. "Okay, new plan."

He plonks himself down on the ground, patting the space in front of him for you. When you're settled opposite him he takes both your hands in his. When you try to pull away, the touch giving a jolt in your chest, he grips your fingers tighter, forcing you to stay with him. It's an all too familiar dance now. You push him away, and he only proceeds to try and hold you closer. When he's here you wish he wouldn't, but when he's gone, you ache for his easy familiarity.

He gives you a genuine open look, and your heart aches a little that he's truly trying to help when you feel so beyond helping.

"What do you think about when you get scared? When you think about being up there. What is it that worries you so much?"

"I guess dying alone?" You suppress a shudder at the thought of floating out there in the darkness, no one to hear you scream for help.

The pilot doesn't even miss a beat before he answers quickly.

"Okay, I'd be with you so that's not a problem. We would die together."

You glare at him, unamused. Ignoring your vehement stare he gestures for you to continue.

"Fine. Being shot out of the sky. Lot of time to think about dying while you're plummeting to the ground."

He gives you a grin, "We both know that's not an issue because I'm a great pilot, so no matter where we are I promise you I'll land safely, all parts intact, especially all the bits I like," he winks and you desperately try to ignore the flare of heat on your skin. "I've done it so many times I could do it in my sleep! Next problem."

"Kidnapped by pirates." You shoot quickly.

"They'll give you back after half an hour." Poe snorts with laughter when you reach out and slap his arm hard.

"Asshole," you grumble, fighting back a smile.

He grins at you, clearly enjoying himself at your expense and while you should mind his teasing, you find it hard to care, not when his eyes are lit up with genuine joy.

"You are really not helping," you laugh eventually, shaking your head. "I'm a lost cause."

"Not entirely, just mostly. I mean none of these are good reasons to be scared," Poe smiles and you have to admit it chafes you a little that he still doesn't seem to understand.

"I never said my fear was rational."

"It's not entirely irrational either," Poe acknowledges with a shrug, finally allowing you to pull your hands out of his while he taps his chin in thought. You curl your fingers into your palms, willing away the memory of his touch.

"What you need is a distraction!" Poe proclaims brightly. For a shocked moment you think he's talking about a distraction from him, which is entirely exactly what you need. But he keeps talking and you realise it's nothing like that, although he inadvertently makes you distracted anyway, from flying at least.

"Yeah, something to take your mind off getting up there."

You shake your head, knowing it won't work. Suddenly this whole thing seems like a bad idea. Poe wasn't one to give up, and yet over the years you've tried just about everything to get over your fear. A weariness starts to creep in, encouraging you to make your excuses and leave.

"I doubt anything would distract me that much. Anyway, I think we should do something else. Flying isn't that important." You try, knowing it's hopeless now you've encouraged him this much.

"What if I flew naked?" He grins, wiggling his eyebrows. His constant blatant flirting is starting to take a toll, and you can't muster even a smile this time. He knows, yet he does it anyway. It's infuriating sometimes, purposely poking and prodding when you're just trying to get by without spilling your heart all over the grass.

"Coming from the person who laughed at the notion of us being married, I don't see how you think I'd care about that." You don't quite mean to bite it out the way you do, but Poe ignores your attitude and leans back on his arms, gazing at you.

"Yeah, because we'd argue all day long about everything. I'd be messy, and you'd want a tidy house, we would fight over what to have for dinner, because you won't believe I'm the better cook, I'd want to paint the walls blue, but you'd want green. You'd want to live here and I wouldn't." He waves his hand, indicating that there would be a longer list of issues if he continued. "The thought of us being married is funny because it would be chaotic, not because I don't love you."

The words hit you like a shot, and judging by the look of fear on the pilot's face he probably hadn't thought them through before they left his mouth.

"Guess the cats out of the bag now. Well, suppose it was never really fully in the bag anyway," he mumbles, running a hand through his messy curls, before he stares up at the sky. "I mean, I know we've never….I know we've never gone down that road, but you know I've always had a soft spot for you."

