#also we were the FIRST in our entire batch TO DEFEND IT????

[fu-cough]

after 2 years of aaaa, dndnndd, and especially beieidbwdjje, i got my research study defended today!! and im going to buy myself the alcohol markers ive been eyeing for a while👀

[lightwise]

Hidden Monsters

For some reason this has been a bear (dragon, Vrathean, pick your Star Wars creature) to write, but I realized after this last episode of TBB that there was more to the “monster of the week” trope that we all love to get tired of in Star Wars, and specifically for our beloved Batch members. I believe that some of the main “monsters” each member of the Batch has faced and could face represent inner turmoil and the storms/dark things within that each of them has had to wrestle with. The choices each of them have made to tame or calm or live with the creatures they have encountered, instead of automatically killing them or choosing violence against them, is a powerful metaphor. Something that looks like a monster on the outside may not necessarily be a monster on the inside, when cared for and acknowledged properly. 

Echo and the Rishi Eel

Echo’s very first mission on Rishi station involved a giant monster, a droid army invasion, watching his superior officer die in front of him, and losing most of his squad along with the entire outpost he had been assigned to help defend. After the Rishi station is overrun by battle droids, Echo, Fives, Hevy, and Cutup escape through an air vent only to land in the middle of what turns out to be the Rishi eel’s nest. Echo is second to last in line and has to watch as Cutup is snatched up by the eel right behind him and swallowed whole. Echo is the only one to look back and commemorate Cutup with his name and a sigh before they have to keep moving. He does the same at the end of the episode when they lose Hevy, thanking him for his self sacrifice. Echo’s mind—strategic, careful, hesitant, wanting to do the right thing—is always on his brothers and their safety, and his own fears and questioning give way to courage and determination as he watches his brothers do what needs to be done.  

This formative experience is literally emblazoned on Echo’s chest and becomes part of his identity when Rex shoots the eel in the eye, wipes some of its blood on his hand, and presses it against Echo’s armor as he encourages him to keep going. This combination of bravery, looking death in the eye, and holding compassion for each of his brothers as they fall continues to be a running theme throughout Echo’s character arc—from holding 99 in his arms as he dies, to hanging in the Techno Union chamber where his mind and body were used to hunt down the brothers he loved, to overcoming the changes and loss he’s experienced and finding a new family with the Batch and Omega, to coming full circle and joining Rex to help free his brothers from the Empire’s grip. He has had to watch as brother after brother is taken away from him, but he has learned how to keep going in the face of loss. These experiences bring out who he is—caring, loyal, brave, resolute, and a symbol of endurance—and trace back to the very first monster he had to face. 

Hunter, Omega, and the Ordo Moon Dragon

In season 1 the Batch is newly on the run from Kamino after Order 66, finding Omega, and losing Crosshair. They crash onto an uninhabited planet and while trying to repair their ship, an Ordo Moon Dragon makes off with their capacitor, leaving them stranded. Like the Zillo beast seen in season 2, it feeds on energy but is actually peaceful when not provoked. Hunter wants to track it down, by himself, but Omega insists on accompanying him. While tracking the creature, Omega brings up Crosshair’s absence, and Hunter is unwilling to even say Crosshair’s name, and he is very uncomfortable with the conversation. He is unwilling and unable to face his demons right now, and instead is wallowing in self-blame. Hunter won’t be able to fully face his inner turmoil until Crosshair returns and they encounter the Wyrm on Barton IV, another dragon-like creature which also burrows underground (although it is much, much larger, and more harmful than the Ordo Moon Dragon, signifying how much Hunter’s avoidance and resentment grows over time as it is not dealt with). It’s also interesting that this episode cuts back and forth to Crosshair fully under the influence of the chip and wiping out Saw Gurerra’s insurgents in a very violent manner. 

Hunter ends up being knocked out by the creature and Omega takes her flashlight and his blaster to complete the mission, going alone into the tunnels where the dragon lives. What Omega learns is that she doesn’t need the blaster to deal with the situation. As scary as it is, she doesn’t have to kill the dragon or use violence against it, as it’s simply hungry and looking for food. The terrifying creature becomes a thing of beauty, green electric shocks running over its rainbow colored body, illuminating the tunnel and Omega’s face as it feeds on the flashlight she throws to it in exchange for their capacitor. The visuals mimic the teal and green rippling over the Vrathean that Omega and Ventress encounter and have to calm down in season 3 (more on that further on). 

However, this wasn’t Omega’s mission. It was Hunter’s, but she ends up completing it for him. Omega learns a valuable lesson here, which fits in with her natural tendencies of drawing both people and animals to her caring, compassionate nature instead of judging them based on appearance, but I’m not sure that this was her ultimate trial in facing her own inner demons. (See my thoughts on why this is important at the end of this essay in the Ventress section.) This also was a failed attempt for Hunter, and he would end up facing his trial again in The Return in season 3. 

Wrecker and the Rancor (Muchi)

Wrecker was introduced as a character whose expertise is in explosives and making things blow up. He lives for making a ruckus and having a good time, but his strengths are engineered to be used for destruction. 

Much of Wrecker’s character arc in season 1 is learning how to become more of an adult/parental figure for Omega, and how to put his own desires and needs aside in order to help take care of hers (letting her eat first, making a room for her in the gunners nest, watching out for her). In Rampage, the Batch is charged with rescuing a “child,” who they eventually find out is a young, ornery, and decidedly huge Rancor. Wrecker is the only one of them strong enough to sedate the creature after a lengthy bout of essentially hand to hand “combat.” They needed to bring Muchi back alive and Wrecker ends up gaining mutual affection and respect with her. Muchi is now calm and tamed enough that Omega can ride on her back with no fear or worry of danger.

Rancors adhere to a strict social and familial hierarchy, and have to challenge the alpha for authority. Wrecker starts out brash and boastful, and even though he is always caring, he becomes much more aware of his surroundings and his standing in their family unit as he grows in his responsibilities toward Omega. Rampage is shortly before his chip goes off, where he almost kills his entire squad. While his brute strength is an asset when used in the right ways, it is lethal if used for the wrong ones, and through his family bonds (especially with Omega) Wrecker is ultimately able to overcome the worst, chipped version of who he had been made to be, and instead be a source of safety and strength for Omega and his family. 

Tech and the Zillo Beast

The Zillo beast is a marvel amongst Star Wars creatures. Its armor is impenetrable and highly valuable, and it feeds almost exclusively on energy, which allows it to become larger and morph into an even more powerful creature. When the Batch encounters it in season 2 in Metamorphasis, it tries to attack all of them, but Tech is the only one who is “fascinated” by the creature rather than scared of it. Similar to the Zillo beast feeding on energy, Tech’s mind was what he was known for, and he “fed” it by constantly consuming and integrating data about the world around him (which is transmitted by energy currents). During this episode Tech is confident in his own capabilities and extremely interested in learning more about the cloning technologies they were uncovering on this crashed ship. Tech’s research on the Zillo beast, while helpful, unfortunately comes too late and the Batch are unable to either put down or recapture the creature before it grows too strong for them to deal with. In the process, the Zillo beast escapes and is eventually recaptured by the Empire.

I’ve always been fascinated by the point in this episode where Tech is downloading the rest of the information from the terminal onto his data pad, and Hunter warns Omega that Imperials are inbound. She immediately tells Tech they need to go, and he refuses for a moment, saying he needs to finish capturing the data. If Omega did not pressure him to leave (and the electricity go out), he very well could have been standing there when ships bomb their location a few moments later, and gotten both himself and Omega killed for no good reason. At this moment his love of knowledge is overpowering his common sense and his love for his family, and it almost costs him everything. 

Contrast this to a few moments later when he pulls Omega out of danger as they leave the ship, and Plan 99 when he chooses to sacrifice himself not for his own gain, but solely so his family has a chance to live. He had to face his greatest asset where it could also be his greatest failure, and learn how to prioritize and wield his strengths. 

Crosshair and the Vulture 

In The Outpost in season 2, Crosshair has spent almost two seasons engulfed in poor choices made both against his will (the chip), and of his own volition (staying with the Empire no matter what in pursuit of a sense of purpose and loyalty). His decisions are starting to grate on him and have led him down a dark path, but he hasn’t been fully ready to find a way to change them. When he lands on the icy planet of Barton IV, he encounters fearsome ice vultures shrieking overhead. He is told by the outpost’s commanding clone officer, Mayday, that the creatures are vicious, but admirable, because they find a way to survive. 

Vultures signify both death and cleansing and are often feared and viewed with disgust, yet are an integral part of nature. Crosshair’s isolation and status as a clone soldier have put him in a precarious and often misjudged position, in ways he doesn’t even fully realize until this episode. His very life is in danger due to the Empire’s stance toward the clones, but so far Crosshair has believed that he is valuable to the Empire in ways that the regular clones are not. This attitude and perspective are severely challenged by Lieutenant Nolan, who speaks contemptuously both about and to every clone he encounters. Nolan’s lack of respect for them as soldiers, as officers, and even as people, is an extreme look at what Crosshair’s callousness and misplaced loyalty could lead him to if he is not careful. His fate is hanging in the balance.

After being sent on an inhumane mission to retrieve two crates of armor in a blinding snowstorm, Crosshair and Mayday are caught in an avalanche. After coming up out of the snow gasping for air, Crosshair could choose to get himself back to base and leave Mayday behind. Find a way to survive in the cold on his own, but kill the last of his compassion and personal values in the process. Instead, he chooses to put his life even more at risk to bring Mayday along with him. 

Unfortunately for both of them, when they get back to base, Nolan has zero sympathy for their self-sacrifice, and allows Mayday to die unceremoniously on the platform from his wounds. Once again, a vulture is circling overhead, waiting to partake of its next meal. It signifies the threat of death but also Crosshair’s struggle and desire to survive. Crosshair is now staring his own lack of value and expendability in the face, and where he finds himself is now fully intolerable. He cannot continue on the way he has been without the very essence of who he is breaking irreparably in the process. Does he reclaim who he is, a compassionate and forceful individual who protects those he cares about? Or does he fall in line with what the Empire wants from him, knowing he will be discarded regardless?

Crosshair integrates his lesson in a visceral manner, his own personal traits mimicking the very essence of the ice vulture as he finally reorients his moral compass, takes a stand for himself and for his clone brothers, and takes vengeance on Lieutenant Nolan. His caution and inner turmoil are channeled into one desperate act as he becomes an agent/angel of death, the framing of the scene creating vulture-like wings spread on either side of him. He doesn’t expect to survive this encounter, choosing a path that looks like death on the outside but is cleansing and redeeming for him on the inside. He can now face the future as his whole, integrated self.

Hunter, Crosshair, the Vulture, and the Wyrm 

The vulture and its meaning for Crosshair, as well as Hunter’s cut-short encounter with the Ordo Moon Dragon, both have their bookends in season 3’s episode The Return. Crosshair has seen immense character growth after his choices in The Outpost, and has not only redeemed himself but has been given the chance to start reconciling with everyone he has hurt. This episode has two creatures that serve two important purposes: the vulture returns as a metaphor for Crosshair’s need to reconcile with and forgive himself, and a new creature, a giant wyrm (nice Dune reference there, Star Wars) highlights the fractured rift between him and Hunter, and the anger, distrust, and resentment that Hunter has been running from since Aftermath. 

The Batch has returned to Barton IV, and Crosshair is greeted by the ice vulture as they land. The weather is calm and clear this time, and the creature is observing him but not in a threatening way. At the same time, tensions rise to a breaking point between Hunter and Crosshair and a long-awaited argument starts between them. Before it can be resolved, the wyrm erupts out of the ground and puts all of their lives in danger. It had been kept at bay previously by high-pitched noises, (oddly similar to Hunter’s enhanced senses, which he has been so distracted from that he wasn’t aware of the danger ahead of time) and lived underneath the same snow that had buried Crosshair and Mayday. 

In their efforts to draw the creature away from the outpost so they can turn the sensors back on, Hunter falls through the snow into the wyrm’s tunnels. Crosshair has already had his inner journey underneath the snow on Barton IV. This time, Hunter has to finally face his own struggles. Every step of the way he has been running and hiding, trying to keep his family and Omega safe by keeping them away from the Empire, away from Crosshair, away from danger, but failing miserably. This time, Hunter could simply let Crosshair haul him back up to the surface when he reaches the spot where Crosshair and Batcher have dug a hole in the ice to pull him out. But he hasn’t confirmed that the wyrm is actually past the boundary and that it is safe to turn the perimeter sensors back on. This time, Hunter stays below the surface, and keeps himself in harms way until he is absolutely sure that his family is safe and that his own emotions have been worked through. He is starting to take responsibility for his journey. His senses start to kick in again and he refuses to leave the tunnel until the wyrm is barreling down his neck, and then he finally accepts Crosshair’s help. Both of them run to safety, the perimeter beacons turn on, and the wyrm is now on the other side of an invisible barrier of sound, harmless and chastened until it finally slinks away. 

The boys exchange glances and nods. Their rift has been bridged and they are both willing to move forward, together. This is proven by the end of the episode, where Crosshair, who has remained closed off and unwilling to discuss what he’s been through, opens up slightly to Hunter before they leave, and Hunter responds with forgiveness, acknowledgement, and hope for the future. And for now, it’s enough. Crosshair looks into the sky and watches the ice vulture flying overhead once again. Except this time, it flies off into the sunset, signifying that his lessons from this planet have been fully learned, that the spirit of survival in the face of death that he has been carrying with him can now be put towards living and thriving again. Both Hunter and Crosshair are leaving slightly more whole than when they first arrived, both as individuals and in their restored relationship with each other. 

Ventress, Omega, and the Vrathean

Omega gets a second chance at taming a terrifying creature in The Harbinger in season 3. After Asajj Ventress shows up on Pabu to help the Batch figure out the m-count conundrum that makes Omega’s blood so valuable to the Empire, (and after Omega has begged her to stay and test her capabilities), she and Omega go out onto the ocean to test Omega’s potential Force sensitivity. (Also after Ventress had to whoop the boys’ backsides to get them to slightly trust her, but we won’t go into that here). 

Throughout this season, (and really for most of her life), Omega has…not been doing well. Her time on Tantiss, leaving the rest of the clones imprisoned there behind when she and Crosshair escaped, and the relentless pursuit of her by the Empire has truly traumatized her and made her single-mindedly want to know why she is always in danger and putting everyone else around her in danger as well. Her mental health has been spiraling a bit and her inner turmoil is starting to rival Crosshair’s in season 2. She knows that m-count is important and is also thrilled at Ventress mentioning the Jedi, while the rest of the Batch and Ventress herself are very somber about the prospect that Omega might have Force capabilities. However, in her desire to have answers, she ends up being very impatient and frustrated and doesn’t even show her typical level of optimism and concentration in working through Ventress’ tests for her. It’s almost like her goal (finding answers) is at odds with what her idea of finding those answers looks like.

After having tried and failed to “reach out” to the Force to summon anything, Omega pouts and sits back down in the boat, seemingly defeated. Ventress has asked her to try to connect to nature, probably because she has seen Omega’s connection to Batcher and assumes that might be more in line with whatever her gifting might be. Two of Omega’s main traits and strengths are her optimism in the face of defeat, and her compassion toward literally every living thing she encounters. She is always curious, generous, caring, and wanting to connect with others. Which makes it even more curious that she is so easily stumped and disconnected by this exercise. She challenges Ventress to prove why *she* is the best person to be teaching Omega this lesson, and Ventress sighs but gently and carefully shows her powers by calling up a school of glowing green fish from the water. “I’m not the one holding back,” she tells Omega.

After a peaceful moment, however, another creature, this time a giant and tentacled Vrathean, emerges from the water as well and starts hunting Ventress and Omega down. It’s unclear if Ventress actually called the creature up herself or not, but if she did it was not intentional. She helps rescue Omega from the creature’s clutches and then chooses to put herself in more danger by letting it grab her, and communing with it through the Force as it tries to eat her. The deadly creature becomes a thing of astonishing beauty as the color of the sea ripples over its body and its eyes soften and recognize Ventress as a sentient being. 

This is where it gets interesting, because this peacefulness, calm, and compassion is not something we would have associated with prior versions of Ventress. Her experiences and growth throughout the Clone Wars, her associations with Ahsoka and Quinlan, and her choices have turned her into a much softer and stronger version of herself. This has now become her trial by allowing her to showcase just how much she has changed, and how much her own worldview has flipped. 

This is an incredible example for Omega, but similar to how she took Hunter’s trial for him in Replacement, Ventress has now filled what was supposed to be hers. This begs the question, what is Omega actually holding back on? Is she really Force sensitive? Or is just her compassion and tenderness toward everyone around her overtaking her in unhealthy ways? She has always had a tendency to put herself in harms way in an attempt to make up for the complications her presence brings her brothers. 

Omega will have to face these implied monsters at some point. I’m not actually certain that she will end up facing a creature like everyone else has—there’s the possibility that because she naturally has more affinity with creatures and beings that look monstrous but really aren’t, she may end up facing her inner demons in another manner. Will it be a person instead? Or a choice? Even, might I say, an identity crisis? It remains to be seen, but the fact that she must face it in order to overcome and integrate it is unquestionable. 

[btssaysstudy]

Salvage - 1 || jjk/kth.

Summary: After your confession, it's safe to say that there was nothing left to salvage between you and Jungkook. However, things start to change when a new hurdler joins the team. Genre: college!au, track!jungkook, track!taehyung, track!reader, angst & fluff Pairing: jungkook x reader, taehyung x reader Warning(s) : unrequited love, alcohol (drinking) mentioned, swearing Chapter Word Count: 3.7k a/n: My first mini series! Let me know what you guys think and the ending depends on your feedback :) taglist: do let me know if you want to be added to the series taglist

series masterlist

“Wake me up when you’re done.”

“Alright, alright. I’m done.” Your body got up from your seat, but your gaze still glued on your laptop screen and hands on your keyboard. Your roommate groaned, marching her way to pull your hands away from the laptop.

“Yn, it’s a Friday night. Let’s go! Namjoon’s waiting for us downstairs.”

“Yea but,” You sighed, your eyes on your work, “I still have quite a lot of things to do. Maybe I’ll skip this party—“

“Like how you missed Hoseok’s birthday party? I’m sure he’s going to hunt you down later. You still have the weekends to complete your work and you’re already dressed up.”

You knew your roommate was right. You had agreed to go for this party since it was one of Namjoon’s close friends’ birthday. Though you weren’t close to the birthday boy, you were close to Namjoon and his girlfriend, who also happened to be your roommate - Miya.

“Okay, okay.” You quickly saved your work and turned your laptop off. “Let’s go.”

Miya squealed in excitement, linking her arm around yours as she pulled you towards the door. The two of you went down to meet Namjoon who had been patiently waiting for you to get down.

“Sorry for wait.” You gave an apologetic smile. “No worries! We’re still early. Good to miss the first few awkward minutes of the party.” He chuckled as he opened the car door to let you both in.

Miya truly hit jackpot with Namjoon. He was the whole package - athletic, smart and a gentleman. Miya was a great catch herself and you were thankful that she was your roommate.

Miya had been your roommate since freshmen year and ever since, you both always wanted to dorm together. Miya was very caring and gentle yet blunt at the same time. You both were awkward beings when you first met, and you were worried how dorm life would be with a stranger.

Thankfully, Miya, being the straightforward person, immediately went out with setting the ground rules together and suggested for a roommate date to get to know each other.

The rest was practically history.

Miya had been there for many of your significant memories in college - the good and the bad.

She was also there when you met Jungkook.

“Do you have any clubs in mind?”

“Actually, I do. I’m planning to sign up for track.”

Miya gasped and giggled in excitement, “No way, I want to join track too!”

“That’s cool! Shall we head over then?”

The two of you made your way to the track and field booth, sharing about what events you partake in. Miya was a hurdler while you weren’t. Nonetheless, it was pretty amazing to you two that you were both signing up for the track team.

“Hey freshies! Here to sign up?”

The two of you converse with the seniors to learn more about the try-outs and practice sessions.

“Psst,” Miya nudged you as you filled up the sign-up form, “On your left. Isn’t he cute?”

Your gaze turned to see a tall, buff boy, who seemed to be signing up for track as well. “He’s pretty cute.”

“I’m going to say hi. Wait for me.” Miya winked at you before approaching the boy - little did she know at that time that he was going to be her boyfriend.

“See you try-outs!” You smiled at the senior as you handed the form.

Your eyes wandered around the nearby booths as you waited for Miya to come back.

“I’ll just look around.” You mouthed at her when she turned to make eye contact with you.

“Hey! Interested to join Photography club?”

“Freshies! Come join the Badminton club!”

The atmosphere was completely chaotic with seniors shouting at the top of their lungs to promote their club. Slightly disoriented from the ruckus, you had bumped into a stranger.

“I’m so sorry—“

“So sorry about that—“

The two of you took a step back to meet each other’s eyes. “Sorry about that.” The black-haired boy gave a sheepish grin as he rubbed the nape of his neck. “I was kinda too excited to sign up for a club.”

“No worries, it’s my fault as well. I wasn’t looking.”

“All’s good. B-But… Any chance that you happen to know where the track and field club booth is at?”

Your eyes widened slightly in amusement, “Yea I do. I was just about to head back to meet my friend.”

“Oh! Could I follow you there?”

“Sure.”

Your eyes took a quick once-over, it wasn’t hard to notice that his built was athletic, donned in sweats and an oversize black shirt, this guy looked like the poster boy of college dudes.

“My name’s Jungkook. What’s yours?”

“Yn. Did you run track before college?”

“Yep, I do 4x100s.”

“Oh, same here!” You flashed a smile. “Wow, what a coincidence that I’d bump into you huh.” Jungkook chuckled and you did the same. “Must be a sign that we’ll both be teammates.”

“Not a bad sign at all.”

“Yn!” Miya waved her hand wildly amidst the crowd. “I was about to leave the booth to go find you! What booths did you— Oh hi, I’m Miya, you are?”

“Jungkook. Nice to meet you. You must be the friend yn was going back for.”

Miya gave you a subtle look which you chose to ignore that day.

“Jungkook,” Miya grinned, “It’s nice to meet you too!”

“Speaking of the party, yn, you know Jungkook will be there as well, right?”

“Yes, this is the tenth time you’ve told me that.”

“Sorry, just another reminder before we pull up to the party.”

Besides having a ton of workload to do, you also had another reason for having second thoughts.

That reason was Jungkook.

“Thanks for your concern. But it’s been a year, I’m long over it.”

“That’s great to hear, I’m proud of you yn.” Namjoon piped in as he parked the car. “And we,” He placed his hand on Miya’s, “Should trust our friend’s word.”

Miya glanced at you before sighing, “Alright. I do. Now, let’s go greet the birthday boy.”

The three of you left the car and made your way to the party venue. The birthday boy was clearly loaded as the venue was huge. You jaw dropped in awe, “Why is this party so extravagant?”

“Good thing our birthday gifts are more drinks.” Miya nudged you and you laughed, nodding your head.

You were all greeted with blaring music from the stereo and neon lights to add into the ambience. People had already begun drinking and some were busy eating dinner.

“Yn!! I missed you!” A very familiar voice erupted as you spotted a figure rushing towards you.

“Hoseok!” You grinned, extending your arms out for a hug.

“You didn’t come to my party!” He pouted as he pulled away. “But I visited the next day as a surprise!” You defended yourself.

“That’s true… Still feels like forever since I saw you.” Hoseok pulled you back in for a hug.

The four of you made your way to one of open rooms which had been turned into a buffet area. You had helped yourself to the wide array of food and found a table to eat with your friends.

“We have a new hurdler joining us. He’s our batch but he only joined the club this try-out round.” Namjoon filled you in since you were the only non-hurdler in your group.

“Oh, who is it?”

“Kim Taehyung.”

“Wait, Kim Taehyung? Isn’t he from table tennis?”

Namjoon shrugged his shoulders, “Guess he wanted to try something new. I was there during try-outs and he’s a really fast runner.”

—

Since it was a huge party and you weren’t close to the birthday boy, you didn’t need to spend the night entertaining the main character of the night.

To make full use of the amenities at the booked venue, the four of you started playing different rounds of games.

You were paired with Hoseok against Miya and Namjoon. The first round was charades and you lost to them. Hoseok found the game Just Dance and proposed it as the next round.

Jungkook had not been on your mind the entire night as you busied yourself playing games with your friends.

“What else can you do?!” Miya exclaimed, stepping in front to take over Hoseok’s spot.

“More like what else can you not do?! That was amazing!” You pulled Hoseok in for hug, “We’re gonna win this. Get ready to treat us for a meal!”

Namjoon chuckled, “We have to do another game after this. Hoseok basically created the game Just Dance. He followed the moves to easily.”

“Don’t whine, just dance!” Hoseok teased, pulling you back on the couch as you both watched Miya and Namjoon do their round.

“Didn’t want to ruin the mood but… He’s watching.” Hoseok leaned in to whisper in your ear. Your eyes slowly wandered around the venue to spot a familiar figure hanging around a crowd of people.

You both made eye contact and you decided to cast a smile at his direction. In return, you received a quick and small smile before he looked away, completely avoiding your direction.

“That went well.”

“Give him time.”

“Hobi,” you deadpanned, “I’m pretty sure one year is a lot of time.”

Hoseok just shrugged, “I know but… Okay, I have nothing to say to defend him.”

You chuckled, turning your attention back to Miya and Namjoon, “You don’t have to defend him.”

“He’s my close friend too.”

“I know, and I feel bad that you have to split yourself in half every time—“

“No, no,” Hoseok nudged you to get that thought off your mind, “I don’t feel that way. Besides, I met the two of you on separate occasions as well. Please don’t feel guilty about anything.”

You gave him a thankful smile, “Thanks Hobi.”

The Just Dance bet ended with your landslide victory thanks to Hoseok’s hidden dance skills.

Namjoon insisted for another game to even the playing field and Hoseok went out to the backyard to set up the beer pong table. Miya and Namjoon had gone to the kitchen to grab the cups and drinks and you had volunteered to grab more titbits to snack on.

Thanks to your luck, Jungkook had busied himself with filling his plate with snacks as well.

“Hey.”

Jungkook jumped upon heading your voice, quickly steadying the plate on his hand. “H-Hey.”

“How’s the party going?”

You attempted to start a conversation with him as you grabbed a plate yourself. Jungkook awkwardly cleared his throat, “It’s a huge party… H-How about— Are you enjoying it?”

“Yea, there’s tons of things to do. How about you?”

“Yea.” Jungkook fiddled with one of the serving scoops. You pressed your lips in a tight smile, recognising the awkward atmosphere engulfing the both of you.

It hurt you to know Jungkook was still feeling awkward around you. It always reminded you that you had made the wrong choice. That you had ruined everything between the two of you.

“Right, I guess I’ll head off first. See you at practice?”

“Yea… See you around.” Jungkook nodded his head, his gaze locked on the table filled with snacks as you left the area, feeling dejected from your encounter.

“What’s with the long face?” Hoseok asked as you approached your group. You looked up to meet his eyes and he immediately knew, sighing as he pulled you into a comforting hug.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still feels like it is.”

-

“Is it just me or am I still hungover from the party?”

You laughed, “You had a whole Sunday to rest.”

Miya sighed as she started doing hip circles. “I know, I must be getting old.”

