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callsign-mayhem · 1 year ago

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heartbreak feels so good (part 1)

Pairing: Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x Reader Word count: 8081 CW: Shitty boyfriends, angst, fluff, slow burn.

Your boyfriend's callsign is Viper, which is fitting. Bradley doesn't know how much longer he can watch this man destroy you, but luckily for him, he doesn't have to wait too long.

Use of Y/N, but no description of reader. THIS IS A MULTI-PART FIC.

Part Two Part Three

After another day of having your feelings totally ignored by your boyfriend, you were looking forward to some alone time. Elijah was so hot and cold that you felt as though you were in a constant state of fight or flight, just waiting for him to either make your day or ruin it completely. Most of the time, it was the latter, and although good days with him were few and far between, they were enough to make you stay. See, you didn’t half-ass anything—least of all relationships—so when you were in something, you were in it. You told Elijah that much after your first date. You’d been sitting in the front of his beemer eating ice cream, having the first of many deep talks. Between sweet, sticky kisses, you’d told him that you were dating to marry. He told you he was, too.

He said, ‘I’m yours if you’ll have me, Y/N.’ And that was that.

And it was almost a year ago. You’d survived a somewhat tumultuous winter with him, desperately trying to cling on to the version of him he’d been during the summer. As time went on, he stopped putting his mask on, secure enough in your relationship that he no longer felt the need to pretend to be caring and considerate. The days were starting to get longer, and the weather was warming up again, but Elijah was so far from the man he was at the start that you might as well have been in a relationship with a different person. Every morning, you woke up with no idea what personality to expect that day, whether or not he was going to take all his personal drama out on you, even though you only ever loved and supported him.

Today had been one of those days, and as you finished up with the F-18 engine currently in pieces in front of you, you silently prayed that he wouldn’t text you asking to come over. He was also a naval aviator, but you were working on different parts of the base today. Thank God. Elijah’s callsign was Viper, fitting since vipers prey on small animals by envenomating them and watching them die slowly.

Coyote appeared behind you, helmet tucked underneath his arm.

‘Hey, we’re all heading to The Hard Deck for beers,’ he told you. ‘You comin’?’ You grabbed a rag and made an attempt to wipe some of the oil off. ‘I don’t know,’ you sighed. ‘I want to, but then I’ll have to bring Elijah, and I don’t really wanna see him tonight.’ ‘Why do you have to bring him?’ Coyote frowned. ‘He’s a lousy drunk and never lets you have any fun.’ ‘If he finds out I went out with all you guys, he’ll think I’m up to something.’ ‘Like gettin’ with me?’ He joked, wiggling his eyebrows. ‘Probably,’ you laughed. ‘You or one of the others. Or maybe he’ll accuse me of getting with all of you if he’s in a particularly bad mood.’ ‘Listen, if you wanna come, you’re welcome. We’ll just make sure nobody posts about it, and we’ll get you a fake moustache or somethin’.’

It broke your heart to think about all your closest friends having a fun night without you. Over the past year, you’d lost count of the amount of experiences you’d missed out on because you didn’t want to make Elijah upset or angry with you. The worst part was it was a double standard. He went out without you all the time, didn’t tell you where he’d gone or who he was with, and expected you to be okay with it. If you weren’t, you could kiss your peace goodbye; he’d spend the next week making your life a living hell, ignoring you entirely until you apologised to him for being hurt by his actions.

‘You know what Javy? Count me in.’ He grinned. ‘Thatta girl.’

It was hard to regret coming out when you felt this good. It had been months since you’d gone on a night out without Elijah, which was to say it had been months since you last enjoyed yourself. As you sipped your second sex on the beach, you mused that some kind of higher power must have been looking out for you because you’d yet to receive a single text from your boyfriend. Most of the time, when you spent the night apart, he’d call you incessantly. It was annoying, sometimes bordering on obsessive, and you didn’t need him to tell you he was checking on you, or rather, checking that you were alone in your apartment. That much was obvious.

Dating an insecure man was not for the weak.

You were sat at one of the high tables next to the window watching Jake, Mickey, Javy, and Reuben play pool. Nat was opposite nursing a beer, glowing in the golden light of the evening. Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up, smiling at the notification.

‘Rooster’s on his way,’ she told you. ‘He wasn’t gonna come out tonight, but I told him he didn’t have a choice. It’s not every day Y/N Y/L/N leaves the comfort of her apartment.’ You scoffed. ‘That’s not exactly how I’d put it.’ ‘No?’ Nat raised a brow.

You hadn’t drunk in months, and despite only being on your second drink, the booze had loosened your lips significantly.

‘No. It’s not that I’d rather stay home, it’s that staying home makes my life easier because then I don’t have Elijah breathing down my fucking neck.’

Little did you know, Javy had told everyone about your conversation earlier. Not because he was a gossip but because he was worried about you. It was rare for you to open up to the squad about your relationship, but it wasn’t hard to guess what happened behind closed doors. They all worked with Viper, for one, and they were familiar with his temperament. Not only that, but you dropped off the face of the Earth a few months after you started dating him, and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

‘I don’t know why you’re still with him, Y/N. He’s an ass.’ ‘I know,’ you sighed, frowning into your drink. ‘It’s just not as straightforward as just leaving. I still love him. If I can make this work, I don’t have to start all over again with someone else.’ Nat nodded in understanding. ‘I get wanting to make it work, but at what cost? You don’t see your friends, and he uses you as an emotional punching bag. You can’t even come to the beach with us without him checking on you every five minutes,’ she reached over the table and took your hand. ‘He’s killing you.’

This was the first time someone had spoken their mind to you about the situation. While you already knew all of it, hearing it from one of your best friends hit home. Vodka made you emotional, and if not for Bradley, you would have broken down there and then.

He walked up to the table and engulfed you in a hug, practically pulling you off your stool. You pressed your face into his shirt, inhaling the scent of clean cotton and sandalwood. Half expecting Elijah to spring out and catch you in the act, you reluctantly pulled away.

‘Hey, Bradley.’ ‘Hey yourself, stranger. Can’t believe you’re gracing us with your presence.’ ‘I know, it’s been a while.’ ‘A while? Try six months,’ he glanced at your almost empty glass and Nat’s empty bottle of Heineken. ‘Can I buy you lovely ladies a drink?’ ‘Do you even have to ask?’ Nat retorted. ‘What’re you drinking, darlin’?’ He asked you. You smiled sheepishly. ‘Sex on the beach.’ ‘I can make that happen.’ He smirked.

Luckily, you didn’t have to come up with a response to that remark because he turned around and headed to the bar. You locked eyes with Nat, and both of you burst out laughing.

Just like that, all the negativity you’d been feeling dissipated like rain against hot tarmac.

Bradley came back with the drinks, and the three of you took the opportunity to catch up while the others finished their pool game. You shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were to find out that you’d missed a lot. Bradley had started dating one of the medics, but the relationship had crashed and burned almost immediately. He hadn’t bothered trying to meet anyone else since. Nat, after watching all her friends have such bad experiences in the dating world, had decided she was better off alone.

‘Honestly, I don’t blame you.’ You told her. ‘You should dump Viper,’ she said with a devilish grin. ‘And we can have a hot girl summer.’ Bradley laughed. ‘Can’t say I ever imagined you saying that, Nix.’ ‘Isn’t that what it’s called now? We can’t be that out of touch, surely.’ ‘I don’t wanna think about how old I am.’ You said, picking up your phone to see if you’d missed any texts from Elijah. You hated to think what kind of argument missing one of his calls would start. Nat and Rooster shared a knowing look. ‘It rings, you know? Out loud.’

Being this transparent was embarrassing.

‘I think I’m going to confiscate this for now.’ Ignoring your protests, Bradley swiped your phone and tucked it into his pocket. ‘If he calls or texts, I’ll let you know.’

You were tipsy enough not to try and take your phone back but not tipsy enough to be unbothered by the idea of Elijah calling and you not picking up.

‘If he calls, I need it back straight away,’ you told him sternly. ‘If I don’t pick up, I’ll never hear the end of it.’

Bradley rolled his eyes, but you knew it wasn’t aimed at you. He hated Elijah the most of all your friends. Perhaps sensing some tension, Nat slid off her stool and grabbed your arm, practically yanking you off yours.

‘Let’s go pick a song,’ she suggested. ‘We can get more drinks on the way back.’

Since it had been so long since you last visited The Hard Deck, she let you choose. You picked Rebel Yell by Billy Idol, your mum’s favourite. Admittedly, you’d been missing your home town a lot more than usual lately, perhaps because you were in such a weird place mentally. Things must be worse than you thought if you were considering running home with your tail between your legs.

As the night went on, you got drunker and drunker. Bradley watched with a bemused grin as you dragged Bob off to the jukebox again, since he was the easiest person to coerce into doing things. How Bradley wished it was him you were clinging to. Not that he was jealous of Bob—because that would be like being jealous of a puppy—he just desperately wanted to be the object of your affection.

While you and Bob went to change the music, Bradley struck up a conversation with Natasha and Reuben, who erupted into laughter when you pulled Bob’s arm so hard he almost toppled over.

‘It’s nice to have Y/N out, huh?’ He observed. Nat looked at him like he was the biggest dickhead in the world. ‘Come on, Bradshaw. He might be an ass, but she’s got a boyfriend.’

Bradley sipped his beer, desperately trying to come up with a believable response. Reuben smirked knowingly, which only made Bradley more annoyed.

‘I don’t have a thing for Y/N.’ ‘Whatever helps you sleep at night, man.’ ‘Come on, Payback. You too?’ Reuben shrugged. ‘Doesn’t take a genius to work it out. You look at her like she’s God’s gift.’

The reason Bradley looked at you like you were God’s gift is because you were, but nobody was supposed to know that.

‘Why do women stay with guys that treat them like shit?’ Bradley asked. ‘Depends on the woman,’ Natasha started. ‘But if you mean Y/N, it’s because she can’t do anything halfway. She told me earlier that it’s because she doesn’t want to start over with someone new, but I don’t think that’s it. She just loves so hard, and it takes a lot out of her. Why would she wanna start the process all over again if she already has someone?’ Bradley was incredulous. ‘Erm, I don’t know, maybe because he’s emotionally abusing her.’

You and Nat were close. In a way, she knew you better than you knew yourself, so she was the best person for Bradley to ask about things. Now, however, he was kind of regretting opening his mouth. Knowing why you were staying with a guy who treated you so badly didn’t make it easier to accept like Bradley thought it would; it only filled him with white-hot rage.

‘It’s not as easy as just leaving. She has to come to it on her own.’ ‘Yeah,’ Reuben chimed in. ‘You can’t convince Y/N of shit.’ Natasha scoffed. ‘Yup, and believe me, I’ve tried.’ ‘So what, we just sit around and watch him ruin her?’ ‘Y/N’s a smart cookie and one of the strongest people I know. She’ll come to her senses, and when she does, we’ll be here.’ ‘You know, I read somewhere once that you can’t save anyone. You can only hold their hand while they save themselves.’ Nat raised a brow. ‘Damn, Payback. That might be the wisest thing you’ve ever said.’ ‘Hey, why do you sound so surprised?’ ‘You really want me to answer that?’

Bradley had a lot to think about. Realistically, he knew there was nothing he could do. His only option was to let things unfold naturally and have faith that things would work out exactly the way they were supposed to. The only problem was, that sounded too much like ‘sit back and do nothing,’ which didn’t feel right either.

Bradley needed another drink.

In fact, he was just about to head to the bar when you came bounding over, dragging poor Bob behind you.

‘Roooooooooster.’ You cooed.

His heart just about melted when you started batting your eyelashes at him.

‘What’s up, Y/CS?’

Everyone else was watching the interaction expectantly, waiting to hear what you were going to say next.

‘You’re really pretty.’ Bradley laughed, hoping you were too drunk to notice the blush he could feel creeping across his cheeks. ‘Thank you. You’re really pretty, too.’ Nat, sensing the need to intervene, came around and gently grabbed your arm. ‘Hey, let’s get you a glass of water, huh?’ ‘But I need to tell Roo how pretty he looks.’

Bradley’s heart fluttered at your use of the pet name. He really didn’t want you to leave, but Nat was right. You needed some water and probably your bed.

‘You told him already, Y/N. And when you get back, you can tell him again.’

She started leading you away, and Bradley immediately missed your presence.

A very flushed-looking Bob took Nat’s empty stool. ‘That girl is somethin’ else.’ He murmured, pushing his glasses back up his nose. ‘I don’t think you should let her drink anymore.’ ‘I’m not her keeper,’ Bradley responded. ‘Can’t stop her from doing anything.’ Bob shrugged. ‘Maybe so, but you’re all she talked about. You and the fact that there’s no Fall Out Boy in the jukebox. Pretty sure she called it a ‘fucking tragedy.’’ Bradley leaned forward. ‘What did she say about me?’ ‘You know,’ Bob waved a hand dismissively. ‘You’re pretty. Her boyfriend is gonna kill her if he finds out she’s here with you because he thinks you have a thing for her.’ Bradley was at a loss for words. Reuben, however, was grinning like a fool. ‘What was that about not having a thing for her? Even her boyfriend’s caught on, man.’ ‘How many times do I have to say I do not have a thing for-’

An annoyingly loud ringing sound interrupted Bradley’s sentence. It didn’t sound like his ringtone, but the noise was coming from his pocket. It took him too long to remember that he had your phone in his pocket, and that it was probably Viper calling. Sure enough, when he took out your phone, he was greeted by a sickeningly sweet photo of you and your boyfriend on the beach. You and Nat were still at the bar, and he knew he should just let it ring so you could call him back later.

But something had a hold of Bradley, and he answered the call and pressed the phone to his ear before he could really process what he was doing.

‘Y/N’s phone.’

A beat of silence, then some of the most colourful language Bradley had ever heard in his life.

‘Who the fuck is this, and why the fuck have you got my girlfriend’s phone?’ ‘Y/N can’t come to the phone right now. She’s at the bar with her friend, gettin’ another round of drinks, and I just know hearing your voice would ruin her night. It’s ruined mine, that’s for sure. If you want, I can take a message, and she’ll get back to you in the morning.’

Reuben was nearly on the floor, trying desperately not to laugh in case Viper heard him. Bob had paled significantly, like he’d seen a ghost—or worse.

‘That you, Bradshaw? I just knew something was going on-’

Bradley hung up. The severity of the situation was beginning to hit, and despite the sick satisfaction he’d felt when he picked up the phone, he was regretting his decision already.

‘Y/N is gonna kill you, Rooster.’ Bob told him.

Nat made the sensible decision to cut you off, but she said you could stay out with them until closing if you promised to keep drinking water and stop fucking around with the jukebox. That was how you ended up in the corner of a booth with Bradley next to you to stop you from escaping.

Not that you’d want to escape.

Mickey had joined, and the guys were playing cards while you and Nat talked. She was catching you up on her life, and it made a change to think about someone other than Elijah for once.

That’s when it hit you.

You hadn’t checked your phone in hours, and you dreaded to think how many texts and calls you’d missed.

‘Bradley, can I have my phone?’

He set his hand of cards down on the table and reached into his pocket. When you reached out to take it, he pulled away.

‘Before I give this to you, I need to tell you something.’

A wave of nausea hit you.

‘What? What’s going on?’ ‘Viper called about an hour ago. You were at the bar, and I didn’t know what to do, so I answered it.’ Reuben leaned forward in his seat. ‘Oh, this is about to be good.’

You thought you knew what panic felt like, but up until this very moment, you had no idea. Bradley was lucky you didn’t throw up in his lap from the nerves.

‘What?’ ‘I’m sorry, Y/N. I wasn’t thinking-’

You snatched your phone from him, ignoring the kicked-puppy expression he was sporting. A slew of angry text messages that were borderline abusive greeted you. You skimmed them quickly, not wanting to read too many in case you started crying in front of the entire squad.

What started out as the best night you’d had in a while quickly turned into the worst. Your boyfriend's hateful messages reminded you why you never went out and why this was the biggest mistake you could have made.

The worst part was you saw it coming.

‘Move,’ you said, grabbing your bag. ‘Bradley, let me out now.’ ‘You can’t drive like this, Y/N. Let one of us take you home.’

Bradley sounded destroyed. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him.

‘Move.’

He nudged Bob, who stood up so Bradley could climb out of the booth. You were close behind him, and when your feet touched the floor, you nearly keeled over. Bradley reached out to steady you, but you shook him off.

‘Y/N. You can’t leave like this. How are you gonna get home?’

Ignoring his pleas, you made a beeline for the exit. Nat shoved Reuben into Mickey, trying to hurry them out of the booth so she could follow you, but you were surprisingly fast for a drunk person. Bradley was right about one thing: there was no way you could drive in this state. You ducked around the corner so Nat couldn’t see you and sank to the floor. Hot tears prickled behind your eyes as you did the one thing you didn’t want to do, but the only thing you could do.

You called Elijah.

He didn’t answer the first, second, third, or fourth time.

Half an hour passed, and you didn’t move. At one point, you heard Bradley, Nat, and Reuben talking around the corner, coming up with a plan for where to look for you. They knew you were on foot because your car was still in the lot, and since you’d disappeared so quickly, you couldn’t have gotten far. If the situation weren’t so tragic, it would’ve been funny that you were hiding ten paces away, and none of them could find you.

It was getting very late. People were getting in their cars and leaving or jumping into Ubers. Soon, your Jeep would be the only car left. You couldn’t face the daggers, and you couldn’t drive home, so you picked yourself up and took a slow walk down the beach to where the water met the sand.

What a beautiful night to have your heart broken.

There was no way Elijah would ever forgive you for this, no way you’d ever be able to convince him that nothing had happened between you and Bradley. The sane part of you knew that it was crazy to feel guilty for simply enjoying a night out with your friends, but the sane part of you rarely won these days. The part of you that loved Elijah was always loudest and knew this could never have gone any other way.

You were just about to resign yourself to calling a cab when you heard someone yelling your name from the top of the beach.

You either had the best or worst luck in the world because it was Bradley.

He made short work of the distance, giving you no time to come up with something to say. He looked otherworldly in the pale moonlight. His hair was slightly mused, and the same insane part of you that loved what it loved was whispering at you to run your fingers through it.

‘We’ve been looking all over for you, Y/N.’ He sounded very concerned as he pulled out his phone and texted the others to let them know you were safe. ‘I’m sorry, I just needed to be alone.’

You hadn’t even realised you were shivering until Bradley draped his Levi jacket over your shoulders.

‘You needed to be alone, or you needed to call Viper back?’ The tears threatened to make another appearance. ‘It’s none of your business.’ ‘What makes you think it’s not my business? I care about you and don’t want to keep watching you get hurt.’ ‘Then stop watching!’