You knew. Of course you knew. You both held an affection for each other, but you also know it wasn't meant to be. Maker knows you've spent your life trying to get over him, and Poe… well he never breathed a word about his feelings in the matter. You assumed he had moved on some time ago. If his list of conquests was anywhere half true, he moved on quite well.

You avoid his gaze, looking down at the dirt. "Love is a lot different than a soft spot. Seems funny you never mentioned that before."

Poe swallows, sitting back up properly and reaching to take your hands, you snatch them back before he has a chance, a swell of anger starting in your chest. There is no need for him to tell you this. You don't want him to tell you this. It won't make any difference to say it out loud.

"I knew I couldn't stay so what was the point? You've said yourself how much you love Yavin. Who was I to ask you to give it all up? You deserve someone who could be there for you, where you wanted to be. You still deserve someone like that."

"So why bring it up when you know it isn't you?" You snap angrily, getting to your feet, panic pulsing through your veins. While you've had this conversation a hundred times in your head, in reality you have no idea how to react. Suddenly the open wound becomes a sinkhole, and every wall you've placed around your feelings starts to crumble in. Your chest constricts with panic. He can't do this now. Not after all this time. You won't be able to rebuild what he's torn down. This will burn your friendship to the ground.

"Because I'm selfish," the pilot admits, jumping up and following you as you storm across the garden towards the house, the flaring pain in your chest getting worse with each word that leaves his mouth. You won't talk about this. You can't talk about this.

"Yes, you are! You blaze in and out of my life and everytime I think I might have a chance to mend myself, you come tearing down from the sky. Maybe it is about time to actually have this conversation so we can both move on!" You spin on your heel to face him, stepping back when he reaches for you again.

If he touches you now you won't ever be able to let him go, he'll find a way to calm you down and you don't want to be calm. You want to be angry. You want to yell, scream, and let out every feeling you've kept locked inside. You want him to feel even a small spark of what he's done to you for years. You need to be angry.

"Why can't we just be together now?" He interrupts your rant.

"What's the point, Poe? You know I won't leave, I can't leave. And you can't stay. It won't work and we both know it."

"We don't know that because we haven't tried!" He implores passionately. "You can come with me! The resistance would be lucky to have you. If you just try! If you just let me show you. I promise it's not so scary, and then we can go anywhere we like!"

"I can't do it, Poe. I just can't and there's no point trying to make you of all people understand that."

You turn to leave but this time he's quicker than you, reaching out and catching hold of your wrist.

"So this is how it ends is it? We dance around this for years and then we just do what? Give up?" The pain lacing his voice is enough to make your lip tremble as you bite back the tears.

"You're right. We've danced around this for years because we both know it isn't going to work! Why now? Why after all this time decide to drag all this up now?"

"Because we are in the middle of a war. Because I don't know what's going to happen to me tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Because I might not be here to tell you this, and for some reason it kills me that I might be gone and you would never know that I loved you. I've waited years for you to find someone who makes you happy, someone who gives you everything I can't, but everytime I come here I know it hurts you because it hasn't happened. And I need you to know that someone, that I, love you. I don't think I can just walk away this time." He sounds resigned and it crumbles away every last brick you had to protect yourself. Poe doesn't think he's going to survive this war. In the end, he knows he's going to leave you anyway.

It makes you angry to hear him talk that way. Poe was the upbeat one. Poe was the one who always figured a way out. He doesn’t just accept the inevitable. And you don't need him concerned about you either.

"Well you should just walk away, because I don't need your pity!" You yell, feeling the hot tears escaping your eyes.

"That's not what it is!" Poe takes a breath, clearly trying to calm himself and de-escalate the situation. "I'm just trying to be honest with you for once. I can't just leave and say nothing this time."

"You mean like you have every time you disappear into the sky for months on end?" You laugh bitterly.

The pilot swallows, his eyes searching yours, pleadingly, begging you to understand why now, but the anger still swells in your chest.

