#and that won’t even be all of it. I’m still gonna be finding more sand by the time I’m in Humilau | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rafeandonlyrafe · 1 year ago

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the game part two

read part one here!

words: 3.2k

warnings: 18+ only!, drug dealing, smut, dubcon at first, f receiving oral and handjob, p in v sex, unprotected sex, mentions of anal, cheating

taglist: @drewstarkeysbae @thelomlisrafecameron @f4ll-for-you @dilvcv @slut4drudy @drewsbabygirll @jjmaybankswifes-blog @rafescokenostril @jjsmarijuana @jjmaybankisbae @seeingstarks @angelofcigs

it’s been six months, and you’ve mostly forgotten about your encounter with rafe cameron. you stole his drugs and his money, then hid out. you knew your brother would keep you safe until things died down, giving you ample money for your score, but not wanting to hear the details of how you got into the cameron household.

you rarely think of rafe, except when your pathetic boyfriend comes over to fuck you. he’s sweet, a nice boy, and you like him, but his cock, while average in size, is nothing like rafes, and you find yourself missing his length, craving the feeling of him stretching you out again, even if it was just that one time.

“i think i’m gonna head out on the boat today.” you hum to your brother, looking out the large modern windows of his mansion at the shining sun, making the ocean glitter as it reflects the light.

“mmm, fine. take security with you.” he says, barely looking up from whatever document he’s working on.

“oh come on, i’ll be fine by myself.” you roll your eyes. your brother became even more protective of you after what you did to rafe. he even encouraged you to stay with your boyfriend, who he originally didn’t like. you know that means only one thing, and your boyfriend is now in his pocket as well, probably tasked with your safety.

“baby sis, you stole from rafe cameron. he hasn’t forgotten that shit.” “and he won’t be looking for me out in the fucking ocean.” you roll your eyes, stomping away to put on your bikini as your brother yells, “i don’t care, security is going with you either way!”

you get yourself ready anyways, knowing you need some time away from everyone, including whoever of your brothers henchmen have the unfortunate task of taking you on the boat. you walk out to the dock alone, but one of the men is already out on the pier, standing waiting for you.

“hello.” you mumble, climbing onto the boat and getting it ready, untying it from the dock and turning on the engine, keeping it idling as you make sure you got your necessities, snacks, water bottles, and a towel in case you decide to take a dip.

“oh shit, i forgot a life vest, can you grab one of the other boat?” you ask the man, you think his name is james. or maybe henry. you can’t bother to remember.

“sure.” he climbs off the boat and the second both of his feet are on the wooden pier, you shoot into the drivers seat, gunning the speed and taking off away from the shore before he can stop you.

you don’t bother turning around as he shouts for you to come back. you feel a little guilty about whatever punishment your brother is going to give him, but it’s not like any of the dudes hanging around are good guys, after all they all work for a drug dealer.

you navigate the backwaters seamlessly, having grown up on the water. you head further towards the ocean, away from the grassy islands, letting all of your worries and troubles go as you keep the boat moving at max speed, letting the wind whip through your hair.

you curse when the boat suddenly slows down. you hadn’t even thought to check the gas before taking off, you know your brother usually keeps everything filled. you angle yourself towards a small island, letting the nose of the boat push into the sand, but its better than being stuck free floating.

“fuck, fuck, fuck.” you groan, rubbing your hands over your face, checking all of the storage departments for extra gas, but of course theres none.

“just my luck.” you mumble to yourself, throwing yourself down on the seat. you can call your brother and have him, or more likely one of his goons, come and rescue you, but you still want some more alone time, so you shuck your coverup off and lay back, figuring you might get the best use of your time stuck by soaking up some rays.

you lay there for half an hour before you hear a boat engine. you’re in a pretty secluded area so it’s quite the surprise. you stand at the back of the boat and wave your arms, hoping whoever it is has some extra gas they can lend you.

the boat is blacked out, windows tinted dark so you can’t see what the driver looks like as the pull up to the sandbar jutting out of the water, also lodging the nose of their boat to hold them steady.

“hey! i ran out of gas.” you shout as the door opens.

“oh, sweetheart.” the voice has your body freezing up as rafe cameron steps into the light.

“ra-rafe.” you take a step back, legs bumping into the side of your boat. you have nowhere to go as he leaps from his boat to yours. “please don’t hurt me.”

“hurt you?” rafe questions, shaking his head as he steps closer. “hurt you like you hurt me? you used me.” rafe sounds almost hurt before the angry mask takes over his face again.

“i was forced to! my brother made me!” you explain, even though its a lie. it was completely your idea, but theres no way for rafe to know that.

“and you still went along with it. you could have told me, when you were in my house. i could have helped you. but instead, you let me fuck you. you let me inside your pussy. just to steal from me.”

rafe is now hovering directly over you, and you know from his smirk that he’s noticed your shaking body, and the way that you are staring up at him in fear.

“is that how much of a slut you are? you enjoy being whored out by your drug dealing brother?” rafe takes your chin in his hand, not being gentle at all as he tilts your head up to keep eye contact. “you certainly enjoyed bouncing on my dick.” “fuck you.” you try to pull your chin away, but rafe moves faster, shoving you down onto the sofa, the plastic material hot from baking in the sun.

“i won’t hurt you princess, no.” rafe hums, stopping you from squirming around my pressing his weight down even more. “in fact, since you love being a slut so much, i’m gonna fuck you.”

“rafe, please, no.” you whine as his hands grip your chest, ripping away the thin material of the bikini that was barely covering your tits to begin with. rafe ignores your pleas, dropping his head to suck one of your nipples into his mouth while his fingers pinch the other one.

“oh fuck.” you moan, legs widening and allowing rafes body to slot between. you press your hips up, seeking his body as you grind against him, upset that your body is betraying you as your pussy wettens the more rafe sucks and nips at your chest.

“see, this is exactly what i mean.” rafe laughs against your skin, biting the side of your breast and leaving teeth marks. “you were just saying no and now you’re grinding against me. such a little whore.” “please, i have a boyfriend.” you whimper as rafe sucks deep purple marks into your chest and neck, not caring that he’s leaving hickeys behind for anyone to see. he wants to claim you, mark you.