“You probably are. Anyway, where is Namjoon?”

Just as you had asked, you heard his voice calling you and Miya. The both of you turned to see Namjoon heading over your direction with someone unfamiliar next to him. Namjoon was goofily waving his hands to grab your attention while pointing to the male next to him.

As they got closer, you managed to recognise the person next him. It was Kim Taehyung. He was popular in college because he was very talented at table tennis. It shocked you when Namjoon said he had joined the track team as a hurdler.

“You two must be Miya and Yn. I’m Taehyung.” He stuck out his hand for a handshake.

With a light smile, you reached out to return the handshake. Taehyung had a welcoming aura around him. He had a friendly and approachable vibe. He was tall, athletic, and good looking.

“So, what made you join track?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “It’s our last year in college, wanted to try something different.”

“Hope you like it here.”

Taehyung glanced back at you, casting a boxy grin your way, “I think I will.”

The coach blew their whistle to grab everyone’s attention. Everyone made their way to the centre of the field to start physical training. Training started with light warm-ups before rounds around the track.

While running, Taehyung was happily chatting away with you to get to know you better. “That sucks, so you’re not a hurdler?”

“Nope, I do 4x100s.”

“So, I’ll only get to see you once a week.” Taehyung pouted and you chuckled, “You can see me on other days.”

Track had 3 sessions a week - one combined with everyone and two within your own events. The combined session was physical training for all, hence why you were running rounds with a hurdler by your side.

“I’ll take that up!” He winked at you before speeding up slightly, “Catch me if you can!”

From behind, Jungkook watched you and Taehyung converse with a scowl on his face.

Why were you even talking while jogging? Was Taehyung flirting with you?

He used to be the one disturbing you during these rounds.

Jungkook tried to shrug off the scene of you and Taehyung together, ignoring the bitter feeling growing in his chest.

-

“Don’t feel bad. You’re sick, I’ll bring up some food for you.” You grabbed your student ID and phone as you insisted that Miya stayed in bed. Casting you a weak smile, she thanked you as you left your dorm to head off to the dining hall.

You lucked out when you saw Jungkook standing at the end of the queue, scrolling through his phone. With a deep breathe in as you made your way to join the queue. “Hey.” You gave a cautious greeting towards his way. Jungkook’s heart jumped, his grip tightening on his phone as he looked up to see you smiling at him.

“Hey.”

Jungkook hated how awkward he felt with you. It never used to be that way. Then again, that was a year ago.

You also never understood why Jungkook was the one avoiding you when you were the one who got rejected.

“Today was fun.” Jungkook gave you a toothy grin, “Yea it was.”

“Definitely my new favourite restaurant. I’m so full!” He playfully patted his stomach and you chuckled, “Looks like I know where to go when you start being grumpy or stressed.”

“That’s easy, you don’t have to take me to that restaurant. I just have to spend time with you and I’m good to go.” He shrugged his shoulders. Your heart fluttered at how nonchalant his words were yet so genuine. You had been thinking about it the entire afternoon, contemplating if it was the right decision. But you knew you had to let it out before it was too late.

“You good?” Jungkook pulled you out from your thoughts. “Mm? Oh yea, I’m good.” Your feet lazily kicked a stone in front of you.

“Hey,” Jungkook stopped walking, gently placing his hand on your arm to turn you around to face him. “You can always tell me something.”

“I know, I’m… I’m just tired that’s all.”

Jungkook pursed his lips together, “How about we head over to my place to watch a movie?”

“Sure.”

You let Jungkook choose the movie for the night as your head was far away. Jungkook nudged you, shimmying his shoulders. That was always his signal when he offered his shoulder for you to rest on. You gave him a small smile as you leaned your head on his shoulder.

Despite loving Marvel, you found yourself not paying a single ounce of attention to the movie. Jungkook seemed to have noticed that as you weren’t bantering with his small comments to the movie.

You were brought back to reality when you noticed the movie was paused.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sitting up to face Jungkook.

“I was about to ask that.”

“I’m… I’m tired. I think I’ll just head home for the night.”

Jungkook frowned and you had to look away to save yourself from crumbling into pieces.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what’s on your mind?”

You sighed, this was it. You just had to let it out.

“Promise me you won’t hate me?”

“Hate you? Jungkook repeated, “I would never hate you.”

He placed his hand on your knee, encouraging you to continue. “I’ve liked you for a while.” You paused, allowing the words to sink in. You could feel his hand stiffen and you were sure he could hear the loud beating of your heart.

The silence was deafening.

Your confession repeating in both your heads.

As every second dragged on, you started to regret it even more. You had made a terrible mistake and there was no way you could take it back. Life had no re-dos.

“I’m guessing you don’t feel the same way, given the response.” You clicked your tongue together, gathering the courage to look up at him.

Jungkook was lost for words. He would have never expected to hear a confession from you that night. From his closest friend. From his best friend.

Your words left a funny feeling in him that night, but he could not tell whether it was a good or bad feeling.

“Well, don’t worry.” You forced a laugh, “I didn’t expect much anyway. I just wanted to let it out. But I’m guessing I just ruined our friendship.”

“N-No, uh… I just… I just need time to… to absorb all of this.”

You nodded your head, “I understand.” You took it as a cue to get up from the couch, Jungkook’s eyes following your figure. “I’ll see myself out. Sorry for ruining the night.”

“T-Text me when you made it home safely.” Jungkook called out as you headed for the door.

Terrible. Even after ruining your friendship, Jungkook was still looking out for you. You hated how that made you feel. You turned around to face him one more time, a smile plastered on your face.

“Will do. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

It pained Jungkook to see you holding back your tears. If he could have another chance to replay that night. He would’ve stopped you from leaving, he would’ve told you that your friendship wasn’t ruined.

He would’ve done anything he could that night to stop you from leaving his life.

But in reality, he did none of those.

When you texted him that night that you were home, your message was left unread.

You took it as a message to give him time to process everything. A night turned into a day. A day turned into a week. A week turned into a month. A month turned into a year.

It was because of your confession, you both had become strangers once again.

“Yn!”

“Oh, hi Tae!”

Despite using his phone, Jungkook’s attention was on your conversation with Taehyung. You were already calling him ‘Tae’? Since when were you that close with him?

“Namjoon told me Miya’s sick. She alright?”

“Yep, just grabbing food for her so she can take her meds and rest.”

“Need my help?”

“Oh no, all’s good.”

Taehyung nudged you, “It’s alright, you have to get your own food too. I’ve already eaten, I can help carry her food up to your dorm, check up on her as well.”

“Sure, if you’re free, that is.”

“Free for you.” He teased and you laughed, looking away momentarily to see Jungkook who seemed to be invested in his phone.

“Oh, Jungkook! Didn’t recognise you at first. How’ve you been?”

Jungkook looked up to greet Taehyung, “H-Hey, I’ve been well.”

Ever since meeting Taehyung, he got along with your group easily. In fact, he got along with everyone effortlessly. He knew almost everyone in the track team only after 2 weeks. That meant only 2 combined sessions. Somehow along the way, it seemed that he had introduced himself to Jungkook as well.

Taehyung was amazing with people and that was admirable. The more you got to know Taehyung, the more you looked forward to hanging out with him.

“See you next practice!” Taehyung happily patted Jungkook’s shoulders goodbye as you two went off a different direction towards your dorm.

You barely register their conversation as your head was somewhere else, recalling the night you had confessed.

“Hey, are you okay?” Taehyung’s concerned voice made you look up to meet his eyes.

“I’m okay.”

Taehyung frowned, glancing behind to see Jungkook looking at the two of you walking away. Jungkook shook his head, quickly glancing away as Taehyung caught him looking.

“Something to do with Jungkook, perhaps?”

Taehyung was very observant and you knew you couldn’t fool him as well.

“Sort of… We just used to be close but... He’s been avoiding me and I’ve been trying to salvage whatever’s left. But it doesn’t seem to be working.”

Taehyung pursed his lips together, “It’s not fair if only one party is putting in the effort, you know.”

“I know, it’s just that… We used to be close.” You sighed as you stepped into the elevator with him, your gaze on your tray of food.

“Still, it’s not worth salvaging if you’re the only one putting in the effort. I’m sure you’ve done your best. Sometimes, you just can’t force things to happen.”

As the elevator opened to your level, you allowed his words to sink in.

“Miya! We come with food!” Taehyung grinned, bringing the tray to your sick roommate as she thanked the two of you for your help.

Your eyes trailed to Taehyung who was helping Miya grab her medicine and a glass of water.

Maybe Taehyung was right. Maybe it’s time to stop trying.

[waitimcomingtoo]

Touch - p.p

chapter one - an encounter 

synopsis: you love him, but you can never touch him

“Spiderling, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Peter turned around at the sound of Tony’s voice, eyes widening in surprise when he saw you for the first time, perched at Tony’s side.

“Hi. I’m Peter.” Peter introduced himself as he reached out his hand.

“Y/n.” You said as you shook his hand, automatically taking his pain. “Oo, shoulder pain.”

“How did you do that?” Peter gasped as he touched his fixed shoulder. “My shoulders been killing me.”

“I took your pain. Damn, you were really hurting huh?” You chuckled as you shook out your arm.

“Yeah. It’s been messed up for weeks.” Peter laughed as he rolled his shoulder. “Thanks.”

“Isn’t she amazing? She’s my newest recruit.” Tony explained. “Welcome to the Avengers, Icy Hot. You’ll fit right in.”

“I hope so.” You smiled nervously. “I appreciate the opportunity, sir. I won’t let you down.”

“Hear that Peter? She calls me sir.” Tony pointed to you proudly. “Brownie points for manners.”

Peter smiled at you and you smiled back, already taking an interest in each other.

“Thank you, sir.” You chuckled again, eyeing Peter every now and then as he did the same to you.

“Come on. I’ll show you the rest of the team.” Tony offered as he put his hand on the small of your back.

“Okay. It was nice meeting you Peter.” You waved at him as you passed him in the hallway.

“You too.” Peter waved back, a smile staying on his face long after you left.

~

You saw Peter in the gym the next day, sweating through his shirt as he threw punches at the heavy bag. You smiled at him as you climbed on the elliptical, sweating through your sports bra soon enough.

“Damn it.” Peter suddenly hissed as he pulled off his boxing glove.

“You okay?” You stopped your movement at the elliptical.

“Punched the bag too hard.” Peter sighed as he shook his throbbing hand. “I busted my knuckles.”

You climbed off the elliptical and approached Peter, your chest rising and falling as you caught your breath. Peter’s face blushed slightly as you came close enough for him to see the sweat beads rolling down your neck.

“Can I see?” You asked softly as you held out your hands. Peter nodded slightly and placed his hand into yours. Your held his hand firmly and closed your eyes as the process began. Peter saw your veins darken as the pain left his body. You winced a little as his cut healed right before his eyes.

“Does that hurt you?” Peter asked as he looked at you.

“Yeah, but not that much.” You answered. “I heal really fast so it’s just a watered down version of whatever pain I take.”

“Thats really cool.” Peter smiled softly. “You’re gonna be great for our team.”

“You think?” You lit up. “I feel so lame compared to you guys. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up.”

“Healing people isn’t lame.” Peter assured you. “You’ll totally keep up.”

“Says the boy who can lift busses.” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Did you google me?” Peter pretended to gasp as he was secretly flattered.

“Maybe.” You said coyly. “I thought it was really admirable how you helped that old lady cross the street.”

“Which one?” Peter joked. “That’s my specialty.”

“You wanna know what my specialty is?” You stepped a little closer to him.

“What?” Peter asked, his entire body flushed from your close proximity.

“I can take a bruised peach and make it fresh. Mr. Stark has me do it every day. I used to blow all the kids minds at lunch.” You rubbed your nails on your shoulder like you were bragging.

“Thats really amazing. How have you not won a Nobel Peace Prize yet?” Peter teased you.

“I keep getting nominated but I’m always snubbed.” You sighed dramatically.

“Well peaches, I think you’re gonna keep up with this team just fine.” Peter smirked. “We could all use a little healing.”

“I’m glad I could be of service to you.” You stepped even closer, chests almost touching. Peter’s breath fanned your face for a moment, but before he could even close his eyes, you pulled away.

“I ,uh, I gotta go.” You stepped back from him and blinked a few times to regain your composure. “See you around.”

You swiftly left the gym, leaving Peter in a cloud of confusion as you went.

~

“Hey.” You walked into the kitchen and sniffed the air. “Are you baking?”

“Trying to. I think I forgot the eggs. And the milk.” Peter realized as he stared into his dry mixture. After a month of living in the tower, you’d gotten used to Peter’s failed attempts at baking.

You’d also gotten used to Peter.

“What are you making?” You came over his shoulder and peered in his bowl. Peter’s face flushed as he became hyperaware of how close you were. Close, but not touching.

“Muffins. Do they look okay to you?” Peter asked as he looked over his shoulder at you.

“Um, do you want a real answer or a nice answer?” You grimaced as you looked in the bowl again and saw his lumpy mixture.

“Damn it. Why is this so hard?” Peter whined. “Let me see if my first batch is ready.”

Peter went to the oven and opened it up, instinctively reaching in and grabbing the muffin tin.

“Ouch!” He yanked his hand back and held it to his chest, squirming in pain.

“Peter! You can’t grab things directly out of the oven.” You exclaimed as you rushed towards him.

“I know.” He sighed as he shook his burning finger. “But I wasn’t wearing oven mitts when I put it in so I forget to wear them when I take it out.”

“Come here.” You immediately closed your hands around his burnt hand and began to take his pain.

“Won’t it hurt you?” Peter tried to pull away but you held him in place.

“I’ll be okay.” You chuckled as you continued to take his pain. Peter sighed in relief as you winced from the feeling.

“Better?” You asked once you had finished, following your words with a kind squeeze of his hands.

“Better.” He nodded. “Thanks peaches.”

“I got you.” You flirted, looking at him through your eyelashes.

“Do you?” Peter took a step closer to you, bringing his free hand up to enclose around your hand. You gulped nervously and closed your eyes for a moment before stepping back. Peter immediately felt the loss of warmth and felt disappointment sink into his stomach.

“I’ll get the muffins out.” You stammered as you went to get an oven mitt out of the drawer. “Don’t want them to burn.”

“Okay.” Peter nodded as he leaned against the counter, barely listening because of how disappointed he felt. “Okay.”

This was how your relationship went on. You grew closer in your friendship, but never in your distance. Every time Peter thought you were about to touch, you made an excuse to pull away. Although he was used to it, it still hurt him every time.

“Hey Aquaman.” You greeted Peter as you approached the pool one day. “Mind if I join you?”

“By all means.” Peter nodded. “As long as you don’t pee in the pool.”

You could tell from his face that he immediately regretted what he said, his regret making you laugh.

“Are you proud that you said that?” You teased him as you untied your robe and dropped it to the floor. Peter’s face heated up at the sight of you in your black bathing suit as he quickly adverted his eyes.

“I can’t say I am.” He said as he pretended to be interested in something far away.

“Don’t worry about it. I say dumb things all the time.” You told him as you took out a bottle of sunscreen. You began to run in into your skin, missing your back almost entirely.

“You need some help?” Peter offered, noticing your struggle.

“I’m good.” You said, a little quickly. “Just keep the water warm for me, all right?”

“Was that another pee joke?” Peter whined, knowing he was never going to live that down

“It wasn’t intended to be.” You laughed as you stood by the edge of the pool. “I’m coming in. Is it cold?”

“No, because I just peed.” Peter said simply, making you laugh again.

“Peter.” You whined as you dipped your toe in. “No more pee jokes.”

“I’m sorry, peaches, but you made it so easy.” He defended himself.

“I’m scared.” You quickly took your toe out and rubbed your arms.

“Why? It’s just water.”

“Cold water.” You reminded him.

“Just jump in.”

“But I’ll splash you.” You worried.

“I think I’ll live.” Peter chuckled. You looked at the water one more time before jumping in, a small wave spraying Peter as you did.

“Did I get you wet?” You asked as you came to the surface right in front of Peter. It took Peter a minute to process what you said, as he was too focused on how pretty you looked with water droplets in your eyelashes.

“I’m in a pool.” He reminded you. “I was already wet.”

“Well did I splash you?” You rolled your eyes at him.

“I don’t know. Does a splash feel like this?” Peter asked innocently as he splashed you in the face.

“My hair!” You gasped as the wave hit you.

“Aw. Did you get your hair wet while submerged in water? How did that possible happen?” Peter asked sarcastically as he splashed you again.

“Oh, you got jokes? Well now you’re gonna have water damage.” You smiled deviously as you splashed him.

“Hey. No splashing.” He said, knowing how ironic it was since he did it twice.

“Fine. Then I’ll just drown you.” You said simply as you grabbed his shoulders and tried to force him under the water. As you touched him, you felt the scrape he had on his elbow transfer to you.

“Not if I drown you first.” Peter Parker warned as he grabbed your by the waist. He lifted you up as you squirmed in his arms.

“Peter. Put me down.” You laughed as you tried to break out of his grasp.

“As you wish, peaches.” He said before throwing you into the water.

“You’re gonna get it now.” You threatened as you swam back towards him. You began to wrestle in a way, your hands intertwined as you tried to overpower each other. Peter could overpower you easily, and he knew this, but he held back so you’d think it was a fair fight. He let go suddenly and you fell forward, wrapping your arms around his neck as he caught you. You stared at each other for a moment, breathily heavily as he tightened his grip on your waist.

“What am I gonna get?” Peter asked through labored breaths. Your eyes flicked to his lips before going back to his eyes as a wicked smile tugged at your lips.

“Water in your ear.” You answered as you jumped back from him. As soon as you let go, you splashed him again before swimming away.

“You did it.” Peter laughed sadly as he wiped the water from his eyes. “You got me.”

~

“Incoming!” Peter exclaimed as he swung into the alleyway, kicking the robber you’d been chasing in the chest at full speed.

“Oh no.” The man grunted as he got up from the floor. “It’s that one guy.”

“Is it though?” Peter tilted his head to the side. As if on cue, you dropped down on the other side of the robber and waved.

“Hey!” You chirped. “How’s it going?”

Before he could answer, you kicked his wrist, making him drop his backpack full of the stolen money.

“Oops! My bad!” You feigned a sad face.

“I’ll take that.” Peter shot a web at the bag and pulled it towards himself.

“You bitch!” The man exclaimed as he held he wrist.

“Hey!” Peter shouted. “That’s now how you talk to women.”

Peter kicked the man towards you and you caught him, quickly squeezing his shoulders and sending all the pain in your body into the man. The man groaned in pain as Peter shot a web at the mans gun.

“Let me get this off your hands.” Peter said as he pulled the gun out of the mans hand. The man made an angry face at Peter, who kept himself from laughing.

“Woah, fine. You can have it back.” Peter let go of the web and the gun came flying back, smacking the robber in the face and knocking him out.

“I genuinely didn’t mean to do that.” Peter gulped as the man fell to the floor.

“Nice work.” You laughed as you stepped over the limp body. “Let’s move.”

Peter webbed up the robber and threw him over his shoulder as you collected the bag and the gun. You walked back towards the bank, where you found police at the scene.

“Here you go.” You smiled sweetly as you handed a cop the items. “Hope you boys had a nice night.”

Peter turned the robber over to the police, smiling a little at what you said.

“Don’t tease the police men, peaches.” He whispered in your ear as you walked back towards the tower. “It’s not their fault they’re lame.”

You laughed at his joke and felt your hand brush against his. The bumped into each other one more time before you pulled your hand away and pretended to scratch your head.

“Um, do you want to watch a movie when we get back?” You suggested to distract from the awkwardness of the near hand holding. “I’m cool with watching the nerd shit you like.”

“Yeah, sure.” Peter nodded, disappointed once again. “And it’s not nerd shit. It’s science fiction.”

“We are saying the same words.” You teased, keeping your hands busy so the couldn’t touch his.

“Hey, I don’t rip on you when you watch those little romantic comedies.” Peter retorted.

“I’ll say it again, if you gave 13 Going On 30 a chance-“

“I know, I know.” He rolled your eyes. “I’d love it and I’d be a better person for watching it. You tell me all the time.”

“Because it’s true!” You exclaimed. “And you still refuse to watch it.”

“How about we watch it tonight, peaches?” Peter suggested as he rubbed your arm. “Maybe I’d like it better if you watched it with me.”

“Okay.” You smiled as you stepped away from his touch. “It’s a date.”

Peter nodded as he felt confusion sink in. Your words and actions always said entirely different things.

“I’ll meet you in the theater at 10. I think we both could use a shower.” Peter changed the subject before he could think too deeply into it.

“Why don’t you just meet me in the shower then?” You shrugged as you looked at him. Peter immediately stopped walking and turned bright red under his mask.

“What?” He squeaked.

“I’m kidding. God, you’re such a pervert.” You said playfully as you winked at him.

“What a tease.” Peter clicked his tongue as he shook his head.

“You know it.” You chuckled. “See you at 10.”

~later~

“Hey. Popcorn?” You held up a bowl of popcorn as you slid next to Peter on the couch.

“You think of everything.” He smiled gratefully at you as he took a few pieces.

“Just like how you thought about me in the shower.” You said casually as you popped some pieces in your mouth.

“I did not.” Peter insisted as he stole more popcorn.

“No, yeah, I believe you.” You smirked a little, layering on the sarcasm.

“Stop it. You’re mean.” Peter pouted as he rested his head on your shoulder. You tensed you for a moment as you felt the wear and tear from his day leave his body and go into yours. You had to admit, the contact was nice, but you knew it couldn’t last.

“Excuse me. I’m not a pillow.” You joked as you moved your shoulder out from under him. He picked his head up as he took your hint, feeling a familiar sadness settle into his bones with your rejection. He cut his losses and picked up the remote, pretending to take total interest in the TV to distract himself from his emotions.

“So uh, Star Wars?” He asked with a weak voice.

“Star Wars.” You nodded, pretending not to notice the forlorn look on his face.

An hour or so into the movie, Peter noticed you trying to keep yourself awake. Your head would droop occasionally as your eyelids grew heavy. Every time your head almost fell on Peters shoulder, you quickly caught yourself and sat up.

“What’s wrong with you?” Peter asked after the fourth time your head almost touched him.

“What do you mean?” You looked at him curiously.

“You don’t have to sit up that straight of you’re tired.” He said softly. “You can lean into me, you know. I don’t bite.”

“I’m good.” You told him. “I don’t want to smother you.”

“You won’t smother me.” He laughed gently as he gazed at you.

“I’m okay.” You repeated, keeping your eyes ahead.

“Okay.” Peter didn’t want to push you. He turned his gaze back to the movie, but he couldn’t focus at all. It was another day of being left in the dark about how you felt, and it was starting to weigh him down. He shot one more look at you before watching the rest of the movie in silence.

You, Peter, and Bucky sat in the kitchen the following morning, zero conversation between the three of you. Peter’s ego was still bruised from the night before, so he wasn’t particularly thrilled about speaking to you. He knew it was dumb to hold a grudge, but he was hurting. To make himself look busy, he focused on chopping up vegetables so he didn’t have to look at you.

You were too concerned with the soft winces and sighs that were coming from Bucky to realize Peter was ignoring you. By the fourth time Bucky sighed, you opened your mouth.

“You okay?” You asked as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I’m fine.” He grumbled. “Just some Phantom limb pain.”

“Mind if I…” You held up your hand to ask silently. Bucky looked at your hand hesitantly before nodded. You rested your hand on his residual limb and shut your eyes, slowly taking his pain. He cracked the faintest hint of a smile as the pain left his body, all of this taking place under Peter’s watchful eye.

“Thanks.” He said stiffly once you withdrew your hand.

“Anytime.” You smiled at him. He nodded at you before leaving the kitchen altogether. Once he was gone, Peter continued chopping the vegetables.

“That was nice of you. Are you guys close?” Peter asked without looking up.

“Not really.” You shrugged. “I take his pain sometimes when he comes to me for help.

“Hm.” Peter’s lips folded in a tight line as he continued chopping.

“What?” You scoffed a little at his strange reaction.

“He never asks people for help, much less for comfort. He must really like you.” Peter shrugged bitterly and he began to chop faster.

“Really?” You smiled a little. “You think Bucky likes me?”

“Do you want him to like you?” Peter asked quietly, finding himself in a worse mood than when the conversation started.

“I don’t know. I guess it would just be kinda cool, you know?” You laughed as you rubbed your arms. “I’m not the one people usually crush on.”

The was the final straw for Peter, his anger making him drop the knife with a loud clang.

“Maybe because you don’t let anyone in.” He snapped, causing you to jump.

“Excuse me?” You furrowed your eyebrows at his sudden outburst.

“How come you never let me touch you unless you’re healing me?” He asked, voice shaking as his emotions boiled to the surface.

“What?” You blinked a few times in surprise as you realized Peter was aware of how you distanced yourself from him. You always thought your blockades and barriers went over his head, and the fact that he knew you were doing it plagued you with guilt.

“You’re always right there.” Peter shook his head as he walked over to you. “We hover and dance around each other, but we don’t touch. Why do we do that? Why don’t we make contact?”

Peter was right in front of you now, close enough that if he took a deep breath, your chests would touch.

“Because I don’t want to hurt you, Peter.” You mumbled as you adverted your eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t just take pain away.” You spoke as you looked up at him. “I can also administer it. If I wanted to, I could kill someone with just one touch. What if I lost control of my powers and hurt you? I could never live with myself.”

“You have great control of your powers.” Peter protested. When he saw that you were unconvinced, he held up a hand. “You wouldn’t hurt me, see?”

You stared at his hand for a moment, wanting more than anything to touch it. You held up your hand as well, reaching towards Peter’s before drawing back.

“All it takes is one time, Peter.” You looked at him fearfully. “I’m a walking hazard. I just want to minimize the casualties.”

“I’d risk it.” He pleaded as his fingers twitched, aching to touch you. You looked at his hand again before dropping yours to your side.

“I wouldn’t.”

~

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[simplysummers]

Discussing Omega’s childhood on Kamino

Maybe I’m one of the only people curious about this as we’re all very hung up on Crosshair right now (understandable, I want our king back too), but I would really like a conversation between Omega and preferably Hunter, but anybody works fine, to delve into what her life was truly like on Kamino. How she was treated, raised, reprimanded, and how this all reflects on her relationship with the bad batch, and specifically in moments where their actions have fatherly intent behind them.

So, here’s what we know so far:

She was essentially raised by Nala Se.

She’s a first gen/holds unmodified Jango Fett DNA. Whether she was created at the same time as Boba, we don’t know, although it is unlikely.

Due to the fact she was unaltered, she must’ve been raised from infancy on Kamino.

She wasn’t allowed her own bedroom, so I speculate she either slept in the medical wing or had some sort of shared quarters with Nala Se.

She was frequently tested and experimented on, quite often against her will.

She was perceived to be property and nothing more than an evaluative source to help further Kaminoan research by everybody excluding Nala Se (potentially)

Her title role was a ‘medical assistant’.

She didn’t have a very warm relationship with the other clones, as we’ve seen they labelled her a “lab scrapper”.

She made friends with the existing medical staff, who were all droids.