Bradley recoiled, and you immediately felt awful. How Elijah spoke to you like that day in and day out without feeling guilty was a mystery to you.

‘I’m sorry, Bradley,’ you sighed, pulling his jacket tighter around you. ‘I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just very drunk and very emotional right now.’

He softened immediately and seemed torn about whether he should let you stand there freezing or pull you close. You hoped he wouldn’t try to pull you close because you didn’t think you’d have the guts to tell him no. Good feelings had been so incredibly hard to come by as of late.

‘Why are you still with him, Y/N?’ Bradley asked almost pleadingly.

Wow. He didn’t waste any time getting right to the point.

‘That’s a loaded question.’ ‘I need you to explain it to me because it’s killing me.’

You thought about it for a moment, and Bradley waited with bated breath to hear what you had to say.

In the end, it was this: ‘I guess we accept the love we think we deserve.’

Until you said it out loud, this phrase held little meaning to you. Now that it was out in the open, it was very heavy. In the last few months you’d tried coming up with a decent explanation as to why you were staying with Elijah, and you fell short every time. Turns out all you needed to do was get drunk and have an honest conversation to figure it out.

Coming to the realisation that what you’d just said was true felt like being in freefall. Everything in your life was changing shape to fit around this ugly truth. The good things in your heart shied away in the face of this monstrous fact.

You didn’t think you deserved a healthy love.

Somehow, Bradley was more hurt by this than when you’d snapped at him earlier. He was staring at the ground, unable to meet your eye like you’d just told him he wasn’t worthy of love.

‘You don’t think you deserve to be happy?’

Hearing him say it was somehow even worse.

‘Apparently not.’

You were both quiet for a moment, and then, for whatever reason, you laughed.

‘This is news to me too.’

The waves crashed loudly, water lapping at your feet as the tide came in. You couldn’t stand out here having epiphanies all night.

‘Listen, Rooster, I need to go home. I’m sorry for snapping.’ ‘I’ll take you home,’ he said quietly. ‘But we should talk tomorrow when you’re sober. Maybe we could get coffee.’ You shook your head. ‘After tonight, I don’t think that’s a smart idea. I’ll probably be spending tomorrow trying to salvage what’s left of my relationship.’ ‘You’re not serious.’ ‘I am.’

He opened his mouth to protest but then appeared to change his mind. You watched as all the fight he had left in him dissolved. There was nothing left for him to say, and he knew it.

The irritating birds that constantly chirped right outside your bedroom window woke you up. It was too damn early, and your head felt as though it was splitting open. When you sat up, you were hit by a wave of nausea so strong that you had no other choice but to sprint to the bathroom, smashing into the corner of your chest of drawers on the way.

Which was to say, it was a bad morning.

After you had puked up the entire contents of your stomach, you jumped straight in the shower, brushed your teeth, and did your skincare. At least if Elijah showed up at your front door, you wouldn’t look like you got super drunk last night, even though he’d probably already guessed.

When you checked your phone, there were still no notifications from him, and when you called, there was no answer. This wasn’t unlike him, but it had been almost twelve hours since Bradley picked up your phone, and you would have thought he’d have something to say by now.

To distract yourself from your impending doom, you threw open all the windows in your apartment, made your bed, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher—all the usual morning tasks. It seemed a shame to waste such a beautiful Saturday, but you doubted you’d enjoy any of your hobbies when you were this anxious and hungover.

With nothing else left to do, you set about making some breakfast.

Just as you put your bagel in the toaster, somebody knocked on the door.

Your stomach twisted itself into an impossibly tight knot. You were rooted to the spot, unable to move until whoever it was knocked a second time.

You looked through the peephole, expecting to see Elijah standing there with his dark eyebrows knitted together in frustration. It was the only scenario that had crossed your mind, so when you saw Bradley standing there, you were very surprised.

You took a deep breath and opened the door, greeted by the warm scent of sandalwood once again.

‘Bradley?’

He was holding two iced lattes, which you were betting were vanilla—your favourite. Elijah hadn’t done that for you since the first week of your relationship.

‘Hey, Y/N. Thought you could use this.’

He wasn’t wrong. You ushered him inside, and he headed to the kitchen, where he

perched himself on one of the stools at your kitchen island. This morning, he was sporting one of his more toned-down Hawaiian shirts and dark jeans. His eyelids drooped, and you wondered if he’d slept at all.

‘I was just about to make bagels. Want one?’ ‘Sure, thank you.’

You busied yourself, putting bacon and eggs into a pan while he sipped his coffee. He eyed you with the curiosity of someone who had come over to check that you were all in one piece. Once he was satisfied that you were, he relaxed slightly.

‘Thank you for bringing me home last night. I really appreciate it.’ You told him earnestly. ‘You don’t need to thank me. You’d have done the same thing.’ ‘True, but still. And I’m sorry for snapping at you.’

Last night was gradually coming back to you in flashes, like a supercut. Each time you remembered a new detail, you cringed internally.

‘You also don’t need to apologise. Has he called you?’

While the eggs and bacon were cooking, you toasted another bagel for Bradley and buttered yours. Even though you’d known him for years and been quite close until you got into a relationship, you were struggling to admit that you were pretty much being ghosted. It was already hard to walk around on base knowing that everybody was aware of how Elijah treated you. When you didn’t respond, Bradley took that as a no.

‘Well, that’s his problem,’ he spat. ‘You did absolutely nothing wrong. Maybe if he were less of a control freak, you would have felt like you could tell him you were out with us rather than hiding it, and then he wouldn’t have found out the way he did.’

The toaster popped, and you jumped. It felt like somebody had run a cheese grater over your nerves. Bradley ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath, clearly trying to reign in his anger.

‘I should apologise too,’ he continued. ‘I shouldn’t have answered your phone. It was a dick move, and I regretted it the instant I did it.’

You buttered the second bagel, put one egg on each of the bottom halves, and stacked two pieces of bacon on top before adding the top part. You didn’t say a word the entire time, and Bradley was starting to get antsy.

‘Y/N. Please talk to me.’ ‘I don’t know what to say, Roo. I’m struggling even to think straight right now. He knows it drives me fucking crazy when he’s having a go at me and doesn’t respond. I don’t understand why he does it, knowing how it makes me feel.’ Bradley sighed. ‘Because he doesn’t give a shit how you feel. He doesn’t give a shit about anything other than himself and how he feels.’

This wasn’t news to you, but again, it was more impactful to hear someone else say it out loud. Really, how long could you keep this up? Whether you thought you deserved it or not, you were starting to wonder if you might be better off alone than with someone who made living feel like walking next to a cliff with your eyes closed.

You pushed Bradley’s plate across the counter and picked up your bagel. Eating felt impossible, but getting through the day with this headache would be excruciating if you didn’t at least try.

‘Come and sit down,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s not good to eat standing up.’ Despite everything, you managed to laugh. And this time, it was a real laugh. ‘Why?’ A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. ‘I don’t know. My mum used to say it all the time.’

You did as you were told, and you walked around the island, taking the seat next to him. The two of you ate in companionable silence, periodically taking sips of your coffees. This was how easy it should have been with Elijah.

When you were both finished, Bradley put your plates, pan, and utensils into the dishwasher. You were too tired to tell him to stop.

‘Thanks for breakfast.’ You smiled. ‘Thanks for being you.’

Bradley’s smile mirrored your own. Unsaid words hung in the air, but you didn’t know what to say. His leaving didn’t feel right, but if he stayed and Elijah made an appearance, he’d most definitely break up with you.

But wasn’t this radio silence all the confirmation you needed that things were pretty much over, anyway? You were starting to wonder if this weekend had all happened exactly the way it was supposed to. Your eyes were indeed open, that was for sure. Of course, you’d known that the relationship wasn’t healthy, but this weekend had really driven the point home.

‘Do you wanna go for a walk along the beach?’ You asked, hopefully. ‘We could grab some ice cream at that little place next to the arcade.’

Bradley didn’t just look happy. He also looked relieved that you weren’t asking him to leave.

‘I’d love to.’

It was a beautiful Spring day, perfect walking weather. Honestly, it was the last thing Bradley expected you to suggest, so he jumped on the idea before you could change your mind and send him home.

Because he really didn’t want to go home.

He’d sensed that you didn’t want to talk about Viper, and you’d yet to bring up your conversation on the beach last night. Bradley was beginning to doubt that you even remembered everything you said—all that nonsense about not deserving a healthy love. Bradley didn’t take you as a liar, which meant you believed that you weren’t deserving of happiness. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt quite so sad and also angry at the same time. So many emotions were warring for the top spot in his heart, and as a result, his brain was incredibly foggy.

A walk along the beach with you was perhaps the only cure.

‘Did you hear about Hangman?’ Bradley assumed you hadn’t. ‘No?’ ‘He’s getting deployed. He’s leaving next month.’ ‘How long is he going for?’ ‘Six months.’ You whistled lowly. ‘Damn.’ ‘I know. I think he’s looking forward to it, though. I sure am.’ ‘You know, I don’t think you hate him half as much as you say.’ Bradley chuckled. ‘Maybe not, but being nice to him wouldn’t feel right. Even after everything that happened on the mission.’

The two of you walked down the beach, chit-chatting about anything that came to mind. You were about halfway to the ice cream place when your phone pinged. Bradley guessed it would be Viper, but he never could have guessed what the message said.

It was a photo of you and Bradley walking down the beach, taken from behind. The picture had been forwarded to you from someone else.

E<3: always knew you were a slut.

You inhaled sharply, obviously hurt by the words on the screen. Not two seconds later, he sent another text.

E<3: PS: we’re fucking over.

The two of you had stopped walking. Bradley watched over your shoulder as you furiously typed a reply and deleted it again. You turned to face him, and his heart just about broke when he saw the tears streaming down your cheeks. You didn’t need to say a word. He pulled you close to him, wrapping you tightly in his arms. You stayed that way for a while, sobbing into his Hawaiian shirt as he rubbed your back soothingly. When you eventually pulled away, the first thing you did was apologise.

‘There’s nothing for you to be sorry for, sweet girl. He’s the one who should be sorry.’ You sniffled. ‘I don’t know what to reply.’ ‘Leave it for now,’ he said. ‘We can go get ice cream, take a slow walk back to yours. Then I’ll help you think of something.’ ‘I don’t know if I feel like ice cream anymore.’ ‘Well, that’s too bad because I do. Ice cream is the best remedy for heartbreak.’ ‘Did your mum tell you that too?’ ‘She sure did.’

It turns out Bradley was right about ice cream being the best remedy for heartbreak. The two of you sat on the wall, watching the waves while he munched on a mint chocolate chip cone and you butterscotch. It was hard to tell whether it was the best ice cream you’d ever had or if it was because you were with Bradley. If you remembered correctly, you’d had ice cream from this same place with Elijah before, and it hadn’t been this nice.

Thinking back on your memories with him only made you want to cry, so you did your best to shove them to the back of your mind. Despite the fact that he was actually a very shitty person, he’d been a dream at the beginning, and that didn’t just go away. The happy moments didn’t just suddenly turn to ash, as much as you wished they would.

‘What are your plans for the rest of the night?’ Bradley asked around his ice cream cone. ‘I don’t know, Roo. I’m kinda working on a minute-to-minute basis right now.’ Bradley nodded. ‘Okay, well, what would you say to junk food run and a movie night?’ ‘With you? ‘If you want to. I just don’t think it’s good for you to be alone.’ ‘I don’t want you to feel like you have to babysit me.’ ‘Is that what you think this is?’ ‘No, but I don’t want to be a burden. Or a charity case.’ ‘Y/N, you’re none of those things. I always want to spend time with you. Just so happens I have a good excuse today.’ You frowned into your ice cream. ‘Okay. As long as you’re sure.’

The two of you finished your ice cream and took a slow walk back to your apartment. When you got in, the first thing you noticed was a framed photograph of you and your now ex-boyfriend on the side table in the hallway. When your bottom lip started trembling, Bradley picked up the photo, put it face down, and then proceeded to run around your apartment and take down any others. It didn’t feel like the same place you’d left a few hours ago. It was haunted by memories that would never look right in the light of day. Even the happiest ones from the start were tainted with the ugliness of his cruel words and actions.

‘This place is so depressing.’ You grumbled.

Bradley stood in front of you with a stack of photos and one of Elijah’s t-shirts.

‘It’s not. It’s your home, Y/N. We just have to pack away his stuff and put it all in a box.’ ‘An ex-boyfriend box.’ Bradley smiled sadly. ‘Yeah, exactly. It might be over, and he might be a dick, but it was still a big part of your life, and it’s important to keep the memories safe in case you wanna look back on them someday.’ ‘Or in case I wanna burn them.’ ‘That too.’ Bradley chuckled

So you helped him gather all the mementoes from your relationship and put them in an old Dr Martens box. It all looked pretty pathetic, packed away in a shoebox.

‘I found one of his hoodies and a few other things.’ You called from your bedroom. ‘Can you grab me a bin bag from the top of the fridge?’

You heard shuffling, and then Bradley was standing in the doorway holding out the bag you requested.

‘Damn, he doesn’t even get one of the nice Trader Joe's bags?’ ‘No,’ you giggled. ‘He gets a trash bag because his stuff is trash, and he’s trash.’

You weren’t really at the stage where you believed that just yet, but saying it was really satisfying, and it felt good to laugh. Fake it till you make it or whatever.

‘Want me to give it to him tomorrow?’ ‘Thanks, but I should really be the one to do it. I haven’t even texted him back.’ You thought about it for a moment and then continued. ‘Would it be cheeky of me to ask if you’ll come with me? Maybe Nat, too? I could use some moral support, and he’s less likely to make a scene if the two of you are there.’ ‘Of course I’ll be there. I won’t say anything unless you need me to or unless he starts. I can’t make that same promise for Nix, though.’ ‘I haven’t even told Nat yet,’ you sighed. ‘I don’t think I wanna talk about it right this second.’ ‘I’ll text her. Don’t worry about it.’

From your spot on the floor, you looked up at Bradley. The evening sunlight was streaming in through the windows, casting an ethereal glow around him.

‘You should change your callsign to angel.’ A look of pleasant surprise flickered across his handsome features. ‘Why?’ ‘Because you’re literally my angel, Roo. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

Half an hour later, Bradley convinced you to go on a junk food run with him in the Bronco. He said tonight was a mandatory, post-breakup wallowing sesh because if you bottled up your feelings now, you’d explode later at a much more inconvenient time.

The two of you had been screaming along to all the classic breakup songs: All Too Well by Taylor Swift (yes, he knew all the words), Who Knew by Pink, What About Now by Daughtry… He’d driven the long way to the store because you got so into it.

Now, as you scanned the shelves in Target, you asked: ‘What is it about screaming sad songs that makes you feel better?’ ‘It’s cathartic,’ Bradley explained. ‘Helps you relieve the strong feelings.’ ‘You know a lot about heartbreak.’ ‘Well, I’ve had my fair share of sadness.’ You froze. ‘That was insensitive of me, I’m sorry.’ Bradley took the packed of Reeses Pieces from your hands so he could hold them. ‘Can you make me a promise?’ ‘What?’ You asked sceptically. ‘Promise you’re gonna stop apologising to me all the time. You have nothing to be sorry for.’ ‘Sorry.’ You smiled sheepishly. He shook his head. ‘That’s not what you’re supposed to say.’ ‘Okay, fine,’ you huffed. ‘I promise to stop apologising all the time.’ ‘Thank you,’ Bradley said, releasing your hands reluctantly. ‘Now, pick out five more things.’ ‘Five? There’s already five things in the basket.’ ‘Did I ask?’ ‘I’m gonna get fat.’ ‘Don’t be so ridiculous. Wallowing means junk food, and I don’t know if you’re looking at the same basket I am, but that’s not enough junk food.’ ‘Christ Almighty, okay.’

He helped you pick out five more things, and then you headed to check out.

‘What movies are good for wallowing?’ You asked. ‘Well, we have to start with a couple of sad ones and then finish with a happy one.’

The cashier told you your total, and Bradley tapped his card before you could even get yours out. You gave him a withering look.

‘I would’ve paid for that. You paid for the ice cream.’ ‘So?’ ‘So we should take it in turns.’

Obviously, he carried the bags as well, and as you walked back to the Bronco, he couldn’t help but wonder if Viper made you take it in turns. If you were his girl, you’d never have to tap your card.

‘What’s your favourite sad movie?’ He inquired. You opened the trunk for him so he could put the bags in. ‘Technically, it’s not a sad movie. But there’s this part in Inside Out…Wait, have you watched it before? I don’t wanna spoil it for you.’ ‘The part where Bing Bong gets forgotten?’ You gasped. ‘How did you know?’ ‘Because it gets me every single time.’

The way you looked at him in that moment, like he had hung the moon in the sky—God, it was too much.

‘We’ll start with Inside Out,’ he told you, opening the passenger door so you could climb in. ‘And then we’ll think of something else.’

Without giving much thought to what he was doing, Bradley found himself buckling your seatbelt for you. You were holding your breath, and it dawned on him how easy it would be to kiss you if he were that sort of guy.

And as much as he wanted to kiss you, he was not that sort of guy. He wasn’t about to take advantage of the fact that some asshole had just taken a sledgehammer to your very beautiful heart.

‘Can we watch Bridge To Terabithia?’ You whispered.

Bradley hadn’t moved, and you were so close that he could feel your warm breath on his cheek.

‘Are you trying to break my heart, Y/N?’ ‘Yes. I want you to feel my pain.’

He was grinning the whole way around the car to the driver’s side and still grinning when he got in the car. You already had his phone in your hand, searching for more sad songs so you could continue your car concert on the way back to your apartment. He drove the long way again so the two of you could finish your rendition of ‘I Don’t Love You’ by My Chemical Romance, which Bradley didn’t know the words to. He tried his best, though, because you seemed to love it, and he couldn’t deny you anything.

By the time you got home, the sun had almost entirely set. While he set the snacks out on the coffee table, you went around lighting candles and switching on fairy lights. He’d never seen your apartment in the dark, and it was incredibly cosy. Even though it was relatively warm, you dragged all your blankets and pillows from your bed and made a little nest on the sofa. You were so adorable, it was hard to believe that someone could treat you badly.

If you were his girl, every night would look like this—except you’d be a lot happier, and there would be no tears.

Halfway through Bridge To Terebitha, you fell asleep. Bradley had been trying to keep his distance despite wanting to wrap you up in his arms, yet somehow—in your sleep—you’d ended up with your legs in his lap. He’d frozen at first, but once he realised you were dead to the world, he allowed himself to rest his hands on your knees. Really, it was that or sit with his arms crossed, and that would be silly.