"I've always come back to you. Every time I can. For Makers sake do you think I'd be here so often if you weren't?"

When you say nothing Poe frowns, reading your expression all too clearly.

"You won't even consider coming with me? You won't even try?"

You wrap your arms around your waist, holding yourself together as you shake your head.

"I can't. We can't and you know it. I…can't leave. I can't leave," you repeat in a whisper, shaking your head, the tears flowing fast down your cheeks.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Poe apologies softly, reaching out to take your arms, drawing you close to him. You try to fight it, pulling your body away, but Poe ignores you, holding you tight against him until you stop fighting, allowing him to hug you tightly.

"I know you can't leave," he admits, letting you go to cup your cheek, his palm warm against your cooled skin, his thumb sweeping away tears. "You don't have to, okay? Just say the word. Say the word and I'll be here, with you. I'll stay right here so we can try. Tell me that's what you want. Tell me you feel the same and I'll do it."

You know what he's offering, and you know he can't fulfil it. He's speaking without thinking it through, in desperation, trying to fix things, to fix the damage his words have done.

You wish you could accept it, but the thought of Poe grounded, here, a place he fought so hard to escape, causes an ache in your chest. You know it can't be that way.

Maybe he would give it all up for you, but it would never be enough. Not for him. Eventually the cracks would form, and he'd be gone, and leave you so much more broken than you already were.

"Tell me you feel the same," he whispers, leaning into you.

"Don't do this," you beg softly, bring your hands up to rest on his arms to push him away. You can't seem to make your body follow through with the action.

"Then stop me," Poe challenges, his hand sliding around the back of your neck. He's so close you can feel his breath against your lips, the warmth of his body against yours.

Maker, he was going to break your heart. He won't stay, he can't stay. You won't make him do that, not for you. But you're sick of fighting it, sick of trying to pretend. He's here, with you, wanting you. Just this once, once can't hurt.

The screeching beep of his comms stops you both, the sudden insistent noise cutting through the tension and your own clouded thoughts, making you step away from him quickly. Poe lets you go, his expression pained, though he doesn't move to answer the incoming call.

Swallowing hard you gesture to his pocket, refusing to meet his gaze, fearful of what you might find there.

"You should get that."

"Yeah," he nods distractedly, taking a breath and fishing the comm out. He holds it in his hands, glaring at it before his gaze flickers back to you. "Can we talk later?"

You hesitate initially but then nod. Later gave you time to think, to process everything, to try to explain to him why this can't be. Maybe you can salvage your friendship after some time apart.

A tiny voice in your head whispers the vicious truth. It was too late for that.

It's less than an hour before he leaves again, back on urgent business for the resistance. You hadn't opened the door when he came to say goodbye. You hadn't answered when he asked if you wanted him to stay, and you hadn't the strength to smile and see him off this time. He left you with the memory of his muffled voice, promising he will come back, promising he'll figure out a way to make this work, begging you to think, to try.

For once you're grateful he's gone. At least he isn't around to see the damage.

~

The tea Kes Dameron had pressed into your hands has long since gone cold as you stare out at the grass, little shoots growing where previously a star fighter engine had burnt them away, one that so far hadn't returned, and perhaps never would.

There's a sigh behind you, a creak of the porch steps as Kes sits down next to you. The older man had come to help you fix the flickering light in the kitchen, something you'd have once asked Poe how to fix, allowing him to instruct you via comlink, teasing and laughing at your questions and frustrations. But you hadn't spoken to Poe, not in months now, too ashamed and regretful of your behaviour, and too fearful of what speaking with him may bring up.

"He was asking about you again earlier. You can't keep avoiding his comms."

You can feel Kes's eyes on you but you refuse to look up from the dent in the grass. You don't need to ask who he means.

"I'm not. Poe calls at bad times."

Kes makes a disbelieving noise, taking the now cold mug out of your hands and setting it down to the side, making you finally look up.

"It's been a bad time for the past two months. What happened between you?" He frowns at you.