And that is essentially it. Of course, we can make speculations, (a few of mine are: she must’ve been tormented by the other cadets for not being like them, she knew 99 and he kept her company whenever Nala Se left her alone, and that although she was educated accordingly for her medical training and basic education, she was very sheltered from things without ‘purpose’ to her life (as we all know, the Kaminoans don’t do anything without purpose) but we don’t actually know anything else about her time on Kamino!

First of all I really want to know WHY she was created. Taking into account she isn’t the same age as Boba (it’s very much suggested she isn’t, I mean she acts, looks, sounds and is treated significantly younger than Boba ever was), and Jango also didn’t request two unaltered clones, she must’ve been created a few years after Boba. Therefore, was Jango aware of her existence? And if he was, did he want her? Again, if so, what did Boba think of her? (We don’t actually see Omega’s reaction to being told she’s different, so although she might not have known of their exact relations to her, it’s very likely she could’ve potentially met Jango and Boba at some point.) So many questionsssss.

Moving on, I’d love to know more about her relationship with Nala Se. We’ve seen that the doctor has a soft spot for Omega, most definitely because she raised and grew to love her instead of deeming her a piece of property (not excusing Nala Se’s vile actions with the other clones, she can still rot, Omega has better parental figures now.), but was it always like that? Did she neglect smaller Omega for being just another clone? Before ‘Mega could show personality and differentiate herself, did Se still view her as nothing more then a test subject? How did that affect her relationship with Omega as a young child.

Speaking of which, what was Omega then like as a smaller child (hard to believe, she’s still so smol lmao), but I’m talking toddler age here. She is basically a regular person, going through regular human changes due to the fact she isn’t altered, which means she would’ve had all of those wretched toddler phases that parents dread. We can most likely assess that she was playful and curious, she still is now, bless her, but how was it received? Smaller children don’t have the complexity to understand the level of technicality that the Kaminoans work at, she wouldn’t have understood the necessity of sitting still and behaving, would she have been severely reprimanded? Was Nala Se nice to her about it? How was she raised to interpret mannerisms of other people in regards to this?

Furthermore, I want to know what tests they were performing on her too. She’s clearly important due to her first hand DNA, but before that was an asset, before the Kaminoans needed that, what were they doing to her? Why were they testing on her? How much pain was she in? Did she receive any comfort afterwards or was she expected to dry her eyes and get on with it? (I’m speculating it was the latter.) I need to know what they were doing and why. What was the purpose!

Her entire previous life is a huge mystery to us and I want to know more! And I hope I’m not the only one!

Just looking at her precious little face hurts because we know she didn’t receive the ideal childhood, if anything it was borderline abusive (I mean, not just testing on her, but the mind games the Kaminoans played with this poor kid, the fact she was well aware she was just an asset to their research and yet she constantly received mixed messages. It’s no wonder she idolised the bad batch so much; they seemed to be the only people who hadn’t either treated her like garbage at some point up until then, or died. Honestly despite the few slip ups, props to them for actually taking her in and being decent towards her.

I mean, this isn’t the purpose of this post, but just look at the comparisons.

She finally receives her own bedroom.

Said bedroom isn’t even a proper room, but they made do with what they could. She even acknowledges this and she still absolutely loves it. It’s decked out just for her with fairy lights, blankets and toys.

As said, she actually owns toys now, we don’t know if she ever did on Kamino, but I’m speculating it was most likely very few if any at all.

She has her own weaponry and equipment, she’s actually being assisted to defend herself and her squad, she’s gaining knowledge the Kaminoans wouldn’t have ever dreamed of giving her.

As we’ve seen with the amount of times she runs to Hunter for protection, she trusts them immensely. They’re doing everything right to gain her apprehensive trust so quickly.

And of course it isn’t just with Hunter (I’m a stan so pardon my consistency with bringing him up) but she’s the same with the entire batch, even Cross to a very mild extent! She trusts Wrecker with her life, she forgave him so easily after the Bracca incident because she knows the difference between someone purposefully trying to hurt her and them having no control over their actions.

We see she’s been patient with Echo and Tech, she loves to listen to them, she’s picked up on Tech’s dialect (as seen in episode seven) and she trusts him to help her whenever necessary, she has such a touching bond with Echo too, their little interactions melt my heart.

I could rant for hours about her bond with Hunter, so maybe that should be it’s own post at some point, but honestly just how she always seeks him out specifically for comfort, protection and reassurance. It’s so beautiful.

The way she’s addressed Crosshair over their few co-existent moments too. She’s tried to reassure him it isn’t his fault, because she knows it isn’t, she trusts him because she has no reason not too, everything he’s done and said to her hasn’t been within his control.

These are all severely different reactions to how she responds to both the Kaminoans on planet, whenever they’re mentioned, and from what we know in regards to how they treated her.

I’m repeating myself from a previous post here but honestly petition to give Megs all the hugs in the universe. She deserves ‘em. 💛

[reluctant-mandalore]

A Sniper’s Routine (Crosshair x gn!Reader)

---

This blog supports unwhitewashtbb and does not tolerate any defense of the racism shown from the bad batch show. Anything I create is never reflective of the whitewashed canon of the bad batch. I'm wishing anyone who defends the bad batch’s whitewashing to have the worst time always ❤️

---

Crosshair has a routine he likes to follow after returning from a mission. One that includes visiting you for cuddles and comfort, though he’d never admit to liking such things.

Warnings: fluff, established relationship, comfort, cuddling, kisses (sorta), not beta read. 

Word Count: 2753

Pairing: Crosshair x gn!Reader

a/n: This was only meant to be like 600 or so words, but I had a lot of fun writing this. I don’t usually write for characters like crosshair but I found it to be enjoyable tbh and I do like him a lot lol. Anyway enjoy some cuddles with our favourite grumpy sniper! 

Paperwork was never an easy task, and it was one that you found yourself buried in repeatedly the longer the war had gone on. It had to be done though, and currently you had found your desk overflowing with it. The piles of paper only seeming to grow more, as the night had gone on.

Though soon you would find a brief freedom from your work thanks to a knock at your door. The sound of which had caused your head to snap up, and had made you move to go open it for whoever it may be. You had a pretty good idea of who had come to visit. As you knew that a particular group of clones were due back any day now. Which had also meant that a certain sniper would be coming to see you soon.

He always did after they had completed a mission after all. Always.

When you had opened the door, you were met with the familiar sight of Crosshair standing there. His helmet had been tucked under his arm while he waited, and he had chewed on the toothpick in his mouth with his usual scowl. Though you had found yourself quite happy to see that he had made it back without a scratch to be seen on him. His moody expression only seeming to make your own grow brighter.

“I’m back.”

“I can see that.” You had smiled at him, before stepping aside to open the door more to let him come in. “Welcome back crosshair. I take it the mission went well?”

“Yeah.” He had simply at first as he brushed past you. Although soon he had paused again to look over his shoulder at you. His face still holding that famous irritated expression he loved to wear. “Well as good as it can go when working with regs.”

“And we all know how much you love them.” You had said with a teasing smile. One that had only made him roll his eyes and let out an annoyed huff at the sight of it. Though you had only smiled more at seeing his reaction when finally closing the door.

You had gone back to work soon after letting him in, and at first he had stood almost awkwardly in the center of your room. His eyes had watched you work away at the paperwork for a long moment, before he had eventually moved to sit on your bed. He hadn’t said another word the entire time though. Instead choosing to remain silent as he stared at you with a narrowed gaze.

Crosshair’s fingers had tapped against the top of the helmet in his lap as he waited for you to finish. The sound of it only stopping when he had cleared his throat in an attempt to grab your attention. It had worked of course, and you had stolen a glance at him from over your paperwork at the noise he had made. A small smile finding itself crossing your lips, as you watched him look away from you again when your gazes had locked.

You both knew exactly what he had wanted. It had basically become a routine by now. Every time he would return, he would first tie up any loose ends involving the mission with his brothers, and then afterwards he would head straight to your room to find you. If you weren’t there, he’d let himself in with the passcode you had given him, and then he would wait for you to come back. If you were though—like tonight—he would usually end up taking you into his arms to just cuddle with one another.

Crosshair would never admit it, but he actually enjoyed cuddling quite a bit. He even seemed to love it with you even more. You weren’t sure if it was just because had missed you while away, or if he truly just liked being able to hold you, but he always seemed to be ready for some cuddle time. He would never say that he enjoyed such things though, and he would definitely never ask for them. You didn’t mind of course. It was just how he was after all, and you were quite used to it by now anyway.

Tonight was no different of course in this regard. He had come to you with the same intent just as he always had. Though unfortunately for him, you had a pile of paperwork to do this evening. That—combined with your sudden and growing need to tease him—wouldn’t be doing him any favours at the moment.

“You know usually when people want something they use their words.” You had smirked up at him again from over the paper in your hand. His scowl only deepening at your teasing remark, as he bit down harder onto the toothpick in his mouth. “If you want to cuddle all you have to do is ask. Then I can be all yours.”

Crosshair had let out a scuff at your teasing suggestion, and his hand had picked up the toothpick in his mouth to toy with it as he spoke. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even like cuddling... You’re the one that’s always insisting on it.”

“Oh is that so?” You had said with mocked surprise and a raised brow. “How strange... I could have sworn that’s what you came here for.”

“Definitely not why I’m here.” He had said as he stood from his place on the bed. Now moving so he could stand before your desk to face you properly. His brows raised in surprise at seeing your still wide grin. Though his scowl had soon come back at your next teasing remark.

“So you’re here because you missed me then?”

“Nope.” He had said quickly. Although he had seemed to almost tense and even frown more at his own words. “Not that either.”

“Oh I see.” You had said with an amused hum. Soon leaning forward to rest your chin in your palm, as your elbow had firmly planted itself onto the desk. The fingers of your free hand tapping against the old wood with peaked interest as you smiled at him. “So you’re here just cause you wanted to see me do paperwork then?”

“Yes exactly. Glad we’re on the same page.” He had said while sounding almost relieved. As he had visibly relaxed a little at still hearing your joking attitude. He had stepped more towards the desk by this point, and had leaned forward onto it so that he was closer to you. Your noses brushing together, as his lips had threatened to steal themselves a kiss while he had spoken to you again. “Seems boring though... and if I wanted to be bored I would have stayed to listen to Tech ramble about his newest fixation.”

Crosshair had gone to pull back, but your hand on his arm had stopped him in his place midway. He had watched your fingers toy with his armor for a brief moment, as you had let out a little laugh at his previous words. Your thoughts briefly going back to how excited Tech had been when he found that scrap piece on their last mission. You weren’t sure exactly what he was using it for, but he was happy with the discovery regardless, and hadn’t stopped talking about it for some time.

“I take it that he’s still going on about that new piece he managed to find from last time?”  

“Oh you have no idea.” A small fond smile had crossed his features briefly at the mention of his brother, though it was gone before you could truly grasp onto the sight of it. He had pulled back completely soon after that, and your lips had twitched at the loss of the kiss you had found yourself leaning towards earlier. Your own frown now mirroring the snipers earlier one at the loss of his closeness. “Anyway... Clearly you’re busy tonight. So I’ll head out.”

“Ah wait crosshair! Don’t be like that...” You had trailed off, as you had also stood quickly from your spot to gently grab onto his arm again. Putting on your best pout and puppy dog eyes when he had looked over at you once more. “You know I was only teasing.”

“Yeah I know.”

“So you’ll stay then?” You had asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear him confirm it anyway. “I could really use some cuddle time after all that paperwork.”

He had stared at you for another second, twiddling with the toothpick still in his hand before flicking it out onto your floor. “I guess I don’t really have anywhere else to be anyway.”

That was good enough for you, as instantly a smile had replaced your pout. Your smile being so bright and happy, that Crosshair himself had to do his best to stop his own smile that tugged at his lips from showing itself. Sometimes he both loved and hated the effect you seemed to have over him. He wouldn’t exchange it for anything else in the Galaxy though. He’d never tell you, but you were probably one of the most important people in his life, and he’d do anything to keep it that way.

Holding onto his arm more properly, you had pulled him over to your bed. Humming a tune and smiling, as you went to sit down with him. Trying to bring him down with you as well, so that he could join you among the sheets. “C’mere grumpy grump.”

“Told you not to call me that.” He had grumbled out with another frown. Although he had settled onto the bed with you without much more complaint anyway. His arms soon circling around you in a tight embrace, as he held you closely into his chest.

The hold he had on you had kept you snug against him. The position you two were in having it so that you were laid over top of him with your head resting on his chest like it was a pillow. He had still remained in the majority of his armor, and some of the sharper edges had dug into your skin uncomfortably. Though you had found you didn’t mind it too much. As you were more focused on cuddling yourself more into his embrace.

“I’ll stop calling you that when you admit you like to cuddle with me.”

A chuckle had left him this time at your reply, and he let out a small hum while his hand trailed his fingers down your spine. “Oh that’s never happening darling.”

Your own laugh had left you that, and he had smiled a little more at the sound of it. Although from your spot on top of him you couldn’t really see his grin clearly. You would forget trying to see it soon anyway. As his fingers drawing shapes mindlessly over your back had distracted you from doing so. His eyes now firmly closed while he had cuddled with you quite happily.

The two of you had laid there for a long while. Allowing the time to pass without a care as you both held one another on the bed. You had found yourself listening to his heart beat. The gentle and reassuring thump of it making you forget about your earlier work completely. Its thundering sound just making you happy enough to have him in your arms again.

“I did miss you.”

The unexpected words from him were soft, and if it weren’t for the quietness of your room, you probably would have missed them completely. You had heard them though, and you had shifted so you could look at him properly. The sight of his soft expression at the moment melting your heart within seconds. How he managed to look so soft, and yet so stern, would always amaze you, but it was something you found that you absolutely adored about him.

Mind you—regardless of his grumpy attitude most days—it was hard not to care for him.

Crosshair had looked away again when he had noticed you looking at him. His frown having crossed his lips again. As he had found himself biting the inside of his mouth to distract himself from your own gaze. His eyes only ever meeting yours again at the feeling of your hand resting against his cheek.

For a brief moment he had stiffened at your touch. Not quite expecting it—and still not quite used to your affectionate gestures—no matter how long you two had been together. He had relaxed again quickly though, and on instinct he had even found himself leaning into your hand. A gentle sigh soon leaving him before his eyes had closed. All while his earlier stress and annoyance had left his features for the time being.

“I missed you too Crosshair.”

The sniper had smiled a little at your words, and his eyes had flickered opened to lock his gaze with your own once more. He had soon moved to cup his own hand over the one you still had resting on his cheek. His fingers now intertwining themselves with yours, as he had pulled your hand back just enough, so that he could place a kiss to the inside of your palm. The gesture tickling your skin and causing for a warm feeling to flutter within you as he did.

Crosshair could be so sweet when he wanted to be—especially when it had come to you.

He had laid back again after that. Once again settling himself against the bed with you held snugly on top of him. His one hand had gone back to rubbing soothing shapes along your back, while the other had lazily held itself across your waist. His gentle touch relieving any of the remaining ache and stress your muscles may have still held from earlier. The release of such things, and calmness you had felt from him, making you let out a pleased hum.

Crosshair himself had appeared to be on the edge of sleep. His breathing soft and eyes firmly shut, as he basked in your own comforting warmth. You had watched him for a moment, smiling slightly at the little yawn which had escaped him, and soon had felt yourself becoming tired as well. Though your mind had still found itself buzzing with thoughts of your earlier interactions of the evening.

“You still owe me a proper kiss you know?” You had said before you could stop yourself.

A disgruntled sigh had left him at your words, though his eyes had still remained closed. “No I don’t.”

“Yes you do.” You had shot back with another pout. “From earlier at the desk.”

“Why do you always have to ruin a perfectly good moment?” He had asked with another sigh, though there was a certain fondness to his tone as he spoke. His eyes now cracking open to look at you once more, as a tired scowl crossed his features at the sight of your still wide awake self. “I’m trying to sleep, and you should be too.”

“What? I don’t ruin-” Your words had been cut off by the man suddenly rolling you both to the side. A surprised gasp and a laugh of his name leaving you at the sudden movement. “Crosshair!”

“You’ll get your kisses later.” He had said while he tucked your head underneath his chin with the new position. His arms cradling you into his chest again, as you found yourself tangled within his hold. “Now go to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Sleep.” He had shushed you more sternly this time, though his tone had sounded more tired than anything. “Go to sleep.”

A giggle had left you at his prompting, though the irritated huff he had let out had kept your words at bay for the time being. Instead you had chosen to nuzzle yourself closer to him. Letting out your own tired yawn, as you had found yourself closing your eyes to try and drift off to sleep as well.

“Goodnight Crosshair.”

A long silence had drawn out between you both again after your words. The need to rest now clouding your mind as well and bringing you closer to the brink of sleep. Though the gentle feeling of the sniper pressing a kiss to your forehead, had kept you awake just long enough for you to hear his final words. As you had finally fallen into a deep and peaceful sleep with him.

“Goodnight love.”

[oikaw-ugh]

Haikyuu characters as my classmates and their research papers.

A/N: My classmates did lots of weird shit when it comes to research papers GSHSHSHS

TANAKA RYŪNOSUKE was petrified upon learning that he is part of the first batch who defends their paper at day 1. He swore that he's bringing an electrical cord on his presentation day for 'backup plans' and he really did. It was on the room during his presentation.

YAMAMOTO TAKETORA was desperate to let the 1st years take his questionnaire survey but they were all hard-headed. Frustrated, he went in into the 1st years' class and answered all of the surveys. He went in the room to be considered as a 'first year'.

AKAASHI KEIJI sends his final research paper's softcopy to the groupchat our teacher made intended to collect the softcopies. He accidentally sent a draft that was named 'If this gets rejected, I will fuck myself'.

KENMA KOZUME stares at the teacher's face when he asked for a consultation. When he was asked why his results and discussion ended that way, he only blinked and looked away.

SUGAWARA KŌSHI was calm before his presentation time - that was a lie. His laugh was hysteric. He talked to others (who were also waiting for their turn) with that ridiculous laugh and when he was already done presenting? He went out of the room still with that hysteric laugh.

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI suggested to feed the panel frozen vegetables at lunch. Everyone laughed, thinking that he was kidding but he only gave us a blank face as he said, "I'm not." and that made us all shut up.

OIKAWA TŌHRU asked Iwaizumi if the formula he used for his research is right. Iwaizumi explained that the formula he used is intended for descriptive type of research and his was a quantitative. Oikawa fell silent for a couple of seconds before telling Iwaizumi to let him copy his formula.

"But mine's a descriptive and yours is quanti-"

"It doesn't matter."

MIYA OSAMU was asked by his teacher with the theory he chose. (Why did he use this theory? Does this theory relate to his study?) Osamu stared at his teacher for a couple of seconds before shrugging and said, "It sounds cool."

Everyone was told to head to the school library to start working with their researches' introduction. HANAMAKI poked the class president's shoulder and asked if he could read a book about Snoopy instead.

MIYA ATSUMU had a habit of twirling his face towel using his finger. The teacher told him to not bring his towel during his research defense. When everyone peeked on the room as he presented, his hand were twirling at his side as if he had his towel with him.

During a mock defense, HINATA SHŌYO was asked a difficult question. Hinata stared at his copy, then to his teacher, then to us (classmates). He inhaled sharply before his eyes watered as he said "I don't know."

BOKUTO KŌTARO surprisingly defended his research well. When he was asked to leave the room, he nodded. But the moment he took a step off from the platform, his entire body collapsed and the panel saw how his entire body was shaking terribly.

At that day, we were supposed to pass our printed draft YAMAGUCHI TADASHI unfortunately was not able to print his draft and we are no longer allowed to leave the campus. He stared at the paper for a couple of seconds before asking me, "Will teacher accept my handwritten draft?" and he had an ugly penmanship.

It was the day before the defense day and the teacher requested for us to stay so she could brief us and recheck our final paper one last time. MATSUKAWA ISSEI stared at the amount of students gathering around our teacher. After a couple of minutes, Matsukawa sighed as he placed his bag on his shoulder and left the room without having his paper rechecked.

Teacher requested for KUROO TETSURO during class. She explained how she literally saw Kuroo's research title online. His study has something to do with video games. Kuroo scratched his nape as he told our teacher to change the video games to computer games instead.

KITA SHINSUKE proposed 'Vegetables as a Possible Factor that Affects Students' Social Anxiety'. Everyonr was pleased because it sounded unique but this was immediately discarded by our teacher.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[the-silentium]

Trial by Fire

Masterlist - Chapter 1

Fors is an Original planet. I do not give permission to people to use it for their own fics, the planet, the animals, the Nightmares, the lore or anything related to Fors. Thank you.

Pairing: Bad Batch x Reader

Words: 4020 words

Warnings: Blood, gore, monsters (yay).

A/N: Woohoo, action chap! From this point on, the will be blood on almost every chap. Be warned.

Taglist:  @haloangel391​ /  @lightning-wolffe​​ / @cherrydemon5​​ / @and-claudia​​

_____________________

"Something happened." One of the members spoke up, addressing the problem from his position at the end of the long table. "The planet is angry again." 

"Why would they come back now?" Another asked, finger nervously tapping at his tight. 

The man leading the council took a second, to release the armchair from his deadly grip, allowing blood to return to his white fingertips. 

"We all know how it started." He didn't know why they were back, but he certainly knew who was the cause. 

Whispers erupted from the dozen of people sitting at the table, accusations, hateful exclamations, worried questions, they all blended in a cacophony that beat at the leader's growing headache. 

"Enough." He barked, effectively bringing silence back into the closed room. 

"She's back and we need to find her. Send half of our available hunters into the jungle for a retrieval mission. No one is allowed back in until she's here."

"But Arlan," the head of the scouts paused, unsure of his own next words, "she's dead." 

No one dared to breathe, in fear that they may be chosen to venture the darkness away from the village's protection if they dared to make a sound to disturb the stillness of the room. 

"Apparently not." Arlan growled, frustrated that the thorn in his side was back. 

____________________

You took a deep breath in to calm your buzzing nerves, they couldn't control you right now, not when everyone's lives, your family, was in danger. They needed you strong and in control, something you hoped you could be long enough to get the whole group to safety. It was your only chance. You had your instincts, they were sharp and trustworthy so you had to rely on them and not let panic overflow again. 

You exhaled slowly, wiggling your fingers and toes to relax every inch of yourself. You could do it. You were an experienced hunter in these jungles and they were highly trained commandos with a flawless success rate. Let's not forget the fact that they had blasters. You were good with your knife, but it clearly wasn't the best weapon out there. Maybe the odds were in your favor. 

But they were used to droids, not unpredictable monsters that loved to tear beings apart limb by limb. Tonight would be your trial by fire. For all of you. 

"We need to be ready to meet them." You cracked your knuckles unconsciously, already picturing yourself in front of one of your nightmares. 

You acknowledged Hunter's comment with a nod, already walking to the nearest tree to stab it with your knife and insert your loyal tap into the hole.

"We all drink before it's no longer possible. It's gonna be a long night and this is our last chance to do it." You pointed to Wrecker. "You first." 

He obeyed in a beat, trusting your survival skills. You knew you'd need all the energy available and the sugary water would provide you just that. Also, you needed to be as hydrated as possible. 

"Okay." You turned towards the rest of them, all their visors fixated on you. "So, I don't know much about them. There are different species that are common beliefs in my village and other species that are proper to other villages. But they all have in common to eat whatever cross their path and to roam solely at night." 

Wrecker moved away from the tree, wiping his mouth with his wrist to make place for Tech who removed his helmet to drink. 

"This planet is a trap." The grey-haired clone grumbled at your unhelpful lack of information. 

"I know, I've lived here my whole life." You glared at him before concentrating again. "No one in my village ever came back from a night outside, so I don't know for sure what species are around. All I know is that there are Algax roaming around."

You signaled to Cross to take Tech's place. 

"They are taaaall creature, with dark blue-ish skin and really long arms and legs. They are shy," you gesticulated your hands around to find the right word, but couldn't find it so you went with the first word that came to your mind, "things that tend to hide along the trees and grab their prey when they don't look. They don't eat the prey, just crush it to death and let it there for the other things." 

You were losing time fast, the jungle was darkening with each passing minute and you were far from ready. There was too much to cover and so little time. Plus, there was the fact that what you knew wasn't 100% reliable. Beliefs change from people to people, from village to village, who knows what version of the stories these beasts really came from?

"And they're super sneaky and silent. Hunter your turn." You announced a tad too dryly, but no one called you out on it, maybe because they were as on edge as you were, mentally preparing themselves for what was to come as best as they could considering they didn't really know what was to come. 

"I'll do this quick so listen. And Tech, listen really really carefully. Rule number one, if you see a light, something cute, something scary, hear a sound or hear your name being called, you. Do. Not. Follow it." 

"They know our names?" Tech's hands stopped mid-air, his helmet almost back on his head, eyes wide in surprise. 

"The planet hears us talk. Of course they know." You almost rolled your eyes at the stupid question coming from the team's genius. Ears everywhere duuh. 

"Rule number two, don't eat or drink anything from now on. Can't have one of us puke their guts or get poisoned or paralyzed." Out of the corner of your eyes, you clearly saw a shiver shake the sniper's body. Lesson learned. 

"Number three, if I say run, you all run. In the same direction would be best, but if it comes down to it, you run and don't stop. We'll regroup afterward. You have trackers on us, right?" 

"If you keep your comlink on you, yes." You patted your pockets in reflex, hand closing around the small object to confirm its presence and alleviate your concerns. 

"Last rule, if I do this," the index, middle and ring finger of your free-hand closed to let only your thumb and pinky pointing to the ground, "you have to hide, absolutely don't run. Hide. Some of them are guided by movements and you'll only attract them." 

"Hide? But we can blast 'em!" Wrecker's enthusiasm didn't affect you this time around. It was a first. 

" 'm just no sure they'll stop moving if you do. Best to make our way around unnoticed." 

He grumbled his disappointment at having to be silent, it never has been his forte. Plus, he had the added difficulty to hide his imposing stature, so this would be a challenge. Thankfully their armors were almost entirely black, would they have been the usual white with color stripes, it certainly would have been even more difficult to blend in with the vegetation. 

It felt weird giving them orders, like you were totally out of place. And in a sense you were. The newbie wasn't supposed to command the trained soldiers. The newbie followed behind and shut its mouth. 

Well, at least that's what you've always been told and that's what you've always done. It was no use to fight with the other hunters. They were a group of dickheads that deserved hell, but they had more muscles than you. And they were outnumbering. Aaand they were watching each other's back, whereas you were alone without any backup. All that being said, it didn't stop you from making them pay for their hurtful words, harsh treatments, condescending tones and constant bullying, one way or the other. 

For the first time, people let you lead them and it was unsettling. A part of your mind waited for the inevitable low blow to hit you square in the face. You knew the commandos weren't like that, but you couldn't help it. It was a defensive reflex you developed over the years of trying to fit in a world that you were too different to live in. It was totally foreign to be listened to and not berated down, it felt good and terrifying at the same time. 

"Understood?" Your voice softened into an unsure tone, its once imperativeness melted under the weight of your anxiety of being listened to. 

One after the other, they all nodded, gazes full of determination and something else that almost made you sweat. They all showed their trust in you, even Crosshair who you thought didn't like you much, offered you his trust. It meant way too much and stressed you beyond measure. You couldn't let them down and have them killed. Any single one of them. 

