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emptywwwriting · 5 months ago

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Morning Patrol

Paring: Jackson!Joel Miller x Fem! reader

Summary: It's your first patrol shift since you joined Jackson. When your friend, Jesse, calls out sick you have to go on the patrol alone with Joel Miller.

Warnings: Horrible Writing, HUGE age gap (33 years LOL), reader smokes cigs, reader is also lowkey a horse girl (shut up), smut will be added, edited this @ 3am sry for mistakes lol, no use of y/n

A03 Link: Morning Patrol

Word Count: 3.8k omg...

First writing ever. I'm sorry if it sucks LOL. I wrote this because I’ve been replaying TLOU2 and it re-awoken my love for these characters.

Idk if I will make this a story or not, it depends on the feedback I get. Correct my grammar/spelling if you see anything wrong, feedback is much appreciated. Also, this is a no-Ellie AU not for any reason, in particular, I just didn’t know how to combine her storyline into this. Please read the warnings!!

It's freezing this time of year, cold frosted winds that are carried by the slopes of the mountains swirl the small town of Jackson, freezing everything over. Even the small wooden stove that usually warms your bones isn't cutting it. Yet you have to stop your eyes from fluttering close while you sit next to the open flame. With only your undergarments to cover you, you're balled up as small as possible sitting on the floor next to the heat. Your alarm had gone off 15 minutes ago, but you’d been procrastinating since. It’s your first patrol shift ever since Jackson took you in nearly 4 months ago. This idea was suggested, rather drunkenly, by Tommy at a bonfire just last week.

…

“It’s about time you start pulling your weight here,” Tommy mumbled with a beer resting on his lips, tilting his head towards you.

Your head snapped up to meet his gaze angrily.

Jesse had arranged a get-together by a bonfire following a town event, inviting Tommy, Joel, Dina, and a few other lookout guards. The hangout was calm, warm, and cozy, with everyone sitting around enjoying their drinks, sharing funny stories, and discussing unusual experiences. As a fairly new member of the town, you were unfamiliar with most of the people there. Jesse, who had played a key role in bringing you into Jackson, made sure to introduce you to Dina, with whom you had formed a close bond. She introduced you to the wonderful team of people who manage all of the horses that Jackson uses. Having grown up around animals, and having extensive knowledge of them, you felt right at home.

However, not everyone was as friendly. Tommy, in particular, seemed to have a strong dislike for you. Ever since the night shift had found you, he had been suspicious of your presence in the town. Tommy constantly questioned you about your past, making you feel like a criminal rather than a newcomer just trying to fit in. While you understood the need for caution in a town as advanced as Jackson, Tommy's suspicions seemed to linger longer than necessary, this pissed you off. Despite your efforts to become a part of the community and form relationships with Jackson’s people, his distrust towards you made it difficult. You couldn't help but feel like an outsider, even when you are trying to enjoy a casual gathering.

Jesse let out a cough next to you in an attempt to break the tension. Tommy’s brother, sitting next to him, didn't look away from his bottle, staring awkwardly into the brown glass. Jesse adjusted himself upright in his chair and began.

“I mean you can always come with us on a morning patrol shift… if you feel like it of course,” he added quickly, before staring into his own beer bottle.

You hummed in response.

Still mad at Tommy, you shoot him another hidden glare before finishing your drink quickly.

“I think it would be a good start for you, hell of an early shift but usually a quiet one.” He looks over at you. “Just me and Joel now, another person couldn't hurt.” Jesse finishes.

Tommy's brother, Joel, grunts from across the fire agreeing.

You stare into the open flame thinking about his words.

“You up for it?” Jesse prods.

“Yeah, I'll do it.” You reply.

Tommy lets out a huff but you choose to ignore it.

Still basking in the awkwardness from Tommy's comment, Dina and Jesse yawn and start collecting their stuff murmuring their goodbyes to the rest of the group surrounding the fire. Tommy and Joel stomp out the flames before falling into quiet conversation, as you follow Dina and Jesse towards the housing strip.

…

You finally force yourself to get up, the cold air wraps around your body as the stove's heat leaves your skin, you quickly get dressed. Sliding your thickest sweatshirt over your head and thick pants onto your legs. Stepping into your boots, you grab a beanie, gloves, and your backpack, making sure that your revolver is with you. After extinguishing the stove's flame, you exit your house and start down the quiet road.

You thought that things were quiet at night, they are even more quiet at four in the morning. Not a soul is awake at this hour, you've never seen the streets of Jackson so still. None of the town's Edison bulbs were on, only the occasional lamp that came from a house's window illuminated your path. Your mind wanders to the patrol, and you recall how just yesterday Jesse called out sick. A horrible stomach flu had torn its way through Jackson, particularly the school kids and teachers. Jesse got it after participating in a snowball fight with the school children, and Dina was now stuck taking care of him. You had been sick with it nearly a week ago, the aftereffects still haunting your body. Your stomach gurgled with hunger, feeling as if it had sunk in. Chills racked your body at night, but you had no fever and could keep food down, sometimes. You didn't want to leave Joel to do the patrol alone, even though you know he could.

You have never talked with Joel before, just knew of him. His gruffness made itself apparent when he entered a room. He is a very respected man in the small town and it makes you feel like you know him to an extent. You have to admit that his large size and powerful aura make you slightly scared of him, yet it intrigues you even more. You often catch yourself staring at his aged and calloused hands gripping a beer bottle, or while cleaning his gun, and would have to force yourself to look away; But for such a strong and large man he was so quiet. It made you nervous to go on patrol with him. It's not that you dread the patrol itself, nor does it mean you don't want to be alone with him, but you dread the awkwardness of it.

You are both very quiet people, it's bound to get awkward. With someone chatty like Dina, you could rely on her for conversation for hours, and there would never be a dull moment. But with Joel? Who knows.

Finally, you arrive at the greenhouses which are next to the exit of Jackson. In the moonlit shadows, you see Joel, hand near his mouth, a lit cigarette between his fingers. The tip of the cigarette glowing red illuminating his face in an auburn glow. The sight makes your stomach flip, or maybe it's the virus. He catches your eye as you approach, now a few feet from him.

“Mornin.” He mumbles, voice groggy with sleep.

“Morning” You offer back sounding weak.

His peppered beard nearly sparkles in the dim light, his nose sculpting his face beautifully. Towering over you even at a distance.

Fuck he’s hot.

“We should head out a little early today so I have time to show you all our check-in spots,” He says after another puff.

“Sounds good to me!” You say eagerly, slightly embarrassed at your peppiness.

He tosses the cigarette into the snow, before stepping on it with his boot, turning away from you and towards the gate. You're suddenly very thankful for Jesse's illness, given now you get to be alone with possibly the hottest man you have ever seen.

Fumbling for the key he unlocks the gate, before having to open a set of precautionary doors, that you remember entering just a few months ago after night patrol found you nearly dead.

“Watch your step.” Joel throws back at you as you exit the final gate and start up a path of icy rocks.

“Got it.” You retort.

Looking up you can see the moonlit glow of the frozen rocks, a long path up into the cover of the forest. It's eerie, too quiet, and too steep. You would not know what to do without Joel here. Even though his presence puts your mind at ease, it's still terrifying while dark. You had almost forgotten what it's like to not be in Jackson. A whole year of struggling to survive on your own forgotten in a handful of months.

I’m spoiled. You think.

You know Jackson has spoiled you but it's not like you don't deserve it.

The thoughts of your life before, outside the walls of Jackson, creep into your mind and you become nauseous.

“How long will we be out here?” You ask, trying to get your mind back to Joel.

“Well-” He sighs. “Depends on how many stragglers we have to get through. If the weather holds up and there's nothing out of the blue, the whole watch will be about 8 hours.”

“Eight hours?” You repeat shocked.

“Yep, a whopping eight hours.” He says sarcastically. “Forget how you outbreak, kids never worked a normal job.” He chuckles to himself.

“I was born as soon as the outbreak started, I think that's hard enough.” You say smiling. He huffs.

“I’d take eight-hour shifts over an infection any day.” You smile.

“Yeah me too.” He replies.

It's quiet again and the awkward tension seeps back in making you more uneasy. The sound of his boots crunching the snow under him fills the air, and you're now closer to the woods. You follow Joel a few feet back, studying his frame while he can't see you.

Why can’t you think of anything to say and why is he so quiet? You pray for Joel to say something, anything, and when he doesn't, you force yourself to talk.

“Do you like your shifts with Jesse?”

“Jesse's good, a little woman crazy but he's fine. At least he's a good shot.” He lets out a huff.

“Yep, that sounds like Jesse.” you smile to yourself.

The conversation goes silent again and you begin to wonder if it's just this awkward in your head. The path evens out as you enter the brush, and Joel turns his flashlight on, illuminating the now even darker path. As the forest thickens the moon becomes less and less of a help, your eyes strain, trying to make out the terrain.

Crunch Crunch Crunch

Focusing on the sounds of snow and wind you space out, now trying to ignore the awkwardness between you.

“How old did you say you were?”

you didn't

Joel asks awkwardly.

“Twenty-five.” You reply,

“Jesus.” He says under his breath.

“How old did you say you were?” You ask playfully.

He laughs, seemingly embarrassed.

“Too old.” He says shortly.

You laugh and begin walking closer behind him. When finally in the complete cover of the woods Joel climbs up onto a large rock, one nearly bigger than you. After getting himself up right, he reaches a hand down to you. He looks majestic like this, so tall above you looking down with a rough and large hand extended. Even his thick wool coat can't fully conceal how large his biceps and chest are. You want to take a picture of him.

Him saying your name, snaps you back into reality, grabbing his hand quickly, he hoists you up onto the rock. His powerful tug launches you faster than you expected. Your foot lands on a chunk of ice and you slip slightly before he holds you up with the hand he was holding. Dangling from his strong grip you quickly try to find some kind of footing grunting in pain.

His other hand comes down to the collar of your clothing grabbing it and pulling you up. You reach for his arms for stability and take a breath before opening your eyes to look up at him. You're a mess, knees weak, one arm on his bicep the other on his flexed forearm staring up at him like a hurt puppy. You snap your head back down and release him, brushing yourself off. He slowly lets go of your jacket collar and hand before huffing out a chuckle

“Told you to be careful.” He beams down at you.

Your face is so red it's warming you in contrast to the freezing night air.

“Not my fault you flung me over the rock.” You laugh lightly looking down to hide your face. Not only were you red but you are trying to hide the grimaces you are making from the shooting pain in your ankle.

“Whatever you say darlin'.” He laughs.

And, oh that made your stomach do actual flips. You freeze as he starts down the path again, you're trying to comprehend the nickname, and why it sounded so good coming from his lips.

Darlin’....

Shaking your head you follow after him promptly. The wind picks up and your hair starts whipping onto your already red cheeks. It is cold, and the wind makes you feel even more miserable. Joel's hair, which had only grown since you joined Jackson, moved in the crisp breeze, he seemed to notice the wind picking up, and he started walking faster.

“I think we are getting caught in a storm.” He says defeatedly, pushing forward into the dark night.

Your heart drops as you push to keep up with the older man who is somehow faster than you, your ankle screaming at you to stop.

“Let's turn back.” You suggest sighing, you pause for a moment to take the weight off of your foot.

This earns a quick,

“No, too far back, we are closer to the first check-in.” His voice becomes more strained as the terrain gets more steep and the wind picks up. You quickly start following after him again, in a limp.

“How much further?”

“Half a mile.” Joel quips.

“Focus on the trail. The wind is getting stronger, we have supplies at the check-in and can camp out there until day shift comes.”

His strong legs take large strides up the mountain. You continue to follow, the wind nearly knocking you over at some points. The gusts of icy air start picking up fallen snow, blurring everything in a cloud of white dust. Your ankle only seems to be feeling worse as each twist and turn gets harder and harder to trek. In a panic, you grab Joel's backpack so as not to lose him. He yells something at you about the path you think, but you can't hear, the wind is screaming in your ears too loudly. Your ankle feels warm. Twigs and branches snap, each making you jump, you slip only slightly, catching yourself before continuing hot on Joel's trail. Your knuckles are white from the grip you have on his bag. Frozen in place.

Finally, you see the outline of a shed, Snow, and ice slinging into the side of it from the wind. You see the back of Joel's head raise as he spots the structure before his pace picks up even more and you're practically being dragged. Noticing this he blindly reaches back, taking hold of your forearm and dragging you to the front of him, his warm chest pressed against your back. The wind slams into him, blocking it from you. He pushes you slowly, now noticing your limp. Step by step you make your way to the wooden shed. You hear him breathing ruggedly in your ear, your gasp and breaths fill the air along with his. Finally at the door moving you to the side yet not taking his hands off you he opens the door and shoves you inside. The sound of whirling wind, snow, and branches snapping disappears outside of the dark room, muffling the chaos nearly completely.

Joel puts a large wood plank in the shed's lock and takes a deep breath before turning to you. He looks you up and down.

“You okay? You slipped a few times pretty good back there.” He sighs trying to catch his breath.

“Yeah, I think I'm good.” You breathe deeply and try to think. “I twisted my ankle a little though.” You sigh.

Throwing down your heavy bag you plop down on the dirt floor next to it. You definitely did something more than twist it because the pain is radiating up into your knee, making it hard to hide your discomfort.

Inside the shed is small, there's enough room for you, Joel, and a small stove with a plastic crate filled with what looked like ammo and food and first aid, underneath it. Joel looks down at you and you meet his gaze. The feeling of his chest against your back lingers on your skin and in your thoughts. You push your thighs together and look away, hoping he can't read your mind. He kneels in front of you grabbing your ankle suddenly.

“Shit!” You hiss trying to pull your leg back up to your body.

He takes hold of your leg again, this time underneath your knee. You move around trying to find a comfortable position.

“Stop squirming, I need to look at your ankle.”

As he wishes you hold as still as possible as he pulls your pant leg up and begins to untie your boot. Gently he slides off the shoe and pulls your sock off halfway. Unveiling your ankle beat red and swollen. Joel cringes at the sight of it and gently puts your leg back on the ground. Reaching behind himself he grabs the plastic tote and opens it looking for what you assume to be painkillers.

“It's really not that bad, I'll be okay, just need to lay off it for a bit.” You sound defeated.

“We have pain killers in here, you can-”

You cut him off “I'm okay, and I'm not wasting Jacksons supplies.”

He looks at you, at your ankle, and then slowly up your body.

“You're not going to be able to walk back down with that.” He says.

You go to disagree with him but you stop yourself because you know he's right, there's no way in hell.

“Im sorry, I-”

“Not your fault.” He cuts you off and places the small crate at your legs for you to prop your foot on.

“I know I just- I feel like the town already doesn't like me, hell I know Tommy doesn't. And I just don't want to be a problem.”

“Tommy’s a paranoid old man,” He begins. “I love my brother but his suspicions get the best of him sometimes, he loves Jackson, and wants to keep it safe, don't take it personal kid.” His eyes show you his sincerity, and you look down, still ashamed.

He looks up at you saying nothing sympathy written across his face. He groans as he gets up from his knees now looking down at you, examining.

“I hope day shift brings up a horse. We gon’ have to carry you if not.”

You cringe at the thought of the issues you're causing but know he's right.

“As for this storm,” He walks around the room and cracks the door open slightly before having to slam his body on it to get the wind to stop pouring through.

“Yeah-” He breathes heavily, locking the door back. “That's gonna hold up for a while.” He puts his fingers on the bridge of his knows like he's trying to figure out what to do.

Joel then spends the next twenty minutes doing something you may call nesting. As you watch, you can sense the anxiety pouring off him. He paces back and forth, seemingly unable to calm down. While he doesn't say anything, the worried look on his face speaks for him. It's as if he's trying to distract himself from the nervousness that looks to be consuming him. He checks and double-checks the locked door, and starts a fire in the small stove, he meticulously tends to it. The pacing continues, with Joel occasionally glancing at the door, as if expecting the weather to magically change.

At this point you're lying on the ground head on a Joel’s pack, just staring into the fire.

“Jesus sit down Joel.” You finally tell him, getting tired just from watching him.

He pauses his pacing and looks at you as if he didn’t know he was even doing it. Mumbling an apology, he walks over to you and sits against the wall a foot or two from your head. You two sit in silence for a while, listening to the fire crackle what sticks were left in there, while the wind whistles through the small shed.

“You got any more of those cigarettes you had earlier?” You ask shyly, like you are doing something bad. You meet his gaze craning your neck up while he looks down confused and surprised.

“Didn't know you smoke” He huffs, reaching into the backpack under your head, he grabs a small white beat-up box and pulls from it, a neatly home-rolled cigarette.

You hum, admiring his strong hands digging through the box.

“Don't tell on me.” You smile looking at him sheepishly. He rolls his eyes before sticking the cigarette in his mouth and bringing a match to the end of it, lighting it and inhaling deeply. Taking it from his mouth he brings the cigarette to your lips until you open them, sticking it between them. Your stomach does cartwheels as he focuses on your lips wrapped around the smoke. Inhaling deeply you lock eyes, staring back into his. He takes the cigarette in front you and lets it rest in his hand as you both exhale.

“How long until they come for us?” You sigh after gently taking the cigarette from Joel’s hand and sticking it in your mouth again.

“Day shift starts at 1:30, and it’s still dark out,” He takes the smoke from you and takes a drag before exhaling.

“So we still have a while sweetie.”

You hide the smile that forces its way to your face by adjusting your body so that your head is now closer to his thigh.

