#The Mauve Unit x | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

januaryembrs · 3 years ago

Text

AD ASTRA - CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHPT XIII. THE SPARK

Description: a casual game of wrestling has the child dropping the weight of the world on your shoulders as you head to Nevarro to face a much deadlier foe.

Length: 4.1k

main masterlist

AD ASTRA MASTERLIST

Din Djarin X Jedi!reader series. Friends to lovers, (Somewhat) slowburn, female!reader, JEDI!READER, possible smut, jealous!mando, reader has problematic childhood, fluff, saviour complex!mando, canon star wars characters mentioned, Obi wan x padawan!reader, dad!obi wan, general star wars bloodshed etc.

AD ASTRA PER ASPERA

“To the stars through hardships”

You were headed for Nevarro not long after that. The Ugnaught, who you had learnt was named Kuiil, the IG unit, the blurgs, the bounty hunter, the shock trooper and the ex-Jedi. And the baby of course. It seemed the galaxy's oddest crew to travel with, and you were seriously beginning to question the situation you were now in. Then again, you'd take them over your last crew mates anyday. Had someone told you a year ago through your drunk haze on Sorgan this was where you would be, you would have bought them a round for the terrible joke.

In the midst of speeding through hyperspace towards the trouble that awaited on Nevarro, you were resigned now to simply killing the time. Cara had suggested a friendly arm wrestle match as a way of keeping you entertained, though you could second guess it was also just a way of her showing you and Mando up with her brute strength. The two of you sat on some small crates you had arranged with a makeshift table in between you, hands locked in a ready position.

"Don't go easy on me, sweetheart" You teased, eyeing up the mauve almost red tinge the dropper had added to her hair since the last time you saw her.

"I wouldn't worry about that, honey," Cara replied quickly, a smile on her face, as she began pushing against her opponent's hand.

You both grunted for a moment. Cara had much bigger muscles out the two of you but you were simply trying to hold out, knowing you had more stamina. Din watched the two of you challenge one another, observing the way you clenched your jaw in concentration, your nostrils flaring in exertion. It was times like this he was reminded just how beautiful you were, the way you breathed out open-mouthed at the effort of the game giving him such explicit thoughts he felt almost ashamed to stare at you so intensely from the safety of his helmet.

His eyes trailed over your pursed lips, thinking about the way they had breathed such shallow, cool air over his fingertips not too long ago, wondering how they would feel under the soft pads of his hands. How they would feel pressed against his own. He couldn't smell you because of the barrier between you, but he wondered how you would taste to kiss. Minty, perhaps? You did pride yourselr on hygiene. Or maybe even sweet like the little candies you had picked up for him the last time you had stopped off for supplies.

He knew he couldn't, that he wouldn't, ever know what you felt like pressed against him in a passionate kiss, but maker did he want to. Din had never craved the feeling of anything outside his beskar suit until he met you.

He watched Cara's arm slip for a moment, knowing just as well as you did that she was losing her momentum, and that was all the you needed. Smiling coolly, you pursued Cara's enclosed hand heavily, pushing it down to touch the table slowly.

Cara grunted, muttering curses quiet enough that the child wouldn't hear them, as you stood from your seat smugly.

"Your turn," You said heading towards Mando, casually brushing past him - unafraid to invade his space, "Unless you're too tired, Cara?"

"Kiss my blaster, Ash" The woman replied, making her opponent chuckle. Din’s footsteps seemed loud as he traipsed over the cold metal floor to sit down and resume the position you had just been in.

The two began as you had before, and it became clear that Cara was much more determined not to lose this time as she evened her pace longer than the last, promising that the round wouldn't end so significantly. You watched on with a smile on your face at her clear determination to not be beaten again.

"I got you, Mando," Cara said, and you tried to take your eyes off the way her muscles bulged around her rebellion tattoos. As far as women went, Cara was certainly your type and were it not for the fact you were friends or the fact you were practically enraptured with the sound of Mando’s voice, you were sure you would have at least made a move on her by now.

"Care to double the bet?" As if your heart heard your brain's train of thought, it fluttered at the sound of struggle in the man's voice, coming out crackly and deep through his vocoder. You had tried to piece together in her head what Mando looked like, knowing you would never dare ask him to show you, but since you had seen even just his hands you were lured down the rabbit hole of wanting more. Just his hands alone had been absolute specimens to look at, let alone feel them wrapped warmly around your shoulder, tending to her gently but with the guarantee of strength behind them.

You wanted it more. You needed more.

You wanted to know if the rest of his body was the same; compassionate yet firm. Tender. Warm. Earthy. It was strange knowing a man who had done so much hurting to those who deserved it was so considerate of being delicate towards you and the child. The fact he knew how capable he was of being so powerful sent hot shivers over your body.

You hadn't even realised something was wrong until you felt an almost magnetic energy flowing through your body, the hairs on your arms standing on edge. You were quite familiar with this feeling. The force.

There was no way to truly cut yourself off from the force, not that you knew of anyway, so instead, your powers had lain dormant inside you for the past three years, not to be used or thought of even until the very end of your life when you would become a part of the force yourself, as everyone does eventually.

That had been your plan at least. So what in the maker's name was happening to you. Why was it ebbing its way through you as if it had never left, as if your body didn’t feel alight with electricity like you’d just shoved your bare hand into a conductor.

It took one look at the child who was looking up at you with big, tear-filled eyes for you to understand. Somehow the little monster had shared his force energy with you, drawing out your connection from the woodwork like a tiny, green beacon for your powers. You knew he was powerful, that he could have done this at any point in time since you had been caring for him, but why now? Why push your connection back onto you now?

You felt the wind get knocked out of you at the feeling of pure, unfiltered power rush through you, like water racing from a crack in a dam. This wasn’t just putting your finger in a conductor, no. This was like you had been plugged into a hub of voltage mills, as if you were every atom of electricity running through an entire planet and then some. You felt every single heartbeat in the room pounding in your ears, each bodies' own force signature greeting you all at the same time. Then came the thoughts.

They all came as a murmur. You were able to pick out Kuiil, Cara and Mando quite clearly based on the situation they were in. And that's when you got your answer as to why the child had done this to her.

"Help him!" A little voice called in your ears, immediately recognising the childlike ring to it and judging by his pouting face staring at you he knew what he was doing, "Hurting him!"

Your jaw fell open at the child, having to rest against the side of the ship for support as the force kept getting stronger inside you as it had once before. You held in a grunt, feeling as though you were a cup of water full to the brim, and the galaxy kept the tap running over. You were overflowing. Overwhelmed. Though standing still, you were alight with power, with feelings of all sort rushing through you, other people's emotions projected onto you. Pain, happiness, anger, jealousy, excitement, joy. You could barely concentrate on the child calling for you, your head pounding as the thoughts, the feelings, the force just kept coming. From nearby planets, nearby ships. Nearby systems. You felt it coming, threatening to drown you under the weight of it.

Stop it. Please, stop it. Please. You felt like crying. It was too much, too much for someone to have dropped on them so quickly. You were bursting at the seams. Going under. Being shoved under the weight of it. Sinking. Drowning. Choking. You were choking.

And all at once, it went quiet.

You drew a hasty breath just as Cara seemed to lose her own, clawing at her neck like a wild animal trying to get free. Your brows furrowed, confused as to what happened and still a little dazed. You had forgotten just how scary the force could be in your moments of solitude from it.

"No! No no, stop! We're friends, we're friends! Cara is my friend!" You heard Mando shout, quickly putting the pieces together in your mind. The child had clearly seen your hesitation and taken things into his own little clawed hands, force choking Cara as the poor thing thought the woman was trying to hurt his cabur. He looked up at the Mandalorian, who had grabbed him the second he realised what was happening, with pure confusion.

"That is not okay!" Cara yelled after being dropped by the child's grip, rubbing her neck gently.

"Very curious." Kuiil cut in, as it seemed they had all missed the interaction between you and the baby, which you were thankful for. You had no idea how she would have explained the reason you felt like the weight of multiple planets had just hit her at full force. Kriff, you were sure the death star could have done less damage to you than the feeling of your powers returning to you had, even for the briefest of moments.

"Curious?! It almost killed me!" Cara seethed, obviously taking what the Ugnaught said the wrong way as it had been clear the Dune woman disliked his ties to the Empire since the moment they'd stepped in his house.

"The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense." Kuiil ignored her, looking at the child in the man's gloved hands with wonder.

"What is it?" Mando asked, and you debated answering honestly, of course leaving out the part where you were once the same as the child too. But you knew there would be an onslaught of questions from all three members of the group, and so you stayed silent.

"What it is, I don't know. But what it does, this ... this I've heard rumours of." The Ugnaught looked between the three companions with as much excitement as his wrinkled face would liberate him. But it seemed Cara was still not happy, her trust for the Ugnaught not wavering past hatred.

"What? When you worked for the Empire?" She fumed, which made your brows furrow at the woman. You really did like Cara. She and Mando were the first friends you’d had in years, and you understood the woman's distrust for the Ugnaught but you felt the woman was being a little unfair to the creature. It was clear he had no choice working for the Empire, and just because he had been involved with them for reasons beyond his influence, didn't mean he was an awful person. You actually found him to be quite endearing, in all honesty.

Then again, Cara didn't have the eighteen years of Jedi teaching drilled into her the way you did, the idea of being fair and kind to all quite literally instilled in you to the day. 'Only the Sith deal in absolutes, You remembered Obi-Wan telling you, only making you disagree with the shock-trooper even more.

"When I was sold to the Empire, in indentured servitude."

"Yet somehow, you walk free." Cara challenged as she stood, towering over the little Ugnaught who fought his ground.

"I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands and the labour of three of your human lifetimes. Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am nor whom I shall serve." By this point, IG-11 had heard the commotion between his maker and the grumbling woman and walked towards the pair, staring at Cara intensely. The woman stared back, her jaw clenched in anger, making you hurry to jump in between them in case things got ugly in the small hull of the crest.

"Okay, guys. How about we take this down a peg or two, okay?" You reasoned, stepping forward to watch the two parties meticulously for any sign of a fight brewing. They seemed to lose their spirit when you spoke calmly, however, and went back to what they were doing before things had gone south, bitterness written on their faces.

"Tell you what. I can really use your craftwork right now. Can you pad this container so the Child can sleep better?" Mando also jumped in, seeing a chance for both of them to be distracted while he and you watched over the child carefully in case he fancied teaching Cara another lesson for touching his cabur.

Kuiil looked up at the man with a nod, shuffling over to the container the pair of fighters had been using as a makeshift pram for the child, "I shall fabricate a better one. Then perhaps this dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one's hands."

There was a moment of tense silence between the group as Mando nodded his head up to the cockpit, signalling for you to follow him to the promise of silence there, something he knew you both wanted. It was so much easier when it was just the two of you. As wonderful as your guests were, you missed the solitude that came when it was just you two and the baby. The baby's laughs and your witty quips towards one another were all that could be heard on those days, not the tense arguing that had ensued despite both sides having a good reason to hold anger.

You followed him up the ladder rungs, leaving the child to watch Kuiil work on his new pram, seemingly entranced by the flickering of the blowtorch he was using. But you couldn't shake the feeling of nostalgia that the force had brought to you, the way it had sparked a flame in you that you hadn't felt in years.

The way it had made you feel so alive, so like the Jedi everyone revered once more.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"What happened with the mudhorn then?" You asked, leaning against the dashboard gently as not to knock any of the buttons controlling the ship. your legs brushed against Mando's lightly as he sat down in the pilot chair, a sigh drawing out his throat at the fact you’d been playing peacemakers all morning.

"When I first collected the child, some Jawas had stripped my ship by the time we went to leave. The only way to get the parts back off them was if I got a Mudhorn egg for them to eat," You chuckled and you could hear the smile in his voice as you did, "It turned out to be a much bigger task than I thought. Kriff, the thing nearly killed me with how hard it hit me, broke my old beskar too. But the child, he somehow lifted it with its mind. It was like nothing you've ever seen."

You smiled wryly at that; if only he knew.

For a child so small, lifting such a heavy creature was surely impressive to those who had never seen the Jedi's powers before, but it didn't so much as scrape the surface of what you were capable of. Still, you raised your brows at his words to hide your smugness, looking down at the floor of the cockpit. You were still a little shaken after having the weight of your powers practically ripped from their hiding place, and it must have shown on your face. The hesitant look in your wild eyes that looked more like a scared deer at the moment caught Din's attention immediately, and it was clear you had something on your mind. You always did when you went quiet like that.

Din watched you carefully, daring to reach out his hand to trace your thigh gently to pull you out of your thoughts. He wished he could even have a peek at that mind of yours, but he was sure he would get lost were he to ever get the chance.

"What are you thinking about?" Din almost whispered, gently tracing the side of your leg with the pad of his leathered finger. You were almost embarrassed at how fast your heart started beating for such a simple ministration. In your thirty-seven years, you had never had someone hold you with the gentleness Mando did. You didn't even know his real name and you felt things for him you’d never thought you would. You didn't feel scared anymore, not like before. You felt like with him and the kid you were more in touch with the light than you had ever been. You could be good, do good things with no trace of the dark side to pull you away if he would make you feel that way for the rest of your life.

But still, one thought lingered in your mind. You didn't know if Mando knew about the history between the Jedi and the Mandalorians. The bad blood, the wars and endless feuds between the two creeds that were heavier than dust swept under a rug. If you were to reveal yourself there was always the chance he would treat you as the enemy your people were to him. You couldn't bear to think of him as an enemy, not him. Please, not him.

You looked at him, eyes full of questions with no answers to them, and you opened her mouth to speak, not even sure what you wanted to say to him, only to stop yourself when Cara burst into the cockpit, a sour look on her face.

Mando removed his hand as though your skin had lit aflame, which didn't go unnoticed by the Alderaanian who didn't say anything and simply plopped herself into the spare seat to her left, cleaning over her guns. It seemed she must have tired of the loaded silence between her and the Ugnaught in the bottom deck of the hull.

"So we're going to Nevarro?" Cara asked, not questioning the fact the two of you were still standing so close to one another so unashamedly.

"Have you ever been?" You asked, turning away from Mando in an attempt to settle the excited glint in Cara's eyes as she watched you carefully.

"No. We lost all of our forces there. The city's dug in pretty deep. There's no cover when you drop in. Stayed in Empire control till the end of the war." Cara said, sounding deep in her thoughts, no doubt remembering her time as a dropper well.

"The warlord we're taking out was an Imperial officer." Mando jumped in, punching in the co ords for Nevarro. Being reminded of what was at stake here unnerved you, but you hands down would do it if it meant keeping the child safe. They hopefully wouldn't know exactly what you looked like, simply have a prediction based on the archives held of you in the Jedi records that the Empire had staked a claim to when they took over the temple on Coruscant. But they would have your chain code. That was all that you needed to keep safe, you hoped. Still, you would wear your kerchief over your nose just in case you were wrong.

"What station?" You asked, hoping it would be a lower down, insignificant ranking that would have no interest in you. Though saying that, if they wanted the child no doubt for his abilities, they would have an absolute field day with you; one of the most powerful Jedi to have been raised.

"Hard to tell. No insignia anymore. I took out the safehouse when I snatched the kid. More Imps have reinforced since." You both nodded solemnly, Cara switching out her small blaster for her bigger one, cleaning it thoroughly as she spoke.

"There is something more going on."

"What do they even want from the child? He's only young, he can't even talk so they can't be looking for information. Something about his powers perhaps?" You thought out loud, the sadness lining your words ringing clear as a bell.

"Maybe. We'll find out more when we land." Mando said looking up at your expression. He looked at Cara to make sure she was fixated on her weapon before he slowly put his hand over yours and rubbed the side of it gently with his thumb. It wasn't nearly the same level of electricity as when he'd taken his glove off, both of you thought, but you still felt your heart jump nonetheless. Even these little brushes of comfort had you behaving like a teenage girl, you thought sourly. It was embarrassing, to say the least, but there was nothing you could do to stop it.

As for Din, since he had felt your skin under his, pressed his bare hand to your warm shoulder it was like he couldn't get enough. He had gone from being content to never making contact with anyone, happy to remain friends and co-protect the child to having no control over his actions as they instinctively reached out to you, even to touch her lightly for the briefest of moments. He couldn't stop himself, he needed more of you like you were the strongest spice in the galaxy and he was a fool chasing a high.

Their little unknown moment ended when the IG unit came stomping into the cockpit, straightening up at watching the three humans with its piercing red lights.

"I have prepared second meal. Would you care to be served here or below?" It asked in its mechanical voice, the thought of food swamping your hungry mind. Still, you waited for your friends' responses first, feeling as though you’d be betraying Mando and his hatred of droids were you to leave with the unit. Surely Mando wouldn't hate Artoo if he met him, would he? You thought to herself.

Mando sat and stared at the droid angrily, not only for interrupting their silence but also for the clear distrust he held against it, "I'm not hungry." The IG left unceremoniously, not particularly offended by the man's hostile tone, then again it didn't have the wiring to feel such things. "Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship."

"You got a real thing for droids, don't you." Cara half laughed at the theatrics of the man, knowing full well they were all starving yet he chose to take the high ground and refuse the meal made by the machinery.

"I got a real thing for that droid." Mando seethed, fiddling around with some more controls to allow them a smooth journey, mouth-watering at the sound of a meal despite his pride.

"The Ugnaught said he rewired it." Cara tried to reason, though you knew it would do no good. In all fairness, you had no room to judge him for his hatred of droids as you felt the exact same way about Tusken Raiders, yet another reason you were glad she hadn't left Peli's warehouse on Tatooine.

"That droid was designed to kill things. I don't care how much wiring he replaced, it goes against its nature."