“does he fuck you good?” rafe asks, tugging at the strings of your bikini bottoms, pulling them off of you to reveal your messy cunt. “is his cock as good as mine? what about his mouth?” rafe questions, dropping to his knees to the teak flooring, not needing to hold you down anymore, he knows you’re not going anywhere.

rafe buries his head in between your thighs, moaning when he gets a taste of you, what he missed so much since that one night all those months ago. his tongue laps over every inch of you except for your clit.

“can’t have you feel too good, baby.” rafe laughs, biting your thigh. “not when you stole from me.” “i’m sorry.” you whine, feeling tears pool in your eyes as you reach down and tug on rafes hair, pressing his face back into your cunt.

rafe eats you out greedily, tongue traversing over every inch of you that he can, moving between wide sweeping licks and fast rapid flicks of his tongue, still keeping away from your clit.

“oh my god!” you shout when his tongue prods against your hole, lifting your hips up off the seat, unable to keep yourself still as you place one hand on the back of his head, moving your hips and rubbing your pussy against his awaiting mouth.

“such a slut.” rafe laughs, his words vibrating through you as he finally finally moves up to your clit, sucking harshly at your bud, not caring that you’re screaming from the pleasure.

rafe closes his eyes, focus solely on your cunt as he brings two fingers to your entrance, plunging them into your hole as he attacks your clit, taking it between his teeth and tugging on the sensitive skin, making the tears now roll down your face.

“please, please let me cum!” you scream for rafe, your entire body shaking as your orgasm builds, his fingers starting to thrust in and out of you as he doesn’t let off of your clit, sucking it between his lips as your orgasm hits you.

you cry out rafes name, body going taunt as you squeeze your eyes shut, the pleasure overwhelming your senses as rafe slows his licks on your clit, moving down to lap around his fingers that are still shoved deep in your cunt.

“taste yourself.” rafe commands, moving so you can kiss him. you don’t hold back, taking rafes face in your hands as you kiss him, jutting your tongue up to lick the juices away from his mouth.

“my little slut.” rafe deepens the kiss, starting to thrust his fingers again.

“ra-rafe stop.” you try halfheartedly to push his hand away, “too sensitive.” “you think i give a shit?” rafe laughs, eyes roaming your chest, taking in the bruises dotting your tanned skin. “you stole from me, bitch.” “i’m sorry.” you cry out, knowing tears are rolling down your cheeks, but you can’t stop them, the pleasure is too overwhelming.

“show me how sorry you are by cumming on my fingers.” rafe says, increasing the speed that he’s moving. you moan despite your best judgment.

rafe is somehow able to stuff a third finger inside of your cunt, stretching you to almost painful levels. you thrash on the sofa, the harsh sun beating down on you. you almost forgot that you were on a boat in broad daylight, so wrapped up in rafe pleasuring you.

rafes lips slot around your nipple again, sucking it repeatedly as you arch your back to push your chest further into his mouth, feeling overwhelmed by the attention he’s giving you, so purely focused on your body.

“i thought about you.” you tell rafe, making him pick his head up to look you in the eye, but his fingers don’t slow. “i thought about you when he fucks me. i wished it was you.”

rafe smirks, twisting his hand so his thumb can rub at your clit while he finger fucks you. “i knew you’d miss my cock once you had it. you could have stayed and been my little slut, my personal fuck toy, but instead you had to steal my coke. do you know how much money you lost me?” “i said i was sorry.” you sob out.

“cum then.” rafe commands, and your orgasm builds rapidly, too quickly, and before you realize what’s happening, wetness is squirting from your cunt, soaking rafes hand and splashing onto the teak floorboards.

“holy fuck.” rafe groans, gripping his cock with his free hand, squeezing through his shorts to give himself some relief.

“st-stop.” you say weakly, and rafe finally listens and pulls his fingers out, pushing your legs wider to admire how pink your abused pussy now is, completely dripping in your juices.

“has he ever made you squirt?” “no, never.” you shake your head.

“it’s a shame.” rafe tsks. “i could have made you feel so good every day.” rafe stands up, glancing around the surrounding waterways, making sure there are still no boats around before unbuttoning his shirt, revealing the muscles hidden beneath.

you are boneless on the couch, body completely relaxed and near numb from the orgasms rafe just pulled from you, but despite that you still feel your cunt pulse when rafe throws his shirt onto the ground, quickly unbuttoning his shorts as well and tugging them down along with his underwear, revealing the hard cock that you’ve missed so much.

“tell me you want this.” rafe commands, stroking his cock while keeping his eyes on you.

“i don’t.” you whimper, but your thighs clench together, watching the precum bead at the tip of rafes cock.

“you don’t want me to fuck you?” rafe asks. “but you’re such a slut, baby.” he coos mockingly.

“please, i have a boyf-”

“don’t mention him again.” rafe cuts you off. “unless you’d like for me to ruin your other hole as well that way no matter how he fucks you you’ll be thinking of me.” you whimper at the thought of rafe abusing your ass and keep your mouth shut.

“turn over.” rafe grabs your hip, forcing you to move on the couch. you place your knees on the cushion, letting rafe bend you over the back of the couch, your head hovering over the water below.

“gonna fuck you so good you’re gonna be begging to come back home with me.” rafe says, hands slapping against your ass, making you yelp.

“such a pretty pussy, fuck.” rafe groans, throwing his head back as he pushes the tip of his cock against your entrance, not pushing in yet, wanting to prolong his teasing.

“please.” you beg, trying to push back onto his cock, but rafe grabs your hips and keeps you still.

“are you asking me to stop?” rafe questions. “or are you asking me to fuck you?”

“i don’t know.” you sob, gripping onto the plastic cushion the best that you can.

rafe hums, “that’s too bad.” and then thrusts forward, burying his cock completely in your cunt in one firm push.

“rafe!” you scream out, pussy clenching down, your walls being stretched by his length.

