#and reg and right figure things out once they get to space and get to relax

[flamingredanon]

It's windy and thundering here and I just got an idea that combines some other ideas.

So Reginald with super strength, Right with Bottled Time and Terrence with timeline powers right?

What if the three were possibly CCC experiments that escaped, joining up with the Toppats as they had probably nothing on them to join up with regular society and it was easy to just make up a past and new names as running around with letter and number identifiers was probably a bad idea. (maybe Reginald said he came from a rich controlling family that he hated being around, Terrence came up with running away so he wasn't forced into a family business he didn't want to do and Right just said he didn't want to talk about the past he ran away from)

Since the Toppats are already filled with misfits and such, they fit right in and quickly rose the ranks with their abilities that they used freely to help.

Until the three realized that their powers had side effects.

Reginald found after using his super strength so casually that touching anything was getting more and more sensitive, to the point of it sometimes hurting, with Right he found pieces of his memories missing the more he used Bottled Time and Terrence found himself with brief moments of losing touch with reality, sometimes seeing several timelines mashed up at once when he wasn't using his abilities.

After talking with each other about it, they decided to start limiting the use of their powers and gaining skills that they were good at so it would further prevent unnecessary use of their abilities.

Reginald found himself with a silver tongue and great planning skills, helping with negotiations and heist planning, as Terrence found himself at home with the spy division, making disguises and finding out information with his charm, with Right finding combat his forte, getting better at fighting and also keeping an eye out on his fellow Toppats.

And for awhile, things were great and the three men didn't suffer anymore side effects although the damage that had happened was already done.

But then the newest leader of the Toppats, Sir Wilford IV, approached the three men with an opportunity to be almost Elites in ranking, asking Terrence to be his right hand because of his quick thinking and approachable personality compared to his own brutish and sometimes overthinking nature, and asking Reginald and Right to basically be his strategist of sorts and Right to be Reg's right hand to make sure he didn't get overwhelmed and also provide protection.

The three had handled being experimented on and figuring out the world and their powers, they could easily handle this.

Until Reginald needed to use his strength once again to carry the loads of paperwork needed or help bring in weapons, and Right needed to use Bottled Time to prevent near disaster from assassins and opportunists who would love to kill Reginald because of his rank, all while Terrence needed to rely on his timeline powers more and more to not only ensure that Wilf's plans succeeded but to make sure the Toppat leader and his friends stayed safe.

But they were sure this would pass, that it was just a rough spot and maybe the occasional use of their powers would even help combat the side effects.

It didn't.

And in a raid gone wrong, Wilford was taken by unknown assailants before Terrence could react, before he could do anything to try to help. Thankfully he, Reginald and Right made it out and back thanks to their powers, but things would only get worse.

The Toppats proclaimed Terrence leader as he was Wilf's right hand, something he didn't really want but decided to take for the moment. After all, he just needed to find the right timeline after all, the one where Wilford was found so they could rescue him and things could get back to normal.

Meanwhile Reginald found everything to be so sensitive to the touch, certain fabrics almost became painful to him, and Right completely forgot about his time at the CCC, about his close memories back then of Reginald and Terrence. Sure he was close to the two now but the how they came to be was forever lost to him.

And Terrence had more and more moments of blacking out, of not remembering decisions or saying something to someone, all he cared about was making things right and finding Wilford, and he just needed to use his powers for just a little longer to do so.

Until one day, Terrence blacked out and never came back, basically leaving a man that saw everything at once at the wheel and making decisions that were going to lead the Toppat Clan to their destruction.

Reginald and Right knew what happened to Terrence, they knew that he needed to be stopped for everyone's sake, including his own and that after Reginald did what he needed to do, the two of them would only use their powers in a time of absolute emergency.

What was left of Terrence was dethroned, and after Reginald became leader, things went back to as normal as the Toppat life was, with him and Right being the only ones to really know that Terrence wasn't the one who was a bad leader, but not saying nothing as it would possibly reveal their powers and the CCC might find them after so long.

Though the two didn't know that chaos abilities had a strange way of attracting those with their own powers...

[ravishinglavishingluvr]

loving is easy | poly!rosekiller x Black!oc

pairing: poly!rosekiller x black!reader, regulus’ twin warnings: fluff, gn!reader, not edited wc: 427

“finally! you’re back!” barty had announced with a smirk as evan entered the dungeons, his feet dragging along the cold stone floors. the slytherin common room was characteristically cold, the only warmth came from the fire in front of the you. as the night wore on, the number of occupants dwindled, yet the fire remained steadfast. all that remained were you, barty and regulus as you waited for evan to return from the library.

you and your twin turned to face the blond when the only reply he could muster was a heavy sigh. catching evan’s eye as he approached, you exchanged a small smile, though it seemed to take some effort from him.

“come sit, evan,” you gestured to the armchair opposite the three of you. “you look exhausted, my love.” evan only hummed in response. he slowly made his way towards the couch where his two lovers and friend sat, briefly caressing barty’s neck before stopping in front of regulus.

“shift it,” he murmurs to your twin.

“evan, there’s an empty chair right behind you,” regulus argues.

“reg,” evan sighs, “now if you’d please.” his tone left little room for argument.

regulus grumbles about his audacity now that he’s dating his sibling, but reluctantly moves anyway. evan slumps into the space next to you, arm resting on the back of the couch and legs spread in front of him. regulus and barty ease back into their conversation before evan’s arrival. you watch his face closely. feeling your gaze, evan tilts his head and offers another small smile that reaches his eyes, looking a little more relieved now. you return his smile with a wink and run your hand through the hair at the nape of his neck, his eyes couldn't help but close at the feeling.

as evan relaxed into the couch, he eased into the animated conversation. His arm slid from the back of the couch to around your shoulder. The comfort of your presence and the brush of barty’s arm against his fingertips gave him the solace he had being craving for the whole day. he sighed once again, shoulders drooping.

your eyes start to ache and grow heavy as it gets later, it takes all your effort to remain upright and attentive as the three boys converse spiritedly. you quiet down, and opt to listen to them talk in front of the crackling fire. but your head seems to grow more and more heavy as the late night turns to early morning. your head drops to rest on barty’s shoulder. noticing this, evan pulls your legs over his lap, guiding you into a lying position where you rested your head onto barty’s bouncing leg that stills almost immediately.

that’s how the rest of your night passed, your head in barty’s lap and evan gently caressing your ankles as the three of them talk and you offer a remark or a laugh at their bickering. eventually the conversation drowns out and your eyes begin to drift closed, and the only thing you can hear is the muffled conversation and the roaring fire. the only thing you can feel is the scratch and tug of barty's fingers at the hair near the nape of your neck, and the worshipping, barely-there drag of evan's palms against your ankles.

across from you, regulus watches evan pause the delicate attention on your ankles to pull the blanket draped over the back of the couch over your unmoving figure, and barty pulls the blanket to cover your shoulders that shiver underneath your thin pyjamas. the moment lasted only seconds, before his sister’s lovers return their gaze to him to quietly continue their playful banter in the glow of the fire.

[lexithwrites]

@bartylusmicrofic — prompt: hurt

TW for injury detail!

His cigarette was nearly burnt down to his fingers, but Barty took one last drag of it as he sat against the cold, scratchy brick wall of the club. Every muscle in his body ached, but his knuckles, nose and ribs were throbbing the most. He sniffed then immediately winced—not broken but close, it could have been worse. He flicked the cigarette away and licked his busted lip, tasting metal, then glanced up at headlights.

Shit.

The drivers side opened once the car was parked and Barty squinted in the light to see a figure silhouetted before him. He looked like an angel, but then again he always did, and Barty smiled.

“My knight in shining armour,” he grunted whilst getting to his feet, “come to rescue the damsel?”

“Come to get the idiot, more like.” Regulus huffed, but wrapped an arm around Barty’s waist to stabilise him. “Come on, let’s go.” Barty held back more winces as they walked, then slid into the passenger side of Regulus’ sleek, way too fancy for his grubby clothes, black car. When Regulus joined him, and the noise from the club died, he took in a deep breathe. “Reggie—“

“Don’t.” He mumbled, and put the car into gear to pull away. The drive was silent, Barty making occasionally grunts whenever they hit a bump. Regulus didn’t look at him once which wasn’t a good sign. But then again, it was 3:30 am on a Saturday, surely he had better things to do than pick Barty’s ass up off the curb after a bar fight?

Or he didn’t, since he actually came and picked him up.

“Are you mad?” Barty asked, looking at the blurry lights outside as it started to rain. Regulus switched on the windshield wipers and scoffed.

“Am I mad.” He shook his head. “You got into a fight, again.”

“Was well fuckin’ deserved.” He nearly growled and Regulus gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I don’t hit people for no reason.”

“Anymore. And let me guess, I know exactly who it is?” Regulus gave him a look and Barty felt like shrinking into the leather seat. “Jesus, Barty.”

“He was talking shit so I shut him up.” Barty replied, touching his lip again. He didn’t want to get blood in Regulus’ car, he’d never be able to afford the cleaning bill.

“I don’t care what he says, you can’t hit people.” Regulus spat. “It’s…it’s childish.”

“You didn’t hear what he was sayin’.” Barty grumbled and looked at his hands, flexing the muscle and watching the bruises stretch across his skin. Well deserved.

There was another long silence before he heard Regulus exhale. “What did he say?”

“You really want to know?”

“I want to know why you hit him.” Barty looked at him for a while before sniffing. “Was it about me?”

“Yes.” Regulus shook his head. “He said…he called you easy. An easy lay that bitched and moaned and—“

“Okay, I get it.” Regulus cut him off and Barty felt a pang of guilt hit him. “Did you win, at least?”

That made Barty smile. “Why do you think I was outside and he wasn’t? The cunt went straight to hospital.” Regulus didn’t smile exactly, but Barty saw the edge of his lip curl just a little. Approval. His chest bloomed. “I’m sorry, Reg. He never deserved you.”

“I don’t want to talk about him. Not anymore, not ever.” Regulus turned a corner and they were driving into his apartment complex, slotting into the allocated space and parking. Barty was ready to have a long, hot shower after that. “You can stay tonight but just…don’t bleed on the carpet.” And Regulus got out.

His apartment was immaculate. Minimalistic but still every inch Regulus with the art on the walls, the comfortable weighted blankets, the bar cart that displayed the fancy glasses he rarely used around guests, and the Lego display by his sofa. Barty took his boots off and put them on the little shoe rack next to the door, right next to Regulus’, and followed him like a sad puppy into the bathroom. This was even cleaner than the living room, and smelt of fresh linen and cherry blossom. Barty could live in his bathroom and be happy, it was nicer than his whole flat.

“Sit on the toilet, I’ll get the first aid kit.” Regulus instructed and Barty did as he was told, all lanky legs and arms as he waited patiently for Regulus to patch him up.

He’d done this before, only once, when someone had tried to touch Regulus in a club a few months back. He’d seen red and then ‘woke up’ in the back of a taxi with Pandora stroking his hair and Dorcas muttering something about him being a ‘crazy fucking idiot’. He had smiled and passed out again. He later learned that he did win the fight but Regulus was furious at him. The patching up that night had been pretty heavy handed in Barty’s opinion.

“You’re my own personal nurse, now. Nurse Black. Do you have a hot costume somewhere?”

“In your dreams, maybe. A nurse is so tacky.” Regulus smiled properly this time and Barty felt relieved. Not as mad as last time, which was good. “Lift your head.” Barty jumped when Regulus was suddenly right in front of him but he did as he was asked, looking up at him as Regulus ever so gently cleaned his wounds. Barty didn’t even flinch, he was too focused on Regulus’ thin, delicate fingers on his cheek to notice the burn of the alcohol wipe on his cut. “I wish you didn’t start fights.”

“I know.” Barty replied quietly, never taking his eyes off of him. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re an idiot.” Regulus told him.

“I know.” Barty breathed, feeling his busted lip being tugged but not caring. He was so close, so fucking close it made him ache. Barty swallowed, adams apple bobbing, and Regulus paused. Almost hesitantly, he kneeled down and Barty felt the air leave his lungs in an instant.

“I hate seeing you hurt.” Regulus looked up at him, eyes sad and doe like. Sincere. “I really do.”

“I’m not hurt anymore.” Barty shook his head. “And you’re worth getting hurt for.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I mean it.” Barty frowned. “I’d punch a thousand drunk twats, start a million bar fights, if it meant I could protect your name. Protect you.” Regulus’ lashes fluttered, and Barty did something stupid. Or brave. He cupped his cheek with his dirty, bruised, bloody hand. Regulus closed his eyes and nuzzled his palm, and Barty fell in love all over again.

He was ten, looking at the new boy in school shyly introduce himself. Black curls, grey eyes, skin so pale it was almost transparent, but he had so many little freckles across his nose and cheek—constellations. That was the first of many times Barty fell in love with Regulus.

And now, touching him, he felt it again.

“I’d probably do the same for you.” Regulus whispered and Barty blinked himself back.

“I wouldn’t let you.”

“I’m not fragile.” Regulus touched his knee and Barty almost jumped.

“You bruise easy.”

“So do you.” Regulus seemed to have moved closer because suddenly their faces were only inches apart. “That’s the second ex of mine that you’ve punched, Barty.”

“Hopefully I’ll never have another one to punch.” That hung in the air for a while; hopeful, a suggestion, a question. Regulus slowly smiled.

“Hopefully.” Their noses brushed and Regulus sighed, warm, minty breath hitting Barty’s lips. “Have I ever told you that you look sexy after a fight?” He whispered and Barty grinned.

“No. You think so?” Regulus just nodded. “Good to know.”

“No more fights.” Regulus touched his cheek this time, and Barty leaned into it. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Because I still hate blood.”

“Even mine?” Barty pushed forward so their lips brushed, and he felt Regulus shiver. Forgive me, Lord. I’m going to ruin this man and he’ll ruin me.

“Maybe not yours.” The kiss was slow but deep, burning hot and desperate. Regulus was pulled against Barty’s chest and his hands went to the sides of his neck, tangling in his hair as he moaned. Barty’s arms were around his waist, one bruised hand grazing his hip and the other wandering up his back between his shoulder blades.

It had always been there, the tension, they’d just never acted on it. He’d seen the way Regulus would look at him sometimes, when he thought Barty was too distracted, and it set Barty alight. He looked hungry, whenever he looked at Barty. Starving.

Even though they didn’t care about breathing right now, they pulled back for air and panted together. Barty chuckled a little, voice low. “If I shower, can we share the bed?”

“You’d be showering whether you were beaten up or not.” Regulus poked his chest. “Get in, I’ll put out towels. Just…hurry up.” He kissed him quicker this time, but it was just as sweet. Regulus stood over him, and when Barty met his gaze his hand drifted under his chin to tilt it up. Just a light touch, but it held more power than anything Barty had ever felt before.

“Anything you want.” Barty promised, and he meant it.

[luizd3ad]

Amnesia | Regulus Black x Reader

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ࣪˖⤷ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ࣪ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ˖ ⤷

Pairing: Regulus Black x GN!Reader

WC: 666

CW: Angst, talks of break up, not being able to move on, all through Regulus POV, no use of Y/N

Author's Note: honestly I only wrote this bc I wanted to wright something inspired by 5SOS 😭

Summary: Regulus is still dealing with the effects of your break up over a year later.

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“It's over, Regulus. I can't do this anymore. You don't talk to me anymore, I'm done.”

Your words play over and over in his head, on a constant loop. 

He remembers the day you left, the tears streaming down your face. The look of pure defeat. He felt as if he had broken a part of you and it killed him.

He doesn't know why he did it still, why he started to shut down with you. He just felt like if he told you his thoughts that you'd eventually leave him. 

That you'd get tired of him and his anxieties, that maybe he would start to bore you.

He still doesn't understand why he thought that especially when you never said or did anything to make him think those things.

Even when you sat there cried and begged him for months to let you in, Regulus just couldn't. He didn't know why he was scared, you had been together for years. He didn't understand why all of the sudden he couldn't talk to you.

He looked around the flat that you had shared. He hasn't changed anything since you left. 

It had been over a year but he couldn't bring himself to move to a new flat or change anything about the space you both had occupied. 

Regulus liked having reminders that you were once there. The pictures of the two of you that still remain on the walls, along with some of the decor that you two had picked out. 

He likes looking at them, he likes feeling the loneliness that they brought him, it reminded him that you're real. 

Sirius would come over often trying to get him to go out to the pubs to ‘get out there’ and try and ‘move on’ but Regulus doesn't want to move on. 

He wants this last year to be a dream.

He wants to wake up and feel you in his arms, so he could just hold you and never let you go.

Regulus had asked Barty and Evan frequently how you are, if there's anything new in your life. 

But he stopped asking three months ago, after they told him you had moved on. That you had been on a few dates with someone and you had made it official. 

You were doing fine. 

How could you be fine? How could you be okay? You had loved him, right? If all the dreams and promises that you left behind were real then how could you be fine?

Especially when he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore without you.

He'd catch himself thinking about you and your new partner. 

He wondered if you were happy. If you ever felt lonely like him. If whenever you and your new partner got into fights would you read the poems and letters he had written for you over the years. 

Do you even have them still? Or are they like your relationship with him? Gone.

Regulus liked thinking about the last kiss you had shared. How soft and beautiful it was.

He missed the way that it felt like you consumed him when you kissed. How he could only smell, taste and feel you. 

When you would kiss, nothing else mattered. There was nothing else, nobody else on this plant, in this universe, time would stop when you were together.

Regulus was pulled out of his thoughts when there was a knock on the door. 

He sighed and stood up figuring it was either Sirius or Barty coming to check on him so he didn't care how he looked. 

He probably needed to shave and get a haircut. He was still in his pajamas even though it was the middle of the day but he just could bring himself to really care.

Regulus opened the door and when he saw who it was he felt like all the air had left his lungs and he wished he had cared what he looked like a second ago.

“Hi, Reg.”

₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚*

Lie to me (alt sad ending)

Lover of mine (alt happy ending)

[floralflorence]

POV: the Cubs and Reg are stuck in what's known as 'the talking stage' - that promptly comes to an end when their eyes get drawn to a black piercing on Reg's tongue.

''Hey, sorry for just showing up, I just- I don't know. Figured I'd come over 'cause, you know, I've been busy the past few days...which you do already know because I texted you and told you. Um,'' Reg let out a bashful laugh when Logan simply looked back at him with a soft smile while he chatted aimlessly. ''I'm rambling again, sorry.''

Taking a small step closer to him, Lo pushed up onto his toes slightly to brush a soft kiss to his cheek.

'''S alright, it's cute.'' Logan dropped back onto flat feet and leaned back a bit. ''And you didn't just show up, you called first.'' A lopsided grin spread across Reg's face as he shuffled into the Cubs' place when Lo stepped back and held the door open for him to slip through. ''Loves, Regie's here,'' Lo yelled out into the rest of the house.

Within the few seconds that Reg spent toeing off his shoes, Leo and Finn had both appeared, beelining towards him.

''Hi, darlin', glad you came,'' Leo pressed a kiss to the top of his head, pulling him into a quick hug as he did.

''Yeah?'' Reg smiled up at him.

'''Course we are, we missed you,'' Finn agreed, kissing the arch of his cheekbone.

As the four headed to the living room, Reg kept his eyes trained on the floor to hide his flush.

''I saw you like five days ago and we texted," his voice was quiet and shy but still discernible.

"Exactly, far too long without seeing you," Logan said matter-of-factly.

They all crowded onto the huge L-shaped sofa that was the staple of their living room - Leo leaned back into the corner, Finn flopped on his back against the arm facing where Lo was sat leaning up Leo's side. Reg perched himself timidly in the space made between Finn's outstretched legs and Logan.

Sitting up slightly, Finn hooked his ankles on either side of Reg's hips and tugged him towards him in one quick movement. With a slight yell that faded off into a laugh that joined the other's, Reg relented and leaned his back against Finn's chest when he was prompted to, relaxing into Finn's hold.

''This okay?'' Finn whispered into his ear.

Reg grinned, hiding in Finn's neck slightly, nosing the skin softly there.

'''S more than okay.''

The dark blush spread down from Finn's ears and cheeks to his neck as he huffed out a shy laugh - ''good, that's good.''