"Well, it shouldn't be a long job anyway. You take out the head Imp, the rest will run like rats." Cara finished excited to shoot up some Imps, the three of you standing to go get some food in your bellies before you set off for this job that seemed so smoothly planned out. Your plans always did though, you thought to yourself cynically, and you knew just the same as your previous jobs that you were headed up shit's creek, and towards the people who’d wanted you dead for the past thirty years no less.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

taglists

AD ASTRA @zapsalis-d @mishasminion360 @itsnottilly @sebschicken @lexloon @vampgguk @ajeff855 @thatonedindjarinfan @archaeoheart @sunipostsstuff @eternal-fandoms @fredd-weasley @lost-xim @laraschestakow @the-bottom-of-the-abyss @dessinemoiunehistoire-blog @horsedragonllama @tongueofareadywriter @eury-dice3 @littlemissoblivious @call-me-soap @lovelylostminds @razzle-my-berries @iamdannyday @yourwonderbelle @bees--in-my--bones @firestar180 @wizardofrozz @fangirlalexia @lizziel1410 @jesfreedark @a-c-lee @flan058 @sagittariuswritings @waywardtrashfam @realimbo @what-iwish-you-knew @haleypearce @sirianisrock @graciexmarvel @zanzann @stevesworld9 @rebloogggs @depressedbagpipe @jenaatje @philiasoul

PERMANENT TAG LIST:

@greeneyedblondie44 @liadamerondjarin @andy-rocks

Pedro Pascal

@evyiione

authors notes:

hello! so this is like a year wayyyyyy too late. I'm so sorry for the absolute shit storm that is my life, but im really trying to pick myself back up and get back to writing now I have time to. Ive garnered nearly 1000 followers now which is insane and I really don't want disappoint any of you on here. so I hope you enjoy!km

137 notes · View notes

nimblermortal · 3 years ago

Text

Brandon Sanderson is not funny

(putting behind a cut because I am going to insult both Sanderson and the Name of the Wind fellow)

Every joke he makes makes me want to (a) tear the book apart at the binding and (b) fix his prose. His prose is not good. The jokes make me notice how not good it is, and the editor brain goes, “Well what if you did X? Y? Z is lengthy, but better” and every single one of them is better because the prose is not good to start with.

What can be said for it is that it is very easy, so I can probably swallow all of Warbreaker in a few days, which I will do because it has my dander up and by god I will finish this book.

And if no one adopts Nightblood by the end then I will have another bone to pick with Sanderson’s writing abilities.

Edit: It reminds me of Name of the Wind, a book I also did not like, in the way it reads like it was written by a man who has not partaken of the world. (Which, side note, I am guilty of!) But it will have things like “Parlin moved not like a person of Hallendren but like an animal.” Okay. How do animals move? Is he slinking? Is he slipping like an otter? What about one of those dancing birds? Is he flapping madly like a crow or soaring like a buzzard? I don’t need this level of specificity about a character who is disappearing, but I need something, somewhere to make this world feel more real. “People of Idris don’t wear colors” okay cool so they decorate with intricate textural patterns then? No? You think that humans just. Just forego decoration entirely. Because caution/culture forbids use of colors? You... you did see what Islam-dominant countries did when forbidden to depict humans, right? You’ve seen the fractals? “People of Xth Awakening have perfect pitch but for colors. That means this character can tell this red is two and a half shades from perfect red.” You have quantized color? Why? Because it means you don’t have to think about what perfect color pitch means? If a shade is the unit of color, if it’s the most precise way to break things down, why is there such a thing as a half shade? What does “true red” mean anyway? If you have such perfect sense of color, why are things Red or Yellow or Brown and never celadon or taupe or mauve or golden or ochre? Because none of this actually has any thought behind it and I am going mad for lack of stimulation.

#Nimblermortal liveblogs #cranky ace #this does not get a fandom tag because negativity never does #I am hoping that he improved some time in the last 13 years #he keeps MISSING things #mooooooooooooommmmm he's MISSING THINGS

12 notes · View notes

gothamstodd · 4 years ago

Text

Hands

Jason Todd x Reader

Word Count: 800+

Summary: Jason’s hands are dry, you help him get some lotion.

Warnings: None

Authors Note- Me? Writing fluff? It’s more likely than you think. This is just a short lil one but please feel free to let me know what you think! This is an established relationship Jason’s just v insecure lol

Masterlist | Ask Box

You measured your hand against Jason’s, examining the way his long fingers extended past yours, how his palm dipped below yours.

“Big hands.” You murmured, meeting his tired eyes.

“Small hands.” He replied, as if it were a retort, his voice low and course. Soft laughter bubbled over your lips as you laced your fingers with his. His hands were cold, as always. And so was he- he clung to you in an attempt to shake off the winter storm outside. You looked over his features, the band-aid adorably stuck over the bridge of his nose, his hair disheveled, the pale, roughened scars that decorated his cheekbones and split his upper lip.

It was these moments, when he felt comfortable enough around you to let himself dangle above sleep, sink into the dingy couch cushions below, allow you to lay over his chest with his eyes half closed, his breath slow and steady. These moments that you could decide to treasure, a sign that he’d placed trust in your small hands, if even a little bit. A willingness to be vulnerable, in that limbo before dreams.

You played with his fingers, gently twining them between yours, tracing every spidery bruise, every tiny cut, every faded scar. His knuckles, bruised shades of mauve, sap green, and yellow and stained red, but cracked and dry beneath your touch. You closed his hand in a half-hearted fist and clasped it gently with both of yours.

“You need some lotion.” You stated, leaning away from the couch.

You felt his hands on your waist, steadying you as you reached for the bottle of lotion on the coffee table a few feet away. “Okay.” He chuckled behind you as you placed a hand on the floor for balance, finally closing your fingers around the neck of the bottle.

“Alright, pull me back.” You giggled, and no later felt him dragging you easily back to your place over his chest. “Thank you.” You said softly, straining your neck back to land a tender kiss on his jaw.

He let you take his hand in yours, just as you had a few minutes before. Limp and at your will as you squirted the white lotion onto his color spattered knuckles. The scent of roses tickled your nose as you rubbed it carefully over his skin.

Jason breathed in sharply through his teeth from next to you.

“What?” You stopped your movements turning to him quickly, brow furrowed with concern.

“It stings.” He smiled with a familiar teasing, affectionate aire.

You slapped his chest soft heartedly, “You can handle it.” You scoffed. “Maybe if you took care of your hands and put on lotion a little more often, it wouldn’t sting.” You admonished, carefully spreading the lotion over his battered knuckles.

“Probably not.” You felt him shrug. “I like this smell, too.” He noted.

“Nice, isn’t it?” You hummed.

“Mmhmm.” He agreed sleepily, soothed by the sensation of your hands gliding over his.

His half shut eyes watched what he could see of your face as you worked. Focused on his hands and fingers, moving them between and around your own. Almost a ballet, gracefully twirling, entwining, glissading around one another. He traced your features, the way your eyes flicked lower as his drowsiness seemed to spread to you, how your chest floated up and down with each breath. He memorised the bow of your lips and the shape of your nose, as if he could hold the image in his mind.

Unspeakable beauty, he decided. A kind of radiance he couldn’t force into words, couldn’t search all his books for a passage to come even close. Shakespeare, Austen, Keats, endless passages of love, admiration, lust. Nothing he could pull from his mind or from the pages to describe the way you affected him. How you moved, and looked, and acted so incredibly gorgeously in every way.

“You’re so beautiful.” He found himself saying, despite himself. Jason was always careful about what he said, his words had power, he knew, power to give and take trust, to open his heart and wrench it away, power to give him weakness or give him incredible strength. But this- this was almost accidental. Slipping ever so quickly from his mind to his tongue and lips and teeth, carefully and deliberately forming the words.

As words somehow could, they brought fear to his throat, anxiety placing pressure on his windpipe. The simplest of phrases, hanging in the balance of rejection and acceptance.

“Thank you.” A smile crossed your face. Acceptance. “I mean-” You flushed, “I don’t, generally, think so myself, but-... thank you anyways.”

He twisted himself carefully around you, kissing you fully and lovingly and willfully. “You’re beautiful.” He insisted again, this time sure of himself.

You intertwined your fingers carefully with his, his palm and yours bound and secure in one another, his cut, bruised and half-healed hand so beautifully and perfectly united with yours.

Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you thought!

@victoriavickens

439 notes · View notes

youarejesting · 5 years ago

Text

Wild Space

Pairing: Alien!Jimin x Reader Beta: @jung-hoseok-s-airplane Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, SFW Rating: 16+ (slight mature themes implied something) Words: 4.6k

Summary: You are on an expedition to explore a new world, the one you encounter is so beautiful and unique but you find the real beauty in its people. Though they are a little different you feel yourself falling in love with culture, their way of life and their cute ears and tails.

“This is unit one we have finally finished docking and are now beginning assembly and exploration of planet B52. It seems this planet's flora are similar to that of earth, none have started to move or eat us which is a bonus.” It took a whole day to land the station so you weren’t as excited to be here as you had previously been. Your team leader cleared their throat disapprovingly which earned him a rolling of your eyes. “I mean none of the participants within the exploration have been consumed to date.”

The wording though correct probably didn’t need to be said with the snobbish tone, but you were feeling particularly sassy. Wanting to get away for a while after being cooped up in the station you picked up your bag full of supplies and headed out.

The air was fresh like dizzyingly so, the place was green and rich with life and you thought if the earth needed time to rejuvenate then this could be the new substitute in that time. But the colours were odd, it really was a new world. The green grass had a pink tinge to it, the oceans were mauve. But it was all deemed safe perfectly so. We humans are smarter and have figured out how to promote the world's health and well-being.

“The temperatures are stable and the solar flares are filtered by the Ozone layers.” Watching one of the two suns ‘set’ was relieving, sure it wasn’t the fore sun but it did cool the air significantly. The fore sun was practically the same distance between earth and our sun with a slight more reddish tone than our bright yellow one. But in this solar system there was a dwarf sun well really it is just a burning planet but it orbits the sun so close, burning just the same but in a vibrant blue. No one could get close enough to test the elements on the dwarf sun that made it burn that colour but it was beautiful.

As one of the suns moved behind the other a beautiful pinkish haze took over the planet giving it a hazy romantic feel. Talk about rose coloured glasses. This transition revealed the neighbouring planet of B52 a large celestial body with rings which in the glow of the afternoon sun were in shades of pink and purple and the planet was a deep lavender.

The astrologists and physicians had both determined that the two planets moved together in harmony and both planets were deemed liveable but they were never going to collide as they equal gravity, each pulling the other at the same intensity. The sky was never the typical sky blue but always a haze of purple, at its lightest it was a soft lilac and at its darkest the sky was a deep byzantium.

Because of this the water on the planet reflected the purple tones and the clearest waters were a mauve but the darkest were a heavy plum. “The fauna is also similar to that of the earth with a few abnormal features, here and there.” You looked upon a small group of tiny animals; they walked on all fours and were fluffy somewhere between a hamster and a cat. They were predominantly ears and eyes, which is probably how they found you, turning and freezing. Big round orbs looking shiny and innocent and with a squeak they were gone.

Being a linguist you didn’t really have anything to do, the crew usually just gave you odd jobs and as of late that job was completing the reports. You were exploring and recording your observations while the others set up the station and greenhouse. The sooner one can grow their own foods the better off for all of you.

You followed what almost looked like a tiny dinosaur that walked slowly to a nearby tree and began eating berries. You had decided you would be useful and started sketching what you see whilst moving about. The ferns moved in the gentle breeze and an almost odd and yet sweet floral scent enveloped you. A river on your left trickling quiet quickly and in the distance you thought you could hear a waterfall.

From the river emerged what looked like an axolotl each foot pulling it onto the red toned grass and shook itself like a dog and you realized it was fluffy. This caused you to giggle, you began drawing the animal while singing softly. When you were done you continued reporting.

In the middle of your ramblings about the health of the planet and such, you heard a rustle behind you. It was odd because when you turned there was nothing there. You were out of earshot so you dropped your professional jargon.

“There seem to be no immediate signs of danger but the crew is working as per protocol for the safety of the team.”

You watched as a flying mouse landed in a tree squeaking and chewing at some sort of fruit it gathered. It was very much the bumble bee dilemma wings too small for the size of its body. It was colourful though like a rainbow lorikeet, it’s tail multicoloured.

“No sign of intelligent life, so far-”

Another rustle behind you accompanied by heavy breathing, you tried to glance around at whatever it was. Looking as far as you could out of your peripheral vision the only feature you caught was a long red tail swishing low, and whatever it was walked on all four legs. You tried to grab your radio but you heard a low rumble from the animal in question. The thing seemed to change shape and moved until it was right behind you mirroring your posture on two legs, its nose pressed to the back of your neck sniffing.

The figure moved around you and you saw it completely. A man, well mostly. He was muscular and lean, he had claw-like nails and teeth that were sharper than a human. On the top of his head were two ears that were peaked and alert. His tail puffed and he growled. In fear of this strange new life especially the fear of being killed caused a tear to roll down your cheek, he circled around you faster and breathed you in.

You stood still as he stepped behind you once more and seemed to brush past your ponytail; it must have startled him as he pulled it firmly, causing you to fall back. He growled at your sudden movement and jumped on top of you baring his teeth over your neck. Unmoving once more you watched him slowly circle your form, he sniffed you here and there licking the side of your boot and you were thankful for the fact he had some sort of fabric over the lower half of his body so you didn’t see anything unnecessary.

His eyes were dark, his hair a vibrant red as were his ears and tail; he was mixed in appearance. You couldn’t determine whether he was canine or feline, he had features from both sides.

Sniffing he nudged your arm burying his nose against the underarm of your shirt. You knew you were sweaty, it’s not like deodorant was a priority on a space trip there was some but not enough to last a whole expedition. And if you know anything about the animal kingdom, smell was what they used to identify each other.

He growled circling you again before curling up beside you and placing his head on your chest watching you as his eyes drifted shut with a heavy sigh. He was beautiful, he reminded you of the exotic people in the avatar movie where those blue aliens were so tall and human-like but just slightly off. He wasn’t blue, but he was very naturally beautiful.

After an hour or two of trying to get out from underneath him you gave up entirely. At another point you accidentally started patting the young man’s head forgetting he was not a sweet domesticated animal despite the ears and tail.

As the fore sun began to set over you, the cold breeze began seeping into your skin and shivers bloomed from within you. The action seemed to wake him, eyes widening as he launched himself away. Backing away, you shared equal expressions of fear. Trying not to move, wanting to appear harmless, he was also unwilling to move. Eyes searching the area for any danger, he saw you shiver again curling up with a small whimper. He looked around calmer as the minutes passed. He said something softly and you raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know what you said?” you whispered, blinking he made a face. Very slowly you sat up reaching into your pocket to retrieve an apple. He watched you curiously as you took a bite and proceeded to sniff the air. Holding out the apple, he braved getting a little closer to examine what you were eating. He gave it a lick and again before taking a bite.

“What are you?” You asked, he watched you cautiously talking back in his strange language. Clueless to what he was saying you took your time repeating his words and he blinked almost shocked. He sniffed your pocket which you had left unzipped to retrieve the apple and he sniffed getting dangerously close to areas he shouldn’t but he pointed and spoke in his funny language.

“What’s in my pocket?” you pointed at the pocket and he pointed again at the pocket.

You pulled out dehydrated meat and held it up, “Meat” he snatched it sniffing and eating it quickly before reaching into your pocket grabbing the rest. He also found some berries they were almost like ones he was used to but these were so unique.

You sat there as he ate, you tried to talk to him but he was busy eating. Stomach growling signaling dinner time and you looked at the empty bag and frowned.

He noticed the frown of your face and looked at the empty food bag. He held it in his hand and took your hand in his, his claws brushing your skin but not causing you any harm. He pulled you through the woods and turned back as you tripped and stumbled your gait generally slower than his.

You passed a beautiful purple waterfall and the water as it fell reflected a purple glow on the rocks around them and as it splashed a mist of purple sprinkled the air and a typical rainbow prism appeared. You looked down, noticing you were walking on a trail. The flowers on either side were a gorgeous blue that in the shade of some trees seemed bioluminescent. He didn’t seem impressed by your abilities or in this case lack of, and deciding to pick you up over his shoulder and run. He was also unaffected by your added weight, running as he normally would.

He arrived at a small cave, the rock was metallic and each piece reflecting beautifully in the light of the setting sun. He placed you on your feet and you walked towards the stone and touched it brushing your fingers over the smooth arch entrance way.

You knew he must have carved and smoothed this himself, he watched you curiously as you ran your hand along something at the top it almost looked like a form of writing and you traced it slowly and turned to him pointing.

“Jimin,” he said and he patted his chest referring to himself.

“Jimin,” you pointed at the sign and then turned to him stepping closer and placing your hand on his chest over his rapidly beating heart. “Jimin.”

He gave a strange gesture with his hand but his eyes seemed light and his smile told you, you were correct. You slowly and gently took his hand placing it on your chest so he could feel your heartbeat.

“Y/n,” you breathed and his eyes searched yours. You repeated your hand on his chest and said his name before placing it back onto yours “Y/n.”

“Y/n,” he said, his mouth forming the name with a heavy accent.

The moment was broken as voices could be heard talking in the strange language and he pushed you inside the cave walking you deep inside and sat you on something soft. He said something sternly gesturing to the ground with his palm and you nodded as he ran back out.

He was asking you to stay, his body language was pretty clear. And you pulled out your rechargeable lamp, turning it over to turn the large dial underneath. With a satisfied click it turned on, lighting up the space.

With the light you could see every little detail and couldn’t help getting up and exploring. There was an area with stacked wood and sticks and beside it a pit with some ashes and coals in it and you understood it was a fireplace.

Above the fireplace was a hole in the cave again it was man made and impressed you greatly. The craftsmanship of how he made his house and a chimney and everything made you proud.

There were shelves with items wrapped in big leaves and a pile of the strange fabric he wore.

You looked to where he had sat you, it looked like a bed filled with soft iridescent furs. These animals must be magnificent.

You hung the lamp from a rock, your stomach rumbling again. If you remembered correctly there was a small selection of foil sealed food in your backpack.

Shrugging off your backpack you looked to the fire pit, stacking wood you took out your flint and started a fire. It was teal, the flames looking similar to the northern lights. You had a small pot that looked like a metal cereal bowl and you poured the contents into the pot and added some water.

It was a stew and you mixed it up, you didn’t want to seem selfish so you made sure to serve him some in the little metal dish. Hearing footsteps, he entered the cafe sniffing the air curiously.

“Jimin!” You smiled and he lowered his head with a smile. He had started blushing as he placed down handfuls of fruit. You handed him the plate and he watched you eat mimicking the way you used a spoon. He followed your lead scooping the food and blowing on it gently before he put it in his mouth. He hummed his tail flicking back and forth rapidly in excitement at the flavour.

You grew tired and it was late, you wanted to return but you couldn’t and you knew that. Not only because you didn’t know your way back but he seemed to not want anyone to see you. You instead tried to talk to him some more pointing at things and repeating what he would say and he realized you were trying to learn the language of his people.