“no wonder i fell for your act, this is the best pussy i’ve ever felt.” rafe grunts out, snapping his forward, the skin of his thighs slapping against your bum.

“faster.” you moan, but rafe does the opposite and slows instead, keeping his thrusts deep but moving steady and deliberately, letting you feel everything as he takes in the squeeze of your cunt, the tightness of your pussy.

rafe grinds his hips against you, his cock making space for itself, pushing against your sweet spot that has you crying out, past the point of embarrassment about your noises.

“so good.” you moan, knowing that you’re drooling onto the couch.

“i know, baby.” rafe moans as well, pushing his cock in and out of your sloppy cunt, dripping with wetness and coating him.

“can tell how much you’re liking it.” rafe moves faster, hands tightening on your hips, certain to leave marks behind. “can feel you squeezing around me.”

you bury your head in the couch, relieved by the cool press against your forehead, pushing back against rafe, rocking your body backwards to the best of your abilities, your knees sweaty and sticking to the couch.

“need your cock.” you swallow the lump in your throat. “need it every day, please rafe, forgive me, i need you, i don’t care.”

“don’t care about your boyfriend? or your brother?” rafe questions.

“no.” you whine, “just care about your cock.”

rafe fucks you harder, somehow able to find more depth and space. “well, i guess you should have thought about that before stealing from me, slut. i’ll soak my cock in your cunt this once, but you won’t get it again.” “no, rafe, i need it!”

rafe bends over your back to whisper in your ear, “then you work for me now until you pay back what you lost me. you can steal coke from your brother to repay me and then suck my cock. once you’ve paid off your debts, i’ll start fucking you.”

“i’ll do anything.” you don’t even think about what he’s asking, you don’t care, you’d promise anything to keep getting fucked like this.

“i know, baby.” rafe hums, angling his hips so every time his cock presses in, it hits the most sensitive part inside of you.

rafe reaches one hand down, around your hip, to rub over your clit, placing two fingertips on top moving quickly, trying to get you to cum because he can’t last much longer.

“gonna cum inside of you.” rafe warns, and you whine, clit pulsing under his movements.

“fill me up.” you tell rafe, aching for his cum warming your insides.

rafe moans out your name repeatedly, pushing his cock as deep inside of you as it can go, letting his cum fill you up. at feeling his release, your orgasm pushes through your body, seeing stars as you squeeze your eyes shut, cunt fluttering around rafes cock, milking everything out of him that you can.

rafe slumps forward, his cock slipping out of you as you both collapse onto the couch, breathing heavily.

rafe grabs your waist and flips your position so you’re laying on top of him. you rest your head against his chest, letting out a low moan in appreciation as rafe strokes his hand over your hair.

“you mean what you said?” rafe asks, his hand not halting as it glides over the strands of your hair and then down your back.

“yes.” you whisper. you’ve felt far too cooped up these last six months. it’s not like you want to be a drug dealer, so hopefully once you settle your score with rafe and pay him back for what you stole, you’ll be able to absolve yourself from everything.

“then you’re coming home with me.” rafe says, helping you sit up.

“i-i can’t rafe.” you sigh, pushing your hair out of your face. “i need to get back to my brother, i’m not even supposed to be out without security.”

“mmm, you’ll have to figure it out.” rafe shrugs. “you’re coming home with me to start sucking my cock like you promised.”

“okay.” you whisper, not having any energy to argue with rafe, looking down at your destroyed body, covered in bruises and soaked in sweat, cum dripping out of your pussy.

“hey.” rafe says, placing his fingers under your chin and forcing you to look at him. he presses a kiss against your lips, so unlike your other kisses, not devoid of passion but far sweeter, almost like he’s trying to comfort you despite what he just did to you, what he just made you agree to.

“come on.” rafe sighs, standing up. “put your bikini back on, we’re taking my boat.” “okay.” you stand, figuring it’s best now to just follow rafes instructions, not worrying about any consequences as you put your bikini back on, letting rafe help you off of your brothers boat and onto his own.

you take a seat at the back while rafe goes to the helm, watching the abandoned boat as you drive away, wondering what the hell you just got yourself into.

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kyberblade · 2 years ago

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Just Need You (Din x Reader)

A/N: Okay. This turned into waaayyyyyy more than I expected but once it started it just kept coming, and I…. I kinda love it? Like for real? These two are a mess and I’m kind of obsessed with them. (Also, thank you, Anon, for being my first Mando request and for sending a request at all! You made me happy dance, you have no idea.)

Anon asked: “Hey babes, can you do a Mando x reader where the reader is a bounty hunter and leaves the ship to complete a mission and is only supposed to be gone a few hours but they’re gone all night and Din starts to panic and the next morning they show up slightly injured sand Din completely loses it and he was so scared then feels guilty? (fluff and ANGST) (sorry this is long!)”

I do not own Star Wars or it’s characters. Sadly. But I carry them in my heart. Does that count for something? My soul says yes.

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff, Grogu being the cutest thing you ever did see, and Din is a warning in and of himself in this one. Typical show violence. Space swearing. Arguing? Mentions of injury, brief mention of blood, stitches. Mando’a.

Word count: 4,014 (I’m this person now, okay?)

Thank you to @fordo-kixed-rex, @grippingbeskar, and @dontletyourchildrenwatchthis for reading this over for me and letting me know I’m not crazy.

Masterlist

Xxx

“It’ll only be a few hours,” you grumbled, shoving another blaster in your belt from the weapons locker.

“Do you know anything about this planet?”

You rolled your eyes, grabbing a vibroblade to tuck into your boot. “I know it’s hot.” Reaching for a thermal detonator, a gloved hand came out to grab your wrist, stopping you just short, your fingers barely scraping along its surface. With a sigh you turned your head to your left to find the Mandalorian’s helmet inches from your face.

“I’m serious,” he said in a low voice, his grip on your wrist tightening slightly.

