#Walk of Shame Shuttle

[grimalkenkid]

“The Kind of Person I Wanted Back Then”

(Had a burst of inspiration thanks to @havanillas art of Aventurine with a baby, so have this angsty-yet-hopeful Drabble! Enjoy?)

Aventurine knew his place; he was a tool for the Strategic Investment Department to deploy in situations deemed too risky or underhanded for any of the other Stonehearts. He was basically disposable, a pawn who was nevertheless useful if he could turn the tides at a pivotal moment. So it came as little surprise when Diamond sent him to once again “offer” the IPC’s aid to a particularly stubborn border planet that refused to ally with the Amber Lord against the Antimatter Legion.

Even from orbit, Aventurine saw the scorched craters where once-thriving cities stood, though the sight couldn’t hold a candle to the devastation he witnessed firsthand in his opinion. Of course, he would offer his sympathies or condolences when he met with their leader, but he wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. If Diamond thought a gentle touch would get through their thick skulls, then he would’ve sent Topaz.

The negotiation went about as well as expected. Their leader was a tough, old soldier, determined to maintain his people’s independence. However, Aventurine had seen enough of the crumbling masonry and hastily-set tents along the outskirts to sense the cracks in the man’s resolve.

“Give the IPC a controlling share in the planet’s geothermal energy market, and you’ll have the Preservation’s protection.” The words burned his tongue, bitter and acrid.

Like they should have protected the Avgin…

Aventurine left the meeting having given the leader a few offers to ponder and many possibilities to chew on. He was certain they’d come around and agree to the IPC’s terms. Eventually, everyone did.

There were few casinos still operating within the city, having lost most of their clientele to leisure activities less reliant on luck. A shame, Aventurine thought, and so he returned to the small space-port, texting Stelle to pester her into playing online poker. They were two hands deep when a laser-scorched shuttle made an abrupt landing nearby.

Dozens of injured civilians and soldiers rushed out. Aventurine hung back, keeping out of their way as they undoubtedly hurried to the nearest hospital or, more likely, a first aid kit. He tried not to think of how powerless he was right then. For all his wealth, he couldn’t actually protect anyone. Only the IPC could wield that kind of power, and he was little more than their puppet.

With a heavy-hearted sigh, Aventurine tried to turn his attention back to his game, but a lone figure lagging behind the rest of the refugees caught his gaze first. It was a small child, his awkward gait a sign that he had just barely learned to walk. He stumbled about aimlessly, his wide eyes watery and darting everywhere. Before a single thought formed in his head, Aventurine had already pocketed his phone and strode over to the confused child.

The instant the child saw Aventurine approaching him, he abandoned his wandering and stumbled as fast as his little legs could carry him towards the only adult who even seemed to notice him. Aventurine knelt down in front of the kid, his heart nearly stopping as he saw his eyes clearly, with the distinctly two-colored irises of a Sigonian.

“Where are your—?” Aventurine started, but his question would have to wait as the kid slammed into his chest, clawing at his waistcoat and sobbing as only a frightened child could.

Whatever questions Aventurine had could wait. He slowly brought his hands up and wrapped the poor kid in an awkward hug. He wasn’t supposed to be the one who offered comfort, shouldn’t be the one people trusted. Wasn’t supposed to be a person, just a tool, a pawn. And yet this kid was clinging to him like a lifeline. The least Aventurine could do was give him reassurance in return.

He patted the kid’s head, speaking softly until his tears dried and his breathing grew steady. Only then did Aventurine lift him into his arms, whispering a comforting lie as he returned to the city,

“Now, let’s go find your parents.”

Hours later, and Aventurine had the answer he’d known all along. The kid’s parents were dead, and no one would take him in. Of course they wouldn’t; why would anyone take in a Sigonian? To do so would be asking to invite a future thief and liar into one’s house.

But Aventurine was already a liar. A murder. A loser.

As the kid fell asleep in his arms, Aventurine returned to his ship, shutting himself away from the prying eyes of his subordinates. He sat down in the first chair he saw and finally let his own tears fall.

“I’ll take care of you,” he swore with all the kindness and tenderness that remained in his scarred heart. “I won’t leave you to fend for yourself. I’ll protect you… I promise.”

And he meant it.

[elfieafterdark]

Harrow Nova, defeating Ortus in a duel. Defiling the inner sanctum with violence, in front of pilgrims.

Shameful, embarassing, and perfectly legal. Much to the Reverend Daughter's chagrin, Ortus accepted the terms, then wretched little Harrow carved him up with her rapier and strangled him with a chain of Samael until he yielded.

So, in a cruel twist of fate. Gideon, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House, has a new cavalier primary.

Riding in a shuttle to Canaan House. Summoned by the emperor. They sit across from each other, on strange and rather uncomfortable fold-out chairs made of Plex.

Why the fuck is everything made out of plex? Don't they have any other materials? Plex chairs, plex tables, plex toothbrushes, plex... toys...

NOT that the Reverend daughter knew ANYTHING about such lustful things. And she certainly isn't feeling anything lustful now, now that this little rat creature is her Cavalier.

Not to mention that said cavalier is scowling at her like she means murder.

All Gideon can do is weep, she misses her house. Though she keeps her face steeled. The Ferret grins wickedly as they walk off the shuttle. The first house is beautiful, yet the beauty is lessened by the scrawny punk wearing those ridiculous glasses.

The shuttle door opens.

"Would you like, my hanky?" Ferret croaks. Anger flares. The nerve of this rat.

"I would like to watch you die."

Harrow chuckles, "Maybe nav, maybe... But not today."

[sol-consort]

I gotta say I'm really enjoying this roommate series you got going on with the Turian and Quarian. I'm reading them and kicking my legs and giggling on my bed. I love that they're both low-key kinda pervy in different ways.

I sprinkle a little pervieness into every character I write as a little treat. Everyone deserves to be a little pervy inside. It's good for you.

Kaidan's eyes drifting to your ass on those long elevator rides before realising it and immediately averting his gaze with a sense of shame.

Ashley who keeps staring at your lips whenever you've been talking for too long, a passing thought of how your nose would feel pressing between her legs as she sits on your face crosses her mind like a flash before she snaps out of it.

Garrus who may or may not have started visiting the human category on the turian porn sites ever since he joined your crew, that habit spiralling so much he can't remember the last time he finished to a non-human porno.

Tali who spreads her legs just a little wider, so her thigh is pressing against yours in the shuttle to and from missions.

Vetra who intentionally doesn't stock a certain favourite food of yours on the ship, forcing you to come to her, standing on your toes to meet her eyes despite the great height difference, whining and pleading for her to please get you this one thing you want, pretty please. The sound of her name coming out of your pouty lips in such a whiny, needy, and desperate tone does unspeakable things to her.

Wrex who pulls you by the waist around like a ragdoll during the battlefield, who gets to cup a feel—be it your chest, thighs, ass or whatever, the human body is too squishy and soft, the entirely of it seems like a sensitive mush meant to be squeaked and fucked—whenever the two of you are tightly pressed together behind a cover, who doesn't rush you at all as you reload your gun while practically sitting on his lap in the middle of the dusty barren planet with enemies surrounding you.

Mordin, who's a little too enthusiastic to hear about your latest sexual endeavours with the crew. Oh, you've been sleeping with Thane? Mordin will look you in the eyes as informs you that you should try swallowing his cum because it has nice effects on your cute human brain, but be careful of drell skin, it might cause irritation. That's why he thought ahead and brought this anti-inflammatory lotion right here. Strip, lay on the table, and let him massage it into your skin while you recount exactly how Thane's cock felt inside you for the first time. Or do you plan on sleeping with a turian next? Garrus, maybe? He has a few position recommendations.

As for the roommate Turian, I tried to make him slightly pervy in a more self-aware way. He's just bad at hiding it, so it comes off as endearingly awkward. He tries to be sneaky as he touches your waist or gawks at your thighs and chest while you walk around half naked, but he fails each time.

But the roommate quarian is more accepting. He has little regard for your personal space and time. His tendency to fuss about your health does lead to some tantalising situation as his first thought for seeing you slightly flushed covered in a blanket is that you're sick...when you might have been just enjoying some me time while scrolling through porn.

[heirofazure]

Thrawn's Musings: 1

Homesickness

To attain the rank of Grand Admiral, it is necessary to have confronted a plethora of conflicts and, regardless of the outcome, articulate the circumstances that led to it. At times, failure may bring great shame, but also significant intelligence that can be used later. Victory, on the other hand, cements one's authority in a sector, yet leaves a leader vulnerable to complacency and repetition. That is unacceptable, and can lead to disastrous results in the theater of war. I have had to learn to walk the thin line of both outcomes. The consequences to my career have been dealt with accordingly, but those around me have suffered.

Such as Eli Vanto, my confidant and friend.

Now, he is gone, serving the Ascendancy with his innumerable talents. Talents that peeked through as he taught me the ways of the Empire, the stories of his people. As difficult as it is to admit, sending him away was an obligation rooted in my devotion to the Chiss, but how I wish it could have been me on that shuttle.

My people, the epitome of culture and light, clouded by a lack of understanding toward my purpose: to defend our way of life by any means necessary. I have exhausted all attempts to understand the decision of the Aristocra over the years, but I acquiesced gracefully to the exile. I suffered during my time of isolation in the unfamiliar territory where I was deposited, not because of the conditions, but because of who I missed.

Who I longed to see. Who I loved, and still love.

I can still feel the warmth of a metal spoon against my lips as they part to sip on the warm, spiced broth I ordered on that cold day, Thrass chuckling as he retells the story of a syndic who had committed a serious blunder during a hearing. Even with the cold surrounding us, the frost clinging to drooping foliage at the entrance of the Bistro we frequented so often, Thrass is...was sunlight incarnate. No matter what was occurring in either of our professional lives, my brother always made me feel as if my differences were nothing out of the ordinary. I was just Thrawn. He was everything I was not, and his wellbeing consumed my thoughts as I made perilous decisions to protect my people. To protect my lost sister, wherever she may be. To protect him.

Now, he is gone. A subject no longer to the Aristocra, but to the stars that surround us all.

I shouldn't dwell on these things. On the people I miss. On the screams Che'ri would belt out as nightmares flooded her mind during slumber; the giggles as she discovered the liberty of flying among the stars. On Ar'alani, her eyebrows arched in incredulity until understanding illuminated her eyes, and a conspiratorial smirk graced her lips, ready to take on the next threat. On Thalias, with her ability to persevere against all odds, even if she was terrified. On so many others who crowded the assembly chamber as the decision was announced, as my life was irrevocably changed. On those I have lost, and those I have given up willingly for the greater good.

I miss them. I miss home. But a warrior never loses his focus on the mission at hand, or accepts defeat, even as a melancholic blade is twisted into the depths of his being by his very own mind.

Therefore, I will serve my purpose until the stars call me home.

Until my brother calls me home.

Thank you to @vibratingskull for inspiring me to try my hand at writing about my favorite Star Wars character.

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Rammblings Nijmegen 2024-06-19

Now this was good weather for being outdoors 😊

a lot different from the day before

so i took my time checking out all the merch, food, drink etc stuff at the venue 😊

The sun was very bright, straight at the stage, so i'm not surprised most of them wore sunglasses, i see Richard squinting in clips from the first few songs, i think he's like me in not liking that much sun in the face. As the sun was setting and shadows were growing larger, the shadow of one tower was exactly near Richard's spot, and i think he moved there for a song. Sun also made it difficult to see the big screens for the first part of the show, which was a shame, this really is the time of year when the sunset is quite late, when i was in the shuttle to the station afterwards (about 23:15) it was still somewhat light out. In that aspect yesterday's dark skies were better.

This time i was on the other tribune, right next to the stairs (woohoo!). Still a bit behind a tower, which unfortunately meant i couldn't see Olli's spot 🥺 but i could see the others quite well, Till and Schneider too

Everybody seemed in a great mood, Paul very playful stomping around his part of the stage. Flake and Till having a cosy walk (and Paul chasing after Flake on the way back). I think on one of the first songs Richard went to Flake's station and Flake came down his stairs briefly to him 🥰

my 2nd show in a row, now i'm sure there were some sound issues on tuesday, because this time i could very clearly hear Richard's 'Links' solo (loves his solo, Ausländer too, at the end he went to Schneider's drumkit, to have a little eye contact 🥰 I think there also was more pyro and/or lights than yesterday, wonder if stuff didn't work because of the rain (don't remember). Also still very much love Richard's Puppe backing vocals, don't be surprised if i'll be posting on that more often in the next days 🥰

Also think i saw Flake and Richard get together at the final salut, don't know if there was a hug, i hope so 🥰 but i couldn't tell.

Personally didn't move or dance like the day before (when we were a bit like that 'aristocats meet rammstein' cartoon) i was a few rows from the top and people behind me stayed in their seats so i figured i shouldn't stand up and block their views, which made it a little less fun for me personally (maybe i should have just stood up anyway, don't know). So although it was a textbook Rammstein show, everybody in great spirits, everything working fine (afaik), i am happy that i did both shows, because the first one with all it's imperfections was a bit more fun for me personally 😊 (what can i say, i like the imperfections)

Radio and Ausländer again worked great live, isn't it funny how some songs may be better on an album, but don't translate to the stage, and these, that may be not as spectacular on record, just have "it" on stage 🥰 Loved all the great bangers like Sonne, Du Hast, and Wiener Blut sounds soooo good live. I had hoped to see the silliness of Mein Teil cheering squad, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I admire the piano ladies for their enthusiasm, it's quite difficult to get the crowd excited, kudos to Richard for getting them a bit of extra applause on b stage 🥰

Saw Schneider pick up a passenger again in the boats, and although i normally don't like when he does that, this girl was so cute in her snowwhite outfit, Till got her to wave to the camera and everybody cheered for her 🌺 (Till also headbutted Paul's mic when it was left unguarded, but i don't think he was injured)

So all in all, great show, with even greater music 🥰 And i finally got to see my fave band live 🥰

-

and on a personal note, i had some anxiety up front about getting there and back with such a large crowd, but i took enough time before (was already there at least an hour before the show started which with seats is absolutely not necessary, many people only came to their seat when Rammstein started, but it was quite relaxed that way) and on the way outi let everybpdy sort of flood down the seats and the field and then got down, and because i was by myself, i could zigzag around the crowds and get to the shuttles quite easily. All friendly people, everyone in a good mood 😊 Even the linesat the toilets were very quick (yes that is important) 😊

So now on to the journey back home after two great days 😊 but i admire fans who do several shows and venues back-to-back, i couldn't do it (and that's not just because my age being 'younger than most of Rammstein') 😄

[pizza-writes]

Famous Last Words

Hunter x Fem!Reader

Summary: You’ve been kidnapped and it’s up to Hunter and the boys to save you.