He helped you and you were able to process so much. The whole reason you were on the trip was for this. You were a linguist and you wanted to learn and decipher their language. You noticed so many things about their language.

You pointed at the soft fur area and he said something that sounded complicated and you tried to say it. His laughter was like soft bells and you tried again, he continued laughing and he kept saying it until he shook his hand. You understood this gesture to mean yes.

He was teaching you so much, you had filled at least five pages of your notebook with new words and information you had learned about him. After an hour or two you had almost figured out the sentence structure and he was amazed.

He was preparing fruit and telling you what you assumed were their names as he handed them to you. He was so sweet, smiling and talking to you, while you were drawing him and his beautiful features.

He turned away looking through the basket of fruit while you packed up and walked over to the furs and laid down curling up. They were soft like silk but warm. You blamed the strict sleep schedule you all had to maintain on the expedition for your inability to stay awake. The crackling embers of the teal fire lulling you to sleep.

You dreamt of B52, but you didn’t dream of it colonised, you dreamt of it exactly how it was, you moved through the soft two toned grass and waded through the mauve waterfall playing when Jimin called your name. He smiled brushing your hair from your face and gently rubbing your ears affectionately.

They weren’t normal human ears, they were like his and you looked down to see his tail had hooked around yours and he leaned in to press his lips to yours when you woke.

Laying in the furs Jimin's body pressed against your back and his arm around you buried in the Furs. Standing you wanted to leave but you knew you couldn't leave without a trace. So you left behind the drawing of him concentrating looking down while he cut fruit.

Sneaking out you used your tracking device to not only mark this location but to also navigate your way back to the station following the trail of flowers until you arrived back.

“Where the hell have you been?” The leader hissed

“I was making friends with the locals,” You said, reaching for your backpack for your notebook.to show them what you had learnt.

“Haha, you are on cleaning duty for a week,” The captain said and you frowned and headed inside. “Grab a shovel, you are turning soil today.”

Ignoring him you walked to the small area inside the green house and began shoveling.

“Seriously though I met them, well one of them, he was super nice.” You tried to explain to your friend but she laughed looking at you like you were crazy.

“Did you eat something you shouldn’t have, breathed in pollen from a poisonous flower?” She turned to look at you “Bitten by a space tick, how many fingers am I holding up?”

“I am perfectly sane Namsoon and I am telling the truth,” You breathed, “It was cool they have their own language and they look like us except they have different ears and get this they have tails.”

“That sounds gross,” she blanched at the thought, “like a rat.”

“No, they are beautiful,” you tried to defend him.

“I think you should go rest today, you can help tomorrow” Namsoon took your shovel and turned away and you sighed and headed back to the station. On your way through the corridors to your chambers you passed the kitchen. Pausing in the hall, a big grin spread across your face, you turned around taking out your day’s rations and a small digital camera for photos of the planet turned back to the station entrance. Slipping into the woods wanting to find Jimin.

You arrived at his cave, thanking your forward thinking for marking the location on your navigation device. Entering it was quiet and he wasn’t there, you sat on his bed lying down staring at the roof.

You were working on the vocabulary when he came back in growling. He pounced on you his ears and tail puffed and teeth bared. He froze when he noticed it was you again and you were wide-eyed staring at him.

“Annyeong haseyo.” He smiled down at you, trapped below him, he was drenched and his hair was dripping water onto your face.

“Annyeong haseyo,” you grinned back, he beamed, flicking his hand in approval and he sniffed you, you spoke in english even though you knew he couldn’t understand “I went back to the station, does it smell weird?”

His nose tickled your neck and he paused catching a familiar scent and traveling down your body. You blushed as he got awfully close to certain private areas but he detoured to the pants pocket and tried to get the Jerky from your pocket.

“Meat,” he said and he used his claws but it not only ripped the pocket open but also scratched your leg causing you to call out in pain. He snatched the meat and was chewing happily. You frowned seeing the blood stain your light grey pants.

Opening your backpack and pulling out your little first aid kit. Trying to calm your heart, you knew he didn’t mean it but it scared you how wild he was.

You pulled the side of your pants down to reveal the area he had clawed on your thigh and you hissed at the sight. He turned confused by your noise and saw the cut, his smile fell and he lowered his head watching you.

He got closer looking at the wound and then at his hands, Nose scrunching at the smell of the paste you put on the wound. He stormed out of the cave, you continued to clean and dress the wound, you readjusted your pants and took a needle and thread and began sewing your pant leg. He came back with some fruits and he hung his head carrying washed fruit which he cut and gave to you.

It wasn’t easy to sneak away from the station, but you did almost every day to meet with him. You were so good at his language now you were able to hold conversations with him but he still had to explain a lot of things as best he could.

He liked it when you sang or played music and he would move around the cave with a smile. The two of you went to see the silky iridescent almost cow like creatures. He took you around showing you different flowers your favourite had to be one where he pulled you inside and sat on the leaf with you and the flower curled up around you both and inside it was like a galaxy all spotted with tiny little glowing creatures. They were completely harmless but reminded you of glow worms. He had you to try different foods. It was heaven not eating the bland genetically modified food everyday. That is until he gave you a particular fruit that made you super itchy, you decided to take an antihistamine from your first aid kit and he apologized and the two of you got back to Jimin’s favorite which was a sour fruit.

He took you swimming at the mauve waterfall and you were splashing one another and playing. He got scared when you were underwater for a long time. Diving under the water he grasped you by the waist and swam you up and called for you. “Y/n, gwaenchanha ni?”

He pulled you against the rocks holding you there with his hand on your waist and took your face with his other hand, his eyes burning in worry. You placed one hand over his leaning your cheek into his touch, “Nan gwaenchanha.”

He sighed in relief pressing his forehead to yours and looking down into your eyes. He stole your breath away, you licked your lips trying to keep them from going dry and he noticed the action licking his own. He leaned in slightly and you elongated your torso trying to bring yourself closer to him, his pupils dilated wide.

You felt his lip just touch yours, the two of you hadn’t kissed yet before his ears turned and pulled away grabbing you and pulling you through the water. He pushed you behind the waterfall and pressed his palm to your mouth and made the no gesture with his hand before slipping away.

There was a small group of them and they played and spoke, you watched them interact. They were no different from playful boys or puppies except they were fully grown men. Time passed and he finally got them to leave but you were freezing and wet.

Jimin grabbed you from the water and looked at you all blue and shivering. He picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder and raced back to his cave where he started the fire. He turned to see you had removed your clothes and found a spare shirt from your bag you curled up in the furs. He too changed out of sight and laid behind you trying to warm you with his body heat.

It was sweet he wasn’t trying to do anything but keep you warm, however, you knew how it must have looked to the young man who walked in, the deep growl traveling through the cave. Making you stiffen and he sat up and growled back his body crawling over yours protectively and they began arguing. You spoke to him slowly and he looked alarmed that you understood him.

He told you, to leave before you two were caught and someone was hurt. Jimin growled saying he didn’t want you to leave and at that moment you thought maybe he felt the same way as you. With a sigh Jimin agreed to return you in the morning and Taehyung nodded thankful for his defeat before he told you both he would guard the place.

Jimin explained the village were aware of the new people and were sceptical, he also said it was a festival tonight and everyone was in good spirits visiting neighbours. You leaned in pecking his lips with yours and grinning. “Gamsahabnida.”

He sat up looking at his pupils wide with affection.

You woke early and took your sketchbook and the camera. You went to leave and Jimin grabbed your hand a sad look on his face and pressed his hand to your chest. “Y/n. I love Y/n,” he said, he hadn’t remembered much from your lessons of your own language but this phrase was one he practiced well. You asked him to let his leader meet with you and your leader for a discussion, promising your men would come without weapons laughing about how weak your kind were compared.

You passed Taehyung and he sniffed you and began scolding Jimin all you understood was the words bed and you blushed realizing he knew more than you thought. You said goodbye to Taehyung and ran off to the ship.

You showed the captain the pictures and the drawings and explained how they lived peacefully but had things and resources we didn’t. “Jimin will meet me this afternoon and I would like you to meet him with me alone and without a weapon, if you bring a weapon I will actually kill you myself.

Another meeting came to a successful end and you smiled walking over to Taehyung, Jimin, and Namsoon who showed them both videos of earth, every meeting she would show them another video and they were amazed.

“Jimin-ssi,” you called and he turned beaming his ears perking up and tail swishing back and forth he began sniffing your neck and giving an almost purr. It was still unclear if they had more canine or feline features but you didn’t care.

“Why is it everytime you two meet he becomes more and more adorable, doting on you?”

“The pregnancy pheromones?” Namjoon said in english to Namsoon his nose and tail twitching. He learnt English quickly and you exchanged languages and linguistics with each other and each took your time teaching them each other's language. You blushed as Jungkook grinned patting your swollen stomach and handed you a big woven leaf basket full of berries. He was a sweet kid and looked up to Jimin. “We are very domestic people, when one of our own is pregnant we protect them?”

If you enjoyed this story don’t forget to Like | Share so others can enjoy it too. PLease see my [Masterlist] for more of my work.

167 notes · View notes

barnesandco · 5 years ago

Text

Nikah: September

Story Masterlist

Nikah: noun, Arabic, meaning the contract of marriage.

Bucky marries Peter’s former tutor because her student visa’s about to expire and the government isn’t granting her a green card. Can she find a way to permanent residence by marriage, and if so, will it be at the cost of their hearts?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, pain, visiting a graveyard.

A/N: Written under the Arranged/Accidental Marriage trope for @mermaidxatxheart ‘s writing challenge. I’m sorry for the one-day delay. This weekend’s second chapter - October - should be up tomorrow. Please comment and reblog! Thank you for reading!

Time heals many wounds. The scar left by the urge for revenge is not one of them, Bucky learns when he gets the call informing him of the capture of his wife’s kidnapper. He’s in an obscure corner of New York, deep into the maze of fabrics and colors, when Sam’s voice - congratulatory and bone-tired - gives him the news. Bucky was excluded from the investigation due to personal connection to the victim, and placed on an obligatory sick leave after his… incident. The cliff’s edge his wife pulled him back from.

Yet he has managed to learn certain details. Such as the fact that there was no greater plot, no Hydra involvement, only a psychopathic monster out for blood and pain. The type of men there is no shortage of in this world of grue and terror. He does not want to subject her to any more of it, but she is too intelligent to allow him to take that choice from her. She does not consider this, them, him to be terrible or cruel.

Now, she turns to him from the silk she’s examining after a minute too long of his mental absence. Cocks her head as she takes note of the phone in his hand, the conversation itself having passed her by amidst her other preoccupations and the lull of Bollywood music in the air.

“Everything okay? It can get kind of stuffy in here, so if you want to get some air-”

“I’m fine, doll,” He insists, letting the cloud of her perfume envelope him like her rare embraces.

“Okay,” She says dubiously. “Let me know if you want to go.”

Her concern is touching, but Bucky doesn’t know if he should open his heart to it or blockade against it. Thankfully, she changes the subject.

“What do you think?” She asks, gesturing toward the selection of fabrics she seems to have shortlisted. Her cousin’s wedding is in December, which apparently requires preparation months prior, in the form of shopping for a new lehenga. Or the materials to have one made, rather. Bucky looks from the deep purple to the vivid mauve to the sea green and tries hard not to shrug.

“I bet they’ll all look gorgeous on you.”

“I only need one, Buck, and I’m having trouble choosing between the green and mauve,” She says, pointing to the fabric she can’t decide between.

“They’re both nice,” He says, but upon seeing her frown deepen, he adds: “The green one’s a jaw dropper.” She grins in agreement and seeks out a shopkeeper to cut the required length of cloth.

Sam’s voice echoes in his mind as they exit the shop for the one next door. In this one, he takes in the piles of lace and borders and ornate brooches and buttons while the rage simmers below the surface. He can no longer tell if the flush in his cheeks is from the bridled anger or the warmth caused by his wife’s presence. Her keen eyes are scanning a row of spectacular trimmings, and she sighs at the difficulty of the choice.

Craning her neck, she spots the one she wants but soon realizes she cannot reach. Bucky doesn’t give her the time to ask for his assistance, reaching up over her to grab the reel of golden, glittering trim she’s pointed out. The electricity that crackles when his front meets her back in the process is almost enough to forget the disapproving glares from the two middle-aged shop owners. Almost.

Their kind wrinkles have turned colder but she thaws them with a smile and the familiar, polite title of uncle. Another common term in the desi vernacular, log kya kahenge - what will people say? - replays in his brain like an audio cassette, the expression having been the subject of many a frustrated, late-night rant he has absorbed from his wife. There will surely be a rerun later today, unless he gives her the news of her attackers capture before she has the opportunity to launch her case against South Asian obsession with public reputation. By the time they leave, the elderly gentlemen are at ease while Bucky is not, staying three paces behind until they’re out of sight.

“ ‘M sorry, doll, I shouldn’t have-” His sentence is cut off by her razor sharp glare as she halts on the sidewalk.

“Don’t you dare apologize, Bucky Barnes. If I had a problem with you grazing against me while trying to help with something, I’d have made it quite clear,” She declares, taking his hand and steering them towards the subway. Sunday shoppers mill about, enjoying the last of the summer sun before autumn takes its place. They carry bags of their own, but few match the ones Bucky is carrying. Queens’ Asian hub is bustling with activity, and he relishes in its awe until he smells the curry house a street down.

He tells her of his discovery in the entrance to the station, and her eyes light up like fireworks on Steve’s birthday - rest his soul - and they turn back for food. Bucky’s nose takes the lead, and six minutes and a wrong turn later, they’re standing like moths to a flame, the scent of spices embedding itself into their nerves. She inhales joyously as they’re taken to the last empty seats, against a wall covered in pictures of Pakistani and Indian monuments. Bucky doesn’t comment on the political tensions he knows are present between the two nations, knowing that governments are rarely as representative of their people’s beliefs as they ought to be.

There isn’t any music either, just the sound of commentary from the cricket match playing on several TV screens. It’s a rerun of the previous year’s World Cup final between England and New Zealand, and his wife looks sourly at it, knowing the results didn’t go the way she wanted them to.

“It all came down to luck in the end,” She comments, picking up the menu. Bucky quirks an eyebrow. “It wasn’t even a fair win. The umpire admitted to faulty judgement, and I don’t blame him, but super overs are such a stressful, inconsistent way of completing the game. New Zealand worked so hard and it was all overturned by a stroke of luck. I feel bad for poor Kane Williamson,” She says, and Bucky puts down the menu as the waiter approaches. The conversation pauses as they place their orders - chicken karahi for him and chicken achari for her - before he says anything.

“Sweetheart, if you think that’s bad, imagine cheatin’ death three times over and getting home to learn that your team’s now playing for the opposite coast. LA Dodgers. Pfft,” He says, shaking his head, and she laughs, corner of her eyes crinkling like silk as her laughter chimes. It’s the only song he knows he’ll never tire of hearing, the one that sounds as good as the day he first heard it.

The first time he makes her laugh is, like many other aspects of his life, hysterically ironic. They’re in a graveyard, dawn taking its rightful place on the horizon. A midnight and a half of walking caused by devilish, sleep-stealing nightmares, eventually led them to Steve’s grave. The ground is unthawing slowly, much like the icy shields they have put up against one another, and she’s holding a bouquet of anemones from a miraculous florist.

She tries to give him the flowers but he shakes his head. His hands shake more violently from inside his jacket pocket and he tries to breathe, the night chill seeping into his skin. Hesitantly, she kneels down, brushes some dust off his tombstone, and places the vividly beautiful flowers in front of it. Rises, bones heavy with sympathy, and turns to him.

“I’m just glad he died in his own bed and not on the battlefield like he seemed so damn hell-bent on doin’. Wouldn’t have wanted that for him,” He muses to ease her tortured expression. Deliver a message of having moved on, having accepted this life without his best man. His best bud.

“He would have been just as happy either way, going by what you’ve told me,” She answers, peering sideways at him from under eyelashes that reflect the last of the moonlight. He gives a short, wistful laugh.

“Yeah. You know what he told me once, still that skinny Brooklyn kid after another fight? He said he’d have fought him even if he’d have been ten times bigger instead of two.” She laughs, too, and although it’s a sad, sorrowful thing, overflowing with exhaustion and despair, Bucky hasn’t heard anything as beautiful since the sound of Sam in his ear after the Blip.

“And he proved that with Thanos. Those bullies were just practice. I laughed at him anyway, but he had the bigger picture in mind that I never did.”

He still doesn’t. Not even now, with his wife’s hand in his, standing in the lobby to the apartment he owns. She tells him they haven’t checked the mail since last Wednesday and they head over to the letter boxes instead. The reason for their marriage, the bigger picture she sees in her head, is pulled out in the form of an envelope from the United States Government. She opens it with shaking hands, and the green card is extracted, heart in throat. Bucky sees the disbelieving joy in her eyes, and thinks: his own is now over.

Taglist: @suz-123 @mermaidxatxheart @buckyreaderrecs @shield-agent78 @corneliabarnes @readerandcinephileingeneral @stevieboyharrington @notsomellowmushroom @veganfangirl5 @mood-pancakes @lbuck121 @starnight-charmer @redhairedfeistynerd @geeksareunique @samingtonwilson @alyxkbrl @bucky-smiles

#ayesha writes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x desi!reader #desi!reader #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff

150 notes · View notes

kicksaddictny · 4 years ago

Text

Ronnie Fieg x Asics Gel-Lyte III - The Palette

According to KITH

Ronnie Fieg continues his storied partnership with Asics to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gel-Lyte III. This celebration manifested into his largest project with Asics to date, as he introduces a concept entitled “The Palette”.

Fieg’s collaborative footwear career started in 2007, as he redesigned the Asics Gel-Lyte III in three color variations. Fieg has continued his partnership with Asics every year since and has worked on the Gel-Lyte III every year but one. With 2020 being the 30th anniversary of this iconic silhouette, Fieg created a concept based on the idea of “30” and created a collection of 30 pairs of Asics inspired by Kith’s signature palette.

To create this palette, 30 colors were taken from Kith products that have released over the brand’s 9-year timeline. The colors were strategically chosen to shape a gradient that was then applied to the Gel-Lyte III, resulting in 30 unique colorways.

Each model features a tonal premium pigskin suede upper and a subtly contrasting tonal sole unit. The classic split tongue continues to be the highlight of this silhouette, while featuring debossed logos – “30” on the left shoe and “Fieg” in the Asics font on the right. Co-branded details are also seen on the footbeds of each pair, while accompanied by custom packaging and three sets of extra laces. Retail is $180 USD.