For the duration of the movie, his attention flickered between you and the TV. Every time he tried paying attention to what was happening, his eyes wandered back to your peaceful face. He marvelled at your astounding beauty, the delicate way your eyelashes rested against the tops of your rosy cheeks. Bradley had always admired you, and you’d been good friends for years, but what he felt in that moment was something else entirely. By the time the end credits started rolling, he knew without a doubt that he’d set whole cities ablaze to keep you warm. Feelings as rapidly growing as his should have been terrifying, but Bradley wasn’t scared. Falling in love with you seemed to be as easy as wading out into a calm ocean on a warm summer’s day.

He knew you��d yet to learn that falling in love and staying in love should always be this easy. He knew it was going to take some time to convince you that you deserved healthy love, that the right person would never run away from you and keep turning around to make sure you were chasing them.

But Bradley was a patient man, and he would wait as long as he had to.

End of part one.

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belovedenzo · 2 months ago

Text

for the camera || lorenzo berkshire

summary; If you try and leave Lorenzo, he'll spread your videos all over Hogwarts. Then he'll remind you who gets to decide when you can leave. Revenge p*rn.

warnings; smut 18+! sharing someone's videos, cheating, very very toxic enzo, manipulating asf. he's in his super villain era

words; 2.5k

notes; I love to see that you guys have been enjoying my stories so here's another! enjoy :3 open for requests and moots!

It’s never been a secret to anybody that Slytherin’s ‘sweet golden boy’ didn’t exactly live up to his clean and clear reputation. Maybe if it wasn’t for beloved, sweet amber eyes of his- he’d be held accountable for his actions. Lorenzo Berkshire is simply known for his charm- which he uses against everyone around him. Including you.

You knew this- you genuinely knew this but caught feelings against your own better judgment. Now you’re in this sticky position- deciding on if you can handle his overly flirtatious personality. At least- that’s what he swears it’s due to- his nasty habit of ending up in the arms of other girls. You never took him as the loyal type anyways- although it still stung once it actually happened a few times.

Every weekend a party is thrown in the slytherin common room, primarily by Lorenzo and his friends. Last weekend was no exception, meaning every body would gather together and do substances that you could probably get in trouble for. These parties have always been like a hunting ground it seems to the boys, the one you’ve been sleeping with included. That didn’t seem to change when you started seeing him; and you’re honestly unsure why you had almost hoped it would.

Every time you have sat and watched from a far as Enzo whispers in the ears of other pretty girls in your year. He floods your mind with excuses every time you try and confront him-

“It’s just the way I talk- we are just friends.”

“Why are you acting like you can hear what I’m saying to them? I’m doing nothing wrong.”

“You can’t accuse me just because you’re jealous.”

You always catch him grinning smugly after you give into his whining- knowing he got what he wanted. This time however, his hand was just a little too low for excuses and nothing he could say would have defended him here really. It was obvious he wanted this girl. You are now left to really decide if you want to continue seeing him; might as well get out while you still can, right? While it won’t hurt quite as bad.

After every class you find yourself trying to hide from him- trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation. The last time you had seen him wasn’t pretty and he knew you were at your breaking point with him. However, today was the day you ran into him, like he had also caught on to your avoidance and began too sought after you. He had quickly pulled you into a currently empty study room and that is now, how you ended up in this situation.

“What do you mean you’re done with me?” It may have not been easy to muster up this kind of courage but it had to be done and and by the expression on his face, he’s not taking it very well. “You can’t break up with me.” His voice is laced with irritation, maybe even some concern. The room is dimly lit, but through this you can still see his eyebrows knitted together into a scowl. While you expected him to be upset, definitely not not this upset.

You sighed in deep, attempting to keep your composure- you have to stay strong. “I’m done Enz- you can’t convince me.” You held confidence in your tone and body language. “I’m tired of watching you flirt with other girls.” Your eyes attempted not to roll into the back of your head as you spoke. “I can’t date you.” You threw your hands up in defeat, watching as his expression contorts again.

Before you can move any farther away, merlin forbid near the door- he grabs your wrist with his long fingers. “Hey now- don’t be like that. You like me.” He gives you that look, the same look he gives you any time he wants another piece of you. This look always manages to weaken you and bring down the guards you hold up.

You look back at him with pleading eyes to not do this and just let you walk away. You do like him- but at what cost? How foolish can you act before it’s too foolish? But when his eyes don’t falter that tells you he won’t be giving you up easily.

He liked his little convenience. The one that would be there at the end of the day if he ever actually felt the human emotion of loneliness. That’s the kind of blanket Lorenzo has always needed- reaches for, and he’s gotten used to you. He didn’t even let your lips part to speak a word before he was closing in the distance once again. “You can’t leave me, y/n. You don’t really want to leave me.” He lets out what sounds like almost an amused chuckle.

As usual- his reaction is to try and manipulate and coax you into what he wants. As usual… it’s working. He’s gentle at first, using his thumb to rub circles onto the bone of your wrist in his grasp. That is until you go to pull away and reject him once more that his grasp tightens. “Lorenzo, I-“

An almost malicious like chuckle surfaces from his throat- your words coming to a stop once again as he pulls you in, psychically and theoretically. “You what baby?” He teases you as if your words mean nothing, because they don’t to him. His eyes suck you in while making you feel so small at the same time as he towers over you with his long, broad figure. “What’s the matter?” His words are filled with a faux pout of concern for your feelings.

Your eyes narrow, deciding that today is not the day you give into his intoxicating antics. You go to pull away this time, with more force than the last. His eyes never leave yours, watching your defiance take place like it’s simply a temper tantrum.

His grip hardens again, along with his eyes as he quickly stops your movements once again. “Stop.” This time he sounds serious, losing the sardonic tone. He is tired of playing these childish little game with you.

A rock forms in your throat and stomach as he presses a red bruise into the skin of your wrist. His other hand flies to your hip- or attempts to. His hand comes in contact with the air as you tug your body away again, this time with all the strength that you have.

For a moment, you feel as though you had finally proven your point about leaving and gained your freedom from this confrontation. You had gotten yourself fully turned around and headed towards the door this time but to your dismay and shock, two hands grab your hips from behind, craning their fingers around your front. His big hands had your hips in a tight lock.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He pulls you in, your ass pressed against his front, nice and close- just the way he likes it. “We don’t have to argue.” He says soft against the back of your head, his tall frame hovering over the back of you. He leans down to be level with your neck, placing a soft kiss against the nape.

Barely a mewl is brave enough to escape your lips as your entire body tenses, his lips tickling the back of your neck. “Besides, you wouldn’t want those videos of us going anywhere would you?” Those videos.

This makes your eyes widen, lips parting in shock. Lorenzo has always been known for being a persuasive little shit. So when he begged and begged for you to let him take a video with a camera from the muggle world, you just couldnt object. You should have known that would back fire. He has multiple intimate videos of him pounding into you at different angles. Worst of all; he has a few of your mouth wrapped around his cock as he gags the life out of you. The more your thoughts begin to race, your heart follows in dread.

“I’ll find a way to make sure everybody watches those videos of you.” His breathe is warm on the shell of your ear. “They’ll all see how good of a slut you are for me.” As he speaks, he’s slowly inching you body forward to exactly where he wants you.

A squeal exerts from your chest and your knees buckle to the table in front of you, leaving you now bent over in front of him, his hands still gripping the sides of your hips. “But you’d like that wouldn’t you?” A gasp leaves your lips a second after his grip yanks your hips in the direction of his.

“N..No.” You manage to stutter. The idea of anyone seeing you like that brings tears to your eyes but he has you in a vulnerable spot and you can’t protest. Against your own will, you feel a pit form in your stomach and a burn between your legs.

“You wouldn’t?” He says softly, leaving a warm kiss to ease his cold words. “Then I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere.” You know Lorenzo well enough to know that he isn’t just yanking your chain for a reaction, his threats are sincere and he’d do it with a smile on his face. He leaves a few more gentle kisses around the nape of your neck before pulling away.

This sudden loss of contact made a soft sigh leave you, a chuckle coming from him at the sound. “Desperate.” Is all he says before pushing you onto the ground. You fell to the hard wood of the school floor with a thunk, earning another short chuckle from the boy above you.

Your eyes trail up to meet his that shown a darker cast than usual, making your nerves stand on end. You should get up and run, or better yet stand up for yourself but all you can do is watch an he now steps back closer. Apart of you likes the effect this attitude of his is having on you.

His eyes stay on yours as he unbuckles his belt. “Come here.” His voice has finally lost all of it’s fake charm and sweeteners.

Maybe it was the bass of his voice but it commanded you so you crawled closer, finally closing the distance. You wondered to yourself if you look as pathetic as you feel. His eyes were bored into you from below him as a smirk crawls onto his lips.

He motions to his pants, letting you do the rest of the work. “Go on.” He doesn’t seem to have much patience and even if he does you don’t want to test it- not after his threats were made. “Show me how much you need me.”

What you do next would leave you deplorable. Your hands quickly make work of removing loosened belt, tugging his pants half way down his legs along the way. “Enzo… please don’t show anyone that-“

With that, you remove the final layer and come face to face with his already hardened cock. “We’ll see- be good.” He demands- cutting you off by shoving his member down your throat which catches you off guard. A gasp tumbles from his lips as the warmth of your mouth covers the tip. “So, good.” The taste of precut floods your taste buds.

You suck in your cheeks, doing your best to hollow out your mouth for his girth to fill. He makes another satisfied grunt before slamming the rest of himself down your throat with force. Usually you’d tell him to slow down and give you a moment before he chokes you to death, but the fear of disappointing him fills your mind. What if you don’t do an adequate job and he shows your friends, professors- or worse; his friends and professors. No body would ever look and respect you the same again.

He lets out a few sounds of praise, easing you into thinking you’re not doing a terrible job. He doesn’t let you do this for long however until he has you bent over that same table once again. Your mouth wasn’t good enough to teach the lesson he needed to teach.

“You feel so good baby, maybe I don’t want anyone else to see you like this.” His words practically purr out of his throat as he positions himself behind you and slides in like it’s your pussy’s second nature to consume his cock. He pounds into you, leaving no time for you to adjust to his size.

Soft and seraphic moans of need and want fill the atmosphere of the empty room around you, bouncing off the walls. He sure does have a way of always hitting your achiest, gummiest spots. “Enz…” His name falls between your lips- which just causes another grunt of satisfaction to come from behind you.

You crane your neck painfully to see a smirk forming on his cheeks. It’s just a second before his hand comes up and nearly slams your face back down into the table- but not hard enough to cause pain. He gives your hair a small tug as a yelp ties into your moans.

“It couldn’t hurt for me to record a few more, right baby?” The soft tone that leaves his lips is polarizing compared to his rouch touch. He was up to no good. You hear him press the record button after dragging out the small muggle camera from his back pocket, a sigh escaping your lips at the sound. A realization that he once again- had you.

A depraved chuckle leaves him as he pounds into you at a now even faster rate. He was prepared to give the camera a real show. “Now say my name again- this time for the camera.” He reaches over your body and mercilessly yanks your hair once again, to show that pretty little fucked out face to the camera.

You chant his name like a prayer while he smiles to himself, watching the sight in front of him unfold. You weren’t ever going to try and leave him again and he’s made sure of that. If you do he’ll simply show everyone at Hogwarts- your newest sex tape.

love, spell

taglist; just tagging blogs I really like @shyamanuensis @prythiansprincess @nottslove @redeemingvillains @riddlesbunny @nottsamor @nottsbaby @nottsstar @nottsluvv @riddleswhcre @riddlesrizzler @ur-local-wizard @enzosbabyangel @nemesyaaa @writingsbychlo @obsessedwithceleste @anawritez-posts @hayleygrrr @viperify @draco-malfoys-lovergirl @malfoysanctuary @pizzaapeteer @riddlesgrl @amongemeraldclouds @suugarbabe @musingsofahufflepuff @theosbae @dearmisshoney lmk if you wanna be on or off the taglist!

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ghost-proofbaby · 1 year ago

Text

mind blown (eddie munson x fem!reader)

summary: when you get a certain achievement while playing baldur's gate 3, it catches your boyfriend's eye.

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

warnings: slight spoilers for baldur's gate 3 game, TALK OF MONSTER FUCKING/TENTACLES, you literally have the option to fuck a monster in the game and that is the premise for this one-shot. it isn't described in great detail, but is a background bit. and eddie makes fun of you for it. a lot. oral (f receiving, insinuated m receiving at the end). use of nickname "good girl". minors dni.

wc: 3.5k+

a/n: for anyone who was forced to witness me rizz the emperor on my last bg3 stream - consider this my... apology? half the time i was writing this i couldn't take it seriously so please laugh with me.

also, shout out to @hellfire--cult for the best possible divider EVER.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MIND BLOWN!

You don’t even notice when the notification pops up in the lower left corner of your screen. It’s the smallest of blips, hardly signified by the quiet ding from your Steam account in a pitiful attempt to congratulate you for the monstrous crimes you were currently committing on your screen.

But hey, you’ve got to experience the entire game, right?

“What the fuck,” you whisper to yourself as you click on the second dialogue option, eyes locked on your screen is disbelief in your own actions, “What the fuck.”

2. Take its tentacle in your hand, invite it in.

You watch in absolute awe as, who would have guessed, your Tav takes the tentacle in their hand, inviting the Mind Flayer in.

Oh, you’re not seeing Heaven for this. You’re getting kicked straight to Hell, receipts pulled up of this very moment in your lifetime. That time you only cackled when your younger sibling broke their wrist? Fine. That time you let a door slam shut on some random grandma? Forgivable.

But making your video game character fuck the tentacled-should-be-enemy? No, yeah, you’re heading straight to the flames.

“Oh. My. God.”

You really, really, really should have noticed the achievement notification. Should have considered the fact that this was an achievement at all. Should have considered that your achievement would be public. Should have noticed who was currently online, and who would be getting the notification of your sins.

Should of thought of your boyfriend, in the living room, playing the very same game on your shared gaming laptop that had been reduced to solely allowing the two of you to play Baldur’s Gate 3 at the same time.

But you’re too entranced by tentacles and embarrassment and shit, is this kind of hot? Is The Emperor kind of hot? to think of any of this until it’s too late.

One moment, you’re leaning far more forward than you had realized, drawn into the screen as your mouth hangs wide open in that continued naivety of disbelief that the game actually allowed this, and the next, two hands are landing on the back of your chair and shaking you out of the trance.

“Shit!” you can’t help but scream, scrambling wildly to yank off your headset with flailing hands. A few of your knuckles connect with something hard, and you spin quickly to find Eddie standing there with a hand clutched over his nose, “Oh my God, baby, I’m so sor-”

“Are you fucking the mindflayer?” he all but yells, not looking to be in an ounce of pain even as he continues to shield his face where your hand had blatantly smacked him. His eyes catch the screen in the same trance you had just been under before yelling out, “Holy shit, you’re fucking the mindflayer!”

“It’s not what it looks like-”

“You are literally fucking the space squid right now.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re fucking a glorified piece of sushi right now. You are literally-”

For the second time in the span of what hasn’t even been a full minute, your hand slaps Eddie’s face. This time, it’s more purposeful, slamming your palm right over his mouth before he can continue what you can’t even be sure is teasing.

And you’re missing the entire scene. Thank God for learning to quicksave as a reflex, you suppose.

“Eddie, I swear to God, do not speak another word when I drop my hand,” you threaten, no real violence behind your words as he glowers at you. You can see all that mischief swirling behind the look he gives you, every possible bad idea to ever exist in this Universe manifesting in those big brown eyes as they stare widely into yours. “Do you understand?”

He nods. Your mistake for trusting him, you suppose.

The moment your hand has dropped from him, it reveals that giddy smile, dimples screaming for your instant regret before he even opens his mouth to say, “Play it again.”

“Excuse me?”

“Go ahead,” he waves towards the screen where the scene is beginning to wrap up, your current companions interrupting the moment in horror. If you had still been entranced, you would have been an absolute mess. But all your focus had been stolen away to the boy towering over you, “Reload the save. Replay the scene for me.”

Your brows furrow as you cross your arms, shaking your head, “No.”

“No?”

“No,” you repeat yourself more firmly, leaning into your stubbornness, “I am not replaying the scene for you after you just made fun of me for partaking in it.”

Eddie wastes no time pouting as he throws himself down onto the bed nearby, looking at you with unimaginably forced disappointment, “Come on. You’re no fun.”

You hate how cute he looks right now. Bottom lip jutted out for dramatic effect, legs splayed out to straddle the corner of the bed. He leans back on his arms, torso elongating as you watch him take every steady and expectant breath. He looks determined.

Unlucky for him, you’re just as stoic in your decision.

“C’mon,” he whines softly, changing his approach when he realizes the cocky exterior isn’t chipping away at that set look on your face, no faltering in your decision to ignore his request, “Please? We both know that I’m not going to be fucking the squid, so this is my only chance to see the-”

“He’s not a squid,” you groan, starting to turn your chair to face the screen again and continue your gameplay, “Might I remind you just how hot my guardian was prior to the whole tentacle reveal? You can’t even blame me for succumbing to this, you know.”

His lips press together tightly, biting back a grin.

“Your guardian was very hot. But, pray tell, baby, why did you choose to fuck the tentacled version?” You’re not having this conversation. You blatantly refuse to, picking your headphones back up and beginning to slip them over your ears when Eddie’s hand shoots out to stop you, “Wait. I have an idea.”

“I’m not reloading the save so you can see the scene, Eddie-”

“What if…. I technically don’t watch the scene?”

You halt all movement willingly, headphones still hovering in midair even as Eddie takes his hand away. “What do you mean?”

He leans forward, elbows digging into his thighs, sly smile shimmering on his lips as he finally abandons the god-forsaken pout. He’s radiating pride as he simply asks, “Wanna have your mind blown in real life?”

Your entire body flushes with heat, starting to actually get embarrassed that Eddie wasn’t letting this go.

“With God as my witness, if you do not stop making fun of me for this, I will kick you out of this room and lock the door.”

“I’m not making fun of you,” he says slowly, inching off of the bed, dropping to his knees on the carpet of your shared bedroom, “Not in the slightest, sweetheart. I’m making you an offer.”

You eye him cautiously as he slowly makes his way closer to you. When he’s nearly tucked under your desk, you’re quick to bring your knees up, still terribly weary and unsure of where he’s going with this.

“What do you mean then, having my mind blown in real life?”

Eddie’s smile has gone downright salacious as he easily fits himself under the desk that holds your computer, situating himself perfectly so that if you were to drop your legs back down, he’d be kneeling prettily between your knees.

“Reload the scene. And drop your legs, yeah?”

He says it so casually, nonchalance dripping from his tone as if he’s just asked you to pass him salt or inquired about the weather rather than the actual request he was insinuating. It has your knees pressing more tightly together, your chin dropping on top of them as you stare down at him in the cramped space.