Warnings: kidnapping, mention of violence, the kidnapper being creepy with reader

Rating: 16+ for mentions of certain violence that is probably not appropriate for young eyes

Notes: This is pre-Echo era. Sorry, y’all. Also I actually really like the antagonist in this but I made him extra creepy because I wanted to give Hunter ✨Motivation✨

Word count: 1.8k

You stared down the mirage an uncountable distance from where you stood. The heat paved the way for sweat to coat your skin. It was disgusting. Dry, unforgiving, ruthless, exhausting. One might wonder if you were describing the climate or the chilling presence of the bounty hunter flanking you.

“I would never let someone kidnap me.”

Famous last words. That was your exact response to Hunter’s concern in Mos Espa. Looking back, you would slap yourself if you had the chance. But, seeing that you don’t have an inter-dimensional third hand that can clap through the thick skull of your past self, you opted for a very deep sigh—one of many you’d very expressively given to your captor.

Speaking of which, Cad Bane took that as a sign to rest his hand on your shoulder. Yeah, that’s right. Cad Bane. Oh how you wished for that third hand… His blaster’s barrel flirted with your temple and ensured that you didn’t make any moves. You felt his uncanny patience through the thick, hot air of the desert planet.

“Maybe I won’t give you back,” the man drawled, bringing to close a soliloquy he’d started an eternity ago. “I’d be far fetched to let such a pretty thing go.”

You shifted your weight and huffed out another long sigh. The blue guy snickered at you but you ignored him. No, he wouldn’t win. You’d keep your cool.

The throng of an engine met your ears and you perked up. The Havoc Marauder buzzed over and landed close-by, sending clouds of sand into the air. You eyed Bane—he, like his goons that he had hired for this op, remained unfazed. His poise stood calm even when Hunter and Wrecker emerged from the shuttle with vengeance in their stride.

“We have the credits,” Hunter said. He stopped short when Bane’s men forced him to.

“Shame. I was just reconsidering our arrangement. See, clone, I don’t think you realize what a fine gem you had.”

You glared at him. “They didn’t ‘have’ me, perve.”

“He didn’t train you very well, did he, pet?”

You winced and pulled away, but he held you down, calling you a “naughty girl.” Hunter’s visor caught sunlight as it tilted downward. His hand drifted to his side arm.

“Your move, clone.”

Hunter paused and his head cocked to the side. His hand shifted. You recognized the signal for the unseen marksman.

“I don’t think so,”

You frowned. Bane chortled.

“Scared?”

Hunter must have sensed something that you couldn’t. His tone steadied as he said, “You come to me,”

“Walk, little lady.”

Wrecker and Hunter simultaneously brought out their blasters. Hunter shook his head. “No. Be a gentleman and walk her over,”

“Think she can’t walk? I didn’t actually have my way with her.”

Wrecker thrust his blaster towards Bane. “Talk about her like that one more time.”

In an instant, all of the men surrounding you mirrored him. Hunter scanning the group, blaster ready. Your captor tutted. “Don’t threaten me, boy. I have more than twice the firepower.”

You chuckled as the Marauder’s cannons fired up. “Idiot.”

Hunter stood a little taller, “You’ll come to me if it’s safe to walk that path through the energy field. Now, you’re going to escort Y/N to me or you’ll get to see just how much firepower we have.”

“I’m no fool. You’d better not try anything,”

“Don’t tempt me,”

The blue man sighed. He grabbed your bicep tightly and forced you to the side. With a frown, you complied. He took a very curved path to get to your guys. A few paces away from Hunter, Bane stopped and pushed you. You stumbled into Hunter who kept you upright, staring the other man down. You didn’t really need to hold onto him, but with his arm around you, it was the perfect excuse.

“How did you know?”

Hunter’s voice rumbled through his chest, “I have my ways,”

Bane nodded and looked back at you, red eyes piercing your soul before he tipped his hat. “Goodbye, little lady. You were lovely.”

“Don’t push it,” Hunter warned. Bane raised both hands in surrender and slowly backed away. Hunter dropped the case of credits into the sand. It rattled, audibly exposing the hefty price he’d gathered in return for you.

“Sarge,” Wrecker muttered, raising his blaster.

Hunter’s helmet jerked up to the man with a data pad in hand furiously tapping. The goons suddenly scattered away from the field Hunter had had you walk around. Hunter shouted into his comm, “Now!”

Bane lurched forward with a shout, falling to his knees. The man with the data pad collapsed, splaying across the ground. Steam rose steadily from a hole in his back. Then another did the same, followed by another. Bane looked up at Hunter in anger.

“You broke the rules, clone!”

Hunter silently nodded to Wrecker. The big man scooped you up and took off running.

You looked back as Cross’s blaster bolt struck the blue man again. This one didn’t hit home. Bane struggled to his feet and engaged the thrusters on his boots. In an instant he flew overhead and caught up with you. He began a volley of blaster fire on your trio but Hunter quickly sent him careening towards the sand. You loaded up in the ship and Wrecker towered by the open ramp, covering Hunter until he made it aboard. You raced to the cockpit as Tech took the shuttle towards a nearby plateau. That was where you spotted Crosshair packing up his gear. Tech swooped in to pick him up, and soon you were headed for the stars.

“Yea-hah!” Wrecker shouted as he barged into the cockpit, followed by the other two. “Another successful mission!”

You gasped, a faux look of hurt on your face. “That’s… all I am to you?”

His expression dropped, “I—er… no, you’re… that’s—“

With a laugh, you got up and hugged him tight. “I’m messing, Wrecker. Thanks for coming for me,”

He grinned and picked you up in a near-bone-crushing hug. “We missed you, Y/N!”

“Augh I missed you too. Maker, I missed you guys.” You caught a glance of Hunter. He stood taut, brows furrowed. That same dark expression stayed on his face.

“You are one expensive mission,” Tech glanced at you as Wrecker set you down. “15,000 credits.”

“Not really!” Wrecker danced in place a moment and shoved past Hunter and Cross to the back of the ship. You watched him pick up a small box. He returned, huge smile on his face. “I picked this up with one of Cross’s blaster attachments before we took off.”

“Normally, you’d be dead,” Cross hummed, sticking a fresh toothpick between his teeth, “but I guess this can slide.”

Hunter patted his brother’s shoulder, “Good job, Wrecker.” Then to Crosshair: “And nice shooting up there. Don’t think we would’ve made it out of there without you.”

Cross and Wrecker both gave Hunter an appreciative grin. You glanced at your pilot, “You too, Tech. Thanks for decoding my awful distress call.”

“It was not difficult.”

After a while of discussing the meat of the mission, Hunter set a hand on your shoulder and nodded to the door. You followed him out.

You patted Gonky’s head lovingly as you strode past him. Standing next to Hunter, you sighed, appreciating the feeling of being home. The Marauder didn’t smell or look the best, but it was home, and so were the four troops that manned it. This especially stood for Hunter. Over some time, you two had grown much closer than you ever could’ve dreamt.

When he turned to face you the puppy-ness of his eyes caught you off-guard. He took both of your hands in his. “Did they hurt you?”

You met his soft gaze and shook your head. “They hardly touched me. I think they were only interested in the payment until Bane caught eyes.”

His expression went dark again. “Did that bastard—”

“No,” you shook your head and reached up to cup his cheek reassuringly. “he told the truth.” You sighed, “I’m sorry about all of this. I don’t know how I got separated from you all. It all happened so quickly.”

“Cyare, there was nothing you could’ve done,”

“There’s always something I could’ve done different. I could’ve stayed with you. I could’ve paid better attention. I could’ve listened to you—”

“Shh,” he hushed, running his fingers through your hair. “What-if’s won’t change anything,” He shook his head. “What’s done is done. And you’re here now. You’re safe.”

He rested his forehead against yours, arms wrapping around your middle. His brows furrowed, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’d be even more okay if you kissed me,”

He smiled, leaning in slowly, “Tempting.”

You tilted your head to meet his. His lips brushed yours but he held back. You breathed slowly, taking in the moment. His warmth fanned across your face, sending comfort through your bones, and you knew that there was nothing in the galaxy you would trade for him. His protective arms draped around you, his forehead pressed against yours. You melted into him, letting your shoulders relax for the first time in days.

And then he kissed you so gently. You wondered for a moment if you’d imagined it. He pulled you in and deepened the kiss, holding onto you like you might be torn away at any moment. You gradually backed up until your back was pressed against the wall. His touch addicting, your deprived heart drew his in.

“We probably shouldn’t do this here,” he hummed. You paused to listen to his reasoning, but Hunter continued to leave long kisses along your neck, making it difficult to focus on anything else.

“I think you’re right,”

Hunter sighed and stood straight, peering longingly down at you. His voice was velvet to your ears. “I missed you, meshla,”

“Yes, but this isn’t the best place… Later?”

He grinned, tilting your chin up between his finger and thumb. He lowered his tone and said, “Anything for you, cyare.”

“Hmm, I bet they’re wondering what’s taking so long.”

“Frankly, if any of them don’t know at this point, I’d be shocked.”

You took his hand and left a final lingering kiss on his lips. “We still don’t want one of your bored brothers coming back here and seeing something he shouldn’t.”

“Maybe I don’t mind,” he slinked his arms back around you. As if on queue the cockpit’s door hissed open and Hunter jolted back, eyes wide as his face of horror donned. Wrecker froze, staring at him. Crosshair’s face melted into that of a sly cat.

You burst out laughing.

Famous last words.

//~//~//

Thanks so much for reading! Don’t forget to comment and reblog to show support for the artists of tumblr!

Masterlist

[ladylooch]

I have thots….

Mile high club

Timo is an obvi choice but may I present to you Barzy? Or MILES

And obvi if we’re talking OC’s for sure lio and con

Mmkay back to my bevies

😘🍻

I am having tequila high noons tonight… so it’s gonna be lit 🔥

The way you are making me choose about who to write this about.. what a predicament. 

But… my Woody girls are thirsty…. So let’s go with Miles MF Wood.

“Surprise!!!!” Miles yells as your sneakers hit the tarmac. The last fifteen minutes have been very confusing to you. You had arrived at the airport in Boston, ready for your new adventure together in Colorado. But everything took an unexpected turn when the car continued onto the tarmac of the airport. You were shuttled to a specific hanger that holds a private security area and the nicest airport lounge you have ever seen.

“We are flying private.” He wiggles his thick eyebrows at you.

“Baby, what…. This is… so…”

“Free!” He grins. “Paid for by our new team as a welcome to the Mile High City.” His arms stretch out to the side. The gap in his teeth is extra pronounced with his excitement. 

“Oh my god. I’m finally dating a real superstar.” You snort as you poke his stomach. His smile falls off. 

“Hey.”

“Sorry, you tee’d it up for me.”

You both get settled on the plane quickly taking off before you even register what is happening. Your take off drink of choices was mimosas due to the late morning time. 

“Cheers to our next adventure.” Miles clinks your glasses together. You take a sip, then his tongue chases the bubbles in your mouth, stretching out his seatbelt to maximum length.

“Babe.” You laugh at his aggressive kissing. Your plane is just hitting ten thousand feet and you feel a bit anxious as you always do during the first part of any flight. Something about being in a smaller plane isn’t very comforting to you.

“We are fucking before this plane ride is over.” Your boyfriend’s words snap you out of your anxious thoughts.

“What?”

“There is no way you’re getting off this plane without me being inside of you.”

“Babe!” You smack his huge thigh, glancing back at the flight attendant gathering together your cheese board appetizer. “No way.” You look at the lack of door between the cabin and the pilots as well as the openness of everything. Plus, you’re way too anxious of a flyer. “It would be so obvious.”

“I do not care.”

“Well, you’re not the only one participating.”

“You owe me. A bet is a bet.” Your face goes white. Shit. He is not actually making you pay up for your drunken bet that he wouldn’t go three years without getting replacement teeth. “You’re too vain.” You had giggled at him. Miles never “got around” to getting new teeth… and you didn’t really think anything of it because you love him and he’s so cute and sexy either way that whatever. Who needs teeth?

Damn, when did teeth get so negotiable to you.

Only Miles Wood could do that to you. And only he could make you unbuckle your seatbelt to straddle his lap. His prize for winning the bet was naming a time and place of his choice for you two to have sex. Apparently, this is the time and place. 

He reaches around your body to grab the inflight blanket provided. He folds it around your back. You have a full view of the flight attendant who has the cheese board in her hands, ready to walk it out to you. You make eye contact with her. You purse your lips. She immediately knows and turns around, closing the curtains.

“Oh my god. She closed the curtains.” You put your forehead on Miles’ shoulder in shame.

“Baby, they definitely deal with this all the time. With way grosser people than us. Let’s give them a show.”

“Miles, you fucker.” You whine as you reach for his belt. You cannot believe you are doing this. He is rigid beneath your fingers already panting at what you’re about to do. His blue eyes are wild with excitement as he grins at you. You take him out of his pants, unable to make eye contact with him as you stroke along his taut skin. He chuckles. 