All 30 pairs of the Ronnie Fieg for Asics “The Palette” will release on Black Friday, November 27th, at all Kith shops and at 11AM EST on Kith.com.

The 30 colors are comprised of:

Battleship, Hurricane, Monsoon, Argon, Echo, Genesis, Torpedo, Asteroid, Elevation, Avalanche, Saddle, Mantle, Quicksand, Molecule, Pyramid, Magma, Rogue, Dusty Mauve, French Clay, Dusty Quartz, Monarch, Astro, Plaster, Hallow, Waffle, Anchor, Majestic, Summit, Helium, and Chalk.

#asics #kicksaddict #ronniefieg

9 notes · View notes

skonkania · 5 years ago

Text

— softly

story: open heart

pairing: bryce lahela x mc ( vera onruang )

word count: 1.6k

notes: vera kinda just hates her birthday and just wants to cry all day

summary: didn't mean to get so close and i know that i should probably go.

As she looks in the mirror, Vera does the math in her head. If she spent 26 years in North Carolina then another 2 years working her way to be a resident at Edenbrook; how much time does she have left? It’s a loaded question but she knows that the average human residing in the United States lives upward to 78 years and she’s turning 28 this year.

28 years old, just 50 more birthdays she never wants to celebrate. 50 more years to put her name on this Earth. (Even though she knows there’s a possibility that she’ll develop some life-debilitating disease once she reaches her sixties.) Yet, here she is; wasting another day just to celebrate something she’s come to loathe.

She told Sienna she didn’t want a party with all the seriousness she could muster after a 17-hour shift with only 30 minutes to rest. But the peppy girl must’ve assumed this was some reverse psychology shit or something because Jackie told her to get ready for tonight. She rolled her eyes and went to change out of vomit stained coat.

It’s September 30th and sometimes she wishes her friends weren’t so nice.

There’s too many numbers floating around in her head, too many variables to fill over how this night will inevitably end, and so much more to worry about than just a simple party. Her eyes stare at her lips through the reflection, trying out different grins with a lidded expression. A toothy one seems fine, she decides and leaves the sanctuary of her room.

Her senses are already overwhelmed as she enters the hallway, a thick thump following every step she takes on hardwood floors. Counting how many seconds it takes for her to reach the archway between the hallway and the living room and how many seconds it takes for her to brush past people before she can reach their kitchen island that’s overflowing with unattended drinks. Some of them have names, some of them don’t, but she’ll have to clean them up anyway.

She hasn’t even seen her friends, they baked (more like Sienna did) with 32 candles on it and her name messily scrawled with frosting. It was red velvet, her favorite, but she never had an appetite when it came to this day. She needs a distraction, something pushing back thoughts of home and she doesn’t really feel like tequila will cut it.

Yet, soon enough, a chaste kiss is pressed to her cheek, a smile already blooming onto her features as she’s assured with who it is. Bryce always liked to show up to these things as a showoff and a people person, challenging her to something before he stayed to clean up as an excuse to sleep over. But he’s been busy with Keiki and she’s somehow in charge of making sure the diagnostic team doesn’t shut down because of Ethan’s unmoving morals.

Although, that’s too heavy to speak about, so she starts off with something light. Something to tease him with, something she can distract herself with.

“Leave little Lahela with a sitter?”

“No,” he stops on the other end of the island, concern flashing in his features. “was I supposed to?”

“She’s fifteen, I used just leave pizza rolls and juice out whenever my—” she pauses and tucks her lips under her teeth, it’s not time yet. “my cousins stopped by. We’re not qualified guardians.”

They’re not and it’s why she left home, it’s why she thinks birthdays are lonely even with mountains of bodies crowded in a single room and why red velvet is a good cake flavor but a shitty one for a birthday. She ignores her critiques and focuses back on Bryce, eyes shining as she returns his mischievous grin.

“We’re not, but we are qualified to party.”

“I hate how cheesy you are.”

“You don’t hate anything about me. Anyways, you ready for a Bryce special?” he asks while she watches him pluck out differing types of alcohol. Most noticeably, some peach-colored liquid that she doesn’t even remember purchasing.

Maybe when Sienna went out with Elijah, they like getting stuff that looks pretty. Although it pretty much always tastes like shit.

She snorts at the name, relying on his part to play the narcissist of their relationship. “You mean that awful shit where you put margarita mix, rum, and vodka?”

He pulls a solo cup from the stack and starts mixing flavors that his abomination should be considered something close to a biohazard. He seems unphased at the prospect of mixing of rum and Jackie’s jungle juice. “It’s not awful shit, not when it comes from me.”

“That claim is arguable with everything you do except surgery.”

“Aw, I thought you liked the way my fingers feel.” He moves away from the brown-greenish color starting to form in her drink to wiggle his fingers at her. Taking this as a moment to slide in close as if she’ll fluster under his gaze like some sheltered naive girl. He should know better by now, “You don’t complain during your lunch breaks anyway.”

“Pushing your luck, Lahela.” and she shoves him away with a grin, hands resting on his biceps. “You’re insufferable, completely insufferable.”

“Only with you.”

And he hands her the cup, taking it into her grasp to see the now mauve liquid clash against white colored plastic. It’s disgusting, she knows it will taste bitter against her tongue but she goes through with it. Just to see him smile, bringing him joy just to see her squirm.

She seems to ignore the crowd of bodies bustling around her living room and kitchen, eyes only trailing across his face. He’s perpetually calm with no wrinkles in his forehead from frowning too much or concerning himself with petty matters. At peace with what he does at whatever given time, and sometimes she wishes she could pass some of her burdens onto him.

It’s a cruel thought, but one he’d comply to is she asked. He’d do anything she asked.

“Now, I know you love a good old-fashioned shindig here.” a bit of Bryce’s homemade biochemical disaster spills on her jeans but she doesn’t mind the slightly unpleasant feeling. “But why’d you come?”

There’s a moment where he doesn’t answer, maybe a little unsure of the answer he has prepared. It’s not even a bullshit question where she’ll get unreasonably pissed at him no matter the outcome, she’s just curious of his intentions.

And after the small silence, he answers. “Because I know you, and I know you’d be miserable if I left you alone.”

Hmm, he knows me. Yet, he’s still right about that much despite the cynical tone her inner monologue uses. Taking another sip from her cup and relishing the bitter taste that invades her mouth.

“You didn’t seem like you were in a birthday spirit, even when I came around.”

She shrugs in response, unable to process the aching that comes with this day. A void in her chest she can never tear out, that this day simply feels like something for her to waste rather than commemorate. “I just wanted to stay in my room, maybe even crash at someone else’s place. This day stopped feeling like something to celebrate when I was 13.”

There are far better things to do on September 30th than recognize she’s finally 28. It’s all inconsequential from a objective point of view.

“Is that your birthday wish?” she nods and slouches on the stool, barely noticing how he has grabbed ahold of her palm and has brought it up to his lips. Always so affectionate when he can’t seem to find words to say. “Then let’s go, we can stay in your room until they call us back.”

She doesn’t argue like she usually does, and doesn’t insist on the fact that someone will notice she’s missing from her own party. Instead, she lets Bryce lightly grasp her elbow as he leads her away from the bustle of people having more fun of this night than she ever will. Letting out mumbled apologies to those she inadvertently brushes by but all her thoughts are jumbled together that only created an array of distress.

None of them even speak as they enter the dim hallway that leads to multiple rooms, hers at the far end of the hall. Vera makes no snarky comment as they enter of the bedroom and Bryce is at a loss for smart ass quips once he lays her down at the mattress. Their shoes clatter against hardwood as they nestle against her ivory white comforter, catching each others’ gazes once they settle.

He’s so ethereal bathed in whatever moonlight peeks through her curtains and now she is at a lost for words.

“Hi,” he whispers as she brushes back a lock of stray hair from her eyes.

She cups his cheek, “Hey.”

They break from their little moment, laughing at the intimacy that has spurred on from nothing but simply admiring one another. A grin grows on her features as she inches closer to him and lazily wraps an arm around his waist, he follows after her movement without a second thought. Enraptured, she thinks at first before looking back into his brown eyes filled with an unplaced warmth, I am enraptured with him.

In the comfort of his stare, she’s already forgotten about the party thrown just for her happened just outside her hallways and she laughs. Bursting with unexpected amusement at the whole situation and muttering her next words through a smile. “You’re insufferable. God, completely and utterly insufferable.”

And he returns her grin, some laughs breaking through his serene expression. “So are you.”

She tilts her head up, lightly lifting herself up from the bed just to press her lips to his forehead, chin, left cheek, and then the right cheek. Avoiding everything except his lips until she leans in and feels nothing but tight-lipped grins simply pressing against one another. Unbridled happiness he’s brought on a miserable day, combing through his hair as her head rests against the pillow.

“Guess we have to stick together then.”

#hey i love these two dummies a lot and i constantly think about vera esp when oph came back #also in that new chapter the ethan scene was weird bc i have never flirted with that man ... why does he want me to stay the night #anyways these mfs are completely in love with each other despite barely knowing anything about each other's pasts and they're so chill #these two are definitely ur past does not define u type people and it's why they're so understanding of each other's situations #idk i wrote this after thinking about ive disliked my birthday since i was 10 bc my dad got mad that i wanted to eat at some restaurant #i projected a lot of my perfectionist ideals onto vera and how she goes along with a lot of things bc she doesn't want to upset ppl or stir #so idk i listened to clairo got sad cried ate something then wrote this #ship: vera/bryce #ch: bryce lahela #ch: vera onruang #bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #bryce x mc

10 notes · View notes

iguessihavemore · 6 years ago

Text

Garden Chap. 1 Not Your Garden Variety Pt.1

Ahhhhhh yessss. A smaller chapter because I Do Not Trust tumblr yet with big big posts. Enjoy folks!

“This is the best day ever! WOOHOO!” Chris cheered, hopping up with both feet off the ground. He held a cellphone in one hand. “I knew I was right! Take that!” He threw it down in a celebratory-football way, and it shattered instantly. Chris clearly didn’t care at all.

“Uh….” Someone voiced behind the camera, and it went dark.

----

“This show is MINE, baby. Ain’t NO ONE can tell me how to run it but ME.” Chris continued to dance, after who knows how long the video was off. Several groans resounded this time, and cut to black again.

----

The host cleared his throat. “Heyo, and welcome to the next instalment of Total Drama!” He was still buzzing from excitement. The camera seemed to jitter and focus happily, having not expected this to be a viable take. “We’ve got a fresh change of atmosphere- a REALLY big change, try not to let it give you a shock. I won’t lie, it’s so new, even I had to wonder, ‘oh my god, producers, what are you thinking??’” He shook his hands, face scrunched up. He loosened up. “But not to fear, despite what I once thought until this moment, we can still torture these contestants at will. And by we, I MEAN ME-”

For once he caught himself, and rapidly switched back to his calm tone. “The only difference this time around is that it’ll be prettier or something? They wanted an exercise on how much the puke and mud was really drawing in an audience.” Chris rolled his eyes. “So now we have a whole season without it. It’s AeStHeTiC, they said.”

Drawing back, he was standing on a bright green plot of grass. Decorative stones littered the ground like tiny pathways. A white birch archway behind him blocked the view of the rest of the garden with green tubes hanging from it like a curtain. To the right, an odd, unappealing to look at, massive flower bulb sat sideways on stilts, the bottom end of it connected to a wide tube that trailed off-screen. To the left was the beginning of a woodwalk, that also went out a view. “This season, we decided to let the contestants themselves decide how they wanted to be introduced. As stupid adreneline junkies,” He gestured to the tube contraption. “As boring and basic,” He held a hand near his head and looked back, referring to the archway. “Or as pretentious wannabes.” As he said this, he brought a hand to his eyes and smiled down the walkway. “Speaking of which, here comes our first one!”

The wooden planks led to a serene lake. A gondolier was just finishing up rowing up to the little dock. The contestant sitting at the other end, who at first glance gave off a brunette Barbie vibe, delicately eyed the scenery. She stepped from the boat and waved pleasantly at the man who had brought her, mouthing a ‘thank you.’ He had too much facial hair to see if he cared, and simply pushed off. The girl didn’t mind, smiling forward with glossy light-pink lips, batting her lightly mascaraed, blue eyes in every new direction she looked in.

“Hello Chris, it’s a pleasure.” She gave a bow-curtsy, feminine but not wearing a skirt. Chris and her shared a smile. “And I mean it. How lucky of me to be accepted into the best of the seasons.” She straightened, folding her hands at her hips. She had on a white blouse with the slightly poofy sleeves and single button at the collar, tucked into blue jeans, and white ballet flats she pointed with an arbitrary delicacy.

“Nice to have you here, Amelia. And, hey, if you say so.” He put on a grudging tone that was the total opposite of before.

She giggled, her arms bouncing lightly and jostling her auburn hair, curled to shoulder length. “Never fear, with my thespian roots, I’ll personally ensure you all have something to look forward to, even without your beloved explosions.” She placed a flamboyant hand to her collar.

“Well, we’ll see.” Chris motioned for her to step to the side, and she did so. He walked to the other end near the bulb, winking at the camera with a toothy grin while she couldn’t see.

“Next contestant, you can come out now.” He called to the curtained archway.

“Oh hell yeah, baby.” Two brown-greyish hands poked out between the garden hose-like tubes, quickly thrusting them to the sides, tossing the curtain around her in a grand entrance. Amelia laughed supportingly as the girl took a long stride forward, and then went shock-silent when one of the tubes coiled around the girl’s arm on it’s way back down, snagged her, and threw her face down into the ground.

The girl, hair a combo of dark purple to neon green sprawled around her head, laid there silently for awhile. Amelia couldn’t help but laugh quieter and more awkwardly. In a single move, the girl drenched mostly in black clothing sprung to her sneakered feet, hands already on her hips like nothing had happened, sans the green hose still tied to her upper arm. “It’s Cameron!” She beamed.

“Yes it is!” Chris agreed, letting her wipeout speak for itself. “How’s Cameron ready for this season?”

Before she answered, she unknotted her leather jacket sleeve from the hose with her tongue sticking out, fussily tossing it to the ground since she’d unknowingly ripped it from the birch. She went back to her previous attitude in an instant. “Oh, I’m ready. I have the power of ghosts and, heck, maybe even god on my side.” She did a wide, ninjitsu-esque move. “Eh, who am I kidding. More likely Satan, but he’s more of a bro than you’d think.” She smiled cockily, etching up her two facial moles (on her cheek and upper lip), and folded pink eyes.

“Whoo boy, sounds like we’re in for a ride with you.” Amelia spoke up as Cameron came to her side. Her hair could now fall in its intended long-in-the-front bob.

“You betcha!” She winked, making a single finger-gun. She took in a deep, content breath, and then her entire person relaxed. Putting her hands in her jacket pockets, she said, “Okay, I’m done.” Her boxy-jacketed, legging-clad body shifted to the side comfortably.

“Much obliged,” Chris nodded, happy to not need to force them to shut up just yet. “Now for my favorite of the bunch, the sliders, give a warm welcome to Paulie!”

“AAAAAAAHHHHH-” A husky voice screamed as a dark shadow filled the inside of the tube, rocketing downwards. Once at the end, the bulb contracted slightly and spat out the next contestant. She flew with a shock of coiled, lime green hair, legs kicking desperately. She was lean, but definitely top heavy, dancing on her bright pink and black sneakers with a war cry of “AHHYAYAYA”

She finally came to a stop, knees wobbly and pointed at each other, but upright nevertheless. She gasped deeply, with a happy scoff mixed in. “You- you thought.” She shakily pointed at Chris with pride.

The host, with a smile, snapped his fingers in a disappointed manner. “Hopefully you can keep up those good plays.”

The dark skinned girl rose fully. She had a simple black T-shirt, dark blue ripped jeans, a shiny silver ring pierced in her right nostril, an array of various rings lining both her ears, an X on her cheek made of simple bandaids, and a black bandana at the base of her scalp, lighting it up with a bright red-and-yellow flame decal. She tilted forward, staring excitedly with her round, rusty-red eyes and a broad smile parting her thick, skin-colored lips. “You are so not ready for me.” She insisted.

“Guess all that’s left for us is to pray, then.” Amelia mock-sighed. Paulie turned, her arms and what could be seen of her knees littered in faint scars. She gasped.

“SAME HAIR DYE!!” She yelled, a dull-nailed finger was pointed at Cameron’s head.

“Lime Crime??” Cameron questioned. Paulie screamed in agreement. Cameron screamed back, and they jumped at each other with open palms. It’s good that they went at each other with equal force, or one of them would have been high-fived into the next dimension.

Amelia laughed with the enthusiasm they radiated. “You guys would be fantastic in theater.”

The trio hushed as Chris made his way over, ready to introduce the next teenager. This one was also arriving by boat, and was just as bright-eyed to see the pretty destination as Amelia had been, if not more so. She hopped off the gondola and also thanked the ferryman, who this time gave a very slight nod.

“Hellooo, Marina!” Chris called, waving his hand.

“Hi Chris!” The girl called back, with big, dark, lemon shaped eyes. She had thick, wavy dark hair that reached right under her neck. Her bangs parted at the center, tucked behind her ears. A soft pink dress flowed around her brown skin and she walked down the path with a quickened pace. Her dusty-pink flats stopped as she got to their congregation, the lacy skirt of her dress resting at her knees, a small bit of dusty-pink leggings peeking out just past it.

Chris patted his knees and bent to her eye level. “Dressed for the occasion, aren’t you?” He commented, though his nose wrinkled just slightly at the pinkness.

She smiled brightly with her simple mauve lips and thick arched eyebrows. “This is how I always look!” She fiddled with one of the red ribbon bows that made up her sleeves, the top portion of her dress printed with a big red heart center-focus. “I’m glad to hear it happens to be fitting for the season, though.” She had freckles littered between her eyes right above her button nose.

“Girly-girls unite!” Amelia laughed and knelt down just a bit, holding her hand out. Marina flashed a smile and high-fived her, but it held nowhere near the flair than the previous one.

“I kinda hope I’m just as fitting, too...” Marina thought aloud, idly tapping her fingers.

“Ah! Ha ha.” Chris leaned back with his hands on his hips. “Yeah. We’ll see.” He said non-committedly, not wanting to show his cards so soon. Marina’s eyebrows flipped, but she didn’t let up on her smile.

“Next up? Come on out.” He called towards the archway.