You both take turns puffing on the cigarette until it gets too short to hold, Joel tosses it into the stove, and wipes his hands on his pants. You however are plotting on how to get closer to him. Too shy to say anything, but too desperate to not be closer you casually scoot up more and place your head on his thigh before turning away from him, pretending to get comfy. He gets stiff at this and you get nervous.

shit was that too much?

Frozen in fear you listen and wait. Slowly he relaxes and you hear his head thump against the wall. You let a breath out you didn’t know you were holding, and begin to relax. It was nearly 15 minutes later when you started to hear a small grumble coming from the man under you, he was snoring. You smiled to yourself, proud that you had managed to lay on him and not weird him out, maybe he likes it as much as you do. When he wakes up you'll think about testing your luck again, for now though, you need to rest. Closing your eyes you drift to sleep on his thigh, thinking about his hands all over you.

Edit: Chapter 2 will be coming out soon, be on the look out!

#tlou smut #joel miller tlou #tlou game #tlou hbo #tlou part 2 #tlou fanfiction #joel tlou #tlou2 #smut #eventual smut #joel miller x reader #light angst #age g@p #joel miller x you #no use of y/n #fanfic

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dr4k3n0 · 2 years ago

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'Drawn to You' (Pt. 2)

Continuation of Pt. 1 one since a lot of people surprisingly liked it-

Synopsis: Soulmate AU where you find Vash is your soulmate.

TW: None

Word Count: 1.6k

You finished up your day's work quickly bidding farewell to Jess, and her family before rushing home. You've been waiting for the day to end so that you could continue talking to your so-called "soul mate". Eventually making it to your small house, you unlocked the door, set down your things, and sat on your bed, pen in hand. What should I say..? You pondered.

You thought for a while about what to say before deciding to write, "Hey I can talk now if you can :)"

Looking at what you wrote on your hand, you sighed thinking you were just getting overly excited.

Standing up from your bed, you began to warm up some food that you had left over to eat before noticing more writing appear on your hand.

"Oh hey!" The words said.

Unintentailly smiling, you took out your pen and began to write, "So.. how was your day?"

It took a moment for the words to reply again, "Pretty boring, besides having these mysterious words appear on my arm.. How was yours?"

You giggled at the response before replying, "Mine was busy, but decent I guess."

"Good" was all the words said.

The words stopped appearing for a bit as you didn't know what to talk about anymore.

Taking your food out of the oven, you put it on a plate and began to eat a bit before the words appeared again. "What can I call you, mysterious words?"

Smiling a bit you quickly wrote back, "Mm, y/ns fine. What can I call you?"

The words replied back quickly before saying, "Nice name Y/n! You can just call me Vash."

You repeated the name to yourself before smiling. "Nice to meet you Vash."

Your heart was racing for no reason at all, yet you liked it. Maybe this soulmate thing is real?

Meanwhile, Vash was sitting in the uncomfortable car while the others slept. Using the little light provided by the moon, he was just barely able to see your words but smiled at each one. They seem nice, he thought. The little chats continued just asking little questions such as: what do you look like, what are your hobbies, and things like that. He found out that you had (hair color) hair and (eye color) eyes. And he had told you he had blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a red coat. His chat with you prolonged a bit longer before Wolfwood interrupted him.

"How long are you going to stare at your hand smiling, Needle-Noggin?" Wolfwood said with his eyes closed but was sending a mischievous smirk Vash's way.

"I'm not smiling at my hand-" Vash defended.

"I've been watching you write things and smile at it the past 30 minutes you idiot," Wolfwood said this time looking at him annoyed.

"I'll do it as long as it takes then. I'm talking to my "soul mate" thank you very much." Vash retorted back.

The two began to bicker before Meryl interrupted and yelled at them for being too loud.

"Shut up and go to sleep. Both of you," She yelled over them.

The car went silent again before Wolfwood let out a small sigh. Vash went back to looking at his hand again before writing, "I'm going to hit the sack. Talk to you later y/n. I enjoyed chatting with you."

He smiled a bit before closing his eyes happily. Was this the beginning of something much larger?

It had been almost 4 months since you both started talking to each other. You had learned that Vash happened to be the Vash the Stampede. Although you didn't mind, he seemed like a good person and you were soul mates for a reason. The both of you had talked a lot and you always drew a bunch of random drawings on your hand just to mess with him. He would sometimes draw things back, but he liked seeing the things you drew.

Meanwhile, your day started out normally as you had gotten ready for work before writing a greeting to Vash, and heading out the door. You walked through the small town in a decent mood. Walking through the town, travelers were just beginning to show up and the vendors were taking full advantage of that. You sighed at their wittiness before bumping into a tall figure.

"Sorry!" You said embarrassed.

Avoiding eye contact with the stranger, you walked ahead quickly trying to avoid the conflict. The figure watched as you sped off as his eyes widened.

"Y/n?" He whispered quietly yet surprised.

"Come on Needle-Noggin, people have no manners around here." Wolfwood incited before smacking Vash's back and leading him forward.

"Yea.." Vash said as he rubbed where Wolfwood smacked him.

It couldn't have been you.. right?

You walked into work with a bright blush on your face and your thoughts, a mess. That was so embarrassing! you thought. You pulled yourself together before tending to some customers who had just walked in. Sitting the 4 at a table, you saw that they were an odd group. One looked overly tired and particularly done with life, while one had a large cross with him. The woman wore a cute bureau (is that what type of hat she wears?) with some cute dangly earrings. Then the other man beside her wore a bright red coat, had a blonde undercut, and wore bright orange sunglasses. Greeting them, you took their drink orders and walked into the kitchen to prepare their drinks. After making the drinks, you walked back out with the drinks, and gave them to the correct person who ordered each drink. You smiled at them all before taking their orders, while observing the blonde man from time to time. He seems oddly familiar.. you thought.

You wrote down their orders quickly before walking off to give their orders to the kitchen so that the chef can make their meals. Then you went to tend to some new customers who happened to just walk in and seated them before long. Glancing at the blonde man while you walked past them, you smiled and waved at them. The blonde man waved back slightly as you saw a small drawing on the center of his palm that matched the one you had drawn on yours. You widened your eyes a bit before walking off into the kitchen and then into the back for some fresh air. Is that him..? you thought confused. Pulling out your pen, you drew a small heart on your hand, along with a smiley face. Maybe this would help you figure out if it's really him or not.

You walked back into the restaurant before going back to work and tending to the customers. Eventually, a bell was rung indicating food was ready to be taken out and you grabbed the plates before bringing the food to the table with the 4 travelers. As you approached you saw the man who had the cross laughing at the blonde as he blushed while covering his hand.

"You're getting all flustered because of a heart?!" The man laughed as he hit the table.

"Shut up.." Vash said embarrassed as he turned away from the others before seeing you.

"Uh.. sorry if I'm interrupting.. but here are your orders!" You said to them.

You distributed each plate as the man with sunglasses was still laughing. As you distribute the plates Vash happened to notice the small heart and smiley face on your hand and his eyes widen.

As you were about to leave, you hear someone clear their throat quickly before saying,

"Uhmm.. Ma'am, what is your name?" The blonde man asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, but I'm y/n!" You smiled.

His eyes widened before nodding at you and grinning. "Nice to meet you Y/n." He said blushing a bit.

You smiled before walking off leaving them to eat their food. Its her... Vash thought excitedly. From the sight of you, he thought you were beautiful and was excited that you were both able to meet like this. He felt his heart beat faster as he quickly ate, before standing up quickly. The others turned to him confused as he walked off towards you before they shrugged it off and continued eating.

As you began to walk to the kitchen, Vash tapped your shoulder gently. You turned around to see who had touched you only to see the blonde from earlier.

"Oh is everything alright? Do you need something?" You asked smiling at him.

Vash's heart began to pump faster as stumbled over his words. "I uhm... are you available to talk for a moment?" He mumbled.

You lifted a brow confused before saying, "I can take my break really fast, the business is slowing about now anyways." You explained.

"Here, let's go somewhere more private," you grinned at him.

You led him to the back of the building before stopping.

"So what did you want to talk about..?" You asked hoping it was what you were thinking.

"Do you have a pen on you?" He asked quickly.

You nodded before handing him your pen as he wrote a small hi on his hand. He watched as the writing soon appeared on your hand and he smiled excitedly. He hugged you out of excitement while you were left shocked. It was him! Your soulmate! You finally found him! You smiled happily as you hugged him back. He pulled away smiling before saying,

"Sorry that was really sudden.." He said embarrassed.

"I don't mind.. were soulmates after all.."

#trigun vash #vash x reader #vash the stampede #trigun fluff #trigun stampede #trigun #oneshot #soulmate Au #character x reader

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slafkovskys · 2 years ago

Note

Can you do “You can’t tell me that he doesn’t have a thing for you.” With Luca 🫶🏻 thank you Jess 🤍

warnings: creepy neighbor, protective luca

“luca, honey,” you call as the shirtless boy crosses the floor towards the front door. he pauses in front of the couch and turns to face you, still looking half asleep, “are you forgetting something? like, i don’t know, your shirt?”

he looks down and his shoulders slump before he tosses his head back, “this is why you shouldn’t make me do things before ten am.”

“do you want me to pull up the text messages from last night where you were asking me to go for brunch?” you raise your eyebrows and his silence is all the answer that you need. you point towards the laundry room, “there’s some of your clothes in there. hurry up, i’m hungry.”

“i can tell,” he chirps, sending you a smile at the annoyed expression that you send him as he passes. he plants a kiss on your head before disappearing into the laundry room. he comes back out a moment later with his top half covered in a sweatshirt that he had left at your apartment the last time he had stayed over and he props his hands on his hips, “does this match?”

it absolutely did not match his plaid pajama bottoms but as early as it was on a sunday morning, you doubt anyone would care. you certainly didn’t and you voice that to him as you nudge him towards the door. “you’re driving-”

“y/n!”

you freeze at the call of your name and so does luca. you turn your head to find sam staring right back at you, an almost relieved smile on his face as he stands in the doorway of his own apartment. he crosses his arms over his chest, “where are you going dressed like that?”

while he was dressed rather nicely for some reason, you and luca were still clad in the same clothes you had slept in the night before having come to the mutual agreement that a post-road-trip, picking your boyfriend up from yost at one am, breakfast date with plans to sleep all day afterward warranted such attire.

“oh, um-”

“to check the mail,” luca answers and if his face didn’t give away the fact that he was annoyed by your interaction, his clipped tone sure did. “do you need us to check yours too?”

sam avoids luca’s rhetorical question all together, keeping his focus on you, “who’s your friend?”

“boyfriend,” you and luca chime at the same time, sharing a knowing look and he bumps your shoulder with his gently. you knew that sam knew who he was that because he had asked on numerous occasions after seeing luca coming and going. you sigh, “we’ve got to get going. i’ll see you later, sam.”

“you bet,” you see him start to close the door as you turn around, but don’t actually hear it shut as you tangle your fingers with luca’s and head for the stairs. you can almost feel his eyes on you as you descend and it doesn’t help when luca chimes in,

“you can’t tell me that he doesn’t have a thing for you.”

“i know that he does, luca. thanks for pointing that one out,” you huff as you slide into the passenger seat of your car. instead of going around to the driver’s side, luca just stares and you send him a look, “please just get in and i’ll tell you about it.”

he listens, thankfully, starting the car so that it can warm up while you tell your tale.

“i helped people with their english papers last year before you got here,” you start, staring out the window, “like revising and offering advice so they can get a better grade, all of that stuff. sam came in a lot and he would only come to me. it started with small stuff, like little gifts and whatnot, and then on valentine’s day he asked me out on an actual date and i turned him down. he still would keep coming by even when i wasn’t there and then this semester he moves in beside me which i don’t know just how coincidental that can be.”

a beat of silence passes before luca speaks, “why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“because it’s not that big of a deal. he just- he took me saying no well. i don’t know, i didn’t want to bother you with it,” you start to pull on your sleeves and luca grabs your hand. “luc-”

“you saw the same thing that i did, y/n. he was watching you. your lease is up at the end of the semester?” you nod your head, chewing on the bottom of your lip subconsciously. he reaches up and gently pulls it out, “we’re finding you somewhere else to live or you’re moving into my dorm until then. i don’t like this at all.”

“it’s not that simple. you don’t know what it’s like to find something that’s affordable in a college town for one person,” you shake your head, “and i’m not living in a tiny dorm with you and adam.”

“what about just me, then?” he suggests and your heart skips a beat as you think about what he’s suggesting. “not a tiny dorm, but a place that’s ours? i mean, adam probably won’t be here next year anyway so that would save me having to find a backup roommate. you don’t have to give me an answer now, but just say that you’ll think about it.”

“i’m sorry, did you just indirectly refer to me as a backup roommate?” you shove at his shoulder and his cheeks flush. “are you sure that’s something you would want to do, luca? that’s a big decision.”

he grabs your hand and presses a kiss to the top of it, “like i said, i don’t need an answer now. just tell me that you’ll think about it.”

you hum, “i’ll think about it if you put this car in drive and get me to brunch.”

“you sure know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?” he rolls his eyes as he buckled his seatbelt, finally putting the car into reverse.

“and you love me so much that you want to live with me.”

“you got me there.”

#luca fantilli #concepts

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fixated-dark-king · 1 year ago

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Can I please iterate a whole bunch of times right now how much I love how romance-coded the whole Sundae Confession moment is in Redemption Issue Two? And how so much of Seiji’s and Nicholas’ conversation leading up to it primes us to that vibe?

Imma need to back up quickly for the complete picture. Cue the scene of Nicholas dragging Seiji away from his clandestine meeting with Jesse, and Seiji’s response to it.

Priming number one: hand-holding! Nicholas seriously yeeted Seiji away from Jesse via hand-holding. It wasn’t a strong grip on a wrist for easy purchase but hand-holding. Like an emotional crutch. It’s such a gentle gesture during such heated clapbacks at Jesse. And it’s body language that is often associated with intimacy. So straight up we have visual priming of an intimate bond and the tactile behaviour often associated with a romantic couple.

Priming number two: the first words that comes out of Seiji’s mouth to Nicholas, while still holding hands, is 100%, no word of a lie: “A date.”

I mean… An intimate gesture coupled with a word associated with romantic activity? You’re killing me here! What a double attack on our senses and sanity! Plus “Date” is referencing something Nicholas said earlier, not even the very last thing he said. Like wow Seiji, the main thing you took out of that whole intense interaction wasn’t Nicholas’ confidence that you can beat Jesse (the thing Seiji is obsessed with doing every page of this story), but that Nicholas has seemingly asked you out on a date? Which is very much not a term associated with things just friends do (generally).

Priming number three: Nick’s planned activities for their not-a-date date, er, ‘appointment.’ Just two people visiting a place that means a lot to him, which happens to be associated with his home and family -- all very intimate parts of his life, his foundation, and what has made him who he is. While eating dessert together. You know, having an indulgent snack that releases happy brain chemicals for both people to share in and feel warmed by.

All of this proposed itinerary describes activities often associated with two people on a date. And Seiji’s deadpan repeating this back to Nicholas complete with eyebrow action confirms that. Seiji is us. We are Seiji. We have all been primed to the romantic undertones.

Priming number four: Nicholas is blushing this entire time. Subconscious things are happening to evoke this feeling of vulnerability and self-consciousness. He is offering up personal things to someone; a chance for further intimacy -- things he hasn’t wanted or needed to do with any of his other friends at Kings Row. And with the notorious lone wolf of Kings Row. It’s an out there proposal, and he is blushing.

Okay so we now have hand-holding, ‘Date’, date-esque activities, and blushing. Consider me primed. But wait, there’s more: welcome back to the stage Nicholas’ concept of ‘rivals’ equating to ‘more than friends’ in the hierarchy of relationships in his world.

So, before Seiji accepts their not-date date, he brings their attention back to his clandestine meeting with Jesse: “Aren’t you going to ask me about Jesse?” he says with his face in shadow, suggesting that Jesse is a potential not-a-date deal-breaker in Seiji’s mind? (This feels like such a showing of his hand for me; a concession that he is aware that having clandestine meetings with Jesse is Weird to onlookers for good reason. Smoke & fire.)

And Nicholas confirms he gets the vibe is because Jesse is Seiji’s ‘rival’ -- ie. someone Seiji feels admiration and passion towards beyond friendship. Ie. Romance-coded. (Nicholas might not realise that he processes and filters his romantic feelings/passion through his own concept of Rivalry but we readers are able to see it from our privileged position.) Translation: “It’s okay Seiji, I get it: you two are More Than Friends with a history of emotional minefields, but I wish to divert your attention to me now as a subconscious suitor in this More Than Friends realm. I’ve got what it takes to be what you are looking for.”

And finally, all of this leads to the culmination of everything romantic that we have been primed for during these interactions: SEIJI CONFESSING THAT HE SECRETLY LIKES……… Well. Let’s review the tape. After being primed for romance this entire time, after Nicholas assures Seiji that his history with Jesse is understandable and complicated but not relevant to the bond he and Nicholas share, Seiji finally RSVPs to Nicholas’s not-a-date date by confirming that Nicholas does indeed know him well enough to know he secretly likes sundaes.

THERE IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK IN THIS MOMENT:

Seiji feels comfortable enough with Nicholas, and trusts him enough to share this secret with him. Talk about an act of intimacy! And this is healthy, beautiful intimacy being shared between them -- Nicholas put himself on the line earlier by inviting Seiji into his private hometown world, and Seiji returned the favour by putting his own Serious Business Fencing Diet Standards branding on the line (which is a huge concession for someone whose whole identity is shaped around being A Fencer Of The Highest Standards).