"Nothing." It was the truth. In the end nothing had happened, not really. But the almost of it, the almost hurt worse.

You don't want to talk about Poe. You don't want to think about it. But the next question slips out without you being able to stop it.

"How is he?"

Kes lets out a long breath.

"You know Poe, all smiles and reassurances but he hasn't been the same. Not since…" Kes trails off and your stomach gives a now familiar lurch at the memory of Kes turning up at your door, pale and scared, stuttering out that the First Order had captured his son. As far as you know Poe never told Kes what happened in those days he was gone, but if the stories you heard were even half true, you're surprised he made it out alive.

"He needs someone there," Kes continues eventually.

"He has his squadron." You ignore what Kes is implying. It's a conversation you've had a hundred times over now. It makes your chest ache in a now all too familiar way.

"He needs you, and for all your denial you need him. You can't spend your whole life moping around here. I can make the arrangements to get you there. You just have to say the word."

You had tried in the weeks following his departure to do as he asked, to fly. You had walked to the shipping yard every day, listened to the roar of the engines, talked to the pilots, tried with every fibre to set foot on a ship, any ship, but you couldn't do it.

You had come to accept that you were right to distance yourself. There was no way for you to be together.

"Kes, I can't do that. I… me and Poe… we just aren't… our lives don't fit together." The shame burns in your chest that you couldn't be there for him when he needed someone the most, after his escape from the First Order.

Kes scoffs in an all too familiar way. You wonder if Poe knows where he got that reaction from, if he knows how much like his father he can be.

"Don't fit together? You kids," Kes rolls his eyes. "Nothing in this life is ever easy. If you want something enough you'll find a way through it. Poe's mother," he hesitates, the words catching in his throat. It's rare for Kes to mention Shara, but when he does, it always seems it causes him physical pain. The older man swallows hard before he continues, looking up at the sky.

"She was a free spirit like Poe. But she loved with her whole heart, and so does he. He'd give up the world for you. Don't let your fear hold you back. Don't make the same mistake with him that I did. If you do, you may lose him forever."

Kes was right in a way, your fear was holding you back, it always had. You'd always known Poe's heart was in the stars, and your fear would never let you leave the ground. But Poe had offered to give his world up for you — his stars, his resistance, his freedom. Even if he couldn't stick to it, he was willing to try.

Maybe you could try again. For him.

~

Poe is still in his flight suit, his hair damp and messy, helmet clutched in one hand, talking animatedly with another pilot who you vaguely recognise, who apparently knows you straight away. The pilot nudges Poe — who continues to chatter away obviously— before forcefully spinning him around to point at you.

You can tell you are probably the very last person he's expecting. His eyes go wide and he blinks a few times, as though he's imagining you here. He opens and closes his mouth but whatever words he wanted to get out, don't seem to come, or at least you can't hear them across the yard.

You hadn't told him you were coming. In fact, you still hadn't answered a single one of his comms. It's not that you hadn't wanted to talk to him, but more that you hadn't wanted to disappoint him if, in the end, you couldn't go through with it. Getting here had taken weeks, the trip was rearranged three times after you found yourself unable to get on the ship, and in the end Kes had dragged you in himself and tied you into your seat, reasoning that you needed a push. He was probably right, but you would still be having words when you saw him again.

Raising a hand to Poe you give him a small wave, glad that you landed a good few hours before he returned from whatever mission run he was on this time. It had given you time to clean up and compose yourself, for the shaking to finally stop.

You hesitate in the landing bay, unsure if you should go over or stay put. Poe decides for you because the moment you move a foot forward, he runs to you, skidding to a stop almost toe to toe with you.

"Here-you-h-how?" He stutters out looking you over, as though you might have been kidnapped and dragged here against your will. "Is everything okay? What's happened? My dad-"

"Is fine," you cut him off, recognising his rising panic. "Everything's okay at home. I just thought it was about time I came to see you for once." You give him a nonchalant wave of your hand and a shrug, although your stomach feels full of stones as you take in the new scar across his cheek.