“Baby, we don’t have to.” Him giving you the out makes you want it so much more. Your eyes meet his and he grins wider. “Yesssss, I knew you wanted to.”

“I see why you told me to wear the dress.” You had been debating between leggings and a dress, but he insisted on this.

“I’ve had this planned since I found out we were flying private.” He leans forward, sucking along your collarbone. “Fuck that feels good.” He moans as your fingers wrap tighter around him, stroking his length. “Oh.” He moans. 

“Okay you need to be quiet.” You say pointedly. He’s the loud one in this relationship. 

With his help, you shift your panties to the side. Miles leans his chair back, then guides your hips as you put him at your entrance. Your head falls back as you slide all the way down onto him. His thickness is intoxicating while stretching you to capacity. You roll your head forward again, watching the way his eyes flicker with waves of desire. His lips are pursed to keep his groans to himself.

Miles bucks into you. It’s a little awkward with not being able to move, but you find your rhythm quickly, wanting release.

“Ohhhmygod.” Miles’ head falls forward to your breasts, shoving between them as you squeeze his face between the mounds. “Baby.” He moans into your right breast, leaving a kiss there afterwards. 

Neither of you last long. It feels too good and so public and honestly, you needed this to relax and enjoy the rest of the flight. You rut into him with slow movements to bring you both down gently. Miles comes out from your breasts, puckering his lips for a kiss.

“I’m glad this is how we started our life in Colorado.”

“Me too.” You admit, brushing his curls off his forehead.

[princess-of-thebes-1995]

Damn it. You tried to sleep but couldn't. You felt lazy. You didn't do shit all day yet felt tired.

You wondered if this was normal. And your feet ached like hell. 

You were happy that you will get babies. Judging by your beautiful face and the handsome qualities of Quaritch, you know your babies will be exceptionally beautiful. 

But you just hated the bad side effects of being pregnant. You liked how your sexual libido increased. Your hair thickened and skin was glowing as hell. 

But the rest of the symptoms were bad.

Lyle was again assigned to look after you. While you were wallowing in self pity, he couldn't take it anymore. 

"Do you need a foot massage, buttercup?"

You looked over your shoulder. You were laying down on your back on your bed. You politely refused. 

"I can help. You look as if you're in pain."

You didn't see the desperation in his eyes. So you gave in. 

Lyle sat on the edge of your bed and began to stroke your swollen hobbit feet.

You let out a breath. It felt nice. Lyle felt his cock awakening as he touched you. Fuck. Screw this shit. He grabbed your face and kissed you hard. 

You tried to push him away but he held your face firm.

"Lyle wh-"

"I love you."

"Lyle…" you whispered. He bowed his head in shame.

"I know I shouldn't love the boss's fiance but I can't help it." 

Then an idea hatched up. 

"I want to run away to earth. I want to escape the base."

Lyle looked at you.

You told him to hack into the cameras in the room and give him a helicopter and in return you will sleep with him

Lyle immediately agreed. He turned off the cameras and deleted the part of where he kissed you. 

And so it happened. You awkwardly laid still as Lyle fucked you. He was more energetic than Quaritch. Well he was younger maybe that is why. He then would squeeze your big breasts and he then anally had sex with you. What a weirdo. How long was he waiting for you?

After he was out of breath, he gave you a small helicopter key. He will put an address and it will automatically land there. He then left and put the cameras back on. 

After cleaning yourself and the room. Quaritch came and of course he was horny. You decided to be sweet. 

You offered him wine and he drank it. But before he could fuck you, he collapsed on the floor. 

You then left 

True to his word, the helicopter landed to Grace's school and you decided to stay there. Grace was there to your surprise. Quaritch shot her in the arm and she was saved by the tribe.

Now she is healing and doing well. 

She saw your pregnancy and you told her your plans on going back to earth 

She agreed to help since she was the one who begged you to sleep with Quaritch to get on his good side. 

The months were long…. You wanted to quickly give birth so the small shuttle will take you back to your parents house. 

Luckily, your water broke. And Grace with the help of Jake and Norm transferred you to the abandoned container with medical machines. 

Jake and Norm had to leave and Grace stayed. She held your hand as you pushed out your three babies. 

They were so cute.

They all had bloody red lips, blue eyes and blonde hair. Well, your daughter's hair almost looked white. 

Nonetheless, they were exotically beautiful.

But suddenly you two heard a chopper land.

Soldiers slammed the door open and Quaritch stormed in. He looked so fuckin pissed. Scared you more than possible 

Grace threw a lamp at him but he ducked. She was detained and dragged away. The commotion caused your babies to cry. You held all three close in fear. Now what? You saw Lyle behind Quaritch but couldn't meet your eyes.

The Colonel ordered to be left alone and now you  what will happen. 

He was breathing heavy. He stared at your lovely face and then turned his attention to the wailing babies. You tried to hush them. 

The Colonel walked to you and grabbed your chin and made you look up at him.

"You successfully escaped me. If it wasn't for the radio signal of the computer Grace used. I wouldn't have found this container and you would have left for Earth."

"You tried to take my kids away from me." He squeezed your cheeks making your already fat plump lips more pouty.

"My babies from their father." He hissed with hate.

Your babies luckily stopped crying and were staring at Quaritch with blue eyes.

You gulped in nervousness. 

Quaritch sighed in exhaustion. "Hold on them tight."

The Colonel picked you up bridal style and you held on your babies as he walked to the chopper. 

You once again broke his heart.

When he came back from his shift to his shared room with you the night you ran away, he was for once happy. 

You smiled at him. He thought you finally loved him back. You offered him that homemade wine and he drank it. He suddenly felt sleepy and sluggish. He felt how he fell on his back. You didn't bother to care for his safety, the hard floor gave him a bruise on the head. You left him on the floor and didn't bother helping him to lay on the bed. Did you ever care for him a little? 

You ran away. You almost did once and this time you made it. 

He wasn't there to hold your hand as you pushed out his kids. He wasn't there when you were in your last semester of pregnancy. While you were gone, he searched the whole base. Then he found out how one old ass helicopter was missing and then he realized you were with the savages 

A traitor

And he saw the ticket you made online. You wanted to leave for Earth after giving birth.

You hated him that much? You hurt his feelings. Now he will have to hurt you. At least he will name his kids to the names he wants. 

[primus-why]

TFP OC Idea

A librarian/fellow archivist who once worked with Orion back in the day, having a friendly work relationship. Recalls how fondly Orion would speak of his friend, the gladiator, and how he eagerly sought recommendations from this OC coworker on various works said friend might enjoy...

Fast forward to present day. The librarian never formerly joined a faction-- Primus, they had barely held it together back then, there was no way they could throw themselves into a war. But, by some miracle, they stumble upon Earth and Team Prime. Seeing Optimus after all this time brings up old memories; the Prime is different in many ways-- obviously the conflict has reshaped them all-- but in many ways he's still the same.

They soon fall into an easy, friendly conversation. OC can't remember the last time they've felt this close to normal. They lightly joke that Orion still has overdue datapads in his name, and the Prime wordlessly fishes the very same pads out of his subspace. Any further conversation dies shortly therafter-- all they can do is stare at the lost literary works.

OC wonders, in awe, how these could have survived so long. What if they've become corrupted? Are they even charged? No, Orion-- the Prime-- would know how to maintain them. It's just a wonder that he even bothered. The Archives are gone, razed long ago, leaving only a pile of debris scattered with broken, unrecoverable works. No one had cared enough to protect the building or what was inside, it was too late for that, they simply ran for their lives. It was only after the dust had settled and OC found themself on a shuttle packed with NAILs did the profound loss sink in.

Never again would they walk those grand halls. They would no longer help visitors discover new works that might interest them, much like solving a personalized puzzle. Gone are the days when they could even hold a datapad other than the one they had brought in from home on the day they left.

It was a stark reminder that they could not go home-- there was no home to even return to, and one of the mechs responsible for their situation was right here in front of them. And yet, somehow, seeing the delinquent datapads, the tiniest bit of hope sparked for a fleeting moment.

'We are still here,' OC realized, 'cracked and scuffed and worn around the edges, but we are still here...'

OC didn't know when they had started to tear up, but swiftly they recomposed themself and apologized. "It's nothing, I was simply... startled." The Prime apologized too, though for what specifically was left up to interpretation.

After a beat, OC smirks and gathers the guts to ask, "... Did he at least like my suggestions?"

Optimus lets out a soft, sad laugh, "I didn't get a chance to show him."

"Mm... what a shame."

"Indeed."

[hugmekenobi]

S2: The Bad Batch (4)

Chapter Four: Faster

GIF by @azertyrobaz

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: Two different missions with two different approaches but that end with the same realisation.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, my own interpretation of the nerf nugget mission, chaos in the form of discovering human decency still exists, mild angst in the form of unhealthy eating habits (only for this chapter)/mentions of food, Cid being Cid, fluff, mild hurt/comfort, canon-typical risks and mentioned droid death, mentions of gambling

Word Count: 4.9K

Author's notes: Back on following the episode plots again :), only added a little bit of my own spin on things this time! Excited to get to work on Ch5 now. Hope y'all enjoy!!

Wrecker studied the Dejarik board carefully before he made his move. He chuckled smugly as his pieces knocked out some of Omega’s. “I got ya this time.”

Omega just gave him a somewhat pitying look before she programmed in her move and her player swiftly wiped out all of Wrecker’s.

Wrecker let out an aggrieved shout. “What-” He broke off with a groan.

Omega laughed gleefully. “Now you owe me two cartons of Mantell Mix.”

Well, he couldn’t have that. “Not so fast. One more game. Double or nothing.” Wrecker offered.

“Hey! Quit running up the power bill.” Cid snapped as she emerged from her office. “It’s time to get to work. I got another job for you.” She turned off the game.

“But the other three aren’t back from their mission yet.” Omega reminded her.

“I would not call transporting 50 cases of nerf nuggets a “mission”.” Tech interjected from the bar. “Nor is it a proper use of our skill set.” He added pointedly.

“Yeah, well, your skill set will come in real useful on this one.” Cid replied. “Especially you, Muscles. You’re gonna be my security crew.” She walked towards the exit.

“We will require a more detailed briefing than that.” Tech called after her.

“No time. The shuttle’s waiting.” Cid said dismissively.

“Maybe it’ll be fun.” Omega said optimistically as Wrecker chucked her bow and hat.

“Works for me.” Wrecker grunted.

Tech sighed. It looked like without the presence of you three, it was his turn to be the assigned sensible crew member.

--

“Hey, Hunter. Do you know there’s a whole row of nuggets missing from this crate?” Echo called over to the cockpit.

Shit, shit, shit. You thought anxiously. You had forgotten all about that. You kept your gaze focused on the blue hyperspace swirls in the space outside the window.

“No.” Hunter replied quizzically. He got out his chair and manoeuvred his way around the many boxes to where Echo was standing and sure enough, there was indeed a section that was nuggetless. “Huh. That’s weird.”

Echo let out a frustrated groan. “I bet Wrecker just helped himself before we left. He will eat anything.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him when we’re back.”

Well, you couldn’t allow that to happen. “It wasn’t Wrecker.” You called over to them as you shimmied past a crate.

“And how do you know?” Echo queried.

You hesitated a moment before you mumbled, “It was me.” Your eyes focused on the floor in shame.

“You thought you’d just help yourself when you knew they were for a mission?” Echo said with a frown.

“I spotted the crates in her office yesterday. There was no sign, no indication that they were for anything other than her personal use, so I took some.” You said defensively, crossing your arms.

“But why? I’d expect that sorta behaviour from Wrecker but not you.”

“It just happened, okay. Leave it.” You snapped. You regretted your tone immediately. You didn’t want them to bear the brunt of the frustration and anger that you were actually feeling towards yourself.

“No. That’s not an answer.” Echo retorted.

Hunter could tell by the way your feet shifted and the way you kept adjusting your gloves that there was more to this than a simple lack of willpower for something other than rations. “What is it you’re not telling us?”

“It’s nothing.” You said dismissively.

“(Y/N).” Hunter pressed.

“Yeah, you kinda owe us an explanation. You’ve put our credits at risk.” Echo added crossly.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” You said sincerely. “I didn’t mean to. I-” You stopped and ran a hand across your face. “Before I tell you both, I want you to know that it wasn’t a big deal, I know what I can handle, and I am fine.” You looked at Hunter when you said that last part.

“Okay…” Echo said, his eyes narrowing slightly, unsure as to what you were going to say.

Hunter found himself getting nervous. Why wouldn’t you be fine?

You took a deep breath. “So, you know how the recent jobs from Cid have had a bit more of a divide and conquer approach? And for the past few I’ve been on the delivering and credit receiving end of things?”

“Uh huh.” They both said. The start of this elongated explanation you were providing wasn’t doing much in the way of diffusing the tense atmosphere. Clearly, you felt it necessary to soften the blow of whatever it was.

“And we usually get a cut from Cid after each mission and it’s always in her favour, but we still have enough to, you know, eat?” You watched them both nod. “Well, in the recent days, that cut has been growing more and more in her favour and when I argued with her about it, she claimed with the Empire growing by the day, she needed the bigger cut to keep her operation covert and it was either this or nothing and uh, that kinda hit our finances hard, particularly in the food department.”

Hunter’s jaw clenched; he didn’t like where this was going.  

Knowing that this next bit wasn’t going to be met well, you found yourself pulling your vibroblade in and out of your vambrace. “And um I figured you all would need the regular amounts of stuff and I didn’t want to raise unnecessary concern, so I made the decision to cut back on mine. For the most part, it was fine, I only caved yesterday when I saw them sitting there. It kinda all hit at once and I couldn’t help it and I took some.”

They were both silent for a moment before Hunter broke the quiet. “How many missions?”

“Uhhh only like the um past… five.” You winced out. He sounded too calm about this, and it unnerved you.

Echo didn’t quite know what to say. He hadn’t expected that.