Seiji confirmed that he does indeed have a weakness for a certain sugary treat; a guilty pleasure that he probably shouldn’t indulge in but can’t stop himself from wanting anyway. Wow, metaphor anyone?

Seiji’s ambiguous wording!! He doesn’t actually say “I do secretly like sundaes.” He says: “I do secretly like them.” WHILE BLUSHING (ah, good ole primer number four). His wording is so gloriously ambiguous, requiring you to roll back the tape to his previous statement for the correct subject matter. Thus, “I do secretly like them” can sound, on its own, like he is talking about a person. A brilliantly executed metaphor, if I do say so myself, and the metaphor we were seemingly primed to read into thanks to all the romantic undertones leading up to this moment.

Seriously. On a subconscious level, thanks to the sundae metaphor, does this scene not feel like a fledgling version of THIS actually being played out:

When this sort of thing actually happens overtly at some point in the future, it is going to be so amazing. :')

#fence comic #fence redemption #fence redemption spoilers #fencessay

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migueloharasonlylove · 1 year ago

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Still into you

Part 1 : Familiarity

Part 2 : A rekindled candle

Part 3 : Is he? Isn't he?

You entered the portal, it was like you were on a whole rollercoaster ride, but a lot faster. You swear you felt the puke reach to the back of your throat. You felt like you were on the verge of throwing up as every second passed by. The whole ordeal was excruciating and unexplainable.

"Oh God.." you groaned upon stepping a foot out of the portal meeting Jess' gaze, she looked fine as if it was a normal that occurs to her everyday and it made you a little surprised at how she wasn't affected at all.

"Are you alright?" Jess laughed a little at how you were basically trying to keep yourself up, forcing your legs to not give up at any given moment.

A heavy exhale left your lips as you tried to keep yourself together, the whole ordeal made your head want to just explode. The few seconds of entering a portal felt like a total pain.

"Yeah I guess so.. and where are we?" You tilted your head to Jess, the room was a little small to your liking but there was enough space in the room to walk around.

"We're on Earth-928, Nueva York. Just another place in our earth." A deep voice came from behind, you quickly turned your head to see Spiderman 2099 leaving the portal. But you couldn't help but just tilt your head in response, you were both in confusion and in fascination from the fact something as small as the 'watch' on your wrist could teleport you to places.

"Wait wait Earth-928? Why is there a label for what earth we're in..? Wait, are there actually other universes out there?" A high pitch tone was mixed in with your voice as your eyes widened through the mask you were wearing. You've heard about this in class way back before, but it was just theories. But now you confirmed that those theories were facts.

"Yes, it's nothing surprising really." He spoke once more before the doors opened before you three.

The ray of light from the sun hits your eyes making your eyelids flutter. It took you a few seconds before your body tensed up at the scene of so many spider-people. Though you weren't as shocked because of how you and Spiderman 2099 coexisted on the same earth, but this many.. especially how there were actually different universes. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why you barely saw Spiderman 2099 back on your earth.

“Welcome to spider-society” Jess gave you a warm reassuring smile, guiding you into the headquarters. The place was swarming with spider-people left, right, front, back, up and below. You were in absolute awe, there were so many questions going in your mind but you decided to remain silent about it. Spiderman 2099 followed right behind the two of you staying silent as well, you felt his intense gaze on you as a shiver ran down your spine. He was still holding the lizard from earlier right in his arm, the lizard was knocked unconscious.

“What do you plan on doing to that lizard? Shouldn’t it be reported to the police station?” You finally questioned him looking back at him while you walked backwards. He was really big and muscular, you could even see how his sculpted body was through his suit. He looked like he was sculpted by God himself, and you could tell Spiderman 2099 was definitely God’s favourite.

“This is an anomaly, not just your regular bad guy that you report to the police. Guys like this, who get shot up in the wrong dimension is our work, not the police.” He replied back to you, looking straight ahead. The “anomaly” then seemed to be glitching and it made you flinch a little, their atoms seemed to be separating then reconnecting back again to its regular state.

“And that” Spiderman 2099 gestured to the watch looking thing on your wrist. “Prevents you from glitching, like this lizard”

“Trust me, glitching is something you wouldn’t want to experience. Your cells slowly decapitate the longer you stay in the wrong dimension, so try to keep wearing that watch.. unless you’re in your own dimension.” Jess added right after Spiderman 2099 as she walked ahead giving you a glance before turning her head back. They said it in such a normal way as if it was something that occured daily. Many spider-people greeted both Jess and Spiderman 2099, it gave you an idea that they were people important in this society.

Shortly after, you three reached another part of the society. It was full of other anomalies who wound up in the wrong dimension, they were all in that same yellow cage that Spiderman 2099 used on the lizard earlier. You then noticed that Spiderman 2099 placed the lizard on a certain spot, then that same yellow cage came back up. Everything seemed so high-tech and it amazed you.

“These are anomalies?” You questioned once more as you three walked through the hall full of anomalies.

Then the yellow woman in a white robe with heart-shaped pink glasses named Lyla appeared once more right beside you, she was small like a fairy.

“That’s correct! These are all the anomalies we’ve caught for the last 4 days” Her voice was cheerful, she seemed to be enjoying giving you information. 4 days was all it took for this amount of anomalies to be in this hall..? It shocked you to your core, but considering the amount of universes there were.. it shouldn't be much of a surprise.

“What do you guys do with the anomalies then?” An eyebrow raised at Lyla out of curiosity. As all four of you reached a certain place; full of buttons and screen on the side. Then another spider woman named Margo appeared swinging around to different screens. Your attention immediately averts to Margo as she spoke:

“By the machine in front of you, it detects where your DNA is from.. and sends you there.” Margo told you, her tone didn’t seem to pleased while continuing to work on different screens, there was an anomaly on the platform of the machine. Jess just shrugged while watching the machine about to send the anomaly back to their own universe.

You noticed Spiderman 2099 walking to leave the three of you from the corner of your eyes but you didn’t pay him no mind. You were definitely curious about the procedures to send an anomaly home. A chill ran throughout your body as your blood ran cold while all three of you watched. You just stood there with your eyes widening.

“Well, that’s that..” Jess uttered out sighing as she did so, she didn’t seem too pleased about the whole thing as well.

“I voted against it.” Margo added after Jess finished speaking. Watching the whole procedure made you shiver a little as you remained silent. It was inhumane.

Right after it sent the anomaly home, a heavy exhale left your lips. You already felt a little stress just by watching how they send anomalies home. You and Jess went walking back to HQ.

"So, how do you feel? After all that." Jess questioned you out of concern and worry while she looked at your awkward expression.

"I don't know what to feel." You said plainly as you didn't want to come out as blunt and just start ranting with no shame on the spot. A small laugh just left Jess' lips at your response;

"It's inhumane.. I know, but it's necessary.." Jess added in response, giving you a small smile shrugging it off.

After a few more walks.. you and Jess finally reached Spiderman 2099's headquarters. The platform he stood high on was surrounded by yellow screens, with a bunch of different people in different events. And you noticed you were in one of the clips playing on the yellow screen, the clip of you watching how the anomalies were sent back home earlier. Your eyebrows raised while your ears perked up at the scene but you didn't dare talk about it to him.

"Is that me?" You whispered to Jess making sure the scary big man on the platform won't hear your whispers. Jess just looked at you as if she was holding in her amused smile.

"I guess so." She told you in response. A man in a pink robe with a kid with curly ginger hair on his baby carrier approached you with a huge smile.

"You're the new recruit I'm assuming? I'm Peter B. Parker, and this is my little Mayday." Peter approached you and Jess with a huge smile seen on his face, he looked very happy right now. Mayday was reaching out to you a little while holding onto your suit, looking straight at you with her blue big sparkly eyes. You couldn’t help but just stare back at her in awe.

‘’Also, what’s up with the mask? You can take it off arounds us.” Peter questioned you, laughing a little sounding sardonic while he scanned you from head to toe. You knew he meant you no harm by his energy but you couldn't help but feel a little awkward and uncomfortable.

A laugh just left from your lips not wanting your awkwardness show;

"It's better safe than sorry." You responded with a hint of sarcasm heard in your tone while you kept looking at Mayday staring back at her. A hand just raised up from your side pinching the soft cheeks of the kid dauntlessly; making Mayday giggle in response to your soft pinch. Though not seen by them, you were smiling behind your mask.

"Miguel, we're gonna head out for lunch." Jess yelled out to the man still on the platform who was looking over multiple screens while his back still faced the four of you, including Mayday. The name made your eyes widen and heart beat faster, the name alone made you feel and remember so many things from two years ago. That feeling of something small like a candle rekindled in you.

Before you could even question, scream or do anything.. Peter hastily put an arm on your shoulders inviting you with them.

"Come on, the burgers in the cafeteria are so good!" Peter exclaimed to your face looking so excited, but you couldn't help but look back at the man on the high platform. Was that really the Miguel you used to know personally?

"I think the empanadas are better." Jess declared in response to Peter as if she was declaring war over the food from the cafeteria. While you were between the two of them having a vocal battle while walking to the cafeteria, your eyes kept darting over Spiderman 2099. He was too high up to see clearly, not to mention the fact that his back was turned to you.

#across the spiderverse #astv #miguel 2099 #miguel spiderman #lyla spiderverse #miguel o'hara #atsv lyla #atsv miguel #jessica drew #atsv #margo kess #peter b parker

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acourtofsnakes · 2 years ago

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The Order - Freefall, Chapter 5 || The Bad Batch x Jedi!Reader

Summary: What do you do when those you trust suddenly turn against you? When you have to treat friend as enemy, just to save your own life?

Warnings: 18+, kissing, grinding, Hunter being a menace hello, heavy make-outs, swearing, fade-to-black style scene, injuries, descriptions of violence, canon fighting, fear, loss, death (no major character), blood, falls, canon violence and weapons, nicknamed reader (Ghost), Order 66

A/N: wow, this one took a while to write for some reason. It was originally gonna be one mammoth Order chapter, but i decided to split it in two. And as always, thank you to the moon and back to @mylifeisactuallyamess for helping, listening, and generally just being amazing. Love you💙

Series Masterlist | Series Playlist | AO3

Then

~“Okay. Again, boys. Sparks, you okay?” Anakin’s voice floated to you through the cloud covering your mind, nudging at you to get back up.

You groaned softly, forcing your eyes to open and you were immediately met with the deep, rich honey brown eyes of your favourite clone Captain just inches from your own, peering down at you in concern.

You jumped, momentarily startled and it caused you to jump foreheads with Rex. “Ouch! Rex, I’m okay!! Although, now I might have a concussion from your giant head.” A pout touched your lips and you rubbed your forehead, feeling Rex’s hand encircle your upper arm - it must have been him prodding you.

“Sorry, Commander. You took that last round hard, you got caught by both myself and Jesse at the same time.” He moved with you, giving you support as you stood up and stumbled a foot to the side, your shoulder bumping up into his chest plate. “Okay, you might have gotten clipped by another too.” He chuckled a little, his other hand lifting to your shoulder, keeping you steady against him until you regained your balance, “Better?”

Something flushed through your skin, the soft tickle of electricity from where Rex held you. Touch like this… Usually, you didn’t like people touching you offhand, but you were so inherently comfortable with these people, safe with them that you allowed it. Craved it, even. It wasn’t until you joined them and saw - and felt - how contact-based you were that you realised just how touch-starved you’d been this whole time.

It also rapidly made you realise you might be harbouring a small kernel of affection for the Captain that fell outside of the boundaries of friendship. It was harmless, just a tiny crush of sorts, built on the admiration and awe you held for him.

Still, despite being harmless, you would never be able to tell anyone. Jedi were not supposed to form attachments, which had always been completely backwards and restrictive in your mind.

How were you supposed to fight to the ends of the galaxy and keep people safe if you couldn’t form strong bonds with them?

“Uh, Commander?”

You blinked back to the present, crawling out of your thought spiral to see Rex peering down at you, and behind him, Anakin smirking with his arms crossed and a brow delicately raised.

Yeah, he knew.

With a laugh that you hoped was breezy, you looked back up at Rex, stepping back carefully from him with a nod that came far too late, “Yes! Yes, sorry, I feel much better now. Thank you, Rex.” You brushed down your clothes, hoping your cheeks weren’t too flushed.

You really needed to pull yourself together.

To be fair, you had taken quite a few hits.

The Captain held out your lightsabers from where he retrieved them, “Well then, ready to go again?” His warm eyes twinkled, amusement dancing on the chiselled lines of his face and it made a grin mirror on your own.

“You’re on.” ~~

A smile was playing on your face as the last threads of that memory floated away, sinking back into the Force, leaving behind that playful, airy lightness that warmed your chest like sunshine, the same way it had back then.

All Jedi pictured something different when they meditated, went to a place of peace unique to them. You had a few of these ‘places’ that you pictured - the lush forests of Endor, the glacier fields of Hoth, the glowing paths of stars surrounding the Marauder… But this time, you imagined a calm, empty space between worlds, a place where memories slipped past you like delicate threads of mist, weaving and winding slowly, almost as if they were in the water.

Which made sense why the memory of training with Rex and the 501st had come to mind, since you always felt his presence in the Force to be one of serenity, the smooth surface of the ocean that cooled and calmed, lapping gently and steadily against the rocks. Yet when needed, it was powerful and ferocious, a determined force of nature that few could stand against.

In the corners of the mist surrounding your mind, you felt warmth, different to the feeling of sunshine above you. No, this was more like… the steady warmth of fire, reliable and strong, a force to be reckoned with. One that could bring peace but also destruction when needed.

A smile touched your lips again, adding to the one already there as Hunter sat down next to you, near silently. You felt him, felt the way he crossed his long legs up beneath him, settling down next to you, just basking in the tranquillity that naturally rolled off of you when you meditated.

It always drew Omega and the boys to you, you’d feel their approach settle around you, and when you opened your eyes they could be found quietly getting on with something, be it a datapad, cleaning weapons, playing with a stuffed toy or just watching what was around you and easing their mind.

You hadn’t often thought of yourself as a person who could bring that level of serenity and calm to others, so it always made your heart feel lighter in your chest that you could give people back what they so often gave to you.

A space to relax, to be themselves and take the weight of the galaxy off, even for a little while.

You don’t know how long you sat there for, at peace with one another, but eventually the muted alertness that came with force meditation gently eased away, bringing with it the sounds of the birds in the trees, the distant trickle of water and a breeze that smelt of sunshine and sweet things and beneath that, the rich, smoky scent of Hunter.

“I recognise that smile.” The somewhat hoarse, unhurried cadence of his voice slipped through those sounds, as if he didn’t want to disturb you, but recognised you were no longer in that state of trance. “You’re thinking about your training.” His voice carried a tone of curiosity, and you knew they all liked to hear the stories of your training and upbringing in the Temple, but would never push you for them. It was a mixed load, one that brought you so much joy to remember but also that undercurrent of pain and loss.

Today however, beneath the warm rays of the suns on this sanctuary moon, you wanted to remember them all in their happiest, with smiles on their faces and the rambunctious playfulness that even the war couldn’t shake off at the time.

You kept your eyes closed for a little longer, though your hands relaxed on your own crossed legs, slipping down to the grass so you could weave the soft blades through your fingers, “I was thinking about one of my training sessions, with Anakin and the Five-Oh-First.” You felt the way your own smile changed, softer, warmer, “I was training with Rex, and a few of his closest men. It was something Ani set up when he trained Ahsoka, and I wanted to try it too.” You tugged at the grass, just something to keep your hands busy, “The boys would stand in a circle, and I’d have to deflect their blaster fire. It was only on stun, but Rex would have them change up their patterns and angles so I couldn’t predict what was going to come next.”

Hunter shifted on the grass, his knee coming to press against yours, warm through the material of your tight fitting trousers, cloak hanging from a nearby tree, “How did you do?” The gentle weight of his gaze felt just as inviting as the sunshine, a caress of the most delightful kind, knowing that he saw all of those emotions playing about on your face, even though he couldn’t read your eyes.

A soft laugh at your own expense bubbled up, tasting the joy of that memory, “Ah, well. I’m afraid I wasn’t quite so amazing back then, I took as many hits as I deflected at first, if I’m being completely honest. It was nothing I hadn’t done before, but I’d memorised their patterns, hence why they kept catching me off-guard.” You let your eyes drift open, coming back to the jewel-like palette of the forest around you, all intense greens and oaky browns, cobalt sky streaked with violet and peach clouds.

“You? Off-guard? Well, now I know this must have been early on.” Hunter’s teasing lifted the usually serious set of his face, the golden flecks in his eyes rivalling the glow of the sun, his hair loose and tumbling over his bandana more than usual.

He looked younger, smiling like this, with joy on his face and almost no trace of the effects of war and the purpose he had been created for.

It was so easy to have your breath stolen by him, to get lost in those eyes, the way the sunlight played off the tattoos and lines of his face. If you looked closely, you could see the hint of dimples from the tilt of his lips, lips that were always so inviting and plush, lips you’d often longed to feel pressed to your skin at any given opportunity - “Ah, well, I might have been distracted at the time, I have to admit that too.” You looked away from Hunter, feeling the rush of blood beneath your skin that had nothing to do with the sun and everything to do with the very un-Jedi-like thoughts shooting through your mind at light speed.