"But… you wouldn't even fly with me!" He sputters out, as though that's the most important point.

You give him an apologetic smile.

"Your dad made me realise I needed to be here," you confess, "We heard about what happened. Your dad was worried about you and how…" you were coping after being tortured.

You don't finish the sentence, swallowing hard.

"I was worried about you." You drop your eyes, instead gazing down at his scuffed boots, still feeling ashamed you hadn't been here sooner.

The pilot sighs, "I'd have come to you if you'd just answered my calls. I just thought you didn't want to see me, and then things here got… a bit crazy."

"I know, but the way we left things. I didn't know…I couldn't…I'm sorry. I tried to come, I really did. I couldn't and… I couldn't tell you…I panicked and everything that happened, and what we said, and what I did, and I wanted to be here for you when you were… but I couldn't. I tried but i couldn't do it, and then -"

"Stop, stop, stop," Poe shushes you, pulling you into his arms and holding you against him tightly, while you try to ramble out an explanation, an apology, and confession all in one, the words tumbling together, desperate to escape.

"Shhh stop," he repeats softly, squeezing you against his chest.

It's more than just a friendly hug, it's more than just a greeting. He holds you tighter than he ever has, one hand curled into the back of your shirt while the other grips his helmet, his face buried in your neck, as though he could hide from the world. Your heart aches for him and everything he's been through as you hold him.

You wait for him to ask you questions, to call you out on how you acted, even to tease you for the whole situation.

Instead, "I'm so proud of you," is all he says.

You bite your lip hard to hold back a flow of tears, gripping his flight suit as he squeezes you breathless.

"I can't believe I wasn't your first," he huffs suddenly against your skin.

"What?" You squeak, heat flushing over your skin at the sudden change in conversation.

"Pilot! I wanted to take you on your first flight," He sighs, pulling away to pout at you in the most adorable of ways. It makes you want to laugh at the look of actual disappointment on his face. You hadn't realised it had meant so much to him, then you remember that he had seen you as a challenge and can't help but wonder if it's purely that someone else won, where he lost. You can tease him about it later and find out.

For now you'll sooth his jealousy just a little.

"Does it help if I tell you your dad had to basically restrain me. I cried, had I don't know how many panic attacks, shut my eyes the whole way, and I absolutely never want to do it again?"

Poe considers this for a minute before he grins, "Kinda does… but not the crying or panic bit. Or the fact you don't want to do it again" he clarifies quickly, before you have a chance to tease him about enjoying your misery. "We can work on changing that last part. And I'm still sad you didn't trust me to take you first."

"Well maybe if you didn't fly that barely legal piece of junk X-Wing I'd have-"

He suddenly leans forward and presses his lips to yours, cutting off any further insults you could throw at his ship, and while his kiss takes you by surprise, it's not unwelcome, and you immediately find yourself sinking into it.

The kiss tastes of desperation, of impatience, of longing buried for too long.

You let out a soft moan as his tongue licks into your mouth, deepening the kiss. You tangle your fingers in his sweat damp curls in the way you've wanted to for so long.

His helmet thumps noisily to the ground when he drops it to wrap both his arms around you this time, pulling your body hard against his. He slides one hand up your back to the back of your neck, holding your mouth to his as he kisses you passionately.

This time it isn't his comms that interrupt you, but the hollering cheer of his squadron.

You pull apart suddenly, your cheeks hot with embarrassment.

Poe gives you an abashed smile, throwing a rude hand gesture to his still cheering comrades, mumbling a soft apology.

"Sorry, I just decided it might be better to skip the talking part this time, since it didn't really work out so well last time."

You can't help but let out a soft laugh, feeling dizzyingly elated at the lingering feel of his lips on yours.

"No, it did not."

Poe grins, drawing you close once more, "now what were you saying about my beautiful custom X-Wing that you are absolutely going to be flying one day?"

You roll your eyes. Flyboys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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