Chattering mindlessly between themselves for a while, Logan rose and headed to the kitchen, coming back with a bag of sour sweets, plonking back into his comfy spot tucked under Leo's arm. He held the open bag out to Finn and Reg after Leo had grabbed a few - Finn stole a small handful but Reg didn't.

''Can't eat 'em.''

''You're allergic?'' Leo asked with a confused look - he'd asked Reg for any and all allergies when he first cooked dinner for him; apart from his deep hatred for sweet potatoes, he hadn't mentioned any.

Shaking his head, Reg explained wordlessly by sticking his tongue out, showing the ball of black metal resting against it. He giggled lightly at their simultaneous raised eyebrows and caught the tip of his tongue behind his teeth, showing the matching ball on the other side.

''Not supposed to eat acid-y things while it's still healing. You're lucky I was running around this week, when I first got it done I looked like a puffer fish.''

Finn snorted at the image before asking further.

''You're not allowed spicy food either right?''

''Yeah, that's off the table for a week or so. How'd you know that?''

''I was thinking about getting one in college, didn't obviously but I thought about it.''

''You'd suit a lip piercing, you know,'' Reg tilted his head to the side to look up at Finn.

''You think?'' Finn grinned down at him brightly.

Reg hummed softly, eyes tracing over his face, ignoring the soft flush spreading over his freckles once again.

''You'd never be able to leave the house though,'' Lo mused, chucking another sweet into his mouth.

''Oh yeah, why not?'' Finn smirked at Logan.

''Well, it's either keep you in the house or we have to fend off all the people throwing themselves at you.''

Finn threw his head back and laughed loudly, Logan matching him by giggling as he chewed.

''What else aren't you allowed?'' Leo asked, interested.

''Spicy, sour, anything overly salty 'cause it'll irritate it or something, oral sex isn't encouraged-'' Reg listed off the things that the lady had told him.

Leo tutted exaggeratedly with a faux-disappointed tilt of his head.

''There goes the evening plans.''

Reg broke out into giggles, resisting the urge to hide behind his hands.

''I'll write you an IOU for when it's healed.''

''Careful, I'll hold you to that, love.'' When Reg shyly made eye contact with him, Leo shot him an endearing smile and winked, chuckling when Reg blushed fiercely.

With gentle, cautious fingers, Finn's hand had crept it's way up the side of his arm and shoulder to comb through the soft strands of his hair at the side of his head. Reg chewed the inside of his cheek as a thought popped to mind, debating with himself if it was a good idea or just an idea. After a residual excuse of something between the lines of 'fuck it' and 'don't be a wuss', he decided to follow his brother's advice and just be bold for once.

"You know, they never said anything about restrictions on kisses though."

The hand in his hair trailed down so Finn's knuckles lightly skimmed across his cheek; Reg unconsciously leaning into the touch before turning his head towards Finn behind him once again. Chin tucked over Reg's shoulder, Finn was still taller than him, making him have to look up at him slightly through his lashes as he lightly bumped the tips of their noses together, thumb now tracing small patterns across his cheekbone.

"They didn't huh?"

Reg hummed negatively, eyes never moving from the gaze Finn held with him.

A shuddering breath ran across Reg's lips, prompting goosebumps to trail across his entire body.

"Can I kiss you, honey?"

"Yes, please," Reg mumbled lowly, not able to force his voice any higher or louder than that. Finn tilted his head to the side a bit before just barely parting his lips, leaning in to kiss Reg with his hand still resting against his cheek. At this point, Reg's head was pretty much leaned back to rest against Finn's shoulder, making him have to both lean in and down until their lips brushed together in a soft kiss. He let it linger for a second before flicking his eyes up to scan Reg's face, looking for any signs of discomfort, relieved to not find any.

Leaning in once more, both himself and Reg actively pressed their lips together firmly, Finn's bottom lip slipping between Reg's as his hand came up to rest against the side of Finn's neck, thumb against the hard line of his jaw. They kissed languidly for a few moments before pulling away slowly, Reg's teeth just catching Finn's bottom lip ever so slightly as they did. Reg pressed his lips together for a second as if willing the tingling sensation to go away so he could feel it again, feel the press of Finn's lips against his own, his tongue darting for a second to tease the flesh of his lip.

Only now noticing all three sets of eyes on him, he let out a shy laugh and rested his forehead against the side of Finn's neck, hiding himself for a moment. He sat back up properly after a second, willing his blush to fade but not caring about it as much as he usually would.

There was a soft sound as Finn smacked his lips together, licking them with slightly furrowed brows.

"You taste like honey," was all he said but it was enough to break the silence that had fallen.

"Lip balm is a wondrous creation, I know," Reg chuckled.

"You know I do love honey," Lo said with a wistful sigh, dramatically turning his head to the side slightly to stare out the open living room window.

Snorting at his theatrics, Reg just held a hand out to him.

Logan shuffled over to him on his knees, taking his hand in his.

Rising up onto his own knees so they were face-to-face, Reg smiled softly at him.

"Hi."

Lo laughed quietly.

"Hey." He leaned to brush a soft kiss to the tip of his cupid's bow. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Non, I want to."

With that, Lo's arms slid around his waist, tugging him closer to their knees were pressed against each other. Reg's hand came to fall naturally on Logan's body: one resting on his bicep, the other reaching to cup his cheek. Lo leaned in first, capturing Reg's lips in his in a gentle, slow kiss that gradually turned deep when Reg tilted his head further to the side. A soft noise came from low in Reg's throat when his bottom lip was sucked into Lo's mouth, his teeth just scraping along the surface. Their foreheads rested together when they pulled away, both breathing distinctly heavier than usual.

With a soft smile spreading across his face, Reg mumbled into the millimetres of space between their lips.

"Solid nine out of ten."

There was an offended scoff before Logan bumped their noses together and replied.

"I am a ten out of ten kisser, I'll have you know."

Reg brought one shoulder up in a non-committal shrug.

"There's always room for improvement."

"My kisses must have made you delusional, only explanation for this level of blasphemy."

Laughing brightly, Reg leaned back slightly and placed a chaste peck to his lips.

"Mhm, that's definitely it."

Leo appeared at their side.

"Gonna get a drink, anyone want anything?"

After three negatives, he pressed a kiss to the top of Reg's head and made his way into the kitchen. With one last brush of a kiss against Logan's cheek, Reg rose and followed him. Hearing the patter of his feet against the kitchen tile, Leo turned and smiled at him.

"Change your mind, darlin'?"

When Reg hummed affirmatively, he walked over to the fridge, opening it to look at what they had.

"What d'you want? OJ, apple, some... weird banana thing?" he mumbled as he grabbed a bottle of what looked like a milkshake and read the bottle with furrowed brows.

"A kiss?" Reg walked up to Leo's back, hands coming to rest on his hips as he pressed a kiss to the base of Leo's shoulder blade that was level with his lips. Placing the bottle back into the door of the fridge after a moment's pause, Leo swung the door shut and turned to face him. Wrapping his arms around his waist now, Reg leaned his head back to look up at Leo's face.

Bringing a hand up to lightly grip Reg's chin, Leo's thumb skimmed along the plush expanse of his bottom lip.

"You sure?" Leo's voice was a gentle, lulling rumble.

Reg hummed with a soft nod.

"Please?" he added with a smile, grinning fully when Leo let out a soft laugh. Leo's thumb tugged his bottom lip down slightly, parting them as he leaned down and brushed their lips together, pressing a soft kiss to just the bottom lip. The kiss made a soft sound as Leo's lips parted from Reg's before he leaned in again almost instantly. After a few deep yet oh so gentle kisses, Reg breathed in sharply when Leo's tongue reached to tease against his own. Leo froze and went to move away, stopped by Reg's hand moving from his waist to reach up and wrap around the back of his neck, keeping him where he was. He flicked his tongue gently against Leo's.

Both getting more comfortable, Reg dragged his tongue along Leo's, now on his tiptoes to get closer even as Leo bent down and stabilised him with a palm pressed to the base of his spine. A deep, rumbling groan stretched across Leo's chest when the ball of Reg's piercing rolled against his tongue. After a few more soft kisses, Reg slid back down to stand flat on the floor, panting and flushed - Leo wasn't much better.

After a moment or two, Leo spoke in a rough yet soft voice.

"You really do taste like honey."

Laughing softly, Reg leaned forward to rest his forehead against Leo's chest, eyes closing when a fluttering kiss was pressed to the crown of his hair.

[stardusthuntress]

EnigmaTech - Ch. 4

My Tech Lives AU! (see prior chapters for summary)

Chapter 4 - A New Perspective

Tech x female!reader (pronouns only)

Word count: ~8.3k 

Chapter Summary: Picking up right where we left off, the lost 3 and the regs now freed from that creep, Hemlock, are in need of a chance to heal. And, as Tech would say, the human body is fascinating, and especially puzzling when driven by the emotion center instead of the logic center.

Also, Tech may or may not end up shirtless at one point! Kinda needs a warning of it's own, hehe! <3 I recommend referring to the following fan art pieces by @amorfista (here and here) and @lightspringrain (1; 2; 3) and @bruh-myguy-what (here) and so many more, but these were the ones that have been on my mind lately!!! <3 love you guys!!!

TW: mentions of Tech's injuries again. I'm not a fan of the way shows show a character getting injured and then in the next episode they're fine. It's just so unrealistic. So, Tech is gonna be recovering for another chapter or two beyond this. It won't be gruesome tho. No descriptions of grossness. Just mentions of where Tech's mods are.

A/N: I am not a medic, nor do I know a damn thing about medical treatment! Nothing gross. Nothing angsty. A touch of jealosy, but that's it. Tech figuring out what the fuck it means to flirt. Reader's callsign still used intermittently.

It's been so long since I've added to this story! I've been so busy. Lift took a turn I did not expect, but I think it's actually gonna be a good change! Just needed some time to figure out what to do with the curveball. I've had most of this chapter pretty much ready to go for a while tho, so it's time to release this to the world! Doing my best to getting back into writing these, I miss writing so much!

Tech dividers: @/djarrex

“Tech, let’s give those meds a few more minutes under observation to bring your system back to a somewhat normal level before we do anything else, just to make sure you’re stable. Okay?” Spitfire checks in with her patient. 

“Yes. That is an excellent idea. I will inform you if I perceive any changes in my current state of being. Perhaps it will provide adequate time for my brothers to receive medical attention as well?” 

“Certainly,” she nods, beckoning Wrecker over. “Wreck, the left shoulder?!? Again???!!! Your poor left shoulder, Big Guy! That’s at least the third time you’ve taken a hit to your left shoulder since the Empire became a thing!” 

“Tech told me once that it’s better that it’s my left rather than my right because I’m right handed.” Wrecker’s voice is quiet. 

Spitfire sighs, “He’s correct there, but either way, less hits to any of you at all would be ideal. Let’s get you patched up, Big Guy.” 

“Awwww, no I hate medical stuff. Do we have to?” 

“Yes, we want it to heal. It will be over before you know it. Tech and Crosshair are getting patched up too. I won’t do anything that might hurt if I don’t have to, I promise.” She pats his arm, trying to reassure the large man with touch as well as words. 

Tech didn’t remember seeing Wrecker take a hit to his shoulder, but he’s glad someone noticed. 

She has finally managed to sit Wrecker down and has started rummaging through the med pack Echo got out to use on Tech and Cross. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Wrecker fretting. 

“You remind me of another trooper I once worked with, Big Guy,” she starts, “I was working with the 104th at the time. The man’s name was Numbskull.” 

“Hah! how’d he get a name like that?” Wrecker asks. The room is quiet, all the men listening to her voice in an attempt to keep their minds off of the horrors they found within the walls of Hemlock’s facility. 

“By doing the same thing you do, Goofball! He took so many hits to his shoulder that he eventually lost all the feeling in his arm.” 

“His whole arm?” Wrecker seems stuck somewhere between amusement and worry. 

“Mmhmm. After enough hits to the pressure points and the spaces between the gaps in his armour, he said all he felt was a tingling in the back of his skull when the doc tried the good old pinch test.” 

“Where you pinch his arm to see if he can still feel it?” Once Wrecker started trying to think his way through the story, his worry began to fade.

“Exactly, all he felt was a little tingle in the base of his skull. And then eventually he lost all the feeling in his arm completely. But he could still use the arm like normal, he just couldn’t feel it.” 

“That doesn’t sound so bad. I’d rather not feel any pain.” Wrecker’s shoulders relax. 

Tech and Echo laughed, exchanging glances beside her, as she continued her work on Wrecker. The idea isn’t so bad to them either, a numb Wrecker would certainly be a lot easier to deal with during medical exams, thats for sure. 

She smiled. Her story was working, distracting and calming not just Wrecker, but all the boys, while she patched them up, but she was only getting started. 

“There was this one day where Numbskull was fighting a battle down a seppie hallway. The boys had managed to take out the main power generator, so the whole base was running on backup power. Now, this base was enormous! Definitely ended up a lot bigger than the Seppies intended it to be. So much so, that the entire base was really struggling to function on backup power. Doors would only half open and then get stuck, and blast doors could easily be pried back open without much effort. Battle was going surprisingly well. Turned out they were trying to empty the base anyway, probably because it got too big and was only good as a diversion anymore, so it was just a skeleton crew there. And Numbskull’s squad was one of the ones assigned to work their way through the hallways and clear out any droids they found.” 

She pauses to glance around the room at their faces to see if they want to hear the story before continuing, “Just his luck, Numbskull managed to find a room chock full of fully functional B1’s. Now, Numbskull liked to wield 2 blasters, one in each hand, like Tech over here.” 

Tech smiles, surprised she was aware since he had clearly not been doing that during today’s escape. 

“Numbskull’s preferred tactic was to plant himself in the middle of the driods and extend his arms in a T-pose so he could take down droids on either side at the same time, or so he claimed.” She demonstrated with her body: holding a pretend blaster in each hand, one outstretched on either side of her, pointing 180 degrees away from each other. “He thought that was the most fun way to take the droids down. After a while it kinda became his signature move.” 

By this point, all the men are engaged in the story, various expressions of amusement on their faces and in their stance and posture, not paying much attention to the medical checkups she and Echo were conducting. Even Omega was listening from Hunter’s lap, and Hunter seemed relieved that she was so entrenched in the story and was getting a little of her mojo back. She’d grown rather quiet since their return to the ship. Meanwhile Hunter conducted a discrete medical scan of his little girl with one hand while the other comfortingly petted her hair. 

“I was working with the Commander in the control room when the call came in. Numbskull’s squad had managed to draw the B1’s into the hallway, and Numbskull planted himself right in the middle of all the droids and pulled his signature move,” She’s laughing a bit as she tells the story. “The men were laughing so hard they could barely call it in. Turns out, Numbskull hadn’t noticed the blast doors closing, he’d been so focused on one blaster, he forgot to look back over his other shoulder at his numb arm too. You know how the blast doors close in a spiral so the last spot to close up is right in the center? Well, by the time he remembered to look at his other hand, his numb hand, his arm was stuck. The blast doors had closed around his wrist. It was a good thing the whole base was only functioning on low power, or it would have just taken his whole hand clean off and he wouldn’t have noticed a thing. In the end, he was fine, just some minor bruising. That was the day his squad knew they’d picked the right name for him.” 

Wrecker howled with laughter, and the rest of the room wasn’t far behind. 

“You should have seen the Commander’s face when the squad finally stopped laughing enough to tell him what had happened and that Numbskull was stuck and in need of an extraction.” 

Echo paused, halfway through a procedure for Crosshair, earning a glare from his patient as he turned towards the woman, “Wait, did you say you were working with the 104th?” 

“Yup!” She confirmed. 

“That was the Wolffepack?!” Echo’s disbelief echoes in the small room. 

“Yup!” she was laughing too. “So you know how Wolffe never smiles, and definitely never laughs?” 

“Yeah…?” Echo’s disbelief has turned to skepticism, but it’s quickly fading, she knows too much about Wolffe for this to be completely made up. 

“That was the closest that man has ever come to a laugh that I have ever witnessed. He could not believe the dumb shit his men had gotten into. He just stood there looking pained and staring into a corner for a second (though I think he was focusing all his effort on not laughing), before snorting in annoyance (or laugh that broke through his composure) and leaving the room. He told us later he had to ‘borrow Master Plo’s saber to get Numbskull out’. The control room was still on a holo-call with them when the second bout of uncontrollable laughter that came through the comms a few minutes later turned out to be the squad’s reaction to the way Wolffe just walked in and stood there, glaring at Numbskull’s arm for a solid minute, muttering something about ‘my circus, my monkeys’ and ‘definitely my idiots’ before he ignited the saber and took the doors outta commission.” 

Wrecker laughed again, loud and proud, and clearly relaxed. 

“All done, Big Guy!” she patted Wrecker’s uninjured shoulder, and he got up and walked to the cockpit. Omega jumped up and went with him, Hunter’s favorite soft blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders.  

Tech looked around the room. Spitfire had clearly done that to relax more than just Wrecker. His whole family (Omega was right) had clearly enjoyed the story. 

Echo declared Crosshair done, and he stood to leave the room. He’d been so tortured, he wasn’t exactly up for walking on his own yet, and she let him put a hand on her shoulder for balance. She discretely helped him up and passed him off to Hunter who was standing at the ready for him. But before Crosshair let go of her shoulder, he gave it a quick squeeze of thanks, and a barely noticeable nod. He too had appreciated the distraction. 

Echo joins her as they begin a scan of Tech’s injuries. 

Still laughing softly to himself Echo shook his head in disbelief, “I still can’t believe that’s a Wolffepack story,” he snorted, pinching his nose. “Does Rex know this one?” 

“Na. Never found the time to tell him. And somehow I don’t see Wolffe ever wanting to tell him that one either. But I sure hope he learns the story someday!” She had moved to helping Echo patch up Tech. 

Tech notices how easily she and Echo converse, not to mention the indicators of a shared history that seems to go back to Echo’s 501st days. Tech wishes he had something like that to help him figure out what to say to this brilliant Mandalorian woman. Tech lets his mind drift a bit as they continue their tests and scans, realizing this is only the second time in his life he’s felt this way about someone. 

Eye’s still glazed over, he begins to subconsciously turn towards the woman whenever she says something, but hardly reacts at all to anything Echo says. 

“Uhh,” Echo looks over at her, “I think this part will go a lot faster with two hands.” He holds out the next patch Tech will need. 

She smiles and takes it, “You don’t need my help, but since you’d rather I do this, I will.” She laughs, which makes Echo smile back. He always did love the sound of her laughter. 

Echo smirked, glanced between her and Tech, and left the room. 

Tech felt his own logic replaced by a sudden bashfulness, his mind nearly as blurry as his vision, but this time he gets the feeling the haze in his mind is from emotions rather than an unstable body in an environment designed to keep it off kilter. But he realizes her story was meant as more than just a way to calm them all down. She also liked it when her actions and words had many meanings, much like he did. She’d just given him a conversation starter. 

“Thank you,” he muttered, unable to look at her as she finished patching him up. “For calming down the whole… family with a story. You’ve no idea how much they needed that. Wrecker can be quite the handful during medical exams.” 

She laughs and nods, “Oh, I know.” 

It’s not long before they arrive at the medical facility. 

Medics determine that whether or not Tech needs a replacement eye is TBD, he needs to heal a bit first and they need to run a few more tests. So they send him back to his family and the Marauder. 

In the meantime, they are quite overwhelmed removing the chips from the hundreds of clones now roaming the hidden medical facility. To help process them all, Rex volunteers those who have previously had their chips removed and the Mandalorian to aid the processing. 

Naturally, she volunteers to help as much as she can. They assign her to work with Echo to monitor Tech’s state of health, and give her rotations of state of health checks for the other new rescues before and after chip removal, usually during Tech’s more intensive medical checkups with a real doctor. 

This also means she needs to be more familiar with the specifics of Tech’s injuries. Back on the Marauder, she, Tech, and Echo set about constructing more detailed notes about every new mod now adorning Tech. 

“I’m going to need you to take off your shirt for the next part so I can see the mods the medics mentioned on your torso, maybe add some fresh bacta and replace the bandages, you know the drill,” 

Tech obliges without question. It is a logical request, she is only doing her job and intends to help him to the best of her ability as he adjusts to life with his newly modified body. 

However, he finds himself sitting on the hem of his shirt. So, to make it easier, he simply stands up to take it off. 