This person held a tan hand out between the hose curtain, sweeping enough aside to step through. She stared out blankly for a moment, then smiled lazily with dark grey lips. She passed into the pretty clearing, her black platform boots a stark contrast to the pastel greenery. Her entire outfit- a simple black corset over a modest grey dress that went to her neck, just past her elbows, and right above her knees with a pleated shard look- was a contrast to the whole current setting.

“I’m J-” She began to introduce herself with a soft, low voice.

“How come you didn’t get catapulted to the ground?” Cameron huffed. Everyone but Amelia blinked at her. The newest of the bunch then smirked lightly.

“Did you barge in all gung-ho?” She teased, flicking a wrist that was dressed with a sheer, fingerless glove. Cameron snorted in response.

“Maybe? Who’s to say?” She shrugged. She put a finger to Amelia’s lips, even though she wasn’t going to say anything anyhow.

The gothic girl silently giggled. “Of course. My name’s Jennifer.” She gestured to herself by placing her palm above her bright crystal necklace. Her long, dark brown hair that framed her face swung with her as she regarded Chris solely. Her eyes were constantly relaxed and under a heavy set of lashes, and the cute shape of her face was very familiar. “May I ask what the surprise is, Chris McClain?” She cut right to the chase.

“What are you talking about?” Chris threw his hands in front of him, putting on an annoyed tone. “I wish there was one- I’m gonna die of boredom before this season hits the merge!”

She sighed, “I thought not.” Jennifer rolled her eyes at his insistence. “Let’s prepare ourselves.” She told the other four girls, coming to stand with them.

“Our next competitor-!” Chris began to pump up for the next person to be shot out of the flower bud shotgun-style.

However, the streamer curtain behind him exploded with a loud, “Yeah!! That’s me!!”

Chris gasped and clutched at his chest.

“Careful grandpa.” Paulie cocked her head with a smirk as the others laughed.

The host glared over his shoulder at a boy of medium stature, fully clothed in what looked like a black morph suit. “That was not your cue.” He snapped.

The boy, with one of the only visible things of his skin being a strip cut out for his honey brown eyes, squinted one of them. “Yes it was.” He argued simply, as if Chris was the confused one.

Chris opened his mouth, groaned, and pinched his nose. “Roger, everyone.” He flipped his hand lamely. Roger blinked, his eyes curling happily, and rose his arms up once again. One of the tubes, after flapping back, had tied onto his upper arm from the force he arrived with.

“Oh, oh buddy-” Cameron started to speak up.

“So what’s with the…?” Chris leaned towards him, waving his hand in front of his own face.

Roger rose a brow. “Huh?” He asked for clarification. Chris continued to mention the mask in every way but saying ‘mask,’ and Roger continued to be confused, completely drowning out the teenagers who were trying to warn him.

“Why are you hiding your face?” Chris finally said, which must have been enough for Roger to get it.

“Uhhh…” He brought his finger up, fiddling with a bit of bushy brown hair that escaped from his suit. “I don’t know. It’s TV and that’s embarrassing. But I also wear it all the time because it’s embarrassing to be around people when they can see your face. I guess the TV thing is just an excuse-” He lost himself in his musings rather quickly.

“Alright alright.” Chris cut him off, annoyed. “At least we don’t have to see your junk.” He motioned downwards, at the basketball shorts and tanktop Roger was wearing.

The space between his eyes flushed pink. “Uh, yeah. I’m on TV, that’d be so embarrassing! Like in would be in public-”

“Go stand with the others.” Chris cut him off again, eyebrows cinched together. “You’ve just about ruined my groove.”

Roger’s eyebrows curled upwards and he did what he was told silently. “Uh, you’re welcome!” Amelia called to him teasingly. She, Paulie, and Cameron were standing where they would have been behind him. They held up the hose proudly. “You almost fell right on your face!”

Roger looked at the three with wide eyes. “You… you were going to trip me?” He asked softly, betrayed.

They let their mouths hang open for a second, until Chris clapped. “Next contestant for real this time!”

Marina’s shoulders jumped up. “It might be my sister!” She told the others excitedly. “She chose the slide.”

“Yikes,” Paulie winked down at her. It was the first time Marina frowned.

The slide filled with a shadow, a consistent thud thud thud filling the air. The first three to be introduced made way, Marina and Jennifer following their lead, the former with much concern. Jennifer looked over her shoulder and grabbed a spacing Roger by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to the rest of them.

The tip of the petals parted, and a massive figure twirled out feet-first. It landed right in front of where they had all been standing, but they could still feel the impact of this creature landing upright. A lanky stature of a person rose from the squat they landed in, with a slight serpentine manner to a height that towered over the others. “HOWDY!” A chipper voice came out of her, her olive eyes glittering.

“Jesus CHRIST you’re a giant!” Cameron shouted, holding a hand to her head.

The glitter ran dry. “Language, pal-y.” She laughed despite. “And it’s all the camping in me! Made me big and strong!” She flexed her tanned freckled arms, and though not totally muscular, made an impact due to the rest of her being so slim and lanky. Her legs were the same, all her limbs nicked with a small cut and a bump or two. She wore a simple pair of cargo shorts, and a light blue T-shirt with boxy sleeves reaching mid-upper arm. It sported a nondescript summer camp logo on the front. She lunged forward on one sneaker, nearly worn thin, and stretched as she took in the scenery. “Pretty little place! Are we having a tea party?”

“Oh, you better get used to things looking like this,” Chris grinned, “It’s Garden all season.”

“Huh!?” She gasped. “Naw, don’t tell me we won’t have any trees or hills! Come on, don’t tell me!”

Chris rubbed his chin in thought. “Not many... at least, not the kind you’re wanting. You can’t touch those trees.”

“Ummm why’s that-?” Jennifer asked allowed in utter confusion, but was drowned out by the newest arrival.

“Aw Chris, that just isn’t any fair!” She tilted her head, her frizzy dark ponytail flipping with it. “You can’t keep me from cabins, and nature, and campfires, and rivers, and rope tying, and- and-” She listed off fretfully.

Chris shook his hands out in front of him. “Relax! There’s still going to be half of that stuff, and you’ll get a butt-whooping of nature to last you a lifetime, don’t you worry.”

She righted herself, wiping her nose with a sniff. “Chris, that isn’t appropriate. As you’re not an official counselor I suppose I can give you a pass JUST this once, but don’t let me catch you mentioning again…” All of her chipper drawl was gone as she began to chide the host, getting to his level to whisper “Hitting the derriere.”

Chris laughed his absolute head off. “Oh! Rosie! I’m nowhere near a counselor! But keep up that uptight attitude, I love it!”

“Hmhm.” The campy girl squinted with a tight smile. “Yes, I see. Make no worse offenses. Surely even you can manage.”

Chris tried to calm himself as he circled over to the edge of the boardwalk once more.

Rosie felt a light pat on her arm. Marina was looking up at her. “Hey… it’s okay that you didn’t like what he said. Sorry that he laughed at you like that.”

“Aw,” Rosie brightened. “Never you mind- I’m sure Chris has some tight windows to be saying such things, anyway.”

Marina mustered a little smile. “Oh, haha, I’m sure he… I’m sure he does.”

“And next we have…!” Chris motioned to the lonely dock. “...!”

He motioned again. “...!”

“Tsk!” He threw his fists on his hips, staring daggers further down the lake. The gondolier was down on his knees at his end of the boat, clearly pushing the paddle so far down he was pushing off the bottom of the lake to get anywhere. He was sweating bullets, as on the other end, the contestant was such a muscular unit his corner was slightly sunk into the water. “Hmmm…” The host turned away. “He looked smaller in his audition.” He mused to himself.

He moved on to the archway. “Hey, yo, you can come out now Annabelle.”

“Sweet.” A smooth, femme voice said. From behind the tubes came a curtain of its own, made of honey brown hair reaching her lower back. The contestant ducked and straightened from the archway with her hands in the pocket of her grey hoodie, a panther printed on the front. She smiled a small, lazy smile under her hooded hazel eye, her thick coarse hair encasing the other. Light freckles dotted her high cheeks and button nose. Her lips pulled up more as she nodded to the others. “Heya. Nice to meet ‘cha.”

Some of the previous teenagers tried to say something quippy but it got drowned out in the general ‘hey’ they all said back. Annabelle swept her sight over them, and a relief seemed to settle on her calm person. “Looks like I don’t have ta worry about fitting in.” She said fondly. She walked her blue jeans over, and stood next to Paulie nearish the back.

“Okay, looks like Tony finally decided to show up.” Chris didn’t bother walking back to the dock. The blonde contestant, too wide for the dock, was making his way towards them, the ferryman trying to scoop out water from the half-drowned gondola behind him. Instead of safely shimming down the boardwalk, Tony opted to walk with both his feet just halfway on either side of the dock, head-on. The group of them let out a sigh when he finally got to the ground.

“So, Tony, welcome. You excited?” The host asked the pale boy who never skipped arm or leg or torso day.

He curled back his lips, speaking through his teeth. “Yeeeah. Yep.” He paused, and with no change of tone admitted, “I’m scared.”

“Aw, no need to worry. Nothing to fear here, and if you’re camera shy, just turn any amount of degrees and your hulking muscles will block the view!” Chris did his best impression of consoling.

“Mmm… okay.” Tony went over to the others, all of them wide-eyed. They didn’t really strike up conversation like they had when it was Rosie’s height they were aweing, probably because Tony made no effort to notice any of them at all.

“AAAaaand....!” Chris suddenly perked up, turning his beaming face to the slide, now thumping with the next contestant. The bulb contracted, a blur of faint yellow and blue rocketing out. The person attempted to land right, but his tennis shoe only grazed the ground and the rest of him smacked right flat into the dirt.

Marina gasped and threw her hands to her mouth. A few people around her snickered or expressed sympathy, as Chris quickly blocked the way of any of them that moved to help the newcomer. “Welcome to the show, Jackson!”

Jackson lifted his shoulders off the ground, his tongue sticking out as it was covered in grass. He quickly spat as he stood up, displeased and blushed on his light, orange-undertoned skin. He shook his choppy, platinum blonde hair that reached his cheekbones, and blinked at Chris with hazel-green eyes. “Th- thanks. Definitely already feeling it.”

“I should hope so! I have to get my kicks somehow!” Chris beamed, and laughed at it for far too long. “Now, our next competit-” He began to turn away.

“H- hey! Don’t tell me they get to know my name and I don’t get to know theirs’!” Jackson cried incredulously, outstretching his hands to his peers that came before him. “That’s not fair!” He stood in place and wouldn’t move to the gathering quite yet. He was thin, the only thing plumping up his silhouette being his clothes, like his grey sweatpants and open blue hoodie, a black T-shirt underneath.

The host groaned, rolling his head to the side. “Think about that for a second, would ya? Then we’d have to do that for every single person, and that makes no sense-”

“I’m Jennifer.” The gothic girl smiled warmly and waved. She stepped forward to shake Jackson’s hand now that Chris wasn’t standing in the way. Jackson finally brightened. When he smiled, it really showed off his prominent upper lip and cupid’s bow. As he shook her hand back, the others piped in.

“I’m Paulie! Like a parrot.”

“My name’s Marina, nice to meet you!”

“Cameron, ghost hunter!” Cameron thrusted her thumb firmly to herself.

“Annabelle.” Annabelle shrugged, looking away to the side with her small smile.

“T o n y.”

“Amelia.” The thespian did a flashy hand gesture.

“So that’s your guys’ names!” Marina laughed, turning to the first three girls.

“Do you want me to say my name to!?” Roger excitedly asked Jackson, pointing to himself.

Jackson chuckled. “Yeah, man!”

“I’m Roger!” He happily yelled.

“And I’m ROSIE!” Rosie also yelled. “Glad to be here and glad to have you here, camper!”

“Alright!” Jackson moved over and found a place in their gathering.

Chris, his arms dangling in front of him, was scowling at the kids the entire time. “Don’t make that a habit.” He pointed to them. “This section can’t get TOO long.”

Jennifer shrugged unapologetically. “I thought you’d be happy, since it took that long for the next boat to come.”

Chris whirled around in surprise, to find that the gondolier was only just getting to the dock. He’d forgotten about Tony’s complications beforehand. “Whatever.” He huffed when he looked back at the teens.

Once it stopped at the pier, the arrival stood up. She was tall and slim, covered completely in pastels and a pair of thick grey yoga pants. A pale blue hijab wrapped around her brown face, as she looked at the host from a distance, staring blankly. She did not step off the boat.

“Well?” Chris asked her testily.

Pride instantly crossed her features. “This.” She informed.

The girl arched her back and placed her bare hands on the surface of the dock. She lifted her entire body effortlessly from the gondola, standing perfectly straight but upside down and backwards from the others. They let out a unanimous “Oh, woah.” Her black runners pointed into the sky.

Instead of rolling forward and doing a prolonged frontflip sort of thing, she instead curled only her head towards the rest of the cast, lifting up an arm as her legs slowly came down. She tightened her stance, planking in the air on one hand.

“Ha ha! Okay, okay, showoff!” Paulie cheered, clapping louder than everyone else.

She got to her feet and walked over with a smile, a mole present on the left of her upper lip. “I only take that as a compliment.” She said earnestly, regarding the competition with smiling rusty-brown eyes. “Chris! Nice to meet you.” She held her hand out to him. Her mint green shirt flared at the wrist, hanging down between them. Most importantly, it had an adorable panda icon printed on the front. Don’t you dare forget about the cute panda.

“Nooo, you’re making a pact with the devil!” Cameron called out. Behind her, Rosie’s pupils shrunk to pinpoints and almost made a noise due to how fast they glared at her.

“Nice to meet you too, Nadine.” Chris urged the girl on to the others. She nodded and stood towards the side. She was the tallest after Rosie and Tony, who were already taking up the back.

“I, uh…” Roger turned around, a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at her. “Love your, uh…”

Nadine looked him over and guessed in an instant, “My hijab?” She brought her hand to it.

His eyes squinted adoringly as he let in a tiny gasp. “Yes!”

“ROGER, in fact, should have been introduced now,” Chris cut in testily. The boy looked over fearfully, anyone could feel the confusion radiating from him. “But no biggie. ‘Cause now we can get back to the sliiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!!”

The teens began to flinch back and prepare themselves, but Marina ran to the front. “W- wait! Wait, please!” That has to be my sister, but she didn’t know it would be so- so intense!” She stressed to Chris.

“So?” Chris asked cockily. “Any one of these options had a risk- honestly it’s saddening no one stepped on the trick board yet.” He mused.

“Uh, wh- what was that.” Amelia asked.

“Yeah but, Stella, she- she’ll get hurt and not be able to think about much else, and later when she learns that’s how she spent her introduction, she’ll- she’ll be devastated!” Marina clasped her hands in front of her, pleading with the man. The slanted tube began to thump, making her more panicked. “I can’t let that happen to her- isn’t this season suppose to be less dangerous, anyhow!?”

Chris rubbed his stubble, looking away in false thought. “Nothing dangerous about getting your head bumped a little. It’s not my fault you brought me someone who’s easy to embarrass.”

“Hey! That’s not-!” Marina huffed, lamely scowling.

Rosie easily stepped up to the front, crouching down pretty close to the gross bud thing, winking at the pink-clad girl. “No worries, there’s plenty of big guys here to protect you little ‘uns. That’s just how nature is-” She thrusted her fist into her open palm and then threw her hands out in front of her. She looked like the catcher in a game of baseball. “The strong protect the small so we can all have fun!”

“WEEEEEEEEEEEE!” A girl’s voice shrieked as the bulb twitched. It shot her out full speed, and Rosie sprung up. Her arms flew out and caught her loosely, the two spinning around a few times from the pure momentum. After it was all done, Rosie was left standing with a giggling girl face-down in her arms, one around her shoulders and one at her knees. Stella’s own arms were outstretched in front of her, having come out head-first, her eyes sealed shut from her glee. “HA HA HA!”

Rosie smiled down at her, flipping her over effortlessly so that she was facing upwards, still in her hold. A latina girl with high thin eyebrows and a huge gaping smile greeted her and she couldn’t help but laugh back, sharing the excitement. Rosie finally set the girl on her yellow converse-d feet.

Stella now moved her hands over her stomach, still giggling. She had curly, dark caramel hair with a few lighter highlights reaching right to her shoulder blades, a long yellow ribbon tied in a bow behind her. Her nose was round and had a semi-prominent bridge; her bangs were parted in the center but some shorter bits hung over her forehead near her eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pale yellow scoopneck T-shirt that went to her elbows and sported a glittery, swirly pattern of a big crown and the cursive word ‘Princess,’ ending just above her belly button, a pair of navy green shorts held to her hips with a black belt with a golden buckle, unrolled socks with a single gold stripe at the tops, a copper-plated necklace, and several colorful bandaids stuck to her calves if they counted.

“Stella!” Marina said happily, coming to give her sister a small embrace. She then turned to the campy gal. “Thank you.”

“Aw!” Rosie waved her hand dismissively. Stella was clearly still laughing to herself as she walked with Marina to the gathering, but was silent.

“You can say hi to the others when you’re ready.” Marina told her. It was hard to tell if her sister heard her or not. “They’re really nice so far, you’re going to love them.” Stella audibly chuckled for a moment at that. The rest of the teens mostly kindly, silently regarded her, and a few said ‘hi.’

“Welp, that was the last of my favorite entrance.” Chris mourned. “I liked how it ended, though. Very loud, very flashy.” He rubbed his hands together. “I hope the last boardwalk person is gonna give me a show…” He uttered with an eager darkness.

The twelve current competitors turned at once to the dock, causing the ghastly pale person making their way down the dock stop in their tracks. The newbie and everyone on the grass seemed to be having a staring match, but the solo person was clearly just confused. They finally- while sweating bullets- walked the rest of the way, pink pupils darting everywhere for some sort of answer.

Chris groaned loudly, head rocked all the way back.

The albino standing before them brought a finger to their round chin, their downturned eyes staring out of their rectangular glasses. “Did I- did I already mess up?” They joked nervously, but was obviously also really worried.

“NO.” Chris grumped, crossing his arms like a child. “Welcome to the Garden, Jupiter. Hopefully everything comes EASY to you. Hope it’s all sunshine and daisies for YOU.”

Jupiter had no idea what to make of that. They had a simple shoulder-length hairstyle with their white, smooth, thin hair- it fell straight down and curled a bit at the ends. A button nose, and hands clasped tightly in front of them. “Thank you.” They muttered in fear.