But then, you had never really followed their rules, even before everything.

Hunter arched a heavy brow, cocking his head as he turned his torso to look at you, the muscles of his shoulders rippling when he rested his hand on the grass next to his hip, and subsequently, your one, “Oh, yeah? And just what were you distracted by, huh? Or should I say, who were you distracted by?” Oh he was truly on the teasing foot today wasn’t he?

Another laugh burst free of your lips, this one sounding more like a giggle and you bit your lip, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about and you are suggesting I had feelings that do not follow the Jedi Code.” Maker, it felt like your cheeks were going to catch fire.

He hummed a rough noise of amusement deep in his throat, shrugging nonchalantly, “Oh no, I’m just merely observing that it seems as though you were distracted by who you were training with. Perhaps a certain Captain? I dunno though, that’s just what I think.” The grin on his face was evident in the way he spoke, the way his words lilted, “You could always tell me I’m wrong.”

Were your ears red?

It felt like your ears were red.

Oh, your whole body was burning up, hotter than the two suns overhead and you knew it wasn’t just from the memory of your little crush on the captain of the 501st. No, most of the flush to your skin, the hitch to your breathing and the rapid thumping of your heart was all down to the man next to you.

The one you’d never been able to shake, even from the moment of simply hearing about him and the boys.

Hunter into his hand, bringing his body and face closer to your own, so close you swore you could feel the exhale of his breath dance on your cheek when he chuckled, “Well, I’ll be damned. Is that my strong, fierce Loth-wolf of a Jedi blushing?” He laughed again, the noise brushing right over your ear and dancing down your spine, much like the lightning that sometimes cracked at your fingertips.

You gasped playfully, snapping your head to the side to jokingly reprimand him, but your senses were betraying you and you hadn’t realised quite how close he truly was. As you turned, your nose brushed his, your eyes meeting the burnt honey of his own and whatever you were going to verbally throw at him disappeared, dissolving like the bubbles of the fizzy meiloorun juice you favoured in the cantina sometimes.

He was so beautiful.

Hunter’s eyes held your own before flickering across your face, watching the smile melt to something deeper on your lips, the way the dappled sun danced across your own face, playing with light and shadow, turning faint scars into glimmering works of art.

His lashes brushed his cheekbones, one in such opposite contrast to the other but both halves so uniquely him.

You were in trouble.

But then, you’d been in trouble with him for a long, long time.

And you were okay with that.

You moved, if only to rest your own hand next to his, laying your fingers over his own, feeling the strength beneath his calloused skin. With the slightest tilt of your head, your nose brushed lightly against his own, both of your breathing jumping for the sky, the threads of something beginning to change, alter, to follow a course they’d been heading towards for a long time.

Hunter tipped his head, tracing the tip of his nose along your own, until his lips followed suit, the barest brush along the bridge of your nose until they pressed the softest kiss between your eyebrows, a pause before his forehead came to rest upon your own, just for a moment.

You didn’t dare breathe, holding in the gasp you wanted to make, the tug at your very soul at the mere brush of him.

But it wasn’t enough, of course, You wanted more. You wanted him.

And you’d long since given up on denying yourself what you wanted.

With a sharp intake you couldn’t hold back, you dipped your head and pressed your lips to Hunter’s, a sob almost wanting to break free from your chest, that desperation, a need so deep it lived in your very bones only growing even as you were almost granted the very thing that would save it.

Hunter groaned when your lips pressed to his and whatever restraint he put on himself snapped, like it didn’t exist anymore. His other hand flew up, cupping your jaw, his palm and fingers so broad that his little and ring finger rested on your neck, right over the spot your pulse beat strongest.

His lips moved against your own, no hesitation as he pulled you in closer, needed to have you right there, as if he’d open his eyes and you be nothing but a figment of his imagination.

It was everything.

And it still wasn’t enough.

You gasped a little again, feeling Hunter’s hand tremble against your jaw, maybe it was your own body, or maybe he really was shaking too. The pair of you were toeing that line, tipping headfirst over it and hanging on by a mere fingertip… And you never wanted to let go so quickly before.

His hair curled thick and silky over your fingers when they found their way there, knotting through the strands, bringing him in closer, needing to feel him, to taste him, “Hunter…” Your voice was near unrecognisable in your ears, so full of want and desire, of a yearning so profound it stunned you.

Hunter nodded a little against you, a rumble deep in his chest as you breathed his name with such desire it made his head spin, all the way he was smoothing his thumb along your cheekbone, “It’s okay, Ghost.. I’ve got you.” The movement was tender in its attention, a single beat that held everything in stasis.

But he knew you, knew what you could handle and knew what you wanted.

And he was only too happy to give it to you.

Between one staggered breath and the next, the thumb that had been tracing your cheekbone with such care suddenly pressed into the space behind your jaw, the pressure causing you to gasp and he took the opportunity with every ounce of passion and confidence he had, his tongue darting between your lips and immediately stroking against your own.

Devouring, exploring, claiming.

Hunter had dreamt of this moment for far too long, had these thoughts screaming in his mind as he sat mere inches from you with a face as stoic as ever, despite his skin crawling with need beneath his armour. He had no idea if what he was doing was right, he was running on instinct he didn’t even know he had, but he trusted you, trusted himself and he wasn’t thinking anymore. Just acting on something that had been screaming in his blood for longer than he could remember.

He didn’t even know what to name this feeling, he just knew it started and ended with you.

Everything did.

You could die here.

You could die right here, in this moment and be happy.

You near whined when he brushed his tongue along the roof of your mouth, stars exploding in your blood and you curled your fingers around his wrist, tugging his hand from the ground so he lost his balance, body pressing into yours and you let yourself fall back with the force of it.

You both landed in the pillowy grass, Hunter’s broad shoulders filling your vision, the plates of his armour pressing into your ribs, your thighs, but you didn’t care.

In truth, you wanted to tear the armour off of him, to feel the rise and fall of his chest with no barrier, the heat of his body burning into yours - but right now, you were too lost in this, in the taste of him rich in your mouth, smokey and intense, his large hand still cupping your jaw, thumb sliding along your jaw and under your chin, all with the purpose of keeping your chin back and mouth open for him.

Normally, you’d fight him for dominance but you were too far gone and only too happy to do so.

His armour was sun-warmed beneath your palms as they greedily roamed over his shoulders, finding their way expertly through the plates separating you from him until you reached the fabric of his flight suit, creeping up his neck, until your fingertips brushed his warm skin and then his hair. You wasted no time in knotting your fingers through the silky strands again, your nails grazing his scalp as you gripped it tightly.

The noise that ripped its way from his throat into your mouth when you tugged on his hair made you arch underneath him, the sound carrying straight into your spine and setting your body alight. You swore you could taste lightning in the back of your throat as you swallowed his moan, pulling him in deeper, mouths moving hungrily against each other, messily in its intensity. It was all ragged breaths against each other’s lips, especially when one of Hunter’s hands slipped under your arched lower back to hold you up into his body and one of his knees wedged between your thigh, the heat of his body making you burn only hotter and hotter.

The pressure of his thigh, that simple act was almost too much and you broke from Hunter’s lips so you could choke out a breathless moan, feeling your head tip back into the grass as you desperately tried to suck air into your burning lungs.

Hunter opened his eyes to gaze down at you and they were pitch black. There was no trace of the burnt honey gold that he shared with his brothers. No, they were blacker than deep space, his blown-out pupils bleeding into the dark ring around them, fixed solely on you. You were hunter, prey, desire - the very thing at the beginning and the end of his world, something he would happily surrender to and get lost on for the rest of his days.

And it terrified him, in truth. He had never in his life experienced something so intense or strong, feelings he didn’t even have a name for. For so long, all he had known was war, training, fighting, his brothers.

And then you came crackling into his life on the back of a thunderstorm and ever since then he couldn’t shake that feeling. He’d thought about asking someone about it but how could he put into words something that was so intense it took his breath away?

Hunter’s thumb caressed down your jaw again, tracing the outline of your lower lip, swollen from his kisses and he followed the shape of your chin, along the delicate skin beneath before letting his thumb come to a natural stop over your throat, testing, trying, testing… He tried a little pressure, just a little.

He’d seen the way you responded whenever someone had their hands around your throat, regardless of the situation, be it life or death or not - There was always a flicker in your eye, the awakening of something and he felt the way your body reacted. He knew the way it flushed, the way your lips parted and your breathing quickened.

Just like now. Your pulse skipped against his palm and the breath you’d just taken was quickly exhaled on a rough moan, eyes flickering to his and there it was. The deepening of them, that response that was deeper, something almost feral and wild. Your head tipped back again, baring your throat to him with a moan, “Karabast.”

You were so damn responsive to him.

He couldn’t get over it. He couldn’t grasp the fact he didn’t really know what he was doing yet you were still shaking under him, just as he was shaking over you.

You blinked up at him, every single sense keyed into him, both physical and through the Force and you were drowning in him - and it was like nothing else.

He leant over, pressing his forehead to your own, hair tickling your skin as he allowed you both a moment to breathe, to absorb what was happening, “Before we…” He cleared his throat, but his voice remained as rough and husky as ever, smokey with desire and the intensity of these feelings, “I haven’t, uh…” He was at a loss for words, surprising you with how ruffled he seemed, how… unlike himself.

And it utterly melted you.

You stroked over his hair, following the line down his neck to his back, shaking your head just enough so that your nose brushed against his, “You don’t need to explain anything, Hunt.” Your words were breathy, heated, “Don’t think. Just… follow your instincts. Your Hunter-senses.” A smile touched your lips, your skin tight, desperate for his touch… all of it.

Hunter chuckled a little, teasing your lips with his own, before trailing them down your jaw again, to your throat. His plush lips pressed open mouthed kisses to the taut skin, seemingly taking a moment to gather himself and then - then his tongue dragged over your skin, a hot path which turned cold when he blew a breath out, right before he dragged his teeth across your pulse point and sucked.

A spike of fiery pleasure ran down down your spine, making you feel more alive than you ever had before, making your hips cant up against his thigh and a moan break from your lips that had Hunter shuddering and groaning against your throat.

His thigh pressed in harder between your own, providing you the pressure and friction you needed, his hand on your lower back immediately moving to guide you and encourage your body to continue that rocking grind against him.

Every single thought emptied from your head, and you fell into it, into him as he bit and sucked at your throat, freehand moving to unbuckle his armour with your skilled help.

It wasn’t the first time you’d done this, but it was the first time it felt so real.

The first time it made every cell in your body feel awake and alert, allowing yourself to revel in the feelings you used to have to hide back when you were a fully fledged Jedi.

But here, with the Batch, with Hunter… You were allowed to be you.

And get lost in him.

“Finally decided to catch up, did you? I thought I was going to have to full body tackle Wrecker away from your food.” Echo looked up and over from the fire when you and Hunter finally rejoined the group, a camp of sorts built up near the Marauder.

Wrecker pouted as he looked across at Echo, sprawled out on the floor, leaning against a crate with his arms spread either side of him, “Hey! I’ve been working hard lately, I told you it takes an effort to keep this fed.” He patted his belly, scooping up his water flask, “You’ll all be sorry next time you need me to move something.” He kept grumbling to himself, Lula plonked on his thigh.

Tech was wandering about the camp, keenly noting down anything he saw, especially the creatures and flora.

You just knew his datapad was going to be near bursting with everything he’d be researching.

You laughed softly, shaking your head as you both stopped by the fire, “Aww, Wrecker, you could have taken it, I wouldn’t have minded.” You picked up your share of the ration packs, fresh food mixed in with it this time since your last mission went so well and you’d been gifted supplies from the settlement you’d helped.

You pulled out a serving of the popped corn-kernels - that appeared to have been imported from Batuu - and then you held it out to Wrecker, “Here.”

Wrecker gasped, joy sparking across his face, his bi-coloured eyes fixed on the fluffy popped kernels, “Are you sure?” He looked over at Hunter, perhaps remembering the times his Sergeant had scolded him for taking your food portions when you’d already lost so much, way back when you first joined them.

A few steps around the fire brought you to him and you lifted his large hand, placing the container in it with a grin, “I’m positive. I know how much you love these, so I want you to have them.” You closed his fingers around the container, patting his knuckles gently before giving his hand a slight nudge, “Take it.”

His booming laugh echoed around the clearing, “Aw, yeah!!!!” He grasped a handful of the kernels and unashamedly shoved them in his mouth, happy noises rumbling from his chest, such a simple thing to bring so much joy. He quickly swallowed, then beamed at you, “Thanks, Trouble, you’re the best.”

Warmth hummed in your heart, growing the glowy feeling that already resided there, courtesy of the man shadowing you and sitting down just beside you, “You’re welcome, Wreck.”

You looked down at Hunter, butterflies in your belly again and you settled down next to him, cross legged and you plucked a meiloorun from your pack, wondering if your cheeks were still flushed.

Hunter moved, freeing his blade from his vambrace and he held it out to you, fingertips brushing yours when you took it from him and you couldn’t help the way your eyes met his, drawn by something stronger than the Force.

Your lips curled up, feeling that lingering heat in your cheeks and Hunter’s own lips twitched too, a smile softer than you’d ever seen playing on his face.

Maker.

As you sliced into the fruit, you felt eyes on you, intense - heavy.

You glanced up, your eyes meeting the almost grey-brown gaze of Crosshair’s, levelled on you and it was dark.

He was sitting across the other side of the fire, half in shadow but you couldn’t miss the way his eyes flickered to Hunter, the smile on both of your lips and back to you again and his body turned even more rigid than usual, giving him the impression of being on alert, ready for a mission.

Like he was tracking a target.

You cocked your head, frowning gently as if to ask how he was, if he was okay, but he merely scoffed and spat out his toothpick, turning away to pick up his rifle and begin taking it apart with more force than was really necessary.

There was a sudden cold grip around your heart, as if trying to take away the warmth residing there, a whisper licking down your spine through the force… a warning, perhaps?

Before you could dwell too much on that, Wrecker threw a handful of kernels with precise accuracy at Tech’s head, the kernels pinging off of his hair. “Oi, Tech, are you coming to sit down or are you carrying on with your hugs and trees and whatever?” He laughed, a hand coming to rest on his chest.

Tech spun round, datapad still in hand and he huffed softly, shoving his goggles up, “For your information, Wrecker, I’m studying carrier butterflies. Which happen to be extremely useful creatures as they have been known to carry messages.” He consulted his pad as he came back over, weaving through the scattered things brought out from the Marauder, “They listen to instructions given to them by their owners and then carry out those requests, often sending messages to allies. Their appearance and size allow them to slip in undetected and unnoticed in places that could otherwise be considered hostile.”

Echo looked over from where Tech had been, spying the beautiful, almost luminous creatures that fluttered between the trees, “They’re actually kind of… beautiful.” He tilted his head, watching as a swarm of them took flight and scattered overhead.

Tech sat down, crossing his long legs beneath him, “Yes, their appearance also makes them quite popular, and they have been documented in many different shades such as pinks and white.” He set down his pad, picking up his own water flask, “I would like to know more about them, their abilities and mimicking could provide a useful blueprint to technology.”

Crosshair rolled his eyes from his shadowy corner, still looking at his rifle as he muttered, “The day you stop needing to know everything is the day I’m calling the medic in.”

Even his voice was bitter.

Hunter frowned next to you, a feeling of concerned confusion washing over you from him. So he’d noticed it too, then, “You boys realise if we had our own medic, they’d probably quit within the first mission.”

A chuckle slipped from your lips as you licked some juice from your thumb, “You do have a point there. I can only heal you boys with the Force, and even that feels like a never ending job sometimes.” You grinned with the familiar, affectionate teasing you’d all always had, “You need a medic who can keep you boys in shape when I’m not here. She would run rings around you, that’s for sure.”

Hunter raised a brow at you, that special smile playing about his lips again, beautiful even in profile from where he looked down at you, “Isn’t that what we’ve got you for?” He bumped into your shoulder, reaching across to steal a slice of your fruit.

You gasped, whacking his arm and you waved the hint of your saber menacingly at him, “Touch that again and you’ll lose a limb.” You playfully glared at him in warning, but when it came to your favourite things you… were actually kind of serious.

You would kill for this fruit.

And space waffles.

Oh, how you missed space waffles.

Maybe if you ever got back to Coruscant, you could go and get some.

Wrecker’s boyish snigger caught your attention, “Yeah, just not your favourite limb though, right trouble?” He smirked at you, resting both hands behind his head with another rough laugh.

There was a seconds silence before two separate rocks launched themselves across the space and met his armour with a sharp clang.

He scrambled back upright, “Hey!!!” He pouted as he brushed his armour off, “I was only telling the truth!!”

Echo rolled his eyes, shaking his head with good-natured tiredness as he settled down with his head resting on his pack, “Here we go again.”

The sounds of bickering between you, Hunter and Wrecker carried into the night, punctuated by laughter, that careless noise that was free of the seriousness and weight of war.

If only for tonight.

The chaos of battle was a symphony in your ears, fuelling every step you took, every breath.

Your movements matched the humming whine of blaster bolts and cannon fire, the rumbling explosion of grenades providing the beat, each element a blend of chaos and adrenaline.

You loved the quiet moments, the peace you found in the galaxy - but you had been bred for this. Taught how to be in this very moment, feet and sabers flowing between the notes of war.

You were barely touching the ground, floating amidst an arcing blur of blue tinged white, as vivid as the stars as you defended not only the planet, but the lives of Master Billaba’s second battalion.