Nodding in return, you walked to the tap beside Hunter and forced yourself to swallow the water, pushing down the lump that formed in your throat. You could do it. You could survive the night if you played your cards right. With your knowledge and their excellent combat skills surely you could defend yourselves. Right?

"Blasters ready gentlemen. We have to find a shelter as quickly as possible." You removed the tap from the tree and hid it back into a pocket. 

"A den should be alright or a small cave." 

With one last look at the four of them, you noded to yourself. 

"Good night, good luck." You told them as per habit and hope that the saying would somehow protect you all. Your usual joking self was nowhere to be seen, letting you wear a mask of complete seriousness.

They tensed, apparently getting on the fact that this was an important custom on this planet. 

"Good night, good luck." They repeated, one after the other, causing you to smile tightly at the gesture. 

You took North, continuing away from the ship and into unknown territory. You knew that after a while you'd eventually fall into Forsians hunting territories and then you'd have a better knowledge of the terrain, but those parts of the jungle were still hours away. Hopefully, you'll be able to climb up and make your way back to the ship before getting there. 

"Will you be alright to walk in the dark?" Crosshair's voice erupted from your pocket and you knew this wouldn't work. Each time they'd speak the whole jungle would hear. 

"I'll be fine. Like I said, the best mutate to survive." You winked at the white crosshair on the sniper's helmet. "I can see in the dark. Not full 10/10 on the chart, but enough so I won't ram into a tree."

You fished the comlink out of your pocket and showed it to Tech who was rummaging around in his utility belt pockets.

"Can't have it screaming my position every time someone spea-" 

"I know." He cut you off, presenting you an earpiece.

"This will do." He took your device to connect them together, or so you think. "There. You'll hear us through the earpiece but you still need the comlink to talk." 

He gave you back the electronics and you quickly put the earbud on, comlink returning to your satisfyingly deep pocket. 

"Thanks. We should continue to follow the ravine and hope that we can climb it at some point and return to the ship." 

Agreements resonated in your right ear and you got on your way. It got darker and darker until the only colors you could see were different shades of blue and black. 

The silence around was nerve-wracking, every tree seemed like it would turn around and jump at you at each and every step you took. 

It was nice to quickly fall back in your old habits, feet barely making a sound, eyes recognizing every scratches and marks on the trees let by multiple species marking their territories; Dire bears, Lacergans, Fu-

You almost jumped at the low rumbling whisper right in your ear. Thankfully, your scream stayed in your mind and the only thing jumping was your heartbeat. 

"Movement ahead." You couldn't hear shit, but you trusted Hunter's heightened senses. 

You stopped, the boys getting into their shooting positions at your sides. You could do it. 

"Smell like death." Hunter added with a grunt of displeasure. 

The new information registered like a cold bath, freezing every muscle in your body. The ice-cold bath that just fell over your head paralyzed any transfer of information between the neurons in your brain, leaving you totally helpless for a whole second. Your brain was still out of service when your body just moved on its own, already knowing what to do despite the lack of orders from above. 

The three middle fingers of your free hand closed, letting only your thumb and pinky pointing to the ground, clearly informing the clones of the course of action. Thankfully, all their gazes got attracted by your moving hand, immediately changing the formation. 

Twiggs broke a bit to the right, still far enough for you to dodge behind a tree undetected, soon joined by Tech who as opposed to you, faced the tree. His chest plate pushed on your torso to get closer to the tree, one of his blasters raised right next to your head, the other grazing your upper arm, caging you in a position that would be extremely hot in totally different circumstances and with a totally different clone. 

At the corner of your eyes, you thankfully noticed Wrecker's imposing form hiding as best as he could behind a particularly thick bush, Hunter standing behind a tree next to him, weapon pointed towards the sky above. Crosshair was nowhere to be seen, so you hoped it meant he found a good spot. 

Rustling leaves and moving grass made you freeze completely. No one moved as the footsteps got nearer and nearer. Of course, this was the first creature you'd encounter. Kribats were the worst creature one could run into. 

They were told to feast on human flesh like there was no tomorrow. They were starved, walking the jungle every night in hope of biting down on some stupidly brave human who ventured the night, but these times were rare nowadays. Almost no one got out at night, reinforcing their desperation for human blood.

It was told that they could paralyze you in fear at simply one glance to their wicked red eyes, allowing the beast to pound on its victims and take their life. It wasn't clear how it killed its preys, but all the versions were unanimous, it was a bloodbath. 

Fors really seemed to hate the Bad Batch. 

If it wasn't enough that the most dangerous monster was hot on your asses, Tech's recording light flashed to life, illuminating your position and burning your retina like a mighty beacon. With a fast but careful movement, you reached around his arm encasing your body into the tree to cover the red traitorous light. 

Blinking the tears away, you really hoped your glare got the message perfectly clear to the engineer. Forget about your hobby for one night, you dumbass!

The rustling grass behind Hunter's tree stopped your breathing, all senses focussed on the beast's movements to know if it detected your group or not. 

Tech's eyes visibly widen behind his visor at the ungodly sight of the creature's emaciated body, the skull of a cervid posed atop a male human body rivaling Wrecker's height was disturbing, but not as disturbing as the sight of all the blood covering its dark skin. There was so much blood that it pooled at its feet, leaving behind a river-like path in the grass. 

The low ragged rumble of the monster passed your tree, surprising you that he hadn't bounced on it to grab you from behind. You glanced at its retreating form and oh this is new. Your version of a Kribat didn't have a feathery tail trailing behind. Now, what could this be useful for? They couldn't fly, could they? 

The Kribat wandered deeper into the depth of the jungle, leaving its imprint on everyone's mind as well as on the jungle floor and all your noses and mouths. 

You waited for a little longer, just to be sure that it was far enough to not catch its attention before nodding to Tech. 

"Clear." He whispered through the comm. 

The first breath you took in almost pulled you to your knees. The smell was atrocious, grabbing you at your throat. Decomposition, blood, acids, they all mixed to form a rancid smell that you could almost taste. 

"What in the Nine Corellian Hells is that?" Crosshair stood from behind a dead trunk on the ground to join everyone at the dark trail. 

"Human blood, flesh and organs." The shredded pieces of meat here and there turned your stomach upside down. 

You were used to flesh and blood. Heck. You were a hunter and often butched your meals yourself. But this flesh was human and the state of it only left you to imagine was it must have felt like to be ripped apart. You didn't want to speculate if the victim was alive or not when it happened. 

"Kribats are craving human flesh but they don't have a digestive system. It gets in and gets out, so they're never satiated." 

"So this one just ate?" Wrecker approached behind you. Now faced with what these beasts were capable of, his enthusiasm disappeared somewhere, letting him wary and if only a little bit scared. 

"It looks like it." You fixed the blood, deep in thoughts. Why were there humans out tonight? 

"I thought no one was supposed to be out at night." Tech inquired while disconnecting the red light on his helmet. 

"They're not supposed to be. It means that something's wrong." You sighed. Tonight couldn't get any better. The planet was throwing a tantrum. 

There was nothing you could do about it, so you focussed back on the present. You swallowed to keep yourself from puking as you dropped to your knees before the red river. 

"And what are you doing?" Crosshair asked, not daring to approach the thing himself. 

"Camouflaging my smell of a juicy living being." With shaky hands, you plunged your fingers through the sticky mixture. You gaged at the feeling but covered your sleeves nonetheless. 

"You guys should cover your armor too. Lucky bastards." At least it wouldn't touch their skin. 

"No way." Crosshair groaned as Tech walked over asking "Why?" 

"Because I want us to survive the night." You deadpanned. There was no time to explain the how and why. 

You stopped breathing for a second to cover your torso and pants, cringing at the warm wetness soaking the fabric. You allowed yourself a second to mourn your once perfect clothes that you loved so much. You'd have to burn them after only one day wearing them. 

At your sides the boys reluctantly followed your lead, grunting in disgust every two seconds. 

You decided to forget your face, this would end badly for your stomach. 

Turning around as you wiped your hands on a clean spot on your pants, you noticed Hunter's clean body leaning on a tree for support, head tilted down with a hand over his heart. You didn't need to be a Jedi to feel his distress at the overwhelmingly nauseating smell. 

"You okay?" His visor lifted to meet your eyes at your worry. You controlled yourself and refrained from pulling him in a hug, you'd only make it worse. 

"Yeah." But he sounded far from okay. 

"We have to continue, but if you stay close, we all should be able to hide your smell without rolling you into the stuff." He grunted in agreement. 

Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker joined your sides, covered in the mixture. 

"Okay. We continue." 

Hoping that your sergeant would get used to the smell, you took the lead once more. You didn't know if his mutation would allow his brain to stop registering the smell after a couple of minutes like everyone else. You mentally crossed your fingers for him. 

The trees seemed taller into the dead of night. The occasional moon rays passing through the leaves made the heavy ambiance slightly more bearable. 

You wondered what a night outside looked like on another planet where no monsters crept their way around. Where you could lay down and watch the stars, not through a tiny crack in the rock like you used to in your village and fully admire the high sky, illuminated by a sea of sparkling orbs. You deeply wanted to experience it with your team who would definitely think you stupidly simple. 

But they would understand. After tonight, they would. 

Your progression was steady for a while, every ears and eyes were focussed around to detect any unwanted creature lurking in the shadows. 

Back to his collected usual self, Hunter finally seemed used to the smell plaguing his nose. To add to the good news, you spotted a mature tree, particularly large. At first glance, it looked like it reached the top of the ravine.

Excitement flooded your veins, a hand lifting to stop the group who tensed in alert. 

"I think this one could get us up." You whispered to them, pointing at the tree.

"It definitely could." Tech scanned the tree, the others still watching the surroundings. 

"I'll go check." You broke away from the formation to get to the closest branch. 

"Wait-" A hand caught your upper arm. 

"Hunter, I'm the best climber here. Plus, you guys will make too much sound for a recon with your armor. I'll make it quick." Your determined eyes met his visor, not willing to get back on your position.  

"Be careful." He released you to position his team around the tree. 

You send him a quick salute before pulling yourself up the tree. You kept your knife in one hand and climbed up several branches. The next one was pretty high, too high for you to reach it without jumping. Your knife found its home at the side of your boot and you focussed on your jump. Crouching slightly, you suddenly extended your legs and pushed with considerable force. Both hands grabbed the top of the desired branch before letting your biceps do the rest of the work. 

"Are you okay?" Hunter called through the comm. 

Leaning on the trunk, you reached in your pocket to retrieve the communication device. 

"Yeah, had to jump to continue. Think I'm almost at the top. I'll be down soon." You answered, looking up to the thinning branches where more moonlight pierced the darkness. 

"Copy that." 

Your comm returned to your pocket to free your hands. Up. Up. Up. In the same minute, you made it to the top. The moon was still low, not fully visible above the line of trees obstructing your vision. 

Now, you noticed that the edge of the damn ravine seemed barely close enough for you to jump there. Maybe Wrecker could throw you there. But how would he reach the top? Checking under the edge, the lack of roots keeping the ground stable was highly disappointing. Even if you were to jump all the way there, the chance of the dirt crumbling under your fingers was too high. 

Quickly, you grabbed your comm to let the boys know that you were coming back. 

With a grumble, you started to descend, moving gracefully from branch to branch without making a sound. The gap you jumped looked pretty big from above, causing you to hesitate for the shortest of seconds. The need to get down was more pressing than your unease so you braced yourself and pushed yourself off your perch to the one below. 

You landed perfectly, both feet on the hard surface, hands wrapped around it tightly to not move further. 

For a second, you were perfectly stable. The next you were falling through the air, propelled by the body hitting you full force. Wood painfully came in contact with your shoulders, arms and back, emptying your lungs before a scream could escape your lips.

[onlydreamofmysoul]

Let Them Eat Cake Part i  (Wolfstar Bake off AU)

Welcome back to the newest season of The Great British Bake Off.

Remus walked into the iconic tent, holding his breath. He had quite literally grown up watching this show - it was a staple in the Lupin household and now here he was, about to be on it.

He wasn’t even sure if it had properly hit him yet.

He made eye contact with one or two of the other bakers, some of whom he had begun to get a little acquainted with, all of them smiling nervously back at him and he swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. This was really happening. He wandered over to the bench he had been assigned, running a hand over the wooden worktop reverently. It was pristine now - all the surfaces were, but Remus knew for a fact that the particular sparkle they boasted would be gone quick enough.

“Welcome bakers!”

Remus looked up as the two presenters; Sirius Black and James Potter waltzed into the room, followed closely behind by the two judges; Minerva McGonagall and Dumbledore. Remus’ breath hitched in his chest in a cacophony of feelings and somehow all he could think of was ‘does Dumbledore have a first name?' Remus had certainly never heard of one.

“It’s lovely to have you all here for this season’s Great British Bake Off.” James said, picking up from where Sirius had left off. “I’m sure you all must be very nervous to meet your judges, but let me assure you,” He paused to look around the room seriously. “The only person you need to impress here is me.”

The room let out a nervous laugh - a quick release of tension and James grinned. “In all seriousness, it is great to have you here. Now, allow me the pleasure of introducing you to our judges.”

McGonagall and Dumbledore both stepped forward, smiling slightly. “Welcome, everybody.” Dumbledore said, looking around the room. “It is with pleasure that I announce that this week is our cake week.”

Remus nodded. They, of course, already knew this, having practiced their showstopper challenge about a million times each (or precisely sixteen and a half in Remus’ case) but this was for the benefit of the viewers. He had to admit, it was really strange looking around the tent he had familiarised himself with long ago and seeing a bunch of cameras and microphones. He had expected them to be there of course, but it was still slightly off putting having someone with a big metal stick follow you around.

“For our first challenge, Dumbledore and I want you to bake twelve individual muffins, with six of one flavour and six of another.”

“Each cake must be identical,” Dumbledore continued, “We’re looking for a lovely even bake with a nice firm inside and of course,” He said looking around teasingly, “No soggy bottoms.”

Remus chuckled along with everyone else in the tent and the two presenters stepped forward once more.

“The time has come Jamie, are you ready?”

“I most certainly am Sirius, but the question is… are our bakers ready?”

Sirius looked right at Remus and grinned. “I suppose we’re about to find out.”

“On your marks,”

“Get set,”

“Bake!”

Remus set off, measuring his ingredients and pulling out bowls and whisks as the tent broke out into a flurry of movement. He was careful not to let his nerves get the best of him - he would stay calm and take his time, rushing wouldn't help anything. He was vaguely aware of the camera crew moving around the room but he was in his own little bubble for the moment.

“Hey, Remus yeah?”

Remus looked up at the familiar voice and fuck, Sirius Black was talking to him.

“Um yeah, that’s me.” He laughed, trying to pull himself together because there was a camera trained on them and he would be damned if the entire nation saw him make a fool out of himself.

“So, what’re you making today?” Sirius asked, leaning his hip against Remus’ worktop and essentially looking like one of Remus’ many daydreams about the man in that very same leather jacket.

“Enchiladas.” Remus deadpanned and was delighted when Sirius laughed. “I’m making lemon and blueberry and also bacon and maple syrup muffins.”

“Bacon and maple syrup?”

Remus nodded, his face flushing a little. “Yeah, I've been making these ones for years actually. When I was a kid I used to put maple syrup on literally everything so it’s really not surprising that it made an appearance in my baking.”

Sirius grinned at him and began to move away. “I’m excited to try them so.”

Remus smiled, biting his lip before shaking his head and getting back to work. He wasn’t here to chat to Sirius Black. He was here to bake.

Baking had always been one of Remus’ pastimes. It was like his own little form of therapy. Whenever he was stressed - he would bake. Whenever he was really stressed, he would mix everything by hand. All that beating was really cathartic (Also it gave him really strong arms but that's besides the point). He whipped up the batch of lemon and blueberry first - they were a staple in his house and he could make them with his eyes closed. He used his time chopping walnuts to relieve any remaining nerves that lingered after talking to Sirius Black for a mere minute.

“Hey Re.”

Remus whipped around to face Lily, the contestant right behind him. They had met last night - in the ‘Bake Off Bubble’ after everyone had moved in and Remus had known straight away that they would be friends.

“Hey Lily,” Remus glanced at her counter. Well, what he could see of it, the entire surface was covered in a layer of cinnamon and sugar, left behind after she had dusted one set of cakes. “How’s it going?”

Lily leaned forward a bit giggling. “I’m afraid to say this, because I’ll totally jinx myself, but it’s actually going really well so far.”

Remus grinned. “I’ll say it for you instead.”

Lily nodded solemnly. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She paused, grinning, to stop her mixer, running her spatula along the edges of the bowl a few times in quick, practised movements to ensure all the batter was being thoroughly mixed before turning back to Remus. “Have the judges been over to you yet?”

Remus shook his head. “Not yet, just Sirius.”

Lily wiggled her eyebrows. “Ooh, having chats with Sirius, are you?”

Remus rolled his eyes. Pre-competition bonding, alcohol and a curious redhead did not go well together. Remus hadn’t even been here a full twenty four hours and he had already exposed the fact that he used to have a bit of a crush on one of their presenters.

“Oh hush you, they’re coming around to all of us.”

“Indeed we are, Mr Lupin.”

Remus whipped around, his face burning to see the two judges standing in front of his bench. “Oh, hello.”

“Good morning.” Dumbledore said, smiling warmly. Remus pretended he couldn’t hear Lily sniggering in the background. “What will you be presenting today?”

The pair listened, nodding along as Remus told them of his plans, only stumbling over his words once and managing to restrain from toying with the cuffs of his sleeves. He knew the cameras were on him.

“I must say, I’m surprised at the lemon and blueberry choice, some people would say that it’s a little predictable.” McGonagall said, peering at him over the rim of her glasses.

Remus didn’t blush, he had known this comment would come. “That’s true I suppose, but they’re my favourite. I’m a coeliac and this was the very first recipe I got right with gluten free flour so they’ve always had a special place in my heart.”

Dumbledore smiled, meeting his gaze and Remus was startled at how incredibly blue his eyes were. “I look forward to trying them.”

Remus glanced back at Lily once, as they left in a ‘please tell me they didn’t overhear our conversation’ but Lily was no help, she just laughed at his pain. Remus just sighed and set back to work. He lined his muffin trays with strips of bacon, making sure they were all nicely covered before pouring in the batter. He popped the trays in the oven, taking a moment to appreciate how well everything here worked - all the doors slid seamlessly, every knife was deathly sharp and every tool was gleaming. Back at home, there was nearly always something broken or in a state of disrepair that would make Remus have to improvise a little bit. He put the lemon and blueberry muffins on a cooling rack and having already made the maple filling he set about making a cup of tea.

“Oh can we have a cup too?”

Remus looked up to see both James and Sirius at his bench, grinning wickedly at him.

“Yeah, of course.” Remus pulled out two more mugs and dropped a tea bag into each. Strong or weak? He asked as he left his to brew.

“Weak please.” James said while Sirius went for strong. Remus slid James’ mug and milk across the counter while he removed the tea bags from the other two mugs before adding a fair amount of sugar to his own, causing Sirius to raise an eyebrow.

“What?” He defended himself. “I’m on Bake Off, it can’t be a surprise that I like sweet things.”

Sirius’ laugh was like a lovely little reward for saying something even remotely funny and the little fanboy inside Remus perked up at the sound. “Besides, who drinks black tea these days? I thought only dramatic movie characters did that.”

James nodded along as he swung himself up to sit on the bench. Remus raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “That’s what I say! I think he’s too pretentious for his own good really. It’s the same with his coffee - ‘Black for Black’.”

“Wow.” Remus said, smiling into his cup even as Sirius hot James’ shoulder playfully. “That’s dedication if nothing else.” Before Sirius could reply, Remus’ timer went off.

“Ooh muffin time!” James sang, hopping down from the counter and out of the way as Remus opened the oven and pulled out the muffins. Not to brag or anything, but he thought they were perfect.

“We’ll leave you to it.” They said, taking their mugs with them and moving out of the way. Remus was a little disappointed, but also glad because he needed to focus and he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to do that if Sirius Black had stayed to watch.

He placed the hot muffins on their own cooling rack and filled a syringe with the maple syrup concoction before injecting a fair amount into each one. It was ridiculously satisfying to watch them swell a little as he filled them, but he had to remember to pull back lest he add too much and throw off the delicate balance.

“Bakers, you have two minutes left.” James called and despite being nearly finished, Remus felt that little spike of panic flow through him. Where had the time gone?

He quickly transferred both sets of muffins onto his plate for presenting them, lining them up in four rows of three, quickly dusting just a faint hint of icing sugar over the top and moving away.

“Bakers, your time is up, please place your cakes at the end of your bench and step away.”

Remus sat down on the stool he pulled out from under the bench and took a deep breath. He made it in time. His cakes looked okay. He could totally do this.

The judges entered the room and started making their way around the tent. Remus smiled at Lily nervously before tucking his hands under his thighs to hide the fact that they were trembling softly. He tried to pay attention to what the judges were saying to the others but really he could only hear his heart pounding in his ears. They moved away from the first contestant and then a few minutes later, from the second and then they were standing right in front of him. This was it - his first chance to prove himself.

“Hello again Mr Lupin.” McGonagall smiled as James and Sirius flanked the judges. There was a tense silence for a few minutes as each judge picked up a cake.

“They’re all identical, which is really nice to see.” Dumbledore said, right before halving a muffin. “Lovely even bake through this.”

McGonagall cut open a bacon and maple syrup and the sweet filling oozing out of the cake. “Look at this,” She said, “Really lovely work there. And I really like how the cake is wrapped in the rasher.”

Remus held a breath as they each took a bite, barely able to breathe.

Dumbledore smiled and relief flooded through Remus’ system. “Some excellent work here today Mr Lupin, well done.”

“Thank you,” Remus stammered, hardly able to talk though the beaming smile that had taken over his face. The judges moved away but James and Sirius lingered a moment longer.

“Can we try?” Sirius asked, pointing to the cakes. Remus nodded and while James went straight for the bacon and maple, Sirius paused.

“You said the lemon ones were your favourite, right?”

How did Sirius even know that? He wasn’t even there when Remus had mentioned it to the judges… he must have overheard. Nevertheless, Remus nodded and tried to hide a confused little smile as Sirius plucked a lemon and blueberry.

“Oh my god this is unreal.” James moaned as he started to walk away, clapping Remus’ shoulder. “Well done mate.”

Sirius closed his eyes, smiling as he chewed his. “They’re my favourite too.”

Remus was glad he was sitting down. Having anything in common with his celebrity crush was in itself nearly too much for him to handle, but said celebrity crush liking his baking? Well, not to be repetitive but; Remus was glad he was sitting down.

“That was crazy.”

“I know.”

“Like… So crazy.”

“I know.”

Remus and Lily were sitting outside on the lawn, eating their lunch before they had to take on their next challenge and they had both been saying the same thing for a solid two minutes.

“It’s just so crazy!” Lily exclaimed. “We just did our first challenge! And it went well!”

“I know!” Remus was still in shock himself. He had given all his cakes to the crew - all the bakers did, bar one for themselves. Remus had eaten his gluten free lemon and blueberry muffin, savouring the fact that the judges liked it and certainly not thinking about how Sirius Black had liked it too.

Nope, definitely not.

“The whole thing has made me a bit calmer about the next challenge, how about you?”

Remus nodded along in agreement as he stabbed another bunch of lettuce with his fork. “Yeah, I mean I’m still a bit nervous, but less so having actually done one.”

“And let’s not forget the fact that you had a bit of face time with Mr Black himself.”

Remus refused to let himself blush. “Oh shove off, I never should have told you that.” He said laughing a little defeatedly, wiping at his flushed face with his hand.

“No, you were definitely right to have told me. Now I can say that he looks at you way more than the others.” She teased, drawing out the ‘way’.

Remus rolled his eyes. “He’s Sirius Black. I’m just a book-loving, cardigan wearing, baking nerd from Wales. Until today, he never even knew I existed and whenever this show is over, he’ll soon forget about me.”

“Okay.” Lily said, her tone indicating she in no way believed him but she would let it slide for now. Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He could totally do this.

Remus Lupin could not do this.

His cakes weren’t rising, his cream was melting in the heat and those fucking instructions were useless.

“Ah I recognise the face of someone dealing with their first technical challenge.” Sirius said, appearing at his side.

Remus scrubbed his face tiredly. “Make a Victoria sponge.” He said lifelessly. “Those were their instructions. Nothing more. Like, what?”

Sirius bit his lip. Remus had to avert his eyes, he already had one crisis to deal with right now. “Yeah those two apparently aren’t very big on words.”

Remus just groaned at the attempt at humour. “This isn’t going to work.”

“And you called me dramatic?” Remus peeked out between his fingers to see Sirius leaning on his worktop grinning up at him. “You’ve got this Lupin.”

Remus began to nod slowly. “You think so?”

Sirius scoffed. “Of course!” He stood up straight and began to walk away. “Besides, if everything goes to shit, the worst thing that could happen is you embarrass yourself on national television and get sent home.”

At that, Remus burst out laughing. “That’s certainly an… interesting pep talk.”

Sirius grinned. “That’s me.”

Remus was still smiling a little while later as he assembled his cakes. Yes, the sponges didn’t rise as much as he would have like, but otherwise they were fine. He had managed to salvage the cream by putting it in the fridge for a while and the jam that he made had turned out really nicely. If nothing else, he had that going for him. The two presenters called time and the contestants all placed their cakes on the table at the front of the tent, behind the pictures of their faces. This challenge was a blind judge - McGonagall and Dumbledore didn’t know who had made what until after they released the results.

Remus sat down on a stool, with Lily on one side of him and a bloke named Peter on the other.

“Good luck.” Peter whispered to him and with that, the judges re-entered the tent.

“Good afternoon bakers!”

“Afternoon!” Everyone chorused back and Remus had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing at the sudden sensation that he was back in school and the teacher had just come into class.

“Okay, let’s just dive right in shall we?”

They all waited with baited breath as the judges tried each and every one of their cakes.

“Now this one is excellent.” Dumbledore said, taking a bite of the cake behind the picture of the pretty girl with bubble-gum pink hair. Remus glanced down the line and saw she was trying to hide a relieved grin. Lily was bouncing her leg incessantly and Remus had to cover her knee with his hand to get her to stop. He knew the cameras had caught the movement and to top it all off, Sirius raised an eyebrow at him. Remus bit his lip but didn’t move his hand - Lily had smiled at him gratefully and they both needed a little human contact right now.

“Now this one is a bit flat - the sponges didn’t rise enough in the oven it would seem.”

Remus flinched and looked up. Yep, they had reached his. The seconds seemed to crawl by as they cut themselves a slice and finally they tried it.

“However it tastes very good, I particularly like the jam - blueberry, that's quite unusual.”

Remus finally let out the breath he was holding. He was going to be just fine.

“Okay Mr Lupin, stand right there, if you would.”

Remus adjusted himself to stand where the camera woman had pointed to and looked at her. “This okay?”

“That’s perfect Mr Lupin-”

“Just Remus, please.”

“Alright then Remus, I’m Marlene.” She reached over and shook his hand, her green eyes kind and an array of wild blonde curls piled on top of her head.

“So Remus, how are you feeling after today?”