“Are you… are you seriously suggesting what I think you’re suggesting right now?” you question, each word falling from your mouth slowly.

It had been a while since either of you had really gotten your hands on one another. Not on purpose, of course. The two of you had simply fallen victim to the immersive game, spending most of your free time either playing your individual campaigns or joining one another on a multiplayer one. Afternoons melted away from gameplay, and the two of you were usually already to the point of exhaustion once you’d end up in bed together. There had been a certain lack of affectionate touches, suggestive squeezes of your thighs and faux-innocent kisses of the neck. And neither had noticed, minds equally preoccupied on thoughts of pixelated characters and harrowing journeys over a screen.

You can’t remember the last time either of you outright suggested sex.

“Deathly serious,” you can see the shine of his teeth as he flashes them in the dark space. You continue to hesitate until he quickly adds on, “Only if you want to, of course. If not, I can always fuck off and leave you to Squidwar-”

“I want to,” you interrupt, ignoring the new nickname for the Mind Flayer that he had started to taunt you with. You carefully let your feet slip off your chair, avoiding knocking him in the face with your ankles. He aids you, a careful hand running from the back of your knee and down your calf as he guides your legs to rest on his shoulders. The fact that you had started gaming without pants was suddenly very helpful.

“Good girl,” it’s sort of ridiculous, the way his words cut right to your core, nearly making you let out a small gasp. Your body is suddenly very aware of just how long the accidental bout of celibacy had been, “A few rules before we begin. You’re going to reload the scene, and really watch it this time. Headphones and all, got it?”

He places a chaste kiss to your inner thigh, and this time, you can’t bite back your little gasp. It only elicits a chuckle from him as you eagerly nod. You could care less about the game at this point, but you can’t seem to find the words to tell him this.

“If you stop focusing on the scene, I stop eating this pretty little pussy.”

If you weren’t so light-headed from the way his breath hits your clothed core currently, you’d probably see just how ridiculous this entire scenario was. It was downright laughable. Even a little shameful, honestly. By no means was it the weirdest situation that you and Eddie had turned into a game of sex, but it was certainly up there.

God, you were in love with a fucking weirdo. And it made you just as weird, if not weirder, as he was.

He gently slaps at your knee, forcing your attention to focus back on him, “Got it?”

“Got it,” you manage to choke out just as his hands begin to trail up to your hips, playing with the lace of your panties teasingly.

You lift yourself ever so slightly off the chair as he slips your underwear off, bringing the fabric down agonizingly slow. He has to shuffle plenty, guiding your limbs around just to finally remove the garment, but you hardly pay attention to all that awkwardness. Your Tav is still on the screen, awaiting instruction just as you were.

When Eddie finally has your panties off, knees back to hanging on his shoulders, you can hear him let out a soft groan at the sight of you.

“Fuck,” he sighs gently, leaning his cheek against your knee ever so slightly, “The tentacles really do it for you, huh? Already fucking soaking-”

“Shut up about the tentacles,” you groan out, throwing your hand back in exasperation, “For the love of God, please shut up about the-”

“Ah, ah,” he tsks, pulling farther away from you, “Might I remind you the whole point of this is all those tentacles on your screen right now, baby? Maybe I should have you hook up your speakers instead of your headphones just to make sure I can hear the entire scene.”

You’d honestly forgotten about the scene at this point. It was the least intriguing part of your evening now.

When you stay quiet, biting your lip to avoid making anymore smart ass remarks that would only prolong what you desperately wanted, desperately needed, he finally takes it as his cue.

That damn grin, dimples and all, look up at you with all the ill intent in the world as he gestures for you to slip on your headphones. You do it immediately, and just before you’ve fully engulfed your ears with them, Eddie says, “Now, please do the honors, and hit F8 for me, doll.”

Immediately, the only noise you can hear is the ambience from the game. One swift punch of your F8 key pauses it entirely, sudden music replacing it as the reload screen appears on the computer. Eddie waits, staring up at you for a few moments, probably having memorized just how long these damn reloads take from how much the two of you save scum in the game (Ironic, given during your first playthroughs, he’d scolded you endlessly for save scumming rather than just trusting the dice and letting it all play out.)

After a few beats of stillness, you can see the scene prepared and ready for you to begin to click the options again to initiate the scene in your peripheral. Your eyes are still locked on Eddie’s, though.

He makes no move to move any closer to you, though, still smirking before he finally mouths ‘watch the game’.

It’s only once you do as you’ve been told that he has his mouth on you.

He starts slowly as you distract yourself with the screen, peppering kisses along your knees and inner thighs, working his way towards your pussy. Teasing you, taunting you, dangling what he knows you want so badly that it aches and has you spasming around absolutely nothing. It takes more effort than you could care to admit to focus your vision on the dialogue options, and even more to remember which one is going to initiate the goddamned scene.

When your shaking hand reaches for the mouse and finally clicks the correct option (thank God), his mouth finally hovers over your slick folds.

Whatever the Emperor says falls on ringing ears. Subtitles are useless, the words blurring together on the screen when his tongue takes its first stride across your core.

Your knuckles are paling from how tightly you grip your poor mouse, and you almost consider what you would do if this situation leads to you breaking such a vital piece of the shared gaming setup, but Eddie’s mouth is quick to distract you. You feel the vibrations of the hums falling from his lips just as they trail to wrap around your clit, forming suction as he gives one harsh suck that has your mouth falling open in a silent gasp. Your eyes can barely manage to stay open as you blindly click for the next dialogue option being presented.

Kiss the tentacle and hope that it’s an erogenous appendage.

Not quite the same path you’d taken before, but it’ll get the job done. Especially when Eddie’s fingers are digging into the flesh of your thighs even harsher, pressing himself even harder against you as his tongue dances over your sensitive bundle of nerves. Kitten licks, but every single one sends a bolt of electricity up your spine.

The sound that comes from the Emperor in the game doesn’t matter to you, completely overridden by the audible groan you can just barely catch from Eddie as your headphones begin to slip off.

Was that… a good sound?

You hadn’t noticed you’d breathily recited the words you read across the scene until movement below the desk catches your eye, and Eddie is nodding into your cunt more eagerly than the character on the screen could ever be capable of.

It’s the type of eagerness that has you whimpering, the kind of enthusiasm that guides one of your hands away from the keyboard and down to tangle into the roots of Eddie’s curls.

He’s going to be the death of you.

His grip tightens until he’s tugging your hips hard enough to bring you further slumped down in your seat, letting your thighs cradle either side of his head. His nose bumping your sensitive clit as his tongue circles teasing against your entrance. Once, twice – and then it dives in, pushing you to arch your back, a soft cry leaving you as you yank at his hair.

With a heaving chest, you find yourself reciting another line of words from the screen despite making no move to click any options, “Do it again. Please, God- do it again.”

He lifts to look at you at that, smiling wide with glistening lips and chin alike, “God? Oh, you’re making me blush, babe.”

“Eddie-” you start, but a smack on your thigh from one of his ringed hands effectively shuts you up.

“Play the game, and I’ll do it again.”

Your hand smacks against the mouse, and you must click the right option, the exact command you’d just demanded of Eddie, because the scene continues on.

You’re not watching the screen. Not consistently. Your eyes can’t stop flickering down to your boy, to his dark eyes shining up at you as he keeps his face buried between your thighs, the only thing giving away his current grin being the slightest crinkle beside those eyes.

The entire sequence from before is simply playing out, just as before, but your mind stays on the feeling of Eddie’s tongue on you. When he releases one of your thighs and brings his fingers into the mix, stretching you out far more fully than his tongue had, you’re preening beneath his touch. Gasps, moans, whimpers, sobs – they all fall from your lip as he knows just how to work you. All the right touches to bring your neglected body to the precipice, practically worshiping you on his knees as the brightness of the screen exposes your face to him. Eyes tightly screwed shut, mouth wide open, lips swollen from poor attempts to keep your noises down through biting them.

It only encourages him further. Only has him forgetting entirely about the game as well, the only goal on his mind being making you cum on his tongue.

And you do.

In hot waves, broken calls of his name, both hands tugging mercilessly on his hair. Your thighs are squeezing his cheeks tightly as you clench down on his fingers.

Somewhere between all the whispers of his name, numerous squeaks of please falling from your mouth, he slows down. He gives you a chance to bask in the after-warmth of it all, your entire body buzzing as you catch your breath. You truly, genuinely hadn’t expected to cum that quickly. But it had been a while, and if anyone knew your body well enough to get you off in record speed, it was the man currently still seated on sore knees with a winning grin on his face.

“Your headphones aren’t even on anymore, you cheater,” he teases, sounding just as out of breath as you felt.

You detangle your fingers from his hair, retracting your hands just far enough for one of them to flip him off, “Shut up.”

Your eyes are still closed, head leaning back almost painfully as the headphones cut into your neck. If you could live in this moment forever, you probably would.

He presses forward, placing a quick peck to your sensitive core that makes your legs try to squeeze together instinctually, “Make me.”

At those two words, you finally open your eyes, slowly lolling your head towards him, eyes narrowing at the challenge.

“Get off the floor and onto the bed, and I will.”

You don’t have to tell him twice.

The entire process somehow manages to remind you just how ridiculous the situation was. Watching Eddie clamber clumsily out from beneath your desk, cheekily flashing you the set of panties he’d taken off of you that he shoves into his pocket. Eyes glued on him as he flops himself down onto your shared bed, still looking far too proud of himself.

Your heart swells as you look at the absolute idiot, knowing he was yours.

“Well?” he asks expectantly, raising his eyebrows as he shimmies his shoulders jokingly, “You gonna make me or not, sweetheart?”

You’re quick to start to jump out of your chair, just eager to be close to him again, deciding the game could wait until tomorrow. Just as you do, however, Eddie puts up a hand, biting back an even wider smile.

“I’m only reminding you because I won’t hear the end of it otherwise,” he drawls, slowly pointing a finger back towards the desk, “Don’t forget to press F5.”

You roll your eyes, but you do as he says.

It works. It’ll save you time next time you reload the game – allowing you to skip the entire encounter, considering the way you’ve discovered there are far more fun ways to have your mind blown.

Now, however, it was Eddie’s turn.

eddie's taglist: @capricornrisingsstuff @thisisktrying @hideoutside @vol2eddie @corrcdedcoffin

@ches-86 @alovesongtheywrote @its-not-rain @feralchaospixie @cheesypuffkins87

@thebook-hobbit @babez-a-licious @eddies-acousticguitar @aysheashea @kellsck

@cosmorant @billyhvrgrove-main @micheledawn1975 @eddiesxangel @siriuslysmoking

@witchwolflea @tlclick73 @magicalchocolatecheesecake @mizzfizz @nanaminswhore

@mikiepeach @ali-r3n @hawkebuckley @alwaysbeenfamous @darkyuffie-blog

@vintagehellfire @lilmisssiren @elvendria @loveryanax @stylexrepp

@princessstolas @fangirling-4-ever @eddiesguitarskills @babez-a-licious @josephquinnsfreckles

join my taglist!

(please let me know if the tagging worked!!)

#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson one shot #ghost's stories

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artbyblastweave · 8 days ago

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It seems like both Nolan's Batman trilogy and The Batman (2022) are attempting to interrogate/deconstruct/reconstruct/whatever the inherent problems with the Batman character, but (imo) these depictions don't go nearly far enough. Do you agree? If you could make a Batman movie how would you go about it?

It's been a very long time since I've watched it, but my read on the The Nolan Trilogy is that to the extent that it's interrogating anything about Batman Specifically- vs trying to make some high-falutin' Nolanian point about the nature of Myth and Heroism Yadda yadda yadda- it's interrogating the difficulty in getting audiences to take the character seriously, with the long shadow of Adam West, Tim Burton and the 90s Cartoon hanging over the property- the cocktail of camp and dreamlike otherworldly stylization that all previous installments used to carry the character over the finish line of believability. The result is 21st-century Batman (derogatory), all tacticool body armor and ripped-from-the-headlines surveillance state gizmos and military-industrial surplus tank-cars and antagonists who're laundered through the anxieties of the post-9/11 zeitgeist of the Foreign Anarcho-Orientalist cultists Out To Destroy Our Way Of Life, For Reasons. It's still irreducibly a story about a guy dressed as a bat beating the shit out of a clown, but it's the least about that that it can get away with being. And from an engineering perspective, it clearly worked- it was an incredibly popular installment, even before we'd crossed the cultural rubicon of superheroes being truly mainstreamed. But it's pretty obvious from my tone that I've soured on the project pretty thoroughly.

The Batman (along with it's companion piece The Penguin) is actually much, much closer to being a deliberate mediation on the core dynamic of the character and the implications thereof, in a way I personally found extremely satisfying; it manages to strike a balance between portraying Being Batman as a fundamentally juvenile and half-baked response to the problems that he's attempting to address (real) and portraying Being Batman as fundamentally really really really really cool. Any time he's shown doing Batman Shit it's framed as genuinely awesome; it falls into a vaguely similar zone as Nolan, except instead of feeling like it's trying to be as little like a comic book as it can get away with, it's trying to feel as much like a comic book as it can get away with without having someone like Clayface or Solomon Grundy show up. At the same time the story is adamant in its thesis that even if it works, you would have to be an incredibly weird person to think of, and then commit to, Being Batman. This six-foot weirdo in body armor is the biggest freak in any room that doesn't also contain The Riddler. Everyone is a little on edge when he's in the room, and consequentially a lot of the film reads like an extremely deadpan comedy- the polar opposite of the camp of Batman 66, where everyone treating this guy as perfectly normal is part of the gag. Of course, this comes back around thematically in that Bruce is afforded his eccentricities because he's incredibly rich- nobody else could get away with ignoring their own finances (and the massive graft at play) in order to go ride a motorcycle around attacking muggers, and he only solves the last puzzle because a cop who happens to be in the room has a blue-collar brother who works with a flooring tool that Bruce (who spent an extended sequence vandalizing the incredibly expensive floor of his penthouse!) can't even recognize. If you can't tell from my tone, I like this movie a lot! Anyway, In terms of how I'd do it, I think the currently unexplored option is a live-action film where due to the cranked-up four-color peak-comic-book insanity of the world around him, Batman comes across as the only sane one, despite the fact that he's dressed as a bat. This would a story about a relatively well-adjusted if somewhat taciturn and subdued guy doing a thankless job, except the thankless job is Being Batman. He'd have the same ridiculous Bat-everything overpreparation as Batman 66, deployed with significantly less verbal fanfare but without ever missing a beat. The first scene in the movie would be him getting bodied out a second story window by one of the genuinely superhuman bruisers like Grundy or Clayface before regaining his footing and squaring up, and the rest of the opening would be a montage covering a Day in the Life of Batman. Kevin Conroy's deadpan, matter-of-fact characterization translated into live action. Do You See My Vision

#Batman #thoughts #the batman #meta #ask #asks

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hettyoon · 5 days ago

Text

❥︎ Character; Rafayel Game; Love and deepspace

❥︎ Genre; fluff !! || established relationship || 2nd pov

❥︎ Warnings; rafayel may be ooc here I'm honestly too tired to tell lmao

❥︎ Notes; this has been in my drafts for god knows how long, and of course I had the great idea to polish this up right when I have an exam I haven't studied for in a couple hours (watch me regret this later). Also is it clear that I did not know how to end this 🧍‍♀️

❥︎ 𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐋;

You were currently at Rafayel's house, chilling down on the sofa in his living room while scrolling through your phone. As for him, he sat down cross-legged in front of his canvas, trying to find inspiration for his next art piece. A number of painting tools and colours were scattered around on the carpet floor in a messily order. He had been staring at the plain drawing board for a solid ten minutes now, one of his hands placed on his chin in deep thought.

With nothing interesting happening on your phone, you decided to set the device down to admire the focused look on your lover's face. His cheeks slightly puffed out, and his eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to find an answer to whatever artistic dilemma he was facing.

Honestly, he appeared so cute with that expression that you just felt the sudden urge to wrap your arms around him and give his cheeks a good pinch between your fingers. He somehow had this great ability to awaken some kind of cuteness aggression in you thay you couldn't subdue, and right now unfortunately for him, you were already in the process of finding out how to act on these intrusive thoughts that were circling around in your head.

It's not like you had anything stopping you. In fact, you were pretty sure he was so deep in thought right now that he probably wouldn't even notice you creeping up on him all of a sudden. Especially since he didn't even comment on you just blatantly staring at him for the past couple minutes. You were one hundred percent certain he would've done so if he had noticed, probably teasing you about how oh so good looking he is that you can't even avert your eyes away from his face in his presence, or something along those lines.

And so with that, your new thought out plan was now in action. Placing your hands flat against the sofa's handlss on your side, you lowered down your feet to the fluffy carpet, standing up and making sure you had nothing on you that would make any noise while you walked towards him.

Step by step, you made your way to where the lemurian man was sitting. He wasn't that far away from you to begin with so it wasn't long before you were looming right above his figure. Right before he could notice the sudden shadow that had fell upon him, you swiftly maneuvered your way to quickly plop down onto his lap, your hands shooting up to grab a good hold of his cheeks, pinching the soft skin between your fingers.

There was a brief moment of silence between you two as the Rafayel's brain tried to comprehend what had just happened over the past few seconds. His eyebrows were slightly lifted in surprise, and pride filled your chest, knowing you had successfully caught him off guard. Your eyes were locked with his, and you could see a soft hue of pink dusting the apples of his cheeks. It made his expression somehow even cuter than before, if that was even possible.

No need for him to know that though, his ego is already too big as it is.

Bringing your attention back to the situation at hand, a grin spread across your face as you gave his cheeks that you still held hostage between your fingers, a light pinch. That seemed to do the trick to snap him out of his trance, the light blush on his face slowly fading away as he reached up and, to your surprise, did not pull your hands away from his face, but instead counter-attack by grabbing hold of your cheeks instead.

"Hey!" You narrowed your eyes pointedly at him. This was not how this was supposed to go.

"What?" His eyebrow raised up in a questioning manner. "It's okay if you come and attack my harmless self for no reason but I can't even defend myself by attacking back?"

A light chuckle escaped your lips following his words, which were obviously not serious in the slightest, but your chuckle made his pout deepen even more. "Okay, okay, you drama queen. Also, this isn't me attacking you, this is just a new way of showing my love."

"Is it now?" He shot a questioning look at you, not quite believing your words. Which, you're not gonna lie, he has every right to after the bunch of small harmless pranks you pulled on him the past couple weeks. But hey, he kept teasing you back as well so it's not like he's completely innocent.

"Of course. See," You released your hold on his cheeks flattening your hand to gently cup his face instead. Leaning forward, you gave a quick kiss to his right cheek before turning the other way and doing the same action to his left. Lastly, you placed your third kiss right on the tip of his nose to seal the deal. "you're getting free kisses out of this."