She turns back around, having just traded out instruments in her hands, doesn’t realize that he stood up to remove his shirt, and nearly faceplants into his bare chest. 

Not that she’s complaining. 

She does everything she can to NOT visibly react beyond simple and expected surprise, but boy is that hard! Tech is ripped. The man has very chiseled muscles. Clearly, Wrecker and Hunter weren’t the only ones hitting the gym frequently. It made sense, they are military men after all. Being in good shape was a logical choice for war. Getting a lot of exercise was a given anyways, and was common amongst the battle-hardened Mandalorians she was used to as well. But somehow, all that had slipped her mind, until Tech took off the tops of his blacks, that is. 

She blushed and hoped her little inhale when she turned around and came face to face with his chest wasn’t audible. She does her best to concentrate on her work, but it’s hard given how attractive and intelligent this man is. 

Wrecker grins at Echo from the doorway. Her reaction wasn’t lost on him. 

Echo takes this as their cue to excuse themselves and return to the others in the cockpit. 

“Oop, sorry! Didn’t realize you stood up!” Is all she says. Fortunately, without his goggles, it wasn’t likely that Tech would notice if her cheeks were heating up. Unless he touched her face, which he had no reason to do, so nothing to worry about, right? 

“Ah, my apologies. You switched out tools more quickly than I anticipated,” Tech tried to look down at the blurry shape he knew was her. 

To verify that the medbay station has not shifted - since it’s not like he can just look at the wheels to see if it is locked in place - Tech turns slightly and leans to place a hand on the medbay station he had been seated at. 

Realizing only too late that she’s still in his personal space, she quickly attempts to shuffle back to a reasonable distance for two new acquaintances, only to find herself dodging his shoulder as he turns to place a hand on the pad. 

Tech freezes when his shoulder brushes past soft hair. He can hear her shuffling around quite close. “Oh, forgive me, I should have warned you I needed to locate my seat, so that you knew not to start yet. Now that I am once again seated, you may begin.” 

How sweet of him to assume she was simply eager to continue on with the state of health check. Of course that’s all it was. She tried to convince herself she had not just gotten distracted by his abs. 

Thankfully, Echo and Wrecker had returned to the cockpit with everyone else, so no one was there to witness the full extent of her embarrassment. As such, there’s nothing much that can be done except to plow on though the medical exams, so that’s what she does. 

Her hands are, once again, cold. So, she rubs them together in an attempt to warm them up before she begins. 

“I take it your extremities are usually cold?” Tech inquires. 

“Yeah, sorry. Not so great when I’m acting as a medic instead of a warrior.” Tech notes that this is the first time her voice has sounded a little shy. 

Following the sounds of her, he reaches out for her hands, and takes them in his. 

His touch is gentle, soft. Surprised that he reached for her hand at all, she is shocked into silence. 

“That hardly qualifies as cold. You may begin, if you are ready,” Tech states. 

“You know it will feel colder on the skin that is usually hidden beneath your blacks and your armor,” she points out, partially on autopilot, still trying to process the face that Tech just took her hands in his and that he just gave her permission to touch him. 

“Yes. I am prepared,” Tech assures her. 

“Alright, here goes,” she shrugs off her feelings as best as she can. 

Gentle fingers examine the lines between machine and man, searching for bruises and tender spots in the hopes that the internal damage is minimal and was well patched up. 

Tech is amazed by how gentle this woman’s touch is. There are moments when he is barely even aware that her fingers still rest on him. 

And he quite likes having her hands on his chest and arms. He’s never enjoyed touch so much, nor had he ever liked touch directly on his skin so much before. In fact, he usually didn’t like it. He’d been trained to wear blacks and gloves whenever he did anything - building things, warfare, even when typing. He didn’t like things on his skin. His blacks provided a welcome barrier between him and the strange textures of the world around him. 

Hunter had often placed a hand on his shoulder, and he’d noticed Captain Rex did the same. Even during medical assessments, the Kaminoans only touched the clones if it was absolutely necessary. Clone medics were a different story, many used touch to reassure stressed and pained brothers, but Echo, the medic of the 99th, knew Tech didn’t like touch. 

Wrecker’s touch often annoyed him though. Wrecker often forgot how strong he was, and roughhousing wasn’t uncommon around him. Tech didn’t like it when Wrecker would shove his shoulder, but Wrecker meant well, so Tech didn’t say anything about it anymore. 

But then she had touched him. And it was like she had known he was repulsed by, and unfamiliar with touch, so she kept her touches as light and barely-there as possible. As she works on a panel on his shoulder, her palm rests on his pec. 

Tech quietly revels in it, resisting the urge to place his hand upon hers and hold it there flat against his chest for a moment. Was this why Wrecker and Hunter liked touch? No, it couldn’t be. Her touch was not like any other being Tech had ever come into contact with, pun intended. She was special, but he barely knew anything about her. He could barely even see her… and though physical attraction had never been important to Tech before, he found himself aching just to know her face. It hadn’t helped that Echo had made a point to describe her as cute when he introduced her to Crosshair. He wondered what Echo considered cute… if only he could see, then he might understand the comment. 

Fixated on his ability to see, or rather lack thereof, Tech’s mind begins to spiral. He’s so used to being able to see the world around him, and so much of what he does depends on it, a few hours of blindness felt like an eternity. 

Much of what Tech did depended on his ability to see, but now he’s going to have to learn alternatives just to live. 

He can get a walking stick, or a guide massiff, though it’s not likely Hunter will allow the latter. They don’t need one more mouth to feed. Normally, he would just build a robotic one, but he can’t safely construct anything if he can’t see what he is doing. Gonky could help a bit as a proxy guide-massif, but there is a lot he can’t do, and he’s slow, Tech needed fast. 

Speaking of speed, would he ever be able to run again? It’s hard to move quickly if you aren’t aware of your environment. He wouldn’t be much help on missions if he can’t move quickly… and he definitely wouldn’t be able to fight with just his hearing to rely on. 

Now Tech wished he had the force. He’d heard tell of Jedi who learned to see through the force, but that wasn’t in the cards for a mere clone. The Kaminoans seemed certain that the ability to wield the force could not be cloned, and as far as Tech was aware there was no reason NOT to trust their knowledge there. After all, cloning was their expertise. 

As she continues with the health check, she notices his demeanor falling again - he’s so used to being able to see the world around him. 

In an effort to both cheer him up and bring in their other resident expert in modifications to living beings, she calls Echo back into the room. As it stands, they do have a lot of similar mods now. She asks Echo a few questions about various attachments now adorning Tech as they run diagnostics and make sure everything is interfacing with Tech’s own body in ways that won’t do more damage than good. 

As they work, they place Tech’s fingers on each mod so he can “see” it, warning him of buttons and asking questions about what he can control. 

“Echo, does this data port look familiar to you?” She is working on a mod behind Tech’s ear at the base of his skull. 

Tech lifts his hand from his lap “Show me.” 

She obliges and gently places his fingers on the port. Meanwhile her fingers drift off the metal and settle ever so gently on Tech’s own skin, remaining near the piece she is working on. 

Tech twitches. 

She quickly pulls her hand away. “Sorry, I know my hands got cold again.” 

“It is quite alright, I was simply not expecting it,” Tech just hopes she misses the blush on his cheeks. He’s doing everything he can to keep his heart rate down too. He’d quite enjoyed her touch actually. Gentle and soft, despite the well-calloused fingers from years of working on wiring and machinery and armor. 

But it wasn’t just that. Tech was learning all sorts of things about the human body he had never even considered before today. One of which, is that there seems to be an erogenous zone just beneath the ear. Right where her fingers had so gently brushed. The softness of her touch had sent a spark through his veins and a shiver down his spine. Truth be told, that was why Tech had flinched, not the temperature of her hands. But he needed more data, not to mention time, in order to prove whether it was simply the long-lasting effect of whatever drugs Hemlock had used on Tech, before he even came close to admitting the real reason why to anyone. 

Unbenounced to Tech, Echo had noticed. Echo knew knew what it looked like when Tech flinched when he was startled. And the way Tech has straightened up instead of shifting away like he usually did looked a hell of a lot more like an aroused shiver to him. So a mind like Tech’s could be aroused after all. But Echo also needed solid proof before he’d believe it. And he was standing next to a very attractive woman. Afterall, the man was a Domino. So, naturally, there was one way to get more information quickly. He would flirt with her as the conversation continued, and watch Tech’s reaction. 

“I wish I could see the port,” Tech’s voice is quiet, “I cannot quite tell what it is with just touch.” 

“Yeah, it’s quite a small port and it’s recessed into the panel a bit.” Echo answers, no hint of mischief in his tone. Fives and Rex hadn’t nicknamed him ‘silver tongue’ for nothing. 

“Hmm, I swear I’ve seen a cable with that end on it around here somewhere…” Her thought trails off as she looks around. “Any chance you remember where we should look to find a plethora of cables we could try, Tech?” 

“If I could see my surroundings, I could probably think of the many places I keep assorted cables, but I do not know how things have been reorganized or shifted around since I was last on the ship…” Tech’s voice trails off with a sigh. 

The room falls quiet for a moment. Tech can hear them rummaging around. He never thought losing the ability to see would affect him so much. In fact, he never really thought about losing his sight at all. His mind was not made to process emotions well, in point of fact it was made with the intent of avoiding the cumbersome ordeal of emotions so that logic would drive him in stressful situations. But even the Kaminoans couldn’t remove all the human pieces, so Tech still had emotions… he slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hung his head. 

Just a glimpse would be all he would need. He hadn’t realized just how dependent on sight his life was. No matter what happened, whether they were able to get him a prosthetic eye, like Wreckers, or whether they could not, he would make a point of learning how to cope in a world where he could not see, just in case. But for now, he was living in a world of VERY blurry shapes. He sighed heavily. 

“I know,” her voice piped up from right beside Tech. He hadn’t realized she was still right next to him. He turned towards her, though it wasn’t like he could SEE her. He suppressed another sigh. And felt a light touch rest on his shoulder where a soft, very familiar material was draped over his arm; his blacks. He reached up for his shirt and she placed it in his hand. 

“I know. It’s hard to lose a sense that you had previously depended on so much. We will find a way to get some of your sight back. We can also find other ways so you don’t have to feel so dependent on seeing the world around you, if that would help?” 

Tech nodded, “Thank you,” he replied quietly, placing a hand over hers on his shoulder. “And, for the record, your hands are not that cold.” 

“Oh,” her voice took on a teasing tone, “so they are a little cold, huh?” She nudged him with the hint of a laugh in the air between them. 

He let out a little chuckle too. Tech found himself unknowingly leaning into her touch a bit. He couldn’t see, but he could feel - touch as well as emotions. He’d learned that much from his interactions today. 

But the happiness on his features quickly faded, the weight of his current predicament too great to allow simple distractions to last for long. 

“Maybe you don’t need to see it or touch it to figure this out. What do you feel?” Her voice dragged his wandering mind back to the real world. 

“WhAt?” Tech’s heart raced. Had she already figured out he liked her touch? Had he been that obvious? Internally, Tech went into panic mode. Externally, he did his best to keep his cool, like he always did. 

“Can you access the port and tell us what kind of data it is programmed to receive?” She asked. 

“Ah, excellent idea,” he replied, cool and nonchalant. Of course that was what she had meant, Tech’s panic subsided. He put his shirt back on and took a moment to search for the device driver in his operating system. 

“It seems to be set up to take in all media types: text files, binary files, audio and video files, a wide variety of map files, anything a typical datapad can handle.” 

“WAIT!” Her voice was laced with a revelation. 

Tech jumped at the excitement in her voice, and he could hear Echo stop his rummaging. He had likely stopped to turn and look at her. 

“What is it, Gorgeous?” A teasing smirk graced Echo’s features as he looks at her, watching Tech in his peripheral vision, knowing full well Tech can’t see the look on his face, “another useful factoid on the tip of your tongue?” 

She laughed. Tech wished he could tell if she had also smiled at Echo or not. She likely had. It was a fairly common reaction when someone was flir—Wait! Was Echo flirting with her? Tech found himself getting angry. Illogical, he barely knew her! But he did like her touch, as well as her demeanor, not to mention her wit! She was kind, gentle, and had so far proven to be his equal in mind. She had, as Hunter described it, been the one to sift through Tech’s notes and make sense of them, and figured out he was still alive. He felt like he owed her his life as much as he owed it to his brothers. 

And yet the way Echo had called her ‘gorgeous’, and the ease with which they communicated in half-formed sentences while searching the room, as well as the shared experiences implied by the story earlier, would suggest they had known each other for quite a while. 

We’re they partners? And if so, in what sense of the word? Had he finally found his equal in mind, the kind of person he’d finally allowed himself to dream of having as a partner, only to discover that her heart had already been given away to someone else? Tech desperately hoped that was not the case. Though, if it was, Echo was a lucky man indeed. 

Tech was lost in his thoughts, his mind racing away in a split second, missing that he had not hidden the pinch of his brow when Echo called her ‘Gorgeous’. Echo took it to mean that Tech was upset that he couldn’t even see her face. 

“Video files! Tech! You brilliant man! You already solved it!” She exclaimed. 

“Pardon?” Tech was confused. He wasn’t holding anything. He hadn’t been fiddling with anything had he? 

“Where are the goggles?” He could hear her excitedly shuffling around him. 

“Goggles won't do much, I’d need ey—“ he stopped, realizing exactly where she was going with this. “My recording device! Do you think you could make it into a prosthetic eye? I could provide instructions, if need be.” 

“First, let’s just see if this is gonna work. Ah HA! Here they are! Echo, do you remember where we put the cable for them?” 

“Yeah. That I kept safe. It’s over here,” Echo’s footsteps walked past Tech, towards Echo’s special spot where he kept his important belongings. So that much had stayed constant during Tech’s leave of absence. 

“Okay,” she started, again at Tech’s side. “I repaired your recording device, and Echo made sure there’s no trace of the Empire’s meddling left on it. So, in theory, all we have to do is plug it in. Tell me if something doesn’t feel right, and we will unplug immediately and start a diagnostic. Okay?” 

“Excellent,” Tech replied. “However, if anything goes wrong, I suggest you have a mild sedative on hand to knock me out, and a set of cuffs ready just in case the Empire tries to take my mind back.” 

She sighed, Tech felt a new touch on his shoulder. Definitely her touch, but not like a touch he’d felt before. Echo could be heard retrieving the necessary preparations in the background, while Tech sorted out this new feeling. Then her hair brushed his bicep. She was resting her forehead on his shoulder! She laughed quietly. 

“You really do think of everything don’t you?” She’d said it quietly, so quietly it was likely that Echo couldn't hear exactly what she had said. 

“It is wise to be prepared,” Tech could feel his finger rising to accentuate his point, automatically. 

“Yes, but I seriously hope we don’t have to use them,” she muttered quietly, to him alone.  

“As do I,” He agreed. 

Echo returned with the cable and Tech’s suggested in-case-of’s. 

Tech sat there, waiting. Nervousness painting his features. He might be able to see again, momentarily! And if he did, would it be enough to make him useful again until he could teach himself alternative methods? Would it be enough to allow him to continue to participate in their chaotic lifestyle? Questions danced around his mind. But he took a deep breath and refocused himself on the here and now, on the senses he could still use. 

He could tell that she now stood side-by-side with Echo. Echo in front of Tech, while she returned to her post at Tech’s side. He tilted his head to give her better access to the data port there. 

“Let me take the remaining fragments out of the lenses. Maker, why didn’t we do that ages ago? Why did we let this sit here with shards of transparisteel in it?” She muttered. 

Tech noted that she seemed nervous too, though he was not sure why. He could hear the pieces entering the waste receptacle as she removed them one by one. Tech waited patiently, doing his best not to tap his foot. He needed to stim, but he didn’t want it to come across as impatience. 

“It’s okay if you need to stim, Tech,” she must have noticed what he was doing. “I understand this is a big moment, if you need to move to process it, don’t stop on my account.” 

Tech let a small smile cross his features, as he let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you,” he said to the floor. He took a deep breath to let his nerves around her out - it was actually sort of helpful that he couldn't see her yet, it became significantly easier to let go when he was only vaguely aware of her presence - and allowed his foot to resume its rhythmic tapping. 

“Alright, you ready?” She asked. 

Tech nodded. “Ready when you are.”

“I’m going to put your goggles on you first, over the bandages.They’re gonna be very loose though, we don’t need it creating more injuries while these heal. You adjust them as needed so it feels comfortable, then when you’re ready, I’ll plug it in. I don’t know how it’s going to interface with your operating system, but I bet Echo can give you some tips on that if he hasn’t already. He’s standing right in front of you so he will be the first thing you see. Okay?” 

“Understood.” Tech held as still as he could, his anticipation palpable. 

“Here goes. Goggles going on…” 

He felt the band slip over his head, and reached up to adjust it as she had suggested. His fingers brushed over hers. He felt that new spark again, racing from the point of contact between their hands to his core. But right now he was too excited to see again. He pushed the spark to the side, hoping he would have time to focus on that later. 

“Ready to receive data,” he told her, closing his one good eye to avoid the juxtaposition of one blurry and one clear image confusing his brain. 

“Plugging in… there.” 

She and Echo watched the red light on the side of Tech’s goggles blink to life, and then go a steady red. 

Tech remained still for a moment. 

She and Echo exchanged hopeful glances. 

Then, Tech’s brows rose and his chin lifted, pointing the camera up, towards Echo’s face. 

“Hello, Echo,” Tech chirped, relieved to have some sight to work with again. Though this new perspective - from the side of his face - would take some getting used to. 

For the first time in a while, Echo smiled. “Hello Tech! Good to have you back, ol’ buddy!” 

Tech looked slowly down at his lap, and raised his hands, getting adjusted to the side-shifted perspective. 

Next to Tech, she giggled. “Oh you brilliant mind, you!” And she pressed a quick kiss to Tech’s temple. 

As heat rose to the surface of Tech’s cheeks, he was suddenly struck by the fact that he still hadn’t seen her face. He didn’t know why that made him nervous though. 

Echo laughed. Her surprise kiss to Tech had caught even him off guard. 

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t even think about it, I just did it. Was that okay? I’m sorry if I overstepped!” She babbled. 

Tech opened his mouth to answer, but found his mind vacant of any coherent sentences. It was all he could do to try to refocus on his surroundings to ground himself once again. 

So he focused on Echo, who was still standing in front of him. It had been a while since Tech had seen Echo laugh like this. And their reactions would clearly indicate that Echo and Spitfire were clearly not ‘together’ as his brothers would say. But the nerves quickly took over Tech’s mind again as he realized she had withdrawn her touch from him while she waited for his answer. He did his best to reacquire his ability to speak. 

“It is quite alright. I do not mind,” Tech replied. Odds were, he was not hiding the warmth in his face now. He had completely lost control of it. Oh well, at least it was appropriate in such a situation. And it gave him an excuse to look at her. 

Slowly, so that his new perspective wouldn’t make his stomach spin like his head currently was from her kiss, he turned to look at her, hoping his naturally emotionless exterior would swoop in and save him from further embarrassment. 

But it seemed his subconscious wanted to make him suffer today. It took extra effort to hide his reaction. Echo was right. She was gorgeous. Tech had known she was smart, at least as intelligent as he was if he had to wager a guess. He was well aware that he liked the gentleness of her touch. And he had known that she had a pretty voice, and an even prettier laugh. But she was also very physically attractive. Especially with the flustered expression currently adorning her face as she bit her lip and looked nervously at him. 

Once again, Tech didn’t have words, he just looked at her. He didn’t know what he expected, all he knew was that her natural beauty threw him off guard. 

Beside them, Echo was trying to contain his laughter; though admittedly, he wasn’t trying that hard. 

“Brother, you’re staring,” Echo chortled, shaking Tech’s shoulder to snap him out of it. 

Tech started and snapped his gaze back to Echo. Too fast. He could feel the nausea rising in his gut. He tried to close his eyes and then remembered his real eye was closed and this new ‘eye’ didn’t have eyelids. He got the feeling his face was likely draining of color. 

“You okay?” Concern laced her voice. 

“Unplug,” Tech managed, swallowing hard, “please.” 

She hurriedly unplugged the device. “What’s up, everything okay?” 