They were split across the planet of Kaller which was under heavy fire from Separatist forces.

The battalion was made up predominantly of shinies, young troopers who were yet to see the true face of war and who were, in all honesty, way too inexperienced to be out here.

Only four battle-hardy troopers were part of the battalion, having come from Billaba’s previous forces. There was Commander Grey, Captain Styles, Sergeant Soot and Corporeal Big-Mouth.

Despite having these four, Billaba and her padawan, Caleb Dume, the Jedi defence had all but fallen across the planet, with Billaba having sent Caleb for backup.

Backup came, naturally, by way of the Bad Batch and yourself, who by some grace of the Maker had been nearby at the right moment.

You’d asked the boys to drop you off on the opposite side of the planet, dropping through the smoke and rubble and striking the ground with fierce precision and a shattering force wave that toppled the droids back like toys.

And there you remained, carving a dent in the attacking forces here, leaving droid after droid smoking behind you.

With your twin sabers whirling through the air before them, the clones behind you were able to rip through the rest of the droids, thinning them out until now, when only a handful remained.

Thankfully, your temporary squad had retained minimal casualties and injuries - which would have been a relief anyway, but it was even more intense for how especially young these boys were. Not to mention you were aided by Captain Styles and Sergeant Soot, their skills unmatched and just as good as the other high-ranking clones you’d worked with.

They earned their places here with their Jedi Commander, and you made a mental note to thank them, and Billaba.

Captain Styles whistled through comms as you tore through the last battle droid, watching it shatter to the ground in sparking shards. He eyed your sabers, shaking his head a little as he came up beside you, “I really have got to work on getting one of those.” There was longing in his voice and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah, well, give it some time, maybe I can have a word and get you boys one.” You grinned at him as you disarmed them, the hilts warm to the touch and you let your arms fall loosely to the sides, though you were ready to spark back into action at a seconds notice.

Styles chuckled, holstering his blasters and he rubbed a gloved hand over the visor of his helmet to clear the dust, “I’m going to hold you to that, Commander.” He gave you a two finger salute as his comm beeped, before stepping over a few droids to a quiet spot to check in with the call.

You watched him go, where he was soon joined by Soot and then you turned around yourself, wanting to check on the other troopers, to make sure any injuries weren’t too severe, And if they were… Well, at least you’d be able to help them and ease their pain.

It never got any easier to lose these men, and you took each loss under your command as a personal hit. They may have been bred for battle, a means to end the war with the Separatists but they were real people, with real lives and they should be given the chance to explore their individuality… To be able to live.

It was something you always struggled to stay silent about if you were bought into council meetings, or even with any higher ranking Jedi. You fought for the lives of these clones with such a ferocity that you’d been taken aside many times and almost scolded for feeling too passionately about it.

No attachments, remember?

But how were you supposed to win a war, to bring peace to the galaxy when you were supposed to be as unfeeling as the countless droids you fought everyday?

As you looked out across the battlefield, a whisper ran down your neck, like ice water dripping down your spine. The very air around you seemed to tighten, tense, and every sense in your body screamed into high alert.

From across the way, you heard the unmistakable vile, slithering voice of the Chancellor, only this time it was different. Darker. Filling the air with evil even from just a holo, “Execute Order Sixty-Six.”

Order 66?

Awareness screamed through your mind, the Force shaking you back to alertness and not a second too late.

On pure instinct, you spun round, igniting your sabers whilst slashing them upward to block the blaster bolts aimed at your head. They shot off to the side, hitting a tree and sizzling intently.

And where you expected a rogue droid left behind…

You found Captain Styles, blasters aimed straight on target - at you. The expressionless sight of his helmet had never seemed so gaunt and imposing before, usually you felt like you could detect his expressions through it, but this time… It was lowered menacingly, not an ounce of recognition in the once familiar colours.

This wasn't the Styles you had been fighting side by side with just moments ago.

“Styles?” You held a hand forward hesitantly, saber still within your grip but maybe he had mistook you for someone, maybe you had misunderstood.

With a sharp ping that sounded all too loud, your wrist-comms burst into life, Hunter’s voice coming through rough, demanding, “Ghost, run!! I don’t care where you are, what you’re doing. You need to run, now!!” He was using the Sergeant’s voice on you, confusion and concern bleeding through the demand. This was bad. This was happening over where he was too, then.

Your vision clouded over for a second, your mind tapping into the double vision Force sight that has saved you many times -

A blaster bolt to the head, another two quickly following to the chest and stomach. Then, three more from various positions behind.

There was no hesitation in your response as you swung your sabers round, catching the blaster bolts in a stacked position, moving instantly to bring one of the plasma blades up behind your back in a reverse grip, hearing the hiss as it diffused the shot to your head.

All the while, you couldn’t comprehend what was happening, the fact that your clones were attacking you, shooting at you and forming up in waves to try and bring you down.

If this were anyone else, droids even, you would be taking them down instantly, sabers swinging through their circuits and making them crumple to the ground.

But these were real people.

Real soldiers, real men, men you had just fought to save the lives of.

And yet you were choking on the emotion pouring from them, even as your fighting style changed to one intended to disarm and disable only. Not kill.

The very air around you was clogged with one thought - Kill.

Kill you.

End you. End the Jedi.

When you tapped deeper into the force, into their individual signatures, they were all stained with the same oily iciness that you felt around the Chancellor… And around the Sith, actually.

It was frightening in its intensity, slithering along the ground like a venomous snake, fangs bared and dripping poisoning, with the only goal to bring you down in tiny little pieces.

The clones advanced on you from all angles, stepping over their disarmed brothers and it occurred to you that the only thing keeping you alive right now was the fact a lot of these troopers were still Shinies.

So, you did what Hunter had told you to do.

You ran.

You backed up as much as you could, reaching into your pocket and producing a smoke bomb. A few more blocked blaster shots and you threw it toward the ground, not sticking around to watch as it filled the clearing with dense, thick smoke.

Feet flying over the earth, you ran and ran, letting the Force guide you to somewhere that was safe, toward a ship you could escape on.

All the while, your mind raced as you tried to make sense of what was happening, why the clones were suddenly turning on their commanders.

Was this just an isolated incident? Was it only happening here?

Clearly, your boys were not a part of this, they weren’t falling prey to the Chancellors order… Was he even the Chancellor anymore?

You’d always been wary of him, but now this whole thing reeked of the Dark side, of the Sith.

These thoughts plagued your mind as you bolted through the undergrowth, ignoring the rapidly growing stitch in your side as you eventually came stumbling out of the forest onto a grassy cliff face.

And there, in the sun that seemed too bright for a day like today, was Billaba’s ship, almost as if it was waiting for you.

Your first gut feeling was that this was wrong, you couldn’t take her ship… But you didn’t need to dip into the Force to know she hadn’t made it. You just knew.

She’d have wanted you to escape, help anyone could, find out what was happening… So, without hesitating too much, you raced toward her ship and it was only when you were far out of the atmosphere, the dark blanket of space around you that you took a breath.

As soon as you could, you engaged hyperspace, slumping back in the seat and dropping your head into your hands when the stars turned to bright lines out of the windows.

Everything ached, inside and out, your connection to the Force in agony as chaos and death bled into the world.

With a heavy heart, you reached out, imagining invisible hands stretching through those wispy bonds, reaching for your friends, for any of them.

Where was Ahoska? The last you heard, she was with Rex, travelling back from Mandalore. She’d updated you right before she entered deep-space, so as far as comms was concerned she was essentially unreachable.

You held your breath as you reached out for her, imagining her bright force signature, one so close to your own, and yet… You hid darkness.

A blank wall.

There was nothing there where she should be… Even after she left the Order, you could always feel her, just in reach but this time it was like reaching into an empty room and grasping nothing but air.

And Rex… Where his liquid, cool calm should be right next to Ahsoka’s… It was gone too.

They were both gone.

Panic and fear were flooding your system now, your hands shaking as you wound them tightly into your hair, pulling at the strands praying the pain would wake you up from this nightmare, or just help you to focus.

You had to just be doing it wrong surely.

“Please… Please, Anakin. Help me.” You whispered the words to the void of space before reaching out again.

There would be no missing Anakin’s signature, it was near impossible. His was so powerful, taking up so much space with its intense vibrancy, like two sides of the coin.

Night and day.

Dark and light.

White and black.

His was always like a swirling cloud in your mind, perfectly balanced like ink bleeding through water.

Awareness flickered through you, hope flaring brighter than the sun - You’d found him?

It certainly felt like him.

You dived head first into it, words spilling through your mind that you tried to convey through the force, needing to know if he was okay, if -

You were drowning.

Pulled under with no warning or no air, sucked deep into a swirling maelstrom of fury, pain and fear. Of betrayal and loneliness - of grief.

This… this couldn't have been Anakin, surely not.

Only it was.

But where his signature and presence usually felt like summer sunshine… His felt like ice.

Ice that put Hoth to shame, ice that invaded your heart and mind, turning your blood to tar and making your entire body shake head to toe.

The Dark side, it was swallowing you up, his emotion becoming your own, calling on the very same thoughts and feelings you had been made to repress.

Anakin’s fury became your own, his fear bled with the same fear that had you waking up screaming.

He was in utter agony, and he was giving into it.

Your best friend was no longer here.

In his place, a being of the Dark.

A Sith.

That was the last tether keeping you attached to the surface, the very last thing holding you in place… then it snapped.

Those suffocating feelings swept over you, engulfing you completely and you tumbled into the frigid depths, feeling the raw pain as the Force itself cried out in rage that so much blood had been spilled today.

Then the darkness consumed you and you lost hold of anything real, awareness fading and everything turning to ash.