He huffed back as a reply, but you could clearly see his cheeks taking colour in that reddish tint again at your actions. "How cruel of you taking advantage of me like that. I guess I have no choice but to accept it if this is the only way I'm gonna get affection from you."

"Oh, stop it." A giggle left your mouth as you gave a light tap to his nose. "You act like you don't snuggle up to me to sleep every single night."

His blush darkened even more at your words, although you could see in his expression his attempts to try and fight it back down. "You're the one who said you wanted to hold me!" He huffed.

"Yes, because you looked like you wanted to be held."

"Nonsense." Was his response, but you knew he'd still be cuddling up to you as usual once night falls. Not like you minded at all. You were both well aware that those moments of silently holding each other underneath the sheets was your favourite part of your daily routine, and you honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

Hetty

#love and deepspace #love and deepspace x reader #love and deep space #love and deep space x reader #lnds #lads #l&ds #lnds x reader #lads x reader #l&ds x reader #rafayel x reader #love and deepspace rafayel

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absolutebl · 1 month ago

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hello! i recently attended a panel on live action BL, and they recommended your blog for all things BL. i'd love to get into more queer shows to watch. this is oddly specific, but do you have any shows with a strong plot where one or more of the love interests is famous? anything else goes. (bonus points if they knew each other before they/either of them became famous, it's a favorite trope). thank you, and have a good day!!!

Top 10 Celebrity BLs!

I love oddly specific questions. I'm the human BL recommendation algo, and I'm ready! Although like most algos I sometimes get it way wrong. I will do my bestest.

Hello, WELCOME!

BLs with a strong plot where one of the love interests is famous, bonus for the "known since childhood" trope

I fixed your request, since in BL we just can't expect strong plot and "strong" plot is super objective anyway. I put these in order of my personal preference and noted if it breaks your criteria.

Ready? Here we go!

To My Star

(Korea 2021 Viki)

Hwang Da Seul directing this show about a neurotic actor (actual puppy) who takes refuge with a grumpy chef resulting in sparks, cooking lessons, and LOVE! It’s is a touch quirky to get into, but utterly charming once it hits its stride. This is the ultimate grumpy/sunshine pairing plus the most appealing light-filled kitchen of our dreams. I adore this show so much. Limited use of BL tropes makes this feel more of a sweet contemporary gay romance between an actor plagued by scandal and the chef who accidentally adopts him, but the gentleness will appeal to fans of the BL genre.

Doesn't have much plot and they did not know each other before, but my only 10/10 on this list.

Cosmetic Playlover

(Japan 2024 Gaga)

It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What fun!

The seme was once a famous model but left the business for harassment reasons. Again, light on plot and they didn't know each other before.

Lovely Writer

(Thai 2021 YouTube)

Thailand criticizes itself and the BL industry while simultaneously giving us classic seme/uke with great chemistry in a one-two punch of “we love it, but are we supposed to? and must we think this hard, yet enjoy it SO MUCH?” This show won’t appeal or make sense to those who don’t already have at least some Thai BL watching experience.

What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is re-exame what Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters.

This one satisfies all your criteria, but if you are new to Thai BL you should watch others first.

My Beautiful Man AKA Utsukushii Kare

(Japan 2021 Gaga)

One of the most Japanese BLs to release in the last decade, as weird and as messed up as any 2000′s yaoi: emo af and hella warped, entirely true to itself with no attempt made to modify its POV for modern sensibilities or current BL fandom. It used seriously old school problematic and kinky tropes, like whipping boy, for a truly uncompromising piece that also manages to hit up themes of communication, consent, and self acceptance. It’s a wonderful BL but uniquely dirty and harsh, in the best possible way - Japanese cinema, uncompromising. I lost my mind over the ending.

For actual celebrity status you will need to watch all 3 installments (this is the first season). But it has the tone I think you're after. They kind of are kids when the story starts so this is following them pre-fame into adulthood.

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho

(Japan 2023 Gaga)

This style of live action yaoi really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but are so repressed they don't realize they're in love. It's higher heat than we usually get from Japan's HEA stuff, and that aspect is also very well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" trope which is only exacerbated into undiluted frustration by the fact that they're already fucking.

It's great, but watching requires more patience than usual, even for Japan. That said it's also bruisingly romantic. Emphasis on bruise.

This one where they have known each other since college, and the plot is... odd and maybe absent, ya know, Japanese BL.

* ThamePo

(Thai 2025 YouTube) Watch this first! Also if no longer on YT check Viki, iQIYI, or Gaga

The boyband idol romance I've been waiting for from Korea, only Thailand did it instead. Quintessentially Thai and very GMMTV with good production values, great chemistry, and a solid support cast. It also was a hung romance mostly driven by external conflict and a found family reunion trope so I didn’t mind (too much) when that romance thread felt secondary. I loved it (except, of course, the singing).

This is it. This is the one you're probably looking for. They didn't know each other before, tho.

Unintentional Love Story

(Korea 2023 iQIYI)

OMG the plot! Uke forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the PAIN in those gorgeous eyes. Gah. Okay, so: A boy loses his job due to trumped-up corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss's favorite artist, now a recluse. Evil manager offers him his job back, if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love.

I found the artist a bit stiff and reserved but Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT - he carried this show (which I do not expect from the idol element). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, just drown in the emoting abyss. The external conflict, social tension and pressure is complex and beautifully executed, plus Korea gave us legit side dishes (NOT a love triangle, hally-fucking-luya).

Everything but the childhood. The best plot on this list, but the celebrity recluse bit might not be the kind of fame you want. Still... I loved it.

Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart

(Korea 2020 Viki)

Set in the music industry featuring a talented singer and the pianist who falls in love with him (and his music), subtle and achingly adorable. High production, low heat, short run, very tame, and Korea, so all the pretty. Slow burn and lots of pining.

He isn't quite a celebrity... yet. And they didn't know each other before.

* Love Stage!!

(Thai adaptation of Japanese original 2022 YouTube?)

This BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely: boy (now famous actor) falls in love with girl as a child, grows up to discover girl is actually a very pretty boy. Although there are some quintessentially Thai changes that mellowed, softened, and extended the romance arc.

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy, and the contrasting kinds of closets.

And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. A solid and enjoyable show.

Winner winner chicken dinner. This one satisfies ALL your criteria.

Also, if you like it there is a Japanese version, an anime, and the original yaoi.

My Stand-In

(Thai 2024 iQIYI)

Stuntman Joe dies on the job and wakes up in the body of another Joe with an entirely different life. But Joe just starts repeating the mistakes of his previous self - love, work, play. Including falling back in love with rich kid (now famous) actor Ming who used and abused him as nothing more than a toy bf in the past.

I enjoyed the experience of watching this show, I looked forward to it every week. I thought everybody did a great job with it and in it, and I liked that is was something substantially different for Thai BL. But it was divisive and left me feeling more sanguine than happy. It's not really a revenge narrative (what I wanted) nor was it a romance (what BLandia expected). I spent most of this show just very very sorry for poor Joe. But if you like your celebrity gays messy, it doens't get much messier than this.

The plot is... different, and they knew each other before just not in childhood.

BONUS

Deep Night

(Thai 2024 iQiyi)

It's about a host club and all the gay boys in it and some stuff that's not important because… PEOPLE OF EARTH WE HAVE A HONEST REP OF POLY IN A BL. Stand up and raise your hands in prayer to the Thai BL gods because sure as shit no one else was ever going to give this to us. For that alone this show gets 8/10 from me. Bonus Lesbian moms and great kisses.

Okay so the celebrities are the top performers at the club and there is no plot, but I have decided it ranks, so there.

Sirs Not Appearing In the Top 10

FC Soldout - almost made it, washed up actor + up-and-coming football player

First Note Of Love - washed up musician and talented young composer

Happy Ending Romance - it's just, not really a BL, celebrity author and betrayal!

Happy Merry Ending - dito

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto - the famous person is a professor/author, reunion romance that is about lost childhood love

Behind Cut

Ocean Likes Me

Vice Versa - in one reality one of them is a famous actor but that's not the point

At 25:00, in Alaska AKA 25 Ji, Akasaka de - you might like this one

City of Stars - this might be a good one for you if you're willing to try a Thai pulp, satisfies most of your criteria

First Love Again - he's a famous novelist but that's not really relevant

I Became the Main Role of a BL AKA BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank In Hen - it's in the title

Kabe Koji AKA Kabesaa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shounin Yokkyuu wo Kojirasete iru - this is an idol romance, but also no real kisses

My Esports Genius Brother - very very odd, no plot, and it's China censored so... oddly I have a soft spot for it anyway

Oh My Assistant - famous writer again

Pit Babe - famous sports star and a wild plot

You Are Ma Boy, EM LÀ CHÀNG TRAI CỦA ANH - idol romance with a cafe boy, it's adorable but very Vietnamese poor quality, stil an old favorite of mine

Kiss X Kiss X Kiss - the "idol series," these are shorts from Japan, 3 of them feature idols in a band together having a secret affaire

Codicils

Shows that feature a celebrity but I rated 6/10 or lower are not on this list. But add more in comments if you like.

I left celebrity chefs off this list, because I think that's not quite what you are looking for.

This is up to date so far as I and my spreadsheet of doom can determine as of March 2025. Only included completed BLs as of that month.

(source)

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disneytva · 6 days ago

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Bloomberg Confirms Disney+ As The Third Most Watched Streaming Platform For Kids Content While Discussing Cartoon Network's Depressing State After Discovery Buyout.

This morning the journalist website Bloomberg posted a article of the current state of Cartoon Network and Warner Bros Discovery struggle to attract kids consumers to it's platforms and channels like Cartoon Network, Discovery Family and the streaming service Max.

The company recently decided that children’s programming is no longer a core part of Max’s strategy with the service being just for unscripted content and dramas, further clouding Cartoon Network’s prospects. with the animation hub only for the service being for Adult Swim and Anime.

However Bloomberg's article about Cartoon Network's current and depressing state mentions that Disney+ is the third most watched platform within kids behind Netflix & Youtube.

Warner Bros Discovery no longer sees MAX as a channel for kids and young audiences; only 13% of people between 10 and 12 years old watch MAX ( 57% of the kids audiences watch Disney+, and 72% Netflix with 90% watching Youtube).

This is not surprising as last April, The Walt Disney Company mentioned that Disney Channel recently became "the leading destination for kids and family content" with hits like Big City Greens, Bluey (which Bloomberg reveals that Cartoon Network tried to buy the broascasting and streaming rights for the now defunct Cartoonito block), Kiff, ZOMBIES, Descendants, Primos, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Sofia The First, Spidey And His Amazing Friends, Amphibia, Pupstruction, SuperKitties, Robogobo, StuGo, Chibiverse, and Phineas And Ferb

The mouse owned service recently has a big pipeline in the coming months in terms of kids and family content with the premieres of ZOMBIES 4 : Dawn Of Vampires, the Phineas And Ferb revival, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, Iron Man And His Awesome Friends, The Doomies, Dragon Striker, Vampirina, How We Became The Biggest Band In The World, a revival of Malcom In The Middle, a holiday movie starring The Jonas Brothers, Hey A.J! and Magicampers.

This will continue with the premieres of Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, The Sunnyridge 3, Sofia The First: Royal Magic and Tiny Trailblazers in 2026. Disney will also release a theatrical animated Bluey film in 2027.

Additionaly for the past 5 months Disney Careers website has been hiring for 6 new Disney Television Animation animated series for Disney Channel, Disney Jr. and Disney+ with the Disney Branded Television unit developing new live-action interations of Holes, Gargoyles and W.I.T.C.H. for a new generation of fans.

According to Bloomberg, "Warner Bros. Discovery continues to rent out pieces of its historic inventory as it keeps paying down debt. Along the way, most of Cartoon Network’s past shows have been pulled from Max, either shelved to save money on upkeep costs such as residual payments to writers and actors or licensed out to other streaming services, primarily The Walt Disney Company's owned service Hulu."

"Somehow a company with three celebrated animation studios and one of the world’s largest collections of cartoons had failed to generate much interest from young viewers. Nobody came to me yesterday and said, We should get HBO Max now, Dad." --- Industry analyst Michael Nathanson when HBO Max launched in 2020.

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captastra · 2 months ago

Note

Yellow jasmine for a ship of your choice! 💛

Aaa thank you so much for asking! Was not expecting this so now, I give you my current obsession, Avowed! Featuring Kai and my envoy, Feylis, post game so expect some spoilers! Also posted on AO3 (Link below!)

Teach Me How To Dance

Kai watched as Feylis spun around the dance floor in another person's arm. It wasn't her first partner, nor the last if anyone had any say about it. From the moment the first person asked her to dance, Feylis had been dragged out time and time again.

Everyone wanted a chance with the one who saved The Living Lands. The Aedyrn that stood up to Aedyrns.

Feylis, the godlike of Sapadal. One who cured the Dreamscourge and defeated Lödwyn without even raising her weapon.

It was all anyone could talk about.

"Now why is such a strong, handsome man like yourself sulking off in the corner?"

Yatzli sat down next to him, placing her drink next to his. Kai barely glanced at her, giving her a shrug and taking a sip from his drink before turning his attention back to Feylis. Who apparently had a new partner.

Kai nodded towards his companion, but did not respond. He was too enamored by Feylis as she moved. Whether it was on the battlefield, in diplomatic relations, or out on the dance floor, every move and action was done with grace and a smile.

How could he be so lucky?

"Trying to keep your reason a secret are we?" Yatzli teased. She sat up and leaned across the table to get a view of where he was looking. Kai made no attempt to hide it, which is why he barely moved when Yatzli let out a little squeal and patted his arm excitedly. "Kai, you scoundrel. Why aren't you out there with her?"

Yatzli was the second to last person Kai wanted to admit the true reason why he stayed away from the dance floor.

"Now why would I waste my time over there, when I have a perfectly good view here?" Kai looked over his shoulder to Yatzli. "Means I can't miss a thing."

Yatzli snorted. "I thought you and Fey had already talked out your relationship? The way you two stare at each other, I hadn't even expected to see either of you at this little celebration."

The glint in her eye was all Kai needed to see to know what she was implying. Kai thought about saying something witty in response. It would be so easy to brush off her comment, act like that wasn't what he had desired from the moment Lödwyn had collapsed and Feylis looked up at him with those pink eyes.

Sparkling like gems as she smiled at him.

"If you don't make a move, you know someone else is going to get that nice piece of ass and do something with it, don't you?" Yatzli smiled as she watched Kai's grip tighten on his drink, his shoulders tensing up at her words. "But since you don't seem inclined to do something about it, I think I will."

Before Kai could stop her, Yatzli was up and moving, her pink furry ears unmissable even in the huge crowd. Soon she was on the dance floor pulling Feylis away from her partner. Kai stared transfixed, as Feylis bent down to hear Yatzli, who was talking animatedly and pointing in his direction.

There was a moment of fear that went through him when he locked eyes with Feylis. She was too important to waste time on someone like him, yet he found himself unwilling to look away and even raising his drink towards her in invitation.

What was he doing? Why would someone like the Envoy decide he was worthy enough? Whatever attention they showed each other in their travels could just be written off as that? Its not the first time two people in travels decided to keep each other company.

It was these thoughts that filled his mind as he watched Feylis break away from Yatzli with a laugh and make his way over to him. Even as she was greeted by many, all she did was wave off the others, her attention in the end focused on him.

"Kai," he lifted his glass at her as she sat down, "I have just had the most intriguing conversation with Yatzli."

Feylis wiggled her eyebrows at him, almost making him choke on his drink from laughter.

"And what gossip was she trying to spread this time," Kai said once he had recovered. "If I have to remind you about the last time she tried to gossip about me—"

"You certainly showed me how wrong, though maybe in that instance, right, she was." Feylis said, taking a sip of her drink and looking at him with knowing eyes.

Kai was the first to break contact, hoping to hide the heat he felt rising up his neck. Memories surfaced of that night. Feylis's hot touch against his skin. Her lips wrapped around—

"But no, this is nothing as spicy as that." Feylis laughed and set aside her drink. "I was surprised that her gossip was downright innocent. She implied that you don't know how to dance."

"What?" Kai was taken aback by Feylis. "That I don't know how to dance?"

Feylis rested her chin on her hand and nodded. "Indeed. So is it true?

"What if it was? Are you going to offer to teach me some Aedyrn court waltz?"

"More like a tango," Feylis teased, tapping her bottom lip which immediately drew Kai's attention. When he finally remembered himself and forced his eyes up, Kai was greeted with a wink and Feylis standing while offering her hand to him. "But we aren't in an Aedyrn court and I am not wanting to stick with tradition when I just made myself an enemy of the very King I once represented. So, how about instead of me teaching you, we learn together?"

Kai thought about it, truly thought about it. He was never one to dance, not before, during, or after his time in the navy. And in the last 6 years, the thought would have never crossed his mind, except to see others move when he didn't want to be alone.

"I think with the present company, learning won't be too awful." Kai took her hand in his, bringing it up to brush a soft kiss against her knuckles when he stood. "I can show you a different dance later. If you want."

Not dropping his hand, Feylis closed the distance between them, bringing her free hand up to his chest and trailing down his bare scales. The sensation made his heart race.

"I think I would like that very much," Feylis whispered, her voice dropping low so only he could here. She lifted herself up on her feet, leaning in close as if to kiss him and Kai was unable to stop himself from trying to close the distance so they would.

Feylis smiled and suddenly the space between them was there again, though their hands were still interlocked.

"Tease," Kai murmured, trying to calm his racing heart.

"I know," Feylis responded with a laugh. "Now, lets go dance."

All she had to do was give his hand a gentle tug and he followed. Without question or reserve, Kai knew he would follow her anywhere. And after having done just that not a few days prior, what pain would a little dancing cause him when its with the woman he was coming to care for?

#avowed #kai avowed #avowed envoy #oc: feylis #kai x envoy #pheedraws #answered

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2-dsimp · 1 year ago

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——|———-|———|———

Yandere hitman squad

Introducing the Enforcer

——|———-|———|———

Yandere Enforcer that is the right hand man of the boss and bears a striking resemblance to a lion that is benevolent but also ferocious. He is the second tallest compared to the torturer standing at 6’ 5 having a lean muscled build littered with battle scars.

Yandere Enforcer Who is a rowdy impulsive individual that’s a bit rough on the edges with his intimidating looks and scruffy voice but in reality is just a giant ball of fluffy joy that can never sit still and always has to be on the move with his mind racing over peculiar tasks such as chatting up with random strangers, attending multiple activities, and picking up the Boss’s slack.

Yandere Enforcer That can’t get you out his mind from the current incident being replayed in his mind repeatedly, remembering you, as the cute firecracker who maced him in the dark alleyways when he was just tryna return your wallet that had fallen out from your pocket when you were leaving from the club after you were ditched by your friends who went to go hop another bar.