Hunter had to take a moment to compose himself before he spoke. The fact that Cid had forced you into a situation like that in the first place almost had him turning the ship around. And the fact you had gone through it alone wasn’t helping. “You haven’t been eating for five days?” His voice wavering slightly as he struggled to keep his emotions at bay.

Sensing his growing feelings of upset and stress, you spoke quickly, “Not quite. Remember we had that day where we had two missions for the price of one.”

Hunter shook his head and his hands fell to his waist. Your attempts to downplay things weren’t helping to alleviate his concerns. “(Y/N)-”

“And I had scraps but sure I guess technically I haven’t had a proper meal or set of rations for four days.” You continued nonchalantly.

“And you didn’t tell us? Tell me?” Hunter asked. He couldn’t hide the hurt or mild frustration in his voice at the thought of you putting yourself through that and not telling any of them.

“Are you asking me as my Sergeant or as my partner?” You deflected.

“Both.”

“Should I leave and pretend not to hear this from the cockpit?” Echo interrupted quickly. You two, for the most part, were completely professional when on missions but he could feel some tension rising and he did not want to be in the middle of a couple’s argument with the two of you.

“No, it’s fine, Echo.” You responded. “Right, Hunter?”

Hunter took a deep breath and reminded himself that the main person who deserved his anger was back on Ord Mantell. He wasn’t mad at you. Irritated at your suffer in silence, laid back attitude maybe but there wasn’t anything to fight over here. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

You began your explanation. “I didn’t want to add any extra stress and I knew if it were up to the rest of you to do something with the amount we had, you wouldn’t get enough. Omega needs a proper meal and Wrecker too. Tech is too busy looking at his datapad or whatever new project takes his fancy that he’d forget to feed himself if someone wasn’t putting the food in front of his face and he was recovering from a severe injury so I knew he couldn’t go without.” You sheathed your vibroblade and faced them both again. “Echo, I care about you, but you are a very picky eater, and I didn’t want to deviate from anything and run the risk of you not being able to find something you liked. And Hunter, I knew if I said anything to you, you’d immediately make sure we’d all be provided for, and you would be the one to suffer for it. You have enough going on, you deserved to eat properly and not worry about something for a change. So, I decided to pull rank. Afterall, I was a general back in the day and decided the food situation was simply a need-to-know basis.” You glanced back down at the floor.

Hunter released an exasperate sigh, but he found himself giving you a small smile to lighten the mood slightly. The only person who deserved his anger was Cid and you were being unnecessarily hard enough on yourself already. “Well, first of all, I think you lost your rank when you chose to leave.”

You couldn’t really disagree with him on that one. It had been a rather weak defence. “Fair enough.” You conceded with the corner of your mouth twitching into a slight grin.

“Second of all, and I can speak for everyone here when I say that that is both incredibly kind and generous but idiotic of you to do. We need you at full strength too and I’m sure we can find ways around this. We can all sacrifice a bit; it doesn’t need to all be on you.”

“But-”

“I’ll talk to Cid. See if we can sort something out. In the meantime, we can still make do but we will all take less and continue to make sure Omega has full meals.” Hunter said. “She keeps pulling stuff like that now, it’s getting to be more of a problem.” He said, a hint of anger rising in his voice. Things had always been unequal with Cid, but they hadn’t really been any worse off, now that was changing, and it wouldn’t be sustainable or fair to keep going like that. It had already started to affect you and he didn’t want that for you or his squad. “Think the boys’ll agree to that?” He asked his brother.

“Definitely.” Echo agreed. “Although Wrecker might take some convincing.” He joked.

“Thank you.” You said quietly.

“We’re a squad. We look out for each other. The self-sacrifice isn’t a requirement.” Hunter reassured you as he laid a hand on your shoulder.

“I hate to bring it up though but what about the client?” Echo asked.

“Hope he doesn’t look too closely at every box.” Hunter said simply. “It’s all we can do.”

“I’m sorry, guys.” You mumbled guiltily. Of course, you found a way to complicate the simplest mission.

“It’s okay. You didn’t know and if anything, I should be thanking you for looking out for us like that.” Echo appeased. “We’ll find a way out. We always do.”

“Exactly.” Hunter agreed, pulling you into his chest. “Although, next time, please just tell me. Share the load, remember?” He muttered into your hair.

You hummed out a short laugh. “Guess I gotta work on that too.”

--

“Well, everything appears to be in order.” The client said with a clap of his hands. “You all were very efficient, I’m impressed.”

“It’s what we do, sir.” You said cheerily as you laid the last crate down. The rather unsophisticated strategy had been to be as accommodating and as friendly as possible in the hopes that whoever you were going to be dealing with would let you all away with the money without feeling the need to double check the delivery. What had greeted had caught you off guard. Your client was waiting with a tray of beverages and immediately, very politely, asked for your names and enquired about your wellbeing. So, in the end, he’d made it quite an easy feat. You weren’t used to dealing with many pleasant people on Cid’s missions, but this man was a breath of fresh air. A simple diner owner who seemed to be perfectly content with his place in the galaxy.

“Now, I just need to check that each one has the correct amount. I’ve been scammed before, so I’ve learned to be cautious.” He said lightly.

The three of you shared a panicked look.

“We can just get paid and get out of your hair.” Hunter said, barely concealing the uneasiness in his tone as he saw him begin to go through each crate.

“You must understand that I can’t be too careful these days. Business is tough enough as it is with how the Empire is running things. I need certain assurances.”

Hunter. Let me try something.

Hunter half turned to face you and nodded.

You called on the Force and subtly waved your hand in his direction. It was a longshot since he seemed pretty sharp, but it was your last card to play. “You don’t need to check every box.”

The client gave you a puzzled look. “Yes, I do, I just explained why I had to.”

You bit back your frustrated groan and the three of you could only watch as he continued investigating each box before he finally arrived at the sight of your mistake.

“Now, I believe I wanted 50 full crates of nuggets or there wouldn’t be a payment. Care to explain what happened here?” He asked the three of you coolly.

You felt Hunter and Echo beside you both go to speak, and you knew they would try to cover for you, but you needed to own your error and you took this man for someone appreciated honesty.

“I ate some.” You admitted shamefacedly. There was no sense in lying to him.

“Oh dear oh dear, that won’t do.” He said, giving the three of you a disappointed look. “You were attempting to get away with it.”

“We needed the money.” You attempted to explain.

“We all need money, that doesn’t make deceit okay.” He scolded. “Why should I pay you for this?”

“I understand why you’re upset sir, but when my team is struggling to eat, I have to do what I can to change it. A mistake was made but we need that money.” Hunter answered.

“What can I do?” You asked. “Please don’t punish them for something I did.”

“What can we do?” Hunter corrected, giving you a pointed look.

Right, no self-sacrifice. You said giving him a slight smile.

“You ever get tired of being a third wheel?” The client asked Echo, gesturing at you and Hunter. He wasn’t a fool. The automatic defence Hunter had provided you and the way the two of you had looked at each other both now and when the crates were being unloaded, it was like there was an understanding, an unspoken language between you that only you two were in on. He’d had that. Once. A long time ago.

Echo merely grunted, neither in agreement nor disagreement.

Your attention turned back to the client. “We’re a capable bunch, there has to be some way we can all get what we want.”

The client pondered for a few moments before he looked to Echo. “You know your way around machinery?”

Echo’s back straightened. “Yes, sir.”

He released a low hum before he faced you and Hunter. “And do you two think you could handle waiting some tables? Two of my staff called in sick and I haven’t found covers.”

“Definitely.” You said swiftly whilst Hunter nodded.

He hummed in thought again. “Echo, my dishwasher has been acting up and I haven’t had enough finances to cover the cost of a new one. If you can fix it, and if you two are servers for the length of time it takes you to fix it, I’ll still pay you in full.”

“You’d- you’d what?” You questioned, utterly taken aback. There was no way this was real.

“I’d still pay you in full if you’d do a bit of additional work.” He maintained.

“That’s it?” Hunter double checked.

“That’s it. You seem like nice people stuck in an unfortunate position. I’ve had dealings with Cid before and I believe that she hasn’t made things easy for you. Do these things for me, and we can go our separate ways without any unpleasantries.” He replied merrily before he waved you all inside.

“With all due respect, sir, how have you survived this long?” You couldn’t help but ask as you followed him in. “Decent people tend not to succeed in this galaxy.”

He sighed. “A question I ask myself every day.”

--

“So, we got a mild reprimand and then had to do an hour’s worth of extra labour to leave with the amount of money we were promised? Plus, he gave us some food and let us keep our servers’ tips?” You felt the need to say out loud as you held the small container of food in front of you. It was the first mission in Force knows how long that hadn’t ended with your blasters drawn and barely getting away alive and you weren’t really sure that it had actually happened. It just didn’t feel natural.

“I’m just as confused as you are.” Hunter responded, staring at the extra credits in his hand as you all walked back to the ship.

“I’ve been thinking it over in my head and I still don’t know how this was a success.” Echo agreed. “He must’ve really needed that dishwasher fixed.”

“Or he’s just really that good a guy and it hasn’t gotten him killed yet.” You added as an alternative.

The three of you walked in comfortable silence until you spoke again as the ship came into view. “The others aren’t going to believe it. A mission like that just doesn’t happen for us.” You said with a laugh.

“I wonder how they’re getting on without us there to supervise.” Echo mused.

“I dread to think.” Hunter said as he opened the ship’s ramp.

“We’ve left them alone. Without a job. In Cid’s parlour. Omega will just be playing Dejarik with them the whole time. How much trouble could they possibly get into?” You said as you boarded the ship.

--

“I will be the racer.” Tech volunteered confidently. Being the sensible one had promptly disappeared from his head. In his defence, he had tried in the beginning but the chaos of the environment they had found themselves in had called upon a more relaxed approach. Being responsible wouldn’t get them very far here, although Cid had probably swayed too far in the irresponsible direction. A rather problematic problem that had been increasing by the day.

Safa Toma was indeed a ‘little rough around the edges’ as Cid described it, if not more so. And now they were having to bail Cid out of trouble with an old partner. His name was Millegi and he was calling in the bet money Cid owed him. With her way out of the situation- her riot racer droid Tay-O- being destroyed, not once but twice- both times by Millegi’s racers- Tech found himself listening to Omega’s pleas and offered to take TAY-O’s place. He reckoned it would be simple enough. He’d studied the track and the other racers, and he had no doubts about his abilities. TAY-O’s strategy had been flawed anyway; he’d have lost regardless. Tech knew he wouldn’t.

Wrecker started to laugh, thinking this was one of his brother’s attempts at humour but one look at Tech’s face told him this was anything but. “He’s not joking.” He said, his laugh rapidly disappearing to be replaced with concern.

“You heard him. The bet’s still on.” Cid told Millegi firmly.

Tech held the gangster’s stare.

“I never stop a fool from giving his life to make me rich.” Millegi said in response.

--

Tech entered the pod and examined the controls. Things looked relatively straightforward. He listened to the announcer list the names of his fellow competitors, including Jet Venim, Millegi’s champ and the one who had caused TAY-O to wipe out in the first place. The only brief moment of awkwardness he felt was when the commentator and the crowd seemed confused as to the simplicity of his name. He couldn’t dwell on it though; the race was about to begin. He watched the lights change and the race began.

--

Tech found himself at the back of the line but that was okay for now. He’d rather get a gauge of the driving strategies and abilities of his competitors and understand the layout of the track more before diving in search of getting that first place.

--

“What place is he in?” Wrecker asked Omega as they waited in the pitstop.

“Last, but he’s catching up.” Omega said positively as she looked up from her viewing pad.

Wrecker took out his comm, that wouldn’t do at all. “Tech, you gotta be in front to win!” He felt the need to remind him of that crucial detail.

“I know what I am doing. It’s called strategy.” Tech replied breezily.

“No, it’s called losing.” Wrecker retorted.

--

Tech paid his brother’s words little attention. Contrary to Wrecker’s beliefs, what he was doing was going to ensure his victory. He came out onto the part of the course where there was a choice of three tunnels. It was then he heard Omega’s voice through the comms.

“Tech, don’t take the left tunnel. Cid said it’s a death trap!”

That very idea intrigued him, but he went through the centre tunnel first. “Transfer the schematics of the left tunnel to my display.”

“On it.” Omega replied.

This worried Wrecker though. “Right now? Shouldn’t you just focus on not getting blown up?”

“I can do both.” Tech replied self-assuredly.

--

He was finally making some headway in the race but the racer behind him was hitting him with some rapid fire.

“Your shields are overheating!” Omega commed in.

This wasn’t an issue though. “Yes. I am allowing for adequate energy to be distributed from weapons to shields.” He explained.

“Tech, they’re all over you.” Omega replied back anxiously.

“I need more speed.” Tech muttered to himself as he studied his monitor. He emerged from the tunnel and pulled off into the pit stop.

“Tech’s coming in.” Omega said.

“Well, what’s he doing?” Wrecker asked as he turned away from the box of tools he was looking at.

Tech didn’t really need to stop though. He released his weapons and kept going.

“Your weapons.” Omega said into her comm.

“They were slowing me down.” Tech responded quickly before he started playing catch up once more. He weaved around the obstacles in the first tunnel and found it a much smoother feat. “That worked. I now have increased speed and manoeuvrability.” He told Omega and Wrecker as a means of reassurance.

“Yeah, that’s great, but you’re still in last place.” Wrecker griped.

“The tunnel’s coming up again.” Omega said before she studied her pad. “Wait. A large part of the track is missing. That’s why the racers avoid it.”

Upon hearing her, Tech glanced down at his dashboard. “It is also the shortest tunnel. I can use it to my advantage.”

“It’s too dangerous. The speeder can’t make that jump!” Omega warned him.

“It will if I’m going fast enough.” Tech hypothesized and when the choice came, he went into the left tunnel.

Wrecker and Omega could only watch on, their nerves increasing each second Tech was in that tunnel.