“Um, I feel pretty good?” Remus said, laughing a little at himself when he phrased it like a question. “It’s really hard to tell - especially since this was the first time I’ve done this. It was good though, no matter what it was a great experience and meeting so many like minded people is pretty cool.”

“And what about your placement in the technical challenge? Third place? Not too shabby.”

Remus laughed properly at that. “Yeah, that was really great.”

“And how are you feeling overall?”

Remus tilted his head side to side in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Alright. I’m excited but also nervous. I think today was the most exhilarating yet stress inducing day of my life.”

Marlene giggled. “Yeah I’m getting that impression. That was great Remus, you’re free to go.”

Remus’ shoulders slumped and he was surprised at himself, he hadn’t realised he had been that tense.

“Please tell me that I didn’t look like a deer in headlights.” He groaned, making Marlene laugh. “Nah, you’re good I promise, no deer here,” She paused, leaning in conspiratorially, “Except the deer that’s James’ screensaver, but shh, you didn’t hear that from me.”

Remus chuckled to himself all the way back to the hotel.

“Round two, here we go.” Lily said, rubbing her hands together eagerly as she and Remus walked into the tent together.

“Okay but, how weird is it that we have to wear the exact same outfit again today?” Remus asked.

“So weird.” Tonks replied, magically appearing at their side. “Usually at home I take off my clothes and fling them somewhere in my room but last night I had to consciously put them away together so I wouldn’t lose anything.”

Lily giggled and Tonks grinned at her. Remus was settling nicely into the sense of camaraderie that was forming in the tent. Being in a ‘Bake Off Bubble’ changed the dynamic to other years (not that Remus really knew what other years were like) but essentially living with the others was allowing for a nice bond to form between them all.

They chatted a little as everyone filed in and James and Sirius wandered over to them.

“Hey guys!” Tonks chirped and the two lads grinned.

“Ready for another day?” James asked, the question posed to the group, but his eyes were on Lily. Her cheeks flushed a little and Remus made a mental note to tease her about that later.

“As ready as we can be I suppose.” She said, fiddling with equipment that did not need organising. Remus met Sirius’ eyes and they both grinned and for a moment, just for a split second it felt like they knew each other, like they were friends and had jokes and shared secret knowing looks.

“Okay guys, let’s get going.” A producer called and it snapped Remus out of his thoughts. He and Tonks went to their own benches and Sirius and James walked to the front of the tent to stand next to the judges.

“Today, my lovely little bakers,” Sirius began dramatically, “We want you to bake a cake.”

“I think that’s a given, considering it’s cake week.” James chimed in and Sirius shushed him.

“Hush, let me finish. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” He said, glancing pointedly at James to the amusement of the rest of the tent, “Today we want you to bake a cake. But not just any cake,” He said grandly. “We want a cake with several tiers and three different flavours. Your cake can be decorated any way you like, however it has to represent something important to you.”

Remus wasn’t surprised. None of the bakers were - they were told about this challenge in advance so that they had time to prepare and practise. The challenge was being announced simply for the benefit of the audience.

“Ready?”

“Set.”

“Bake!”

Remus cracked his knuckles and set to work.

“Does three different types of chocolate count as three separate flavours?” Sirius asked him, standing on his tip-toes to peer over Remus’ shoulders.

“I sure as fucking well hope so, cause it’s too bloody late for me otherwise.” Remus mumbled, concentrating too hard to even register what Sirius was saying properly.

“Language Re, now we can’t use this footage.” He laughed, scuffing Remus’ shoe with his foot.

“Oh no, the nation won’t get to see a few more seconds of me stressed off my head, what a fucking pity.”

Remus didn't look up but he could practically hear Sirius’ eyebrows raising.

“Mr Lupin, what would the queen think of such appalling language?” He asked, pressing a hand over his heart. Remus did glance up this time, to shoot the presenter a dry smile.

“I’ll be sure to ask her, if I ever meet her.”

Sirius’s eyes lit up at the banter, and one part of Remus wanted to say ‘fuck this competition, just spend all your time here chatting to Sirius bloody Black’, but that part of him was very small and the urge to win was very very large, so instead, he let Sirius wander along to the other contestants and he set back to work.

His white chocolate and milk chocolate sponges were still in the oven, but Remus had taken out his dark chocolate layer. He set to work, cooling it and carefully cutting it in half, repeating the process with his other two cakes. Next, he carefully stacked all of the pieces on top of one another, spreading a thin layer of salted caramel icing in between each layer, leaving him with six tiers total. He took a moment to step back and roll out his shoulders quickly before continuing to give his muscles a quick break.

“All good Remus?” James asked and Remus smiled weakly. “Yeah, all good.”

He had his cakes stacked on the stand he would be presenting them on, and set to work carefully cutting off sections of the cake until he was left with a lovely sphere shape. Satisfied, he grabbed the bowl of icing he hand made, the salted caramel a pale yellow and Remus added just the tiniest hint of food dye so it had the faintest grey tint before spreading it liberally all over the cake.

“So Remus, might I ask what you’re making today?” Marlene asked, appearing by his side, camera braced on his shoulder.

“Um it’s supposed to be the moon actually.”

“Oh hey, I can kind of see that.”

“What? Only kind of? I’ve completely finished!”

A panicked look overtook Marlene’s features and Remus burst out laughing. “I’m only messing with you. I’m not done yet. I’m going to get to work doing all the craters and stuff now.”

Marlene looked at him, her face completely blank. “I feel like I should inform you that if it wouldn’t get me fired I’d totally kill you for giving me that heart attack.”

Remus stuck out his tongue playfully. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now leave me alone, I need to get back to work.”

“Yeah, you tell her Re!” Sirius enthused as he walked past, not even pausing in his path over to James and only having heard the tail end of the conversation. Marlene just rolled her eyes and followed him.

For the first challenge, the judges had come around to their benches. All of the cakes had been presented at once during the second. The third, Remus decided, was most certainly the worst, because you had to carry your cake all the way up to the judges and present it to them.

Remus really fucking hoped he didn’t trip.

“I must say, the detailing on this is quite nice.” McGonagall said, picking up a rather large knife and Remus smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

She cut right down the centre and Remus almost winced because he had worked so hard on that but these are the troubles when your artwork is edible.

Dumbledore looked at him curiously. “Are these just different flavours of chocolate.”

Remus pursed his lips. He had no idea if they hated it or not. “Yeah it is… I really like chocolate.” He added lamely and flushed a little at the chuckles that elicited from around the tent.

“Well Mr Lupin, I must say I’m rather impressed.” McGonagall said after trying it and Remus honestly thought he was going to cry with relief. One thing was for sure - the endorphin levels that being on this show elicited were on a whole other level.

He walked back to his bench, half in a daze, smiling at Lily who passed him on his way, her arms full with a cake decorated with the most realistic iced lilies he had ever seen.

“Remus? Are you ready for your interview?”

Remus looked up from the cup of tea he was nursing. “Yeah. Outside again?”

Marlene nodded and he followed her out, taking a deep breath of the clean country air.

Marlene signalled to indicate the camera was rolling. “So, you survived?” She said, her tone teasing.

Remus smiled. “I survived.” He confirmed. “I’m so, so delighted for Lily, she really deserved to get star baker.”

“So you weren’t disappointed?”

Remus laughed at the almost ludicrous question. “I’m still surprised that I made it here in the first place! I wasn't expecting star baker, I wasn't even aiming for it today, I just wanted to make it through the week.”

“And you did.”

“That I did.” Remus repeated, smiling warmly. Some guy, Caradoc, was going home. Remus had only spoken to him once so he couldn’t say he was all that torn up about it.

“This question is for a bit of voice over for the episode, alright?”

Remus nodded.

“Your cake was a moon, can you explain the significance of that?”

Remus sheepishly rubbed his hand over his face. “It seems kind of dumb now that I say it but, I used to be obsessed with the moon. Still am really, if I’m being perfectly honest. It got to the point where I now have the nickname of ‘Moony’.” He paused smiling as Marlene laughed. “But it just always made me calm. My mom and I used to drive to the beach in the evening just to watch the sun go down and the moon come up. It was great.”

Marlene smiled. “Perfect, that’s enough, thanks Remus.” She hit a button to stop the recording and Remus began to move away.

“So you’ve reason to stay another week anyways?” Marlene asked.

“Yeah.” Remus said, surprised to find his voice soft. He turned slightly and his eyes landed on Sirius walking out of the tent, pulling his hair out of the top-knot it had been styled in for the last two days. “Yeah, I think I do.”

[youidiotprince]

ALT ER LOVE SERVER GIFT EXCHANGE: FIC SET

happy holidays @soluxogobsc! I’m so sorry for posting this at the last possible second, but I hope you enjoy these fragments of fic for your favorite evak pairings (evak, elu, and davenzi) during the holiday season, each echoing the one before, their love rippling across the parallel universes. you can read them all under the cut.

EVAK

Somehow, without Isak or Even even noticing, the holiday season had crept up on them and nearly passed them by. As soon as they started their winter holidays from their Universities, time lost all meaning to them, and suddenly it was the day before Christmas Eve and they hadn’t purchased a single gift or set out a single decoration. That evening, a bit in a panic, they divided to conquer; Isak hunched over the coffee table to wrap the gifts they’d bought for their friends and family earlier that day, and Even moved between the tree and the open storage boxes of decorations, trying to bring some spirit into their apartment.

Dispersed amongst the boxes were precious tokens of their five Christmases together, the odd bits and trinkets they’d accumulated over time, their shared life together viewed through this one time of year that meant so much to them. Even pulled ornaments for the tree from the boxes. Some were sentimental, like the strip of film Isak had gotten framed as a gift for their second Christmas together, stills from one of the many videos Even had taken of them over the course of their relationship; some were comical, gag gifts given to them by their friends; and some were just traditional, like the angel they would put atop the tree later. When Even found an ornament that Jonas had gifted to them the year before that he had forgotten about, a reindeer lifting its leg to pee like a dog, he turned to Isak, amused, ready to remind him.

“Isak, what is that monstrosity in your hands right now?” Even assumed it was the candle they’d gotten for his mom, since the package seemed vaguely cylindrical in shape, but it was buried in what seemed to be three layers of wrapping paper, all haphazardly crumpled around the object within, a few pieces of tape stuck on to try to pull it all together. Even’s eyes shifted to the three other presents Isak had wrapped in the last hour, each one worse than the last. “What have you done?”

Isak rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but Even cut off his reply. “How did I not know how bad you were at this?”

“I’m not that bad,” Isak tried to defend, but then he looked back to the gifts, the mess before him, and he saw it anew, as if for the first time. “Okay, maybe I’m that bad.”

“You’re absolutely hopeless.” Even’s lips were parted in disbelief, but they quirked up at the corners with amusement.

“Hey,” Isak warned, pretending to be offended. “I usually get help with my gifts for you, and you wrap ours for us. So, it’s honestly kind of your fault for trusting me.”

“Oh, it’s my fault? Really?” Even asked, voice teasing as he stalked towards him. Isak only nodded, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips that he fought to suppress. When Even reached Isak, he crouched in front of where he sat on the couch, their lips only a breath apart. “Are you sure it’s not just a little bit your fault for not disclosing your lack of gift wrapping ability?”

Isak shook his head slowly, brushing his nose against Even’s, raising his chin just a bit to look down at him.

“My bad, then. How can I make up for my grave mistake?”

Isak leaned into Even, closing the bit of space between their lips as the tension between them reached its peak. It was a short kiss, to both of their dismay, a quick treat before they got back to more pressing matters.

When Isak pulled away, he answered Even’s previous question by motioning to the supplies around him. “You can start by taking care of all of this.”

“We’re going to be up all night.” Even’s eyes drifted to the pile of unwrapped gifts next to Isak that he’d yet to even touch. Isak’s did the same. The clock was ticking, but when he looked back at Isak, whose eyes crinkled in the corners with his lingering smile, he couldn’t bring himself to dive back into it yet. The presents and decorations would be there in the morning. “Do you want hot chocolate? Let’s take a hot chocolate break.”

ELU

The first thing Eliott did when he woke up on Christmas morning was make hot chocolate, one for him and one for Lucas. He stirred the warm liquid with a candy cane and topped them both off with a big dollop of whipped cream. Mugs in hand, he bounded back into his bedroom, where Lucas still lay, duvet pulled up to his chin as his shoulders rose and fell in that slow, steady rhythm of sleep he knew so well.

“Lucas, wake up, it’s Christmas.” He set the mugs on the bedside table so he could shake Lucas awake.

“What?” The sound was thick with sleep and confusion, more groan than word.

“It’s Christmas! I’m bringing you hot chocolate in bed, and it’s Christmas!” Eliott sat on the edge of Lucas’s side of the bed, turning to coax him out of his sleep. He tangled his fingers in Lucas’s mess of hair and ruffled it. “Wake up.”

“Eliott, it’s too early,” Lucas grumbled, fighting to pull the duvet up even higher.

“It’s not even that early.”

“It is,” Lucas said grumpily, covering his face with his hands since the duvet wouldn’t budge from under Eliott. “Why don’t you come back to bed?”

“No, I left you a present under our little tree. Don’t you want to open your present?” Lucas had also left him a present under the tree, and maybe, just a little part of Eliott was so antsy for Lucas to wake up so that he could open his gift from Lucas. The anticipation had been killing him ever since Lucas kicked him out of the bedroom the night before so he could wrap it. Eliott liked surprises, both giving them and receiving them, but that didn’t mean he had the patience for them.

“The only present I want right now is more sleep.”

Eliott didn’t have to see Lucas’s face to know the exact pout he was sporting at that moment; it was one he knew well, the one Lucas used every time he didn’t actually mean it.

“You leave me no choice, Lucas,” Eliott said, sounding as if he really did regret what he would have to do. Because Lucas’s hands were still hiding his face and shielding his eyes, it was all too easy for Eliott to jump up from the bed and take the warm, cozy duvet with him. Lucas’s hands flew from his face to follow the blanket, trying desperately to grab onto it before it was out of reach, but the lingering sleep made his limbs too slow.

“Eliott,” Lucas whined, but he was finally wide awake and he was laughing despite himself. “Okay, but at least let me drink my hot chocolate in the comfort of my bed.”

Eliott gave in and dropped the blanket back over Lucas’s legs as Lucas reached for the decadent mug and cradled it to his chest. Eliott sat back down where he had been before and watched Lucas raise the drink to his lips, holding his gaze over the top of the mug. When he pulled it away from his mouth, there was a white line of whipped cream above his lip. It was too adorable and endearing for Eliott to resist, so he leaned over Lucas and pressed his lips to his, enjoying the sticky sweetness of this kiss. Lucas put the mug back on the table before sliding back down into the bed so he was lying flat, pulling Eliott with him. There was a fleeting moment in which Lucas thought he had won, that Eliott would come back to bed after all, but before he could properly process that thought in his love drunk haze, Eliott was pulling away, was standing up, was grabbing Lucas’s hands and dragging him along with him.

“Not yet,” was all Eliott said before he walked out to the living room of their apartment, Lucas begrudgingly following after one last exasperated sigh.

DAVENZI

“David, no,” Matteo grumbled with an exaggerated sigh as he tried to resist David tugging him to his feet to follow him to the kitchen. David’s sister had spent the entire afternoon baking cookies, and she wanted the boys to help her decorate them. David couldn’t say no to her, but grumpy Matteo, who had only gotten more and more comfortable around David’s sister, didn’t seem to have the same problem. So far, asking nicely and using sheer force had not been working, so David made one last attempt to motivate him.

“Why don’t you want to? Are you scared your cookies won’t compare to mine?” David taunted, hoping to strike Matteo’s playful competitive nerve.

“Please,” Matteo huffed, feigning indifference, but David noticed the way he sat up a bit more, like maybe he was giving in.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed that I’m better than you.” David leaned closer to Matteo, raising his eyebrows in a challenge.

Matteo squinted one eye at him before leaning forward too, meeting him in the middle. “How are we doing this then?”

“We’ll each decorate a batch, and then my sister can be the judge?” David offered, pulling away to consider.

“Won’t she be a bit biased? Is that really fair?”

“If anything, she’ll be biased towards you.”

“Oh, good, sounds fair then,” Matteo said, smug. “Let’s go.”

“There you guys are,” Laura said, turning at the sound of their continued teasing. As always, she was listening to music as she cooked, singing along to some traditional Christmas songs this time. “I was starting to get worried.”

Matteo sat on the kitchen stool and rested his head on David’s shoulder as David filled Laura in on their little competition and her role as the judge. She adored the idea, mostly relieved that she wouldn’t have to do the decorating alone after all. She had already mixed a few colors of frosting and put them into frosting piping bags, and she’d also laid out a few different kinds of sprinkles. David and Matteo each set a tray of cooled cookies in front of them, but didn’t start decorating right away.

“Should we start?” David asked. Matteo shrugged as Laura said they should, and so they did.

There was only one piping bag for each color of frosting, and somehow one of them always needed the color the other was currently using, which led to bickering and attempts to steal the bag from the other’s hands, followed by fits of laughter as the commotion would cause the other to mess up, squeeze too much out at once or miss the cookie entirely. The efforts to sabotage only increased as they finished more and more cookies, “accidental” shoves or elbows to the ribs turning to blatant attempts to throw the other person off when they were working on more intricate details.

Once, without thinking, Matteo smashed his hand onto one of David’s already decorated cookies, which successfully rendered the cookie useless in the competition, but it covered his palm in red and green icing, which David thought was the funniest thing until Matteo smeared said palm across David’s cheek, leaving bold streaks of color there. When David made a move to grab one of Matteo’s cookies, no doubt to smush it on his face in return, Laura saw the impending food fight and intervened.

“Okay, okay!” she called, reaching in between them. “Time!”

“What do you mean? This wasn’t timed,” Matteo said, but Laura just shrugged.

“I’m the judge. Time’s up.”

Matteo and David surveyed the damage, and they hardly had one decent cookie between the two of them. There was no way Laura could pick an honest winner.

Still, after a few seconds of examining the trays, Laura decided, “Matteo is the winner.”

“But he cheated,” David countered, motioning to his cheek.

Laura laughed and corrected, “You both cheated. You just got the worse end of the consequences.”

“I knew I would win,” Matteo said, beaming.

David pretended to pout, refusing to look at Matteo as he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

“Hey, you have a little something right… there,” Matteo teased, licking his finger and swiping at the frosting on David cheek.

David tried to shrug him off with a yelp before he leveled him with a glare that lacked any real intensity. “You’re not funny.”

“And you’re not so better than me after all.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” And of course he didn’t. This was precisely what he loved about him.

[5289belle]

Captain America’s Legacy

Summary:  When Katerina Rogers watches as the flags smashers cause further mayhem, she knows she needs to come out of hiding and go help Sam and Bucky take them down, all while dealing with the fact that the United States government replaced her dad with some idiot as Captain America.

Meet Katerina (Katy) Rogers, the daughter of Natasha and Steve. Will take place during the falcon and the winter solider with some flashbacks to black widow and civil war. Also Tony is alive in this timeline, Steve did that snap instead, Natasha still died getting the soul stone.

Part Two

Walking along the road the three had been silent for twenty minutes now. Then Sam spoke up, “Wait, how did you know where to find me Kat?” He looked at her with questioning in his eyes.

“Oh that, ha easy. I tracked you through your phone, GPS can be really helpful.” She said with a laugh.

“Since when do you know how to hack?”

Looking at him with a smirk she responded lightly “Tony showed me how, about nine years ago. I just never felt the need to use it much on missions. What with Tony and all his techno stuff, and then when we went on the run it just never came up.

Bucky had been just staring ahead stoically the whole time, Sam just shook his head as they continued on. Looking over to Bucky Sam asked

“What going on in that cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing”

Sam chuckled at that, while Katy broke out in a smile and tried not to snort. “You know what I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they’re malfunctioning shutting down. Yep, they’re on fire.”

Ignoring him Bucky interrupted with “We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.”

“Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight super soldiers runnin’ loose?”

“Well, lets first ask where do we start? Who made the serum?” Katy spoke up from between them.

Slowly they heard the car come up beside them, honking. Looking over she noticed it was Walker and Hoskins, great she thought and tried not to roll her eyes too hard.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” Walker asked the trio.

Pointedly ignoring him they continued walking on, a few moments later Walker continued on “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh?

And were pretty sure it’s one of the big three, so..”

Sam replies with “Aliens, androids, or wizards right?

“Pretty sure” Walker say’s looking at them hopefully.

Annoyed Bucky interrupts with “There’s no such thin as wizards.”

“Alright then it’s aliens or androids”

Sam responds with “Or super soldiers.”

Surprised Hoskins asks “Shit, super soldiers, for real?”

“Yeah”

“All right, well then we gotta work together” John says to them, having enough of the conversation Bucky say “That’s not happening”, which is quickly followed up by Katy with “Yeah, no. Were good, we can handle this ourselves.”

John replies “I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..”

Interrupting him Bucky yells quietly “Just cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean your Captain America.”

“Exactly, just saying you’re Captain America just doesn’t make it so. It’s title that has to be earned, and its sacred.” Katy responds with a scowl on her face. She can barely contain her rage at his presence. This was not good for her mental health.

“Look, I’ve done the work, okay?”

Looking at John, Bucky asks “You ever jump on top of a grenade?”

“Or put your life on the line for the greater good?” she adds on.

“Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It’s a thing I do with my helmet, it’s a reinforced helmet and I’ve put my life on the line many times in the heat of battle.” John responds, trying to defend his honor. “Look, it’s twenty miles to the airport you three need a ride?”

Katy just scoffs at this and looks ahead with her jaw clenched

“Guy’s. Gary stop. Get in.”

Reluctantly they stop and get, leaving her to be sandwiched between Sam and Bucky.

“Okay, so we’ve got eight super soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?”

Thinking it over Sam respond’s “They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip. Maybe they’re just trying to help.”

“They had a funny way of showing it.” Bucky says.

“That serum doesn’t exactly have a great track record.” John says then looks over to Bucky and Katy and says “No offense”

She merely raises her eyebrow and declines to responds.

“We need to figure out where their going. How’d you track ‘em

Here? The flag smashers?” Sam asks.

Hoskins joins in “uh, no we didn’t track them, we tracked you, uh, through redwing.”

“You hacked my tech?” Sam say’s angered

Chuckling Walker replies “Sorry, it’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property.

Meanwhile Bucky was just staring directly towards Walker, noticing he voices out “Does he always just stare like that?”

Sam glances at Bucky and responds, “You get used to it.”

Clearing his throat John say’s to them “okay look, you know things have gotten kind of, uh…” Hoskins finishes his sentence with “Chaotic”

“Yeah. The GRC, they’re doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post blip.

Ignoring them for a few seconds she just tunes them out. Living in Europe for the past six months and moving around from place to place she’s seen the displacement camps and knows that the GRC has been useless for they people who never disappeared. As always the government was ignoring the larger picture in order to fix a smaller picture with a quick fix. Leading to more problems, like the flag smashers… If her dad was here he would know what to do…

Sighing she stopped her train of thought, with her heart constricting in sadness at the mere thought. It still hurt too much to think about them. She would drive herself insane if she kept thinking what if?

Coming back to the conversation at hand she heard Walker say “If you guys, if you joined up with us we could..”

“No” Bucky and Katy said in unison.

“I got mad respect for the three of you, the falcon, the winter soldier and Captain Widow. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up” Hoskins said to the three.

“What?” she asked in confusion, looking over at Hoskins she continued “What did you call me?

“Captain Widow, that’s your superhero name right? Cause your dad was Captain America and your mom was Black Widow”

Shaking her head in confusion and annoyance she asks

“Is that what everyone refers to me as?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Just no, I just…” she sighs and doesn’t know how to respond. Since when did she get that moniker? The Captain Widow? Seriously!.. Well, it was at least better than the other one she had been given…

While she pondering over the recent revelation Buck asks “Who are you?”

“Lemar Hoskins”

“Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter on tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins.”

“I’m Battlestar. John’s partner.

“Battlestar!?” Bucky says, clearly his hurt by this. With that he’s had enough and calls for the car to stop and leaves, she happily joins him. Glad to be gone from that situation. Walking side by side, she looks over to him and notices the grimace on his face. Clearly he was not taking the news well.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine” he says dismissively. Sam then walks up to them and joins them on their silent walk back to the airport.

With that Bucky stands up and walk over to Sam and sits down next to him and looks between him and Katy. “There is someone that you two should meet.”

Some time later, Bucky is sitting on a crate thinking pensively while Sam and Katy are laying on the seats.

“Let’s take the shield. Let’s takes the shield and do this ourselves.”

“We can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it.”

“Why not? It would certainly make me happy” Katy says, now she can’t stop picturing it, she doesn’t know why but something about his face just makes her want to punch him.

“Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?”

“Maybe”

“Possibly” she says.

“I’ll help you two in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Kat and I were on the run for two years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our asses handed to us by super soldiers, and we got nothing.”

Interrupting she say responds “Not entirely true, we know there’s at least eight of them, and that they steal supplies, like medicine and stuff. Plus, they know how to handle themselves in a fight.”

With that they head off to Baltimore Maryland. Where Sam and Katy find out there was a black super soldier since the fifties and no one knew about it, not even Steve. Sam is angry at the revelation, how could no one tell him, why was it a secret. Katy is just shocked, she had no idea that the U.S had also had their own batch of super soldiers they were using, she thought it was just the Soviet Union with the Black Widow program.

While Sam is having it out with Bucky suddenly a siren wails out as a cop patrol car rolls up and stops in front of them. “What could they possibly want?” She asks out loud.

“Hey, is there a problem here?” One of the officers ask.

“No, we’re just talking.”

“We’re fine” Bucky adds on, Katy responds dismissively “We’re good, thank you though. We don’t need your assistance, have a good day”

The officer walks up to Sam and singles him out asking him for his ID, at this Bucky says “Man, seriously?”

“I don’t have ID, why?”

“Okay sir, just calm down.”

Affronted Sam goes on “I am calm, what do you want.”

“Just give him your ID”

“NO, I’m giving him shit We’re just talking”

“Hey is this guy bothering you two?”

“No, he’s not bothering us. Do you know who this is?”

The other officer walks up to his partner and whispers something to him, then the other one apologizes to Sam.

Before long, Bucky is being arrested for missing his court mandated therapy.

A couple hours later the three find themselves at the precinct. In the lobby Sam and Katy are waiting to hear news about Bucky when his therapist walks up to them.

“Sam. I’ve heard a lot about you.” turning to look over at Katy she asks “and who are you?”.

“Hi, I’m Katerina Rogers, but you can call me Katy. May I ask who you are?”

“I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist”.

Walking up to her he shakes her hand and replies “So nice to meet you. Thank you for getting him out.” Katy smiles at her nodding her head along.

“That was not me”

“Christina, it’s great to see you again.” Walkers voice rang out.

“You got to be kidding me you know him?” Sam asked Dr. Raynor.

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in. Bucky’s not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer. walking up to her he smiled.

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?”

Pointing to himself “Um..”

Rolling her eyes on the sideline Katy thought to herself at least he did something good for Bucky, this way they can carry on the mission. He’s still pretentious, but I suppose he not the absolute worst…

Just then they released Bucky and he came walking up to the group.

With that Walker told them he would be outside waiting for them.

“James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam and Katy.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be out here with Katy..” Sam replied while Katy also rang out “Oh, no I couldn’t join in..”