Yandere Enforcer who’s surprised at the attempted assault which fails because you were to short to aim it at him correctly and only messed up his pants leg but nonetheless laughs heartily at the misunderstanding and at the lil firecracker who’s embarrassed at their actions and blurts out many apologies and words of gratitude for his act of kindness.

Yandere Enforcer who finds your timid nature to be endearing and adorable enough for him to want to devour you. As he watched you struggle to formulate words in order to formally invite him to your apartment so you can offer him some bakery goods from the bakery shop that you owned as an apology gift.

Yandere Enforcer who’s fiery eyes lit up in childish excitement at the prospect of getting bakery sweets and breads, and at the fact that you owned a bakery to which he immediately asked you if he can drop by sometimes and when he received permission he gave you a big bear hug lifting you up into the air as if you weighed like a piece of paper. And that’s how you got him hooked.

Yandere Enforcer who gets very passionate when it comes to timid darling as they say a way to man’s heart is through his stomach and because you kept on indulging him in his gluttonous habits he’s now grown a taste for you and is just completely obsessed with his sweet baker. And since the Torturer is also an excellent baker one day he’d love to see the both of y’all collab and make some delicious food for him to eat.

Yandere Enforcer Who will always try to be around you wether it’ll be coincidentally bumping into you on the streets are just calling you frequently to see if you wanna go on adventures with him and will go to any lengths just to make you smile. He’ll be your best friend and lover making sure to always think about you and what you’re doing and how he can rock your world 24/7.

Yandere Enforcer Who unlike some of the others is not as prone to using violence as a means to keep his competitors at bay. Since his physical build and high levels of confidence he displays speaks for himself, I mean who’d wanna try a man who’s built like Tarzan and has the confidence of Gaston? But when it comes down to an unavoidable situation he will “accidentally” critically harm his rivals and turn them into a cripple for the rest of their lives. It was very unfortunate that your “friends” had gotten into an “fatal car accident” a few days later…

Yandere Enforcer that will be your exclusive guard dog being your best friend while also you shielding away from the world that dares to harm you, his little firecracker.

#the Enforcer #yandere hitman x reader #yandere hitman #yandere hitman squad #yandere male x reader #yandere x you #yandere x reader #yandere imagines #yandere drabble #yandere blurb #yandere content #yandere concept #yandere x y/n #yandere male #male yandere #yanderecore #yandere scenarios #yandere enforcer

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sanjoongie · 2 months ago

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Figurehead

ღfor @lapydiaries March Birthstone Drop ღPairing: Pirate Captain! Song Mingi x Siren! Reader (f) ღGenre: angst, suggestive, action ღAu: fantasy au, pirate au, siren au ღTrope: arranged marriage, enemies to lovers ღRated: 18+, MDNI ღWord Count: 1,291 ღWarnings: toxic relationship, violence, maiming, mentions of self mutiliation (thoughts, not actions) ღSummary: you live for the sea as much as you live for a fight, and both prove true when it comes to your husband. Chained to a human by marriage, you fight everything in your cruel blood to stay as a wife to the man you despise ღA/N: influenced by the current book I'm reading: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo ღDivider by @cafekitsune

The scar that ran down across Mingi's right eye--the violence that also made him blind and his iris milky white--had been your gift to him on your wedding night. It was a mark of honor amongst sirens to do that to their mates. Mingi was not your mate, but your husband--you spat at the human term-- so marking him had been a mockery of your rites. So you made him a mockery of a pirate. For how useful was a captain who had lost an eye?

You paid for the act, certainly, as Mingi had you lashed to the bow of the ship, putting your siren sense of direction at work to navigate for him. Being caught between the sea and the air was exhilarating. You begrudgingly respected Mingi for his revenge. At least your ‘husband’ had a cruel edge like your kind admired.

You travelled from the warmer climates of the Auroran Sea to the Ocean of Mist this way, only being cut down when the ship anchored at ports to resupply.

You were just about to dive into the ocean to acquire some much needed substance when Mingi’s sharp whistle almost blew out your precious eardrums.

You turned around to glare at your husband, who motioned you forward, back to the ship.

“Yes, my love?” You mockingly simpered to the captain.

“I would have you dine with me this evening, my wife,” Mingi equally mocked with fine etiquette laced with barbs.

You scrunched your nose in distaste. You hated when Mingi insisted you go on board his ship. Technically, it wasn’t land, but Mingi had gifted you with a blown-glass heart necklace that had some earth from the port Mingi called home. So when you donned it, you grew a pair of legs. Disgusting, weak things that they were, they allowed you to dine with your husband.

“As you wish, you scum-sucking bottom feeder,” You grumbled to yourself, changing direction to the deck that served as your way to get onto the ship.

By the time Mingi arrived, you had finished putting on the dress he had laid out for you. Oh, how your husband enjoyed mocking you. He would put you in finery that mimicked the sea, like this current dress, decked in sparkling aquamarine gems.

“Your father sent a dolphin as a messenger,” Mingi informed you as he cut into his cooked fish.

You would have preferred yours raw. Your jagged teeth, much like a shark's, ached to shred into some scales. However, Mingi didn’t enjoy watching fish juice run down your face while he ate, so you had learned to use a fork and knife, despite hating what they did to the fish.

“Oh, and what does Father Dearest have to say?” You inquired.

“He wishes to inquire why his princess of a daughter has been seen lashed to the front of my ship. He says other pirates are attempting to follow in my footsteps, and when they cannot catch a siren, they carve one from wood in their stead.”

Mingi watched you with his dark eyes, waiting for a reaction.

“Oh, what an honor it is to be married to such a trailblazing pirate,” You intoned. “Father must be proud.”

“In fact, he is. He said that this simply goes to show that he knew he was trusting his only daughter to the right man,” Mingi smirked.

“Stupendous,” You replied, eating a piece of cooked fish.

“Then he informed me he expected my next missive to him to be informing him of the heir to his empire down below,” Mingi said coyly.

You choked on the fish, having been deceived and eaten a bone. Just like your dead mother taught you, you slapped your throat, the thinly cooked bone piercing your neck, and you pulled it out neatly.

Mingi went from looking pleased with himself to absolute disgust at how monster-like you still were, even disguised as a human, in this moment.

“You know,” You said with a voice that was raw from choking. “It is the siren’s way for her mate to wrestle with her until he can show he is the stronger of the two and then he copulates with her.”

Mingi rubbed his eyebrows tiredly. “Must everything be a fight with you?”

You slammed your hand on the table but it did not move, for it was sturdily attached to the floorboards. “Yes, Mingi, I am a Goddess-be-damned Siren. If you’re not strong enough to fight me then you’re not worthy of putting babies inside of me.”

Mingi put his utensils down, grabbed a handkerchief, took his time to shake it out of its folded form, and dabbed at his lips. “Very well,” He said daintily.

You watched him with miss-matched eyes, one the deep, dark blue of the ocean you came from and the other an electric green. Your power over the ocean’s greenery did nothing to serve you above water.

Once Mingi stood up, his stool remaining in place as he swung his legs out, you ran towards the deck. If you could get into the ocean, if you could uncloth yourself quickly enough, if you could chuck the cursed earth heart--your weak legs failed you, however. They collapsed under you before your lofty plans could swim.

Mingi had launched himself on top of you, burying you beneath his larger body, pinning you to the rough wooden floorboards.

“If we were in the water, there would be no contest,” You snarled, struggling in his hold as if you were a fish caught in a net.

“We’re not in the water, wife of mine,” Mingi grunted as he held you close with all his strength.

“I should have killed you in our marriage bed!” You yelled.

Despite your maneuvering, you had to admit defeat. Mingi was stronger than you out of water. You became limp in his hold. Mingi turned your body around until you were face to face with him.

“There’s much more enjoyable actions I could entice you with than murder in our bed,” Mingi said, arching an eyebrow, the one with the scar through it.

“I’m a Siren” you insisted proudly, “Nothing is more enticing than a kill.”

Mingi lifted a hand and you jutted your chin out, expecting for him to hit you for your insolence as to insinuate that killing would be preferable over mating with him. Instead, the pirate captain brushed some of your hair out of your face. A gentle gesture, if not a foolish one.

“When we’re done,” Mingi murmured, “You can go and take a midnight swim.”

“How generous of you,” You deadpanned.

“But you will come back,” Mingi continued.

The hand with his wedding band trailed down the side of your face, the black pearl you had found yourself and gifted him with. A reminder that although he wasn’t your choice, he was still your husband.

“I will come back,” You promised.

“Then perhaps it’s time to appease your father,” Mingi said, eyes hooded, centered on your lips.

You flashed your razor-sharp teeth. “Kiss kiss, husband dearest,” You said in a saccharine voice.

Mingi swallowed loudly. Whether he was turned on by the fear, or turned on from the fight, your husband was hard against your belly. “Will you fight me even on this?” He wondered, hand trailing up under your skirts.

You sighed heavily. “No, Mingi, you’ve earned your right.”

Mingi’s plush lips instead pressed themselves to your neck, quiet kisses giving away from the early fight. “Then perhaps I might earn your pleasure.”

Or perhaps you would rip your baby-making organs out of your body completely and gift it to your father as a way of revenge for his weak, peace-making ways. The night was still young, after all.

#lapydiariesnet #pirateeznet #song mingi scenarios #ateez scenarios #ateez mingi scenarios #ღatz #topaz's work #recent #lapydiaries: birthstone event

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badbatchdalorian · 1 month ago

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Missing Piece - Part 1: Are You Mandalorians?

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024), The Mandalorian (2019-2023) CHARACTERS: The Bad Batch & Din Djarin (Young) RATING: T (14+) TAGS: not canon compliant, PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family fluff, Tech lives, protective siblings (more here) SUMMARY: In this galaxy far, far away, it's experimental unit Clone Force 99 that saves Din Djarin instead of the Mandalorians, forever altering not only his fate, but also their own. How they manage to survive with not one, but two young soldiers-in-training under their wings proves just how far they're willing to go to keep their family's missing piece as close as possible. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 1: Are You Mandalorians?

Hunter flipped his knife into the air just as the emergency comm channel began to blare. He jumped in his seat and narrowly avoided missing—and being cut by—the blade as it fell back into his grasp. Every head turned towards the cockpit, though some snapped more quickly than others. Wrecker was noticeably groggy as he groaned in dismay.

“C’mon!” Wrecker exclaimed, heaving a breath as he did so. “I was havin’ the best sleep I’ve gotten in weeks! ”

Hunter had already started towards the cockpit, and he knew Tech wouldn’t be far behind.

“Complaining about new action?” Crosshair huffed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I can’t face new action without any sleep ,” Wrecker insisted.

Hunter tuned them out as he reached the Marauder ’s controls. He sat down in the co-pilot’s chair and pressed the button, watching as a blue image flickered to life. Hunter’s brow shot up as a Togrutan silhouette formed more fully.

“General?” Hunter managed the title even amidst his own surprise. He didn’t need Tech to tell him that General Shaak Ti being on the other end of the emergency comm was highly unusual, though he could practically feel the thought simmering in Tech’s brain from the pilot’s chair beside him.

“ Sergeant .” General Ti was as calm as ever, bowing her head in greeting before going on. “ I understand your squad is currently en route back to Kamino? ”

“That is correct,” Tech answered for his brother. He adjusted his goggles before letting his fingers fly over the controls. “We are approximately a single rotation and three additional standard hours away, given how distant our point of origin was.”

“ Is there any chance your squad is near the Relgim sector? ” General Ti’s expression morphed into something Hunter had never seen in the general before: desperation. “ We’ve just received a dire call for help, but the settlement is too remote for anyone else to get there in time. I saw your squad’s current route and hoped it wasn’t too late .”

Tech had already begun to analyze where in hyperspace they were the moment General Ti had requested it. Hunter fought back the exhaustion creeping into the corners of his mind as he pressed for more information. “Where would we be headed, General?”

General Ti still looked troubled as she responded. “ Aq Vetina .”

“In that case…” Tech paused, reaching for the hyperspace lever and pulling it back.

Hunter gripped the nearest support he could find as the Marauder shuddered out of hyperspace. Something fell behind them, and Wrecker grunted as Crosshair cursed loudly. Hunter chuckled, shaking his head—and knowing full well any other squad leader would have been mortified to have such a thing happen in front of a Jedi general.

“Your timing could not have been more optimal, General.” Tech spoke to General Ti while he focused on piloting the Marauder towards a distant world. “We are currently in the Relgim sector, and we are now on approach to Aq Vetina.”

General Ti let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly lightening as she did so. “ Thank the Force. ” She focused on Hunter as she went on. “ Your orders are to engage only if the Separatist forces can be handled by your squad alone. If not… then we must consider this a loss .” Hunter didn’t need to be a Force-sensitive Jedi to sense her devastation at the mere thought of such an outcome. “ But I know that if any squad can take on such forces without backup, it’s yours, Sergeant. ”

“That’s right!” Wrecker was suddenly behind Hunter, his voice much brighter than before. He grinned at the Togruta Jedi and waved. “Hey, General!”

General Ti returned his smile. “ Wrecker, it’s good to see you .” Each word was genuine, spreading a comforting warmth through Hunter’s chest. Of everyone on Kamino, she had no doubt been the kindest to Hunter and his squad growing up, and for that he was forever indebted to her. “ I’m afraid I don’t have much time to catch up, though, and neither do you. Sergeant, if you wouldn’t mind contacting me on this frequency when you have an update on the situation? ”

Hunter nodded. “Of course, General.”

General Ti returned his nod. “ Thank you, Sergeant. Your squad is this settlement’s only hope. Do not engage in a battle you know you cannot win, but keep this in mind as you prepare for what’s ahead. ”

Those were the words she left them with. Her blue image faded, and for a few moments, all Hunter could hear—even with his enhanced senses—was the soft hum of space around them.

Hunter nearly winced when Wrecker raised his voice again from just behind them. “A surprise mission? Oh, yeah!” He punched the air. “I take back what I said before. This was totally worth missin’ out on some sleep.”

“What’s going on?” Hunter spun in his chair as Echo approached. He’d been surprised that Echo hadn’t joined him and Tech inside the cockpit for the comm, but given the way the ARC trooper was stretching his neck and suppressing a yawn, he had been in the middle of a deep, and clearly much-needed, sleep. “Was that General Ti?”

Hunter nodded. “It was.” He rose from his chair and clapped his hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Gear up. We have another mission.”

Echo’s eyes doubled in size. “ What? ” He shook his head. “That can’t be right. I thought we were headed back—?”

“There’s a remote settlement we’re passing by that needs help.” Hunter set his jaw, conveying an uncharacteristic amount of severity. “The general said we’re their only chance.”

Echo immediately straightened. Hunter began to smile in satisfaction. “What are we up against?”

Hunter kept his smile even as he gently brushed past Echo to head further into the ship. “Don’t know. We have to get a closer look.” He turned his head just enough to raise his voice over his shoulder. “Tech, let me know as soon as you have a visual. As for the rest of you…” Hunter looked pointedly at Crosshair, who had been watching everything unfold from the chair he was lounging in. “Get ready for a fight.”

Wrecker cheered in the background as Crosshair raised the corner of his mouth in a much more subtle form of celebration. Hunter could see the exhaustion looming within the depths of his brother’s eyes, and the darkening of the circles that hung underneath them, but that exhaustion was overpowered by their genuine love for what they did best: battle.

Hunter himself felt all of it—the exhaustion, the excitement, the addicting rush of adrenaline that shot through every single vein and nerve in his body. This time, however, he also felt something that he didn’t always experience, at least not to this degree. It was the same thing that had been written all over General Ti’s face.

He wanted to help these people, and he felt responsible for their safety.

But Hunter also felt responsible for his own squad, just as he always had. The weight of their flawless success rate got heavier with each new mission, though the success rate paled in comparison to the safety of his brothers. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice any one of them for a mission, not even one like this.

As hard as that truth would always be to swallow.

Hunter shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind just like always and focused on gearing up, paying extra attention to the way his armor snapped into place. He spared a look around and saw that Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo had made just as much progress as himself, with Tech well on his way after he had put the ship on autopilot for the time being.

Hunter wasn’t looking forward to a reality where this rush and preparation for battle wasn’t necessary. Based on what General Ti had told them, it was very likely that they could be forced to bail after seeing what they were up against.

The last thing Hunter reached for was his helmet before he strided back towards the cockpit. He could see Aq Vetina on approach through the viewport, a small world that didn’t get much bigger even as the ship got closer.

“ Force .” Echo’s voice was a mere breath behind Hunter, but the sergeant wasn’t surprised by his close presence. He had sensed Echo’s whereabouts long before he had spoken. “That’s a small planet.” He exhaled, his voice dropping lower. “No wonder why they need help so badly.”

“Let’s just hope we can provide it.” Hunter turned towards Tech as he joined them. Tech returned to the pilot’s chair and Hunter stood behind him, letting Echo take the co-pilot’s seat. “Tech, how’s it looking from here?”

“I’ll have a better idea once I’ve navigated us closer.” Tech gently pushed the Marauder ’s steering wheel ahead, allowing the Omicron-class shuttle to move forward through the stars.

Hunter could sense the shadows of Wrecker and Crosshair behind him, no doubt just as curious about what awaited them. Despite the fact they were all—at least, almost all—just sleeping peacefully a few minutes ago, they were itching for a fight, especially one that sounded so critical.

For once, the squad remained silent as Tech continued to steer the ship forward. The tension was so thick that the sound of the proximity sensor going off made everyone jump.

“I’m clocking… one Separatist ship.” Tech sounded unimpressed as he continued to analyze the incoming data.

They all waited a beat before Wrecker spoke up. “That’s it?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Is it a command ship?”

“Negative. I assume they have already left the system.” Tech’s voice lowered only slightly as he went on. “The battle may very well be over.”

Echo shook his head. “Not if they’ve left a ship here. They could’ve realized a planet this small only needed one ship’s worth of forces and sent the others to their other targets.” He glanced up at Hunter, his gaze hopeful.

Hunter returned Echo’s look and considered their next steps. Tech and Echo could both be right, and there was only one way to find out.

“It’s worth checking out.” Hunter nodded towards the viewport. “Bring us in, Tech.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod and obeyed the sergeant’s order. Wrecker chuckled victoriously and must’ve nudged Crosshair’s shoulder, based on the way their brother grunted in dissatisfaction soon after. Echo flashed Hunter an appreciative smile before he focused on assisting Tech with the landing sequence.

Hunter lowered himself into one of the chairs off to Echo’s right side and exhaled a gentle breath through his nose. While spontaneous planning was their usual style, this mission was too delicate to abide by their typical tactics.