“Shucks, looks like you got favoritism already.” Annabelle winked at the newcomer.

They wavered a bit of a smile, stepping closer to them all. At this distance, the sticker on their white lab shirt could be read, saying ‘Hi, my name’s Jupiter! They/them pronouns!’ Beneath that they wore a red V-neck with jean shorts, red and white sneakers, and sported a faint scar on their left thigh before it trailed under their shorts. Their torso was round at the bottom, tapering at the top like a pear. “I guess it’s the best welcoming I could hope for.” They shrugged, stopping near their peers.

Chris shook himself off. “Last and literally not the least- in fact, dare I say double than any of you- we have- well, depending on how you look at it,” Chris kept interrupting himself, his smile growing wider and wider.

“Ah, come on man! On with it!” Jackson put his hands on his hips. “I don’t know how anybody can be Tony doubled.” He pointed his thumb at said boy.

“Oh ho ho! Not like that!” Chris gushed. “From the archway, we have our last one and/or two contestants…” From the tube curtain, two pairs of fingers began to appear, too far apart to be from one person. “Avery and Erika!”

A leg appeared, a leg appeared, and a leg appeared exactly. Two girls walked from the curtain, each using a hand to part themselves a way. Between them, they let what remained of the curtain trail over their shared shoulder until they walked far enough for it to slip behind them. Operating their five limbs carefully and slowly, they didn’t have to worry about the curtain yanking them back. Everyone who had come before them were ready to greet them like normal, but as the seconds passed and realizations began to bloom, things went dead silent.

They stopped soon after, standing in front of the gathering. Chris walked up to them as the twins and the rest of the cast shared glances, their light brown eyes open wide but relaxed- owlish. It didn’t take long for the two girls to look down at a space between them, cupping their hands together and inching towards each other a bit, making themselves smaller. They had a sandy complexion, and dark brown bobs. Avery, the twin with the right hand, had blunt bangs over her forehead, her hair reaching the mid of her shoulder blades. Erika’s hair ended at the shoulder, her bangs swept to the side.

Tailored to their needs, they wore a brown blouse over their bulky top with short, slightly puffed sleeves and short collars. Their conjoined torso tapered towards the middle where they had a black thick belt wrapped around their stomach, then widen to their shoulder width at their hips where they wore a three-legged pair of denim shorts. Below, they had two right-foot black Mary Janes(their middle leg slightly favored Erika, but alas was very stunted either way) and one left one, and black stockings that went up to their knees. Thankfully, for how misfortunate their situation was, both could stand upright with proper posture without either one having to lean to a side, which is more than can be said about most conjoined twins.

“I’m so glad you two could make it!” Chris jeered. “Or one. However you call it.”

They had small, pouty lips, and blinked at each other. Avery lifted her head and began looking out at the others blankly once again.

“Call us two.” Erika softly requested.

Avery let her personal shoulder sag. “But count us as whatever you will.” She said just as quietly. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Such new… territory.”

“DON’T MOVE!” Paulie demanded, jumping towards them. “We’ll come to you!” The others quickly followed suit around the twins. Curious stares were thrown all around the girls, but no one got close enough to touch them.

“This is so cool…” Annabelle muttered.

“I want to ask you a billion questions… but must’nt overwhelm you…!” Jackson was visibly holding himself back, one of the nearest to the twins.

Avery and Erika barely responded to any of them beyond flicking their eyes here and there.

Chris let out a sigh, the least angsty sigh he’d let out all day. “You know, that wasn’t so bad. Too bad I have to ruin it by showing you around- ugh- the garden, I guess.”

Previously standing within the camera crew, some interns came to the meeting ground and began to clear out the props. The boardwalk was allowed to stay, and they dismantled the archway in record time. There was an actual curtain behind it that had kept those who chose the archway from seeing the rest of the island.

And once it was taken down……

The clearing before had been pretty and all that, like grandma’s backyard or something, but this was like the personification of aesthetic and botany had a head-on collision AND a love child. The prettiest of flowers, from pastel, dainty, and sweeping, to bright neon, bold blooms.

A fountain with a statue was in front of them a ways away, shaped as a vague man-shape holding a tall vase, the tip of it gurgling out a stream of water with a pleasant sound. Light blue glassy bricks made a clean walkway to it, and in two other directions further into the island. Some tastefully-chosen trees filled some empty space within the near candy-green grass, broken up only by tiny stones or carefully picked wildflowers.

Chef sat nearby at an off-white table made with intricate designs, sipping on a fine china tea cup. The matching tea kettle was on the table.

“Tea parties…” Rosie muttered, hanging her head sadly. Not her cup of tea.

“It’s GORGEOUS!” Amelia cried, lacing fingers with Marina. Stella bobbed her head in front of them, her smile huge as ever.

Some of the others, like Jupiter, Nadine, and Paulie, were impressed by the sight, but not too much to comment. Others, like Jackson, Rosie, and Annabelle, preferred something else, but not enough to complain.

Jennifer shifted her eyes in outright suspicion. “Is that a mango tree!?” She pointed at a lush, fruitless tree.

“Uhhhhh….” Chris, more fearful of not knowing something than of Jennifer’s brewing wrath, swiveled to Chef to back him up.

“Not yet it ain’t.” Chef decided to help.

“Tropical trees don’t grow in Canada!” Jennifer chided. “At least, they shouldn’t, especially not around all these other- none of these plants should go together! They’re all going to die!”

Chef made her wait until he took a long sip. He set the cup on the saucer he held in his hand. “Man…” He said, “Stop dissing my mango tree.”

Jennifer continued to hotly argue plant ethics. An intern got Chris’s attention from it by tapping his shoulder, giving him a piece of paper. “Oh! Ahem,” He began hostly once he saw what it was. “This season, we have a team of the world’s BEST plant experts, who have carefully either found a way to keep all native and nonnative plants living in harmony with one another, or under a careful plan for future removal once the season is finished.” He smirked pridefully. “There, no harm done.”

“‘Plant experts?’” Jennifer scoffed. “Plant experts my ass! That’s just Total Drama bull-”

Rosie planted a hand on her shoulder from too far away, but made up for it in one long stride. She was at her side in a second, toothily smiling down at her. “Jenny, what’s it matter? I’m a nature enthusiast! You don’t see me complaining. You’re just being silly.”

Jennifer rose a brow from her scowl. She sighed angrily, but otherwise decided to back down.

“Now if you’ll all follow me.” Chris started to lead them down one of the brick pathways. Chef finished and took up the rear.

“Down this way we have the essentials. You’re going to be in charge of cooking your own meals, but here you’re almost always going to be able to get the ingredients you need.” He explained as they came to a large patch of tilled soil, many various green stalks and vines sprouting from it. Towards the back there were some huts that Chris pointed to. “Those have things like meat and grain stuff. We weren’t allowed to have you slaughter things for yourselves, so I said to heck with all the farm animals then, what’d be the point?” That got a mixed reaction from the teens. “But downside is you have a limited amount of the stuff a day. A pity. Oh, and fruit and berries are scattered around the island- can’t let your snacks be too easy.”

Chris gained a boost of excitement at the little shack at the edge of all the food spots, skipping up to it. “This!” He eagerly smacked the side of the shabby wood with a flat palm. “Is the tool shed- this season’s confessional! There’s lots of these babies all ‘round the island! I want you guys to get acquainted by taking turns saying who you want on your team or not! Who wants to give it a try first!?”

*Shed: Jupiter* They sat at a small wooden bench, knees tucked in. The lighting was a bit dim, light peeking in from the cracks of the wall behind, and a light was illuminating their face for the camera. “I want to be on Annabelle’s team. That may sound strange to instantly decide but… we’re actually siblings. We auditioned together.” They admitted, eyes dropping. “She said that because of my skin condition, as long as Chris didn’t mention it, no one would be the wiser. We even didn’t mention each other on our audition tapes, just in case. It looks like he’s playing along.” They laughed nervously. “I don’t like our plan much, but Anna’s right, it has a lot of pluses. Having the others thinking-” They began to hack grossly “Alright! I can’t take it anymore! Why’s it smell so bad!? It’s not like this is an outhouse anymore-” They turned around, revealing that the wall behind was lined with some small gardening tools… and stacked with open bags of manure. Chris could be heard outside the door cackling like a witch.

*Shed: Jennifer* “One, these plants WILL have retribution.” She informed before saying anything she was supposed to. Her leg was crossed over the other, her hands resting on her knee if not animated around her. “I hate to say it, because people will assume this is how I am in real life outside of sick television world, but I want as few of the… weaker people on my team as possible. I usually PREFER to hang around underdog types, but those are dangerous in a drama competition. Sorry twins, sisters, and Jupiter… but the less of you the better. Not sorry Amelia, you’re preppy.” She finally succumbed to a wince, and glared over at the bags of manure in the corner. Chris somehow, someway, knew this and laughed shrilly once again outside the door.

*Shed: Nadine* “I plan on being the strongest on my team no matter what.” Nadine announced, sitting with her legs pointed to one side. “Even versus… Tony, was it? I can get around him in no time flat, and I’d be surprised if he was able to flinch about it.” She suddenly laughed, looking away bashfully. “Sorry, that was a bit mean. Um, a leader type would be nice. I’d hate for people to look at me to solve in-fighting. If I had to guess who’d that be…” She scratched at her hijab, trying not to be at a loss for words. “Rosie or Paulie, perhaps?”

*Shed: Roger* He sat leaned back with his legs crossed. “I don’t super get it. Like, I don’t know how to PICK someone to be with for important stuff. Everybody hates me being in their group projects at school, but I don’t know why, because I always end up doing all the work, and I hate it because it takes me forever! And they never give me credit!” He crossed his arms and leaned forward, fuming at the floor. “And people always change… they give you attention for nothing but ignore you when you ask for it… so I want people on my team who make sense! That’s it!” He clicked his heels. “Hnn… being nice would help though… or if they were pretty. Or smart. Or-”

*Shed: Cameron* “Eh, I’m thinking Amelia, Paulie, and Jennifer would make good teammates. They seem well-rounded at worse, and I feel a slight bond with them. I’d be crazy not to want both Tony and Nadine on my team. Oh! And Erika and Avery. So cool. So creepy. Maybe get a collab thing going if things don’t turn out here. REAL conjoined twins on my mystery channel would be insane for business! Or if not, I want to hang with them as much as possible, just for funsies.” She paused, a finger on her chin. “But what if… they don’t think I’M cool!?!?”

*Shed: Stella* “Ahhh! Friends!” She joyfully cheered. She balled her hands and bounced in her seat. “With Mari! Ahhhh!”

*Shed: Avery and Erika* Avery sat with her hand on her lap, and Erika lent to the side on hers. “We reeeeally hope to get better at this whole people thing.” Erika whined, sounding nothing like before. Her voice was still soft, but not sad. “We came onto this show hoping to get used to people outside the orphanage. It’s pathetic to say but… we were most excited that they’d be forced to get along with us.”

“We fall into the creepy twin act on habit.” Avery explained. “We’re just so nervous around new faces. A driving factor to joining was also that Total Drama is notorious for oddballs. If anyone’s going to get used to us quick, and us get used to them, this seemed like just the environment. Like Erika said… pathetic. We know.” They didn’t seem all that embarrassed, though.

Erika perked up. “Team wise? Anyone will do! It’ll all be about the same for us, probably cannon fodder no matter what.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Pathetic. But hey, if we get any sort of positivity out of this at all, it’ll be- say, will you hold your hand out, I wanna do the thing- yeah like that.” Avery held her hand open palm-up for Erika to throw her fist into. “It’ll ALL be worth it!”

*Shed: Paulie* “HMM…” She gleefully pondered. “Definitely Rosie and Cameron- so wild! And Jennifer’s hilarious, gotta be on her team when she pisses Chris off. Mmm, who else… Jupiter maybe? They look cool- oh yeah! And the twins. Think about it- if they count as two, when we vote them off, we still get to keep them! At least once.”

*Shed: Annabelle* She sat sideways on the bench with her legs propped up. “On the opposite team as Jupiter, my dear little sibling. It’ll be good for them, and best case scenario we both get to the merge and become unstoppable. If you’re wondering why we’re not all like those sisters… we’d be targeted like crazy. Being on separate teams, we’ll have a much wider range of people to target, and I won’t have to worry about having to work against them.” Annabelle’s confidence in her plan sounded a bit more flakey when she continued with the next part, “And the main reason I can’t risk getting targeted due to being related is that… it makes it fifty/fifty on which of us gets voted, and as much as I love them… I have to be the one who gets to the finale.” She propped her cheek on her fist. “Jupiter thinks they have a good plan for the money that I pretended to agree with, but to be real, it’ll go to waste in their hands.”

*Shed: Marina* “It goes without saying, Stella! I don’t baby her, I swear, but she deserved a decent introduction, at least! And she’s not the best at talking, so I’ll probably be pretty necessary for awhile since she’s so excited. Otherwise, Rosie’s so nice and strong! I’d love to be on her team. Amelia’s nice… Jackson’s pretty cool… Nadine seems like she’ll be great in challenges… that kind of stuff!” She propped her hands on her hips in excitement.

*Shed: Tony* “Pft, it doesn’t matter. They’re all simple enough, I’ll get under their skins easily.” He said with way more clarity than before, examining his nails. “Err, not those twins though. There’s no WAY I’d be able to get either of them alone…”

*Shed: Amelia* She sat dainty as ever. “Cameron and Paulie, of course! Being the typical ‘quirky girls,’ they’re going to be looking for someone to give them direction. Tony’ll be useful. Jennifer will be fun to mess with, her being on either team will work just fine. Rosie is too into herself, I think, so I’ll pass on her. Roger is a puppy, he’ll follow me easily. I would say Marina would be a nice addition, but now that she has a sister to look after, not so much. The twins have too much of a specific thing… like on stage, you want to be versatile! I can’t tell how stubborn Nadine will be… she’s a dangerous wildcard. Annabelle and Jackson will probably take orders from something that sounds right, which won’t be any trouble for me. Jupiter can be my replacement Marina, I suppose.” She listed off without a second thought on any of her assumptions.

*Shed: Jackson* “There’s SO many girls on this show. Oh my god. I hope I’m with at least ONE of the two other boys. Chris really would toy with me and put them together on the opposite one without me, UGH. Not that the girls are bad, it’s just- Well, I’m no sexist, just- WHATEVER just trust me on this, ‘kay!? Anyway, Jennifer, Annabelle, and Cameron would be pretty cool too.”

*Shed: Rosie* Her eyes popped open in earnest shock. “There’s a lot of un-camp worthy stuff going on already! Jeez! Who raised these folks!?” She huffed. “Well, I’ll give them one chance each, which that all-black wearing girl better appreciate, ‘cause she said some unsavory things a minute ago! Oh, and that OTHER girl… she’s got like, a point and a half. Any worse offense, and she’ll have to go home, with a lesson at that! I’d love to be on her team, just to make sure she stays in line.” *End*

The last of the confessors tromped out to a beaming Chris. “Now on to the next landmark, we have the winners cabin. Which, as it sounds, is the better of the two cabins for only the most recent winners.” He described as they walked to it.

They came to a quaint little cottage sitting in a field, another confessional shed sitting nearby. Right in front of it was a basic wooden fence leading up to the front door. Sitting upon the fence, there was a boy of the contestants’ age idly knocking his knees together, flicking his dark eyes from the clouds to the cast as they approached.

He sprung from his seat ahead of Chris, smiling wide and outstretching his arms. He was one of the most wiry people in existence it seemed, at a normal height and with brown skin. Dressed simply, he wore dark green jeans, brown dress shoes, and a golden yellow long-sleeved T-shirt. Well, less simply, he had a short black tophat perched on his head, concealing his hair. He had a weird pair of eyes where instead of his eyelids squinting as he emoted, they simply widened or contracted together perfectly, like the lens of a camera. “Chris! What a bunch!”

“Hello Lucas.” Chris groaned, lazily waving at the boy. “Care to tell this ‘bunch’ what you’re here for?” He sorta flicked his wrist over his shoulder.

Lucas hopped up to his side, training his sight on the others. “I’m Lucas, I’m with the people who know the island this season is taking place on.”

Chris sharply growled at him. Lucas blinked at the host, then brought his wrist to his eyes. With his other hand, he pulled back his sleeve a bit, stared at his skin, then looked up smiling once again. “I’m with the people who OWN this island!”

Chris smacked himself.

“I’ll just be around. I’m not working with the staff, so don’t go asking me for stuff.” Lucas continued.

“Like we can ask them for stuff anyway.” Jackson scoffed light-heartedly.

“Will you be doing… anything?” Nadine asked him.

He shrugged, giving a coy, innocent smile on his sharp-featured face. “I sure do love the idea of Reality TV chores. Much more fun than normal chores.”

Marina chuckled. “I bet, if you aren’t competing.”

“I suppose.”

“Anyway, Lucas’ll be around and if he tells you not to do something, listen to him because his dad might get mad if we mess up his island. I don’t really want to know what will happen if we tick him off.” Chris instructed, and Lucas waved to them at hearing his name. He turned to the boy. “I was showing them the good cabin, so if you could…”

Lucas tilted his torso at a weird angle. “Ooh! I like how they have to be two to a room. How do you think they’ll go about that!?”

Chris grimaced.

“Just pick whoever we like the best on the team.” Cameron shrugged. “Though I do admittedly not share very often.”

Lucas turned to them brimming with intrigue, but Chef shook his head from the back and waved the boy over. He perked up, and left the host’s side happily.

“You know what? The cabin speaks for itself when you go inside. Let’s move on to the loser’s cabin.” He lead the cast on the path. From the rear, Chef and Lucas shared dark giggles that all the others nervously picked up on.

They walked this path the longest yet, a curve in the walk suggesting they were walking the perimeter of something, hinted even more so as fences were a prominent feature on one side of them. A grey mass in the distance came into focus, nearly drawing all the attention from the shabby shack in front of it.

“Cool.” Annabelle said while looking up at the gnarled forest, in slight awe.

“Nasty.” Stella added.

“Isn’t it?” Chris asked proudly, before shaking back his senses. “Ahem. THIS is the loser’s cabin. It’s worse than the other one in most ways, the confessional shed is attached to the side, AND it comes with a chore.”

The teenagers groaned prematurely, before they even knew what it was. It made the host even happier. “After a challenge is lost, the losing team will come here after voting off one of their members. You will then be tasked with keeping the untamed part of the island at bay, however you can.”