“So am I,” you whispered. “Mando, I’m fine. I’ve done this a few times.” He scoffed at your sarcastic remark, making you smirk. When he released your wrist, you grabbed the detonator, fixing it to the back of your belt. “Besides, like I said, this’ll be easy. In and out. This guy’s not particularly dangerous, just a bail jumper. Probably won’t even get a scratch.”

He grunted. “And when you come back limping, what do I get? Hmmm?”

You crossed your arms over your chest, leveling a flat glare on him. “That’s just rude.”

“What?” He asked innocently, holding his hands out to the sides. “I’m not saying he would hurt you. I’m saying you’re known to…. Trip. A lot.”

After a loaded moment where you two just stared in silence, the only sound the child ambling down the ladder from the cockpit, you turned to the ramp, grumbling, “I’m going now.”

Pulling the lever to release the ramp, you stood at the top as it lowered, feeling the wall of beskar hovering closer and closer behind you until finally the modulated voice taunted by your ear, “Good luck.”

A wave of hot air rolled up into the Crest, making Grogu scrunch his face and babble as he tried to scale his guardian's armor.

Din bent down and scooped up the child, cradling him in his arms and shaking his head as the little green ward squinted at the bright sunlight pouring in the now open hull. Bringing his visor back up to meet your gaze as you made last minute adjustments to your belt, he tilted his head to the side just slightly before he added, “You’re gonna need it.”

With a roll of your head to face back toward the unforgiving landscape, you began down the ramp, disappearing in the glare of the sun beating down on the barren tundra.

Tugging the lever to close the ship back up, the Mandalorian turned to the child in his arms as he cooed softly. Letting out a sigh, his shoulders rolling forward slightly as he still held on to the lever with one hand, he let his head fall forward toward the kid. “I know. I know, I miss her already too, little guy. But don’t worry. She’s gonna be okay.” Bringing the hand down from the lever to rest comfortingly on the child’s front, Din patted it distractedly. “And she’ll be right back.”

Xxx

A few hours had come and passed while Din worked on a handful of odd repairs around the ship. He was currently under the control panel in the cockpit, laying on his back as he fiddled with the wiring under the console.

Grogu was playing with his ball in the copilot's chair, chittering happily about something or other.

Looking down toward the child, Din sighed, pulling Grogu’s attention to him. “Don’t worry. She’s just running a little late. That’s all.”

The kid tilted his head as he hummed questioningly at the Mandalorian. “She’s just a little late,” Din repeated, a bit more forcefully. “That’s all.” Looking back up at the mess of wiring overhead, he stared at it absently, his voice quiet. “Don’t worry.”

Xxx

More time had passed, it was the middle of the night, and Din began to pace. There wasn’t anything left on the ship to fix to occupy his time. Well, there was, but it would take hours, and you’d be back soon, probably needing to take off as soon as possible, so he didn’t want to get tied up in that.

The kid blinked blearily from a nearby crate, watching his protector pace back and forth as he ate from a ration pack. He paused his snacking, offering a warm, “Patu!” when the Mandalorian stopped for a moment. Grogu grinned when the shiny visor turned toward him soundlessly, beginning to babble aimlessly as he reached back into the ration pack to pull out a piece to offer to his friend, extending it as far as his little arms could go.

“Thanks, kid,” Din mumbled, taking the dried whatever it was and lifting his helmet just enough to take a small bite. He hummed in satisfaction once the modulator was back in place, the child grinning like he’d solved a dire problem for a world at war.

And in a way, Din guessed he had. It offered him peace, if only for a moment. His mind found rest, some silence for a beat, long enough to get some perspective, long enough to take a breath, and tamp down the worry niggling away at him under his armor.

It was an unfamiliar feeling to him, worry. Something he’d not really experienced until the child, and something he didn’t altogether quite understand. He’d been in worrying situations before, but this was different. It was removed from him. It was for something outside of himself, his control, and it drove him crazy.

You drove him crazy.

Absolutely insane.

….and he loved it.

With you gone, something was missing. Some part of him, some piece that made up the rest of him was lost, and it was like he couldn’t settle, couldn’t find any semblance of peace until you were…. Home.

He didn’t know when or how the Crest had become home, much less when you had joined that picture, but there it was.

He needed you home.

He needed you back.

He needed you….

Just needed you.

Xxx

The child was asleep in the bunk, sealed away as Din rearranged the weapons locker for probably the seventy fifth time, or something near there, it felt like. The open spots for the weapons you’d taken out yesterday glaringly obvious no matter how he rearranged things.

With another long sigh, he moved to open the ramp, and he watched as a brilliant sunrise peeked through, streaking the reflective surfaces of the Crest in shades of pink and orange.

He’d sighed enough to sail a ship across the seas on Kamino, he thought bitterly. Every huff of air an attempt to release pent up emotions, something longing in his chest, but all it did was fog up the inside of his visor. ….Which made him sigh in frustration, doing it again, and it was a whole cycle.

A figure appeared on the horizon, and his spine straightened, attention on full alert. He hoped it was you, but since it was well past when you’d said, there was no telling at this point.

The outline looked closer much faster than anticipated, and it was then he heard the hum of a speeder engine begin to whir closer. Hand going to rest on his blaster, he drew it slowly, aiming at the rapidly approaching stranger as he pressed a button on the side of his helmet to zoom in with his display.

A fog had rolled in, concealing the features of the person atop the speeder, but something in his chest began to constrict when he thought it looked a lot like you.

As the speeder swooped to a stop in front of the ramp, Din took a cautious step forward, blaster raised and aimed as he switched the safety off.

The figure astride the vehicle hopped off, stumbling slightly before pushing themselves up using the seat of the bike for leverage, grunting as they went. Taking a few wobbling steps toward the ramp, finally the figure stepped out of the fog enough for Din to see who it was, and his throat was suddenly so dry, he could barely croak out your name.

You huffed out a breathy laugh before grimacing and grabbing your right side with your hand. “I know I’m late, but, kriff, it’s no reason to shoot me, Mando.” Moaning, you slumped with your back against the speeder, head tilted back as you winced. “Actually, go ahead. It might be better than this.” With a hiss through your teeth, you slid to the ground, landing with a plop onto the dusty earth, barely registering the rapid holstering of a blaster, the heavy footfalls of beskar quickly making their way down to you, or his hurried questions over your tight lipped groans as you were lifted from the ground.