Hunter thought through each step carefully and brainstormed every possibility he could come up with in the time it took the Marauder to exchange the view of the stars for the grayish-blue of Aq Vetina’s atmosphere. His heart tightened uncomfortably when he caught plumes of smoke on the horizon.

Tech started his warning. “Hunter…”

“Don’t bring us too close.” Hunter was back on his feet, setting a hand on the backs of both Tech’s and Echo’s chairs as he surveyed the situation for himself. “Keep us a few klicks away. We’ll do a loose recon before we decide if we’re engaging.”

Wrecker groaned in disappointment. “So we still don’t know if we’re gonna fight?”

Crosshair hummed. “No use in trying to save their skins if there aren’t any skins left to save.”

Echo spun around in his chair to fix Crosshair with a pointed look, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Hunter didn’t have to look back at Crosshair to know he was unaffected. Echo still hadn’t gotten used to Crosshair’s severe nature, but he would have to understand that Crosshair meant no harm by it. He was just a realist, one who still cared deeply—even if he refused to show it.

Hunter tightened his grasp on the chairs as Tech brought the Marauder down. Its descent was even smoother than usual, no doubt a result of Tech’s abundance of caution, and it wasn’t long after that Tech powered it down completely. Hunter stepped back to give him and Echo room to stand.

Hunter was already setting his helmet over his head. “Let’s get moving.” He turned and pushed himself through the small gap between Wrecker and Crosshair at the cockpit’s threshold. “The longer we wait, the more lives we put at risk.”

The lack of Hunter’s usual enthusiasm heading into a mission caused the others to follow his order without complaint or hesitation. Hunter led the way off the Marauder before he sped up into a fast jog that helped them disappear quickly into the surrounding wood.

Hunter wove through the trees easily, gently touching the bark as his senses created a reliable trail to the city that had gone up in flames. The crunching of his brothers’ footsteps behind him was reassuring, grounding him to the present even as the leadership part of his mind tried to think far ahead.

It wasn’t long before the first sandstone building came into sight. Its blue, domed roof was charred with black grime, and the sounds of blasterfire and explosions were unmistakable to Hunter’s sensitive ears.

Hunter raised his fist, signaling for the squad to stop as he pressed his palm against the sandstone. He listened more closely for another few heartbeats, letting the sounds of the firefight rattle against his eardrums.

Super battle droids. Not enough to overwhelm his squad, not at all, but certainly enough to level a settlement of this size. They had to act fast to minimize whatever damage they could.

Hunter turned to face his brothers and nodded. “We’re going in.”

Wrecker cheered.

“We’ve got SBDs.” Hunter glanced at both Wrecker and Crosshair. “Crosshair, head up. Wrecker, give him a boost.”

The pair nodded at the sergeant before bounding forward. Wrecker knelt down just enough for Crosshair to lift his foot into his brother’s cupped hands. Crosshair pushed off just as Wrecker threw his arms up, and Crosshair had more than enough air to get onto the roof. Hunter continued as they did so.

“As for the rest of us, Plan 70.” Hunter nodded at Tech. “You’re with me. We’ll head to the east,” he waved two fingers at Wrecker and Echo, “you take the west.”

Echo tightened his grasp on his blaster. “We’re on it.” With that, both he and Wrecker disappeared into the settlement, the ARC trooper guiding the way.

Hunter looked over at Tech and watched his brother tighten his grasp on his blasters. One nod was all it took for them to communicate their next move. Hunter passed Tech to lead the way to the east. They stuck close to the walls of the structures they passed, checking around each corner before moving ahead. The fight was getting closer and closer.

A new wave of adrenaline shot through Hunter’s veins like a rocket. If the stakes weren’t so high for the people they were rescuing, he would even smile at the sensation, but it felt disrespectful. He couldn’t enjoy it when there were civilians caught in the crossfire.

Hunter flinched when the helmet comm suddenly opened up. “ You four might want to speed things up ,” Crosshair warned. Hunter shared a concerned look with Tech, noting the way Tech’s gaze flashed with cautious curiosity. “ Looks like the clankers are about to have this battle won. ”

Wrecker snarled over the comms. “ Not if we can help it! ”

Crosshair sighed. “ That’s exactly what I’m saying, Wrecker .”

Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Focus. Remember what General Ti said. We’re their only chance at survival.”

Like his brothers, he didn’t mind the rush of battle, but this was different. This wasn’t blasting droids on the battlefield. This was rescuing civilians from the destruction of their home.

Hunter held his arm out in front of Tech when he caught sight of a horde of SBDs. He holstered his blaster and drew his blade from his gauntlet instead, keeping it at the ready as his other hand rose back to his helmet.

“Echo, Wrecker, status report.”

Echo answered for them. “ In position. ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath before nodding to himself. “Move in.”

He didn’t waste another second. Hunter sprinted out from behind the protection of the nearby building and launched himself at the first droid in his path. He flung one arm around the droid’s neck from behind as the other jabbed his knife into the droid’s chest, frying its circuitry. Hunter pushed himself off the droid as it collapsed, leaping into the air and dodging blasterfire as he made a beeline for the next one.

Hunter was so lost in the familiar yet thrilling routine of battle that he paid little attention to the rest of their surroundings. It was only after he tripped over something unexpected that he was forced to stop and glance down at the unpredictable obstacle.

It was a body, clothed in red robes that tragically matched the color of their spilled blood. One quick look around the courtyard they were in proved that it was far from the only one of their people who had fallen.

Hunter blanched, but only for a moment. He couldn’t afford to take any more time. Hunter snapped his helmet up and watched as a droid threw open the doors to a bunker in the ground, taking aim with their weapon soon after.

Someone had to be alive down there. Someone they could save .

Hunter threw his knife before he had even gotten to his feet. The blade sunk into the side of the SBD’s head, causing it to stiffen before it collapsed to the side. Hunter was already running over, not bothering to retrieve his knife just yet as he awaited helping the person, or the people, who had taken refuge in the bunker.

When Hunter skidded to a stop in front of it, he nearly lost the ration that he had eaten just a few standard hours ago. He blinked in disbelief and attempted to catch his mind up with what his eyes were seeing.

It was a child, a boy no older than nine cycles, who was slowly reopening his eyes to look up at Hunter with fear, shock, and hope .

Hunter felt as if the wind had been knocked from him, the same way he always did whenever Wrecker sacked him during their sparring sessions. Still, he couldn’t afford to freeze up like this in the heat of battle, especially not when there was a helpless child staring back at him.

“It’s okay,” Hunter finally said, lifting his gloved hands up for the scared boy to see. “I’m not gonna hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The child blinked, his trembling lips parting as he tried to speak. “W-We?”

Hunter pasted on a small smile. “My squad.” He nodded in further reassurance. “We’ll keep you safe.”

The boy’s shoulders sagged in relief. He looked as if he was about to ask a question, but then thought better of it. Hunter fought to ignore the sudden ache in his chest as he glanced over his shoulder and narrowly dodged a blaster bolt.

“Stay down here for now.” Hunter was gentle with the order. “I’ll protect you from up here, and once the droids are dealt with, we’ll get out of here. Sound good?”

The boy nodded, his small fists clutching the dirt on the bottom of the bunker as he did so. Hunter let out a quiet exhale and spun back to face the battle.

Hunter lifted his fingers to his helmet as he tore the blade from the SBD’s head. “Has anyone else come across survivors? I’m protecting one right now.”

It took some time for the others to answer as they focused on blasting the last few droids. “ Negative ,” Tech answered for himself.

Echo was next. “ Same here .”

Wrecker maintained optimism. “ Not yet! ”

It was Crosshair who had to deliver the news that dropped like a stone into Hunter’s stomach. “ I’m not seeing any survivors from up here .”

Hunter’s jaw tightened as he held his position, using the SBD’s body as cover to fire off shots. They had been too late, after all. Hunter couldn’t help wondering how this boy had gotten so lucky.

That’s when he dared a look to the side of the bunker he was closest too. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a charred red slump that was half-hidden by the bunker’s damaged door.

Someone had purposefully protected the boy, and Hunter was willing to bet he knew exactly who they were. Suddenly, the boy’s hesitant attempt at a question made sense. He wanted to know if his parents were still alive.

Hunter closed his eyes behind his visor and gave his helmet a small shake. This was the part of the war he could never truly come to terms with, the part that was so easy to ignore when it was just him, his brothers, and a crowd of clankers. It was the reason why they were fighting this war in the first place.

Hunter reopened his eyes and watched as Wrecker took down the last droid. The settlement went eerily silent, and the blaster smoke made the atmosphere feel even heavier. Hunter sighed and turned back to the boy in the bunker.

There were fresh tear trails on the boy’s dirty cheeks, running from a pair of dark brown eyes that were open so wide Hunter half-feared they would pop right out of the boy’s head. Hunter put all his weapons away and lifted his helmet to show the child his face.

“Alright, we got the last of ‘em.” Hunter knelt down and rested an arm upon his propped-up knee. “Not too bad of a wait, huh?”

The boy sniffled, but Hunter caught the corners of his lips rising in a small smile. Hunter nodded at him in encouragement.

“You did great down here, following my orders.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “You listen better than my squad does.”

The child chuckled. Hunter grinned, even as his heart squeezed tighter.

“My name’s Hunter.” Hunter pressed both hands against his chestplate before he gestured towards the child. “What about you?”

The boy lifted his arm and rubbed his face with the sleeve of his red hooded robe. He hiccuped on a breath as he fought to answer Hunter’s question. “Din, s-sir.” His voice was so quiet that Hunter wouldn’t have been able to hear it if it weren’t for his enhanced senses.

“Nice to meet you, Din. I’m… sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.” And Hunter meant that. His regret was already leaving a resounding ache deep within his bones.

Hunter looked over his shoulder and saw his brothers standing close by. They all had their helmets tucked underneath their arms, their expressions giving away their curiosity. Crosshair had already joined them again.

Hunter’s gaze fell back to the ground that was littered with the bodies of both the droids and the civilians. He circled his jaw and turned back to Din.

“Okay, kid, I have one more order for you.” Hunter tightened his gloved hand into a fist and maintained the best duty voice he could manage. “Think you’re brave enough to handle it?”

Din nodded earnestly, taking one more wipe at his tears. Hunter beamed.

“That’s what I thought.” Hunter tapped the edge of the bunker. “I’m gonna help you up, and we’re gonna take you on our ship to somewhere safe. I need you to keep your eyes closed until I say so. Got it?”

Din nodded again. “That sounds easy, sir.”

Hunter let out a genuine chuckle as he raised his brow. “I knew you’d be up for the challenge.”

Hunter leaned down into the bunker and extended a hand towards Din. The boy stood to his feet and shuffled his way over. After the two of them interlocked hands, Hunter paused, his stare meeting Din’s.

“Ready to close your eyes?”

Din gave Hunter’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter nodded. “Alright. Close ‘em.”

Din obeyed. Hunter tugged the boy up with ease, gently setting him onto the terrain at his side. Hunter tucked his helmet under his arm and stood to his feet, keeping his grasp on Din’s hand. He looked down at the boy who had his eyes shut tight enough to make the skin on his lids wrinkle.

“The rest of my squad is here, too,” Hunter told him. He spared a look at his brothers, whose expressions had all fallen at the sight of the young child. “I’ll introduce you when it’s time to open your eyes. Okay?”

Din nodded. He hesitated before he decided to say something. “T-Thank you, sirs.”

Wrecker said “Anytime, kid!” right when Crosshair said “Don’t thank us yet.” Crosshair shrugged when he was leveled with a warning glare from all four of them.

Echo’s gaze met Hunter’s before he signed the best he could with his hand. A kid?

Hunter cut his gaze over to the bunker door. Everyone’s eyes followed his. Echo’s jaw tightened as Wrecker’s brow furrowed in devastation. Tech adjusted his goggles uncomfortably, and even Crosshair shifted his weight and looked away from the sight.

Hunter addressed his squad when he spoke again. “We have to get going before they send more down.” He set his helmet over his head and gave Din’s hand a gentle squeeze to get his attention. “I’m gonna carry you so you don’t have to worry about where you’re going. Is that okay?”

Din’s voice was only growing stronger. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter let go of the boy’s hand and reached over his back. He removed his pack and tossed it to Wrecker, who caught it and nodded at the sergeant. Hunter picked Din up and guided him onto his back, helping the boy to wrap his arms around Hunter’s neck.

Only once the boy was settled did Hunter nod at his squad. “Time to go.”

Hunter wasted no more time standing around. He began to jog back the way they had first come, using his senses to recall their path. The crunching of the terrain behind him told him that the squad was matching his pace, barely exhausted by the quick battle.

They were about halfway back to the Marauder when Din broke their silence. “Hunter, sir?”

Hunter flashed him a quick look over his shoulder as he continued ahead. He huffed out a fond breath. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ kid.”

“Okay.” Din’s voice was wobbling a bit. An uneasy knot tied up in Hunter’s stomach. “I was just wondering… when are we gonna go back and help everyone else?”

Hunter nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Only his desire to keep Din from panicking kept him moving. The knot in his stomach rose into his chest, making it difficult to breathe—and suddenly mindful of Din’s extra weight upon his back.

It was like a blaster wound straight to the chest.

“Kid…”

Hunter inhaled a soft breath. Din was no doubt old enough to tell whether Hunter was lying or not. Hunter had already done what he could for Din by keeping him from having to remember the sight of their bodies. He deserved to know the truth; it was better for him to hear it now than later.

“There was no one else for us to save.”

The silence that followed was louder than any other Hunter had ever heard. He wasn’t used to silence, not with senses that picked up on just about everything, but focusing on this one now was utterly painful.

Hunter’s jaw tensed and refused to relax until Din spoke again. “Oh.” Din’s arms tightened around Hunter’s neck. “Okay.”

Din’s tone was one of distant acceptance. It shattered Hunter even more that a child like him had to come to terms with something like this.

Suddenly, he was angry. Angry at the Separatists, at the war, at the galaxy . This was a kind of loss that Hunter, thankfully, never had to experience, but if he was given the choice to face it in this child’s place, he would have.

But then he glanced back at his squadmates, his brothers , and Hunter selfishly thanked the Force that he never had to know what this kind of loss was like.

The sight of the Marauder was relieving, but not relieving enough to dispel all the darkness and tension from Hunter. He could sense the same weight upon the shoulders of his brothers behind him as they reentered the ship. It was obvious in the way Tech quietly dismissed himself to the cockpit for takeoff while the rest of them began to set down their gear, each one careful to make less noise than necessary.

Hunter helped Din’s feet get back to the floor. He lifted his helmet and set it aside, kneeling in front of the boy whose eyes were still closed diligently. Hunter softened.

“Okay, kid. You can open your eyes now.”

Din obeyed. He blinked a few times as he glanced around the space, his jaw falling open in wonder. Hunter chuckled to himself as Din’s hands clutched into small fists at his sides. “A spaceship ?”

“Technically, this is a shuttle,” Tech corrected him from the cockpit. Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes fondly. “An Omicron-class attack shuttle, to be precise.”

Din just let out an impressed, exaggerated exhale. “ Whoa .”

The boy’s attention then fell on the squadmates who were huddled behind Hunter. The sergeant spun around to take a look at them himself.

Echo’s arms were at his sides, his brow pinched in distress. Wrecker had a warm smile on his face. Crosshair’s arms were crossed, his expression thoughtful and considering. Tech was still in the cockpit.

Hunter looked back at Din, whose chin tucked closer to his chest as the boy shyly addressed the room. “Are you Mandalorians?”

Immediately, Wrecker burst out into fond laughter. Echo gave him a light shove, despite the smile that started to tug at his own lips. Even Crosshair was wearing an amused smirk. Hunter chuckled to himself.

That hearty rumbling quickly disappeared from Hunter’s chest the moment he heard Din’s heartbeat quicken. He turned to see the boy’s gaze cast downward, his face reddened underneath the grime that coated his tan skin. Din started to shrink in on himself, clearly embarrassed by whatever error he had made.

Wrecker stepped forward before Hunter himself could act to remedy the situation. He knelt down to Din’s level and offered him a smile. “You’re right about us bein’ soldiers, kiddo, but not Mandalorians. We’re clones.”

Hunter heard Din’s racing heartbeat slow back down at Wrecker’s warmth as the boy’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Then why don’t you look like each other?”

Wrecker looked over at Hunter, who shrugged at his brother in amusement. “Fair point,” Hunter murmured. Wrecker turned back to Din.

“We’re clones, but…we’re different.” Wrecker jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna meet us all?”

Din nodded earnestly. Hunter smiled again. He was trying to assess Din for any signs of shock, but clearly, Wrecker’s distractions were working for the time being. Tech could make a proper assessment once he was done piloting them into hyperspace.

Wrecker pointed to himself. “I’m Wrecker, and I like to blow things up!”

The delivery of the fun fact was enough to make Din laugh. Hunter’s chest warmed for the first time since he had rescued the boy.

Wrecker turned to face Echo and Crosshair. Echo took the glance as an invitation to step forward, kneeling down at Wrecker’s side. “I’m Echo.” He rested his left arm against his knee and managed a smile, though Hunter could clearly see the sadness set deep within his gaze. “It’s an honor to meet someone as brave as you.”

Din smiled at Echo’s praise. The warmth in Hunter’s chest blazed into a steady flame.

The boy’s smile faded when he looked down and caught sight of Echo’s scomp link and cybernetic legs. His expression was marred by worry. “Echo, sir, can I ask you a question?”

Getting rid of formalities was no doubt an adjustment for Din, one Hunter was more than willing to excuse. Echo held Din’s gaze and nodded confidently, allowing the boy to go on.

“What happened to your arm and legs?” Din cradled his own hands close to his chest. “Are you okay?”

Echo chuckled, the sound full of genuine warmth as he nodded again. “Yeah, kid, I’m alright.” Echo set his hand on Din’s shoulder. The boy relaxed underneath the soldier’s touch. “Something bad happened to me, but…” Echo paused, his gaze searching before he focused on Din again, “these guys found me and helped me learn how to make the most of it.”

Din brightened at that. His shoulders lifted, and his chest puffed up in hope. “Does that mean they’ll do the same for me, too?”

Hunter was about to answer in the affirmative from the boy’s side, but Echo beat him to the punch. “No doubt about it.” Echo gave Din’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “And so will I.”

Din’s smile remained, though his gaze shifted from Echo to something beyond him. The light of curiosity flickered in his gaze again, something to match the quicker rush of air Hunter heard in the boy’s lungs. Din’s voice was almost a whisper as he spoke.

“What’s his name?”

Wrecker and Echo both turned their heads to look at Crosshair, who was standing just behind them. Wrecker huffed and faced Din, gesturing with his head back towards their youngest brother. “That’s Crosshair.”

Din blinked a few times at the sniper, who had already tasked himself with balancing a new toothpick between his lips. Hunter watched as the boy studied his brother before he spoke up again.