“That wasn’t a request”

The two looked to each other in defeat and then followed after Bucky and the Dr.

Sitting down at a table with Dr. Raynor on the other side the three were all seated next to each other with Katy in the middle, each were silent and brooding, clearly not wanting to be there.

“So.. Who would like to start?”

Pursing her lips Katy stubbornly remained silent. Sam chose to speak first “All right, look Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to freaky magoo over here. But I’m 100% fine”

“It is my job to make sure that you’re okay. You to Katy, I heard that you just disappeared six months ago without a trace after your parent’s funeral. I can imagination how hard that must have been. I know your friends here were worried about you. And so yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional but it’s the only way I can see if you’re getting over whatever’s eating at you guys.”

“Look I appreciate the concern I do, however I’m perfectly fine. I just needed a break, all good now..” Katy said trying to excuse herself. The Dr. just looked at her and then to the other two.

“This is ridiculous” Sam said afterwards, Bucky followed up with “Yeah. I agree.”

“See making progress already. So who wants to go first? No volunteers, wow. How surprising. Okay. We’re going to do an exercise. It’s something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together. Are you familiar with the miracle question?”

“Absolutely not”

“Of course, not”

“What is that?”

“Okay it goes like this, suppose that while you’re sleeping a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?”

“In my miracle he would talk less.”

“exactly what I was gonna say, Isn’t that ironic?”

“These two would banter less.”

“You guys are leaving me with no choice. It’s time for the soul-gazing exercise.”

“I like this one better” Bucky says with a smile while Sam smiled and responds “Oh, God. He’s gonna love this.” Katy merely says, “I’m good, I’ll just watch.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“This is right up your alley”

“Katy, you have to join in. I really think this would be helpful for you three.” Dr. Raynor responds to the three’s remarks. “Turn around, face each other.”

All three scoot out with their chairs and then scoot right back in forming a triangle with their knees touching.

“You should really enjoy this.” Sam says aloud to Bucky.

Looking right back at him with a sarcastic smile he replies, “I’m going to” While nodding his head. “This will be fun” Katy remarks, trying to lighten the mood and her nerves. Just great.

“Face each other”

“Let’s do it. Let’s stare” Bucky says to them.

“Get close”

“How much closer can we get? Our knees are touching?” Katy says confused. Bucky looks to his doctor and says “This is a good exercise. Thanks Doc.

“All right, good. All right, get close.”

With that they mange to get closer by arranging their knees to open up and allow the other ones to slide in closer on her left side Sam sits with his knees by hers, while on the right Bucky sits with his knee on hers, their other knees our on each other’s. All three our extremely uncomfortable.

“It’s a little close” Bucky says. “That’s what you wanted right?” Sam replies, Katy just sits there shaking her head. Dr. Raynor interrupts with “Guys, good. Now look at each other.

Looking up they look into each other’s eyes, Sam and Bucky are just staring at each other, both refusing to blink. While Katy looks right at their eyebrows refusing to make eye contact, fed up with the whole situation and their childish staring contest.

“Wait, what are you doing? Are you having a staring contest?” Snapping her fingers, she says blink to them repeatedly until they snap out of it. Katy looks up relieved.

“All right James, why does Sam aggravate you?”

Looking up her with a smirk he’s about to respond when she replies, “and don’t say something childish.”

At that he licks his lips and looks down, getting serious. Looking to Sam he asks, “Why did you give up that shield?”

At this Katy looks to Sam with the same questioning look, she desperately needs to know that answer to this. Why did he give it up to the museum when he could have given it to her…?

“Why are you making such a big deal out of something that had nothing to do with you?”

Finally, she speaks up, “Why didn’t you pass it on to me? If you didn’t want it?”

Looking over to her he responds “You went AWOL, we couldn’t find you. How could I have given to you when you weren’t there. I thought you would like that it went to the museum with the rest of the Captain America exhibition.”

Looking down in pain, she purses her lips and then glances back up

“Okay, so maybe it would have been hard to give to me if you couldn’t find me. I just don’t know why you thought I would rather have it collecting dust in a museum…”

Speaking up Bucky looked to Sam “Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing.

“Shut up”

“So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you he was wrong about me.”

“Or me” she muttered.

“You finished?”

“Yeah”

“All right, good. Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you except that I did what I thought was right?

Bucky just looks down; Sam absorbs this and scoffs “You know what Doc? I don’t have time for this. We have some real serious shit going on. So how about this? I will squash it right now. We go deal with that, and when we’re done, we both can go on separate, long vacations, and never see each other again.”

“I like that”

“Great”

“You two can’t mean that!?”

Nodding his head Sam responds “Well, let’s get to work. Thanks Doc, for making it weird. I feel much better. I’ll see you outside. Getting up Sam walk out with Katy right on his heels, she looks back to check on Bucky and then continues on outside.

Meeting Walker and Hoskins outside they conclude that it would be better to work apart, all thought now they know the leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau. While walking down the street Bucky speaks up and says he knows a place to start. So now their heading to Germany, off to see Zemo..

Walking along the hallway in the prison Bucky lets them know he’s going in there alone.

“Why?”

“You two are avengers. You know how he feels about that.”

“It’s not like you two were known for frolickin’ in the sun together.”

“He was obsessed with hydra. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it.”

With that Bucky walks off leaving Sam and Katy to wait there.

An hour later they find themselves in a old building while Bucky explains he wants to break Zemo out of jail, how he could escape.

Sam is not having it, and neither is Katy.

“You want to break out the guy who tried to break up the avengers and framed you for a bombing?” she asked him shocked. She knew they were desperate for leads but not that desperate.

“Where are we, Buck? Have you lost you mind?” Sam called out.

“We have no leads no moves, nothing”

“What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars. “

“And we also have eight super soldiers that are loose.”

“It’s not the worst plan I suppose. Better than joining up with Walker and Hoskins.” She joins in.

Looking over at her incredulously Sam continues “Zemo’s gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense.”

Turning on the lights he says ��Offense”

“Why are we on a mechanic shop? That where we are right?” she says looking to Bucky for answers.

“Super soldiers go against everything he believes in. He is crazy but he still has a code.”

“I’ve been on the wrong side of that code and so have you and Kat. He blew up the UN, he killed King T’Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? You think the Wakandans for about it? It’s a rhetorical question. They didn’t I know why this matter to you, buts it pushing you off the deep end.”

“Sam, we don’t know how they’re getting’ the serum. We don’t even know how many of them there are. Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I?”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything” Bucky empathizes.

Tilting her head at that Katy looks over and ask, “So what’s this hypothetical?”

As Bucky is explaining the gears in her head are turning and she starting to figure out that everything he is saying has either already happened or currently is. Half expecting Zemo to come walking in any minute now. She’s not disappointed when he does. Sam however is livid.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa”

“No listen”

“What are you doin’ here?” Sam questions.

“I didn’t want to you, cause I knew you wouldn’t let this happen. “

“What did you do?”

“We need him”

“This has gotta be good” she says.

“You’re going back to prison!” Sam shouts

“If I may” Zemo begins before both Bucky and Sam interrupts yelling “NO”

Zemo mutters “apologies” as Katy watches and tilts her head. How polite she thought to herself.

Looking to both Katy and Sam Bucky say “When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me.”

“Of course, you were innocent, and those accords were utter bullshit, just another way for the UN to try and make the avengers their very own weapon to be used when they so desired.” She looks to him, and licks her lips, “I would do it all over again”

“I’m asking for you to do it again” he says while looking into her eyes, mesmerized by his ice blues eyes she mutters “Always, I’ll always help if you need. Until the end.” Turning to Sam he looks at him questioningly, waiting for his answer.

Zemo breaks in with “I really think I’m invaluable..”

“Shut up” Sam breaks in and looks back to Bucky and Katy.

“Okay. If we do this, you don’t make a move without our permission.”

“Fair”

“Okay Zemo, where do we start?”

[exaltatuss]

The Advent of Ash

Length: 1,331 words 7,630 characters

Characters involved: Osiria Rose

Summary: The return of the Dragon King. An ushering of a new era for the Ashen Empire. 

An insurmountable amount of time had passed.

Osiria definitely stopped counting after she had reached the hundred millionth mark. If any, she might have been in Seed 0 for a billion or so years now for all the times she had stopped counting. Sure, outside of Warp Space, its not really that long in proportion, but here within the seeds within it? This place has its own temporal laws, and thus, the flow of time is vastly different.

Still, after a long-winding path of near deaths, going in hiding, then rigorous, nigh-impossible training and acclimation to the nature of the Zeroth Universe, as what the inhabitants of Seed 0 calls it, this entire place is now her proof of concept. That the Seeds within Warp Space can indeed be conquered, and be used and exploited as a means to ascend not just herself, but also her entire Empire, to new heights that were first thought unreachable and only obtainable in dreams.

The Dragon King event went as far as create and expand a Seed 0 variant of the Ashen Empire, a testament that this universe, which is large enough to fit in twenty five other large universes, has been conquered by her, and her alone.

With her concept proven, along with her having immensely increased in power, as well as adapting to Seed 0 conditions that she is also considered an inhabitant of the Zeroth Universe, herself, along with now being able to harness Zeroth Energy, Zeroth Matter, and the Prima-Zeroth, the equivalent to Primordial Ki, through painstaking, life threatening training?

Its time to head back, along with several batches of the forces she had amassed within Seed 0.

Her return was unprecedented, along with the forces she had amassed that would be initially transferred over here from Seed 0, and along with that, the squad she had formed within the Zeroth Universe, the Emperor’s Blades. All of them, having immense power that completely loomed over each inhabitant of the Ashen Empire.

The presence of the King has already been sensed by every individual within the Empire, and the pressure was immense, that some were even forced to kneel, or grovel to the ground beneath them, and the kicker here is that the Dragon King has not even exerted anything, yet.

Thus, began her Empire-wide broadcast of her advent.

“Citizens of the Ashen Empire, on this day we mark a transition. Ever since its conception, the Empire stood as the crowning achievement of our labor and hard work. But there were those who would set us in a spiral of turmoil, and we took up arms to defend our way of life against those who resist the Empire’s will. My will. In so doing, we never suspected that the greatest threat came from within all of us.”

“Stasis, and complacency, had culminated into creating weaknesses in our foundation. These factors then collaborate to grind the Empire into fragility. But this insidious plague that festers within all of us could not be hidden forever. At last, there came a day when this realization of our weaknesses has come to light.”

“The success of our conquest of the Zeroth Universe has given us the proper proof of concept. That we have all just but scratched the surface of our mighty Empire’s potential. The Warp Space is a gateway to universes beyond out known multiverse that houses Seeds of immense power strong enough to cultivate us as a whole.”

“Through our usage of the Warp Space to its fullest potential, we will conquer millions, billions, trillions of worlds. Those who try to rebel and resist us and take arms against us will be hunted down and defeated! Any of their collaborators and supporters will suffer the same fate. These have been trying times, but we have passed the test, and our metamorphosis has begun. The attempts on shaking our Empire has left us scarred and in stasis, but I assure you my resolve to uplift us has never been stronger. Our golden age is within our grasp, and all we have to do now is to claim it and never let it slip our clutches! We stand on the threshold of a new beginning!”

“In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Ashen Empire shall undergo a wide restructuring, for a safe and secure society, which I assure you will last for countless of eons. An Empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body and a sovereign ruler chosen for life. An Empire ruled by the majority, ruled under a new, restructured constitution far more established than ever!”

“By bringing all the universes through conquest under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of one individual, stasis, and complacency within the Empire in its later, successive years will never take root. The Imperial Harbingers, along with the Emperor’s Blades, will eliminate any and all factors that allowed the our stasis and our complacency to fester unnoticed. A strong and growing military will ensure the rule of law.”

“Under the restructured Ashen Empire, our most cherished beliefs and ideals will be safeguarded. We will defend these ideals by force of arms. We will give no ground to our enemies and will stand together against attacks from within or without. Let the enemies of the Empire take heed: those who challenge Imperial resolve will be crushed without mercy.”

“We have taken on a task that requires great undertaking, but the people of the Empire are ready for the challenge and change. With our greatest efforts, the universes will be ensured to trade war for peace and anarchy for stability. Billions of beings will now look forward to a secure and bright future. The Ashen  Empire will grow as more planets; universes, feel the call, from the here, to the vastness and darkest reaches of the of unknown multiverse.”

“Great citizens of the Ashen Empire must do their part. Join the Imperial Army. Become the eyes and ears of the Empire by reporting those who are suspected to bring chaos and disorder via insurrections. Travel to the vastness of the multiverse to spread the principles of our great Ashen Empire to the uncivilized and slaves to false rulers. Build monuments and technical wonders that will speak of our glory for generations to come!”

“The greatest of our Imperial Army, now proudly wearing the name of The Ashen Legion, have tackled the dangerous work of fighting our enemies on the front lines. Many have died in their devotion and utter, unquestionable loyalty to the Empire. Imperial citizens would do well to remember their example, and honor it by doing their part, for they have died to keep your way of living the same as it was.“

“The Ashen Empire has risen through trials and tribulations that has brittled us out. Now, we rise and discard our weaknesses and embrace our strengths, for while it is alright to be weak and acknowledge weakness, we should not choose to wallow in our inner weaknesses, and turn those into the strengths that would uplift us to a golden age. The direction of our course is now clear and set in stone. Trust in me now, your great Dragon Emperor, as you have trusted me before, and I will lead the Ashen Empire to glories beyond imagining!”

“We have been tested, but we have emerged stronger. We move forward as one people: the Imperial citizens of the glorious Ashen Empire. We will prevail. A myriad eons of peace, stability, and unity begins today!”

And now, she would unleash all of the newfound strength she had received from her countless of years training within Seed 0, the tidal surge of her energy resonating not just throughout the entirety of the Ashen Empire, but also shockwaves of it sent and felt throughout the rest of the multiverse, its pressure immense enough to cause a series of immense quaking.

And thus began a new age for the Ashen Empire.

[hysterialevi]

Eitr | Chapter 6

Fanfic summary: In an alternate universe where the Raven Clan is wiped out, Sigurd ends up being rescued by the son of a Saxon ealdorman, and is tasked with being the boy’s new bodyguard. Upon meeting the boy’s father however, Sigurd soon realizes that the ealdorman is responsible for his clan’s destruction, and secretly plans for revenge while hiding behind the guise of a Norse pagan turned Christian.

Point of view: third-person

Pairing: Sigurd Styrbjornson x Male OC

This story is also on AO3 | Previous chapter | Next chapter

ONE WEEK LATER

FORANGAL CASTLE, THE COURTYARD

Swinging the wooden blade with a firm grip, Sigurd sent Edric stumbling backwards as the other man lost hold of his sword and collapsed to the ground, bringing their fight to a close.

At the moment, they were engaging in a friendly spar in the middle of the courtyard and spending the morning away from their noble duties, hoping to catch a minute of peace.

Things had calmed down somewhat ever since Sigurd first arrived at Forangal, and most of the people seemed to have finally accepted that their new friend wasn’t going anywhere soon, but Edric feared tensions would only rise again with the upcoming visit of one of the local thegns.

Due to the surprising increase of Dane activity in Wedenscire recently, Ealdorman Aegenwulf had called upon one of his old friends -- a man by the name of Raedan -- and summoned him to the castle for an official meeting.

Apparently, Raedan was one of the strongest thegns in the shire -- in addition to being one of the most respected -- and held quite a reputation for battling his fair share of vikings. He resided in a peaceful corner of England’s countryside nowadays with his wife and two children, but his sword was never out of arm’s reach.

The man sounded like a warrior just based on what Edric had told Sigurd so far. He may have been an Anglo-Saxon at heart, but it was clear that he didn’t share the diplomatic methods of his fellow thegns. 

He often favored taking the more aggressive approach when it came to confronting vikings, and considering how much this war was taking a turn for the worse, Sigurd only assumed that Aegenwulf had called for his aid out of sheer desperation.

Was there another clan he wished to wipe out? Did he plan to carry out a second assault? Or was there something else brewing beneath the surface, waiting to erupt? He supposed only time would tell.

“Ah...!” Edric panted, worn out from the fight. “You beat me again! I knew Norse warriors were strong, but... my goodness. You fight with the wrath of God Himself...!”

Sigurd smirked, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. “You do yourself a disservice, Edric. For a man of your age, you are not so gentle either.”

The nobleman chuckled. “You are kind, but it’s evident to me that I must polish some of my skills. The trainers we have here in Forangal -- they’ve taught me nothing of true battle. Most of them treat me like a doll. They fear that I’ll break if they hit me too hard.”

“Then they are also doing you a disservice. Real war will not coddle you. They are only setting you up for defeat.”

Edric nodded in agreement. “I suppose they are, aren’t they? Or perhaps they’re just afraid of what my father will do if they whack me over the head too firmly. I know plenty of them have received an earful from other lords whose sons ran crying to them when they ended up with a black eye. Well, fortunately for me, I have you here now. Maybe you can change things.”

Sigurd reached a hand out. “I think I already have. Unless, of course, your bishop is always this irate.”

The young man sighed deeply, allowing his friend to pull him up. “Hundwerth still hasn’t gotten over it, has he? I swear, you’d think the Devil himself pissed in his ale with how he constantly behaves. I hope he hasn’t given you too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Sigurd replied. “I have dealt with many other Saxons like him before. I am no stranger to his type.”

“No, I imagine you aren’t. Still, I wish he’d treat you with more civility. You have yet to give us any reason to distrust you, and frankly, Hundwerth is only making things worse in the castle with his incessant arguing. But, I digress...”

Patting his clothes clean of any dirt, Edric retrieved his fallen sword and neatly placed it back on the rack, eager to have a rest.

“Thank you for training with me today, Sigurd. I know it’s not technically your decision whether or not you get to spend time with me, but I am still grateful for your company. I realize this past week has been difficult for you.”

The viking smiled warmly. “It’s my pleasure. Out of all the people in Forangal, you and your siblings have been the most hospitable. It’s a great relief to have you around.”

Edric beamed at the compliment. “I’m glad to hear it. Though, I fear things will only get more difficult from now on, what with the upcoming arrival of Thegn Raedan.”

Sigurd crossed his arms. “Remind me, when is he coming?”

“If things go according to plan, he and his family should be here by tomorrow morning. They were supposed to be here today, but from what I understand, they were held up by some... ‘complications.’ Details are vague, but it’s pretty clear that Danes were involved.”

“What makes you say that?”

Edric took on a more serious tone. “Keep this between us, but I overheard Raedan’s messenger say that they spotted a group of Danes lurking in the woods north of Agenbury. They didn’t attack anyone, but their presence was enough for Raedan to delay the journey for one night. It doesn’t sound like anything urgent -- yet -- but I’d be lying if I said the news didn’t have me on edge.”

Sigurd paused for a moment. “Agenbury? That’s just outside of Forangal. Is it normal for Danes to be so close?”

“Apart from you? No. Sometimes, we’ll get the occasional straggler wandering about these parts, but it’s rare to see an entire pack of them traveling together like that. And unlike your situation, I didn’t get the impression that these Danes were here by accident. It makes me wonder what they’re really doing here.”

The viking furrowed his brow on thought. “I agree, that does sound odd.”

Edric shrugged in a casual manner. “Well, if we do end up having any trouble with them, perhaps you could try to smooth things over. I realize that not all Danes are bound by camaraderie as some Saxons would believe, but still, it’d be a better chance than one of our people approaching them.”

Sigurd wasn’t so sure. “Hmm. Possibly. Or... it could just make things even worse.”

“How do you mean?”

“Many Danes have a mutual hatred for your people,” Sigurd explained. “They would treat you with the same animosity that Hundwerth has treated me. If they see a Norse such as myself defending you, they might see it as betrayal.”

Edric nodded in understanding. “Ah. I see. I suppose that’s to be expected. Danes have a strong sense of loyalty, do they not?”

The Norse grinned at the understatement. “Oh, yes. We do, indeed. Especially among our clans. There is nothing we wouldn’t do for our own people, and that gives us strength.”

“What about your clan?” Edric asked, bringing the other man to a halt. “I know you said you travel alone nowadays, but... you must’ve had one before, right? What happened to them? Why did you leave?”

Sigurd hesitated for a second, trying not to dwell on the grief that still racked his heart. 

“I... didn’t leave.” He clarified, his voice much softer now. “They were killed. All of them. Including my brother. It’s possible that some could have survived, but if they did... I’ve yet to find them. The rest of us have simply... scattered to the winds.”

Edric picked up on the man’s pain, suddenly feeling the urge to console him. 

“...I’m sorry.” He said, resting a hand on Sigurd’s arm. “It seems that the cruelties of this war know no boundaries. I only hope that, one day, we may see the sun rise in the morning without having to fear whether or not we’ll see it set.”

The Norseman shared his sentiment. “As do I. Perhaps then we will finally know true peace.”

Trailing off into silence, Sigurd placed his sword down and stared blankly into the distance, mindlessly gravitating towards Edric’s comforting gaze.

He couldn’t quite place it, but there was something... new in the nobleman’s eyes; a subtle glint of fondness. He seemed to be drawn to his viking counterpart and looked at him in a manner similar to the way Randvi once did, and if Sigurd didn’t know any better, he would’ve said that Edric was... infatuated with him.

But... no. He had to be mistaken. Sigurd knew how much stricter the Saxons were when it came to men fancying other men, and even though Edric had butted heads with Hundwerth in the past, it was still quite clear that he lived his life according to God’s word. There was no way he would’ve allowed himself to develop such feelings.

Though, despite his reluctance to admit it, Sigurd couldn’t hide the fact that a part of him shared Edric’s affection. The nobleman was rather handsome in the viking’s opinion, and with every day he spent accompanying the young lord around the castle, he found it harder to deny how he truly felt.

But even then, Sigurd was aware that he had to control his thoughts. He was nothing more than a servant to Aegenwulf and his family, and it was not his place to engage in such a relationship with one of his masters. He had just started to gain the ealdorman’s trust after days of keeping his head down, and he did not wish to besmirch himself now.

“I, um...” Sigurd said awkwardly, clearing his throat, “I think we should... return to our duties.”

Edric snapped back to reality and swiftly pulled his hand away, suddenly wondering if he had overstepped his boundaries.

“Oh, right...!” He blurted out sheepishly. “Of course. Forgive me.”

The young man turned away from Sigurd, knotting his hands together in embarrassment.

“Erm, p-perhaps we could retire to the kitchen for now? I hear that Nelda’s in the process of making a fresh batch of soul cakes. You should try one. I think you’d like them. They’re quite good at this--”

“--Lone Wolf!”

Bringing their conversation to a halt, both Sigurd and Edric turned to the side when a third voice abruptly barged into the scene, shattering the calm nature of the courtyard with their gruff bellowing.

“...Algar.” Sigurd said lowly, glaring at their guest. “What do you want?”

The housecarl dismissed the viking’s question and approached Edric, throwing a nonchalant smirk at him.

“You ought to teach your new pet some manners, my lord. He doesn’t learn his place soon enough, he’s bound to get hurt.”

Edric crossed his arms, instantly switching to a more assertive temperament. “Sigurd is not some dog to be led around on a leash, Algar. He is a man, just like you and me. And I expect him to be treated as such. Now, I believe he asked you a question.”

Algar chuckled at the young man’s defiance and brought his attention back to Sigurd, pointing a finger at him.

“You. Come with me. The ealdorman wants to see you.”

“What for?”

Algar shrugged. “Does it matter? Just come along.”

Sigurd didn’t budge just yet. “Forgive me if I’m somewhat hesitant. I only want to make sure I’m not walking into a potential execution like the last time you dragged me around the castle.”

Edric joined in. “I would also like to know the reason. Is everything alright with my father?”

The housecarl sighed, resting a foot on a nearby stump as he spoke. “There’s no need to worry your pretty little face, young lord. Ealdorman Aegenwulf merely has concerns about the Dane activity in Wedenscire, and wants to know if your bodyguard here is connected to it.”

The nobleman glanced at Sigurd. “...Are you suggesting he’s betrayed us?”

Algar shook his head. “In order for one to be a traitor, one must first be a friend. I don’t think Sigurd can exactly call himself that yet. Do you?”

Sigurd stepped between Algar and Edric, tired of the housecarl’s games.

“Enough running around in circles. If you have questions to ask of me, ask. I have nothing to hide.”

The other man smiled darkly. “...You sure about that, Lone Wolf? I suppose we’ll see soon enough, won’t we? Well then, right this way.” 

Removing his foot from the stump, Algar promptly turned on his heel and began making his way out of the courtyard, beckoning Sigurd to follow him with a simple wave. Before the viking could leave however, Edric quickly grabbed the man’s arm and held him back for a moment, whispering a few words of caution in his ear.

“...Be careful, Sigurd. I don’t like where this is going.”

The older man nodded. “Have no fear, my lord. I won’t let my guard down.”

“Good. Don’t. I’d like for you to return to me in one piece.”

“I’ll be alright, Edric. Do not worry about me.”

A light laugh escaped the Saxon’s lips. “A task much easier said than done, I’m afraid. But I suppose it’s out of my hands now. If my father has summoned you, it’s best not to keep him waiting. Go on. I’ll see you afterwards.”

Deciding to let it go for now, Edric released his friend -- albeit somewhat reluctantly -- and allowed the Norse to follow in Algar’s footsteps, leaving him alone in the courtyard. 

He didn’t know if the housecarl’s intentions were sincere, or if there was some sort of ulterior motive lurking in the background, but regardless of whatever the case was, Edric had to admit that he felt uncomfortable leaving Sigurd alone with him.

The man was a snake. Everyone knew it. Despite his gargantuan size, Algar often clung to the shadows like a thief and slithered his way around words, twisting people’s minds as if they were nothing more than toys for him to play with. He molded people with their own fear, and broke them to the point of no return.

He was technically bound to Aegenwulf’s command, but Edric had no doubts he would harm Sigurd if he felt it necessary. Algar seemed to operate based on his own code, and that put the nobleman on edge.

Letting out a sigh, Edric returned to his duties and pushed his thoughts away for the moment, deciding to carry on with his morning. Even though he was concerned about Sigurd’s well-being, he knew it was no longer within his control to determined what happened to him. That man’s fate was in Aegenwulf’s hands now, and Edric would just have to hope for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~

A WHILE LATER

ALGAR’S CHAMBERS

Stepping into the dimly-lit room, Sigurd felt a sense of alarm settling into his chest as he followed Algar into his quarters, flicking his eyes around in nervousness.

Contrary to what he expected, Aegenwulf was nowhere to be seen. There were no signs that the ealdorman had been there recently, and just based on the housecarl’s laid-back demeanor, Sigurd assumed he wouldn’t be showing up anytime soon.

He glanced around the room and placed his hands on his hips, shrugging at Algar.

“Where’s the ealdorman?” Sigurd asked in an accusatory tone. “I thought you said he wanted to see me.”

The other man scoffed, shutting the door behind them. “Aegenwulf is irrelevant to this conversation. This... is between you and me.”

“...So you lied.”

Algar strode over to his end table and grabbed the pitcher that sat on its surface, pouring himself a glass of wine.

“I did only what was necessary. I knew Edric would never free you into my grasp if he was aware we’d be alone.” 