--

As the gap in the track approached, Tech veered up one way to gather enough speed and momentum to swing across to the other side and make his driving across the roof of the tunnels an easier task. An easy task for him, but not for the opponent behind him who fell victim to the gaping hole in the track.

He came out of the tunnel to find that he was narrowing in on the lead.

“It worked. You’re closing in!” Omega informed in in relief.

Tech managed to weave his way into runner up and he was closing in on Jet by the second. His shields were being put to the test however as Jet Venim fired on him and he was starting to be boxed in by the racer behind him.

“You’re losing shields.” Omega commed in worriedly.

“Don’t let ‘em box you in!” Wrecker added uneasily as both he and Omega watched the big screen in front of them.

Tech saw on his scope that his two rivals were attempting the same move that had seen them beat TAY-O in the first race, but he wouldn’t be caught out by it. He waited until the last moment before he swerved out of the way of the grappling hook that was aiming to grab the back of his pod. He pulled back and watched as the hook snagged onto Jet’s pod instead and the jagged, circular saw that had been intended for the front of Tech’s vehicle, found a new target instead.

The two pods crashed into each other as all three emerged into the final straight.

“Here they come. It’s going to be close!” The announcer shouted excitedly as clouds of dust erupted from the crash. “And the winner is…”

--

Wrecker and Omega watched restlessly as they waited for Tech to come through unscathed and as the winner. They let out a collective cheer when they heard Tech’s name come from the announcer and saw his pod come whizzing through the finish line.

Tech left his pod and took his helmet off to greet a rather ecstatic Omega and Wrecker.

“You did it!” Omega yelled happily.

“You sound surprised.” Tech replied plainly. He’d never doubted the outcome of this for a second.

“Yeah!” Wrecker said with a hearty laugh. “I thought you were a goner.”

 “Tech! Tech! Tech! Tech! Tech!”

Tech turned back to face the crowd of people that were chanting and cheering his name. Not quite sure how to handle such adoration, he simply gave a small smile and a casual salute of his fingers in acknowledgment.

--

The three of them walked into Millegi’s bar.

“We’re here for Cid!” Wrecker said firmly as he cracked his neck and knuckles to intimidate the goons around them.

“A deal’s a deal. We’re square.” Millegi pacified.

“That was some racing, Goggles.” Cid said appreciatively. “I, uh, I-I- Well, I guess I owe ya one.” She stumbled over the words clumsily.

“Yes. I would agree.” Tech replied coolly.

“I’ll make it up to ya.” Cid snipped before she pushed Tech’s shoulder. “Come on. We’re outta here.”

As they made their way to follow her out, movement caught Millegi’s attention, and he stopped the Nosaurian from reaching for his blaster.  “Hey, you three.”

Tech, Wrecker and Omega turned back to face Millegi.

“You could have walked away. That loyalty is admirable, but with Cid, it doesn’t always go both ways. Watch your backs.”

They said nothing in reply, instead they just walked out with Tech laying a reassuring hand on Omega’s shoulder and Wrecker doing the same to Tech’s. All of them quite happy to leave Safa Toma behind them and in silent agreement that you, Hunter and Echo wouldn’t need to hear about this once you were back from your rather easy mission.

--

“Cid. I need to talk to you about-”

“Not now, Bandana.” Cid replied grumpily as she walked through to her office.

Hunter sighed but quickly concealed his grimace when he saw Omega and his brothers coming through the door.

“You’re back!” Omega exclaimed happily as she bounded up to where you were sitting.

“Yeah, we’ve been back for a while. Was wondering where you all had gotten too.” You said as you embraced the young girl.

“Where were you?” Hunter asked as Wrecker and Tech came in.

“Oh… uh… we were just helping Cid out with something.” Wrecker stammered awkwardly and ill-prepared to see the three of you back waiting for them.

“What something?” Echo questioned suspiciously.

“Nothing too dangero-”

“Tech became a riot race to pay of Cid’s debt and it was awesome!! He beat everyone and the crowd went crazy!!” Omega revealed excitedly and immediately forgetting that that fact was supposed to be left unsaid. It just seemed too cool a thing to not share.

“You did what?!” The three of you shouted in Tech’s direction.

“It was a relatively simple challenge.” Tech said with a shrug.

“Tech…” You said with a sigh.

“We really cannot leave you three alone.” Echo grumbled with a shake of his head as his hand came across his eyes.

“Low profile. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile.” Hunter muttered tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

You took Hunter’s free hand and rubbed your thumb across the back of it in comfort. At least you won, I guess but don’t go making a habit of it please. I’m worried about his blood pressure.

Tech gave you a quick smile before he addressed the group. “We have bigger things to be concerned about.” He wasn’t feeling the need to debate the course of action he’d taken. The end result was a success, that was all that mattered to him at the moment and there were more important things to discuss. “We need to talk about Cid.”

“Hmph funny you mention that.” You mumbled.

Wrecker, Tech, and Omega looked at the three of you in curiosity.

“We need to talk about Cid too.” Hunter said. “And uh there’s going to be some changes to our rations.”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @dragonrider9905, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx

[locking-the-tomb]

Third Read Notes & Soundtrack

I wallowed for about 14 hours after finishing my Nona reread and decided to start over again and write myself some summaries during The Wait.

Gideon the Ninth Chapter 1

In which we learn Gideon is a goob but we love her.

Gideon is escaping. She stole a security cuff key but left the cuff on until the morning of. She's taking her sword, her "shoes" - later called steel toed boots- , and her smut mags. Her clothes are all synthetics. She has enough hair to brush. She knows about chocolates and fancy hotels, somehow ... from mags? From Wake/mom's niche is 22 flights of stairs up to the landing field, which is still at the bottom of a deep tunnel. There are lamps on but they're low. She's kicking apart lumps of "rubble" but that's not further described. She eats porridge from a plastic bag then throws the bag over a rail somewhere. There's a balcony area. Skeletons with red eyes go to pick snow leeks.

There are white castle doors at the bottom, "three bodies wide and six bodies tall". She talks about the figures carved into the area above the doors and remembers screaming as a kid about them creeping her out. I wonder what they are, maybe related to the killed generation? How much trauma from a two year old survivor of all the kids dying?

Muster call (20 Bells) calls back the skeletons.

That's when the Marshall/Crux stomps in to accuse her. Gideon says, "say my shuttle exploded, I died and it was such a shame". 😳 (Crux thinks great idea, will do) Introduces Frontline Titties of the Fifth. He calls her chattel. He wears a big knife over a shoulder.

He gives an impressive number of threats. Gideon wasn't bothered by Crux's threats. But then he invoked Harrow and her "palms prickled". He leaves and Aiglamene enters. Gideon says she's tried to enlist 33 times. Aiglamene has a badly repaired missing leg and a scarred face.

Gideon lists what's happened when she's tried to leave before: jammed in lift, turned off heat frostbite in three toes, poisoned. She clarifies that she's indentured not a slave and claims she's not of fiscal use there. She says she will "you can quote me 'do my duty to the ninth' ". Gideon goes on a rant about "your lady" with a host of great insults, then gets slapped.

"Nobody had ever loved her in the ninth". Aiglamene was the reason she got to have a sword and training. "I'm naturally demeaning". Aiglamene walks away and Gideon falters a bit but sticks.

"Nav was a Niner name". Mentions the prison as a bubble halfway up in the atmosphere. At the end of the chapter we get the limited story of day-old Gideon being in a bio container plugged into the suit of a braindead woman who had fallen in a suit down the shaft 18 years ago. None of the Ninth necromancers could get her ghost to do more than scream Gideon three times then she fled.

"They chipped her, surnamed her, and put her in the nursery". I don't think they mention the chips again, interesting. She was kid #201. Where did the kids come from? Had they been harvesting gametes and growing them? Because the "old" people going into the doors were heavily outnumbered by skeletons. Then two years later it was just her, Harrow (who still hasn't been directly introduced as other then Lady), and Ortus. By 10 she "knew too much and that she could never be allowed to go". Of course. Because that's when Harrow had opened the tomb and her parents had died. She had started trying to escape when she was 4.

Thoughts. What's up with all the plastic? Isn't plastic from petroleum? How would Pluto have petroleum?

[badwryter]

Chapter 2: Trail Blazing

Delphi sat with her back leaned against her bed. Her armor was strewn about the floor in front of her as she inspected every single piece. Her hands deftly turned them over while her eyes scanned every nook and cranny.

"I don't see any tracking devices." She muttered aloud while stretching her legs.

"Shame."

"We don't even know if we could have followed the signal back."

"My current limitations can be solved."

"I'm not breaking into the city's central computers just because you don't like living in my head."

She grabbed a packet of instant coffee and filled a mug with water. Setting the mug in the microwave she pressed the minute button while tearing the packet open with her teeth. The hum of the microwave filled the air as her fingers tappes idly against the counter top.

"I think we're going to have to check the maintenance records." She braced herself for the reply.

"You mean breaking into a government building?"

"It's the only lead we have. We don't even know why he was..." A loud beeping disrupted her thoughts.

She grabbed the mug and poured her packet in, idly stirring the concoction until it fully dissolved. The warmth spread through her hands as she drank. Each sip contorted her face a little more than the last.

"Can you order some real coffee?"

"I will add it to the list." Cerberus paused.

Delphi pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You know. I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad in general."

"I will add it to the list."

She finished the poor excuse for coffee and placed her glass in the sink. Grabbing her armor, she stuffed it in a bag and casually walked out her door. The shuttle quickly took her straight to the outskirts of the landing pads.

Stepping into the open her eyes scanned each alley. Surveillance followed her every move as she nudged pedestrians out of her way. The crowds thinned the further she moved away until she was standing alone in a dilapidated alley taking in the scenery.

The walls were stone and metal and covered in thick dark moss. Puddles soaked the ground despite the lack of rain the past few days. Wires crisscrossed overhead between buildings before looping back and heading upwards.

Dense air mugged her skin as she quickly changed into her armor. The helmet slipped over her head and immediately began to cycle air. Breathing in deeply, she stashed her bag of clothes behind the driest trashcan she could find.

"Are you going to scale the wall?"

Delphi nodded and placed her gauntlet covered hands against the bricks. She focused and anchored her gravity to the building. Her body jerked forward, the wall becoming the ground for her alone.

Pulling herself to her feet she began to walk, then to sprint, until she reached the top of the building. She grabbed the ledge and eased the pull of gravity off of her body just as she pulled herself onto the roof.

She scanned the horizon until she saw the roof of the maintenance building. It was dark as could be expected with the position of the sun never changing. Her eyes searched desperately for a way across.

"You're not about to do something dangerous are you?"

"When have you known me to do something dangerous?"

"Second day of you getting your implant and most days afterwards if I am remembering correctly."

Delphi was already sprinting towards towards the gap between the buildings when Cerberus finished speaking. She reached out with her hands and felt for the pull of gravity coming off the closest building. Latching it to her own she charged her suit to max till the buildings rooftop pulled her the rest of the way to it.

"You could have warned me."

"I survived. Bit of a rough landing."

"Well you were pushing the limits on the distance. I'm surprised you managed to get close enough."

She passed over the roof till she reached the edge and paused. "This one looks like I could make it easily."

She walked back some distance from the edge and lined herself up with where she remembered the next rooftop to be. Her legs bent at the knee as she dropped low and readied herself. The gravel crunched under her foot, her body accelerated, her muscles strained against her bones, her heart beat harshly in her throat, she lurched forward and leapt over the edge.

Weightlessness overtook her for a moment before she began to plummet. Her distanced fall landed her just over the edge of the other building. It jarred her shoulder, but otherwise left her unscathed.

"Just a couple more to go."

"I should have picked someone less enthusiastic about death."

The words of her A.I. fell on deaf ears as she leaped, ran, and used gravity to propel her to her destination. The maintenance building stood slightly shorter than those nearest it, with cameras pointing down into the empty streets. The single door with its shallow light illuminated nearly nothing of the roof, but her suits built in night vision covered what her eyes could not.

Landing with a harsh thud, she plopped down and attempted to catch her breath. She sat for a couple minutes before pulling herself up to her feet. Her breathing had slowed to its usual measured pace.

"We should do that again." She mused while checking her surroundings.

"When you fall to your death don't come crying to me."

"If I fall to my death I don't think I'd be doing much of anything. You know, because of the death part."

Delphi marched to the door and checked the analog lock. The door stuck fast in place, unmoving to her tugging. She glanced around the roof for any way to enter before checking the edges of the building.

"I see a fire escape that passes by some windows. Do you think you could check their network and unlock one?"

"That should be possible."

She walked towards the buildings ledge and dropped down to the fire escape. Using her legs to cushion her fall, her boots clanged against the rusted metal. She peered through the window. The dark corners of the room slowly became visible as her helmets night vision kicked on.

Cerberus made a clicking noise, mimicking the lock. "Whenever you're ready."

She gripped the bottom of the window and slowly began to lift it up. "I should have brought some actual tools with me."

"Next time we break in somewhere I'll be sure to remind you."

Climbing through she stepped carefully on the floor and took stock of her meager surroundings. A handful of old computers lined the walls, their digital displays still rendering if only just. The door hung back against the wall with a sheen of dust coating its peeling paint.

She walked over and gripped the handle, giving it a half turn before the mechanism unlocked and she cracked the door. The thin slit left just enough room for her to peer into the rounding hallway with its empty surfaces and blinking cameras. Her heart pounded in her chest as she slid the door closed once more.

"You haven't disabled the cameras yet?"

"Too much tampering and their system will know something is happening. I can bypass a few cameras or we can stand here for an hour and I can disable their system monitoring programs."

"Do we actually have to get into their server room or can we do it from here?"

"These computers are on an entirely separate network. Camera is now on loop, the server room is two floors down."

Delphi pulled the door open and crept into the hallway. The quick walk down two flights of stairs melded into the back of her mind as she stared up at the metal door. The solid metal hinges were bolted into the wall and anchored through blocks of cement.