“Do you like to shoot things, Crosshair?”

Crosshair’s arms stayed crossed over his chest even as his armored shoulders lifted with his amused exhale. “I do.” His brow shot up. “Looking to be a new target?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes and prepared a proper disciplinary speech for Crosshair, but Din’s laugh split right through his thoughts. “You’re funny!”

The corner of Crosshair’s mouth rose at that. Hunter’s tightened jaw relaxed. The kid could not only understand, but also appreciate Crosshair’s crude humor. He was already fitting in around here.

Not that he would be staying for long. The weight of reporting back to General Ti sat heavy upon Hunter’s shoulders, as he already knew what would result from telling her about their sole survivor. They would be redirected to Coruscant, where they would drop off Din at one of the refugee organizations—likely one created just for orphans.

What Hunter couldn’t fully understand was why that was an order he had no desire to comply with. Though, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to comply with an order. He and his squad had been that way ever since he could remember.

Still, this was different, and one look at the brothers around him confirmed it. Everyone was glowing at this child, who had just been through the unimaginable, but was still displaying an admirable amount of strength and curiosity.

Finally, Tech stepped out of the cockpit, his voice breaking through the squad’s brief silence in the hold. “We are en route to Kamino once again,” Tech informed them, though he looked pointedly at Hunter. “Although I do expect to be rerouted to Coruscant once you have briefed General Ti on our… findings.” Tech adjusted his goggles as he stared at Din.

The boy pointed at Tech’s eyes. “I like your goggles, sir.”

Tech lit up and knelt down eagerly in the space between Echo and Hunter. “These goggles were designed to enhance my less-than-average eyesight,” he explained to Din. “As something had to give in order for the Kaminoans to enhance my genetics and carefully craft my exceptional mind.”

Din’s brow scrunched up. “Enhance your genetics?”

“That is correct.” Tech gestured with his head to the squad around him. “It is why our physical appearances vary, despite the fact we are all made from the same genetic template.”

Din looked at Hunter for guidance, and the sergeant nodded at him. “We’re named for our enhancements.” Hunter tapped his own chestplate. “I’m good at tracking and sensing things. Wrecker’s good at… well, wrecking things. Crosshair’s the best sharpshooter you’ll ever meet. And like Tech here said, he’s got an incredible mind.”

Din looked almost worriedly at Echo. “What about Echo?”

Echo offered the boy a reassuring smile. “I wasn’t originally a part of this squad. I got my name a long time ago, when I was still with my batchmates.”

Din tilted his head. “Batchmates?”

Hunter read Echo carefully as the ARC trooper cleared his throat and went on. “My brothers. The clones I was born with and trained with until I started to fight for the Republic.” Echo’s gaze lightened as he went on. “My brothers called me ‘Echo’ because I used to repeat all our orders.”

Din nodded in understanding. He looked around the group as a smile spread across his lips. “I like all your names.”

Tech lifted a finger. “Technically, they are nicknames. We were not given names when we were created, only numerical designations.”

“Oh.” Din began to deflate again. “I was only given a name, but… I wish I had a nickname like you guys.”

Wrecker set a hand on Din’s shoulder. “Well, you gotta’ know a lot about Mandalorians to think that’s what we were, right?”

Din looked up at him and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He blinked in succession and rushed to correct himself. “I mean, Wrecker.” He hesitated before going on. “I learned a lot about them in galactic history. And my pare…”

Din came to an abrupt stop. Grief powerful enough to knock Hunter off his feet washed over the young boy’s face, though he still pushed on to finish his thought—even if his voice was considerably smaller.

“They used to tell me a lot of Mandalorian stories.”

Wrecker shared a concerned look with Hunter. Still, he maintained his usual cheery disposition as he focused on Din. “That makes you an honorary Mandalorian in my book, kid. How about Mando for a nickname?”

That at least got Din to brighten again. “Mando…” Din even began to smile again. Hunter was overwhelmed by a wave of relief. “I like that.”

“Good.” Wrecker mirrored Din’s smile. “That means you gotta’ catch us up on all the stories, though!”

As Wrecker continued to keep Din busy, Hunter nudged Tech with his armored shoulder to get his attention. His brother gave him an inquisitive glance, which Hunter responded to by gesturing with his head back towards the cockpit. Hunter stood and Tech followed him over to the open threshold.

“I’m gonna contact General Ti,” Hunter nodded towards Din. “Give the kid an assessment to see what symptoms of shock he might be presenting. He’s a strong kid, I’ll give him that, but I’m not convinced that he’s just forgotten about everything that happened.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod. “That would be a wise conclusion.”

Hunter set his hand on Tech’s shoulder before he turned away to walk into the cockpit. He paused just in front of the communicator, heaving a breath through his nostrils as he closed his eyes in consideration.

There was something tugging at his gut, squeezing his lungs hard enough to make breathing feel like a chore. Reporting to a higher ranking officer, even a general, wasn’t anything new for Hunter, so he knew that wasn’t the problem. It was something else.

Hunter reopened his eyes and spared a glance over his shoulder. Wrecker and Echo were distracting Din with more conversation as Tech tended to him, causing their soft voices and Din’s gentle laughter to fill the space. Even Crosshair looked fondly amused from where he was still standing behind his brothers.

Hunter smiled. The Marauder was… warmer. Lighter. Happier . He hadn’t seen it like this ever since the war had started, since before his brothers sourced their joy from things much more innocent than warfare.

Then Hunter faced the communicator again, and his stomach clenched hard enough that he thought he might be sick right there.

Something wasn’t right. Hunter wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe he just needed better sleep than he’d been getting these days, but deep down, he knew exactly what it was, because he knew exactly what order was awaiting him on the other end of the call.

Was he really about to drop this freshly orphaned child off like some kind of cargo shipment?

Hunter shook his head. There was no other choice; they were soldiers, and there was no business exposing a kid to a life like theirs. Hunter had never thought twice about keeping survivors around before. He wasn’t sure why it should be any different this time.

The sergeant forced himself to press the button on the communicator before he could hesitate again. After a few heavy heartbeats, General Ti’s holographic image appeared in front of him.

“ Sergeant Hunter. You’re reporting sooner than expected .” There was no missing the caution in General Ti’s tone as she undoubtedly prepared herself for the worst. “ How did your mission go? ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath and looked apologetically at the general. “I’m afraid we were too late, General. The settlement’s been destroyed.”

The general blanched, though she otherwise maintained her usual composure. “ Any survivors? ”

Hunter circled his jaw, once again considering his words. As disobedient as he and his brothers could be, this wasn’t something he should lie about. “Just one. A child.”

General Ti’s head lowered. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke in a softer voice than usual. “ May the Force be with him, and with those he knew who have faded into it. ”

Hunter didn’t respond. He was waiting to receive his order, one that he should have had no problem following. They had disobeyed much more complex orders before.

“ Bring the child to Coruscant. I will call ahead and let them know you’re coming. ”

Hunter nodded. “Yes, General.” He cleared his throat, but kept the sound quiet enough for only him to hear. “We’ll see you back on Kamino after our… detour.”

General Ti returned his nod, and she even managed a genuine smile for him. “ I’ll be looking forward to it, Sergeant .”

Thankfully, General Ti ended the call there. Hunter released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and closed his eyes.

The sergeant didn’t know what to make of the Force, and like many other clones, he had his own suspicions about it, but whatever was suddenly tugging on his heartstrings certainly felt like a mysterious force. It screamed at him to disobey in a way he hadn’t experienced before, not even in their riskiest endeavors.

Hunter reopened his eyes and turned his head over his shoulder. The dynamic between everyone had already changed, with Wrecker, Echo, and Tech huddled on the ground around Din as the boy spoke with wide, excited eyes. Even Crosshair was lingering closer, his chair spun in their direction as he smiled around the toothpick between his lips.

The sergeant reached out with his senses to listen more closely.

“... and zzsskk! ”

Din raised his arm as if he was pretending to pull a weapon from a sheath. Wrecker let out an eager gasp, his gaze glittering almost as much as the child’s. Tech looked pensive, while Echo beamed at Din the best he could.

“The warrior had a glowing sword!”

“Glowing sword?” Wrecker chuckled and nudged Tech. “Now that’s wizard.”

“Technically, if this ‘sword’ did have a luminescent glow, it would classify as a lightsaber,” Tech spoke up. He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Though I suppose vibroswords and blades can, at times, produce luminescence of their own accord…”

Din blinked at Tech in innocent confusion. “Huh?”

“Uh, that’s alright,” Echo waved his hand at Din in reassurance. “What happened next, Mando?”

Din’s shoulders lifted at the nickname, and he gave Echo an enthusiastic nod before going on.

Hunter gave his sensitive hearing a rest as he smiled to himself. Every heartbeat on that ship was at ease for the first time in much too long. He knew his brothers enjoyed battle, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still feel the stress of it. This was the calmest they all had been since the earliest days of their deployment.

Surely, that couldn’t be a coincidence. Hunter just didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it.

════════════════════

Echo was more than happy to volunteer for the first watch shift, and he had no intentions of rotating out anytime soon. He had offered his bunk to their young passenger, and the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt the child’s slumber. If anyone knew how important that first bout of rest after such trauma and loss was, it was Echo.

In fact, he’d been remembering a lot of those moments ever since they left Aq Vetina.

Such as Echo’s own eternal slumber after the Citadel. He shivered just thinking about the confusing stretch of darkness and flickering light that seemed as if it would never end. Sequences had run over his eyes constantly, letting light in each time they did, but they were never enough to bring him back completely.

Echo blinked his weightless eyelids to relieve the burning ache within them.

It had taken a long time for him to get comfortable with sleeping again, and clearly, he was still adjusting. He had been good about it for a while, but there was something about Din’s tragedy that had felt so personal to him.

Echo had understood it, that feeling of losing everybody, especially those held closest to the heart. He hadn’t even been given proper time to grieve Fives after he woke from his stasis. Somehow, that hurt more than the idea of having to witness his brother’s fate with his own eyes. He couldn’t even be there to protect his brother from the relentless force of death.

And then there was the explosion causing the fate of Din’s parents, and Echo was brought right back to Rishi Moon, to the graveyard of his three other brothers.

Echo tapped his scomp against his thigh and closed his eyes. No, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. Facing these horrors in his conscious mind was bad enough.

Plus, if it wasn’t him out here, it would be Hunter, and Echo couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother get more than an hour of sleep—if that. Hunter had been teetering on a migraine purely from his senses getting little to no rest before Echo had assured him for a third time that he would be just fine having a solo watch shift.

Echo’s eyes only reopened when he heard gentle footsteps behind him. Knowing better than to actually expect a threat, Echo let out a sigh and prepared to lecture Hunter for not staying asleep.

But when Echo turned his chair around, his gaze was forced to lower to meet his visitor’s. Lost brown eyes met his own, the grief within them three times larger than the boy’s own stature.

“Hey, kid.” Echo kept his voice low to keep the others from waking. “What’s up? Can’t sleep?”

Din shook his head, his stare falling to his arms as he pulled the sleeves of his red tunic over his fists. His words were barely a whisper as he spoke. “I keep seeing them.”

Echo’s heart splintered within his chest, but he kept a steady expression for the boy. “Your people?”

Din’s shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath before he lifted his head again. His lower lip quivered as his gaze sparkled with unshed tears. “My parents.”

Echo deflated, his eyes cutting away from the child for just a fraction of a moment. The swell of grief that rose within him was strong enough to make him lose his breath, though he found his voice and recovered quickly for Din’s sake. “I’m sorry, kid. I really am. I…”

Echo paused, pressing his lips together as he considered his next words carefully.

“I know how hard it can be to sleep after things like this.”

Din’s brow wrinkled at him, the light of curiosity—and a sense of hope—sparkling in the dark depths of his devastation. “You do?”

Echo let out a gentler breath this time. The memories had already been on his mind, anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to coax them out just a bit further to ease this young boy’s fresh wound. “I do.” Echo managed a smile. “Want to hear a story?”

Din nodded eagerly, no doubt grateful for the distraction. Echo let out a soft chuckle and tapped the co-pilot’s seat next to him. Din hopped right up, spinning in the chair to face Echo as he tucked his hands underneath his legs and swung them back and forth in anticipation.

Now, if only Echo could find a way to keep this story from making things worse.

“These guys here,” Echo gestured with his head back towards the bunks, “they’re my brothers. We’re a squad. But… it wasn’t always that way, like I told you before. They're batchmates, and I used to have my own, too.”

Din’s expression began to fall as he realization dawned over him. “What happened to your batchmates, Echo?”

Hearing his own name from the boy’s lips made it even harder to say the truth out loud for some reason. Echo swallowed hard and pushed on. “They’re gone.”

Din frowned. “I’m sorry.” He adjusted the way he was sitting on his hands before he continued. “How many brothers did you have?”

Echo brought himself back to the past for a moment, when he and the rest of Domino Squad were just eager cadets who had finally managed to get along and pass the test. Back when they had their whole lives ahead of them.

Back when he was naive enough to really believe that.

“Four.”

Echo smiled, and it was genuine. He kept a careful eye on Din and saw the boy lightening up the more he spoke. Sharing his pain was making Din’s more manageable, and Echo would bleed himself out if it meant this boy would get closer to healing.

“Their names were Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy, and Fives.” Echo’s voice wavered on the last one.

Din’s eyes were bright with enthusiasm, even in the midst of the heavy topic. “How did they all get their names? Was it like yours?”

Echo bobbed his head. “In a way. Droidbait… well, he kept acting like bait for the training droids, and he’d get hit by ‘em all the time.”

Din’s brow pinched together. “Did it hurt?”

“Not too bad, but he definitely had a lot of bruises.” Echo waited until Din had relaxed to keep going. “Cutup got his name from one of our trainers. This trainer… he was real tough on us, but Cutup wasn’t afraid to talk back to him. So, the guy called him a cutup, and he used that as his name.”

Din giggled. “That’s wizard.”

Echo grinned, recognizing Wrecker’s vernacular on Din’s tongue already. “Isn’t it?” He took a deep breath as Hevy’s image entered his mind. “We named my brother Hevy, because not only was he the strongest of us, but he also loved heavy machinery. He used the biggest blaster the clones are allowed to carry, a Z-6 blaster cannon.”

Din’s eyes doubled in wonder. “ Whoa .”

Echo chuckled. Hevy would’ve loved this kid, no doubt.

That left him with one more name to review. Echo fought the glassiness that had already started to overtake his vision.

“Fives got his name from his CT number. Do you remember Tech telling you about those?” Din nodded. “Fives’ was CT-5555, so he shortened it to Fives. Fives and I… we were really close, because we lost our other brothers early on in the war.”

Din deflated. He searched Echo’s gaze before he asked a question in a quiet and cautious voice. “Can I ask what happened to them?”

The corners of Echo’s mouth lifted as he nodded. “They’d want their stories to be told.” Echo exhaled a breath and went on. “We were stationed at an outpost on a moon. It was our first mission, and we had been there for a long time. Nothing had ever happened, but one night, we were suddenly attacked by droids.”

Din inhaled a sharp breath. Echo softened; it would be all too familiar for the boy, based on what Echo had seen once they had arrived on Aq Vetina.

“Droidbait was one of the first to try to hold them off, but there were too many of them. The rest of us got out of the station, but Cutup got taken by local wildlife. We had some reinforcements arrive, two of our finest commanding officers, but even they weren’t enough to overrun the droids.”

Echo’s mouth was getting dry. It was never quite easier to tell this story, but it did heal little fractals in his soul each time. The pain would turn into mending eventually.

“That’s when Hevy gave his life for ours by blowing up the whole base. His actions not only saved both our commanding officers, Fives, and I, but it also told the Republic that we were in trouble, and prevented a major attack on our homeworld of Kamino.”

Din’s lip was starting to quiver again, but his voice was still fairly strong when he managed a response to Echo’s story. “He was a hero.”

Echo closed his eyes and blew out a heavy breath. “He was. Because of what he did, giving his life for Fives and I, we were able to fight in the war for a long time, side-by-side. His loss, and my other brothers’, never got easier to deal with, but… I know that they did what they did for a reason, and I wanted to honor that the best I could by moving forward and continuing their fight.”

Din was silent after that. Echo reopened his eyes to see the boy staring at his lap, fresh tear tracks visible on his cheeks. Echo’s heart leapt into his throat at the mere thought of accomplishing the opposite of what he had wanted by upsetting Din further, but before he could do anything, Din began to move.

The boy slid off the chair and practically fell into Echo’s side, wrapping his arms around the ARC trooper the best he could. Echo froze for a few heartbeats, too shocked to do anything just yet, but he eventually came to his senses and gently held Din closer to his side.

Din sniffled back his tears and spoke, his voice muffled from where he was practically buried in Echo’s side. “I’m sorry about your brothers, Echo.”

Echo was selfishly grateful that Din didn’t ask about Fives. That was a story he wasn’t ready to tell.

“It’s okay.” Echo gave the boy’s back a soft tap. “I’ve moved on now, but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten them.” Echo dared to lower his voice and go on. “One day, you’ll be able to do the same, too, because their sacrifice was the same as Hevy’s.”

Din lifted his face from Echo’s side. It was still wet with tears, but there was a newfound strength there that the ARC trooper could clearly see within his dark eyes. “They’re heroes, just like your brother.”

Echo smiled and nodded. “They are.”

Din returned his smile. His expression morphed into something more pensive before he spoke again. “If your brothers all give each other nicknames, and you all gave me a nickname… does that mean I’m your brother now, too?”

Din’s expression was something so breathlessly hopeful that Echo found himself speechless at first. After so many years spent witnessing the galaxy’s outward opposition to clones, it was hard to imagine that someone on the outside, even a child like Din, would ever want to be counted amongst their ranks. But here he was, practically pleading with his eyes full of wonder to be considered one of them.

And who was Echo to refuse him?

“Yeah, Mando.” Echo set his hands on Din’s shoulders and nodded. “It does.”

Din grinned, the last traces of sadness fleeing from his gaze as he bounced on his heels. He then retreated back to his seat and all but jumped into it. Echo blinked a few times at the quick and unexpected change in pace, but then he laughed.

It was all too similar to both Fives and Hevy.

“Well, I better make good on my namesake then, right?”

Din clapped his hands together excitedly, then tensed as his head whipped towards the bunks. When no one grumbled or swore about getting woken up, Din relaxed and continued. This time, his voice was a whisper.

“Can I tell you another story?”

Echo smiled and leaned back in his own chair, suddenly grateful he wasn’t alone anymore. “I’d be honored.”

Din straightened in severity and nodded, letting his smile linger as he got right into it.

“This one starts ten thousand years ago, with a man named Mandalore the Great.”

════════════════════

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