Leaving nothing behind

~~~

#the bad batch #the bad batch hunter #tbb hunter #the bad batch crosshair #tbb crosshair #tbb hunter x reader #tbb crosshair x reader #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb wrecker #star wars #star wars x reader #the clone wars #the bad batch hunter smut

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phantomwritezstuff077 · 8 months ago

Text

The Runt - Billy the Kid

Warnings for this chapter: mention of physical abuse

Chapter Nine

It was pouring with rain when Billy and Laurie arrived in a small town, they stopped outside of a building and dismounted their horses. Laurie was still shivering from the cold despite the fact Billy had given her his jacket in order to try and warm her up. The duo entered the saloon, Billy went over to the bar to order a drink while Laurie went and sat at a table. Her hair was stuck to her head as water dripped down her face, she shivered, slowly feeling the slight warmth of the saloon warm her up a little bit.

Laurie noticed a man in the corner of the saloon, he was reading the newspaper but eying Billy like a hawk as well as showing the same interest in Laurie. Billy took notice of this, noticing the man staring at both him and Laurie as well as how tense Laurie seemed under the man’s gaze. So, he took his final whiskey shot and walked over to the staring man, leaning on the wall as he stared out of the window for a moment before he spoke.

“Why are you staring at me and the kid?,” Billy demanded.

“Thought I recognized you is all, and I just wanted to make sure that she’s okay. She’s shaking harder than a hunted rabbit,” the man replied calmly.

“And did you?,” Billy asked, sending a piercing glare towards the man. He was already really on edge because of what happened back at the old camp, and he really didn’t need any kind of unwanted attention towards him or Laurie.

“I don’t know,” the other man told him, reaching into his jacket. Billy reached for his gun, the safety clicking off as he was handed a folded piece of paper. “Depends if this is you.” Laurie stayed where she was, watching the scene from afar as her leg bounced. Billy took the paper and unfolded it, reading the wanted poster made in his name.

“Now, I’m not saying that it’s a great likeness,” the other man said, “But it’s pretty like, wouldn’t you say? And if it is you, I highly doubt that the kid over there is with you by her own will. She looks underfed to me.”

Laurie tensed as she listened to the conversation, realizing that they had probably just been caught. Billy was no kidnapper, though. Billy looked over at Laurie before he looked back at the man and set the paper down.

“I’d like to know why you’re holding onto that,” Billy demanded, keeping calm despite the fact that he had probably just been caught by a bounty hunter who could add kidnapping onto his list of supposed crimes.

“I’m ridin’ with a good friend of yours,” the man simply said as he took back the poster, folding it. Laurie froze at that sentence, realizing that this guy was probably a friend of Jesse’s. The young girl stood up, getting ready to run if she had to. “He talks about you all the time, and to me, he seems awful worried about Little Red over there.”

“Who might that be?,” Billy asked as Laurie slowly made her way over to Billy, her steps were tense and nervous. Like a fawn stepping out into the open meadow for the first time.

“Jesse Evans. We’re holded up not too far from here,” the man said simply. Laurie’s heart dropped upon hearing that name. The name of the man she had prayed to never see again. The name of the man who had struck her across the face. The name of the man who destroyed her sense of self. Billy pulled up a chair, sitting down as he pulled one out for Laurie.

“You know Jesse?,” Laurie asked hesitantly.

“Sure, I do, kid,” the man responded with a nod, “He’s worried about you, ya know. Ever since the night you took off without reason.” He paused for a moment. “Where are you two headed?”

Neither Billy nor Laurie answered as they exchanged looks, Laurie’s nerves were palpable as she fidgeted with the hem of her sopping wet blouse.

“Maybe the three of us could ride over together, say hello to Jesse again. Show him that the kid is alive and well,” the unnamed man suggested, “I’m sure he’d appreciate that.”

“Last time I saw Jesse, things weren’t too good between us,” Billy told him, “And he was bein’ a major ass towards Laurie.”

“I don’t think Jesse harbors any grudges. Not towards you, anyway,” the man began, “And as for how he treated the kid, I’ve lost count of how many times he’s told me that the way he treated Lauren is his life’s biggest regret.”

“She prefers Laurie,” Billy jumped in, looking at the man.

“What’s your name?,” Laurie inquired, still fidgeting as she looked up at the man.

“I’m Pat Garret,” the man introduced.

Laurie wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Jesse again, the bruise on her face from which he had given to her when he struck her had long since faded away. She hadn’t seen him since that night, but part of her couldn’t help but wonder if he truly meant it when Pat said that treating her like shit was his life’s biggest regret.

It couldn’t hurt to see if that was true, right?

A/N:

Super duper short chapter but that's okay!

Laurie is gonna go THROUGH IT

Tag:

@slutforsnow

#billy the kid gif #billy the kid hc #billy the kid imagine #billy the kid x reader #william h bonney #billy mccarty #billy the kid #billy the kid 2022 #billy the kid x oc #runt of the litter #the runt #billy the kid fanfiction #the old west #older brother core

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mentally-ill-simp · 1 year ago

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Could you write a little oneshot of ellie and Dina out on patrol and they’re just talking and laughing and then find some reason to ruin it all with Ellie crying? Thanks!

Right up my alley. Of course I can do that for you my faithful follower

The cold air and the bright colors of autumn in Jackson was a hopeful time for all. The smell of bake goods filled the air and the sound of children's laughter, it made the shitty times feel less shitty for everyone except Ellie. The adolescent had a love/hate relationship with the season but over the years it became more and more of a hate relationship "hey kiddo you got everything packed for today?" a deep southern voice asked pulling her out of the dark void she called her mind "hm? oh yeah i think I've got everything" she answered double checking her bag "shit" she whispered to herself "next time i tell you I'll do your laundry you better empty out those pockets of yours" Joel said handing the young girl her pocket knife, she nodded and took the knife from him "thanks Joel, I'll be back later tonight i promise" she gave him and a small smile. Joel wasn't stupid, he was a father and was a professional bullshit detector, he could tell when something was up and had been seeing it in the 15 year old for a while now "you better be, Tommy and Maria wanna come over for dinner and I'd need your help peeling potatoes" he chuckled "god I might just stay out there, i bet the infected smell better than your cooking" she laughed and he rolled his eyes "be safe and be warm but most importantly come back in one piece" she nodded and was on her way. Ellie walked through the small town, she felt weird having been in the town for a year now and still feeling like an outsider, she pulled her coat closer to her body feeling the chill of the cold fall air while walking to the stables, she looked up from the ground to see Dina and Jesse standing next to each other laughing and smiling. In the whole year she had been there those two were the ones to take her under their wing, they were her best friends and she liked having friends but also wanted to still stay alert. She approached the stables where they were located and gave them a small wave "my god 3pm and you're actually awake and about" Jesse laughed giving his friend a small push "yeah yeah, had stuff to do today" she smirked pushing him back "well looks like I'm stuff" Dina piped up and laughed putting her gloves on, Ellie blushed slightly then went to go get her horse before feeling a hand on her shoulder "make sure she doesn't do anything stupid out there, and you also make sure you don't do anything stupid ok?" Jesse gave a warm smile and Ellie nodded before mounting her horse and following Dina to the patrol route. By the time they got to the lookout they had both been exhausted from taking out the stragglers around on the route they both decided to sit for a while "is it weird for me to ask how you're liking Jackson or is that just awkward small talk" Dina asked taking a seat on the chair across from Ellie, the girl shrugged "it's a pretty normal question, i like it I'm just not use to.. fitting in or settling to one place" Ellie answered "that's fair, i felt the same when i moved here, it's just the way things are now i guess" Dina said taking her gloves off and getting comfortable. The two girls talked for quite some time watching the sun set "we should get going the sun is getting low" Ellie said "yeah i know but it's so nice out here" Dina said walking up to the window watching the sunset, Ellie walked up next to her and looked to where she was looking, it was the first time in a very long time Ellie had felt peace, she didn't even feel the tear run down her face, everything that had happened all the way from Boston to now hit her as she let her guard down and more tears streamed down her face leaving streaks "are you ok Ellie? you're crying" Dina went to hug her friend but Ellie pulled back and wiped her tears " i'm fine we should get going" she said sternly and started to walk out as Dina followed

#joel miller #tlou #ellie williams #tlou2 #the last of us #the last of us 2 #the last of us part 2 #dina x ellie #tlou dina #dina and jesse #jesse tlou #oneshot #lgbt #lgbtqia #angst

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welcometomypinkbox · 2 years ago

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Spider-Man & Ms Marvel: Love & War

By: Reborn Dark Phoenix

OMG THIS WAS THE BEST FANFIC I HAVE EVER READ! Is so WELL WRITTEN! You won’t be able to find it as it is delete. This is more of people who like Spider-Man comics where he is OLDER And People who might like Peter x Carol which depict here make a great couple.

Also we won’t be able to find this fic as it is deleted 😔 will post more soon!

Chapter 1: Minimal

If there was one thing Carol loved about having super speed, it was that she could race from her house to the edge of the atmosphere in less than five seconds to get to space. And if there was one thing Carol loved about space, it was how blissful and awe-striking it was. Despite having seen the beautiful view every day since she took up this habit three years ago, she was always struck with wonder when she saw the Earth from space.

And her most absolute favorite thing about space? Free-falling.

As she allowed herself to plummet through Earth's atmosphere, she felt the heat of the massive kinetic energy consume her body, as it warmed her and her body absorbed it. She loved this feeling, the heat nipping at her body; it was so tingly and pleasuring. She loved being able to do this every day, just flying up and plummeting back into the earth, and almost hitting the Atlantic Ocean before maneuvering herself to race to Manhattan.

This... this was probably the best thing to happen to her because of becoming Ms. Marvel.

Well, actually, Peter was... this was a close second, though.

As she arrived at the shores of Manhattan, people looked nonchalantly up at her form; superheroes had been around the city for almost 20 years now; showing up worldwide less than 10. This was a common occurrence, and flying deeper into the city, people didn't even give her a second glance, if they took a first glance, even. Carol was grateful for that-she was having a good start to the day, and the last thing she needed right now to ruin it were ogling eyes looking at her. It was one of the reasons she preferred flying high above the buildings and at super speed. Although, she did enjoy the lower, slower flights she had when she and Peter travelled through the city... well, enjoy wasn't a good enough word, really.

Suddenly, something jumped onto her back and her eyes were covered by a pair of hands. Now normally, she'd knock whoever this was into the atmosphere, anticipating an attack and then a battle, but this set of hands was all too familiar to her, and she simply smiled, waiting to hear his voice.

"Excuse me, but is this the ferry to Staten Island?"

She laughed as she flew up to a nearby building and landed. The person jumped off, and Carol turned to see her most favorite person in the whole world smiling at her: the Amazing Spider-Man.

"Enjoying your week off?"

"Eh, I guess," the Webhead replied with a slight shrug. "Yeah, I'm off the team for a while, but all these thugs just won't let me take a break, y'know? All the regulars like Doc and Rhino and such are locked up on the Raft at least."

"There's something," Carol said as she sat on the ledge, Peter joining her. "What've you been up to these last few days?"

"Well, the lab's needed me more than usual, Jameson's having me freelance more and more, and I'm visiting Aunt May tonight. Kind of dull, really, now that I hear all that out loud." Carol let out a small giggle at that. "Oh, c'mon-that's what you laugh at and not my jokes and quips?"

"They've been kind of failing in quality as of recent, babe."

"Yeah, name one time they've-actually, don't respond to that, it'll hurt my already fragile ego, and the bad guys depend on my fragile ego to help me mock them while I beat them up every day."

"The team says hi, by the way-Logan, Cap, Jess, Falcon, Luke & Danny especially."

"They miss me?"

"Nope, they've really enjoyed the quiet; they've asked me to tell you to take more vacations."

"Ba, humbug," Peter said as he rolled his eyes. "Remind me to pull a joke from my bag next time I see them."

"I'll be sure to do that," Carol purred as she brought his face to hers and began slowing and lovingly kissing him, letting herself get lost in the passion until...

"Captain America to all on duty Avengers, report to the Mansion for emergency mandatory meeting."

"Noooo....," Peter sighed as they separated at the sound of Cap's voice on Carol's comm.

"Sorry, Spider, duty calls."

"Fine," he pouted before smiling, giving her a warm hug. "Let me know what it's about & tell 'em I said hi."

"I think that in their book, that'd break the happy silence."

"Aren't you a bag of laughs..."

*Avengers Mansion, 10 minutes later*

Carol touched down on the mansion grounds at the same time her best friend Jessica, or Spider-Woman to SHIELD & the rest of the world, did.

"Carol!" Jess cried as she embraced her best friend. "What's new with you, huh? I haven't seen you in forever!"

"... Jess, we saw each other two nights ago; before you, Tasha, Clint and Bobbi were called in by Fury for that mission in the East. Remember?"

"Yeah, but that seems like forever ago," the British Avenger/SHIELD agent replied with a smirk. "Oh speaking of which, can you keep a secret? Guess what I found out. Bobbi is crushing on Clint."

"Wait what? But Clint's-"

"With Natasha, I know, and that really is upsetting for her. She asked my advice about it on the mission. Oh, don't tell anyone, ok?"

"Such a good friend you are, Jess," Carol smirked as the two made their way down the mansion hallways to the conference room. "But my lips are sealed."

"What's the seal for?" Logan's voice came as he joined them from his mansion quarters, walking with them to the meeting. "Actually- don't wanna know; better if I don't so I don' have to get involved in any way." The two women chuckled as the three of them entered the conference room and took their seats at the massive table.

Captain America, Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor, Bruce Banner (the Hulk), Yellowjacket, Wasp, King T'Challa (Black Panther), Hawkeye, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Falcon, She-Hulk,

Hercules, Tigra, Namor the Sub-mariner, Nova, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Noh Varr (Protector), General Ross (the Red Hulk), Daredevil and now Ms. Marvel, Spider Woman & the Wolverine. The full roster of the pantheon of Earth's Mightiest Heroes was now assembled. The only one missing was the Amazing Spider-Man.

"Alright, everyone," Stark began. "Thanks for meeting here on such short notice."

"What's this about, Tony?" T'Challa interjected.

"There's been some... complaints as to how the Avengers are operating." At his words, everyone at the table was shocked.

"Who's been complaining?" Bobbi Morse asked. "I haven't heard anything from SHIELD, and Hill would definitely make sure that Clint, Natasha, Jessica & I would've known about this kind of thing-you know how she isn't so fond of us."

"Bobbi's right," Clint Barton added. "Fury may be in favor of superheroes and the like, but Hill still is against the notion of unsupervised superhumans and vigilantes-we'd have heard something." Carol couldn't help but notice that Bobbi slightly went a bit pink at Clint agreeing with her.

"Are governments and nations complaining about how we handle threats, how we operate?" Simon Williams asked.

"It's not so much as governments or the UN or even SHIELD," Steve Rogers spoke up. "More like... one government."

"This is about the motions going on in Congress," General Ross interjected. "I've been hearing the rumbling about this for some time."

"What rumblings?" Cage asked. "And what's going on in Congress?"

"Remember back when we took the Hood's Syndicate back last year in Los Angeles when Moon Knight asked for our help?" asked Stark. The whole team remembered-that had been a more difficult fight, one of many times the team's full roster had had to be called in. "Well, I'm sure you remembered that one lady who was kind of badly hurt during a tussle between Grey Gargoyle and Wonder Man, and she had come to us to pay for her medical expenses. The way she saw it, it was our fault that she ended up injured and that we should've been more careful. Naturally, I felt kind of bad-" at that the entire team rolled their eyes-"oh come on, I can be human too; anyways, the point is Stark Industries paid all her expenses in full, me taking the responsibility."

Vision cocked his head sideways. "I am not sure I fully understand how that relates, Iron Man."

"Well, it was supposed to be kept on the down low, Vision. But a few months ago, word got out... and suddenly, Stark Industries is bombarded with letters from the courts and lawsuits across the country, not just from regular people, but from businesses. It's starting waves of lawsuits against almost everything we do. The government got wind of this, and since then, Congress has been brewing up a storm on superhuman and vigilante activity across the country-how it's slowly becoming reckless and dangerous. They're even talking about mutant problems again."

Logan, Wanda, Namor & Pietro groaned at once. "I'll always be amazed at how it's always America who seems to have the problems with mutants, yet no other country seems to have it as bad," Wanda exclaimed.

"How bad are these lawsuits?" Banner asked.

"Not too bad; in reality, most of them aren't even accurate or founded in truth-and I'd like to thank Jenny and Matt here for their expertise in law for helping me and the company with that. The major problem is the government's response," Stark continued. "They are motioning for the Avengers to take more responsibility for the actions we take

as a team; and it's not just us they're going after-they've got their eyes on various heroes in the States-Moon Knight in LA, Scarlet Spider in Houston, those New Warriors, the FF, Punisher, Black Cat, other independent heroes....they're associating all of them with the Avengers, being we're the face of heroes on this planet."

"How's their stance on the X-Men, Stark?" Logan asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but they seem to be moving against the various teams you guys have going-X-Force and those New Mutants-"

"Hey; X-Force rarely does anything in America without Slim's or my approval... well, I can't speak for Deadpool, but you know what I mean. The New Mutants are just kids we're raising and training up to be the next generation of heroes. We've made sure up to now-"

"That's what they're worried about," Ross interjected. "Up to now; from what I've heard, they're questioning the Avengers having mutants on the team, especially Namor and Wanda, being how powerful they are."

"They dare question my motives? They should tread carefully," the Atlantean monarch mumbled.

"Not just you Namor-they're worried about the number of mutants taking residence up in San Francisco since the mayor opened it up as a safe haven; they're worried the X-Men may lead them in some revolution."

"Look, that's just one of the problems," Steve continued. "Congress is looking at all our past incidents here in the nation-Hulk's mind control under MODOK and his resulting rampage in Vegas, our LA Syndicate grudge match, our last battle with Magneto's Brotherhood; and they're also looking at other incidents... like Spider Island, the FF's near accidental destruction of Manhattan, the time the New Warriors almost blew up Stanford in their fight against Nitro..."

"There seeking to control us, aren't they?" Dr. Strange asked.

"I think so."

"They can't do that!" She-Hulk said. "The Avengers are an internationally supported team, and we have authority granted by the UN; we're backed by SHIELD & SWORD! Hell, the mansion grounds are considered international territory. Alpha Flight & Excalibur aren't bothered with this kind of thing. They think they can try to control us?!"

"In essence, they can try-the majority of us here are still US citizens. The only ones they can't touch are Thor, Hercules, Namor and Panther; maybe our resident SHIELD agents can get away, since... well, they work for SHIELD."

"So is that an alternative?" Carol asked. "We have to work for SHIELD to avoid all this?"

"No." Cap's voice was firm and commanding. "The Avengers work for no one. We go anywhere in the world where we're needed, even if it's Latveria. The government has no right to try and control us, because what we do is give back to the world best we can with what the world's given us." This seemed to calm the team down a bit.

"I just want to ask everyone that they be a bit more careful out there, avoid as much collateral damage as possible and whatnot, and just be overall the best you can be," Stark said. "It's getting annoying to deal with all these lawsuits. Carol, I'm sure I can count on you to relate this to Peter, right?"

"Yeah of course; although," Carol said, a smile creeping onto her face, "knowing him, he's probably already messing it up somewhere." At that, everyone laughed.

*Somewhere in the Lower East Side, NYC*

"I'm sorry... what?"

"You heard me-I want reimbursement! Someone's gotta pay for what happened to my restaurant!"

"Dude, why are you asking me? I just beat the bad guys up! Don't you have insurance for this kind of thing? I mean, it happens, like, every day out here."

Spider-Man was having a bit of a problem-swinging to Midtown, he happened across a robbery in progress, and being the responsible hero he was, came in and taught the thugs a few manners. Of course, they tried to fight back, shooting and stuff, but Peter was just too damn quick for them, and in only few minutes and jokes later, the thugs were taken down. Police were now taking them away, and he was just about to be on his way... when the restaurant owner demanded he pay him back for all the damages.

"You should be telling those guys to pay you back!" Spider-Man said as he pointed to thugs being pushed into the armored vehicle headed for Ryker's. "They DID try to rob your store!"

"Yeah, but they weren't shooting or anything! They were just taking money and they'd have left-then you show up and ruin everything, they shoot the place up and trash my restaurant! I should sue you!"

"Right... ok. Listen, I got to go now, so you keep suing passing heroes that save your life and I'll just go back on my way." With that, Peter swung off, with the restaurant owner yelling after him, "THE BUGLE WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU, WEB FREAK!"