“What’s wrong? What happened? No, kid. Get back. Go to your- kid, no.”

Opening your eyes as much as you could muster, you peeked at the kid standing at the top of the ramp, his expression drawn in concern. “I’m fine, tiny. Do what he says.” The last part of the word came out on a strangled hiss as a wave of pain jolted through you, the Mandalorian adjusting his hold under your knees and behind your back with a soft apology.

“I must be dying. Did Mando just apologize to me?” Reaching out, you ran your hand exaggeratedly over his helmet, patting it down like it held something you’d lost. “Is this real? Am I dreaming? I’m hallucinating, aren’t I?”

“Be quiet, mesh’la,” he rumbled, setting you on the floor of the Crest before pressing a button on his vambrace to close the ramp.

“No! No wait!” You said as strongly as you could. Reaching out you smashed the buttons on his vambrace until you found the right one, ignoring his protests, halting the ramp's upward movement. “My bag. On the speeder. The quarry…. What’s left of him….” You relaxed back onto the floor, closing your eyes.

Din shook your shoulders, making you sit up abruptly, wincing before you turned to him. “What does mesh’la mean?”

Din hesitated only a moment. “The quarry?”

You pointed at the speeder, your eyes shutting tight in pain. “He grabbed the thermal detonator. Idiot. All that I could find left of him is in that bag. I’m never using those again. The clean up isn’t worth the credits.” Turning back up to his visor with knit eyebrows, you peeked up at him. “Can we put him on ice?” You shuddered. “I don’t want to look at that bag ever again.”

Nodding, Din ran over and jumped off the ramp, grabbing your stuff off the speeder, and freezing the bag in carbonite as the ramp sealed shut behind him. You carelessly tossed your weapons to the side, mumbling about feeling heavy, so heavy….

When Din turned back from the chamber, you were slumped back against some crates, jaw hanging open limply. As he took a cautious step toward you, he realized your chest was barely moving with your shallow breaths.

Yelling your name with no response, Din closed the last few feet left between you in seconds, sliding the last foot or so on his knees, numb to anything besides the pain in his chest at the thought of you leaving him. Not like this.

Not today.

No.

“Kid!” He said determinedly, looking across your body to find Grogu already reaching out, a few inches from you. That’s all that would come out. Tilting his head to the side pleadingly, Din turned his visor back down toward your face, smoothing some hair back away from your eyes.

Grogu understood. He always did. Putting one clawed hand on your shoulder, he closed his eyes in concentration, his already wrinkled face crinkling further.

Din watched in amazement as color returned to your face, a dull lifeless mask having settled over it before, your eyes fluttering open as you took a deep breath.

Your eyes darted over to Din before landing on the child, wide in wonder, but you didn’t say anything.

Reaching out, Din nudged him off of you with a gentle push of his finger. “Thanks, ad’ika.” Grogu blinked up at him in confusion. “I’ll take it from here. You rest.” Turning back to look down at you, he wagged a finger close to your face. “Don’t move.” (“Little one.”)

“Don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” you mumbled, smiling softly when he chuckled.

Getting to his feet with a quiet groan, Din got the med kit before settling back beside you. Peeling your blood soaked shirt up just enough to see the sear from the blaster shot along your side, he apologized quietly before he got to work cleaning and stitching the wound.

“You’re lucky. They just grazed you.”

“I know,” you mumbled, looking up at the ceiling of the Crest as he worked on the side of your abdomen, wincing every now and then. “Thank you. For not saying anything. I know, you warned me, I just….”

“You just….” He repeated your words back at you questioningly when you never attempted to finish the statement.

Blinking up at him a few times, you changed the subject. “You never told me what mesh’la means.”

Din just went back to sewing you up carefully, his head tilted to the side at an odd angle to see properly. Silence settled between you, and you’d accepted that’s how it would be - this was normal for him, after all - until he spoke so quietly you almost missed it.

“Beautiful.”

“Wha-”

“It means beautiful.”

Smiling softly, you winced when he pulled the thread taught. “And adi- ad- the kid? What you called him?” Stumbling over the word, you pointed to the little green face in his hammock for reference.

The Mandalorian chuckled, his voice a little louder now, but only slightly. “Little one.”

Looking at the little one, you smiled, nodding. “It fits. Speaking of,” you turned back to face your reflection in his visor. “What the hell did he do to me?”

Sucking in a sharp breath, Din paused in his work for a moment, bringing his gaze up to look at you straight on. “He’s…. Special.”

“Yeah, I’ll say,” you snorted, turning back to face the child, finding him peeking over the edge of the hammock, only from his nose up showing, and of course, his ears. Smiling, you tilted your head at him affectionately. “You could open a sideshow. Make some nice credits between quarry’s.”

“You sound like Peli,” Din grumbled.

“Hey, that woman has wisdom, you should listen to her.” You held up a finger while speaking, sitting up straighter, only to collapse in on yourself as Din tugged the stitches tight with a grunt and began working on them again.

Another silence settled in between you, filling the spaces between breaths with something comfortable and familiar.

“Well, Mando,” you finally decided to break it. “Have you eaten?”

“The…. The child fed me.”

You hesitated. “I…. I’m sorry?”

“Yes,” he said instead, tying off the stitches as he cleared his throat, reaching for a gauze pad to cover them. “And it’s Din.”

You blinked at him, your mind failing to keep up with the last few topics, especially still struggling with the image of the tiny baby feeding the giant beskar warrior. Amusing as it was. “I’m so lost.”

The Mandalorian stayed silent as he used some adhesive to keep the pad on your side, smoothing it down gently with a gloved hand. He fumbled in the kit for something else, but you couldn’t see, your pant leg being tugged by impossibly small green hands drawing your attention away.