Tech sat still and breathed for a moment. Well, all things considered, it does make sense that a new point of view would be disorienting. However, since they had decided so quickly to try this, it was not an outcome he had yet thought through. 

One more swallow and a long deep breath and he was ready to speak again. “Yes. Thank you for unplugging quickly. The point of view of my recording device is a little too far to one side. I moved too quickly, and became disoriented and slightly nauseous.” 

Next to Tech, Echo was not even bothering to hold in his laughter anymore. 

Hunter appeared in the doorway, the laughter having drawn his attention from the cockpit, as Echo piped up, “Of all the things I thought might happen when we got out your goggles, ‘Tech getting distracted by a beautiful woman, and then allowing his own jumpiness to make himself sick’ was certainly not on the list.” He laughed harder, “I can’t wait to tell Rex this story.” Now Hunter was laughing too. 

Tech’s cheeks blazed with heat. 

“Are you sure it wasn’t the fact that I’m NOT actually attractive that made him sick, Echo?” 

The room fell silent. 

“WHAT!” Hunter and Echo’s voices suddenly filled the ship’s hold, reverberating off the durasteel walls. 

“Why would you think that?” Hunter asked. 

“Don’t coddle me Hunter, I’m used to it.” 

Hunter and Echo sat there fishing for words like fish out of water. Their mouths opened and closed, but no sound came out. 

Tech could hear only silence in answer. That was not okay. Why weren’t his brother’s saying something? No matter, Tech would do his best to remedy the issue. 

“Then allow me to put your concerns to rest,” Tech butted in, “For I AM certain that it was my startled reaction to Echo bringing me out of my reverie. I was indeed distracted by your beauty. I have rarely ever encountered an individual of your caliber. I must admit, while the first thing I noticed about you was your voice, it was your mind that truly caught my attention. But now that I have seen your face, I can confirm that you are indeed quite a stunning woman as well.” 

She spluttered for a moment, struggling to find words of any sort. “I… well… umm……… thank you, Tech. That’s… that’s very sweet of you.” She rested her hand on his shoulder again, and this time Tech happily reached up and placed his over hers. 

“He’s right, you know. I don’t call just anyone Gorgeous,” Echo flirted. Tech could hear Echo moving towards her, and desperately wished he could see what they were doing. But wait, that could work! Though he didn’t quite know why he was so desperate to keep Echo from flirting with her - was this jealousy? All he knew was that he was going to act on it regardless. 

“Will you, um,” Tech pointed to the side of his head. “I would like to see the rest of my brothers now,” he finished while she reconnected the cord. “We will have to find ways to do this differently in the future, but for now, at least I am not totally in the dark.” 

Off to the side now, Echo chuckled quietly to himself. So he had been proven right. Tech was already quite taken with her. 

“I’ll go get the others then,” Echo volunteered to give them a moment to themselves, already heading towards the cockpit. 

Tech sat still for a moment, and she watched the light blink and go steady again. And then Tech’s hand reached to the side, towards her. She knew he could not see her where she was standing, but it surprised her when he found her hand and gently pulled her in front of him, so he could look up at her again. 

“Yes.” Tech said, eyes wide. “You are indeed quite attractive, My Dear. Now, if only I could quantify that for you to prove it.” He smirked, “perhaps I can, though it will take time and deliberation to develop a good system. You are not something that can be taken lightly.” 

The surprise on her face pleased him. But his emotions were becoming very confusing for his analytical mind. He felt a rush at having so successfully complimented her on his first try. But he also felt nervous that he wouldn’t be able to best that compliment. And he felt ‘screwed’ as Wrecker would describe it… there was no way to avoid falling for this woman. But somehow, knowing that he was fated to fall for her was… thrilling? Emotions were complicated… and not at all logical… and so rarely ever came one at a time anymore. but alas, those were issues for later, he reminded himself again. Right now, he wanted to see his brothers, and sister! 

“My Dear,” he practically purred, he could see Hunter raising his eyebrows at him in the doorway behind her, “Would you help me to stand up slowly so that I can look my brothers in the eye when I greet them?” 

“You might want to wait on that one,” Hunter was now leaning against the wall just outside the main room, looking over his shoulder towards the copilot's seat as a blur of blonde dashed out ahead of Wrecker, Echo, and Crosshair. 

The woman stepped aside as the blonde dart zipped in for a hug. 

“Tech! I still can’t believe you’re alive!” Her voice was muffled as she refused to raise her head from his chest to speak. “Echo said you can sorta see now?” She uncurled herself from his chest and backed up so she could see his face. “Ooooh! Are you using the recording device on your goggles as your new eyes?” She asked. She seemed impressed. 

“Indeed. Good observation, Omega.” 

“COOL!” 

Tech couldn’t help but smile. Behind her, Hunter’s grin was the biggest of them all. Though Wrecker’s teary one might surpass that quickly. 

“Tech!” Wrecker blubbered from over Omega’s shoulder, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you outta the railcar fast enough. If I had, maybe you wouldn't be dealing with this now.” 

“Wrecker, there was nothing you could have done. But it does not matter. I am here now, and we are finding solutions, just like we always do.” Tech’s voice was matter of fact, as always, but in a way meant to reassure Wrecker. 

Wrecker’s tears subsided a bit, and he tilted his head to the side, realizing he was standing directly in front of Tech, but Tech’s new eye was off to one side. By tilting his head, he could more directly look his brother in the ‘eye’ so to speak. “Is it… like normal… or is it… offset?” He asked. 

His observation impressed Tech. 

“It is offset. So much so, that if I move too much or too quickly it will make me feel nauseated.” Tech explained. 

“So, no sudden movements?” Wrecker tucked his arms in, resisting the urge to hug his brother. 

“Correct.” 

“That’s why you were laughing earlier, right?” Hunter asked Echo. 

“Yeah,” Echo answered, taking the opportunity to fill Wrecker in, “he made himself woozy when I startled him because he got distracted by her.” Echo used his thumb to gesture at Spitfire. 

Wrecker smiled, and had been about to further Tech’s embarrassment when Crosshair stepped forward, and for a moment the room fell silent. 

“It does not look like they treated you well, Crosshair.” Tech observed. 

“You could say that,” Crosshair drawled.  

“I wish there was more I could have done to prevent that,” Tech spoke up again. “I was connected to the main system at the base, but it seems Hemlock did his research well, and learned what not to do from our mission to break Echo out of the Techno Union’s control. I suspect Spitfire already told you as much… In short, the effect on my end was that I could see you two, but I could do nothing to protect you.” 

Crosshair shrugged and looked away. He was surprised that Tech still wanted to protect him. After they all kept their blasters trained on him while he rescued Omega from the sinking wreckage on Kamino, he had thought he’d lost their trust forever. 

“However, I could access your record,” that earned a side eye from Crosshair as Tech continued. “I am sorry about Mayday. Though I am proud he was our brother too. I would have acted much the same as you, had I been there in your stead.” 

Crosshair retreated into himself, jaw clenched, but nodded subtly. 

The other’s exchanged glances, that name was new to them. Omega opened her mouth, questions on the tip of her tongue, but Hunter shook his head, and she fell silent, understanding that that meant that Crosshair was clearly not ready to talk about it. 

“Have you received the medical attention you need since returning to the ship?” Tech inquired. 

Crosshair nodded, doing his best not to show how grateful he was that Tech had diverted the topic at hand, but Tech’s observational nature noticed every detail. 

“Echo made me his nurse!” Wrecker chimed in. “Don’t feel bad waking me up for anything Cross, I’ve got ya!” 

Tech let a half smile sit on his lips. He was back home with his brothers and sister again. Everything was going to be okay. And there was a highly intelligent, highly attractive woman, whom he was willing to believe was flirting with him, if her sudden kiss to his temple earlier was anything to go off of.

Please don’t steal my work! I pour my heart into these so if you like it please reblog to share instead of reposting it!

taglist: @bambambunny @amorfista @originalcollectionartistry (I hope I got everyone, and if I messed up and added someone who wasn't supposed to be on the taglist, dm me and I'll fix it!)

[my-castles-crumbling]

hi cas, reg kin anon back

so, ive looked into it a little but i couldnt find any information online about whether my uni could offer free counselling/support when i get there, so its something i think ill just have to ask about once i actually get there.

which... is in three days. i move out on wednesday 11th, and its absolutely terrifying how soon that is. i feel so underprepared and i hate feeling like that because im the type of person to have multiple backup plans, i always check ahead of time about everything, i was that kid who used to make sure they knew everything they needed to if they got in a car accident or whatever. i was *prepared*, and now suddenly im moving out in three days and havent a clue what im doing.

its also so overwhelming trying to do anything. ive tried making lists to help but even that isnt working, and im so afraid i wont be prepared to go. i dont understand how anyone can be okay with anything anymore. i honestly cant believe i ever wished so badly to be an adult because its the most stressful, frustrating, and terrifying thing ever — and ive not even hit the tip of the iceberg yet, im well aware.

so far ive packed dry foods i bought beforehand (because ive no fucking clue where the food shops are where im moving, or how far they will be, or how easy itll be to trnasport shopping etc, so i figured it would be easier to bring anything i could so that id be set for a day or two at least), and thats about it. i cant pack clothes until the day before, and i cant pack toiletries until just before since ill still be using them, and im not packing all the stuff i bought in earlier asks (bedding, towels etc) until im packing clothes, because right now *theyre* all in my suitcase and theres no point taking them out and taking up more space with them until the clothes need to go in instead. i need to pack my plates and cups and such but i dont have any boxes and my father was supposed to get me some but hes done fuck all this past week and its really stressing me out.

is moving always this stressful or am i just overthinking everything? i feel like i never feel correctly about anything in life (ive had severe anxiety for longer than i can remember which really doesnt help) so i cant tell if im just being dramatic about it or if its actually normal to be so stressed about something that everyone does. would it be easier or more difficult without my mother's diagnosis? i dont know that she'd have helped much anyway, honestly, but still i cant help wondering. do people in normal families find it this difficult or is it calmer?

Hi!!!

Well by the time you read this you'll have moved!

Honestly, there's no real way to be completely prepared. You're gonna forget something, something will go wrong, and part of adulthood is just knowing that things go wrong and it's okay. It'll be okay, and you can figure it out, I promise.

Would it be easier if things were normal? Probably. But moving is still stressful no matter what. I promise you, everyone is stressed about this, and everyone is going to forget something and make mistakes. The most important thing is to find people to rely on, so when you make a mistake, you have people to help, you know? Adulthood is really just calling someone up and saying "I fucked up" and then as soon as you figure it out, someone calls you and says the same.

It'll be okay <3 I'm sending so much love.

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

sweet like the thunder on my tongue

pairing: willex

word count: 2786

tw for light swearing

It tumbles out of his mouth before he could even think about it: “But I don’t have any powers.”

Caleb smirks. “And who told you that?”

or, in which willie realizes his true strength.

taglist is in the reblogs, fic is under the cut!

—————

“Willie?”

The skater’s head pops up, cutting off the conversation he was having to look over at his boss.

“Can I see you for a moment? In my office?” Caleb gestures toward the stairwell.

Wordlessly, Willie follows him, only growing concerned when they walk right past the office and towards another room at the end of the hall which he’d never paid any mind to before. Was that door even there before? “Caleb, what’s going on?”

Caleb opened the door to the room and ushered him inside-- well, more shoved, but who is Willie to talk back to him right now-- while all Willie could do was look around and wait for Caleb to say something. The room was dark-- pitch black, actually, and he couldn’t see anything inside. He could now barely see his own hands, if not for the single hanging light above Caleb’s head as he stood in the hallway still, blocking the doorframe. With a wave of his fingers, Caleb pushed Willie down into some kind of, apparently, vantablack chair, metal clamps fastening around his wrists as soon as he reached the seat. Caleb leaned against the doorframe, seemingly inspecting his nails. “You’ve betrayed me, William.”

Willie steels himself, squeezing his eyelids shut, and replies, “I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His efforts to cover his tracks were pitiful, to be completely honest. He wasn’t sure how much energy he had left at that point; before he’d met the band— before he’d met Alex— he thought that the best thing about the afterlife was that he could do what he wanted for as long as he wanted, day in and day out, as long as he came back to the club to do the shows. But now, his entire perspective has been shaken up, and he’s honestly gotten sick of doing the same things every single day. Why should he go see the same sights he’s seen since 1983 when he could be screaming in a museum, or stealing an entire fucking bus, or anything that can actually make a connection between him and another person?

Except, now he can’t even do that anymore. His connections are gone. They all crossed over (except for Julie, who never saw him in the first place), and he was left to his own devices, again. Willie isn’t sure what else there is for him to do, and in all transparency, if he hasn’t figured out his unfinished business yet, he doubts he ever will. Caleb putting him out of his misery now would probably just save him a lot of trouble.

“Don’t be coy,” Caleb jabs at him, standing up straight. “After all I’ve done for you? I gave you a place to stay, food to eat, things to do, and this is how you repay me? You help my recruits escape?”

Willie sighs, the helplessness beginning to overwhelm him. “What does it matter, anyway? They’ve crossed over, you don’t have competition anymore, right?”

“William, the boys are still out there. And they’ve lost their stamps.” Willie freezes. They lost their stamps? Alex is alive— or, at least, as alive as he can be? “Regardless, I have never been worried about competition. Those boys have power, power that could rival my own. I can’t just have that out there in the world, where it could fall into the wrong hands, now, can I?” Caleb sneers, a sickenly sweet smirk on his face.

Furrowing his brows, Willie rushes out in reply, “They’re playing in a pop rock band, they’re practically harmless, what could they even—”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Caleb interrupts, his icy eyes boring into Willie’s own.

Willie shuts his mouth and swallows his nerves. And maybe his pride.

Caleb leans forward, his hands gripping the arms of the chair. “I can’t have anyone’s power rival my own. That would steal away my precious audience, my empire that I’ve built over the last hundred years. Every ghost in my club would otherwise be a threat to me, had they not signed away their powers when they sold me their souls. With their powers under my possession, I have full reign over any paranormal capabilities that this world could possibly hold.” He stands back up. “I’ve kept my enemies close, you could say.”

It tumbles out of his mouth before he could even think about it: “But I don’t have any powers.”

Caleb smirks. “And who told you that?”

Willie was looking right at him. He feels no need to answer, and even if he wanted to, his mouth is going dry and there’s a lump in his throat preventing him from doing anything other than remaining still.

“Don’t get your hopes up about the boys still being here, William,” Caleb says after a moment. “They won’t be when you get out.” He slams the door, leaving Willie in the room, with nothing but dark, dark, dark, alone.

***

“Alright, where’s our first stop?” Luke asks as Julie shrugs her backpack over her shoulder and takes a sip from her water bottle. She and the boys were walking down Sunset Boulevard, her with Airpods in so she could talk to the boys without getting odd looks from others. Julie was planning a sleepover with Flynn for the following night, and the boys jumped at the chance to help her run errands, since hanging out in the studio was getting a little boring.

“Can we stop for pizza? I know we can’t eat it, but at least I can smell it!” Reggie pleads, using his puppy dog eyes.

“Reg, that face only works on Luke and Alex. You can smell it tomorrow night when she’s over, yeah?” Julie jokes. “I was thinking—”

A dark, purple smoke appears in front of them, causing them to stumble and still themselves, the boys’ faces all paling once they realize who’s in front of them.

Caleb smiles, sickeningly sweet. “Hello, boys. And you must be Julie.”

***

He has powers.

Willie has powers, and he hadn’t known this entire fucking time.

This guy, who was supposed to be Willie’s mentor for the past, who knows, thirty-ish years now, who he had once looked up to, who had taken him in has his own, who had given him a way to keep track of time again, who somehow knew he had powers that he couldn’t manage on his own, did all of it for his own advantage. He used him to gain more power and control, while making Willie think he cared. Thirty fucking years.

Right now, he’s trapped in this room, yeah, but Willie feels more suffocated by the hurt and confusion surrounding him more than anything else. He can’t stand that Alex and the boys are probably out there right now, about to be destroyed by Caleb, because of him, again. He hates that nearly all of his afterlife has just been a giant fucking lie. And with these stupid new-but-not-really powers, he doesn’t even know where to start. So, he does what he knows best.

Willie screams.

He cries a bit too, but mostly he screams until his voice grows hoarse.

Ever since he passed away, he’s always loved the feeling that grows in his chest when he screams, knowing that he can just take up so much space without anyone (or at least, anyone important) hearing. It hurts sometimes, obviously, but really it just feels like lightning forming in his veins, sparking against his the walls of his skin, ready to burst through.

He doesn’t notice until he takes a gasp for air that this time, it actually has.

Willie gasps again, this time in shock. It’s a bright, brilliant green, wires of light darting across his fingertips and palms. He doesn’t know what to do with it.

Willie squeezes his eyes shut and makes two fists, willing the stinging of the lightning to go away by distracting himself with the stinging of his own fingernails. He realizes then that he’s created light, that he’s given himself a way out, so he reopens his hands and holds them out, looking for the door that Caleb had previously slammed. He spots it and moves to get up, almost forgetting about his arm braces. He curses under his breath, and begins to rack his brain for a way out of them, the green still dancing around his arms.

He screams again.

***

They’d been cornered into an alleyway, which was probably best for any bystander’s sanity, anyway, but it meant that they were trapped by Caleb. Again.

“What do you want with us?” Luke had asked when Caleb first appeared, walking in front of Julie with a guarding arm.

Caleb had sighed in reply, taking a step forward, “Oh, I’ve decided I don’t need you three anymore. You’re not of any use to me, not without your lifer by your side. Without a life source, you’re about as powerful as any other regular ghost. I just need her.”

Luke stood fully in front of Julie then, Reggie and Alex flanking him to protect her. “You will never get to her,” Alex had chimed in, ice in his tone.

“Bold statement from someone who still chooses to hide behind his friends.” Alex had looked down at his shoes in shame, face turning red. “Oh, don’t worry, we all know you’re not brave enough to take me on by yourself,” Caleb chuckled to himself. “Besides, you boys seem to have forgotten how powerful I am— or can we do without the reminder?” Caleb added, lifting his hand as a wisp of purple smoke curled around it.

Now, after putting up a decent fight, they stand against the building as dark purple webs tangle over them, effectively pinning them down. Julie strains against them as they burn into her skin, pointedly not looking at Caleb who is inches away. Caleb puts a finger to her chin, causing her to look into his eyes. Julie sucks on her teeth, willing herself not to cry any more than she already has. “Quite a shame that such talent, such heart has to go to waste,” Caleb says, before his hand begins to glow in a manner that Julie knows could only lead to her demise.

He’s interrupted, however, by a slew of car alarms going off. Caleb swivels his head to look over at the main road, now realizing that it’s… empty?

Almost moving to walk over, Caleb hesitates just enough for the webs’ strength to weaken, and the boys poof out of their hold. They immediately begin trying to pull the web of magic off of Julie, succeeding in doing so once they notice that Caleb’s attention is no longer on them. He’s in the road now, staring down the horizon line.

“He’s distracted now, let’s poof to the studio to buy some time,” Reggie says, but Luke quickly counters, “Julie can’t poof. We would have to go back down the road, anyway.”

While Luke and Reggie are trying to figure out what to do, Julie’s eyes stray over to Alex, who is now peering around the corner of the building, eyebrows furrowed. He suddenly runs over to the road, and Julie calls after him. The three run to catch up to Alex and stand in terror just a few feet behind Caleb, who is still seemingly frozen in place.

They feel it before they can see it.

The hair on their arms and the backs of their necks begin to stand on end, a quiet humming in the atmosphere causing an adrenaline rush kind of energy around them. The humming thrums into a pulse, concentrating around what Caleb must’ve been looking at; a sharp, sparking green light floating in the air down the road. It grows bigger and bigger, until a silhouette suddenly appears in its place, looking at the ground. “Hey, Caleb!”

Alex’s heart stops when he realizes who it is.

Willie looks up from the ground and begins to make his way over, thunderous step by thunderous step. His eyes shine fully in bright green, almost like the lightning inside of him was leaking out. He reaches forward and a beam of crackling light shoots forward, splitting and clasping itself around Caleb’s wrists in constraint. With rumbling intensity, Willie continues, “You lied to me. You’ve been lying to me my entire afterlife, pretending to care. Every time you stamped someone, you told me it was because they would be dangerous otherwise, that you were just ‘protecting the ghost world’, and then you turn and do it to my friends. You’ve hurt me, you’ve hurt the people I care about, and it doesn’t even matter to you. I don’t even want to know the number of other ghosts you’ve screwed over like you have us.” Willie heaves in a breath, his arm beginning to shake as Caleb tries to overpower him with his own powers. “I can’t let you do this anymore.”