The Saxon turned to face Sigurd, taking a sip from his goblet. “It seems the young lord has grown fond of you. I have to admit, that’s an outcome even I wasn’t expecting.”

Sigurd leaned against a wall, crossing his arms. “You didn’t expect me to survive Ravensthorpe either.”

Algar grinned. “True enough. I suppose you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

The viking grew impatient. “What is this about, Algar? Why have you brought me here?”

The housecarl remained silent for a moment and simply drank more of his wine, allowing his thoughts to realign themselves before firmly setting the cup back down on the table.

“...Who did you tell?” He finally asked, leaving Sigurd in a state of confusion.

“What? Who did I tell about what?”

Algar shot him a fierce glare. “Oh, spare me the act. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You told someone about the attack on Ravensthorpe, didn’t you? Well, who was it? Who was your contact? Where are they now?”

Sigurd shook his head in frustration. “You’re spewing nonsense, Saxon. No one in Forangal besides you and Aegenwulf knows about Ravensthorpe. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The housecarl prowled towards the Norseman. “Is that so? Then explain to me why there’s a group of Danes in Wedenscire at this very moment investigating the ambush. I assume you heard about Thegn Raedan’s delay? Well, he postponed his journey because of these Danes. And coincidentally, they happen to be near Agenbury. The same town you first visited.”

“How am I supposed to know? Not all Danes have a connection with each other.”

“No, but as I said before, they are specifically investigating the ambush in Ravensthorpe. And on top of that, my scouts also report that they originate from East Anglia -- one of the kingdoms allied with your clan. You expect me to believe that this has nothing to do with you?”

Sigurd sighed, already growing weary of the man’s obstinacy.

“How would I even get the word out? I’m trapped in a castle full of Saxons who would see me dead if they knew my true identity. What, you think I just strolled up to someone and asked for their aid? Don’t be foolish.”

Algar formed his own conclusion. “Well, if you didn’t tell anyone, then that means someone outside of Wedenscire knows about the attack.”

Sigurd’s brow furrowed in resentment. “Perhaps you weren’t as thorough as you thought. There could be other survivors.”

The housecarl narrowed his eyes. “And I suppose you expect me to believe that these ‘survivors’ have yet to try to reach you?”

“What I have to say means nothing. You’ve clearly made up your mind.”

Algar let out a breath, deciding to drop the subject for now. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get any information out of Sigurd with this method, and unlike other prisoners, he didn’t have the option of dragging him to the torture chambers. He’d have to think of another approach.

“Fine,” he said plainly. “Keep your secrets, Norse. I will learn the truth eventually, whether you like it or not. In the meantime, see to it that you stick to your duties. If you give me even the smallest reason to suspect betrayal, I will not hesitate to strike you down.”

The Saxon walked over to the door and yanked it open, gesturing for Sigurd to leave.

“Now, get out of here. I have much that I must attend to.”

Pushing himself off the wall, Sigurd gladly removed himself from Algar’s chambers and headed for the exit, eager to take his leave. 

Just before he could step through the entrance though, a sudden thought crossed his mind and stopped him in his tracks, causing him to glance over his shoulder as he asked one last thing.

“Before I go,” he said despondently, lingering in the doorway, “I need to know -- what exactly did you do to Eivor? How... how did my brother die?”

Algar’s signature smirk returned upon hearing the question and he leaned against the frame, causing the wood to creak.

“Still hurting, are we? You need to let him go, love. He’s not coming back.”

The viking glowered at him. “You think I don’t know that? I know he’s dead. I know my home is gone. But I need to know what happened to him. I need to know whether he died a warrior’s death.”

The Saxon tilted his head in a taunting fashion. “...Your brother died gracefully, Sigurd. He died in a bed of flowers surrounded by his family, and asked me to tell you that he always loved you. We shipped him off on a boat of fire, and soon after, the Valkyries brought him to Valhalla. Now, he feasts and drinks in your name at Odin’s side, waiting for you to join him as he prepares for the Twilight of the Gods. A true warrior’s paradise.”

Sigurd clenched his jaw in hatred, having to restrain himself from attacking Algar right then and there. He knew the man was only trying to rile him up, but the pain of Eivor’s loss remained deep in his heart, and he couldn’t help but feel a certain rage boiling inside him.

“...Your time will come, Algar,” Sigurd practically growled, his voice barely above a whisper. “And when it does, I’ll be there, standing over you and smiling down at your mutilated corpse as the light flickers from your eyes.”

Algar was hardly fazed by the threat. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lone Wolf. Run along, now. I’m sure Lord Edric is eager to see you.”

Calming himself down, Sigurd simply turned away from the housecarl without saying another word and stormed off into the distance, not even bothering to acknowledge the prying eyes of the Saxons who stood outside.

He knew it was unwise to let his anger run free in such a manner, but in spite of all his attempts to stifle it, Sigurd’s wrath only seemed to burn brighter with each passing day. There was a feeling of hopelessness that he just couldn’t shake off, and with Algar constantly fanning the flames of his grief, part of him feared that he would no longer be able to contain it.

He was only human, after all, and he had his limits just like everyone else. But for the sake of not jeopardizing his relationship with Aegenwulf and his family, Sigurd forced himself to hold it back.

He was already short on friends in this godforsaken castle, and considering the fact that yet another thegn was soon to be in their midst, Sigurd knew it would be foolish to betray the ealdorman’s trust at such an early time.

The Nornir put him on this path for a reason, and regardless of any struggles he may have had to endure along the way, Sigurd decided to put his faith in their judgement for now. 