The child ambled up into your lap and settled, giggling when you yelped at a sharp pain in your side. Looking down you saw the Mandalorian withdrawing a bacta shot and letting your shirt fall back down to cover it before turning your fury up toward his visor.

“My name,” he explained simply. “It’s Din.”

“That hurt!” Your face crumpled from anger to nothing. “Wait. What?”

“You heard me,” he said tiredly, but amused, as he collected the used items and the kit, taking them back over to the corner they came from.

“I did,” you nodded, staring at the floor. “And…. Wait. What?” Looking back over at him, you groaned as you pushed yourself up with the help of some crates at your back.

Grogu’s hand resting on your cheek instantly relieved some of the pain, pulling your focus down to him. “That will never not be amazing,” you breathed with a smile.

Din rushed over, helping you to sit on top of the boxes you’d just used as leverage.

“Sit,” you demanded, finger pointed at him.

With a sigh, he obliged, plopping on the crate next to you gracelessly.

“Explain.”

“When I was born, my parents had to give me a moniker-”

“Don’t make me shoot you.”

With the heaviest sigh you’d heard yet, he leaned back against the hull of the Crest. He looked so tired.

When he began speaking, it was the softest voice you’d ever heard him use, and somehow that made you pay more attention than anytime he’d yelled at you in the middle of a firefight.

“When you were gone…. I realized something.”

“….Be more cryptic. Please.” You sassed when he didn’t continue after a long moment, only raising your eyebrows at him when he rolled his visor toward you with as much attitude as you had just voiced. The kid squeaked something as his own contribution, pulling your eyes down to him, and you pointed at him, nodding in agreement before looking back at Man- Din. “Yeah!”

Din couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped as he turned his head back to look across the lower level of the Crest at nothing in particular.

“I don’t know what I would do…. If I lost you. If I really lost you.” He looked down at his hands as he fiddled with the ends of his gloves needlessly. “I’ve…. I’ve only ever felt that way about the kid, and- and I honestly don’t know what to do with this.” He looked at you again, and somehow this time you could feel his eyes on you, not just the weight of his visor. “Don’t know how.”

Holding his gaze in silence, you let his words sink in. It’s a lot to process. In reality, it’s not much, but emotionally, you need a minute. Everything you thought you knew about this man has just been turned on its head, and you just…. Need a minute.

When you didn’t say anything, Din nodded silently, going to rise from the crate when you reached out to stop him, hand resting over his. Opening your mouth, you stared at your reflection in his visor, then turned your face to look at the floor as if it held the words you needed.

From the corner of your eye you saw Din’s shoulders deflate, roll forward in defeat, but you put a stop to that with a squeeze of his hand in yours. Weaseling your fingers into his clenched fist to open it, you threaded them with his, holding tight while you searched for the words, using the grip as an anchor while you took a leap.

“Din,” you tried, smiling at the way it felt rolling off your tongue, enjoying the way he squeezed your hand at the sound, and his breath stuttered through the modulator.

“Din,” you said more confidently, unable to shake the smile as you go on. “There is nothing I can think of that would make me happier in the entire galaxy than anything you just told me.” Pulling your eyes up toward his visor, you looked at him through your lashes, face still down towards the floor. “When I’m here, on this piece of shit ship-”

“Watch it,” Din mumbled good-naturedly.

“-I have never felt safer or more at home anywhere in my life.” Lifting your face up to him in some insane wave of courage, you squeezed his hand again. “And whether that’s as your friend, or…. Whatever,” you tucked your face into your chest for a moment to hide the smile that’s not going anywhere. “I’m just honored to get to be a part of…. This.” You gestured around the ship then between the two of you and a sleeping Grogu in your arms with your joined hands before resting them back on his knee softly. “Din,” you mumbled around another grin, unable to shake the renewed pull of your lips no matter how you tried. “I’m honored to know you.”

After staring at one another for a long moment, Din finally shook his head in amusement, gently tugging you closer by your joined hands. “Well that’s all nice, but…. I was thinking of something a little more…. Personal.”

“Oh, thank the Force,” you said in relief, letting your eyes flutter shut as he rested his forehead against yours. “Ner cyare.” (“My beloved.”)

Din pulled away slightly, tilting his head at you in question.

You just kept grinning. “Elek, Ni jorhaa'i Mando'a.” (“Yes, I speak Mando'a.”)

Shaking his head at you, he began to chuckle. “Mir'sheb,” he mumbled. “Then why ask me all about what I said?” (“Smartass.”)

“I just wanted to see if you would tell me. You’re always so secretive.” You narrowed your eyes at him playfully. “Plus, it also seemed kind of important to you, so I didn’t want to ruin it.”

Din tilted his head to the side as he stared at you, shaking it in disbelief and amusement. “Well, way to go with that.”

The smile wasn’t going anywhere, and you didn’t mind. “I also know Huttese, Jawaese, and- oh, what else? What would you like to hear, I’ll see if I can make it happen.”

Tilting his beskar back against your soft skin, he watched as your lashes fluttered to look up at him. Despite being so close, and not truly being able to see him through the visor, he felt like you really could. And for the first time in his life, he didn’t want to hide from that feeling.

“I just want to hear about your hunt while we get off this hellhole,” he mumbled, standing and lifting the child from your arms. Tucking him into his hammock before sealing him in, he turned back to find you standing at the ladder to the cockpit, looking at it like it’d wronged you. “What’s wrong?”

Looking up into his visor, you pouted. “I don’t think I can get up there with these stitches pulling against me the whole way up.”

“Oh, come on,” he teased, touching his forehead to yours one more time briefly simply because he could now, then turning you to face the ladder and mumbling right into your ear as he crowded in behind you. “You just got shot today, and you’re complaining about stitches?”

“I’m not complaining, it’s a genuine concern,” you mumbled, fighting another grin trying to tug up the corners of your lips.

“Well, don’t be concerned,” he lilted, taking a step closer and making you begin up the ladder with nowhere left to go but up. “I’m right behind you, the whole way. I won’t let you fall.” His voice softened as you began climbing the ladder, and true to his word, he stayed behind you, almost caging you in the whole way. “Don’t worry.”