Caleb grits through his teeth, “You don’t get much of a say, William, I own you.”

“Not anymore.” Willie screams again, causing the beam shooting out of his palm to reinforce itself, the sparks around Caleb’s wrists slowly crawling around his skin until it looked like his veins were filled with light. “You aren’t strong enough to beat me, William, I know you more than you know yourself. You can’t do this,” Caleb tries, but Willie just screams louder, drowning him out.

The screams nearly shake the air, causing Julie to lean on Luke for support, with Reggie resting a hand on her shoulder. Alex wants to reach out, to do something, but he knows there’s nothing he really can do to help. He knew Willie was one of a kind, it was obvious from every interaction they’d had up to that point, but he never expected him to be that powerful. It was terrifying, if he was being honest. And Alex didn’t want to be scared of him, especially while he was literally putting his life on the line for them, but it was almost as if Willie was losing control.

Wait.

A small, dwindling purple smoke emits from Caleb’s palms, encircling the cuffs on his wrists, and the green light inside of him dims. Willie is panting in between his screams, running out of energy. Inhaling sharply, Alex doesn’t think twice before bolting over to him, ignoring the protests from his friends.

Alex stands behind him and grips his hands onto Willie’s shoulders, focusing all of his energy into his fingertips, just like he had on that day in the museum. And, just like that day, he screams with Willie, hoping and praying to a god he no longer believes in that it helps, that it works.

It does.

The lightning bursts out at a rapid speed, nearly enveloping Caleb, almost as if it was tearing him apart, atom by atom. It grows brighter, and brighter, and brighter, until—

He’s gone. Small ashes lie in the spot where Caleb once stood, now dissipated into thin air.

Willie collapses to the ground in exhaustion and Alex grasps onto him, as if he’ll disappear himself if he lets go. After a brief moment, Willie takes a sharp breath, wincing in a burning, stinging type of pain, and lets out a breath of relief once it goes away. He knows exactly what that was, he could feel it; his soul was finally back in his body.

Willie looks down at his wrist. The familiar stamp from the Hollywood Ghost Club is still there, however it no longer has its signature purple sheen. It’s black and faded now, like a thirty-year-old tattoo he’s come to regret.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks, pulling away, his face the picture of worry. Willie notices then that Julie, Luke, and Reggie are knelt next to him, too, their own expressions almost as bad as Alex’s.

Willie smiles a sad smile. It’s a weak thing, but it’s genuine. “You’re still here.”

Recognition washes over Alex’s face, and he softly lifts his hand to Willie’s chin. “Of course I am. I told you, I’d follow you anywhere, yeah?”

Willie chuckles and ducks his head. “Yeah, well, somehow, you did.”

Alex lightly pulls on his chin so he can look him in the eye, a burning intensity present there that Willie hasn’t seen in, well, thirty years. “We can explain that later, okay? I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Willie does a small nod. “I will be.”

Alex pulls him back into a tight hug, and Willie sinks into his arms. He knows they’ll both ask questions later; all that matters right now is that they’re there, that they’ve got each other.

And now, they always will.

[sunjaesol]

28, 31, and 32 for Willex for the kiss prompts

KISS PROMPTS (closed) 28 + 31 +32. One person tracing the other’s lips with a fingertip until they can’t resist any longer, tilting their chin towards them for a kiss + Pulling away from a kiss, whispering words of love against each other’s lips + A kiss so passionate, so perfect - that after they part, neither person can open their eyes for a few moments afterwards

(canon)

If Willie’s afterlife wasn’t on the line, he’d be begging to be warped back to that dark room so he could cry and hyperventilate in peace. Alas, it was Willie and Alex was pretty sure he was sort of in love with the guy - crying was no option right now. Afterwards, whether there was a good or bad outcome, he’d cry. A lot.

The plan sounded easy. It did, because it was made up by Luke and Reggie (under supervision by Julie, but angels could only do so much) and their one track mind didn’t take the dozen things that could go wrong into account. 

Sneak into the HGC, challenge Caleb to a musical battle, find Willie while the diversion was happening, get out. They didn’t know how big the club truly was, they didn’t know if Willie was there, they didn’t know if he… (he couldn’t think like that) and, on top of that, they were taking a huge risk returning to the crime scene. 

That man was the Devil and he had managed to lure them right into his snake pit without breaking a sweat. It was terrifying. 

Alex wished he was like his brothers. They were scared, sure, but it didn’t cripple them to a numbing fear. His muscles were so tight, he could snap. 

Julie noticed though. As the boys were preparing their riffs, she sat beside him on the couch. She didn’t say anything, but having her there was enough. (And if she intentionally deepened her breathing, all rhythmic and soothing, she didn’t mention it and neither did he. It helped.)

“Alright, boys,” Luke called out, body kinetic and twitching with energy. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Reggie hollered, plucking a few snares on his bass to accompany Luke’s laugh. Julie squeezed Alex’ hand and then hoisted him up when he didn’t move. 

Shooting them all a stern look, she said: “Be careful, please. Please don’t… do anything stupid.”   

“Julie-”

“Luke, please,” she pressed, nodding at the blonde. “No impulsive moves. Not right now.”

The guitarist slowly nodded, eyes flicking from the girl to the nervous drummer and then back to her. It seemed to mellow him down a bit, Alex utterly grateful she had him wrapped around her finger. 

Luke’s following words were hollow in his head, echoing in and out as his chest clenched and twisted up in a splintering knot. He knew he should be focusing, knew it would do him good hearing the plan again, to have it fresh in his mind, but he simply couldn’t. 

He just wanted Willie back. He promised he’d follow him and he wasn’t ready for the intense guilt if he couldn’t fulfil that. 

“Okay,” Alex interrupted his friend’s spiel. “Let’s do it.”

Luke’s brows raised in surprise and nodded, Reggie holding out his hands for them to hold. Julie took a step back and pressed a brave smile on her face. If he had any space in his mind to check in on her, he would. 

The bassist bid her a cheery goodbye - always the best one at faking confidence - and then they poofed out. 

Reappearing in front of the club, they took a collective breath. Because they were previously affected by Caleb, its lingering powers gave them the skill to still teleport to the hidden location. It was a loophole, something he hoped would save their asses again and again, for as long as they were on earth. 

Their entire afterlife existence was one fucking loophole. (Stop stressing about it! Focus on Willie!)

(He could really scream in a museum right now.) 

“Reg and I are gonna sneak in, cause a riot-”

“Hell yeah.”

“-and play like motherfucking rockstars,” Luke continued, gaze pointedly fixed on Alex. “You can do it, Alex. You know him better than anyone, you’re gonna know where he is.”

“Yeah, bud,” added Reggie. “Just follow the scent of your sweet, sweet boy. Or skid marks. Whatever. Or-”

He raised his hand. “Yeah, okay,” a shuddering breath paused his words, “thanks, Reg.”

Everything went really fast and agonisingly slow at once. His heart quickened its pace with each passing second, to the point where he wasn’t sure he’d make it back out. His friends ran inside and started kicking down chairs and tables, interrupting the performance of the menacing Caleb.  

Meanwhile, Alex slipped by on the periphery of the club, skittish eyes trying to find doors and hallways and stairs - anywhere that wasn’t meant for the public. It felt like someone was chasing him, like Caleb was already going after him when the electrifying riffs of Luke were clearly audible and piercing through intrusive thoughts. 

Focus. Focus on Willie. Save Willie. 

Doors slammed open and close, all devoid of people or ghosts. Some rooms caused a chill down his spine at the sight of utter darkness, reminded of the twenty-five years he had hopelessly cried. 

Running up and down stairs, turning corners in winding hallways, endless and long and messy. He had no clue how he should go back, if he was cornering himself.

Alex froze. Was he falling into a trap? Had this been Caleb’s plan all along? Oh, God. He should go back. He should find his way back to daylight, not look back and move on. This was too much, too much for a seventeen year old to handle. He couldn’t… 

Frustration poured from his throat into an angry shout. No! He should do this! If Willie risked everything, if Willie got buses to disappear into the desert, if Willie tried protecting him over and over again-

Alex screamed again. Louder and louder and louder. 

And then he heard it. Faint. 

“Alex?”

His breath hitched in his throat. No way. No fucking way. Cautiously, his feet followed the sound of the voice. It sounded like the skater, but he couldn’t be completely sure until he saw his face. Who knew what other tricks Caleb had up his sleeve? 

He gulped. “Willie?”

“Alex!”

It came from another hallway, echoing and warped. Right as he was about to turn the corner, sensing a presence, his voice called out. 

“Wait! You can’t… you can’t look at me. If you do, I won’t be able to escape.”

Confusion riddled his thoughts. “The hell?”

Willie sighed. “It’s- Caleb put a curse on me. No one is allowed to look at me.” The voice came closer. Still warped, like it was disembodied. “You have to trust that I’m following you.”

“I don’t know my way back,” Alex cried out. 

“I’ll help, Hotdog,” he said, the blonde imagining that signature crooked smile pulling on his lips. “Turn around and don’t look back at me. I’ll be there.”

Oh, man. This was a horrible time to start trusting his gut. But if a spontaneous solo yelling match got him to find Willie, then he should try this too. Spinning on his heels, he waited ‘til he felt something, anything, to indicate he was there. It didn’t happen. Unsure if he should call out for him, he started the trek. 

The closer he came back to his starting point, the more he noticed how the music was dying out. No guitar or bass that shredded through walls, no jazzy scatting that overpowered it. There was noise, but no distinct sound could be picked out. It felt like a haunted house. 

All the while, Willie nudged him around the right corners and up the right stairs. Wordlessly, that was. Somehow, he could feel it. Felt his guidance, as if a thin thread looped around him tugged him forward. (Or maybe, he just had a lot of practising chasing him around that it was like muscle memory.) 

After a few minutes, his surroundings became familiar. The air became thicker, the lights brighter. He still didn’t feel anyone behind him. From the corner of his eye did he see Luke and Reggie sprinting out the club. Correction: the demolished club. They really weren’t playing when they said they’d cause a riot. Fucking hooligans. 

Running for the door, he didn’t think about Caleb capturing them or Willie’s lack of body or anything. All he wanted to do was hold Willie again. Hug him. Kiss him. 

The drummer jumped over the threshold into broad daylight, Luke and Reggie hollering in victory when he did. Alex was stiff though, waiting. Anticipating. Did he follow? Was he still there? 

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if I leave without his permission, Alex,” Willie suddenly croaked out. 

His eyes screwed tight, clenching his fists and jaw and holding his ground. “We’ll figure it out, Willie,” he spit. “Please.”

All of a sudden, the boy crashed into his back with a blasting force, nearly teetering them to the ground. Warm arms wrapped around him, fingers curling into the strap of his fanny pack and twisting his body. 

And there he was, with gleaming eyes and a beautiful smile: Willie. 

Alex scrambled back on his feet and lurched forward, snatching him into a tight embrace. Tears burst up at the feel of his skin and dark locks and- and he was here. He was safe.    

“What happened?” he whispered. “What did he do?”

“Put me in a harder curse to crack,” he mumbled, “but I knew you could do it, Hotdog.”

He laughed, the sound wet and choked, and gripped onto his shoulders. Pulling away, he still couldn’t believe he was here. His hands wandered to his face, unable to keep himself from tracing his forehead and jaw to make sure that he was here. To make sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Willie let him; a fond smile blooming. 

And when his nail went past his bottom lip, he stopped thinking entirely. 

Alex tilted his chin and as Willie’s smile grew, softly kissed him on the lips. He’s never kissed anyone before, but this seemed right. Willie was right. And man, did it feel good. 

Afraid of the overwhelming sensation - of the warmth and the lightness in his head and the beat of his heart that stuttered but in a good way - he pulled away, fingers still around his chin and noses brushing.  

An elated puff mingled with Willie’s breath. “Should I have told you first that I like you? Oh, shit. Should I have asked?”  

The boys behind him whooped and whistled. When he turned and told them to fuck off, they actually listened for once. Luke disappeared in a snap, Reggie following suit right after with a suggestive smirk and wink. Idiot. 

Hands snaked around his neck and swivelled him back to Willie’s grinning face. Before he could react, Willie pulled him down to his level and captured him into a searing kiss. His body moved on its own accord, coaxing them closer and deepening the kiss and allowing that avalanche of emotions to crash into him. These feelings were good. They weren’t supposed to scare him; this was good. Willie was good.     

Fuck it, he was perfect. 

It left him breathless and speechless, lips puckered in a daze and unable to open his eyes once Willie lessened his hold. Their foreheads pressed together instead, an enamoured smile twitching to explode in that goofy way he always mocked Luke for.  

“I like you too, Alex,” he whispered. “A lot.”

He opened his eyes and was met with his bright smile, his own slowly cracking open. Green peered into brown. He could stand here forever, but he knew the boys and Julie were waiting, knew Caleb was on the prowl somewhere. 

Their hands laced together. It didn’t take a lot for Alex to confidently smile at him. Right now, no anxiety could ruin his mood. Willie was here. Willie was safe. Willie liked him - a lot. 

“C’mon,” he said, “I wanna introduce you to someone.”

[flamingredanon]

Hello! I'm just now getting into to the whole sending in a request thing as I'm not he most social butterfly. But I'd like to see a situation where Henry and Reginald or whoever you want, is turned really small! Like the size of pencil or smaller. You can decide how they got themselves in a situation like that lol. its up to right hand man and Ellie to make sure they don't hurt themselves or get lost like the little rats they are now.

Maybe some snippets of how they go about their day? Sorry if this is long..

Got this idea from a YouTube short from the channel Rabbert. Thank you for reading!

Right and Ellie weren't sure what type of strange beam hit Reginald and Henry, but it seemed that once they got back to the Toppat Space Station, Reg and Henry looked as if they were smaller then normal. Reginald and Henry just shrugged it off and went into their rooms for a much needed nap.

When the two woke up however, they noticed the world was much bigger then they were. Reginald and Henry then ran into their first problem, how to even get down from their gigantic bed.

Reginald pulled the sheets to the side of the bed, making a small climbing surface to climb down from. After a few minutes, Henry and Reginald were on the floor and making their way to the door, only to realize that they can't reach the keypad to open the door.

Henry motioned over to the bedroom vent, and after a bit of tugging, the two of them got the vent cover off and soon were walking in the vents, needing to find Right and Ellie.

Reginald wasn't sure if it was because they were small now or that the Toppat Space Station felt huge, but he was sure they were lost.

Henry however had an idea, noting that they were near the Toppat Cafeteria. Henry figured that if someone sees them, they would fetch Right and Ellie, or screaming and possibly crush them. Henry hoped it was the former.

Reginald kicked off the cafeteria vent cover, and the two of them soon were dodging busy Toppat feet as they hope to find a person to climb and get their attention.

Henry spotted Sven's bright blue pants and soon Henry and Reginald were climbing Sven's pants legs, with Sven eventually looking down to see Reginald and Henry give him an awkward smile.

Sven scooped the two up and placed them on the table, before calling Right to look at the strange situation. Henry and Reginald had since raided Sven's plate, realizing that they were quite hungry with all the traveling down.

---

Soon Right had come and taken Henry and Reginald to his room, setting up a small area with blankets and covers for the two to stay at while Right called Dr V to figure out what the flying happened.

Reginald and Henry found the pillows to be almost like luxury beds due to their size, quickly falling asleep for a much needed nap.

Dr V just let Right know that beams like that were temporary, and that after a few days, Henry and Reginald would be normal sized.

While Reginald and Henry both hated taking "vacation days", being so small meant not being able to accomplish much work, so the two begrudgingly agreed to let Right and Ellie handle things, staying in Right's room for safety.

And just like Dr V said, Right and Henry woke up one day back to normal size, making sure to be more mindful of any strangeness on the battlefield so they wouldn't have to go through that again.

[captainderyn]

22. From the 101 ways to say I love you ♡

Thank you so much for the ask @elveny ! I was very excited to take on this prompt for Ryn and Garrus lol.

(This is cross posted on AO3 (CaptainDeryn) )

Prompt 22: "Let me fix your hair."

--

Ryn didn’t make a habit of looking fancy.

She already put in enough effort every day putting on her armor and dealing with the stress of one mission after another. In the off chance she got a day to relax, she wasn’t going to waste precious time and energy on looks.

If she could get away with sweatpants and a crop top, her hair thrown up into a messy bun, then she damn well would. It didn’t matter where she was going: if they could handle Commander Shepard in her armor, then they could handle her in these civvies.

Maybe, if others were lucky, she would put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Maybe a sweater if she was feeling crazy.

The rare exception she made was for Garrus. For him, and for their planned date with two full days of shore leave, she dug through her meager clothes she had with her on the Normandy to pull out something exceptional.

Garrus, she decided, as she wrestled herself into something far beyond what she usually considered acceptable for off-duty, was the luckiest of all aboard the Normandy.

Together they’d decided their date night was going to treat the other right. In reality, they’d both suggested the same upscale restaurant when they’d been brainstorming ideas. Supposedly it had the best view on the Citadel, and if Shepard gave away all the cards in her hand: she wanted the chance to see Garrus clean up nice without the stress of a formal gathering.

Of course, after some bickering back and forth about who was treating who right, they’d settled on splitting the check fifty-fifty. And most likely getting one of the food vendors on the lower levels, the real best food on the Citadel, as the night wore on.

Ryn made a face at herself in the mirror as she finished her eyeliner. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the chance to willingly put on a full face of makeup and her eyeliner showed it. If she wiped off her attempt one more time no amount of concealer would hide the red blotchiness that would stain her pale skin.

Good enough, she decided, doing one final inspection in the mirror.

A full face of makeup was probably a strong word. She was too rusty to do anything too exuberant and she hated hiding her freckles too much to cake on enough foundation to hide the realities of being an N7 and fighting a war on her skin.

She’d managed a smokey black and gold look to make the grey of her eyes pop and piercing and put on a dark red lip without too many makeup wipe casualties to fix mistakes, that was a win in her book.

There were, of course, a few bruises from their last mission to hide on her face from where she’d so elegantly cracked her helmet into a rock in a graceless throw from a biotic. They weren’t perfectly covered, but she hoped they would be good enough in the harsh lighting of the Citadel to avoid any questions.

The real struggle was figuring out what to do with her hair. Her go to hairstyles were down and messy, a messy bun, or a messy ponytail. The most refined thing she’d done with her hair over the last year since Saren was put it in a bun that fit Alliance marine regulations.

She’d spent far too long after her shower laying on her bed in a towel scrolling the extranet for inspiration. She’d finally settled on something she figured was within her rusty skill set.

As she’s taken a curling wand and elastic bands to her hair, she’d missed the days when she was in her twenties and going out every few nights, where her makeup and hairstyling skills had become second nature.

Now, at thirty-two with more combat tours than nights out under her belt recently, she was thrilled with the simple curled half up-half down look she pulled off.

She didn’t look too shabby, and she gave herself a confidence boosting smile and thumbs up.

All she had to do tonight was be a civilian.

She pulled her black heels on and called Garrus up to her quarters. It was better than roaming around the ship looking for him and dealing with the rabblerousing of her crew. While she’d gone through the attempted effort of painting her nails, another luxury she hadn’t had in a long time, she didn’t want to show them off by flipping off her crew.

It didn’t take long for Garrus to knock on her door, and she let him in, stepping back to admire him.

Blatantly so, not trying to hide the way her eyes roamed.

He did in fact, clean up quite nice.

Quite nice indeed.

She hummed in approval, eyes drifting over the well fitted trousers and dark navy shirt that hugged his body. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the shirt unbuttoned at his collar.

Garrus gave her a charming smile as he walked up to her, eyes also roving across her body in turn.

She would be lying if she said she hadn’t dressed to get a reaction. Where was the fun in wearing the same old business-formal black and red dress she wore for formal functions? The whole point of tonight was to be civilians.

And this dress certainly was not in regs.

While the dress was floor length, both sides were slit up to her hipbone, revealing a scandalous amount of her skin. The dress had sleeves yes, but the neckline dipped down to below her breasts.