They were the only ones guiding his hand in this obscure land, and he did not wish to defy their plans.

~~~~~~~~~~

THAT EVENING

IN THE WOODS OUTSIDE FORANGAL

“Gjuki!” Broder called out, walking over to the man as he observed the distant castle. “The disguises are ready.”

Gjuki kept his eyes on the walls of Forangal and studied the guards’ routines, meticulously searching for an opening.

“And what of the Saxon thegn?” He questioned. “Any updates on his whereabouts?”

“He hasn’t reached Forangal yet,” Broder answered. “Our scouts say he plans to arrive tomorrow morning at the main gates. Everyone will be there to welcome him, including the ealdorman.”

Gjuki seemed pleased with the news. “Good. Then everything should go smoothly.”

“The plan is still the same?”

The bard looked away from the castle, slowly making his way back to their camp. “Yes. At dawn, we’ll catch up with Raedan’s personal guard and sneak into their ranks. From there, we’ll follow him all the way to Forangal and infiltrate the castle’s walls.”

Broder shrugged. “And then?”

“...Then, we keep an eye out for Eivor’s brother.”

The other man remained skeptical. “You really think Sigurd is still alive? You heard what Eivor said. The man was shot twice before he fell into the river. Chances are he drowned, or died before he even hit the water.”

Gjuki wasn’t convinced. “Do not be so quick to dismiss the unlikely, Broder. It happens more often than you think. Even though I am not yet certain if the fisherman in Agenbury was speaking of the same man, I do believe it is possible at the very least. The Dane he rescued from the river matches Eivor’s description perfectly, and the timing of his arrival is somewhat suspicious.”

Broder decided to humor him. “Fine. Let’s say we do find Sigurd. What then? How are we supposed to get him back home?”

Gjuki sighed, chewing his lip in thought. “I’m afraid I do not yet have an answer for that. If Sigurd is in Forangal, it’s most-likely that he’s under heavy guard. Possibly in the dungeons. If we find him, we’ll report it to Eivor first. I think we’ve left him in the dark for long enough, don’t you?”

“Whatever you think is right, Gjuki.”

The bard smiled. “Good. Then we should focus on getting some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day, and if everything goes according to plan, we’ll be surrounded by Saxon forces soon enough. I don’t want any of you letting your guard down.”

Broder gave him a firm nod. “Understood.”

“Come, my friend,” Gjuki beckoned, guiding the other man with a hand on the shoulder. “The day is young, and our bellies are still empty. Let us drink to our good fortune, and pray that the gods favor us in the times to come. Odin knows we’ll need it.”

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Kindle

Distraction fic time! Or is it fanfic as a coping mechanism? Dug out an old WIP and gave it a few finishing touches. This was originally written for the “Swords” prompt of a Bispearl Week ages ago.

Early in the Rebellion, Pearl introduces Bismuth to the concept of rubber ducking in an attempt to avert a crisis of confidence. Bismuth/Pearl but mostly in that slow burn phase. ~3000 words. No warnings.

Fic potentially also known as: 

while you studied the blade i studied the forge so i could make you the very best blade in the world! love you baby

---

Kindle

The first few swords were a disaster.

The Forge was rudimentary still, in those early days - didn’t look like much at all, but it was a bold, determined little start. Bismuth did her best: all of her hard-won knowledge, scrounged up information not meant for her or her kind, going towards building what she thought they would need to get weapon production up and running. Raw materials gathered at a great risk - Snowflake had chipped her gem during the last of the supply runs! Tools for Bismuth to try to replicate and experiment with, and a thoroughly raided armoury’s worth of various weapons for Bismuth to learn from, to suit every possible rebellious inclination. All carefully arranged in the semi-natural volcanic caverns in an attempt to enable what she judged might be a sensible workflow.

She decided to go with a simple, plain, straight-edged sword to start with - mid-length to her, meaning a dagger to some and a hefty two-hander to others. The sheer variety already present in the Rebellion was half of its charm and point, wasn’t it just? And Bismuth wanted so very badly to fan the flames of it, to do everything she possibly could to see it, to see all of them, flourish and persevere and come out on top for once.

So Bismuth tried, and tried, and then tried again. Considered her mistakes, weaknesses, what she knew (or, doubt never failed to creep in, thought she knew) she was supposed to be doing and achieving here.

And failed.

The first blade that at least looked right shattered in her hands when she tried to force its tang through a guard and into a handle to put the whole thing together. The rest of its batch became hopelessly crooked when she quenched them. Each new day brought new failures, some unexpected enough as to be termed almost cruelly creative.

Bismuth crushed in one fist the latest useless ingot whose ore ratios she’d clearly gotten wrong in her mounting frustration, and tossed it against the wall with an irritated cry.

And of course, of course, that was the moment Pearl chose to walk in.

She was clearly shuffling around, trying to make herself more easily noticed. Bismuth knew that if she really wanted (or if she forgot she didn’t need to anymore, as she sometimes did, as they all sometimes did), Pearl could just pop up next to her elbow suddenly and apparently out of nowhere, piping up with a comment or suggestion or a casual greeting. Keep herself unseen and silent, coasting under any notice until whatever passed for “needed”, as easily as Bismuth could tear down walls with her bare hands and carve new ones in their place. They all came from somewhere, of course, from something, and they all carried it with them in one way or another.

“Bismuth?” Pearl called out gently, and Bismuth raised her head from its contemplative slump to meet her gaze.

Her voice and expression were both filled with concern as she inched closer from the entrance, but there was a glint in her eyes that made it clear Pearl would not be deterred or dismissed and that it would do nobody any good to try. So, figuring she had nothing to lose, Bismuth abandoned any nascent idea of pretending nothing was wrong, allowed her shoulders to sag, and let her misery show.

“I’m not cut out for this. Literally,” she admitted quietly, arms raising in a feeble attempt to encompass this.

Pearl snorted, hopping up to sit on the anvil with a highly deliberate and highly unconvincing casual air. “Tell me about it.”

Bismuth sighed, rubbing the back of her neck with a tiredness she wasn’t sure she was supposed to be capable of, and leaned next to her.

“I ever tell you of my first actual visit to a forge?”

Pearl shook her head and drew closer, making them look like a real pair of conspirators. 

“Wasn’t all that long ago. I took the chance and snuck into a weapons production plant when the hematites weren’t around. Me and the other bismuths had been working on some training grounds right next to it and I’d wanted to see one for so long, so one day during a shift change I just went for it. And it was... Well. Let’s just say the last time that place had seen a bismuth was when it was being built.” 

Bismuth ran a hand through her hair, and noticed that, for perhaps the first time since they’d met each other, the gesture didn’t result in Pearl immediately being endearingly enraptured by the tumbling rainbow locks. No, her eyes were fixed on Bismuth’s face, intent and understanding in a very particular and oddly encouraging way. So Bismuth continued. “I didn’t even fit in there, Pearl. I was too big for the bellows and too small for the anvils, and I could barely walk around the quenching baths they had set up. It was all just… wrong. The whole place was screaming at me, telling me I didn’t belong there and couldn’t if I tried.”

“You’re still trying, though, despite that,” Pearl pointed out, and swept an arm out to seemingly encompass the entire forge. “And look at all of this! You’ve been working so hard to make it your own.”

“Because I want this!” Bismuth burst out, resorting to unusually ruffled pacing around the anvil. “I’ve wanted this for so long! And the Rebellion needs this! I thought I could do it, and I’m trying to learn so very hard! Why can’t I? The simplest thing a hematite could do five minutes after popping out of the ground I can’t get right after grinding at it for weeks!”

“But you haven’t given up!” Pearl reiterated, raising her voice to match, and Bismuth relented, stopping in her tracks.

“Yeah, you’re right. And I’m not planning to. And something tells me you aren’t either.” She smiled and shrugged in mock-defeat. “Guess we’re a stubborn pair of boulders like that, huh?”

It was certainly more than a trick of the light when Pearl appeared to preen at that, puffed up chest almost exclaiming a proud Me! A boulder! Imposing and immovable and sturdy!

Then, with a grin, she proclaimed: “We absolutely are.”

Bismuth couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that, something unpleasantly tight finally uncoiling from around the inlaid edges of her gem. Pearl quickly joined her, helping to fill the forge with a delightfully improper little cackle.

When they both settled down again, side by side at the anvil, everything stayed just that little bit forgelight-orange brighter. A pleasant, comforting warmth in place of an oppressive volcanic heat aching to burst.

“I believe you can succeed,” Pearl began again, more slowly, as if picking out each word with great care. “But - and I am working on all of this myself still - I also think you should be aware you don’t have to do this. I know - oh how I know - that more often than not it feels like the most phoney thing in the world… but remember: you don’t have to be useful to be of value.”

It did sound quite a bit like a learned platitude, the way Pearl recited it. But there was a feeling of, if not exactly believing it, then of very much wanting to believe it.

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Bismuth murmured. “I’m definitely holding on to that one. Thanks. Got any other nugget of wisdom for me, Terrifying Renegade?”

Pearl effortlessly and gracefully evaded Bismuth’s jokingly nudging elbow and continued her almost-lecture. “Well, we all need to remember that love and self-love are radical and revolutionary concepts in Homeworld’s eyes.”

Bismuth burst out laughing again. “What was that supposed to be? Was that really your best Rose Quartz impression?”

The forgelight turned the blue in Pearl’s cheeks into a fascinating range of colours as she moved and turned. “Well, yes and no-- focus on the message!”

“Alright, alright,” Bismuth acquiesced. “It’s a good message. And an important one. Just… not really helping me with the task at hand, which is arming all of us so we can defend ourselves against those who’d prefer that message didn’t spread. And there’s a whole lot of them and not a lot of us. Yet.”

Pearl hummed in response, suddenly pensive, gazing down to where her feet were dangling off the side of the large anvil, toes describing elaborate patterns in the air - courtly dance steps or fencing drills footwork, Bismuth couldn’t tell. Always restless.

“You know, the first time I properly sparred with Rose and got her to stop holding back on me I got utterly trounced,” Pearl shared quietly. “It’s not exactly a fond memory of mine. After all that training, after trying so hard - I was so sure I was ready! But no, in a real battle I’d have gotten pulverised. And Gems… even here, in the Rebellion, you have to admit, Bismuth, you’ve seen the way a lot of them look at me, too.”

“Well,” Bismuth said with a soft huff of a chuckle, “can’t say watching you show them the error of their ways the first time they show up for training isn’t a treat.”

“I think...” A small blush appeared on Pearl’s cheeks - icy blue tinged purple in the forgelight that Bismuth just had to pause and appreciate every time - and she seemed to develop a sudden and intense interest in a spot on the anvil right next to where she was sitting. “I think the fact you never really looked at me like that is one of the main reasons I like you so much.” 

“Oh?” Bismuth managed around a strangely constricted throat, and a warmth in her face that had nothing to do with the persistent lava-glow of the newly dug channels.

“I remember-- our very first meeting you immediately started asking me about my swords, and I didn’t have to waste endless time just getting you to talk to me like a Gem, let alone listen to what I had to say.” Pearl gasped out an odd chuckle, “It was such a relief!”

A mouthy little pearl, she’d thought, unusual and prickly, but utterly charming in a way Bismuth was fairly sure she wasn’t supposed to be. The way she carefully dusted off the anvil before jauntily perching on it - much like she was perching on it right now - with a very loud air of I’m certainly not doing this for you, I just do not want soot anywhere on my person. How could Bismuth resist being near-instantly won over?

Pearl pressed a long, thin finger against her chin thoughtfully, and hummed. Certainly seemed to be taking the whole thing entirely seriously, and Bismuth found herself feeling an odd relief. What did she expect, Pearl to laugh at her worries and frustrations? Dismiss them as unfounded somehow, as both silly and imagined? Just agree, say that oh, guess that’s just how it is then, best find some other way of making yourself useful to us - which, yes, of course usefulness wasn’t the point at all, on the contrary, but…

But Pearl was speaking, that thoughtful finger still up. “How about… we make one together. An entire sword. And you can talk me through it.”

“Talk you through it?”

Pearl seemed to be growing increasingly enthusiastic about the idea. “Every step of the way! Every detail you can think of! Trust me, there’s no better way to find out where it’s going wrong. And I’ve… well,” Pearl hesitated suddenly, as if catching herself, “I’m no expert, of course, but I’ve looked into some of these things on my own, too. So I will be able to make sense of what you’re saying - even though that might not even be the point. The point is that you make sense of what you’re saying.”

Bismuth didn’t feel entirely convinced, but Pearl’s sudden whirlwind felt very hard to not get caught up in - strange, that. Usually it was Bismuth herself getting others caught up in all sorts of things, loudly and unabashedly and delightfully Homeworld-unapproved. “If you say so.”

“Trust me, it’ll help. Here,” Pearl hopped off the anvil and went off to the raw material containers as if there was not a single moment more to lose, “ore selection first. Tell me all about your mix.”

“Uh,” Bismuth blinked, and did her best to concentrate on the task she supposed was at hand, but Pearl was at the same time incredibly distracting and the very embodiment of pointed, precise focus. She cleared her throat, feeling the newly familiar and surprisingly pleasant stick of hot air and volcanic ash in the back of it. “Well, for this particular brand of steel, this was my ratio.” A careful fistful after fistful, from her carefully arranged containers, with Pearl nodding along.

“Seems like a good composition to me. Of course, not exactly how I’d measure anything out, but, well, I’m me.” Spoken with a grin Bismuth just had to match.

“Let’s just say my hands have had a lot of practice when it comes to measuring things out. All those spires don’t just pop into existence magically holding themselves together, no matter what those upper-crusts seem to think.”

“Well, it was bound to come in handy some day,” Pearl nodded sagely, and Bismuth couldn’t restrain her guffaw.

“Pearl! That was absolutely terrible.”

Her smug little smile was so proud. Bismuth almost let all the ore in her hand scatter on the floor when Pearl took her by the arm and started pulling her towards the lava pools. 

“Thank you! Now, no more dawdling. Show me your smelting! Remember: every step of the way,” Pearl repeated with a tiny but lingering touch on Bismuth’s arm. It was such a small hand in comparison, every bit of it looking fine and fragile - but she'd seen it wield a sword and it was no joke and no dainty detail of a trinket. Far, far from it.

Bismuth felt her face heat up, and she quickly dipped her ore-hand into the lava bubbling in its channel nearby. The ingot-to-be filled up her hand and she tried to focus on that, but-- oh, Pearl was clearing her throat and looking away too.

It seemed so ridiculous to even imagine her all in utterly impractical frills, trotting behind some lousy, spoiled clump of aristocratic dirt. Not only a waste of potential as Rose often said, but an outright crime.

“Ready for the forging?” Pearl sprung up eagerly, breaking the reverie, then jolted, as if remembering something. “Oh! Just a moment. Allow me!”

With a very dramatic wave of her hand, a hologram sputtered to life from her gem, and Pearl herself leaned forward and down just slightly to centre it on the anvil.

“There we go. A perfect reference, don’t you think? And perfectly practical!”

“Oh, wow,” was about all Bismuth could manage at the sight of the lovingly detailed holographic blade before her. She quickly dropped the hot ingot in place, transformed her hand and hammered at the metal. The blade glowed, freshly struck into shape, orange mixing with Pearl’s translucent blue and playing around both of them.

In no time at all the emerging blade matched its holographic counterpart and seemed to be ready for quenching, so Bismuth happily informed Pearl of this next step. “I’m going for plain water this time.”

Steam poured out around both of them, standing almost cheek to cheek over the quenching bath - this one perfectly sized for Bismuth’s use - eager to see what they’d made so far once the haze dispersed.

Nudging Pearl with one shoulder and waving an annoyed hand around, Bismuth put on the snootiest voice she could manage. “Pearl, what is the meaning of this? Look at the state of the place! When was it last dusted?”

Pearl grinned, the little soot mark on her chin moving dashingly in tandem. “Oh it’ll dust itself well enough when I dissipate your form.”

“Hahah! Atta Pearl.” The clap of the hand on her back almost sent Pearl stumbling, but then she straightened up and leaned happily into it. Smugly, even. Her entire back fit into Bismuth's palm - what an odd pair the two of them must have made. 

Bismuth decided she liked the feeling.

She cleared her throat. “You know, when we get this right? When we end up with a proper sword? It’s all yours.”

Pearl looked up, almost startled, eyes wide and slightly watery. “Mine? Oh, Bismuth, I couldn’t possibly...”

“I insist. You’ve definitely more than earned it. But most importantly… I want you to have it. And I’d be honoured to see you carry it into battle, or, hey, use it to knock some sense into a rowdy quartz newbie or two.”

A sudden thought made her stop in her tracks. Who in their right mind would want to go into battle relying on a second-rate experiment of a weapon from a cobbled-together forge?

“I-I mean-- if you want to, of course, I didn’t mean to, uh, force it--”

A slender hand was lightly placed over Bismuth’s once again, quieting her near instantly. Pearl’s smile was small but reached her eyes and lit them up with a beautiful sincerity. “Of course I do. The honour will be all mine,” she said. Then, with a bit more audible steel: “And I know it will turn out excellently.”

“Because we made it together?” Bismuth hazarded a guess, but was cut off.

“Because I know you.”

She blinked at the sudden intensity, but felt an answering rush, too. Oh, it was impossible not to get caught up in it all: the wonderful rightness of their championed ideals, the beautiful words of the manifesto, all the Gems they could finally do right by, everything each of them stood for, Rose Quartz herself, Garnet, Pearl...

Bismuth had no intention of doing anything but eagerly dedicating all of herself to it, and every bit of skill she might hope to possess. “Well, I can’t argue with that.”

A fighter of Pearl’s calibre, and a cause as important as theirs, deserved only the best. Bismuth was determined to provide it.

-

The next battle of the fledgling but intrepid Rebellion saw Pearl charge in with a newly forged sabre, Bismuth beaming proudly right at her side.

[pretty-thoughts-and-a-pen]

The One They Feared

CW: Captivity, manhandling, beating, degradation, electrocution, torture, blood

There was a point of time when Jacques le Fevre was just an ordinary young man, studying under the Legion of Sorcerers that protected the town with their variety of specialized disciplines of magic. Perhaps not entirely ordinary, as the Legion was terribly demanding when it came to qualifying candidates to study the art. Only the quickest thinkers, the most disciplined workers, and the fittest physically were allowed to train under the Heads of the Legion, and the rest were kept firmly in the dark about any and all knowledge of magic.

It was certainly unfair, and as the number of Sorcerers who enjoyed immense power became a smaller and smaller elite group, the large population of common folk became suspicious, resentful, but unfortunately, entirely dependent on the sorcerers, who also acted as warriors, to protect them from greater threats. It wasn’t entirely clear what terrifying monsters lived in the hills and the forests that ringed their humble town, but the stories that were breathlessly relayed by survivors, did not make anyone much eager to find out.

It was the first thing Jacques's mother had told him, the day he would leave to live in the institute at the heart of town, from where the Sorcerers operated. The day before he was to become part of a new family. Don’t go searching for those evil creatures, she had told him urgently while gripping his shoulders like a vice, and pray they do not find you.

It wasn’t his intention. From the moment he turned eighteen, Jacques had one goal – not to hunt and slay dangerous beasts or gain more power for himself, but to defend the people of his neighbourhood. His mother, his little sister, all his childhood friends and neighbours, they were essentially helpless and only protected from threats – human or supernatural – by the mercy of a corrupt legion. For corrupt it was, that much Jacques was sure of. It left a sour taste in his mouth that he would have to work under them, learn from them if he was to acquire the power he needed.

Still, it had worked out fairly well. He had been fine. He had studied his textbooks cover to cover, he had followed every workout regimen and listened to everything his superiors said. He’d cut his curly brown hair short, just because one of the Heads also his teacher, a man who went only by the name of Azure, had asked him to. It had still been fine. It was just a waiting game, of studying, studying, studying, and trying, trying, trying, until the special day would come when he would conjure his first spell. Everyone specialized in a different form of magic – element manipulation, matter transformation, mental abilities – and there was no way of knowing which power would be yours unless you kept trying them all. And still it had been fine. Oh, it had all been just fine, while Jacques had been waiting for his ability to emerge. Watching his fellow students awaken their fire, and ice, and telepathic powers, and waiting for his own special day.

Everything went wrong when that very day came.

***

Jacques screamed as another blast of electricity arced through his body. It was his special day, and he was spending it wrapped in chains being dragged down a long corridor, further and further away from the institute he had only begrudgingly accepted.

He would do anything to go back now.

The chains looked like they were made of simple bronze, just circled around him to keep his arms pinned to his sides and his legs pressed together too. An onlooker wouldn’t have known that they were infused with a charm that made them as cold as ice, though nowhere near as brittle. The links dug into his skin, so cold they burned, and the chill settled right in his bones and rendered his body limp. The sorceress behind it, Noelle, had been part of his batch of students. He had even known her a little. Quiet, sensitive and friendly, she had never crossed him in the corridors without smiling at him. Today, she had scrambled away from him in fear and horror, and had happily aided his former teachers by enchanting the chains they had then bound him with, telekinetically and as tightly as they possibly could.

The corridor he was being dragged down only got darker and darker, the air he struggled to breathe became musty and damp, suffocating him further. On top of that, the man that dragged him along offered no chance to stand upright. He had one hand gripping the collar of Jacques's shirt, the other holding the free end of his chain. This man, Frederick Gallahan, was one of the few sorcerers Jacques had admired. Cool and confident, with a low, playful tone of voice, not to mention tall and handsome, it had always been easy to be around him.

But there was a reason no one messed with Frederick, ever. He had incredible mastery over his power, and that power, much to Jacques’s dismay, was electricity manipulation.

Frederick didn’t need anyone’s help in detaining the prisoner. A few jolts of electricity conjured directly onto Jacques’s skin had effectively subdued him. Now, he pulled his entire weight behind him alone while taking him to a room that, apparently, had been set up with magical defences especially for him.

All Jacques could do was focus on getting enough air in his lungs and dig in his heels from time to time for some sort of delay. Ironically the one thing that could’ve saved him in this scenario, his own magic ability, was what had landed him here in the first place.

Not that he could use it now, anyway.

Frederick stopped in front of the door at the end, and opening it, he tossed Jacques inside, where he landed on his front. His hands, bundled up against his stomach, were wrapped in leather gloves, which still did nothing to reduce the pain when he crushed them under him. That wasn’t even the worst part. The gloves were a measure to keep his power in check, as most Sorcerers, especially new ones, channelled their magic through their fingers. The material pressed onto his hands, so tight it felt like a second skin, was a restraint that rendered him more helpless than the chains ever could have.

The room itself was nothing to write home about. Home. The place Jacques was willing to risk everything for, was one he didn’t even know if he would ever see it again. Now, he was sitting in a square room that looked like it belonged in an abandoned warehouse and not in an inhabited building. The walls were exposed brick, there was no furniture, unless the cuffs attached to the back wall could be counted, and a layer of dust coated the floor Jacques was sprawled on.

Leaving the door wide open, Frederick stalked closer to him. His face was set in stone, cold and betraying nothing except the complete lack of pity. Jacques couldn’t believe he had once looked up to the man, in a figurative sense at least. Literally looking up at him from his position at the man’s feet, all he could do was frantically slither backwards with his every step forward, trying to keep distance between them. Cuts formed in his skin where the jagged edge of the chain pierced it. Consumed by pain, fear and hatred, he put all he felt into one glare at the Sorcerer.

Frederick only sneered.

“Don’t pretend like this isn’t your own fault.” He quickened his pace a little and kicked into Jacques’s stomach. A small shock rippled through the point where his foot connected, and Jacques curled in on himself. “Good thing we got you as early as we did. This town doesn’t need a monster...”

“I’m not a monster!” Anguish coated every word as it ripped out of Jacques’s throat. He closed his eyes and desperately urged himself to believe his own words. He would never agree with what they all said. Never, never. He was a good person. All he wanted was to protect his family and friends, to stand up to any Sorcerer who would misuse their power on the weak, to be the exception in a corrupt legion of magic users. Just because his power...

A particularly powerful jolt of electricity burned through his aching muscles. His body thrashed and struggled to be free, more screams bounced off uncaring walls, only to fall on deaf ears. He shook his head, turned his eyes away from his captor and onto a point on the ceiling. He had to collect his thoughts. He had to remember not to give in, not to agree...

“Soul manipulation.” As soon as Frederick said this, Jacques winced. There it was. The phrase that he wished to never hear again, the one that had branded him a monster. “That power’s extinct, and you want to know why?” Frederick’s voice had become venomous with anger, he seemed to be spitting out the words like they burned his tongue. “Every Sorcerer who was found to possess it was executed.”

Chills, worse than the ones caused by the chain, ran up Jacques’s spine. Frederick knelt in front of him and grabbed his chin, pulling him up in an uncomfortable stretch so he could look him dead in the eye. Jacques tried hard not to panic at the feeling of his fingers directly on his skin. Even when he was not summoning electricity, his hand seemed to crackle with the power anyway, as if thousands of volts flowed always just beneath the surface.

“The soul,” Frederick continued. Jacques hung onto every word, he didn’t need to give the sorcerer any more reason to be angry and shock him, “is the most sacred part of our being. It’s tied to everything, to our body, to our mind. What you can do? It’s a power like no other. One snap of your fingers,” he dropped Jacques’s head, let it bounce painfully off the floor, to snap his fingers, “and you could make someone’s body fill with pain. You could delete their perception of reality. You could crumple up their physical form and wipe them out of existence, and it would not be pretty. What does that make you? Nothing but a torture machine. A monster.”

“I’m not,” Jacques’s voice was fading now, but he repeated the only thread of hope he refused to let go of, “a monster.”

“You need to be subdued. It’s my duty to protect my fellow people from your kind. Those ordinary folk, why do you think they’ve become fearful of us? The Sorcerers that protect them? Because of the likes of you, with dangerous, unholy powers that nothing can stop them from using.”

Pure, unfiltered rage filled Jacques’s body and, for a moment, every sensation of pain got erased from his mind. “Maybe they’re scared because you and your Legion, can make decisions for them and force them to accept everything you do. Because you hoard your power and everyone is dependent on you, your mercy, to stay safe from what exists outside the borders.” He was gasping now, all his breath was being used up in getting the words out. He didn’t stop. “You’re going to chain me in here when I’ve done nothing wrong, and you’ll get away with it, because no one can stop you. Maybe that’s what’s scary – that the people whose mercy we rely on have none left at all.”

As soon as the last words left his mouth Jacques regretted them. He waited for punishment, a shock stronger than any of the others. He waited for fury and yelling and to get beaten within an inch of his life. What he got was utter silence, and then, a new pair of feet entered his line of sight.

Frederick had stood up on the arrival of the second person. He was quiet, he didn’t even seem as if he was going to react to Jacques’s outburst. Summoning all his strength, Jacques managed to roll over onto his back so he could see the new guy’s face. Immediately, what little breath he had been managing got lodged in his throat. His eyes blew wide open.

The man standing above him was as tall as Frederick, more muscular, and with nowhere near as much charm. His steely blue eyes couldn’t even fake warmth, the sharp lines of his face and pin straight posture of his body, clad in a black coat, gave the impression of him being carved from rock. If Frederick was respected for his power and skill, then this man was revered. Mysterious, feared and also a man of few words, his was possibly the most unique case in the Legion. People marvelled over him, called him talented, dangerous, one of a kind, and yet hardly any of them seemed to know what his power was.

No one Jacques had ever talked to even seemed to know his name. Azure. They only ever called him that.

Azure didn’t condescend to kneeling before his captive. He didn’t show the mercy of staying where was, either. Instead, he stepped with one foot onto Jacques’s head and pressed down. The sharp edge of the boot's heel dug into an already aching temple. A yelp and pained moans spilled out of him, and trying to move his head out from underneath only caused a break in his skin and a light trickle of blood down his cheek. He strained to look up through his eyelashes, and saw that Azure had an arm on his bent knee, and was resting half his weight on the boy’s head.

“Interesting.” Jacques was shocked to hear his voice, he hadn’t expected to be graced with being talked to. “Such pretty thoughts from a monster.”

Jacques gritted his teeth. One more time, he would say his truth, before his own despair about his power consumed him and made him believe their words. “I’m no-"

“Of course!” Azure cut him off. “Forgive me.” His tone was anything but apologetic, rather, it was mocking. Then he did something Jacques was pretty sure he had never seen the enigmatic Head do.

Azure smiled.

“Would you prefer the word abomination?”

[thewondersofsmut]

The Bodyguard Trainer

Summary: After the devastating night of your mission, you opted for a less-life threatening job but something changed when you were met with your batch. 

Pairings: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader

Warnings: language, past traumatizing event, loss, angst, smut

Word Count: 4350

Author’s Note: This was supposed to be a series but I wanted to just make it into one huge story, hence the word count! Here’s another ABO fic, hope you guys like it!

“As your trainer, it’s my job to make you break.” You started. You watched them, either knowing how it is, or not knowing at all. “After all, this job you signed up for isn’t rainbows and butterflies.” You added. “You will all be protecting someone, clients, not just yourself. You are their shield in times of need.” You watched these men, Alphas and Betas, clench their jaw. “Being a personal bodyguard isn’t just being physically able to defend your client but also mentally and psychologically be prepared for the ultimate worst.” You continued. 

“My name is (y/n), I will primarily be your physical trainer and my colleagues will be training you with armory.” You said. “And hopefully, you are deemed prepared to protect your client and yourself after this whole training.” You said. And they nodded. “Any questions so far?” You asked. 

“When do we get to the weapons?” Asked this guy, 6 foot 2, at least twice your mass, the scent of an Alpha. You smirked, it was always a question with each new batch of trainees. “Of course,” You chuckled. “Arms and other weapon training will be after you pass the physical endurance test, obviously after your physical training.” You answered. “So what’s in the test?” This other one asked. “Good question.” You said, almost giving them evil eyes. “Couple of course runs, sparring, and most importantly, actually getting me and the other instructors on ground successfully.” You answered. 

The guy raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Step up, would you?” You said and he went towards you. He was nearly a foot over your head and he definitely covered your frame from the others behind him. “Mike, right?” You asked, learning their names. You placed your right leg back and grounded it and he did the same, lifting your arms in a boxing stance. You circled him and he eyed you. He throws the first punch and you veered left grabbing his upper right arm. You clamped your legs on his left leg and threw yourself down, him following towards the empty spot on your right. You tipped him until he was face down, him grunting under you, his arm was behind him and the other trying to grab you. 

You gently placed a knee on his back whilst holding down his arm. “First rule, never be cocky.” You said, smirking as he squirmed from under you. They didn’t know you were an omega, you had suppressants and you present yourself to them as an Alpha, even with your small frame. You looked up and you caught the eye of this guy, dirty blonde hair, pink lips in a smirk, green eyes smiling like his lips. It almost took your breath away, quite literally, his scent evading your thoughts. You pulled away and helped Mike up. He rubbed the back of his neck and you heard a small applause from the rest, giving them a curtsy. “He covered your frame, head to toe, how was that possible.” The guy said as you met his bright green eyes, eyeing you somewhat suspiciously. 

“Ex marine raider, special forces.” You said and they eyes went wide. “Was also a drill Sargent for two years before that.” You added. Wow. Was what inaudibly came out of his mouth as you watched him, not that you were specifically looking at his lips move, you wondered how those feel— 

You tear your gaze away from him and brought everyone’s attention. “Now that my identity is out there,” You joked, earning a few laughs. “Shall we begin our training?” “Yes, ma’am!” They all replied and you chuckled. 

You needed a partner to spar with, to show the rest of the trainees how to block and throw a punch. No one wanted to volunteer at first, not even Mike. Then Dean, the shorter Winchester out of the two, stepped up. His brother raised his eyebrows. “Be nice to my brother, (y/n).” Sam joked and Dean gave him a bitch face. 

You giggled as well as the others but nodded nonetheless. “Let start with a basic stance, then taking turns, each of you will thrown a jab, uppercut, left, and right hook.” You said, your attention to locked the older Winchester. You momentarily saw him glance down your talking lips, his tongue darting out to lick his. “Understood?” You asked and looked away. “Yes, ma’am!” Everyone got a partner. “Do I get extra credit by being teacher’s partner?” Dean asked, raising an eyebrow,. You chuckled. “Maybe if you’ll keep it up you will.” You said. You weren’t one to flirt, if that’s even what this interaction is. 

You continued to spar with Dean. You kept your guard down and let Dean win, which you announced beforehand. Apart from daily bag punches, the pull ups, you noticed how his muscle rippled under his shirt you wonder how his chest will look— “You smell different,” He started, staring you down with curiosity. “Like’s there more to you.” 

You watched Dean’s moves, intently, and just as you guessed his next, there were some that surprised you that he would use. You saw his opportunity and gave it to him. You both landed with a soft thud, his body above you. “There’s something about you that I want to know.” He said, eyes boring into yours, his breath fanning over your face. You chuckled. “There’s nothing special bought me.” You said before realizing, you were leading him on but you kept a neutral face so he wouldn’t see the panic. 

“I think I deserve extra credit for that one.” He said. “Remember rule one?” You asked and before he can respond, you had flipped the both of you earning a grunt from him. “And what would Dean Winchester want as extra credit?” You asked, raising an eyebrow, helping him up. You were so glad your training area is huge and most people are far from earshot, apart from the occasional grunts and groans. “You.” He simply said, looking down at you, before heading to the break area. What was that supposed to mean?

“You.”

It rang in your head the whole entire day up until you left the training room. “Earth to (y/n)?” Fingers were snapped on your face. You looked at Benny, one of your instructors and closest friend. “You’ve never had that face since—“ You gave him a sad smile that he knew he wouldn’t push. “Are you okay? We haven’t had that much Alphas in one batch.” The Alpha said. “Nothing that I haven’t experienced before.” You nodded and went back inside when you decided to stay, heading to the bag room and began punching. 

“You’ve been at it for 45 minutes.” You spun around. “Why the hell are you still here?” You asked. “I forgot something but when I heard you, thought you might need company with your distressed scent.” He answered. “You’re bleeding.” He said, walking closer and seeing your fists. You looked down at your hands and sighed, the bandage loosened. “Need help?” He asked. “I’m okay. Why’d you stay, Dean?” You asked, turning around to the table to aid your wound. “Are you upset about what I said awhile ago?” He asked. You shook your head. “I like to train too that’s why I’m here.” You said.

You felt the heat of his hand close to your back and you breathed deeply as his finger ran over your mark. He moved his hand quickly and you sighed. “I’m sorry, that was crossing the line.” He said and you turned around. He started to move back, as if giving you space. “You’re claimed—sorry, I didn’t—“ He stammered. “Was.” You cut off his ranting. He knitted his eyebrows. He hadn’t suspected that you’re an Omega, considering nowadays, omegas claim their Alphas.  

“Dean, what do you see in me?” You asked, seemingly sounding vulnerable. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re obviously beautiful and your scent just—it drove me nuts.” He said. “Dean, I’m damaged goods.” You said. He knitted his eyebrows, clenching his jaw. “You definitely are more damaged than me but that doesn’t make you damaged goods.” He replied, the Alpha in him coming out with this sense of protectiveness. “But if you don’t feel the same way I do, I’ll back off.” He said. “I do.” You found yourself mumbling. 

“Alright,” You started, the day good as it can ever get. You loved training outside. “Let’s start the course easy, finish it as fast as you can and throughout the day, I want you to beat it, at least once, understood?” “Yes, ma’am!” They scrambled as your ‘Alpha’ senses overpowered. You left the guys alone and you grabbed a water bottle. “(Y/n), someone’s here to talk to us.” Benny said, running to get you. You saw Commander Novak. Your expression was hard and unreadable even in the presence of an Alpha like him. “It’s nice to see you again, (y/l/n).” He said. “Whatever this is, I am done, and I’m not coming back.” You said, starting to walk away. 

“Crowley’s whereabouts is found.” He said. You clenched your jaw. “I don’t care.” You said. “I told you, she wont talk.” You heard Benny say before heading towards the group of people waiting for your instruction. 

You directed the men to their next training and sighed as you got a whiff of Novak. “You’re still here?” You asked through gritted teeth. “If you finish this mission, it will certainly be the last.” Your anger boiled over and you punched the table below you, almost splitting it in half. Novak didn’t flinch just as you suspected an Alpha like him wouldn’t. “I think that’s enough. Commander Novak, will all due respect, (y/n) and I lost our men and we won’t endure that again, it’s best you form a new team.” Benny said, escorting him off the grounds. “Ketch, please finish up with them.” You said as you passed by him. 

It hasn’t been a good day, and Novak appearing out of nowhere and asking you to come back was well to top it off. Heck you broke a table. “I’m sorry, (y/n), I tried my best to stop him from even entering.” Benny said as you both closed up for the day. “He was asking for too much.” He added. “It wasn’t your fault.” “Omega, he was talking about our unit, I know how painful it is.” He said, making sure no one was around to hear him. You sighed and nodded.

Dean’s POV

Everyone heard the distinct crack of wood and looking behind me, (y/n) was storming out of the grounds. Before Ketch notices, I was gone, I followed her. It was probably stepping my boundaries, but above all, I wanted to be there for her. It physically strained me when I caught her distressed scent, not one something I would even get from an Alpha. Who ever that guy was, brought nothing but bad news to her. I didn’t know where she went but after hearing the soft ring of gunshots, I knew she’d be somewhere in the range room. I didn’t want to startle her, if that was even possible, by closing the door a little louder. I saw her head tilt the slightest towards my direction.

I looked at her target and it had at least 5 right on the head and three on the chest, not missing any. “You should’t be in here, Dean, and you should be training.” She said, placing her gun down. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she sighed, slumping down. She unloaded her gun and instinctively backed up into me. “I thought you might want someone to talk to.” I said, watching her closely, inhaling her scent. 

A few seconds passed and I caught it. “You’re an omega.” I stated, barely a whisper, 

I wasn’t sure I said it. Her eyes slightly widened but her demeanor remained authoritative.

“And that doesn’t change the fact that I am your trainer and I don’t care if you’re an Alpha.” She replied. “And that—the way you talk, how you show yourself, is what caught my attention, aside from just how good you smelled.” I continued but not once showing some sort of hierarchy towards her. 

Your POV

His eyes darkened yet his features remained calm and collected, even his whole structure was. No Alpha that you didn’t know allowed you to boss them, especially not in this line of work, hence the suppressants. You obviously caught his scent, how it almost knocked you out with how good he smelled, you were attracted to him the way you were attracted to your late Alpha mate. 

“I just couldn’t help but get closer to you, (y/n), I’m drawn to you. But it will only be with your permission, but I’d be really great if I took you out.” He said. Your eyes glimmered with playfulness at that statement. “Like with a sniper or a date?” You joked. His green pools lightened, joy filling your chest as you saw him this lightness. “I think the latter is favorable.” He said, stepping closer. 

You drew in a breath, he somehow intoxicated you in a way you used to feel but it felt stronger, same yet different. 

“I’d love to.”

He had picked you up from your house about 2 hours later, you sighed and looked at yourself from the mirror, Am I ready? You asked yourself, it was rather, was your heart ready. Your thoughts were cut off by knocking on the door. You opened it and inhaling his scent instantly made butterflies go off in your stomach. His body was rigid and somewhat on the edge. “Come in.” You said and he nodded, stepping inside your humble home. 

“You didn’t use suppressants.” He said and you bit your lip. “No need to, right?” You asked and he nodded. To him, you looked so much more vulnerable but knew you weren’t, not at all. He breathed you in, feeling his body shudder with your presence. “Would you like to go now?” He asked and you shook your head, feeling it was a little bit too early. “Would you like something to drink?” You asked and he nodded and you prepared some coffee. 

You came back to see him looking at the framed photos on the wall. “We were in the same unit.” You whispered.  Dean turned at you, eyes soft. “You lost your Alpha there.” He said and you nodded, instinctively placing your hand where your faded mark was. You felt tears prick the sides of your eyes. He turned to you, cupping your cheek and wiping the stray tear you didn’t feel come down. 

“I couldn’t imagine the pain you’ve gone through, not only losing people but also losing your Alpha.” He said as he sipped his drink. “It was tough, it made me tougher.” You replied and he nodded. After finishing your drinks you stood up. “We don’t have to go today, you’re in distress.” He softly said and you smiled, shaking your head. “I’d want to.” You said, your tone giving him the unnecessary push. 

You smiled as a lovely lady took your orders. “This diner is nice.” You said, looking at your surroundings, mostly Betas and a couple of Omegas, and the lovely owner was a nice old lady, an Alpha, in fact. “I used to go here a long time ago with my family.” He said and you looked at him. “Then my mother died when I was 14, my father went to war a few years later. He—he never came back.” He continued. You sighed, understanding his loss. “It was me and Sammy from then on.” “You should be proud of yourself, you raised him well.” You said, reaching your hand to hold his.

He looked up and gave you a small smile, “I am.” Cradling your hand into his, feeling how soft, yet rough on the edges he was. “You built yourself up considering,” “That I’m an Omega?” You finished for him, he replied with his apologetic look. “My father was a colonel and my mother is major, and she’s an Omega too. It wasn’t hard to trust that their only Omega daughter would get up to the test.” You replied. He was in awe. “My mother despises and punishes whoever looks down upon an Omega. She’s just as strong as my Alpha father.” You said and he nodded. 

“I’m really enjoying my time with you, ‘Mega.” He said, mostly thinking to himself. “You too, Alpha.” You replied with a smile. Not realizing you can actually hear him he froze, looking up. “I—uh, didn’t mean to—“ 

The doors of the diner were roughly opened, and a few people screamed in shock as four men entered.

“Hands up! Nobody move!” 

You looked at Dean as you grabbed something in your bag, while the first guy looked behind him to his little friends, you tumbled from the seat to the floor and shot the first guy with a tranquilizer, his body slamming to the ground fast. You got up and punched the second guy, kicking his leg until he fell but the third guy pounced towards you, “Little Omega trying to pick a fight.” He grunted with a sinister smile, ready to tackle you down, whiffing your scent. You aimed your gun at the guy you had just kicked and shot him on the thigh. You ducked and spun around until you kicked the third guy down and immediately shooting him. The fourth guy grabbed your body, lifting you up, making you groan. You focused all your weight on your body and slammed down, taking the guy with you. You threw your head back, butting his head and shooting him on his stomach. 

You rolled yourself up, dusting your pants, it took you approximately 4 minutes and 35 seconds to get these guys down. Everyone was staring at you and the distinct noise of the siren and red and blue flashing lights in the background made you feel almost like a vigilante superhero. The cops talked to you and the owner of the diner thanked you profusely. You got out and leaned against Dean’s car, watching the police carry 4 robbers that you shot a paralyzing tranquilizers at. “I was hoping for less action tonight.” You commented, chuckling. 

“Well, I was hoping for more action tonight.” He joked, smirking at you. You chuckled, looking down at your feet, feeling your cheeks heat up almost instantly. You felt his fingers on your chin as he brought your face up to look at him. “Can you be anymore badass than that, ‘Mega?” Dean asked. You smiled but shook your head. “I just acted on instinct.” You said, eyes lingering towards his lips rather than his eyes, somehow his calm and protective smell was lingering on you. 

Suddenly, his lips were against yours, your eyes closing, leaning up, letting yourself get engulfed in your own little bubble. Dean pulled away and you looked directly into his eyes, a darker shade of green illuminated by the light. “I acted on instinct.” He whispered, biting his lower lip. He pressed you against his car, gasping as you felt the bulge hit your hip. “Fuck, Omega.” He muttered as he kissed you. “Alpha, let’s go?” You asked as the want—need started dropping down to your core, aroused by the moment and he growled, his body stiffening. 

You unlocked your door, feeling his breath against your neck as he trailed kisses, making you shudder in response. You closed your eyes, trying to concentrate. When the door was finally closed behind you, you turned around, pinning him against the door, kissing him. Dean chuckled, holding your hips. “‘Mega, gotta keep that guard down.” He said, kissing your cheek. He grabbed your thighs and lifted you up, making you yelp. 

He moved to the bedroom and slowly let you down, continuing to kiss you passionately. Dean placed your hands above your head pinning you down, your body arching up to him and he wrapped his other arm around your waist. “Dean,” You moaned. “What do you want, (y/n)?” He asked, looking deeply into your eyes. “You.” You replied. He tugged at the hem of your shirt, sliding it off your upper body then he started to undo your pants, sliding it off easily. 

“Want to see you too, Dean.” You shyly said and he nodded, lifting his shirt above his head. You were damn right about his chest. You didn’t even notice your hand trailing along his defined muscles. He breathed, rippling them. You unbuttoned his jeans and he kicked it off. “You’re gorgeous, Alpha.” You mumbled and he chuckled, grinding his body to you until he met your face, kissing you. “Let me be in control.” He said. 

You felt his hot lips on your neck, your collarbone, and then he had one breast in his mouth, the other being cherished by his soft hand. You were getting wetter, needing friction in between your legs with the way you were moving your thighs together. He moved his hand to part your legs. “Open them up, ‘Mega.” He groaned. The tone in his voice made you snap them open. “Fuck, Dean.” You moaned, eyes closing. He drew circles over your cloth covered core. Your pussy clenched wanting more from his naughty fingers. 

“Please, Alpha.” 

He smirked and pulled your underwear down and unclasping your bra off. He moved your legs up, kissing your inner thighs. “Fuck, that’s—“ You barely whispered before he delved right in. He attached his lips to your clit, sucking slightly. You instinctively closed your thighs and he hummed, sending vibrations up your body. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “I said keep them open didn’t I?” He said and you slowly nodded. “Do I need to punish you, Omega?” He asked and you smiled small, shaking your head. 

“Good girl.” He murmured and if he didn’t see you shiver, lips parting. He smirked and licked through your folds, sucking your clit and fucking you with his tongue. You couldn’t handle it. Your hands were on his hair, pulling him closed if that was possible. He moaned against you and before you can warn him, your walls clenched, coming apart. “Fuck, Alpha—shit.” You almost screamed. He lapped your pussy like it was the last thing he can have, riding your orgasm as it lasted for god knows how long. 

But before you can get over your high, he thrusts a finger in, a second following right after. He pumped his fingers in and out of you, various noises leaving your parted mouth. Your hands flew to your sides, gripping the sheets in your fists as you hips started to move on its own, you orgasm wanting to get released. You eyes were shut as you felt yourself uncoiling. “Dean—jesus, fuck!” You screamed as you came, your legs shaking. 

His smug face came into view, kissing you up your stomach until he was kissing your lips, making you taste yourself. “You’re very tasty, ‘Mega.” He whispered, his eyes dark and lustful, it wasn’t hard to notice his cock hitting your thigh either. “Fuck me please, Dean. Please, Alpha.” You begged, getting aroused as he looked at you like the true Alpha that he is. He lifted himself up, grabbing your legs to rest right against his chest. 

You felt the tip of his cock enter you. You didn’t even get to touch his guy down there. Without warning, he thrusts into you. “God, (y/n), taking my cock so well.” He groaned. You yelped and your body shuddered. “Your pussy’s so tight around my cock.” He mumbled as he pulled his hips back before slamming back in again.

He set out a vigorous pace, profanities and moans leaving each of your mouths. His hips clicking into rhythm as you moved yours with him. 

“Fuck, (y/n), gunna make me come like that, sweetheart.” 

His hips started to falter as your walls clenched around his cock, getting close to your third orgasm for the night. You moved your fingers to your clit, rubbing just as fast as cock delved into you. You groaned. “Dean, gunna come—please, Alpha.” You moaned. “Fuck—fuck, (y/n), I won’t be able to stop myself.” He said, looking directly into your eyes. “Don’t stop, Alpha, want your knot.” You almost begged. “Fuck, ‘Mega.” He grunted and you can feel the swell on the base of his cock as he knotted you. You instinctively moved your head to the side and his instincts kicked in delving in and biting right beside your mark, claiming you. 

You reached forward opposite of him and bit down between his neck and shoulder, his cock spilling into you as you claimed him, your new Alpha. 

You let your legs fall to either side of him and he kissed you softly, both of you deeply sated. Your body hummed as your orgasm waved, your marks tingling on your shoulder, shaking as you two came down from your blissful high from pleasure. . When his swelling went down, he stood up, getting a damp cloth from your bathroom and helped you clean up. 

He climbed into bed right after, grabbing the covers from the floor to cover you both up, pulling your warm naked body against his. He kissed where his mark was placed and you sighed deeply, sinking yourself into his embrace. “My Omega.” He whispered and you smiled. “My Alpha.” You replied and he tightened his hold. 

“Thank you for saving me tonight.” Dean murmured after awhile. You giggled. “Am I your knight in shining armor?” You joked. He chuckled and you felt him nod. “I’m surprised no one has claimed you.” He said and you turned your body to look at him, him whining at the loss of your heat. “You thought I was an Alpha and if I didn’t use suppressants, they see my mark and back off. Not a lot of people knew my old Alpha was gone, that bond broke.” You answered and he tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. “I promise to live up to him.” Dean said, caressing your cheek. 

“You already are, Alpha.”

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