"How good do you think their alarm is?" She asked while drawing her Proctor bow from her waist. The sleek metal reflected the light cast by the dim emergency lights in the abandoned hallway.

"I can suppress their security for a short while, but then you'll be on your own in getting the information."

She took a few steps back from the door and pulled back on the bow string. Light gathered just below the sight window near where her hand laid. The smell of ion filled the air as she poured energy into the bow and let it gather into a mass.

"Any cameras inside?"

"Probably. I'll disable footage before we leave. You'll have a few minutes at most to get in and back out of the window."

Steadying her aim she released. Faster then her eyes could follow the arrow fried the electronic door lock, leaving no visible damage, and causing the mechanism to swing inward. She quickly moved into the server room and pushed the door closed just enough make it appear shut.

The rows of wires cobbled together with bricks of copper and fiberglass left aisles leading to a large computer. She sat in the musty chair and began digging into the system after following the bypass left in by Cerberus. Admin privileges smoothed her search of their files and in quick order, with a thank you to the silent A.I., she plugged a small drive into the port and began the download. The loading bar ticked away slowly with no distractions except the pounding in her ears and the flickering of the lights.

"Delphi, hide."

Without thinking she activated the power saving screen and leapt to the back of one of the servers. The door swung open just as she pulled herself into cover inside a ventilation hatch. Heavy footsteps soon plodded down the path she had walked a mere minutes before.

She pulled the cover back into place carefully to minimize the noise. She could hear tapping at the keyboard as muffled voices carried over a walkie. A few more minutes passed with her shallow breathing only being covered by the near constant chatter. Legs passed in front of where she hid and briefly stopped only to continue some time afterwards.

"Server room clear." A feminine voice called as her footsteps retreated through the array of wires and back through the door.

Delphi counted to ten before gently removing the hatch and climbing out. Tapping furiously on the keyboard she cleared the screen and snatched the drive. The adrenaline in her system kept her senses heightened as she slipped out of the door.

The hallway was empty, but chatter could be heard coming from the stairwell leading down. She moved as quickly as she could while maintaining silence. Her feet rapidly padded across the thin carpet, only coming to a stop when a flashlight reflected off of a nearby picture. She darted across the hallway and slid into an unlocked room moments before the flashlight rounded a corner.

"Thanks." She whispered while peaking under the door.

A large pair of boots walked across her field of vision and disappeared back towards where she had just left. They were followed shortly after by another pair, albeit smaller ones. She counted to ten before unlatching the door and braving the hallways once more.

"Intruder found, sixth floor!" Someone shouted from behind her.

Delphi shattered into a heavy sprint and felt something clank off of the back of her armor as she rounded up the stairs. The burning in her legs fed anguish to her lungs. A cold sweat spilled against her skin and carried chills with it despite her temperature controlled coverings.

"Stuntags are ineffective! Repeat stuntags are ineffective!" She heard as she scrambled through the door, barely closing it before someone crashed hard into the wood.

"And I'm a known criminal." Delphi said as she leapt through the window. "Any chance they can't get out of the rooftop door before I get away?"

"Twenty-four percent chance."

She checked her surroundings for an alternative. The short climb up the fire escape left little in the way of wonder as no other means of escape was visible. Grabbing the ledge and pulling herself till she could peak overtop, she spotted two guards standing with their backs to the door.

She dropped back to the fire escape and pushed herself against the wall. "Did you stop them from calling the police?"

"I did what I could. We have some time, but it is not unlimited."

"Did you delete our presents from their systems?"

"I did. Why are you asking?"

"I, uh, have a stupid idea."

Peering over the side she could see people gathering near the bottom and looking up at her. The faces of uniformed security guards glared back up at her. No call from from their walkies carried to her, but she could nearly feel their anger.

"Can you cut the power on my mark?"

"Ready."

Delphi changed her gravity to match the wall, but clung to the railing of the fire escape. Her eyes marked the path downward as her heart stammered in her chest. Adrenaline built and bullied her body into readying itself to spring into action at a moments notice.

She took a deep breath. "Now."

She flung herself over the edge of the railing and landed on the side of the building. With no time to lose she began to sprint the length of the wall. Her night vision barely responded in time for her to see the railing blocking her path. The disarray below reached her ears just as she leapt over the last obstacle and released her control on gravity.

Landing hard on her feet she ran towards the nearest alley. The guards shouting was unintelligible from the beating of her heart in her ears. Alarms on her suit were flaring to life as her blood pressure skyrocketed. Still her legs carried her to the alley and over the nearest fence before they began to wobble and lock up.

"Give me something abandoned that's a decent distance away." She breathed and hobbled in the general direction that Cerberus led her.

Her legs burned, her lungs burned, she could hear the faint sound of sirens behind her getting closer. All of the energy she had been holding washed away as her adrenaline slipped between her fingers. Still her legs plodded along, carrying her closer to some warehouse she had never seen.

"Here."

She grabbed the door handle and gave it a hopeful twist. The sirens came crawling closer behind her as she heard the faint click of the bolt releasing and the door swung out towards her. She stepped inside, locking the door immediately, before sliding down to the floor and trying to remember how it felt to breathe.

Her vision slowly began to clear. It was slight at first, but then all at once. Her body recovered within minutes, allowing her to pull herself to her feet. The shaking in her hands had ensconced until it too dissipated.

"I've recovered what I think is Gemini's recorded address. Apparently he worked there under the alias Andromeda Manning for at least a year."

"The bastard took moms name? Where's the address?"

Rejuvenated, she put her ear to the door before shuffling outside. The quick walk to the alley containing her clothes and an even quicker change left her to ponder her next steps even as the shuttle came to a stop outside a dilapidated segment of universal housing. What few places still in use were hardly in better repair than the rest of the wore down and bedraggled dwellings.

Old cement pockmarked with an endless array of puddles zigzagged all throughout the neighborhood. The striking lack of cameras and scarcity of people swept an eerie calm over an otherwise ethereally scenic view. Vines, debris, and the occasional wildlife added to the overall ambiance as Delphi stood at the gate. On its broken hinges lay a cast iron barrier quickly discarded.

She stepped through and passed into the walkway that surrounded the area. Other than the striking of her feet against the pavement and the chittering of things best left in the dark, no sound disturbed the stillness. A sickly sweat fueled by the last vestiges of her adrenaline breached her skin as she saw the address Cerberus had mentioned.

Pushing open the rotted door carefully, she walked into the fetid dwelling. A strange mix of mildew and gunpowder assaulted her nose, causing a crinkle to appear on her otherwise blank face. The room was empty except for a small mattress and a dingy blanket sitting in the corner. A slip of neatly folded paper sat atop the blanket.

"Something doesn't feel right." Cerberus stated flatly.

"You could say that..." Delphi began just as the cocking of a gun clicked behind her and a metal barrel was pressed against the back of her head.

[kylieguess]

Cargo - 06/06/24

I started this shift as a cargo tech. I'm pretty new to the role, but a lot of the things you do in cargo, I'd either been subjected to by cargo techs coming up and bugging me for stuff, or had to do to even do ANYTHING at all on the frontier.

I take a bounty from the machine for three soap, and let the rest of cargo know i was going to quote, "harass the janitor" for his soap. Someone kindly asked me to "please not harass them", to which I replied "Um! I wasn't actually going to, I was just going to ask them. It's a figure of speech." Anyway, I go to bug them, knocking on their door and trying to open it to no response. We don't have a janitor at the moment, which is a shame because ordinarily 6 grand for 3 bars of soap is a crazy good, and crazy easy bounty.

Defeated, I return to cargo to pick up another one, for some cyborg modules. Also a dud, they don't have enough steel. Back to cargo I go, to see even the quartermaster saying "Wow, all of these suck". We get knives, which at the time I believed you had to empty out the chef of all their knives in their vending machine. It turns out, as pointed out by a wonderfully helpful mime, who pantomimed the process of making one for me. That was a fairly tidy sum, and enough for cargo to actually start getting stuff, so I prep the bounty for delivery and await the cargo shuttle's return.

The person who steps off the cargo shuttle after one of the runs is the kindly person who was named "Adelgunde Fett" (Calling her Adel from now on). She seems a bit... Confused, and acts older than she is, and is pretty nervous. But she was very kind. We loaded the bounties we had onto the shuttle, and Adel took off with them. I was also able to finish the soap bounty just by walking around maintenance and getting lucky!

Anyway, after some meandering around, I decide to fly the shuttle to the automated trade station. Right as I say "Undocking" however, someone yells "WAIT!". In a panic, i re-dock and had thankfully not spaced, nor flattened anyone (it was from a completely separate area). Adel then comes up to me and asks if I was okay. I said "I think I so...". They replied "That's good!". Anyway, she decided to come with me on the shuttle, we offload the completed bounties, load up on our orders, take our money and return to cargo.

Nanotrasen had provisioned us FAR too many extra janitor supplies, so we wound up selling half of them off later in the round. Adel winds up excusing herself, seeming very antsy the whole time. Saying she has "business to attend to."

I met her again in the canteen, I had put in an order for cargo with the chef, and her food was delayed because of it. They were REALLY nervous.

Anyway, we move cargo, take and do bounties, fulfil requests. It's a little uneventful for a while, just normal cargo stuff. There's people goofing off with gravity guns outside of our department, moving stuff around inside, Nanotrasen provisioned us a pizza party. It's a good bit of fun.

Anyway, during one of the cargo runs, a crate mysteriously doesn't sell. When I open it up to check out why, a skeleton jumps out! Thankfully they weren't hostile, and in fact were in a pretty similar situation to me! darn student debts... I took them back to the station and sent them on their way, presumably to either cause havoc or become a part of the crew.

Anyway, when letting the skeleton out, a paramedic sneaks his way into cargo just before I can close the door. I don't think much of it - paramedics usually are there to help people in danger. And they were saying that a salvager had gone missing.

He distracted the quartermaster, saying that security wasn't taking him seriously because his department had a murderer in it, prompting him to go get an official document so security can begin an investigation.

Suddenly, he pulled out a silenced pistol and gunned me down. Out like a light.

I woke up in medical, the chief medical officer tending to me, and Adel sobbing over me. She dragged me to medical, after being chased down by the bastard. He was already in cuffs by the time I'd woken up. Hell, by the time I'd recovered enough to leave, they'd already patched the hole in cargo that he'd bombed.

Adel didn't leave my side for the rest of the round. She rushed into the spaced trade station to get me a nitrogen tank, though she couldn't do it again.

The evac shuttle was called while I was unconscious, a normal shift-change one, funnily enough. We got aboard the shuttle and I stared down the paramed in cuffs, as he was in the brig of the escape shuttle.

Though I did get real hurt, I made it out alive! Thank god for modern medicine.

[frozenhuntress67]

Piano Bar *Austin Butler x Plus Size!Reader

TW: There is a little self-body shaming I suppose. I'm plus sized and often think of myself in these scenarios

Imagine being a cast member on SNL and getting Austin to go out for drinks with some of you only to admit the feels the two of you have been catching for one another after a few drinks and a song

I was chatting away after rehearsals with Cecily and Lizzo when the topic came up. We usually went out for drinks at least once after rehearsals and they had been goading me to invite our host for the week.

"He has been making eyes at you all week! Go ask him to go out with us!" Cecily urged.

"You're crazy both of you, what would a guy as sweet, funny, and handsome as him want with someone like me?" I asked my eyes meeting the floor.

"Hey, hey none of that. I see a beautiful, funny, sweet girl who is worth way more than she thinks she is." Lizzo chimed in. "Now put on your grown-up girl pants and ask that gorgeous boy out for drinks!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going!" I said with a laugh and made my way towards the host's dressing room. I took a moment for myself before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. He opened it rather quickly popping his head out.

"Hey, (y/n) right?" He asked.

"That's me, some of us are going out for drinks tonight and wondered if you'd like to come with? Someone's setting up a shuttle bus and should be here in about a half an hour? Unless you're tired from rehearsal which I totally understand." I replied trying not to ramble and getting totally flustered along the way.

"No, no, I'm not too tired I'd love to join you guys. Drinks sound great." He said.

"Great! That's great like I said we'll all be meeting in the lobby in about half an hour. See you there." I replied before walking away and letting out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in and returned to where Lizzo and Cecily were waiting.

"So?" They asked in unison.

"He said yes, I swear that might have been cringier than my first round of auditions."

"Perfect, and I have just the thing for you to wear. I found it and thought of you, my friend." Cecily said handing me a bag. Inside was the most beautiful vintage dress.

"Cecily, I can't accept this it's too much."

"You can wear it for me as a going away present, you've got to hold down the fort here for me, you're a gifted actress and a great friend. You're going to great things (y/n). But first I want you to allow yourself to be happy." She said shaking the bag in my direction once more. I took it and went into one of the bathrooms.

I put on the dress and paired it with a red leather jacket and red boots. Was I crazy wearing something like this in December? Maybe but I couldn't care. When I stepped out to face them again, they cheered.

"You're hot girl!" Lizzo said and I couldn't help but blush. "You should come work for me as a model for Yitty."

"Stop it, we need to get downstairs." I spoke. The two nodded and we made our way down to the lobby of Rockefeller Center. I still wanted to freeze a little when my eyes met Austin's but when I truly saw the way he was looking at me I couldn't help the smile that graced my face. "Hello again." I said to him. I told myself tonight I wasn't going to let my own shitty self-esteem hold me back.

"Hi, you uh, you look great." He replied and I was so glad for the cold that flushed my cheeks to hide the blush he caused.

"Thanks, you uh, clean up pretty well too." The horn of the shuttle bus interrupted the moment. "Shall we?" I asked leading the way to the bus. When we got off, I groaned seeing the bar the girls picked. "You guys didn't tell me we were coming here."

"What's wrong with this place?" Austin asked me.

"It's a piano bar and I am a frequent performer on my nights off from the show." I admitted.