And Ryn had spent far too long finagling the dress so that she wouldn’t accidentally reveal them to the public. The potential headlines had tormented her for the entire time she’d been getting ready. Not that Garrus needed to know that.

Garrus leaned down to kiss her, innocent enough, but his hands ran up her hips, catching at the slit fabric and pulling it up. He made a noise somewhere between excitement and surprise and pulled back enough to look at her again.

“Is this a human’s way of seducing?” he asked in amusement.

“Perhaps,” Ryn shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest to accentuate the lack of fabric there. Turians, of course, would not have the same reaction as humans to her show, but that didn’t matter. Too much confidence was coursing through her veins to really care. She was reveling too much in her own self-image to particularly care about his reaction. “Is it working?”

“Oh, there are multiple things about you right now that are working.” There was still a slight rumbling chuckle in Garrus’ words, and she shot him a look, “You want something.”

She contemplated and then gave him a wicked smile, “I want you to kiss me.”

Garrus’ hands curled more tightly around her hips. A small thrill went through her as he ducked his head, pausing just before their mouths met, “Do you?” his breath whispered across her skin and goosebumps prickled on her arms.

Breath catching, she licked her lower lip, “I really do.”

She reaped the energy that she sowed as her back connected with the cold glass of the wall length fish tank and Garrus’ mouth met hers in a fiery kiss. His hands pressed her back against the tank and a gleeful laugh broke from her between breaths at the thrill that went through her.

She draped her arms across his shoulders, her hands resting against the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

They could miss dinner; she really didn’t mind if they missed dinner.

A date night in was as much of a date night.

Garrus gave her one last long kiss and went to move back. Ryn caught him, her arms tightening around his shoulders, and yanked him right back for another kiss.

He laughed, the sound bright and merry in her ears before he wrestled himself away. When her grabby hands went for him again, he grabbed her wrists, and pinned them above her head.

From the sly grin he gave her, it was entirely intentional. Ryn squirmed against his grip.

“You are causing trouble.” His attempted sternness failed to meet its mark.

Ryn looked him up and down once, “Yeah.” she agreed. Then offered him a sweet smile, “You should join me in causing it.”

Garrus’ head dipped with a sigh that was more a breathy laugh and released her. He took a step towards the door and motioned for her to follow, giving a low chuckle as she stuck her lower lip out in a pout,

“We already have a reservation. At least let me treat you to food and drinks before I…treat you to other things.”

He made a face as he stumbled, as if he cringed at the words that slipped from his mouth. Ryn gave a bright, full bodied laugh and hooked her arm into his.

“We will treat each other.” she corrected, kissing his cheek. Without her heels she was nearly as tall as Garrus. Wearing them, she was just a smidge above eye-to-eye with him.

She led him out the door, tossing a coy glance over her shoulder, “Besides, I want to flaunt a little bit. Put aside being Commander Shepard for a while.”

Garrus tugged her to a stop just before she slipped through the doorway, pulling her back to face him. With a gentle touch he brushed away strands of red hair that had fallen across her forehead and reached up to tighten the ponytail that kept half her hair up.

“Stop squirming,” he chastised, “and let me fix your hair.”

“I’m excited.” Ryn complained, beaming up at him, “I can’t help it.”

Garrus shook his head at her with a laugh and slipped his hand into hers, finally leading her out the door and to the Normandy’s elevator. As the elevator shuttled them to the command deck, Garrus’ eyes didn’t leave her.

“You look stunning, Ryn.” he said, and she couldn’t help the blood that rushed to her cheeks.

*

The view from the topmost level of the restaurant might well be the best view on the Citadel, Ryn decided during dinner.

Their table was a simple, dark wood two-person table. Above them patio lights glimmered with warm light. It was beautiful, but the real awe began when she looked up.

From between the arms of the Citadel, space swirled above them. Stars blinked in massive swaths, dark black of far space and near space blending together like paint on an artist’s palette. It was mesmerizing and the same call to be among the stars that had drawn her to the Alliance tugged in her chest.

As beautiful as the view was, it couldn’t hold her attention for long. Garrus kept too much of it in the way the light caught in the planes of his face and the way his hand stayed on her thigh. In the way their conversation was easier than breathing and her laughter fell from her like renewing spring rain.

They dined on fancy food and fine drinks until the call of the night swept them up and brought them to the lower levels of the Citadel. Where they walked arm in arm, orders from one of the food trucks in their hands until they found a bench to sit on.

Where Ryn took off her heels and let out a sigh of relief as her aching feet thanked her. Garrus swept up her legs and set them across his lap, laughing along with her when she almost slipped off the bench.

Until the wild urges of the night took over and they were swept to their feet by the strings of music slipping from the restaurants and clubs all around them and danced in the courtyard. Not the sort of elegant dancing or the feral dancing of a club, but simply moving together and moving to the music.

Until their laughter created their own music and Garrus’ hands were cupping her face and hers were looped around his shoulders. Until he leaned in to kiss her and she leaned into it. Until his hands slid into their hair he had so carefully fixed and tousled it with his touch.

Until their unabashed joy underneath the whorls of stars became the best view on the Citadel.

[fruitcoops]

Heyy, if you're still taking prompts I'd love to read #4 & #10 from the Physical Affection list?🥰❤️

Thank you for suggesting this!! I haven’t written a holiday fic yet or much with the Lupin family, but they’re the absolute best. Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

Prompt 4: A hug after not seeing someone for a long time

Prompt 10: Lifting someone up out of excitement

“Do you see them yet?” Remus asked, standing on his tiptoes even though he was a good three inches taller than most of the airport patrons milling around.

Sirius laughed and squeezed his hand. “Stop it, you’re going to get a crick in your neck.”

Remus rolled his eyes and transitioned to tapping out a random rhythm on the back of Sirius’ hand. “I don’t know why I’m nervous. We turned the oven off, right? The dog is fine?”

“Hattie is safe with Reg and we haven’t used the oven in three days, sweetheart. There is nothing to worry about.” Despite his assurances, butterflies had been building in Sirius’ stomach since that morning; he was excited, but family situations still made him a little anxious.

Remus inhaled sharply. “I see them. They’re by the baggage claim, look.”

Sirius squinted through the throngs of people and followed Remus’ line of sight—sure enough, all three Lupins were watching the suitcases roll past. Julian was bouncing on his toes and tugging on Hope’s sleeve, Sirius noted with a small smile. “Are we going to go over or are we going to stand here until they see us?”

“Until they see us…” A wicked grin spread over Remus’ face. “I have an idea. Be very quiet, okay?”

Over the year and loose change they had been dating, Sirius had learned one undeniable rule: do not doubt Remus Lupin. He stayed very, very quiet as they slipped through the crowd toward the baggage claim.

Hope saw them first, her whole face lighting up. She went to wave to them, only for Remus to press his finger to his lips and point to Julian, who still had his back turned. Her mischief face was frighteningly similar to her oldest son’s as she looked back down and nodded along to whatever Julian was saying.

In two long, silent strides, Remus closed the final distance and grabbed his little brother around the waist, hefting him into the air. “Gotcha!”

Julian shrieked loud enough for several people to turn and look at them. “What the—Remus?!”

“Hey, buddy!” Remus swung him back and forth with a laugh, and the shout of surprise became uncontrollable giggles.

“You scared me!”

“Yeah, that was the whole point.” He was still laughing when he set Julian down, who immediately whirled around and punched him in the side before throwing himself back into his arms for a hug. “Woah, you’re getting big!”

“I missed you, Re,” he mumbled into his neck, squeezing tightly.

Remus’ face softened and he closed his eyes with a low hum. “I missed you too, Jules.”

“Mom said we couldn’t come to your games because I had homework but—hi, Sirius!” A huge smile split his face and he started squirming out of Remus’ hold, accidentally kneeing him in the thigh as he hit the ground again. In a flurry of motion, Sirius found himself with two arms full of an excited ten-year-old.

“Hey, Jules, how’ve you been?”

“You’re getting married?”

“Uh, yeah,” he laughed, glancing over at Remus, who was still rubbing his thigh and wincing.

“To my brother?”

“I hope so.”

“You didn’t ask my permission first!”

“He’s the one who proposed!”

Jules gave him a suspicious look. Behind him, his parents were shaking with quiet laughter. “Hmm. Remus?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Did you ask Regulus for his permission?”

“Uh, no.”

“Why not?”

“It didn’t really cross my mind…” he trailed off and looked to Hope and Lyall. “Should I have done that? Isn’t it a little outdated?”

Hope thought for a moment. “Who’s going to figure out Sirius’ dowry?”

“I’m worth at least three cows,” Sirius added, setting Jules down carefully. “Maybe a handful of chickens, too.”

“Well, sh—shoot.” Remus caught himself quickly. “Where am I going to find some of those on short notice?”

“Nice save,” Lyall said drily. “Can you two help us find our bags? These things take forever and I’m looking forward to a shower.”

“Oh, Jules, there’s a surprise for you at home,” Remus said. “I almost forgot about it.”

Jules’ eyes went wide. “What is it?”

“Can’t tell you, it’s a surprise.”

“You’re the worst.”

“No, you.”

“No, you.”

“No, you.”

“Boys,” Hope warned as she hauled a Lions backpack off the conveyor belt and handed it to Jules.

“Sorry,” they chorused. Sirius met her eyes and smiled.

“Hey, Re, will you give me a piggyback ride?” Jules asked as they walked toward the exit.

“You’re a healthy kid.”

“You’re a professional hockey player and my big brother,” Jules reminded him with a dramatic eye roll. “It’s your job.”

“Since when is carting around children part of hockey?” Remus asked even as he bent down, looking up at Sirius. “Babe, did they change the rules?”

“Yep,” Jules piped up before Sirius could answer.

Remus looked at him over his shoulder. “Last I checked, I don’t call you ‘babe’.”

“Ewwww.” Jules wrinkled his nose. “You guys are gross. Hey, do I get my own room?”

“Yeah, we’ve got plenty of space.” Sirius held the door to the parking lot open and Hope kissed his cheek. “You get to choose.”

“Where’s your room, Re?” Jules adjusted his bulging backpack and Remus grimaced at the weight imbalance.

“Uh, Sirius and I share a room.”

And itchy flush crept up the back of Sirius’ neck as Lyall’s eyes immediately zeroed in on him. Don’t look, don’t look, no eye contact, keep walking. In his periphery, he saw Hope raise her eyebrows at Remus until his cheeks turned pink. “How long has that been happening?” she asked.

“…Six months?” Remus replied weakly as Sirius unlocked the car and popped the trunk. Hope hummed cryptically, but winked at Sirius when he opened her car door for her.

The drive home was loud to say the least; the Lupins hadn’t visited for more than two months due to scheduling conflicts and they had a lot to catch up on, including the engagement. When they finally reached the house, Hope gasped softly. “Oh, it’s lovely.”

“Excellent work,” Lyall agreed, standing back a bit to admire the lights while Remus helped Jules sling his backpack on again. “Looks like a proper home now.”

“Thanks, dad.” Remus led the group up the front stairs and opened the door. “We’re home!”

Puppy claws clattered on the floor as Hattie barreled around the corner, making a beeline for Jules. One day of sticky fingers and he’s her favorite, Sirius mused as they rolled around in a pile of excitement.

Regulus appeared a few seconds later, his footsteps soft and cautious as he leaned on the wall. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him in a silent question—everything okay?—and received a slight nod in response. “Regulus!” Jules practically shouted, untangling himself from Hattie to launch himself at his legs.

“Hey, kiddo.” The baffled acceptance on Regulus’ face while he ruffled Jules’ hair nearly made Sirius laugh aloud. He had come so far since the stiff, unsure hugs at the beginning, but his total shock at the kid’s enthusiasm was just too funny. “How have you been?”

“Is this the surprise?” Jules demanded instead, turning slightly to look at the rest of them.

“Ta-da!” Remus managed, barely biting back a smile.

“A surprise?” Regulus asked. “What?”

“This is the BEST surprise.” Jules squeezed him around the legs and then thundered up the stairs with Hattie hot on his heels, nearly tripping and falling onto his face more than once.

“Do you want some water?” Sirius asked, taking Hope’s suitcase for her as Remus hung their coats in the closet. “Or food, or…anything?”

Why are you being awkward? The little voice in his head screeched. You know them! You’re marrying their son! “Water sounds wonderful,” Hope said. “Is the kitchen in the same place as before?”

His nervous tension eased a bit after that; this was not the first time they had been to the house, and both seemed to think their simple decorations looked nice. Remus slipped his hand into his and knocked their shoulders together. It’s okay, he mouthed as they followed his parents into the kitchen. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. The holidays would be happy and relaxing this year, and Sirius would be surrounded by the people he loved. The people who loved him. There was nothing to worry about.

[achliegh]

Golden

Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Beta: @the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff & @punkkkkboi

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death/suicide, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):

Chapter 17:

The plane landed, Finn was the first to turn his phone off airplane mode and suddenly it was blowing up, twitter, Instagram, snapchat, tiktok, even Facebook for chrissakes. He was getting messages from family, friends and even the team. He put his phone on silent when he started getting annoyed glances from other passengers.

Logan was next, not as many notifications but still a lot. Leo had a few but none of them had to do with Finn and Logan. Finn was scrolling furiously through his notifications, getting more and more nervous as he kept scrolling. Then he saw the first twitter notification.

Hacked.

His eyes widened and his heart was pounding, Logan was the person in the middle this time, he grips Logan’s arm tight. Logan looks over to him a bit groggy and confused. Finn is in complete panic. Logan raises an eyebrow asking what's wrong. Finn just shakes his head and shoves his phone in his pocket.

They get off the plane and everything is normal, getting their bags and walking towards the closest exit Finn stops walking, causing Noelle to run into the back of him. They all look outside and notice all the media waiting.

What was going on…

“Noelle, Leo can you guys go out a different door and take a taxi to meet us at the apartment? Call Sirius while you’re on the way.”

“Finn what's going on?” Leo is staring outside for a moment before he meets Finn’s eyes.

“Please just do what I ask, I’ll explain more if you don’t hear anything on the way.” Leo and Noelle share a look and then nod, walking towards the exit that is two doors away, Noelle calling a taxi while Leo calls Sirius.

“Finn?” Logan takes his hand, running his thumb over the freckled man’s knuckles. He is looking at the media and they seem to have noticed them, taking pictures through the glass. The flashes put a spot in his eyes when he blinks. Finn has his jaw set in a way that Logan rarely sees, he is angry. Something isn’t right.

“Keep a hand on me, you know how terrible the press can be.” Finn grips his hand tighter as they walk towards the doors with all the press, hoping Noelle and Leo got out safe. The door opens and the mingled words of shouting reporters who Finn knows are just trying to do their job but it's an annoying job.

“LOGAN! Does Finn know you’ve been cheating on him” A female reporter yelled out from the middle of the pack. Logan snaps his head around and is about to answer before Finn drags him forward.

“Finn, do you know the man in the video!?” A male reporter shouted at them and kept asking more and more questions until Finn couldn’t take it anymore he turned around. The shouting, the flashes, the microphones in his face, it was all too much. He was overwhelmed and shutting down.

“Fuck off!” Before turning back around and walking into the first floor of the parking garage, some of the reporters with just pad and pens followed them through the barriers. He ignores them as he unlocks the vehicle. Logan and Finn toss their bags in before they get in themselves.

“Let me see your phone.” Logan is so thankful for the tinted window in this car. Finn hands him his phone and it already has Logan’s face ID so he unlocks the phone and starts looking through everything on Finn’s twitter that was posted. There was everything from Finn’s own nudes to Logan’s. He felt sick to his stomach as he scrolled, then he saw it.

“They posted the video… The video of me and Leo in the mirror. I didn’t know you saved that on your phone, I thought it was just snapchat.”

“They hacked everything of mine, Lo, Baby… I’m so sorry.” Logan hears the crack in Finn’s voice and just places his hand over Finn’s on the console between them. It was a silent drive home.

When Noelle and Leo reached the apartment the press was outside, luckily they couldn't get into the parking garage or the actual building. They make their way inside and see most of the team already waiting by the door.

“What’s going on?” Leo asks Sirius as he unlocks the door and lets everyone in. James turns on the news but nothing is on but the weather right now, Lily and Celeste are there and go to the kitchen with food they already made. Leo was getting more and more confused.

“Finn was hacked, every account of his on social media has posted pictures of him and Logan but there is one video and we know it’s you.” Sirius watches as Leo’s face pales immediately. “No one else knows though, they are trying to call Logan a cheater and Finn a cuck but no one can figure out who you are.”

“What’s the video?” Leo closes the door behind everyone and moves him and Noelle's bags to line the wall so people don’t trip, he’d move them into his room later.

“A video of you and Logan in a mirror, it’s dark and you don’t show either of your faces but people are going wild for it. It was released on twitter first… then everywhere else.” Leo nods and politely excuses himself to the kitchen to help with whatever because that is his safe space.

A half hour later Logan and Finn stumble in the apartment. Finn says nothing as he walks over to Sirius and just starts apologizing for how he has ruined the team's reputation, while Logan takes a slow seat next to Dumo who doesn’t hesitate to pull him into a supportive hug.

“It’s going to be okay.” Dumo mumbles into Logan’s hair rubbing his hand up and down his back as Logan sniffles. “This could have happened to any of us. Hell, it already happened to Remus and Sirius.”

“Not in the same way.” Logan’s voice is muffled in Dumo’s chest and the older man just holds him tighter. “Maman and Papa are going to kill me…” Logan hands his phone to Dumo and it's already unlocked, messages from his parents are on screen. He takes Logan’s phone and holds it up to where he can see it better. Messages just saying horrible things about Logan and Leo for some reason.

“Logan-”

“Shush! Laisse-moi tranquille!” Dumo sighs and closes Logan’s phone, putting it far away from them on the coffee table as he just holds his son.

“Finn, you did nothing wrong! Stop apologizing!” Sirius pulls Finn into a tight hug and Finn tries to pull out of it but Sirius is much stronger. Holding him there while angry tears threaten to fall from Finn’s eyes. Once he melts into Sirius’ hold he starts talking.

“I just ruined my boys' lives…”

“Finn, this wasn’t you.” Finn doesn’t answer, he just slowly pulls away from Sirius when he hears his phone ringing. It’s Alex, he is supposed to go to his wedding this weekend and Finn is thinking he is going to uninvite him.

“I should take this on the balcony.” Sirius gives him a firm pat on the shoulder, resting his hand for a second to give it a squeeze before Finn brushes him off and walks outside. “Alex.” Finn immediately starts crying at the voice of his brother. “Alex- I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to ruin your wedding.”

“What? Finn, I’m calling to make sure you are okay, this has nothing to do with my wedding.” Finn cries even harder, having to support himself on the railing as his tears drip over the edge. “Finn please talk to me.”

“I don’t know what to say, I ruined their lives, Alex! I ruined the people who I love most. How could I do that?” He squats down keeping one hand on the railing and pressing his forehead to the cold metal of the wall of the balcony.

“Finn, Bud, I know you love to blame everything on yourself but I promise you this is not your fault.” Finn lets out a pained noise as his brother speaks.

“Alex, I was the one who saved the pictures! It’s internet 101!” He takes a deep breath as he starts to become exhausted from crying, no more tears were coming but he felt as though his breathing wouldn’t slow down.

“What? You think I don’t have pictures of my fiancé on my phone?” Finn laughs a tiny bit as his breathing starts to go back to normal. “Finn, you need to take down all your accounts before this gets on the news.”

“I tried, I got locked out of them on the way home when Logan started deleting them as I drove us home.”

“Then I guess you need to get in contact with Twitter and whatever else… Then you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and make up a plan to play the media.” Finn is silent for a moment, thinking about how they have a game this Friday, the day he also leaves for Florida in the middle of the night.

“Play the media… That's probably the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”

“Hey!”

“Love you Alex but I need to talk to Sirius and Remus.” He hangs up the phone and rounds up Logan, Remus and Sirius. Pushing them into Leo’s room. “Okay so… how do we fuck with the media?”

Leo was oddly quiet, Reg noticed and placed a hand on his arm. Smiling a little bit at each other Reg could see just how scared Leo is. He is in his head and it's worrying him. Leo isn’t exactly the best at taking care of his mental health and his stress baking foods he doesn’t even like is definitely a sign.