“What?” Rosie cried, aghast, yet again. “If it’s growing then it’s alive, and it’s not okay in the slightest to cut away living trees!”

“Rosie Rosie Rosie, this forest is SUPER invasive and dangerous. I assure you, it’ll take over this island within a few DAYS of being left untouched, and there’s nothing good inside it. Trust me.” Chris seemed a bit serious. “And as for all of you, don’t be stupid, reckless, curious, or any of that other dumb teenage stuff and try to explore it. That is literally the only important job Lucas has, to make sure none of you act that idiotically.” For anyone who looked towards him, Lucas once again waved his hands at his name. “Because I’ve been at this for way too long to know that at least someone will try it.”

Rosie still looked worried, but after giving the weird forest another look, didn’t press it.

“Now!” Chris clapped his hands. “It’s time to find out who here you have to trust and rely on for your success in the challenges- your teammates! And don’t worry, once the merge hits, you’ll all be in charge of forest taming! But that’s a ways down the road. For now, will the people I call stand over to where I point” Chris motioned to two sides in front of him, Chef and Lucas moving behind the host. Chef whispered something to the boy, who went happily sprinting off.

“Tony,” The massive contestant trucked over to the right side.

“Annabelle,” He pointed to the left. She slightly nodded and contentedly moved away.

“Paulie,” She cockily made a ‘heh’ sound and fingered her bandana as she made her way to the right.

“Stella,” She brightened, coming up to Annabelle. “Hi!” She said, and Annabelle returned the greeting with a chuckle.

“Jackson,” The boy pumped his fist, then paused and coughed into it as he walked over. Paulie smiled at him, and he returned it.

“Marina,” Said contestant had been sweating bullets the second her sister had been called, and was relieved to be pointed in her direction- and so soon at that.

“Amelia,” She walked to the right with a happy wave, turning to face the host promptly once she arrived.

“Erika,” The twins paused before slowly making their way to the left.

“Jupiter,” They jolted, muttering “Ah, y- yes!” and walked to the right.

“Rosie,” She adjusted her non-existent tie before making her way over.

“Roger,” He pointed to the right to make sure, and Chris aggressively pointed in that direction even harder. Jackson beamed at his arrival.

“Cameron,” The girl sprung up as she made her way to the left, and Rosie’s eyes glittered down at her.

“Jennifer,” The goth nodded like she expected it, and went to the right.

“Nadine,” She calmly walked over to the left, no flair nor expression.

“And Avery,” Chris pointed for the final time, to the right.

The clearing was silent.

“Uhhh…. NO?” Jackson stated incredulously.

“What the heck, Chris?” Cameron shouted, flinging her arm around the twins’ shoulders. The twins, who had yet to emote to the announcement themselves, jumped slightly at the touch. “That’s not right, cool, OR possible. So stop joking, man!”

Chris chuckled remorselessly. “What’s wrong about it?”

“They CAN’T- not to offend-” Jennifer interrupted herself to make that note to the twins, “They literally can not be on both teams, and you know it, so stop being cruel.”

“Yeah, pretend I said it like that.” Cameron pointed to the goth.

“I’m not being cruel! As you can see with Marina and Stella, I’d never split apart sisters, and the twins still look together to me!” The host stifled a laugh.

*Shed: Jupiter* They sighed, their shoulders slumping. *End*

“That’s the opposite of funny, Chris.” Nadine grumbled, running her hand down her face.

He planted his hands on his hips. At this time, Lucas returned with two flashy props in hand. Chris didn’t pay him any mind yet. “Well I think we’re all forgetting to ask the people this is about. Avery! Erika! What do you say? Can you do it?”

The twins perked up, flicking their eyes to each other. They whispered in the space between them quickly. With the first smile they ever mustered in front of the others, Avery said, “We can handle it.”

Chris seemed to be the only one completely happy about that, but the contestants let it be.

“Um. So I guess we should like…” Paulie did an awkward step out, “Get a little closer?”

“Just a tad.” Amelia agreed, and the teams wedged a little closer, the twins tilting to be standing with them both.

“You all on the right,” The host reached behind him to take one of the props, “You are the Cheshire Queens.” He tossed the object, shaped like a long scepter with a big, heart-shaped gem sitting up top. Paulie caught it with a smile.

“And you,” He turned to the others, “Are the Hare Hatters.” He tossed a tube-shaped hat with white bunny ears coming out the sides to the team, and Stella eagerly caught it.

“It’s dumb!” She said, putting it on.

Chris ignored her. “With that, we can now,”

Lucas’s eyes grew wide behind him, bouncing on his heels, clasping his hands tightly.

“Start the first challenge.” The host stated simply. The boy behind him looked incredibly aggravated that it didn’t have the flair he was pumped for, and turned away. “A nice little scavenger hunt to get you guys used to the garden. At the expense of one of you on the losing team, of course, but such is life.” He produced two folded squares of paper from his back pocket. “Y’all ready?”

#garden #garden chapters #i'll have to make a page or something later to keep these around #tony fucking die challenge i hate you so much #i don't know flowers and will die next chapter myself lol #mangos trees don't belong in canada psa #idk if that's even right I just google #what trees don't belong in canada #it was the best answer i got #agh I hope you guys have fun with this!!!

18 notes · View notes

naruwitch · 5 years ago

Text

Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 12: Taking Flight

"Sire, if capturing Voltron is the Empire's number-one priority, then I suggest we begin moving the main fleet toward its last known location posthaste." The Galran commander said as he knelt boldly before his leader. It was Prorok, a proud Galra that was currently stationed at the Galra's main fleet. Ambitious and loyal to the bone, he did everything in the name of Zarkon for his best interests, even if it meant taking matters into his own hands.

To Prorok's disgust, though, the witch turned to the Emperor and presented her own course of action. "Lord, after many years, the Komar Experiment is finally ready. Soon, we could have more quintessence at our fingertips than ever imagined. We must test it before moving the fleet."

Prorok rose in defiance, "We don't have time for any more of your magic. We must move our ships now." The Emperor must see that this was the perfect opportunity to take Voltron.

"Voltron is the most powerful weapon ever created," Haggar argued, "His puny ships will never be up to the task. We must be well prepared for our next encounter."

Zarkon slammed his hands against the arms of his throne, and Prorok took a step back in surprise before immediately kneeling again.

"I know better than anyone the power of Voltron. Haggar has my trust. We will perform her test," he decided.

Seeing that there was no more point in arguing, Prorok rose to his feet and stormed out of the room. He met up with one of the Galra officers he was over, Thace, a quiet but loyal Galra, in the hall away from the throne room.

"The witch has his ear. Keep sending our offer out to any scum between Planet Arus and Balmera X-95-Vox. I'll capture Voltron on my own."

o~o

"Okay. So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and like, start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of... public address system, like, 'Attention, Galras. This is Voltron. Turn yourselves in!' No, nevermind. Blasting, right?" Shirley asked as she paced anxiously with the rest of the Paladins sitting on the steps below her. She had no idea how a rescue mission was supposed to go. Not to mention this would be Voltron's first official mission, several things could go wrong. She was almost having an anxiety attack when Kallen gently interrupted her.

"Shirley, calm down. And yes, blasting."

"Shirley, it's okay for you to be nervous," Rai reassured her, "it's our first big mission, a rescue mission even. Everything's going to be alright."

"Nervous? I think she's more excited," Rivalz grinned.

"Excited to see her new BFF!" Milly sang as she tipped her head to wink at the Orange Paladin.

Shirley looked like she wanted to protest when unusual alarms started going off in the ship. They didn't sound like the emergency ones, though.

"What's happening? Are we under attack?" Lelouch asked urgently.

"No, it seems to be a distress beacon," Coran informed them as a small red triangle appeared on his and Allura's screens.

"It's coming from a nearby moon," Allura confirmed, "Apparently, a ship has lost power."

"I wonder who it is?" Suzaku wondered.

"Okay, well, whoever it is will have to wait," Shirley insisted, "The Balmerans have first priority. We can check back on them when we're done."

"The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need," Allura chastised.

"Wow! This is so cool," Rivalz exclaimed, "It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?"

"Uh, no, we don't," Coran admitted.

"Well, we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them if you'd like," C.C. suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Perfect!" The Blue Paladin started to make some pretty lousy siren noises before Lelouch pinched Rivalz lips shut.

"Nope, not doing that!"

o~o

It didn't take long for the Castleship to approach the moon in question. Seated around a small bond-fire were two aliens, a little robot, supplies, and a decent-sized ship that looked like it had been worn out through many battles.

"Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." The six towers folded in on themselves, and the castle turned upright with more fluidity than any Knightmare or aircraft on Earth could ever achieve. It slowly and gracefully lowered to the ground next to the crew.

One of the aliens, a humanoid alien, with four fingers instead of five. He was tall with muscular arms, mauve skin, and purple spots. He had lank white hair and some pre-pubescent facial scruff. He also had downturned eyes and a cartoonishly straight nose.

"Whoa. Nice ship."

o~o

"Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us," Allura informed Coran and C.C. as she and the Paladins all prepared to meet the lost aliens.

"Yes, Princess," Coran nodded while C.C. shrugged. She might as well learn how a few of the things worked on the castle. Two pairs of hands were better than one after all.

o~o

They didn't take any of the Lions down to greet the strangers. Instead, the team descended to the ground in a small elevator shuttle. The doors opened to reveal the Princess and the entirety of Team Voltron as a whole. As they exited and approached the stranded party, the purple skin leader grinned, holding a wrench-like device in his hands.

"You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces. Most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra."

"So, you're fighting the Galra as well?" Milly asked. However, almost immediately upon exiting the pod, her student council president senses perked up. Something felt wrong to the Yellow Paladin. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off.

"Well, I don't think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us," he gestured to the robot and his female comrade, "but we do what we can. I'm Rolo. This is Nyma, and our cyber-unit, Beezer."

"Hi," Nyma smiled. She was a tall alien with pointy ears, cream and yellow skin, and blonde hair with two brown stripes at her forehead. Her eyes were light purple with darker purple pupils and sclera. Her lower arms were slightly larger than her upper arms, and she had three fingers on each hand.

Rai's eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the sight of the robot. That was probably one of the coolest pieces of machinery he'd ever seen! "Cool robot!"

Rivalz was wholly enraptured with Nyma as he immediately shook her hand and introduced himself, "Hi! Name's Rivalz!"

"Was your ship damaged in a fight?" Suzaku asked Rolo.

"Yeah, we've really been through it with the Galra. Parts are hard to come by," the purple alien explained as he looked back at the ship, "Luckily, we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal, I didn—"

"We're happy to help," Allura interrupted him, "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the Galra. You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side."

Rolo rubbed his chin and looked back and forth between the two groups. Lelouch, Suzaku, Milly, and Kallen were standing next to Allura at the ready. A hint of light even shined off Lelouch's helmet. On the other hand, behind Rolo, Rai was still examining Beezer with Shirley crouched next to the robot with a small smile. Meanwhile, Rivalz was again flirting with Nyma, who giggled at a remark the Blue Paladin made.

"...Okay," Rolo replied dryly, not really sounding impressed.

"I don't believe they've heard of us," Lelouch said.

"Well, it has been 10,000 years," Kallen muttered the remark.

"Voltron? Seven robot Lions that combine into this big robot... person?" Shirley tried to explain.

"Sounds impressive," Rolo said, "I'd love to see it. Or—Or him. Them?"

"Alright, enough chit-chat!" Milly proclaimed, clapping her hands twice, "Let's get to work on your ship. We all have places to go and people to see."

"You know how to fix spaceships, Milly?" Suzaku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, my family does own the Ganymede, and therefore I know it's maintenance and function. This should at least be a little similar, at least the basics anyway." Milly didn't mention that she'd also binged, with the help of a translator, a couple of manuals she'd found on the ship while they were waiting for Rivalz to wake up from cryo-sleep.

"I can help too," Kallen said, "I've had to repair Knightmares from scratch before. Two sets of eyes are better than one too." Milly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, sure," Rolo agreed as he leads the two of them to the ship.

"Pretty much our whole flaxum assembly is shot," he explained as he opened one of the hatches, "I don't know what kind of extra parts you carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running," Allura smiled. In the background, Rivalz was attempting to flex his muscles for Nyma, who giggled at his efforts. Milly was watching the pair very suspiciously.

"Give Kallen and Milly a list of what you need. Coran can show you where to find it." Allura told Rolo then gestured to the two women.

"Okay," Kallen shrugged.

"We'll go with you," Rolo said, "Don't want you ladies carrying all that yourselves. Come on, guys."

Rolo started walking towards the Castle when Milly planted herself right in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, yeah, I don't think so. You can just wait out here."

"Milly, don't be rude!" Allura said sternly.

"Yeah, mind your manners," Rivalz said, "you're giving a bad impression!" He grinned apologetically at Nyma.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, but does anyone remember the last time we let our defenses down?" Milly asked, with a frown and narrowed eyes, "Someone kind of set off a bomb. Remember, Rivalz? You were almost killed."

"Oh… yeah," Rivalz wilted a little at the memory.

"Milly's right," Lelouch nodded, "apologies, but we must exercise caution. This is our first meeting, after all."

"Hey, I don't take it personal," Rolo said with a smile. Beezer rolled forward and printed off a list of materials, which Rolo handed to Milly and Kallen, "That's how it is out here. You've got to look out for your own. You're doing a good job."

"Yeah, thanks," Milly frowned as she looked between the list and the alien.

o~o

"My planet was destroyed by the Galra, and I was taken captive," Rolo explained as he, Lelouch, Suzaku, Shirley, and Allura, as they all sat around the fire. "I managed to escape, but not before I lost something," he pulled up his pant leg to reveal a metal prosthetic leg.

"I'm so sorry," Shirley murmured. She glanced back behind Rolo to see that Rai was still playing with and examining Beezer. She wondered, even though most of his memories were gone, whether the Green Paladin felt the same way.

"Well," Kallen called out as she and Milly lugged a large storage box out, "I hope there are some parts in here that will fit."

Rolo glanced back but made no move to join them.

Milly scowled, "...You know, to get your ship moving?"

Rolo smiled and waved back, "Great! Thanks!"

"So, what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces?" Allura asked, drawing Rolo's attention again, "Where are they concentrated?"

"Well, his Command Ship sits right in the center of the Empire. He mostly calls the shots from there and has his minions do the work, depending on who's closest. This is the territory of a real nasty bugger named Sendak."

"Oh, trust us, we've met," Suzaku frowned.

"How far are we from the center?" Lelouch asked, leaning forward.

"We're way out on the fringes," Rolo said. Before he could say anything else, Milly roughly cleared her throat and walked to the group, with her arms crossed.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I think you guys are kind of keeping Rolo from working. Didn't you remember we're supposed to be in a hurry? Shirley kind of has a promise she needs to keep."

"Yeah," the Orange Paladin nodded, standing up, "someone named Shay saved my life, and I told her I'd come back to help her and her people. You understand, don't you?"

"Sure. Sorry," Rolo said, as he passed Milly by. The Yellow Paladin pursed her lips and glared after him. Yup, these people were up to something all right.

As Rolo started looking through the parts, Lelouch walked up to Milly, "You've noticed too, huh?" he said lowly.

"Yeah. Sorry for the attitude Lulu, but I don't trust these people at all," Milly whispered back.

"Neither do I, but we can still use this opportunity to gain valuable intelligence on the enemy. Just keep your guard up."

"Got it," she nodded before glancing at Rolo again. She turned back to the prince. "Honestly Lulu, I think we should just leave the parts here and let him take care of-"

"Hey ma'am," Rolo called over to Milly, "Sorry, but do you think you could hunt down a length of thermal pipe, about yay long?" he held out his hands to show the measurement.

"I can do it," Kallen said as she ran back to the castle for the part, "be right back!"

As Kallen went to get the part, Lelouch walked up to Rolo again, "So are there more freedom fighters? Any kind of organized resistance to the Galra?"

"Only folks who haven't been colonized yet, or the lucky few, like us, who managed to escape somehow," the alien said.

"Well, we're going to change all that, very soon," Suzaku informed him as he walked up to them with Allura, Shirley, and Milly.

"That's good to hear," Rolo smiled, "but I've got to warn you, it's pretty bad out there. You don't know what you're up against."

o~o

"I mean, there are only seven of us in the entire universe, so…" Rivalz said as he kept talking the Nyma, "I guess you could say it's kind of a big deal."

"I don't understand," Nyma confessed, "The Lions are ships? Are they, like, flying statues that you ride on?"

"Oh, no, no, no. They're magic, but also super scientific and advanced," Rivalz explained, "And they fly crazy fast and have all these incredible weapons. Really, the entire castle is just insane! I wish you could see it."

"Yes, it's too bad we're not allowed inside. I would love a tour from one of the knights," Nyma said with a small smile, "But I guess the yellow one is in charge, huh? You have to obey her orders?"

"Who, Milly? Pfft, maybe at school I do, but not out here!" he grabbed Nyma's arm and enthusiastically led her inside the castle.

The two arrived at the command deck with no problem. "This place is incredible!" Nyma gasped.

"Yeah, I guess," Rivalz shrugged casually, "You get used to it."

"But it's so gigantic. It must take you forever to get to your Lion," Nyma said.

Rivalz just smirked, "Oh, you'd be surprised."

Soon the two of them were laughing gleefully as they slid down the zip line. Rivalz blushed the entire time as Nyma gripped his chest tightly. It didn't take long for the two to be in the Blue Lion's cockpit. Nyma looked around as the interior lit to life.

"Pretty slick, right?" Rivalz grinned.

"Unbelievable!" Nyma exclaimed, before turning to the Paladin, "Take me on a ride around the moon?"

Though Rivalz was flattered with the offer, he knew that Lelouch probably wouldn't approve of it, "Uh—We should probably get back to the others."

"Yeah, you're right," Nyma sighed, "Maybe Rai will give me a ride."

Upon hearing this, Rivalz completely changed his mind, "No! Whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Rivalz stretched out and pressed a few buttons, activating the engines, "I mean what's the point of having the Lion if you can't enjoy it, right? Giddy-up, girl!" he exclaimed as the Lion zoomed out of its bay and rocketed into the sky.

Back down below, Kallen, Milly, and Rolo looked up just in time to see the Lion vanish.

"Ugh! Rivalz!" Kallen exclaimed in frustration.

"Ah, let them have their fun," Rolo said with a small smile, "Thanks to you two, this thing is just about ready, so we're going to be on our way soon. Too many light-years on that guy, I guess."