"You brought me here when I hosted, it should be a rite of passage." Lizzo intercepted. "And besides it's not as though you can't sing (y/n)."

"You sing?" Austin asked.

"Not professionally and I certainly won't be playing any famous musicians anytime soon but yes I dabble." I joked. "Maybe you'll get to see after a drink or two." Even without liquid courage I found myself flirting. Perhaps it was the way he looked at me in the lobby that gave 0me the boost of self-confidence I needed. We all settled in and after a few drinks Sal the owner finally asked the question.

"So (y/n), what'll be tonight?" He asked. The question had run through my mind since we arrived. It was silent for a moment until my fellow cast members began to chant my name.

"(y/n), (y/n), (y/n) ..."They chanted and then I looked at Austin who just nodded and with that one look I knew exactly what I was singing and for whom it was. My feelings that I'd shoved down all week finally decided to come to the surface. I looked at. Sal.

"Fever by Peggy Lee." I said and made my way up to the microphone after a quick shot and the removal of my leather jacket. He made his way over to the piano and let the band know my selection. I snapped my fingers along to the sound of the bass.

Never know how much I love you Never know how much I care When you put your arms around me I get a fever that's so hard to bear

You give me fever When you kiss me Fever when you hold me tight Fever In the mornin' A fever all through the night

Sun lights up the day time Moon lights up the night I light up when you call my name And you know I'm gonna treat you right

You give me fever When you kiss me Fever when you hold me tight Fever in the mornin' A fever all through the night

Everybody's got the fever That is somethin' you all know Fever isn't such a new thing Fever started long ago

Romeo loved Juliet Juliet, she felt the same When he put his arms around her He said, "Julie baby, you're my flame"

Thou givest fever When we kisseth Fever with thy flaming youth Fever I'm on fire Fever yeah, I burn forsooth

Captain Smith and Pocahontas Had a very mad affair When her daddy tried to kill him She said, "Daddy, oh, don't you dare"

He gives me fever With his kisses Fever when he holds me tight Fever I'm his missus And daddy, won't you treat him right?

Now you've listened to my story Here's the point that I have made Chicks were born to give you fever Be it fahrenheit or centigrade

They give you fever When we kiss them Fever, if you live you learn Fever 'Til you sizzle Oh, what a lovely way to burn Oh, what a lovely way to burn What a lovely way to burn And what a lovely way to burn

When it was over our cast mates started to trickle off catching cabs back to their respective homes.

"That was amazing!" He asked.

"Well, I don't think I would've had the courage to sing something like that if it weren't for the way you looked at me when we left. Everyone kept telling me you might like me but I thought they were wrong. But I think I've been feeling the same things this week too." I admitted.

"I'm really glad to hear that (y/n) Maybe after the shows over we could go on a real date?"

"I'd like that very much."I said. We sat there fro another hour before getting a cab and hsaring it until he got back to his hotel. We exchanged numbers before he left.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"You can count on that." I replied. He began climbing out of the cab and walking towards his hotel. The cabbie started to drive off but quickly stopped when he saw Austin running back. "What are you doing?" I asked with a giggle.

"I forgot to give you something." He said before taking my face in his hands and kissing me. "Now I'll be going. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said shutting the door and letting the cabbie resume his drive. I'msure he kept the meter running but I couldn't care less.

What a lovely way to burn indeed.

(is it cheesy? Yes. Do I care? No. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did because I really want to right more for this gorgeous, gorgeous man. Bye! ;) )

[yellowocaballero]

I think Go Straight at the Cul-de-Sac was my actual real first yellowocaballero fic so I'm pretty interested in Untitled Document number scarvio dlc! Got any tidbits?

Yes! It's actually a fic I've tried several times to write lol. There's a very scrappy ScarVio fic with my ScarVio protaganist, and honestly the pla fic sequel became a vehicle to depict the scarvio protaganist.

But, come on. Adaman's descendent showing up in the ScarVio DLC? How could I NOT?

I don't know if this'll ever fully get written, or written as it is now, so most of what I have under the cut.

Perrin was waiting for me at the airport, fiddling anxiously with a camera and scanning the crowd for somebody else. The airport itself was nostalgic. All rural Sinnoh airports boasted two landing strips, a polite and peeling building, and a tattered stack of brochures welcoming you to our humble abode. Kitakimi was legally a Johto territory, liberated from Sinnoh in some war fifty years ago, but I didn’t have the impression anybody here remembered being a territory of anybody. That was rural life: your problems were your own. And your neighbor’s, if they were interesting enough.

There were only twenty other passengers on the plane, so I shouldn’t have been hard to find. We were unceremoniously shuttled straight from the plane to the ground, showcasing the great efficacy of rural life. Perrin was sitting on the hood of her rinky little car, scanning the disembarking group for somebody who probably looked very old and important. Maybe she walked with a withered cane and carried an air of great gravitas. I was at the advantage, knowing perfectly well what she looked like - her grandmother had assailed me with roughly two dozen family photographs - and I began walking towards her immediately. 

She noticed me, and I saw her mental journey clearly. Was she walking towards me? Am I meeting a secret second person, who I hadn’t known about? Was this the person I was meeting? Granny didn’t say anything about - wait, no, shit, she totally did.

I waved. Perrin probably thought she did a great job hiding her shock. She really didn’t.

“Elder - uh, Warden!” Perrin quickly hopped off the car as I approached, holding out her hand for a handshake. I stared at the hand for an embarrassing few confused seconds before I remembered the concept of handshakes. Perrin interpreted the silence as a shameful faux-pas and quickly bowed at the waist instead. “Thank you for coming!”

“I’m not a Warden.” I bowed back at a shallow angle. Perrin visually wondered if she was supposed to call a woman probably six or seven years her junior ‘Elder’. It was maybe the most accurate term but we would simultaneously die of embarrassment if she did. Unfortunately, her grandmother would hit her on the head with a stick if she used my name. “But you can call me that. Thank you for hosting me.”

“Thank Kitakami,” Perrin said wryly. “They’re the ones providing our rooms. Here, let me take your bag. I hope you aren’t already motion sick from the plane - these roads are pretty bumpy.”

Nothing was as bad as carts. Seriously, nothing. “How long’s the ride?”

“Only thirty minutes, so buckle in.” Perrin accepted my bag and opened the sedan door. She whistled, waving the bag around and ushering an expectant and eagerly barking Pokemon further into the car. “C’mon, bud, leave space for our guest. And no chewing! Do not bring eternal shame unto my family!”

I poked my head around Perrin’s shoulder and saw a fluffy Sinnoh Forme Growlithe wagging his tail so hard his entire body was swaying. He barked again, shuffling backwards as Perrin wedged my bag underneath the seat, and promptly began sniffing the bag for drugs and/or Growlithe treats. 

I couldn’t help but smile. I moved forward and crouched in front of the Growlithe, holding out my hand and letting him sniff my wrist. He barely needed the introduction - he immediately began barking even louder in exorbitant delight, facing down the prospect of a new friend. 

“The shade of his ruff is light,” I remarked. Lighter than I was accustomed to, anyway. It took ages to even grow accustomed to the sight of these things in cars. And, you know, not trying to maul me. “He’s bred well. Did the breeder select for the light ruff?”

“Ah, yeah! His breeder’s an old friend of the family. Apparently they’ve been specialized purebred Sinnoh Growlithe breeders for, like, a hundred years. They said that lighter fur helps prevent them from overheating in hotter climates. I spend most of my time in hotter climates than Sinnoh, so I asked for that trait specifically.” Conscientious and thoughtful. Somebody who looked after her Pokemon well. “Sinnoh Forme Growlithes are supposed to be lucky. Is that true?”

I scratched the Growlithe’s ruff, and his tail beat heavy thumps against the scratched seat. “Their luck’s changed for the better.”

“That’s…pretty cryptic.” Perrin just sounded impressed. “Grandma was on the money about you.”

I looked back and squinted at Perrin. “What else did she say about me?”

“Wow, look at the time, let’s get going!”

Fair. I wouldn’t really want to meet me either. 

*

Believe it or not, Perrin had actually asked for help. 

I know. Hold the shock. I gave Kai heart attacks every time I walked into the room for four straight months, and I still made her nervous. A Slakoth could give Kai a heart attack and I liked to think we were friends these days, but I knew that I was socially your great-great-great grandmother at best and the fastidious clan kids were perpetually on their best behavior around me. I was used to people being afraid of me for my impressive ability to use their bones as toothpicks for my Garchomp, but a young person’s fear of disappointing their family was arguably more powerful. When you had family like Kai and Perrin had family, the fear was absolutely crippling. 

Personally, I lived in a state of constant embarrassment. A few months ago I tried to blow out a flashlight. Seriously. 

According to the world’s most trusted source, Perrin was the pride of the new generation of their family. They had a strong artistic tradition, and Perrin’s photography had won national awards and hefty grants since she was a child. Her favorite subjects had always been her culture and traditions, and her work had been frequently praised for its spiritual gravity and respect for ancient tradition. As an adult she had shifted to nature photography. Then the conversation diverged to bragging about Perrin’s cousins (veterinarian, miko, miko, successful traditional painter, Can You Believe He Moved To Hoenn!, miko-who-just-had-a-baby, Potter Who Married A Woman Good For Her!, trainer-with-five-badges-and-counting) before eventually circling back around to Perrin’s greatest flaws as a human being. Namely, that she never came home and had missed New Year’s two years in a row. And She Never Called Either!

Perrin had called the clan (For The First Time In Months Can You Believe It!) two weeks ago excitedly spilling an entire tale of a cursed Ursaluna roaming the thick forests of a small island that hadn’t belonged to Sinnoh for years. It wasn’t idle gossip: Ursalunas were sacred Pokemon, and a cursed Ursaluna was dangerously bad luck. Cursed sacred Pokemon could wither nature, starve local Pokemon, bring monsoons and thunderstorms, and shame the clans for neglecting their duties as caretakers. I wasn’t so sure about all of that, but I knew from long experience that a cursed sacred Pokemon basically amounted to a very powerful rabid Pokemon that endangered everything and everyone around it. These days there were probably people other than me who could put that Pokemon down, but - well, traditions were meaningful. 

A certain somebody was ludicrously famous for her talents in subduing cursed Pokemon. They had given me a lot of medicinal bags, which had somehow become traditional. I hadn’t known how to break it to them that I was just going to beat the curse out of the Pokemon. Always worked. 

Apparently all of Perrin’s cousins called her and harassed her about bringing cryptid stories to Grandmother and sending the clan into a tizzy. Her miko cousins threatened to strangle her if she had dragged the Hero of Hisui out to the middle of nowhere to vanquish a hoax. Perrin obviously hadn’t expected her clan to send the Hero of Hisui out into the middle of nowhere to vanquish what may-or-may-not be a hoax. She probably hadn’t intended to turn a little problem into an entire religious and legendary production, but that was the way rocks slid. 

“I hadn’t expected them to send you, obviously.” Perrin hadn’t been exaggerating about the bumpy road. My necklace thumped against my sternum as I fought the urge to grip the sides of the seats. Perrin was happily chatting away with one hand on the wheel, which didn’t ease my anxiety. “I honestly just thought Grandma was going to mail me some medicine and tell me to purify it myself. Like, I had full miko training before I was twelve, I could have done it just fine. But now you’re here, and - well, it could be an opportunity! I mean, it’s obviously an honor. It’s an honor first. I’m very honored.”

The Growlithe barked agreement regarding the importance of my august spiritual presence. “I’ll tell your grandmother you said that first.”

“Thank you so much. I was just wondering if I could interview you, or something like that? Maybe we can pray together. Religion used to be such a source of inspiration for me, and I’ve been thinking about going back to those basics. Start from the ground up. And if you can’t connect me with my heritage - like, who could?”

Artists. Changed a lot and yet never changed. “Returning home to Celestic City sounds like the first step.”

“Home’s not the right vibe,” Perrin said. And she said I was cryptic. “I need something new. But old. I need the right vibe. Maybe this will - like, realign my energies.”

Was I purifying a cursed sacred Pokemon or was I playing sidekick to a photographer’s artistic journey? I felt as if I should say something disapproving about how this was serious business. If the Bloodmoon Beast was actually real, then the entire forest could be cursed. It could have been cursed by a legendary Pokemon - and I had just finished kicking Darkrai out of Hearthome City yet again. This wasn’t a field trip.

Adaman would be laughing his ass off. He had always wanted to fight the man and ignore work. Probably would have, if he wasn’t ‘the man’ and work hadn’t involved protecting his people from extinction. He would have approved of this - all of it.

“Hope I can help,” I said diplomatically. “Is that a bus stop?”

“The bus smells terrible, be glad I saved you from it.” Perrin gestured grandly at the rising swell of homes and packed dirt streets rising before us. Growlithe poked his head out of the window, panting excitedly. “Welcome to Kitakami! Home of a lot of past and not a lot of present.”

“I’m pretty used to that.”

Maybe this trip would be nostalgic after all - no, that was certain. The only thing up for debate was whether it would be my nostalgia, Perrin’s, or Sinnoh’s itself.

I closed my eyes and grasped the Pokeball swinging from my necklace. May this journey end in only the typical amount of disaster. 

Maybe I’d even get lucky this time.

*

 Mossui Town. Population: small. Inn: none, but we have a community center with rooms! Store: one, but it sells handmade wool socks! Mood: very honored to meet you! 

“I am truly sorry for the humble welcome.” The Town Head Mr. Kobayashi was very distraught by this. If he had given me a non-humble welcome I would have shot myself. “Every hand is on deck preparing for the festival. You should have seen my face when the Diamond Clan Head called me herself about your arrival - I must have looked like the ogre itself! And about the Bloodmoon Beast, too! I thought that was merely a child’s rumor.” Obviously realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, “We are honored to host you, of course. Your arrival during our very own festival week - it must be the hand of our ancestors. Why, my own clan had close ties to the Pearl clan for hundreds of years.”