“Leo, why don’t we go have a smoke?” Leo just shakes his head, Clay is sick right now and Thomas didn’t let him come here because he has been ill since they got back home. “Leo, can we at least sit down?”

“These need to be finished Reg. If you want to go sit then sit.” Reg sighs and decides not to pester him anymore. Going over to sit on the couch. He is brought away from texting Clay to the news loudly playing over the TV.

Leo and everyone else in the kitchen move to behind the couch to look at the screen. He was hoping it wasn’t going to be anything about them and what was posted. He was praying to any God he could think of that it wasn’t them.

His prayers never seem to work.

“Breaking News! Finn O’Hara, winger for the infamous Gryffindor Lions hockey team, has recently had some pictures and a video of him, his boyfriend… and a secret man leak onto the internet. We had reporters at the airport earlier today to see if we could get any statements from the two love birds as they made their way back home. We were trying to get answers but O’Hara and Tremblay seemed to be avoiding answering anything. Here is the footage we got from earlier”

Footage from Finn and Logan walking out of the airport shows up on the screen. Finn looking like thunder, Logan just looking confused. Leo watches Logan snap his head towards the reporter who yelled something at him, he didn’t know what was said because his ears felt like they were full of cotton. Finn leads them further on into the crowd but Finn suddenly turns around and spits a ‘Fuck off’ their way before ducking into the parking garage.

“Tremblay seems to be confused as to what was going on while O’Hara was getting defensive. The question everyone is asking is, who is this mystery man? And will this seemingly perfect relationship fall apart because of him? We have the video that was leaked here and we can only show the top half as the bottom is quite scandalous.”

Then suddenly Leo is on TV, they stick to their word only showing the top half of the video, it was darker than Leo remembers it being. He watches as Logan’s mouth moves but there is no audio… just a caption.

Finn.

The week flies by, Leo is the only person allowed to leave the apartment besides for practice, they had a game tonight against Ravenclaw. They won 2-0. Finn and Logan, of course, were being interviewed. Sat together in their stalls, sweaty and still in all their gear, they were very touchy on camera. Logan had kissed Finn’s cheek a couple of times, Finn’s arm was over Logan and he was watching Logan like he was the most important thing in the room.

“So, everyone wants to know. Who is the man in the video?” A reporter turns her microphone towards Finn who just shrugs and smiles.

“Like you said, he's the man in the video.” This shocks everyone for a minute because the camera flashes again.

“Did you like seeing another man with Logan?”

“I wouldn’t have kept it if I didn’t like it.” Finn flashes his most charming smile.

“Logan, is this a random man or someone you know.”

“I know every inch of them.” He smiles as Finn snickers.

“Are you two in an open relationship?”

“Nope!” They both answer at the same time before sharing a chaste kiss. Logan playfully pushes Finn’s cheek away from him and they start laughing again.

“Are you swingers?” They both start laughing and shaking their heads for the millionth time in this interview.

“Non, our relationship is closed and we aren’t swingers. Sorry you just aren’t our type.” The whole locker room gets a chuckle out of that and Marlene kicks the media out of the room so everyone can change. Logan and Finn get changed and finally feel like an entire house has been lifted off their shoulders. Finn was leaving tonight and Leo was meeting Logan at the Dumias house to watch the kids for the weekend.

It was going well. Hours later after Finn kissed his boys goodbye, Logan at the parking lot at the stadium, and Leo at the apartment after grabbing his bags. Maybe they were more than just a chaste kiss on the lips but it was great.

Leo was on his way over to Logan’s with a little surprise next to him. He waltzed up to the door with a small carrier in his arms. Adele answers the door and smiles at him.

“They already have articles about Logan and Finn posted and they are amazing just wait until you hear- what are you holding?” Leo laughs at her as she lets him in. Not giving anything away he walks into the living room, Adele hot on his heels. He sees Logan on his stomach with Marc sitting on his back playing with a hot wheel car on his shoulder blades. Katie is sitting by his head as he rests his head on his hands as she rambles on about something that Leo didn’t catch.

“Leo’s here! And he has a gift.” Adele announces, all the other kiddo’s get up and scramble over to Leo. Hugging him around his legs. Logan slowly stands, starting to get sore from the game that night, stretching his arms above his head before he spins around to see Leo holding a cardboard carrier that you usually get from pet stores.

“What did you bring me, a pet? I’m not that lonely.” Leo smiles and wraps his arm around Logan after the kids let go of him. The little box started squeaking very quietly, catching the attention of everyone. Leo sees the excited stares he's getting from all the kids and his boyfriend so he decides to open the box.

“Meet Tortilla, I adopted her from a family owned pet store that had a litter recently. She has been handlers since she was a tiny version of herself so she is okay around kids.” He lifts a small chinchilla out of the box. She is small and soft chattering to herself as she takes in her surroundings.

Logan’s face immediately morphs into one of pure amazement and adoration. He slowly reaches towards her. “How did you know?”

“Ma found your middle school Pinterest when she was figuring out what gift to get for the holidays. She bought the cages and food for here and Finn’s place.” He smiles as Logan cuddles her gently to his chest. She seems to have taken to him Immediately, burrowing into his arms.

“I love her, I- Leo I don’t know how to respond.”

“You don’t have too. She is part of the family now, Finn has already met her. She doesn’t like him much.” They both smile at that and the kids are now around Logan looking at Tortilla who is thriving under all the attention. “I’m going to start dinner.” With that Leo takes himself into the kitchen to start cooking. He could hear Logan teaching the kids how to hold her properly and how to play with her safely as Leo cooked. He was cooking up leftovers that Celeste left.

Once they ate Leo went out to the truck to get the cage out to put it in Logan’s room. Setting up her enclosure Adele held Tortilla and Katie and Marc stood around her giving Tortilla little pets every chance they got. They placed her in the enclosure after it was ready for her and let her run around inside for a bit before she went into her little home. Logan corralled everyone to the downstairs living room where they watched a couple of movies together.

Soon enough Katie and Marc had fallen asleep on either side of Leo. Katie was basically in his lap and Marc was trying to squish himself behind Leo’s back. Leo got up once the movie ended and picked up one limp child in each arm. Logan decided to go take Adele to bed while Leo tucked the other two in. Asking if they wanted to share a bed and they said yes. So they stayed in Katie’s room both snuggling together as Leo kisses their foreheads goodnight, flicks on the nightlight that makes shapes on the ceiling and leaves the door open a crack so they don’t feel trapped if they wake up.

They met down on the couch again and sat together, Leo’s arm over the back of the couch with Logan resting his head on his shoulder, both tired but not ready for bed.

“We should call Finn, make sure he is in his hotel room safe.” Leo yawns as he is talking while Logan pulls out his phone and starts a FaceTime call with Finn. He doesn’t answer the first time so they try again, him answering on the first ring.

“You guys interrupted my shower concert! I was jamming out.” Finn is only in a towel still dripping wet, he takes a smaller towel and starts drying his hair while looking at the mirror, his phone set up to lean against it on the counter. Leo and Logan share a look of appreciation at their boy.

“You should drop the towel ginger boy, show us what we are missing.” Leo speaks up smirking when he sees Finn turn red.

“You have kids awake!”

“Non, they are asleep.” Logan adds in as they watch Finn pick up the phone and start walking towards the bed, tossing them so they only see the ceiling. They start booing and Finn laughs as he picks the phone back up now in a pair of Leo’s boxers with fish on them. They have become his favorites.

“I was changing, chill out.” He still has the towel from his hair around his shoulders, he just looks at them for a bit taking in how soft and sweet they look curled up together. “You guys are so fucking cute.” He shares a look with Logan and he knows what’s gonna happen. Leo starts talking about the day as Logan leans up to whisper something in his ear. Finn watched as Leo’s face changed from an innocent smile to a dark blush and a slightly shocked face.

“Bedroom?” Leo nods as Logan winks at the phone and drags the taller man to the bedroom, looking around for a second he grabs a chair and pulls it close to the bed while Leo turns on the light. Finn is excitedly watching his screen as Logan tackles Leo onto the bed.

“Tell me what’s the plannn!” Finn whines over the phone and Logan just looks at him from where he is between Leo’s legs and smirks before diving in for a spicy kiss. Logan shoved his tongue in Leo’s mouth taking control of the kids like he hasn’t ever before. Leo is pliant under him and yanks on his shirt as they make out.

Logan leans back and tugs his shirt over his head trying to toss it over the chair but instead throwing it directly at the phone.

“Hey!” Finn shouts from under the shirt, Leo laughs as Logan leans over to pluck the shirt off him. He blows a kiss at the camera before a shirt hits him in the head covering his eyes.

“Hey!” Leo and Finn both start laughing as Logan tosses the other shirt away from them and stands up on the bed pulling down his pants and shakily taking them off before he lands on his knees and yanks Leo’s sweats down.

“In a rush Lo?” Leo smiles as Logan starts furiously digging through his side table drawer for what Leo was guessing was lube. Tossing random papers and a small book on the floor in the process.

“Kinda, I’ve been wanting to fuck you for months!” Leo smiles as Logan finds the small bottle of lube and kneels between his legs. “This okay?”

“Only if We can start with me riding you.” Logan basically moans at the thought. And pours some lube on his fingers.

“Want to watch while I finger Leo? Finn?”

“Is that even a question that needs an answer?” Logan grabs the phone with his clean hand and turns the camera around so that Finn can watch. Leo has taken it upon himself to grab his own knees and pull them towards his chest, giving Logan more room. Finn and Logan both have the wind knocked out of them at the sight.

Logan slowly presses his finger into Leo and is a little surprised when Leo asks him to push it all the way in. Logan complies and Leo moans flushing dark on his chest and inner thighs. Logan starts to pull out and push in and as he does Leo keeps asking for more.

“Baby be Patient.”

“I’m not good at being patient.” Leo’s face is to the side and his eyes are closed S rushing his brow every once in a while when Logan grazes his prostate. He looks beautiful.

Logan eventually adds another finger and Leo starts rocking back on his hand.

“Look at you~” Finn says over the phone, he’s palming himself through his boxers, he doesn’t want to touch until they get to the main event no matter how bad he wants to.

Leo smiles a little, showing off his dimples. Logan doesn’t think he needs to be prepped much more but he is loving watching Leo rock back on his fingers.

“Lo, I’m ready.” Leo starts to sit up as Logan pulls his fingers out Leo kisses him and flips them over so Leo is straddling Logan. He grabs Logan’s phone from his hand and sets it up on top of the headboard that is secured into the wall instead of the bed. “Can you see?”

“Better than I have in my whole life.” Finn smiles looking red and relaxed. Leo watches as Logan lubes himself up. Wiping his hand on the blanket before he rests his hands on Leo’s thighs, tracing his thumb over Matilda’s face as he watches Leo sink down on him. Both gasping, Leo doesn't hesitate to start moving. Logan’s light grasp on Leo's thighs turns into a hard grip within a few seconds. Leo brings himself up and lets gravity take him back down punching sounds out of him as he goes.

“Leo! Leo! I want to change position!” Logan was begging Leo who had his head tipped back, one hand in his hair the other slowly stroking his cock. He looks down at Logan and nods letting the shorter man take over. Leo pulls off and is positioned on his hands and knees. Logan slips back in him and starts fucking him nice and slow until neither of them can take it anymore. He speeds up both of them moaning quieter than usual so they don’t wake up anyone in the house. Logan is getting close so he reaches around and starts jerking Leo off fast with no real rhythm, his own thrusts getting sloppy.

His orgasm sneaks up on him and he isn’t able to give Leo a warning as he cums into him, fucking Leo through his orgasm he plasters himself across Leo’s back kissing his sweaty shoulder blades as he continues to jerk Leo until he feels as warm wet feeling on his hand. Leo must have warmed him but his ears aren’t working. He pulls out of Leo and they both sit up in time to see Finn cumming so hard it hits his chest.

“That was amazing boys, I wish I was there in person.” They both sleepily nod and share a short kiss before taking the phone and heading to Logan ensuite bathroom which is small but gets the job done. They shower with Finn propped in the corner where the water doesn’t hit, just cleaning each other off and hugging under the spray.

They fall into bed and drift off to sleep with Finn who forgot to plug in his phone. It dies some time during the night, making him sleep in a bit longer than he meant too.

But he wasn’t bothered, because he spent the night with his boys.

His boys that he loves.

They really need to tell Leo they love him… when he gets home.

[that-one-weeb-but-starwars]

My love| Echo (part 7)

Note: This ones got a lot of small details that add up to one and Its comin along

Warnings: sad echo and shocking information

Reader: Male

Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

"Dad! Dad come on!" Rosyln cheered jumping on the bed.

"Come on dad! It's snowing!"

Echo groaned, "Come on dad!"

Rolling over to his back his little girl jumped into his chest.

"Man you're gettin big." Echo spoke as she smiled.

"Come on! Get up!" She cheered getting off the bed, "Dad's outside already!"

He smiled, sitting up he rubbed his back.

"Okay. Okay." Echo spoke pulling himself out a bed and grabbing a poncho hanging on the end of the bed.

"Yes!" She cheered rushing off, her boots making heavy thuds against the wooden floor as she ran to go meet her father outside.

Pulling on a turtle neck he pulled on the poncho afterwards, still in his sleeping joggers he walked through the house and to the front door.

"Okay Rosyln," he chuckled, walking out of the house and onto the porch, looking around he chuckled, seeing boot prints in the snow.

Following them he snuck around the side of the house, at the corner he heard giggling.

"I got you!" He shouted happily turning the corner but no one was there.

Looking around in confusion his eyebrows knitted togegher.

"Rosyln?" He called out looking around, "Rosyln? Darling? Where are you!?"

"Dad!" She shouted for, fear lacing her voice, "Dad!"

He rushed toward her voice rushing towards the sound of her voice, running around the side of the house he looked for her.

"Rosyln! Rosyln! Where are you!" He shouted, "where are you!"

"Echo! Echo!"

He jolted, Hunter holding his shoulder's, his breath heavy, a face filled with fear and pain.

"Echo! Hey. Hey. Calm down. Calm. Down." Hunter spoke, "it's me. It's Hunter."

"I." Echo started, but couldn't get out any words, "Hunter I."

"Hey. Don't explain it, just. Breathe." Hunter deamanded.

Echo's ragged breath started to slow, Hunter's hands on Echo's shoulders.

"W-when did I fall asleep?" He questioned looking around, the ship still in hyperspace.

"Echo I came in to check on you before I put Omega to bed. You we're staring off into space." Hunter told him, "Echo you need rest."

"No," Echo spoke, "I- Im fine."

Hunter sighed, taking a seat in the co-piolts chair, "You know. I'll never understand what you're go through."

Echo was silent as he rubbed his eyes, "but I do understand wanting to get someone back, when Omega got taken by that bounty hunter... I. I didn't know what I'd do if I didn't get her back."

Echo leaned back in the chair, "I know you lost alot, and you shouldn't have to loose one more."

Echo pulled the small disk out his belt pouches.

"You looked at it?" Echo questioned looking down at the disk, "this?"

Hunter nodded softly, "Y/n's mentioned on it? Yeah?" Echo questioned.

Hunter responded with a second nod, "and...the kids? His brothers and sisters? They must be mentioned on it."

"Yeah,Echo they are." Hunter told.

Echo nodded, sitting back up and leaning over as he looked at the disk he ran between his fingers. Soon handing it to Hunter.

"Echo." He told, "You need to see whats on there."

"No. I just need Y/n." He told Hunted who took the disk softly, "and just a bit more time to think is all."

Hunter nodded, getting up, "Tech, will, uh, switch shifts with you."

Echo nodded as Hunter left him to his own devices.

Hoth was a desolate planet, despite the white which gave it's bright apperance.

The wind rushed passed the cloaked figure as he held onto the hood, the wind dying down as he let go of it.

In the distance as the snow settled stood two figures.

"Norman. Stay here."

The white haired boyed covered by a black thick poncho nodded as the cloaked figured moved forward, the figures meeting him half way.

"Thank you! For coming!" He shouted as the wind roared.

"It is an honor to be fighting with you! My wife, and my second hand! Eleni!" The twilek male spoke.

"It is an honor!" She chattered out, cold as the wind picked up once more.

"Apologizes for the meeting point!" Rosyln apologized, "as You may know! I am Project Rosyln! Follow me!"

They followed the male back to the ship, Norman the young boy had already taken shelter inside.

"Norman, these are the Syundullas, Eleni and Cham." He introduced, the boy in white nodded.

"I am Norman, it's nice to meet you."

The two nodded in response, everyone removing there extra article of chlothing.

"This must be important if one of you're parents sent there children." Eleni spoke, "and such with such a meeting point."

"This...is a different matter. Please. We have much to discuss."

"You may take rest." Tech spoke walking into the cockpit, bur got no response, walking towards the chair Echo was slumped over, sleeping in crossed arms at the edge of the control panel.

Tech let him rest, taking co-piolts chair as he leaned back, datapad in hand as he started looking through what he had copied from the disk. He had figured he would see more resources, more death tolls and ways to die by the new and improved empires hand, and he was right. More imperal codes, new weapons arrays and ways to pass on, most vulgar, violating, dishonorable and disrespectful.

They had already taken people prison, why disrespect them in death as well. The longer he looked- the more confused he became, most files corrupted and named weridly, letters of the basic alphabet. He kept himself up, going through file after file, werid code being written that he couldn't understand or translate, but there was one thing that stood out to him: one time mentioned one time saw: CT in bold the only thing in galatic basic and an attached file of a hand print.

Then it clicked.

Getting up quickly he walked out of the cockpit, rushing to Omega's bunk.

"Omega. Omega!" He tried waking her up.

"What?" She asked waking up, eyes still half closed, "Tech?"

"What is Echo's Friends CT number?"

"What?"

"You know all the CT- numbers by heart don't you?" He questioned.

"Uh. Yeah?" She questioned, "why?"

"Echo's Friends CT number! What is it?" He questioned, "You know the one friend he won't talk about?"

"You mean Fives? Nala Se talked about him once-"

"Fives? Fives what's his name? Why?"

"Well his CT number was CT-5555-" Omega told, "but he died, why?"

"Because it's not by number is by letter! The letters from the files! They spell out a name! Fives must be a key name if Rosyln is Y/n!"

"What?" Omega asked confused.

"But Fives isnt a possible solution- so what does Fives repersent..." Tech thought out loud.

"He made it to Arc Trooper I heard." Omega spoke yawned.

"Arc Trooper?" Tech questioned as Omega nodded, "Has anyone been created to be a higher ranking trooper?"

"Well you know the basic trainning?" Omega questioned sitting up fully.

Tech nodded, "The Kaminonins would add onto that but not genetically, besides clone force 99, not that I know of."

"Not that you know of?"

Omega nodded, "I had top clearance too due to Nala Se. So I seen everything on Kamino."

"Had they ever transported machinery off world? Anything?"

"Yeah a few broken tubes, a long time ago. I found it odd."

"How many?"

"Mhmm...20? Maybe 25?" Omega spoke, "they were odd looking, I assumed they were protoyoes that failed."

"But that doesn't make sense." Tech argued.

"What are you yelling about here in Tech?" Hunter spoke walking back to the two.

"Yeah Im tryin to sleep." Wrecker argued joining them.

"Hunter, these files that have been sent to us have a message incrypted the only possible thing being able to read is CT in basic."

"And?" Hunter argued, "what does that have to with you shouting my ears off?"

"Fives would be someone only Echo knew-"

"Rex would of known him too." Hunter told.

"Yes but Y/n's met us not rex." Tech spoke, "Y/n's met Echo's newest squad mates but not his old ones. As they are separated. They'd be no actual time to interact with them."

"Okay so that's why we went to Zut not Rex." Hunter spoke, "It still doesnt explain why you're shouting over something so simple."

"But listen!" Tech spoke, "Fives has to stand for something, right?"

"Okay but where does fives come in?" Hunter questioned.

"This hand print." Tech spoke, "the hand print is obvioisly gloved and is the size of a regs hand. Something Echo had gotten standing next to Fives, further explaining why Fives is an important person in finding Y/n. Not to mention Echo's the only one who knew Roslyn and Fives well."