As Rolo returned to examining the ship, Milly couldn't help but narrow her eyes suspiciously at the part they just replaced. For some reason, it didn't look like it needed to be replaced entirely. Several other parts of the ship looked the same too, but Rolo had insistent on replacing them.

"Yeah... sure."

o~o

The Galra central command was hovering above a giant planet that looked to be flooded with beautiful trees and plants. But the Galra weren't here for that. No, what they sought was much more sinister.

From aboard the ship, the witch, Haggar, and her druids were floating on large platforms above. Haggar was positioned in the middle, with the other four druids surrounding her. Their platforms each had a Galran crystal underneath that began glowing a dark purple. Below them was a device merged in the center, right underneath Haggar.

"Begin the ritual," Haggar commanded, as a magic circle began to glow underneath her feet. Identical circles appeared under the others as well, "Druids of the Four Directions, join us!"

Pillars of purple energy hit Haggar's crystal, and the witch slowly guided it down past her in a vile form of dark magic. Upon being absorbed in her crystal, the energy hit the point where the merged device met, coloring it a wicked shade of black. The dark energy traveled up the pillars of the device until it hit the sides of the wall that supported it. They lit up in bright purple colors, creeping down towards the bottom where it sharpened to a point. Finally, the very bottom of Galra HQ erupted with a sphere of dark, black energy, almost the size of the base itself.

Down below on the planet, many animals minded their own business, nibbling at the plants and flowers for food. Suddenly, the flowers began to wither and die, streams of blue energy being sucked from them into the sky. The animals looked up in confusion but saw no cause for this phenomenon.

It didn't take long for the Komar to suck the planet completely dry of all of its bounteous quintessence, storing it within a large storage unit. The planet below them, once bright and vibrant, darkened until there was no sign of life left.

It was dead.

Haggar's platform rose above the others to meet the Emperor that had been watching from the deck above. The witch smiled triumphantly.

"The Komar Experiment was a success. We have gained an entire planet's quintessence, a feat that would have normally taken us years."

"Most impressive," Zarkon commented as he turned to face the storage unit holding the energy. "This will revolutionize the way we advance throughout the galaxy. Mining and colonizing planets is a thing of the past. With this much power available at our whim, we can now spend all of our time hunting down and capturing Voltron."

o~o

"Look! A kinetic spring!" Nyma pointed as the Blue Lion descended back to the water, "Let's land over there. The minerals reflect off the water, making a rainbow," the Blue Lion's back paws trailed within it, kicking up a mist that sparkled into a rainbow above.

"Wow. Is there anything you don't know?" Rivalz asked as he gazed at the beautiful sight.

However, while Rivalz wasn't looking, Nyma looking down at a band that she had around her wrist and clicked the button on it. It began to flash red rapidly.

o~o

Back with the rest of the Paladins, Rolo's band also began to glow red. The alien smirked rolled out from underneath the engine.

"I think this thing is just about ready for a test flight," he said as he closed the hatch, "Beezer, come co-pilot for me. Be back in a tick." the two of them rapidly disappeared inside, leaving most of the Paladins confused.

The ship's thrusters activated and easily lifted off the ground. It soared off towards its destination. The Blue Lion.

o~o

"So, ah, you want to see how fast I can climb this tree?" Rivalz asked with a smirk, leaning against the said tree.

Nyma giggled again, "Aw, you are cute. Let me show you something. Give me your hand."

Blushing, Rivalz held his hand out to the alien, only to suddenly be jerked forward and have something clasped over his wrists. He grunted as he was then slammed against the tree, as the cuffs around his hands emitted an energy beam that wrapped around the tree, effectively trapping the Blue Paladins.

As Nyma took a step back with a smile, Rivalz tried to move his hands, but they wouldn't budge a bit.

"Um… this is… kind of…" Rivalz said, an uneasy feeling suddenly rising in his gut. The rest of what he was going to say was interrupted as Nyma, and Rolo's ship appeared from above. Rivalz watched in horror as it sucked the Blue Lion inside. Rivalz could already hear her roaring and lecturing him for falling for such an obvious ploy as she disappeared inside.

"Nyma, what're doing?!" he asked desperately.

"Sorry, Rivalz. Maybe we'll meet again," she said as she was hoisted into the ship with a wire that extended down.

Rivalz only watched in terror as the ship turned and fired off into the sky and out of sight.

The Blue Paladin frantically looked around for something to either call for help or to get him out of his bonds, but all he found was his helmet that was sitting a couple of feet away.

"Oh, quiznack..."

o~o

Back with the rest of the group, they were still waiting for Rolo to return from his 'test flight,' perched on the supply and part crates they'd brought down. The longer it was, though, the more Lelouch got suspicious of something else happening.

"How many ticks have they been gone?" Rai asked.

"I don't know. I hope they didn't break down again," Allura said.

"Something's not right," Milly declared, her arms tightly folded.

o~o

Rivalz managed to slide his body almost entirely to the ground, and he strained with his foot to kick his helmet over to him. He wouldn't be able to put it on, but he knew that the others would still be able to hear him. He had to warn them, and the sooner they knew, the sooner they could go after the thieves.

It took him a couple of tries, but he finally managed to hook his toes under the glass visor and swing it over to his head.

Panting he called out into it the best he could, praying they could hear him, "Guys! Hello? Little help?"

o~o

Upon hearing the distressed call, all the Paladins put their helmets back on to listen to him properly.

"Rivalz? Rivalz! Are you all right? What's going on?" Lelouch asked urgently.

"Well, I'm kind of chained to a... a tree." they heard him say.

"I knew it!" Milly yelled, an angry scowl on her face.

"And I think Nyma and Rolo just stole the Blue Lion."

"I knew it!" Milly shrieked, throwing her arms down.

"Where are they?" Lelouch demanded, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration. He knew they shouldn't have trusted them! Now they had another problem on their platters.

"Uh… space?" Rivalz said helpfully.

"Oh! I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning!" Milly ranted. And she continued to do so all the way through the castle and to her Lion's bay.

"I mean, y'know, at first, it was just like a feeling in my gut, you know? But when Kallen and I were replacing that thermal pipe, the pipe was cracked, but none of the hardware around it was damaged."

"Okay! We get it!" Shirley shouted through the comms.

"I mean, if the thermal pipe is cracked, then, obviously, hello, the entire assembly should be totally roasted," Milly was on a roll in rants and showed no sign of stopping. At the same time, the other Paladins just meekly listened to her explanation. At the same time, though, they were all mildly impressed that she knew so much about machinery interiors.

"Okay, we get it!" Suzaku exclaimed through the comms.

"We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So, right then, I was, like, positive. Foul play."

"Okay, we get it!" everyone, even Lelouch, shouted at her.

The six remaining Lions soon launched from the castle and took off in hot pursuit of their stolen sister.

o~o

"Commander Prorok, my name is Rolo," he said to the Galran on the screen, "I understand you're offering a reward to anyone helping capture the Voltron Lions."

"That's correct," the commander said, "do you know where they are?"

"I know where the blue one is. It's in my ship."

"Excellent," Prorok intoned, "Bring it to me, and you'll have your reward immediately."

"Just a tick. You see, my friends and I have a bit of a checkered past," the bounty hunter added. "Some stolen merchandise from the Galra Empire may have fallen into our possession without us knowing about it."

"Well, I'm sure that a full pardon can be arranged for the brave souls who bring Emperor Zarkon a Voltron Lion. Is that all?" he asked, somewhat impatiently.

"We'll take the reward too," Nyma confirmed.

"Of course," the commander nodded.

"All right, we're on our way," Rolo confirmed as the commander's face disappeared as the screen closed up.

Rolo stretched and cracked his knuckles as he leaned back in his chair, "I almost feel sorry for those Voltron folks. Seemed like a nice bunch."

"If you're feeling guilty, you can turn yourself in," Nyma frowned. "Stealing from Zarkon carries a life sentence."

"They don't seem… that nice," Rolo amends.

o~o

Onboard the command ship, Prorok turned to Thace again, having just finished his conversation with Rolo, "Send the nearest fighter squadron to the area of the transmission. I'm not trusting some bounty hunter with our prize."

o~o

Alarms started blaring in Rolo's ship as it continued to it's meet up point. Pulling up the feed, Rolo was shocked to see the other six Lions in hot pursuit of them. The Blue Paladin must've warned them somehow. It suddenly wasn't looking suitable for any of them.

"No way!" he gasped. He pulled up the stirring system and pressed a few more buttons. They had to shake them and fast!

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Nyma asked, "There's no way we can outrun those Lions."

"Not in the open. Good thing the Zorlar Asteroid Belt is right up here. I know that like the back of my hand," Rolo smirked as he zoomed towards the asteroid belt. They could quickly lose them in here… right?

o~o

The Lions screeched to a halt at the entrance of the belt. They could barely make out Rolo's ship as it moved farther away from them.

"We'll never get through his asteroid belt!" Rai exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Maybe I can just bust through!" Shirley suggested.

"No, Shirley! Wait!" Suzaku called out in warning, but it fell on deaf ears. She and the Orange Lion raced forward, head lowered to charge through.

She did hit the asteroid. However, all it did was lazily bounce off another one behind it, causing it to bounce off another, and another, and another.

"Nope. That was wrong. That was a bad idea," she quickly deduced.

"Kallen, you're the only one who could possibly fly through this," Lelouch said, "We need you. Get in there and flush him out."

"Understood. See you on the other side!" the Red Paladin exclaimed.

As the other five Lions pulled out to go around, Kallen and the Red Lion zipped into the field, hunting for its prize. She smoothly spun around asteroids and debris as if she did it daily. They hopped from rock to rock fluently like a jungle cat, growing ever closer to the cargo ship.

The other Paladins could only watch in awe at Kallen's skill.

"I still can't believe that that's Kallen out there!" Shirley said.

"I know! It's like she's been flying all her life!" Rai agreed.

Lelouch from inside the Black Lion smirked, "Well, in the Black Knights, she's our number one ace pilot. In combat, she can easily use a Glasgow to take down several Sutherlands at once. She's a formidable foe and valuable member."

"Maybe a little too valuable?" Milly giggled with raised eyebrows.

Lelouch scowled and blushed, 'Damn you, she-devil!'

"You guys realize I can hear you, right?" Kallen asked through the comms, though she was blushing for an entirely different reason as she heard the praise that Zero gave her as she and the Red Lion ran along a rather long, narrow asteroid. A shadow fell overhead of them, and Kallen gritted her teeth as she drove her Lion to move faster to avoid the other asteroid about to collide with them. "Come on, Aka! We've got this!" With one final thrust of her controls, Aka shot out in between the rocks just as they crashed.

She smirked as she saw that she was now practically right on top of Rolo and his crew. They seriously didn't think they'd get away, did they?

o~o

"No way!" Rolo exclaimed as the camera showed the Red Lion, "Get on the blasters! Take her down!"

"Copy," Nyma said as she pulled up the controls with Beezer.

o~o

From on top of the ship, two blaster cannons elevated above. They started rapidly shooting in Kallen and Aka's direction.

Kallen saw them and gritted her teeth as she pulled up behind another asteroid. In retaliation, she had Aka shoot out some energy blasts of her own, each of them barely missing the cruiser.

From inside his ship, Rolo, despite the situation, couldn't help but smirk, "This chick can flat-out fly!"

Despite the multiple blasts, though, Kallen quickly began to close in on them.

"She's gaining on you!" Nyma shouted.

Rolo instinctively yanked the controls to the left. As the ship swerved out of the way, Kallen barely had time to stop herself as she narrowly avoided hitting another asteroid.

She gritted her teeth and pulled back on the lever, allowing Aka to activate her leg thrusters just in time. They leaped out from the rock, and with a smash of a button, Kallen activated Aka's jaw blade. With a swift swing of her head, the knife flew at the ship, burying itself in and destroying the two blaster cannons on Rolo's ship.

o~o

"Blasters are offline!" Nyma reported as the three crew members braced themselves with the turbulence.

"We gotta get out of here!" Rolo said as he fired the thrusters one last time, hoping for a last-ditch escape.

o~o

"Oh no, you don't!" Kallen yelled as Aka fired an on-point shot at one of the engines. It exploded, and the ship was soon spinning out of control. Red lights and alarms blazed as the crew inside held on for dear life. It began descending towards the planet just outside the asteroid belt. But before they could crash, Aka's claws gripped onto the ship. With a pull of the thrusters, the Lion and Paladin brought the crew to a stop in the middle of space.

Kallen grinned triumphantly as the five other Lions surrounded the ship.

"Yeah!" Kallen laughed, "Hey, Rivalz, I got your Lion back!"

"Thank you, Kallen," Rivalz said through the helmet, "Now, can you come and unchain me?"

"What's that? I, uh... Y-You're cutting out. I can't—I can't hear you," Kallen teased, even going as far as to make some static noises.

"Oh, come on!" The Blue Paladin exclaimed, "I thought we all bonded!"

o~o

With Kallen and Suzaku dragging the crew and their ship back to the moon, and Milly making a trip to rescue Rivalz, the Paladins and Allura now faced the thieves.

"Since your ship really doesn't work now, you'll have to wait here for a rescue," Suzaku said, disappointment in his tone.

"Thanks… for sparing our lives," Rolo said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Lelouch said, narrowing his eyes, "But… should we catch you doing something like this again, you won't be so lucky…" Lelouch understood why they did what they did, but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

Rolo gulped and nodded.

"Now that these guys are dealt with, can we go now?" Milly asked impatiently.

"Yeah, Shay and her family are still waiting for us," Shirley agreed.

"You may not believe this, but I hope you do stop Zarkon," Rolo confessed. "It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today."

At this statement, Lelouch's eyes lightened a little. He could only think of how many other rebels or criminals were thinking the same thing. What they needed more than ever was hope… and he knew just how to give it to them.

As the ship left the moon and the wayward thieves behind, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Kallen, was that that you called the Red Lion?" Rai asked.

"Oh!" Kallen blushed a little, "'Aka,' it means 'Red' in Japanese."

"You named your Lion?" Suzaku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… not really! I mean, it's just the color in a different language, I mean…" she stopped when she saw all the amused faces of the other Paladins, "Okay! Yes! I named her! Is that a problem?!"

"No, no!" Shirley shook her head with a giggle, "I think it's cute! Honest!"

"Hey! Maybe we all do that? Have the other Paladins done that Allura?" asked Milly.

"Well, no," Allura said but smiled, "but there's no rule saying that you can't."

"I think it's a good idea," C.C. spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "You keep talking about them building bonds with their Lions. By having names for them, it proves that they are being treated as equals, not just machines."

"I agree as well," Lelouch nodded, "having a name gives identity. You're not much without it."

"Great! Lion naming party!" Rivalz shouted.

"After we save the Balmera," Lelouch emphasized.

"Right, right!" Rivalz quickly agreed, leaving everyone laughing all over again.

o~o

Haggar held the container of quintessence in her palm as she and her druids surrounded the test subject. After the last one failed, she was more determined to make good on her promise to her Emperor and make a weapon that not even Voltron could stand up against, and she believed that she found the perfect subject.

"All this Quintessence will turn you into the strongest, most horrifying fighter ever created. One that even Voltron will not be able to defeat."

o~o

Omake:

Lelouch and Kallen were tasked to clean and fix the damage that was caused during Sendak's invasion. It was a dirty job but, someone had to do it.

Rover was there to help with schematics and which parts needed repairs.

"Why we got to do this?" Kallen grumbled, patching a hole, "A highly advanced castle without any droids or robots to fix the problems. I can't imagine how we're going to fly this thing during battle."

"That I don't know, Kallen," Lelouch answered with a sigh, "This is something Coran probably knows since he knows this castle up and down."

Both of them continued in silence. It was awkward, leaving the two of them together. Ever since Kallen found out Lelouch was the leader of the Black Knights, Zero, she felt a tingling of betrayal inside her. Finding out the man you admired and respected turned out to be an exiled Britannian prince.

However, after hearing his explanation and seeing his memories, she understood why he rebelled. Like her, both of them lost someone important because of Britannia's cruelty and corruption.

She understood why he needed to hide his face. If Ohgi, the others, and the rebel forces knew, they might have tried to ransom Lelouch to free Japan. But that would have been impossible. If the Emperor was willing to abandon his children to the Lion's den, she doubted he was ready to negotiate.

Sure, during Sendak's invasion, they bonded, but knowing the truth was different, and it felt awkward for both of them. Even Lelouch could felt it.

So she decided to break the silence. "You know, Lelouch, I never actually thought in my life that we would be the first humans to meet alien life and journey into space on a giant, advanced robot Lion."

"Yeah, it's mind-boggling that there are other lifeforms farther than our Solar System. And piloting a giant, robot Lion that makes Knightmares look like small chew toys," Lelouch chuckled. Though, he would love to see the Lancelot try and go up against Voltron. They could merely crush it if he wanted to.

"I want to apologize for accusing you of lying to me earlier." Of course, she didn't speak it out loud, but she needed to get it off her chest somehow, and this was the right time and away from prying eyes, especially Milly.

"About me being Zero and an exiled prince?" It was no surprise that she distrusted him for lying to her, but like him, she wanted to get it off of her chest, like how he confessed to everyone that he was Zero.

"Yes, it's just that I never thought something that terrible happened to you and your sister. Being forced into exile to an unknown land."

"No need to apologize, I was glad she was blind. Thank the small mercies she couldn't see what I've seen," Kallen didn't need to guess what that meant.

"Still, if you have problems, don't hesitate to call for help. We all are here with you as a team, you don't have to act like Zero all the time."

"Thank you, I'm glad to have met you, Kallen, first."

The redhead blushed that Lelouch thanked her. Sure, it wasn't some kind of confession, but still, it made her heart skip a bit. Then she saw Rover who saw everything.

"Rover, you didn't record anything, did you?" the droid turned around, not looking at her and making some kind of noise that sounded like a whistle.

"Coran, how are Lelouch and Kallen doing with the repairs?" Allura was drinking some tea in the kitchen.

"They should be finished right about-"

"Get back here you droid! When I get my hands on you, I'll make you a scrap!" Kallen shouting along with Lelouch following from behind.

"I think that's a 'No.'"

#Fanfiction #AU #Code Geass #Voltron #lelouch lamperouge #c.c.#suzaku kururugi #kallen kozuki #shirley fenette #milly ashford #rivalz cardemonde #rai (lost colors)#princess allura #coran #galra empire

1 note · View note