I could tell. Mr. Kobayashi had already given us a quick tour of the village, which had taken a pleasant fifteen minutes. The only building constructed in the last thirty years was the community center, and it was Mr. Kobayashi’s current pride and joy. The village had obviously been built by Johto immigrants to Sinnoh - the unique cultural blend was distinctive. Probably why Johto and Sinnoh had been in a lukewarm tug-of-war over it for a few decades. 

Perrin and I glanced at each other. She grimaced in a slight apology. I twitched an eyebrow. This meant nothing to her. 

I had to do this way too often. “Don’t worry about it.” I gave Mr. Kobayashi my best polite smile. I had been reliably told that it was utterly inscrutable, but that was their problem. “We’ll be unobtrusive. You…seem to have enough on your plate.”

A child ran past us, pursued by a waddling Sentret, screaming. We watched him pass. Another child and a Ninetails pursued the Sentret, also screaming.

“We’re quite busy, yes.”

Perrin leaned towards me, stage whispering. “There’s a school trip.”

That explained the surprising quantity of children. Normally places like this had ten kids max. I had counted at least fifteen already, and most of which were wearing some dorky uniform. The school uniform kids seemed distinctly overwhelmed.

Mr. Kobayashi smiled, about as authentically as a Mr. Mime. “It’s our honor to teach a new generation of…very foreign children about our sacred traditions.”

“Paladeans are weird and rude,” Perrin whispered, even louder.

Mr. Kobayashi’s eye twitched. “Boisterous.”

“One of them doesn’t blink.”

“Please let one of us know if our children bother you,” Mr. Kobayashi said. “It’s quite unacceptable behavior to interrupt you in your important work. When - if a child does so, please send them towards me or their teacher Ms. Briar.”

“I think they’re funny,” Perrin confided in me. “They all have lisps. Apparently they’re walking into the houses with their shoes on. Baby criminals.”

“In my day we executed rude children,” I agreed.

Nobody who knew me as a child was around to contradict me. Such freedom.

Mr. Kobayashi muttered something that may have been ‘if only’. Perrin snickered.

Westerners. Fantastic.

I deposited my suitcase and bag in the obviously hastily cleaned and emptied room on the top floor of the community center. I could already hear the sound of children laughing and running through the halls. Perrin was staying to my right, but the rest of the visiting schoolchildren must be living on the other side and across the hall. I had to sympathize with Mr. Kobayashi - nobody wanted to expose my august personage to children left unsupervised on a field trip in a foreign country they’re probably already interpreting as their playground. Judging from the sight of a Pokemon battle in the courtyard already visible from my window, they were from a training academy too. Training academy kids these days were the worst. My students had been so much politer. Granted, teaching back then had involved a lot more whacking with sticks then teaching these days. And training under me had been a bit of a ‘best of the best’, ‘send our top child from our small clan to do us proud’ type of thing. 

The community center had a small cafeteria, and Perrin and I descended upon the food like ravenous Luxrays. I only had to remind myself every five minutes to use table manners. This was a fantastic improvement from last year, where I had to remind myself every five seconds. Diamond and Pearl ate with their hands or straight from the bowl. The Jubilife crew hadn’t, but I had relatively few memories of ever sharing a meal with my friends in Jubilife.

After an embarrassingly short period of time I stood up and pushed my chair in, taking my tray. “I need to go exercise my Pokemon and survey the area. Let’s meet up again this evening during the festival. Are any of the Pokemon species on this island endangered?”

Perrin stared at me, mouth full of fruit salad. “I’m pretty sure not. Why?”

“Just double checking.”

Two hours of being escorted around a new area was two hours more than I was used to. I was itching to explore this place myself. I was definitely a hypocrite - I was here for a holy mission, but most of my mind was on having fun too. Maybe that was just human nature. We always found a way to have fun no matter the difficulties. Anything that mitigated the damage.

There was civilization to explore, but that always came last. I bought a map from The Shop and consulted the nice lady on the most isolated part of the island, which was apparently a thicket of woods that was too dangerous for most people to enter. I headed straight there, obviously. 

When I entered the wild area I withdrew the first Pokeball on my belt and tossed it onto the ground. The ball flared white and a bolt of light struck the ground, coalescing into an adorable and petite Leafeon. She immediately sat down and meowed politely at me.

“Just exploring today,” I told her. She rose immediately, bright green tail waving excitedly. “Which makes this a good opportunity to work on your form. Remember: the Leaf Blade should dazzle.”

Leafeon meowed in a specific timbre that I knew she had picked up from everybody else. It was an extremely distinctive ‘yes, sir!’ sound. The new learned it from the old. A Pokemon composed of sentient rocks could make that sound. 

The first thing I noticed about the island was the impeccable biodiversity. The conservation laws passed two hundred years ago and strengthened fifty years later must have been well-enforced and respected. I had been wondering how an Ursaluna had ended up here, of all places, but the answer was quickly obvious: the island had Pokemon far, far outside of the Sinnoh ‘dex. Even the Johto ‘dex. It had Pokemon from everywhere. It was absolutely fascinating. 

They were also ridiculously strong. I had to pull Leafeon back and substitute in Rampardos or Milotic several times. Staraptor escaped its ball and tried to chase down likely looking prey about three different times, again, and the entire trip ground to a halt when I found a waterfall and began practicing light refraction with Milotic. We had gotten second place in our last contest, which was frankly embarrassing. We had to step up our game. 

I did contests now. It was a long story. Byron asked me if this meant I would be more ladylike now and I almost bit his head off. 

With power came precision, and I trained my contest Pokemon in battling for strength and show. This was an unexpectedly great training ground. This team had recently reached the level where most wild Pokemon didn’t pose a big challenge. Leafeon was already sweating up a storm, leaf flexing in the humid forest air.

The strength of these Pokemon meant that this was probably the kind of town where people didn’t venture far into nature too often. I noticed two Ace Rangers immediately, which tracked - the province government usually stationed a few eight-badge trainers in high-danger areas like these as protection for the populace. In towns like this the people and Pokemon had learned to co-exist a long time ago, and they rarely bothered each other, but there was always some idiot kid or tourist that triggered a fatal stampede. Or a Bloodmoon Beast. 

Around inhabited areas, Pokemon tended to attack Pokemon of a similar level. A kid running around Hearthome City with a level five could reliably find other pests and bugs to battle. I was willing to bet that the local kids ran around and battled around the center of the island. At the top of that mountain and the depths of these woods, however - anything went.

I had expected to be completely alone. I definitely wasn’t expecting any of the schoolkids to wander out here. But when I finally reached the mouth of the forest, bypassing five different warning signs without a glance, I saw a small group of kids already clustered at the end of the path. They were fervently arguing about something. Alright, time to walk away and hop a fence. 

“ - go with you!”

“Why are you stalking us? We aren’t even doing anything! Go home and help Gramps chop wood or something.”

“But I’m supposed to be the one showing her around!”

“Yeah, and you did! Great job!” The older girl’s tone was incredibly sarcastic. She had to be the younger boy’s older sister. Only a sister cut to the bone like that. “Now we’re going to have fun bonding time for two beautiful and powerful women in these dangerous woods. You can have fun kiddo bonding time tomorrow. Okay? Now shoo, we’re busy.”

As I approached, I got a better look at the kids. One of them was an older teenage girl - who, actually, was probably only a few years younger than me. In Hisui she’d probably be married by now. In Hisui her auntie would tell her that her sharp tongue and unkind face would mean she would never marry. The recipient of her sharp tongue and unkind face was a mousy boy hunched over in a defensive slouch, who was probably fourteen or fifteen. Standing with them was a pale girl with white hair, who watched the proceedings stoically. She was small and thin, and was probably fourteen at best. A Gardevoir hovered behind her, eyes flashing softly in the dim lighting. Leafeon, trotting at my feet, meowed curiously. 

The two siblings jumped, whirling around to see me standing on the path in front of them. The pale girl saw them move and turned to face me too. The siblings scowled, but the pale girl just looked at the Gardevoir. The Gardevoir hummed, and the girl nodded back.

“More outsiders?” the sister cried, enraged. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Another visitor?” the boy said, flinching back in pure shock. “What’s with all of the visitors lately…?”

The pale girl squinted at Leafeon. Leafeon tilted her head. The pale girl tilted her head back.

“Yeah, we normally get, like, one a year.” the girl folded her arms, previously high levels of aggression jumped towards unprecedented heights. “Now we got a billion! This dumb school trip! Some crazy important million year old Warden from Sinnoh curing our bad juju! Gramps said he’ll chop our heads off if we’re rude to him? And now you!”

This really wasn’t any of my business, but the well-being of village children was everybody’s business. There was nothing kids loved more than pulling off dangerous stunts and almost getting gored on a Rhyhorn horn ten times in a row, and near-death experiences were important for childhood development, but surviving was important for childhood development too. I wasn’t about to escort them anywhere, but I should at least baby gate this thing.

“That forest is supposed to be pretty dangerous.” I nodded at the high fence and the three different ‘abandon all hope etc’ signs plastered around it. The girl stared at the Gardevoir, whose horns glowed lightly. “Are your Pokemon capable of defending you?”

That incensed the girl. She practically growled, stamping her foot. “Who the hell are you to tell me where to go on my own island? Of course my Pokemon are strong enough! Are you my mom?”

The boy hunched his shoulders, staring miserably at his sister. “Mom did tell us never to go in there…”

“Yeah, Kieran, when we were babies. We’re plenty strong enough now.”

“I dunno, Carmine…”

I looked at the pale girl. Her belt was half Ultra balls. She might be fine. But the two siblings had only Poke balls on their belt, and I wasn’t so sure. 

Ugh. Time to do the responsible adult thing. I reached around my belt, unhooking a miniature Apricorn ball from the back and expanding it. Hisuian balls were fragile, and I had recaptured everybody in the ‘modern’ Apricorn balls before leaving. They were still antiques, but they held up well enough. “For safety reasons, I’ll have to ask that one of you battle me before going inside.”

“What are you, a cop!” Carmine grabbed a Pokeball off her belt, expanding it immediately. “You’re so on, you wanna-be adult!”

Kieren blanched. “You left your main team back at the Academy, Carmine!”

“Yeah, and I don’t need my award winning team to fight this narc.” Carmine halted for the first time, glancing to her right and looking at the pale girl. “Unless you wanna go for it, I guess.”

The pale girl blinked at her.

“Oh, right.” Carmine cleared her throat, turning to face her completely. Then she spoke way, way too loudly, almost yelling. I instinctively flinched and scanned the area for lurking predator pokemon. “Do you want to fight this lady?”

The pale girl’s eyes narrowed, and she finally spoke. Her accent was strange, her mouth forming the sounds clunkily, but she did have a bizarre lisp. Despite her jinbei, she must be one of the exchange students. “I told you not to shout.”

“Ah, sorry.” Carmine briefly looked a little embarrassed. “You - uh, picked up on all of that?” Gardevoir hummed, horns glowing. “Right! Thanks, Gardevoir! Anyway, do you want to fight her? I want to fight her, so don’t say yes.”

The pale girl turned her head towards me, and for the first time I saw a large white hearing aid on one ear. That explained a bit. She narrowed her eyes and stared at me. I allowed myself to be stared at. She checked out my Pokeballs - all Pokeballs, since my team now was raised from scratch. She glanced at the polite Leafeon. Then she turned back to Carmine, visibly dismissing me. 

“She doesn’t look strong, so I don’t want to bother. Go ahead.”

[rabbivole]

meanwhile because i've been playing ss14 i have to engage in the language of the locals

>be me, resident dirtbag >was planning to play a chill tider round and i get thief for the first time. i've barely played syndie like once. 'kidnap shiva and get 3 chief bedsheets' >fuck >head empty, emag in hand, full hearts, can't lose >stare at the map for a while, plan out my route to cmo's office via maints, swooce in when i don't hear anyone >WE DID IT >there aren't any fucking bedsheets in here. >ok fine. whatever. get an emergency suit. i'll go out through disposals, where i'll float down to the airlocks near the QM's office (where i KNOW there are bedsheets) >why isn't this emag working on the second airlock. >god dammit the emagged airlock won't close so i can't emag the inner one >try to go in through a window and shock myself because i forgot to get fucking insuls >fuck fuck fuck i'm freezing to death >float of shame back in through disposals (people on the cargo shuttle definitely saw me drifting past) >rip to the SSD greytider now choking to death in disposals because i let the atmo out >oh shit is the captain's office right here? that's 3 doors away from the hallway and i've got exactly that many charges, baby!!! >there are no bedsheets in here. what kind of office is this. >someone points at me?? where the fuck did you come from?? >panic flush self down the trash >by now i've left like 15 doors emagged and several critical areas wide open and occasionally hear people discussing my crimes and i haven't even managed to take anything yet >literally exiting disposals and get a talking to from sec about breaking and entering. oh fuck the pointing guy IDed me. play it cool >SURELY, THEY SUSPECT NOTHING >8) >saunter past the captain trying to get engineering to fix his door. oh god oh god keep walking don't make eye contact >sec has been called somewhere; perfect time to go grab shiva. oh god i can't drag her i need to make a crate >leave. go find steel. emag my way into CE's room and YES, FINALLY, ONE (1) BEDSHEET. come back to sec like 10 minutes later and everything's still wide open. get her in the box like a fucking god. let's blow this place. oh fuck somebody's coming >hos walks in and opens the box >welp >avoid perma by getting mindshielded and shit and get out on parole on good behavior >lose literally everything, not a friend in the world >crew is rioting, what the FUCK happened this round, i've been playing bedsheetquest, life isn't the same on the outside >follow a mime kidnapping someone and arrive at the secret combination bar-bakery promised land, a beautiful eden full of drinks and cake; they even have a syndicat to pet >somehow survive getting shot at evac, too drunk to see >would have made it home if not for standing directly on top of a penguin grenade somehow on the shuttle and dying instantly >could have gone worse, honestly