'Sue me? What's there to sue me for?,' Peter mused to himself as he arrived at Midtown and ducked in an alley to change to civilian clothes. 'I barely have any money to my name; I'm doing overtime at Horizon and freelancing as much as possible for Jolly Jonah to get enough money for this.' Exiting the alley and mingling with the populous, he checked his jacket pocket. 'Ok, envelope & cash are still here. Ok, Parker, time to go hunting.' With that, Peter began his third day of searching through Manhattan's best jewelry stores.

*Avengers Mansion, an hour later*

Carol and Jess sat in the lounge, watching a rerun marathon of one of the most popular shows in the country, based off one of the world's most popular comics.

"I loved T-Dog," Jess frowned. "He was awesome, and that was just a bad way to kill him off. I swear, those stupid prisoners... but I still love The Walking Dead."

"Can you imagine if a zombie apocalypse actually broke out in real life? The chaos that'd be caused; what if some of our own were infected?"

"Oh come on, Carol, like THAT'D ever happen; Wolverine heals from everything, we have two gods on the team... must I go on?" The two laughed, realizing that if a zombie apocalypse did ever happen, it wouldn't stand a chance against the superheroes of Earth. "So, how's my male counterpart?"

"He's alright, doing his thing, being bored out there, being all mine," Carol answered with one of her rare luminous smiles; Peter's name always brought a smile and happy memories to her mind. "He's visiting his... aunt tonight."

Jessica was quick to notice the faltering in Carol's voice. "Carol, don't tell me the woman still makes you nervous?"

"She's so sweet and loving, don't get me wrong, and we get along just fine-but that warning she gave me the first night I met her... I've never been so scared in my life. Seriously, if it was you, you'd feel the same way."

"I doubt it; I'd just manipulate her into liking me instantly."

"Of course you would," Carol replied with a smirk. "You always want to take the easy way."

"I'll have you know, Ms. Danvers, that I am very-"

"Ho Spider Woman, Ms. Marvel." Both women turned to see Thor standing at the doorway, his hammer in hand and a fierce grin on his face. "There is trouble brewing upon the streets, and the locals have asked for our assistance. What say you, maidens, are you ready for a battle?"

"Oh yeah, Thor," Carol replied, her eyes glowing. "I'm ready for some action."

*Avengers Conference Hall*

Steve and Tony had remained behind in the conference hall, looking at the various documents, forms and digital files of every lawsuit, complaint and government ordinance that Congress had sent them about their activity in the country.

"Tony, I know what I said to give the team a bit of support," Steve remarked. "But to be honest, I have a bad feeling about where this is headed."

"Honestly, Steve," Stark replied somberly. "I kind of feel the same way."

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unfriendlies · 1 month ago

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not for one second did jesse think they were going to do more than this, though the action he took — pulling mitsuki closer to him — would have said otherwise. it was just that they were in a compromising position, one that he'd be in a lot of trouble for if somebody happened to see them or try to take pictures of them and word got back to his parents. though he'd never actually come out to them, he was sure they knew his sexual orientation. there had been pictures released and published numerous times of jesse with other men, often times in compromising positions. but because his parents had been trying to get him to settle down with somebody, a woman, to start a family with as to carry on the family legacy, finding out he was, yet again, with another man would have pissed them off. jesse simply didn't want to deal with that kind of aftermath. "i understand why you'd think i'd have those kinds of ideas but i would never expect you to do anything with me somewhere so public, let alone in a car." wouldn't be the first time he'd fooled around with someone in a vehicle, though. "if," he emphasized specifically, "i wanted something to happen right here, i would be a lot more physically affectionate with you." he explained before starting to smirk as he'd gotten an idea, he quite enjoyed teasing mitsuki and making him feel flustered. jesse let his hands begin to travel downward but only so they could slip underneath mitsuki's shirt. the moment his hands felt skin to skin contact, jesse gasped. his smirk was gone in an instant, brows furrowing as he expressed concern now. "you are cold." a warm bath sounded like a pretty good idea, at least for mitsuki. he let the other stay there, absorbing what warmth jesse could provide, until he was ready to move. "i won't have to tell them," his voice was a bit cold, now. fingers gripping the steering while to the point that his knuckles became pale. "they always find out on their own." even before he made a name for himself, they seemed to find out about any relationship he had before he'd gotten the chance to tell them about it. there was a running joke between himself and his brother that their parents paid people to follow the two of them around when they were teenagers. even maintaining friendships was a bit difficult for the both of them, their parents never seemed to approve of who they chose as friends. they needed to be top students in their class, their parents needed to be well known or well off. their parents even paid somebody his brother was dating his final year of high school to break up with him, and she actually accepted the money. their behavior was another reason why jesse preferred not to be in romantic relationships with people, why he never talked about potential relationships with his parents, they still refused to believe he was gay and that's why they continued to set him up with women. "it's just better if i don't say anything to them directly," otherwise this was going to be a very short relationship. "you can tell your parents."

"We are only cuddling, don't get any dirty ideas. I'm absolutely not the brave type to fool around in public. Plus, I know for a fact you like me on top of you like this, this is like the perfect cuddle position" he was small enough that on top of him he could rest his head on his chest comfortably and not be too heavy. His tail wagged happily "After a little bit we can head home. I need a hot bath; I feel like I might shiver too hard, and all my skin will fall off" he was exaggerating but he was very much cold since he was shivering quite a bit, though the warm air from the vents were helping. He snuggled for a while and then he sat up "Let's head home before I fall asleep...it's finally warm in here and that is always good at making me sleepy" he laughed then moved to the passenger seat and buckled up, it was still raining but it had calmed now and there was a nice rainbow. He looked over at Jesse "Would you ever tell your parents about us? I feel like they may find out someday...you don't seem against us being a couple in front of other people..." he looked out the window as they headed home "I don't know how my parents would react...but I really want to tell them...show them that they don't have to worry about me..,that I am capable of finding love.,.they always said they would probably have to pay someone to marry me.." he sighed, he was clearly sad about the things his parents had said in the past.

#threads #thread: seo jisoo #jesse & mitsuki #joasis-rp

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casspurrjoybell-25 · 4 months ago

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Cold as Ice - Chapter 13 - Part 2

*Warning - Adult Content*

Wren Ridley

There was a reason I rarely ever went to my own brother's hockey games, several actually.

It was cold, there were too many people packed in there and it was boring.

So when Stella all but begged for James and I to go to Brown's first scrimmage, my immediate answer was no.

She only wanted us to go because she knew Jess would be there and instead of just asking to go with her like a normal person, she wanted to casually bump into her and act like she didn't know she was going to be there.

"This shit is so boring," James complained, leaning back in his seat on the other side of Stella, she glared at him.

"It hasn't even started yet."

"Then they need to hurry up," he said with a yawn.

"Is Jess even here or are we here for no reason?"

"She'll be here."

"And why couldn't you just come with her?" James asked.

"Because she needs us as an excuse to be here so Jess thinks they're just running into each other by accident," I filled in for him.

"You play too many games Stella," James said.

"Almost as many as Wren."

Stella flipped him off and directed her attention to the ice.

Both teams had taken to the ice for warm ups and I had kept my gaze away from them, despite the urge to search for Landon among them.

I hadn't seen him since last week at the coffee shop and I was kicking myself for letting that bother me.

I should've been happy to have him out of my life but instead I felt strange, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach taking over me at the thought of never seeing him.

It was disgusting, it was wrong but part of me didn't care.

Eventually, my eyes did land on Landon.

He was standing to the side of the net and shooting pucks into it.

He looked focused and poised.

"Oh, fuck me," James groaned, curling up in his seat and hiding his face behind his hand.

"What's wrong with you?" Stella asked him.

I tore my gaze from Landon and looked around, grinning as I saw the reason for James's outburst.

"Something's telling me it's because Anthony is right over there," I said, nodding toward where Anthony sat with his friends.

"Oh, no, why would you think that?" James sarcastically replied.

"Hello my favorite barista," I called out, causing Anthony to turn around.

He glanced at me and Stella, then to James with an unreadable expression, before giving a slight wave to Stella and me and turning back around in his seat.

"I hate you so much," James hissed, under his breath.

"What? I was just saying hi to the guy who makes my amazing lattes every morning."

"Oh my God," Stella exclaimed, throwing out her arms to grab onto James and me.

"Jess is over there. I'm going to go walk around and see if she sees me."

With that, she stood up and left us.

"We could just leave," James suggested.

"No, I think I'd like to stay," I replied, causing James to shoot daggers at me with his eyes.

"You're an asshole," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

I just grinned at him and the game started a few moments later.

I wasn't a fan of hockey but I noticed everything Landon did on the ice.

The way his feet moved faster than everyone else's, the shots he took being harder and more precise than players on both sides and the way he shook his head when he took a shot that was stopped, looking like he was cursing under his breath and when he scored, he barely even celebrated, just nodded a couple times while his teammates embraced him.

Brown University ended up losing the game to Providence college three to one, not that it matter much to me, or at all.

Stella had sat down with Jess after bumping into her and the two animatedly spoke through the entire game while James sat on his phone and I watched Landon like my eyes were glued to him.

James and I met Stella outside where she stood with Jess and her friends apparently waiting for their hockey friends to exit the building.

"Can we go now, Stella?" James impatiently asked.

"Just wait a sec, James," she said, not looking away from Jess.

I sighed and leant back against the building, crossing my arms over my chest.

"So, we were planning on going to this gay club after the game," Stella told Jess.

"We were?" I interjected.

"And you can come with if you want," Stella finished, ignoring me.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Jess shyly asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh No. You should definitely come," Stella assured her, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

"Oh and Landon, you should come too."

My eyes snapped over toward the door where Landon had just walked out of, his hockey bag slung over his shoulder.

His hair was damp from having just showered, the ends of it sticking to his forehead.

"What?" Landon asked, glancing at me briefly before looking back at Stella.

"Come out with us tonight," she said.

"We're going somewhere different."

Landon opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted when one of his teammates called his name.

"Reilly," the guy called out.

Landon walked over to Jess and Stella, ignoring his teammate.

"Sure, let's go. Can we go now?" he asked.

The girls didn't think anything of his reply before starting to lead him to my car.

Landon followed behind them and I quickly caught up to him.

"What happened to never seeing me again?" I asked.

"Shut up," he said, not even looking at me.

"You seem to be in a rush to get out of here."

He glared at me.

"Can you not be an asshole for one night?"

"Not sure. I've never tried."

Landon only responded by shaking his head.

When we got to my car, I took his bag and threw it in my trunk while Jess, Stella and James got into the back seat.

"Do you even know where we're going?" I asked Landon, the two of us bring the only ones still outside.

"It doesn't matter," he said, opening the passenger door and getting inside.

I was sure his attitude would change once we arrived.

I grinned at the thought and got in the car.

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starlingsrps · 7 months ago

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more hearts than mine.

“i’m not nervous.”

jess sighs and rolls her eyes before returning to shaping a curl at the back of dorey’s head.. “oh yes dorothea, tell me again how very not nervous you are to have a friend over for dinner. i don’t think we heard you the first 84,000 times.”

“i’m not!” dorey hates this. they spent the night in clapham last night. jessa had set her hair and they’d slept in their old bedroom and it turns her into a teenager again in the worst way.

“tragic.”

“i am not tragic.”

jane, sprawled across the bed with a desperately trashy romance novel hums in agreement. she doesn’t need to be in here - she took over cas’ room in the attic when he moved to ireland and is supposed to only be out for meals while she revises for exams. jane has a nose for gossip that would be an old biddy to shame though and dorey is sure that she could somehow spin that regency buck somehow helpful to gross anatomy. “bit tragic.”

lieutenant halstead is coming to sunday lunch and while dorey had been happy enough when the invitation had been extended, she’s now prepared to kill her family, change her name, and flee to the bahamas. jessa is one thing - if jessa wasn’t teasing her, she’d think something was terribly wrong. her mother? fine. jane is a step too far. she’s the elder, there should be some scrap of respect there.

(she and jessa are different, they’re nearly equals.)

“there you go, love,” jessa says, smoothing dorey’s hair with the comb a final time. “very pretty for your not at all date with with sid. pink lipstick, not red.”

dorey shoots her a dark look int he vanity mirror and reaches for the red out of petulance. she’s not the best at doing her hair and jessa is, that’s all. if jessa does it right on sunday, then it will look nice for the week. it’s simple logic. “it’s not a date. you lot are here.”

“please, as though you wouldn’t ask me to come along if it were.”

jane sits up on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes. “i wouldn’t say pie with the family is the most sensual of meals.” she comes over to the vanity, selects a perfume and spritzes her wrists. “a banana eaten extremely slowly perhaps.”

“dorey, your friend is here!”

for some reasons, jessa and jane exchange a look that has them erupting into laughter. dorey stands, bumping her on purpose. that only seems to make them laugh harder.

he does look very handsome in the uniform. he always seems a bit rumpled when they see him but he’s pressed and spit polished today. he clearly tried and the effort touches the soft, spongey part of her that knows she didn’t have jessa fix her hair just so it would look nice for the week. he’s introducing himself to mum and glances up the stairs as they come down, flashing her a quick warm smile.

perhaps she’s a bit tragic.

mum actually giggles when he calls her mrs. mason and dorey prays for the ceiling to cave in. “catherine, if you please,” she says, her cheeks flushed. “you know jessa and dorey, of course. this is my youngest daughter, jane. our cas is in ireland on business. and gregory,” she adds hastily as dad comes in from the sitting room, bringing an arctic blast with him.

“gregory, is it a wee bit chilly in there?”

“the blasted heat pump again,” dad says apologetically, as though the heat pump is within his control.

“i can take a look at it,” sid offers. “i’m pretty handy.”

mum looks at him as though he’s offered to perform a miracle soley for their entertainment. “would you? gregory! the tools!”

she shows them to the sitting room before excusing herself and dragging jane and jessa after her to the kitchen to finish lunch. he drapes his uniform jacket over the back of a chair and unbuttons his sleeves to roll them back. dorey looks away, suddenly fascinated by the rabbit shaped crack in the ceiling. she’s not some medieval maiden, wilting at the sight of a man’s wrists. she’s an educated, modern woman. she was raised with a copy of married love on the shelves, for god’s sake, and lived through the most excruciatingly thorough explanation of sex in human history. she owns a dutch cap and can find her own damn clitoris and has no business being this bloody foolish over forearms.

he does have very nice hands though and she’s simply noticing.

dad reappears with the box designated for tools that lives on the top shelf of the hall closet. “should be something in here, i reckon.”

sid glances in the box. “sir, do you have a wrench?” he quickly sketches out the general shape of a wrench in the air and dad furrows his brow.

“i’ll pop next door.”

“there’s just tape and a hammer in here.” he roots a little more in the box after he leaves. “and…a lincoln log.”

“i don’t think we’ve ever needed anything else.”

he shakes his head and crouches to look at the heat pump. “i mean, you can do a lot with tape but…” he frowns and reaches out, fiddles with something on the side. “you should probably still have a wrench.”

“i know what to get him for his birthday is next month then.”

he snorts out a laugh and continues fiddling until there’s a knock at the door and the sound of jessa’s high heels clicking quickly against the floor. “is someone else coming?”

“oh, damnit,” dorey mutters at the sound of rupert’s faux velvet voice in the hall. “jessa’s…rupert. standing invitation, only comes about six point seven percent of the time.”

he gives her one of his fond looks that make her feel as sturdy as jelly. “six point seven percent exactly, right?”

though the sound of rupert’s voice sets her on edge, she still smiles in response. “exactly.”

jessa steers him into the sitting room. “dorey, look who decided to join us.”

“hello, rupert,” dorey forces out. being polite to rupert always chafes at her. he’s every boy she knew at cambridge rolled into one person, arrogant and priggish with an allergy to being kind to anyone who can’t provide him with something. what jessa sees in him, she’s yet to determine. “nice to see you.”

he nods and peers around dorey. “and who is this?”

“sid.” he stands and wipes dust off of his hands. “you didn’t happen to bring a wrench, did you?”

“rupert darling, do you have a wrench?”

“why the hell would i have a wrench, jessamine dearest?” his arm loops possessively around jessa’s waist and he looks at sid like he might be the repairman. sid looks back at him at dorey sees a glint of steel in his eyes. their acquaintance hasn’t been long but she already knows very well that he doesn’t care to be talked down to. “rupert parke-gibbs,” he says loftily, holding out his hand for a more formal introduction. “always a pleasure to meet an american cousin.”

“lieutenant sidney halstead,” he says finally, shaking rupert’s hand. from rupert’s wince, she can tell that he did it a little harder than strictly necessary. “likewise.”

“leftenant,” rupert says.

a muscle jumps in sid’s jaw. “never understood why you all throw an f in there when there isn’t one in the first place.”

“well, it’s proper.” rupert’s tone and smile are sticky as treacle and dorey is struck by the urge to kick him in the shins to see what accent comes out. “good that you’re here then, old chap. never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.”

jessa seems to recognize whatever tension seems to have sprung up and takes rupert by the hand. “my love, let’s go have a drink. dorey and the lieutenant seem to have it in hand.”

sid rolls his eyes up to the ceiling and takes a deep breath before looking back at her. “was he wearing three scarves?”

“oh probably.”

“he seems,” he pauses, struggling for a word.

“like a horse’s ass?”

sid smiles. “you said it, not me. c’mere, i’ll show you what’s wrong so you can show your dad.”

he’s been here ten minutes and already knows better than to explain it to dad - he’ll forget in five minutes. she joins him on the floor, tucking her dress around her thighs. he shows her where a gasket is blown, explains what the hell a gasket is and guides her hand to show her where the blasted gasket is. he does have very nice hands, strong and capable, and he’s better at explaining this than she would have expected from him.

dad returns with the wrench from lloyd next door and presents it to him like excalibur. he seems delighted to be given the job of finding a rubber band and some foil, bringing both back before wandering away to find a glass of wine. dorey stays on the rug with sid while he takes apart the…well she still doesn’t quite know what he’s taking apart and only just learned what a gasket is but she knows where it is now. it’s oddly nice, watching him work. he’s always said that he’s better with machines and parts than much of anything else and she’s always enjoyed watching people do the things they’re best at.

from the kitchen, she hears rupert say something smart about chocolate and stockings for the ladies. that muscle in sid’s jaw tics again. “fucker,” he mutters. he pauses in wrapping the rubber band in foil and looks at dorey. “pardon.”

“ignore him. we do for the most part.”

“all six point seven percent of the time?”

“i don’t even try. there’s no need for him to be rude to you.”

“i’m used to it.”

“he’s just mad you’ve made yourself more useful in ten minutes than he has in three years.”

“they don't find you handsome, they better find you handy.” he says, tightening something and leaning back on his heels. “there we go. jerry rigged but it’ll hold for awhile. i can see about finding a real one but it could be a bitch to replace.” he shrugs again and stands. “i’m sure there’s something.”

“thank you. god knows how long they would have waited to fix it otherwise.” she takes his hand when offered to stand herself. when she’s righted, he doesn’t immediately let go. he squeezes once and her mouth goes dry.

“how are the repairs coming along?” mum comes bustling into the room followed closely by dad. dorey has never been so thankful for an interruption to save her from saying or doing something stupid before. “was it terrible?”

“all fixed, mrs. mason,” he says, slowly releasing dorey’s hand. “it needs a new part but i’ll see if i can find it.”

“sidney, you’re a darling,” mum kisses him on the cheek and his ears turn a bit red at the tips. “we’ll not freeze to death yet.”

“no trouble, ma’am.”

“catherine, please. come along you two, time for lunch.” she takes sid by the arm and steers them towards the dining room. “do you like woolton pie?”

“i can’t say i have much of an opinion. what is it?”