"Okay so mentioning Fives does what now exactly. Echo can't understand this! Wrecker couldn't even scribble this!" Hunter argued, "its basically pictures and scribbles."

"Hey!" Wrecker argued as Hunter snatched the data pad showing it to Wrecker to prove his point.

"Hey I've seen this before!" Wrecker spoke.

"Excuse me?"

Wrecker nodded handing off the datapad to Omega, "Echo has markings like that on his blasters."

"Wait, so Echo know's what this is?" Hunter asked.

Wrecker shrugged, "I guess? Hey! Maybe it's like me and Omega's secret code!"

"Oh yeah!" Omega cheered.

"Secret code?" Tech questioned, "that's it! It makes sense! The reason Fives and Rosyln is important! The way it's written like this! Echo's been right this whole time!"

"But that still doesnt explain the Kaminonin tubes." Omega spoke, "Unless there are Kaminonin files."

"Just a few medical documents, nothing we don't know." Tech informed

"Wait. Why would Y/n have a hold of Kaminonin medical document's, he's never seen battle he doesnt need strong medical trainning." Hunter questioned.

"So what? Y/n was like an enchanted clone?" Wrecker laughed, "Good one Tech."

The group looked back at Wrecker.

"What?" He asked, "Oh come on. Y/n looks nothing like us! We don't even have the same eye color!"

"What happens if Y/n's not a clone of Jango Fett. Yet of someone else?" Tech questioned.

"Hey." Omega questioned looking down at the data pad, "I found one combination to those letters Tech. What's Project Star Killer?"

[fanfic-cave]

Returned

Rating: SFW/PG

Word Count: 1.2k

Pairing: none

Warnings: I mean its crosshair, and hes an angsty bitch with or without chip so ANGST. Also its fluffy :)

Summary: The bad batch has rescued their missing member, Crosshair, from the empire and removed his chip. How will his return to the group go, especially now that Omega has joined in his absence?

Authors note: Someone requested a touching moment between Crosshair and Omega with him returning from the empire and I loved that idea so im running with it. Thanks @gokyacetakal for the request!

tags: @mangoberry99

Crosshair came to slowly, the first thing he saw were bright lights above him. His hand reached to his head, expecting the sharp pain he usually felt on the right side. No pain came though. He only felt a medpatch on the spot that used to give him a headache.

“Crosshair? Can you hear me?” He recognized that annoying voice. It sounded like his intellectual brother.

“I think he’s waking up.” A deeper voice spoke this time. Crosshair opened his eyes and saw Tech standing over his body, data pad in hand. Hunter was on the other side of him, arms crossed and watching him. “How do you feel?” Hunter asked.

Crosshair tried sitting up, trying to remember what happened. “Why am I here?” He asked. He must’ve sounded testy. Based on the exchanged look between Hunter and Tech, they were trying to be careful about what they said.

“We came to bring you back.” Hunter said, looking back to him. “Never should've left you.” He looked slightly apologetic as he said it, but when he finished his face went back to his typical expression, brooding and betraying no emotion.

“And we removed your inhibitor chip,” Tech chimed in.

“My what?” Crosshair asked. He looked at Tech suspiciously, eyebrows knitted together.

Tech then launched into the explanation. All clones had inhibitor chips, which affected their cognitive functions, which had forced the clones to follow orders without questions. Crosshairs had been the only functioning one in the group.

Crosshair was processing for a moment, while the other two watched him.

“Is he up??” A loud voice boomed on the other side of the door. Crosshair immediately recognized it as Wreckers. He rolled his eyes. Here we go. He thought to himself.

Wrecker barreled through the door. “Cross! Hey buddy!” He shoved past Tech and Hunter and got to the edge of the bed, slamming his hands onto the rails. Crosshair looked annoyed, but he was happy to be back. He preferred being with the bad batch, his family, rather than those regs. And the Empires new troopers were even worse.

Echo walked in after Wrecker, eyeing up Crosshair. He stood at the other end of the room, the furthest away from Crosshair. “So, you feel like shooting any of us?” Echo asked. He seemed suspicious, and guarded too when he said it. Everyone else looked back to Echo, then to Crosshair again.

“Not yet I don’t.” Crosshair said, returning the suspicious gaze to Echo.

“Not even if you were ordered to?” Tech added.

They all paid close attention to him after Tech mentioned orders.

He realized they all weren’t sure if his programming was still affecting him. He shrugged. “Following orders is overrated.”

Wrecker looked confused at the word choice. Tech smiled briefly, then went back to the data pad, as if he were documenting Crosshair's behavior. Hunter nodded approvingly, and he looked more relaxed too. Echo eyed up Crosshair once more. He relaxed after a moment and took a few steps forward, seeming satisfied. “Welcome back Crosshair.” He said.

“Aww yeah!” Wrecker said, jumping up and punching his fist in the air. Then he put his arm around Crosshair “Good to have you back!” Crosshair pushed his arm off, but he was happy to have things more or less back to normal.

The door opened again, and a small figure stepped in. Omega. So much for getting back to normal. Crosshair eyed her. He noticed his comm unit strapped onto her forearm. He scowled at her as she entered. My replacement.

“So you kept her around.” He said, not being subtle about his disapproval. Echo stepped in front of Omega protectively, and shot a glance back to Crosshair. He wasn’t happy with that comment.

“She’s one of us. And she’s part of the squad now.” Hunter spoke, and Crosshair looked back at him. He spoke confidently, and raised his eyebrows to Crosshair as he stared at him. Be nice, his expression seemed to say. “Don’t worry, you’ll like her!” Wrecker whispered and pointed at Omega.

Crosshair shook his head, and went to stand up. “Hi Crosshair!” Omega peeked out behind Echo and waved, smiling at him. He watched her curiously. After a moment of her waving and Crosshair not returning the smile or wave, she walked up to him.

“You don’t seem so angry anymore. I’m glad you’re back!” She spoke a bit quickly. He raised an eyebrow. “It’s good to be back.” He said, testing the conversation.

“I didn’t take your bed, or touch your weapons or anything, I promise!” The words tumbled out, and Crosshair recognized she was nervous. He sighed. “Don’t look so scared.” He began walking past her and patted her shoulder as he went.

“You’re here, so you’re here. Welcome to the squad.” He turned over his shoulder to say the last part to her. He was a bit tense as he spoke, but he saw the rest of the squad’s attachment. He had to admit to himself her harmless and innocent demeanor was beginning to grow on him. He wanted to try and play nice, for everyone else’s sake.

Omega smiled widely. “Thanks!” He only stared at her curiously, still scowling a bit. “Come on boys. Let’s give Crosshair his space.” Hunter spoke, nodding to Crosshair. Crosshair returned the gesture. “Aww.” Wrecker said. He sadly shuffled out. Echo followed, then Hunter stood at the door.

“It is good to have you back, Crosshair.” Tech said to him, looking up from his data pad as he said it, then patted his shoulder. Crosshair patted his arm in return. Tech then left the room.

Omega looked like she was contemplating something. She turned and started to walk out, Hunter waiting for her. Crosshair turned and watched her movements carefully. “Crosshair?” she stopped and turned around, looking at him a bit nervously.

“What kid?” He looked down at her as he spoke, feeling her anticipation. She looked down shyly. “I was wondering… with your enhanced skill you’re a good shot, and I got a new weapon. I was wondering if you could help me with some target practice sometime.” She looked back up to him as she finished, shoulder shrugged a little like she was ready to apologize for asking.

Crosshair's eyebrows raised in shock, surprised that Omega would ask him for any help. He quickly wiped the expression off of his face, and relaxed a bit as he watched her demeanor. He was beginning to understand the team's attachment to her. “From what I saw, you’re not a bad shot.” He said. He distinctly remembered her shooting his weapon out of his hands. She lit up a bit as he complimented her. “We’ll see if you can keep up with me during my practice.”

Omega interpreted this as a yes, and she smiled with excitement. “Come on, Omega,” Hunter waved her over to the door. “See ya, Crosshair!” Omega waved and left. Hunter smiled at her as she walked past him to exit.

“Thanks Crosshair.” Hunter looked back up to Crosshair as he spoke.

“I guess you figured out kids after all.” Crosshair said, ignoring the thanks.

Hunter's eyebrows furrowed like he was deciphering the meaning behind what Crosshair said. He shrugged. “We did our best.” He exited and let the door close.

They did their best, huh? Crosshair contemplated what Hunter said.

I guess I will too.

[phantom-curve]

Second birthday is such a cool thing to call that! 8 or 35 if you are feeling so inclined.

Thank you! When I was a kid my mom always tried to call it my rebirth-day and I was like no❤️ I went with some Willex whump (with a fluffy end) for this one! Set in the gimme a chance AU, featuring pro-skateboarder Willie and anxious Alex. This is also a bit of a companion piece to the #8 prompt I wrote earlier!

#35: kissing their bruises and scars (Trigger Warning: mentions of injury, mild description of panic attack, and mentions of a car accident. Rated T for language) 

Alex generally tried not to think about worst case scenarios when Willie was competing. If he let himself, it was way too easy to imagine all types of situations that ended with Willie broken and bleeding at the base of a halfpipe while Alex stood helplessly on the sidelines. It didn’t help anything for him to obsess over what could happen, especially because at this point, Alex knew skateboarding was as much a part of Willie as drumming was a part of him.

It was just that ever since Willie had gotten his first sponsorship and moved to the pro circuit six months ago, he had started taking bigger risks. More complex tricks and a lot less hesitation to go big when he was representing the brands that were paying his bills. And that meant longer hours practicing and a higher chance of injury on a daily basis. Alex wanted to be a supportive boyfriend, the kind that would show up at the skate park to cheer and not have a panic attack every time that Willie wiped out, but he wasn’t. He was just an anxious guy in love with a dude who seemed determined to break every single bone in his body.

Things only got worse when Willie started traveling for competitions. He was gone almost every weekend, and Luke had finally convinced the manager at the bar he worked at to let Sunset Curve preform regular Saturday shows, and so, more often than not, Willie would be somewhere else in California flinging his body down an insanely tall ramp with nothing but a helmet and some pads to protect him while Alex was trapped in LA losing himself in the familiar pattern of sticks against drums in an attempt to control his raging anxiety. It had about a 68% success rate. That success rate increased dramatically when Willie called Alex the second he knew his set was ending. It plummeted on the nights Alex didn’t hear from him until much later, or worse, heard from a different skater entirely.

Tonight was unfortunately one of those nights.

When their set ended, Reggie called out the same line he had coined after their first performance, a couple audience members chiming in with him because they actually had a bit of a fan following now, and Alex wasted no time in grabbing his phone from the fanny pack he kept behind his kit during shows. Instead of it lighting up with a picture of his boyfriend’s face, he was met with a series of missed calls and text messages from the guys Willie was rooming with for the weekend. He tried not to panic, tried to breathe in deeply to a count of five, holding it for just as long before exhaling again. It kept the anxiety at bay for as long as it took for him to unlock the phone and read the last missed message.

Don’t worry, bro. They’re gonna airlift him back to LA so you can just meet him at the hospital whenever.

Panic hit full force. What the actual fuck had happened to his boyfriend?! Alex’s fingers were shaking too much for him to open the other messages, his vision going blurry and a distant ringing sounding out in his ears. It took him longer than it should to realize Luke was crouched down in front of him, Reggie hovering just beyond the drum kit.

“You have to breathe, Lex. C’mon, follow me.”

Luke inhaled deeply before letting his breath out in a loud woosh. Alex tried to copy him, but his chest felt too tight, his throat closing in the more he tried to open it. Luke kept talking, his voice low and calm.

“Try again, we can do it together. We just have to breathe, nothing else.”

Alex inhaled with Luke that time, not quite as deeply and not quite as steady, but more air than he had managed to get before. It took several long moments before he was able to match Luke completely, the fog starting to clear from his brain, surroundings snapping back into focus.

“Great, good, just keep breathing, okay? I’m gonna go grab the office keys and we’ll take a minute in there to talk, okay?”

Alex nodded, not exactly wanting Luke to leave but knowing whatever his best friend was saying logically made sense. Reggie slipped into the space Luke had been occupying, breathing in the exact same pattern, and Alex refocused on him. When Reggie stood, Alex copied him, reaching out to grip the back of Reggie’s red flannel as he led them both off of the stage and down the hallway to the office in the back of the bar. Alex dropped onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.

“Lex? Can you tell us what’s going on?���

Reggie’s voice was soft and quiet, like a gentle melody. Alex let it wash over him, knew his boys would be able to help if he could just figure out how to get his mouth to form the words it desperately didn’t want to say out loud. He fought to speak for a few moments before finally just thrusting his phone forward. A hush fell over the room as Luke and Reggie scrolled through the texts and Alex was suddenly grateful that he wouldn’t have to read through them himself. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, Luke cleared his throat and spoke.

“Okay, so good news or bad news first?”

“How can there possibly be good news?”

Alex’s throat felt raw and scratchy, the words coming out broken and strangled. Luke and Reggie exchanged a quick glance before Reggie sat next to Alex on the couch. Not touching, but close enough for Alex to feel comforted all the same.

“Willie isn’t dead or dying, so yes, there is good news. Which one do you want first?”

A significant amount of the panic left Alex’s system at the reassurance that his boyfriend was alive and going to stay that way for the time being. It hit him all at once, sending him into Reggie’s side as he let out a cry of relief. Reggie’s hand stroked up and down Alex’s arm, a low hum sounding in the back of his throat. Luke spoke again.

“Okay, so good news is that Willie is probably already back in LA, he’s at the best hospital he can be at, and he’s going to be fine.”

Alex clung to the words like a life raft. Willie was going to be fine. He turned it into a mantra, repeating it over and over again until he felt like he was back in control, no longer on the precipice of drowning. He disentangled himself from Reggie’s arms, took a deep breath, and met Luke’s gaze.

“I’m ready. Gimme the bad news.”

Luke let out a long breath before sitting down on Alex’s other side.

“The guys were in a car accident. They didn’t even make it to the competition. Willie was in the passenger seat and he took the worst hit in the collision. The other guys got taken to a local hospital, but they had to send Willie to Cedars-Sinai because of some special orthopedic department there. Max said they mentioned he would be admitted to the post-trauma floor.”

A car accident. He didn’t even make it to the competition. Alex had considered himself prepared for the worst when it came to Willie and his chosen profession. He had told himself that loving Willie meant accepting the risk that came with skateboarding, especially at the level that Willie did it. He had not once considered the fact that Willie could be hurt in some type of freak accident that had nothing to do with skating. The life raft slipped from his mental fingers, hurtling him back into the sea of despair once again.

“We got this, okay?” Luke was still speaking. “Reg is gonna call an Uber and take you to the hospital, and I’m gonna get Dante and Felix to help pack up stuff here and then come meet you. It’s gonna be okay.”

Luke’s words painted a path for Alex to follow, a way to move forward without having to fight so hard to do so. He nodded, allowed himself to be bundled out of the employee entrance and into the car Reggie had called. Clung to Reggie’s flannel again as they traversed the white hallways of the hospital, eventually making their way to a nurse’s station situated on the post-trauma surgical floor. Alex didn’t even let himself think about what that string of words implied. Not until Reggie nudged him forward to speak with the blonde-haired woman with kind brown eyes sitting behind the welcome desk. He forced himself to clear the lump in his throat and scrape some words together.

“Hi, I’m uh, my name is Alex. Alex Mercer? I’m looking for my boyfriend Willie? William, actually, his name is William Stewart. He was...he was in a car crash.”

The words came out in starts and stops, cracking at the edges as Alex forced them through numb lips. The nurse nodded, her fingers tapping across the keyboard in a sharp staccato.

“He’s out of surgery, but might still be a bit groggy. The limit is one visitor at a time, so your friend will have to wait out here.”

Alex turned to Reggie with a blank stare.

“You got this, Lex. Remember, he’s gonna be fine. I’ll be right here, and Luke is on his way too. Whatever you need, okay? We got you.”

Alex nodded even though the movement itself felt like a lie. The nurse smiled softly at him and for one split moment Alex wished he could call his mom, hear her comforting voice the way he used to when he was a scared little kid. But he had Luke and Reggie now. And Willie, who was alive somewhere in this hospital.

“He’s in room 604, just down the hall.”

Alex forced his feet to move. Forced himself to count the numbers on the wall until he found 604. Forced himself to open the door and enter the room.

Willie looked so small on the bed, his dark hair a mess across the stark white pillowcase, his leg encased in plaster and suspended from some contraption that hung down from the ceiling. He turned his head at the noise of the door opening, eyes half open and soft with sleep or maybe painkillers. The smile on his face was a mere shadow of its normal sunshine.

“Hey, Hotdog.”

Alex wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and curl into a ball and absolutely lose it. But instead, he walked to the side of Willie’s bed and sat down in the chair next to it that seemed to have been waiting just for him.

“Have you been crying? Please tell me you weren’t crying.”

Okay, Willie was definitely on drugs. Because of course, Alex had been crying.

“Yes, I’ve been crying! Are you kidding me?”

Willie winced slightly and Alex was instantly swamped with guilt.

“No, okay, let me try that again.”

He took a deep breath and reached up to brush a few stray hairs away from Willie’s face. There were a number of cuts and bruises marring his skin, a few of them hidden under bandages.

“Hey pretty boy, I’m so glad you’re not dead. I’ve never been more scared than when I saw that text from Max. I thought you cracked your head open on a halfpipe or something, what the hell happened?”

Willie tried to shrug and grimaced, like it hurt. Alex’s hands fluttered uselessly above his boyfriend’s body, unsure where would be safe to touch. He settled for grabbing the hand that Willie offered which was thankfully unmarked, nothing but some leftover scars from catching himself at the skatepark.

“I think our car flipped? There was a lot of crashing and my leg really fuckin hurt. It’s still hurts.”

Willie frowned, clearly addled from the leftover anesthesia and whatever they were giving him for the pain. Alex pulled his hand up to press a series of kisses across Willie’s knuckles, making sure to cover each scar at least once.

“You can’t die on me, Wills. I fucking love you, okay? I know you do insane stunts and regularly let yourself get beat to crap at the skate park, but you can’t fucking die on me in some stupid car accident. I’d lose my goddamn mind without you.”

“You love me?”

Willie’s voice was soft and awed and Alex suddenly realized he hadn’t ever actually said those words out loud before even though they’d been living in his brain for months now. When he looked into Willie’s eyes he saw a hint of wetness there, and his heart melted.

“Yes, I love you, you fucking dork. I’ve been in love with you for months.”

Willie grinned, dopey eyed and pink cheeked.

“Well, I’ve been in love with you for like, ever. So, I win. Gimme a kiss for my prize.”

Alex laughed and rolled his eyes, but obliged, nonetheless. Willie might not remember this interaction, but Alex would never forget it. A look of absolute peace settled onto his boyfriend’s face.

“I knew you’d come. I knew as soon as that car hit us that when I woke up, you’d be here. You’re the best boyfriend ever, that’s why I love you. And you’re so hot. Like, really hot.”

Alex’s cheeks burned, his heart kicking into overdrive.

“C’mere,” Willie nodded his head to the side and tried to shuffle over, like he was inviting Alex to climb in next to him. He made a disgruntled sound when the contraption his leg was in refused to budge, frowning up at the suspension system.

“That’s so lame, what the fuck? I wanna cuddle.”

And Alex, unable to resist even when he knew it would probably be better for Willie if he did, climbed up to wedge his body into the small space between Willie and the guardrails on his bed. He tucked one arm behind Willie’s head, pulling his face into the space between his neck and shoulder. Willie let out a contented sigh, his breath sending shivers down Alex’s spine.

“You smell like you,” Willie whispered, the sound happy and relaxed. “I love you, Lex.”

“I love you, too.” Alex sighed, kissing his way across every single cut and bruise he could reach without moving.

Willie settled into place, his body going lax and soft snores sounding out against Alex’s chest within moments. Alex let his own head fall to rest against the top of Willie’s, finally allowing himself to believe everything would be okay. When the same nurse came to tell him that his other friend had arrived and maybe it would be best to come back in the morning, he accepted it without complaint. She gave him a final moment to say goodnight, Alex taking the time to make sure Willie was tucked in tight before kissing his temple softly.

Willie was going to be okay, and Alex was going to spend the rest of his life making sure he was always the one there to kiss his scrapes and bruises.

Send me prompts for my second birthday!