“I can see that,” you mused, climbing up into the cockpit with a soft smile. “I’m not.”

Din brushed past you, settling into the pilot’s seat, beginning the take off sequence. “Now. Tell me about this quarry.”

You sighed, plopping into the copilot seat with a roll of your eyes. “Oh, you would not believe the chaos that started from the moment- the moment-” you held up your finger, pausing for emphasis as you closed your eyes for dramatic effect, “I was off this ship.”

Din spun in his seat to face you as the ship began to lift off, his voice smug. “Try me.”

Xxx

My everything taglist: @lam-ila, @oliviajdjarin, @peonyophelia, @Itsavicf, @jxvipike, @momc95 What’s this?

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autisticlenaluthor · 1 month ago

Text

Lena

TW: mentions of drowning, dissociation, 4-year-old Lena in intense distress, and witnessing a dead body

The sky above the lake is painted black with a heavy brush– cut through only by the gray clouds rumbling above it. The moon, which used to be so clear, now hides behind the fog. It pokes out every so often to make the smallest of appearances, reminding Lena it’s still there.

At night the trees, all tall and stocky, look more like people than plants. They’re skinny giants with lanky limbs and their eyes are stuck on the little girl standing at the shore. It’s all Lena can seem to think about– how the air is so cold and her mom isn’t holding her anymore. She’s alone again as they watch her, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Her mom always tells her monsters aren’t real. She checks the closets and under the bed every night before bedtime just in case. She always tells her they’re safe.

But the glimmering water they spend every Sunday dipping their toes in just swallowed her whole and sucked up all the air bubbles with her. The waves they paddled in together under shining skies had turned dark and suddenly, the world was upside down.

The lake was their spot. The water belonged to them. And now, her mom belongs to the water.

Lena stares straight ahead of her, as she’s done since the sun was still shining, and holds pieces of her swimsuit in her fingers.

The material is mostly dry now. It hangs loose on her body– the damp spots making her shiver whenever they meet her skin. Mom had told her she would grow into it. Lena isn’t sure.

She isn’t sure that the trees won’t come to life and finally attack. Isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to move again. Isn’t sure if any of this is real at all or if it’s just another bad dream she needs to wake up from.

Lena hopes it is. She hopes her mom is at the other end of it– ready to pick her up and rock her back to sleep.

As Lena tries to find the strength to pull her swimsuit away from her, she can hear something crunching behind her. It sounds like footsteps in the gravel only louder. It makes her wonder if the Monster Trees have decided to come for her– if they think she isn’t aware of their plans to take her too.

“Hey!” A deep voice calls out to her. “Hey, are you alright?”

More footsteps approach. They’re shining a light now too – a big one. It makes Lena shiver even harder and her stomach twist. When did it get so cold?

“Hey– kid.”

Slowly, Lena turns her head and wrinkles her eyes at the white beams hitting her. There’s an ambulance in front of her– over by the edge of the trail. It looks like the ones that sometimes drive by their cottage, to the house at the end of the road where Mrs. Porter lives. Mom says it’s because she’s so old, she gets sick very easily now. Sometimes, she needs help making it to the doctor.

“Hey…” The voice softens.

Lena squints at it– the light is getting unbearable– and tries to step backward. But her legs have forgotten how to move and the stones beneath her are so slippery. She stumbles in her haze and her feet slide beneath her. She falls hard onto her bottom.

A noise escapes as Lena looks down at herself. Her fingers dig into the sand, grasping piles of pebbles and sea glass.

“It’s okay– I’m not gonna hurt you.”

But it does hurt– her legs and her arms and her eyes and everything else. There’s pain shooting through her hips– the rocks are so hard. And as Lena’s fingers tighten around the pebbles, cutting deep into her skin, she can feel her face getting hot. Her jaw clenches and quivers beneath the tension so hard it feels like it might snap in half.

She should be crying, Lena thinks to herself.

It hurts worse than it did when she fell off her scooter in the street last week. But the tears don’t fall. It’s like her brain can’t remember how.

“Oh… sweetheart, you okay?”

When Lena looks up, she sees the man with the voice crouching down in front of her. He’s wearing big green pants and an orange vest that glows in the dark. They crinkle when he moves– like plastic bags being smushed together.

“Are you cold?” He asks, holding out a silver square for her. When Lena doesn’t move, he unfolds it and it transforms into some sort of tin-foil sheet. “It’s okay– you can stay there. I’ve just got a blanket in case you’re chilly. Sound good?”

Lena releases her grip on the pebbles and stares at him.

Even in the darkness, it’s clear how pale she is. Her face is ghastly and white– it’s as if it’s never seen the sun before.

“My name is Kieran,” the man continues. “I drive that big truck over there with my friends. I’m just here to make sure you’re alright and to give you some help.”

He waits for a moment then slowly approaches. Kneeling down at Lena’s side, he drapes the blanket over her shoulders. It’s thin and crinkly like an old sheet– laid on so softly it hardly touches her.

Goosebumps are covering her arms and legs. She must’ve been out here all day, he thinks.

“Here, kiddo… just want to warm you up a bit. We don’t want you catching a cold, do we?”

The blanket is big enough that it wraps around Lena’s front and falls behind her in a bunch. Lena glances at it for a second then looks back at the man.

Behind him, two other grown-ups are stepping out of the ambulance. They pull out something that looks like a tall bed on wheels with straps going across it. They look at her for a moment and pause, saying something to the other that she can’t quite hear. But they don’t go to her– they walk to the water. To her mom.

“Hey,” Kieran says when he catches her looking. “Hey… can you tell me your name?”

Slowly, Lena reaches for the blanket, wishing she could pull it tighter. She tells herself to move and tries to remember how her arms used to feel before this morning, when they still knew how to follow directions. But they soon fall beside her, unable to hold the material for more than a second.

“Were you here with your family?” Kieran asks. “With your mom?”

Mom. Lena’s stomach twists at the word. It makes her feel like how she gets when she’s been sitting in the car for too long.