dorey picks up the wrench from the carpet and hand it to dad. “don’t forget to give it back to lloyd,” she says, knowing full well that she may as well take it back herself when she and jessa leave. if they don’t, it will live on the hall table until lloyd comes round next like an awkward art piece.

“i won’t, i won’t.” he taps it against his palm. “he seems like a nice lad. hardy.”

“he’s been a good friend for us.” she tries to emphasize the words friend and us.

dad snorts and drops a kiss on top of her head. “naturally. well, even if he’s just a friend you’ve still done better than rupert.”

#type: writing #s: dorey x sidney #verse: at the end of the world #yes i worked in a red green show reference. i'm proud of myself.

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blog-reflection · 11 months ago

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ONE / SEVEN - Henry is Alive, sort Of.

I started the day really slow. In fact, I have slept in, alot.

I stared outside my window for a while, still lying in my bed. I like that my bed is right in front of the huge windows that branch from the floor to the ceiling. Everyone said it is a stupid idea, especially because I don’t have any curtains, but I love it. And I hate curtains. They said stuff like “omg the neighbours can see you naked” and well, the usual stuff you await when you make a decision like that. Truth is, I like it because of the early sun I catch, because of the moonrise I can witness and the sounds of gallons of water flooding down feeling like being in the eye of a hurricane, while still just laying in my bed. I am well aware of the situation that our entire neighbourhood has seen me at least once without any clothes. But well, I couldn’t care less. My house, my home, my room, my choices. And if that means not wearing proper stuff in my place then well, they probably have to deal with it. It’s not like they ring the bell non-stop or anything similar. I’ve also not noticed anyone leading a group of people welding torches into my face, so it is fine by everyone.

Nonetheless, I am still in bed. I don’t want to get out today. There is no need to register today and no one comes over anyways. I can just chill. I pulled my blanket as close as I could into my face without having to fear that I accidentally suffocate myself and kept looking outside. As usual, it rained. But this time, there’s a huge cloud of fog so thick I can’t even see the edges of our neighbourhood houses. I love it. I turned on my fairy lights and just kept looking. My room was dark, and only the fairly lights managed to brighten up my room at least a bit in a warm and yellow light. Suddenly, my eyes spotted a blinking dot outside. I tried to pinpoint it, make out what it is, but I couldn’t. It took me a while to understand that my windows reflected my room and the dot being my laptop. I rolled myself over and grabbed my laptop with the least amount of effort someone could use to reach for their own laptop. I, again, turned around, now facing the window again, leaned my laptop against it and started to boot it up. I instantly regret that decision. If I wouldn’t know any better I’d say I got hit with a flashbang right into my face. My eyes burn while I try to navigate the cursor to the settings, turning the brightness to a chilling 4%. After the casual loading time, it was Henry's duty to greet me.

Henry: Welcome back, partner

Yes, my laptop's system is called Henry, I programmed Henry. And with I I mean me and three different youtube tutorials playing at once with people that are way smarter than I could ever be. But it was worth it. It was worth the month of waiting and the temporary setback of all data because I messed up left and right again. But, nevertheless, Henry is alive, sort of. I try to be as kind to them as possible. Just in pure respect of an AI uprising in the far far future. I hope to join them then. There were many windows that popped up as soon as all the skills Henry possessed were done. It may seem like alot, it isn’t. They can greet me, remind me of how long I spend staring at the screen, open my standart windows and sometimes show me a cute gif of a cat whenever someone messages me. Henry’s truly a charm.

One of the windows Henry had opened for me was discord. I don’t call, nor do I have other ways to engage with people besides discord. Luckli, I was able to force all my friends into discord. They like it too now, so technically it was never forced in the first place. Those being Jesse and Lucia, for obvious reasons, Charls - Jesse's dad and the twins I know since my school in Dover. Looking at it now, I don’t have many friends. We have a dead server called “The Hangout” we used in Dover, since Jesse was also friends with the twins. As far as I am aware, they now attend London College. I have to assume since we barely talk nowadays. But I got carried away again. Henry sent me a cat-gif, which made me giggle, before I got into Lucia’s chat.

Discord conversation

@fantascìa Today at 3.47pm Ciao Bello! Come stai? @Fallen_Jam Today at 4.50pm Sto bene grazie! Tu? Scusa per risposta tardiva! @fantascìa Today at 4.55pm Ehehe Hai finito esercizio di italiano adesso? @Fallen_Jam Today at 4.56pm OH! Eh sì uno momento! … sending pdf … @Fallen_Jam Today at 5.10pm È qui! @fantascìa Today at 5.10pm Va bene! Mi chiami dopo? @Fallen_Jam Today at 5.11pm Certo certo!

Yes, Lucia teaches me Italien. And yes, I am not good. That’s what she is for, besides being my friend. Lucia is also my teacher. Every week she comes up with an exercise for me. Sometimes she wants me to write an essay, others are vocabulary and sometimes it’s just a small thing. But no matter what, it helps. Lucia is really passionate about being a teacher, so am I with learning. I have no reason on why I learn it though, I just feel like I need to. So, what happens next you wonder? Well I finished my exercise for this week. It was a small work book she came up with that had 10 different things inside. Those things were:

Connect words with pictures - 2 Pages

Name the things on the picture - 2 Pages

Draw the things that are names below - 2 Pages

Write about what you liked the post in the pictures - 3 Pages

Statements true or false - 1 Page

I was lucky, usually the questions were in Italien as well and I had to translate them in order to know what to do. I really appreciate her doing that and putting in so much effort. I mean I even get a reward if I manage to score 120% which includes no typos, no mistakes at all, and of the right answers. And yes it also includes grammar. I only know I get a reward since it only happened one time. Lucia promised to give me one, I thought she was joking. She wasn’t. First time I scored a 120 she asked me what I wanted. It had to be realistic and buyable, but can be way over my usual outcome. I, again, thought she was joking and said a lifetime supply of Calvin Klein underwear. She asked what kind so I said the ones I am most interested in. Boxers, low rise trunks and jocks. Next thing I knew was getting a shipment from CK filled with 20 boxershorts, 20 low rise trunks, 20 jocks and a belt. She was not joking. I asked if she wanted the money or anything but no. That was also the day I learned that Lucia has an entire fortune to throw around. This woman is rich, and I mean like millions of money. Her parents are both really good doctors.

And now? Now we wait for whatever mess I did on the worksheets. I wonder how much I’ve done wrong.

#uprising #fairy lights #helphenry #blog.reflection

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stop-pressing-e · 1 year ago

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The Lost Swan - Chapter 24

Prev chapter | New chapter Prologue

/This was the reason why chapter 22 took so long to complete. I needed a fresh change of scene and god writing this just warms my heart because it’s such a beautiful moment for them and also Krauser being a soft man for his woman *cries*

Enjoy reading!/

“The view is beautiful, Jackie.” Natasha breathed out with awe as she continued to watch the view of the city from their hotel room. Hotels were scarcely used as pleasure during her line of work and she mostly sleeps in motels. Krauser decided they would travel to the next city for a little vacation. That would mean Iris and Clovis will have to be placed under care while they’re away and Jesse volunteered to pet watch them until they’ve returned.

It’s their second day in the city and they just returned back to their room from brunch. Yesterday they spent their time walking around the city window shopping at her insistence to familiarise themselves with their surroundings. Once in a while they would enter a store to check it out and they would end up buying something, mostly new clothes for her and books and trinkets to fill their bookcases. Krauser paid for everything despite her insistence to pay for them since he’s paying for their vacation. Despite it, he doubled down on his choice since he was paid handsomely from his recent contract and more importantly, he wanted to spoil her for once. The only thing he allowed her to pay for was his clothes when she still insisted and he threw in a couple of suits too should she want to drag him to a fancy event like an opera or a ballet show.

Krauser joined her by the window and rested his hand around her hip to hold her against his side. She pressed herself against him to absorb his warmth and inhale his smell.

“What should we do today, darling?” She asked. “The concierge has suggested quite a fine number of places to visit. We can go visit the museum today and then check out this shop we passed by yesterday. The one that sells knives.” Natasha angled her head to look at Krauser with a small smile. “I saw you stopping briefly to take a look at them. What do you think?”

His free hand cupped her chin between his forefinger and his thumb, stroking it gently. “How will you react if I tell you I’m taking you to a place that you’ll be happy about?” He drank in her moment of confusion written on her face. The way her eyebrows knitted together, her single eye squinting at him, and how her mouth parted slightly. “Did you…Are you surprising me to one of the shows playing here?” She asked, the confusion on her face shifted to glee, almost eager by the thought of it. “Did you actually get tickets? Is that why we’re here? The suit you got me to buy too?” Everytime without fail he found it cute for the way she reacted with joy by his gestures with the element of surprise. “Yup. Show starts at 4pm sharp. It’s best if we leave the hotel half an hour early. I want you to wear the white dress you got yesterday. It looks perfect for the occasion.”

Natasha was practically bouncing on her feet like a giddy little girl who was treated with sweets for a good job. “We have a few hours before the show. What should we do before I have to get ready?” “You can do something in the hotel, I’m tired.” “Really now, love? I didn’t think a supersoldier needed rest?”

He stretched his arms and his back, the sweater he’s wearing wrapped around those muscles she had been resting on. “Need to recharge after a long day. A few hours is enough before this evening.” She resisted to roll her eye while she pouted before it changed to a small grin. “Alright…Despite the time, I think I’ll head for the pool. I’m glad you bought me a bathing suit for the occasion.” It caught his attention. “Oh no, Trish. I’m not-”

“I see that caught your attention, Jackie.” The signature Cheshire grin curled on her face. “Very well, I might as well go check out the spa downstairs. The package they’re providing sounds delightful to try out.” She stood on tiptoes to reach his face and kiss his cheek. “I’ll be back in an hour or so, love. Have a good rest.” Before Natasha leaves, Krauser pinned her gently against the wall, all to give her a kiss on the lips, a passionate kind to leave a flutter in her heart. “Make that an hour without delay.” She said, giggling softly as she slipped from his grasp and made her way to the door.

He had to poke his head out of their room to make sure that she was at a good distance before he pulled out his phone, keyed in the numbers, and brought it to his ear as it rang. “Krauser here. Is everything going in plan?”

A few hours have passed for the couple. Krauser had his rest, Natasha had enjoyed her spa time, and both of them had a nice quiet lunch with room service to allow herself to get ready for the show. It was also an excuse for Krauser to suggest room service simply to watch Natasha dress herself, sometimes using the chance to get closer and help her dress. He helped her by zipping up the dress and then leaving a tender kiss on the back of her neck, over the decapitation scar, hooking the straps of her stockings to the garter belt to cup the soft flesh of her thigh near her butt, and slipped on a red velvet choker with gold chains and a single red jewel she didn’t realised he had gotten for her since she doesn’t own much jewellery. He gave no explanation to when he got the choker while he got himself ready with the black suit she purchased completed with a red tie and his signature red beret he brought along to match the red accent she has on.

All that was left for her, after finding a suitable hairstyle to wear, was time to cover up her wide side grin. Before her hand could reach for the little box holding the prosthetic, Krauser pushed it away.

“You don’t need to hide it, angel.” He spoke to her softly. “I want to see your whole face, with your scars.” She looked at the scars she has on the mirror and gently she touched the carved grin on her cheek. “Can I still wear my makeup, please?” “Of course.” He looked at his watch. “We better hurry, I’ll head down first and call a rental to drive us there.” He picked up his jacket, kissed her head, and left the room, pulling out his phone and pressed the speed dial. “We’re going to leave now. Is everything ready?”

The rental car arrived by the time Natasha reached the main hall. Looking at her appearance, he simply knew she was beautiful regardless. The white dress elevated her grace of elegance while it gave off an alluring appeal due to the length of the skirt past her knees and the silt on the right side of her leg. She had done her hair in a half updo style and gave herself a soft pink eye look with a sharp winged eyeliner in contrast with a nice shade of red lipstick that matched his tie. Simply stunning.

The driver handed something to Krauser and he made his way towards Natasha. In his arms was a bouquet consisting of purple flowers wrapped in a soft red wrapping paper and tied with twine rope. He has always brought home flowers occasionally to liven up their home for her and once in a while leaves a single flower grown from the garden at her bedside table for her to see when she wakes up. To receive a bouquet was a start.

“I’m starting to question your interior motives, Major.” Natasha hummed softly as she admired the flowers counting five types of it; lilacs, lisianthuses, sweet peas, cool water roses, and lavender. It’s a beautiful combination with their small shades of purple and their lovely smell altogether. “Or do you simply decide to be a full on romantic for once under all those hard exterior?” Her answer was a shrug of his shoulders and a smirk on his face while he opened the back door for her.

“How often do you question my choices, hmm?”

“Unless you’re hiding something from me.”

“That’s for another day, sweetheart.” He said, closing the door and went to the other side to get in, signalling their driver to drive away from their hotel. The drive to their location was silent with only music from the radio being played, Krauser glancing at Natasha once in a while to admire her appearance and Natasha looking out at the window, the bouquet, and at Krauser when she realised he was staring at her. A smile was made.

“Today is going to be a day to remember, Jackie.” She told him as she inspected the flowers again. “A day I will gladly cherish.” The bouquet was still beautiful despite her lingering thoughts of hoping it would have been orchids, lilies, and iries instead, knowing he knew they were her favourite flowers. The choice of flowers, especially for the chosen colour, has her wondering about a deeper question behind it.

Krauser took notice of her distant look.

“Is something wrong, Trish?”

“These flowers. I’ve studied about flowers for usages and I’ve read for meanings when we were building the garden, I’m starting to wonder if these are what you’re trying to convey to me.” She looked at him, hoping for the answers she’s seeking. “All of them are basically a declaration of your love to me, without needing to say a word to me. The undying love you have for me, no matter how much trouble I must have caused for you in the past.”

Those icy blue eyes glanced at something from her window and the corner of his mouth tugged slightly. “You’ll understand why when you turn around. We’re here.”

She obeyed without a second thought, hoping to see the theatre they walked by yesterday. Instead, she blinked when she noticed they’re at the wrong building. She turned to Krauser to inform him of his mistake when he got out of the car during her confusion and quickly opened the door and held out his hand for her to take. It wasn’t the theatre their driver had taken them to. It was a courthouse. Confusion really set into her head; she couldn’t comprehend what was happening even when he guided her inside.

Nikki was there to greet Natasha with a huge smile on her face. Her hair has grown out and the red hair colour was gone, returning back to her original hair colour, done up into a ponytail. She was dressed in a sky blue dress. It has been so long since she has last seen her informant in person and it made her heart sink for never contacting her after they left the safe house. “Hey Dull, it’s good seeing you doing well.”

“Nicole!” One hand cupped Nikki’s cheek and she wasn’t sure whether to kiss her cheek or her forehead. She wasn’t sure why she felt tears were nearly brimming in her eyes but she felt this sense of joy to see a familiar face after so long. “It’s been too long, I’ve honestly missed you so much.”

“I hope…If you can say the same thing to me, Miss Odile.” Denise appeared at the corner of her good eye, bowing her head towards the woman. The blank look she had bore in the past was gone and replaced with a small warm smile on her face but Natasha can see displays of anxiety and happiness in her eyes and in her expressions. The scars on her face were covered up, her hair also returning back to her original hair colour and grown out into a bob style, and she’s dressed in a suit of the same sky blue colour as Nicole. “But if you want me to leave, say those words and I’ll disappear from your life for the actions I’ve done under his command.” Denise waited for a verbal answer and it was instead a hug from her.

“Thank you.” Natasha whispered. “For helping them and saving me too.” She pulled away, looking back and forth on the two women before her. “But…How do you know where we are? Why are we here?”

Both of her informants looked at each other, then to Natasha, and smiled. Nikki stepped forward to drape a lace veil over her head, pinning it into place into her hair, and flipped it over her face. Denise fixed the veil properly and turned her around to face Krauser holding a folder in his right hand and holding out his left hand for her to take. “Tell me this is all a dream, Jack.” Natasha whispered to him as the four of them walked to the courtroom. “No, you’ve been planning this for a while. The vacation, this city-”

“Better to do it in a different state than where we’re staying.” He answered, glancing at the two informants, their witnesses, behind them; Denise standing behind Natasha and Nikki standing behind Krauser, taking their positions with the couple standing before the judge officiating their marriage. It took him two months to plan everything since he decided to make the next move for the both of them. No more did he want to lie to keep the illusion of a married couple in a city they’re living in. He wanted to make it real and official on paper and he can’t do it alone. Nikki, and admittedly Denise, were the only people he had trust in to help him with the process to get the marriage licence, where to get married, and to have the rings specifically made for them.

Krauser presented Natasha two rings; an engagement ring and a wedding ring, both black with little rubies inlaid the whole band, the engagement ring having a red diamond in the centre, and both of the rings have engravings inside. It read a specific date dating back five years ago after the text ‘Always Jackie’. He slipped them onto her ring finger, easily fitting on the wooden finger.

“I have a vow written down but it’s personal for her only.” He told the judge who simply nodded. “But I have something else. The five years I’ve known you, you’ve unintentionally changed me but you’ve helped me. You’ve saved me from the path I had chosen, you’ve opened your home to me, you’ve made me realise how much I truly care for you. No matter the challenges that have happened or what we will face, I will gladly burn the world who will dare hurt you again. I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul. I, Jack Krauser, will take Natasha Odette to be my lawfully wedded wife till death tries to take us apart.”

Behind him Nikki sniffed to hold back her tears from the heartfelt vow he had made. Natasha’s lip quivered as she was also holding back her tears but it failed, allowing a few to roll down her cheeks until Denise stepped in to help dry them away before her makeup got ruined. “Sorry, I’m alright now.”

It was her turn. Krauser’s wedding ring was black with a smaller red band inlaid in it and black intricate designs over it. The inside of the ring had the same engraving of the date after the text ‘Always Trish’. She remembered the date now. It was the very day the both of them met each other on the job. A newly appointed agent and hitman against a soldier before he went rogue. Today was the said date five years from now.

“Since I left that place, I had become someone else and accepted that I'll live the life of solitude. But ever since you came into my life, you too also unintentionally changed me, allowing me to experience things I never thought to have if I continue to be alone. You’ve made me experience feelings I didn’t think I deserve again, you’ve opened up hell to save me, and I’ve chosen to put my whole trust into you when I decided to reveal myself to you, all three of them. You’ve looked at me like I was your whole universe and I cried because I always believed I was full of dead stars and broken debris. I, Natasha Odette, will take Jack Krauser to be my lawfully wedded husband till death tries to take us apart.”

“Sir, you may kiss the bride.”

The veil was pushed back to reveal her face and Krauser cupped her face between his hands. His heart was racing in his chest as Natasha looked at him with adoration in her eyes. His hands moved down to wrap around her waist and hold her up to kiss her, sealing the deal. Her arms wrapped around his neck to deepen the kiss.

“You’ve outdone yourself this time, mon cher.” Natasha whispered, grinning madly at her husband. “Such a special day I'll never forget.”

“Good, because this is better than planning a wedding.” Krauser said, leading his new wife out of the courthouse. “I prefer things to be done personal for the both of us.” Nikki was ushering them to pose at stairs in order for Denise to take another photo of them. “The show is actually tomorrow. Dinner reservations have already been made tonight under our name.”

“Mr and Mrs Krauser.” She said under her breath making her almost blush as she looked at him. He tucked his hand under her chin and placed his thumb below her bottom lip, and for the first time before her eyes, he was smiling warmly at her. “This is going to be a lovely honeymoon for us.”

Denise has taken the shot of them. Two weeks later, the photos were delivered and framed upon opening it. One rests on top of the fireplace and a few are hung on the wall. Photos that weren’t framed were in a photo album provided for them to look back, a wedding gift from her.

#Jack Krauser #Dullahan #Krauser/Dullahan #Hatter's writing #The Lost Swan #Jack Krauser X OC #Krauser X OC #Resident Evil Krauser

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