She furrows her brow ever so slightly and the tiniest whine escapes her. Her head is hurting– it feels too tight.

Puzzled, Lena looks at the man. She stares at him with her knit brow and hard eyes, waiting for him to read her mind.

“You’ve still got your goggles on, hun,” he says. He stays seated on his knee and tilts his head, smiling at her. “Can I take them off? Is that why you’re makin’ noises?”

When Lena doesn’t say anything, he extends his hand slowly towards her face. Vaguely, she can see it approaching. She knows she should flinch. He’s so much bigger than she is. So much bigger than her mom. But she can’t move.

So she sits stoic as the elastic band pulls the hair that’s dried against it. It peels slowly away from her like a hundred bandaids being removed at once. But after a moment, Lena can feel a pressure around her forehead release.

“That must feel better, aye?”

Lena looks straight past Kieran at the other two grown-ups in green pants and orange vests. They’re still walking the stretcher down to the lake, talking to each other in hushed voices, muffled by the wind. They’re going for her mom, she thinks, they’re going to find her.

“Oh… no, you don’t wanna see that,” Kieran mumbles.

He catches Lena’s semblance of attention again and this time makes sure to keep it.

He whisks her up into his arms with a grunt as he stands back up, and keeps her securely wrapped in her blanket.

“You’re being such a brave girl, you know that?” He coos, settling her on his hip. “You’re so brave.”

He brushes a piece of damp hair out of Lena’s face as he speaks and smiles softly at her. She’s so light in his arms, bundled up in the tin-foil sheet made for someone three times her size. It engulfs her completely– leaving only her head exposed to the world.

“It’s all gonna be okay, yeah?”

For a second, Kieran looks past her at his partners. They wade into the abyss, water sloshing onto the shore behind them. Through the darkness– it’s hard to see more than the glow of the orange vests growing further and further away. But as they lock the stretcher onto the edge of the shore, he makes sure to bounce Lena ever so slightly to turn her away from it.

“Do you like rhymes?” He asks her. “Or songs?”

Lena tucks her chin to her chest and releases a long exhale. Her eyes are starting to sting from being held open all day.

“Why don’t we do some songs?”

He looks at her pale skin and the few freckles scattered across her nose. Her white chapped lips, cracked around the edges from being left out in the cold for so long, and the bags that hang below her eyes. And as the paramedics go deeper into the water, he watches how she stares directly below her, not looking at anything in particular, and takes in her green eyes. He tries to imagine what might be behind them– the memories of what she’s seen. The moment when her mother went under. The hours of looking and waiting for her to return, all alone in the frigid air, with nothing but a soggy swimsuit and goggles on her forehead.

She must’ve known she wasn’t coming back, he thinks. No kid could stand there for twelve straight hours and not know.

“Do you like…”

Kieran pauses for a moment, then starts to sing.

“Theeeee wheels on the bus go round and round,

round and round,

round and round.”

He bounces Lena gently to the rhythm as he goes through the lyrics, his words hardly above a whisper. It’s just loud enough that Lena will hear him, just loud enough that she’ll have something else to focus on.

“The wheels on the bus go round and round,

all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go–” He stops for a moment and gives Lena a poke. “How do they go?”

She continues to look past him with her empty stare as he fills in for her and rocks her from side to side to show the motion.

“Swish swish swish

swish swish swish,

The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish,

All through the town.”

“What comes next?” He asks her. “Is it the babies on the bus? What do the babies on the bus do?”

In the distance– there are red and white lights poking through the trees. The first true signs of another ambulance coming to take back the woman in the lake. Lena’s mother.

But Kieran keeps going with the song, even when Lena looks away from him. Even when she stares at the lights with more awareness than he’s seen from her all day. He just turns her around again and finds another rhyme, another story, another anything to keep her with him.

“You’re alright, darlin’,” he says. “It’s all gonna be alright. We’re gonna take you on the truck in a minute and my friends are gonna check you out– make sure you’re not sick. And then you’ll get some stickers and you’ll get to turn on the big lights if you want. But it’s all gonna be okay.”

Lena doesn’t know if she believes him. She wants to. But everything is so wrong.

“Now… let’s do another song,” Kieran thinks aloud. “That always helps my little girl when she’s feeling scared.”

He adjusts Lena in his arms, takes in a breath, then starts again.

“Hush little baby don’t say a word,

Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird”

No, this isn’t right.

“And if that mockingbird don’t sing…”

Lena can feel her face getting hot. There’s something sharp in her throat– her belly is twisting again.

“Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring”

Her face is wet now. Silent tears creep from her chapped eyes for the first time all day. They make her cheeks burn with irritation and she wants to rub them– no, she wants her mom to wipe them dry the way she had this morning when Lena bumped her knee jumping off the sofa.

“And if that diamond ring is brass,

Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass”

Lena can see herself back at home– sitting in bed with her comforter bunched up around her chest. She can see her eyelids drooping, see her mom’s hand holding hers, trailing her thumb across her wrist, as she sings her to sleep.

“And if that looking glass gets broke,

Mama’s gonna buy you a billy-goat”

Lena sees it so vividly she can almost feel it. Her fluffy pink pillow beneath her head, her teddy bear tucked under her arm, and her mom kissing her forehead as she allows sleep to gently embrace her.

This isn’t right, Lena thinks. Her mom is supposed to be here. She’s the one who should be singing. She’s the one who should be holding her.

Lena’s breathing increases rapidly. She squirms in Kieran’s grasp– she wants to be put down. She wants to go home. She wants her mom. She wants her now.

With a whine, Lena turns her head and tries to wriggle out of his arms.

But what she sees behind her– it makes her freeze all over again.

The grown-ups in orange vests are out of the water. They’re wheeling the tall bed back towards the ambulance and there’s a woman on it. Her mom. Her mom is on the bed.

Lena whimpers. It can’t be her mom.

This woman is soaking wet. Her orange hair looks black– it cascades over the side of the stretcher, stringy and thick, all clumped together, dripping onto the beach a thin dark liquid, which leaves a trail behind it. This woman lays there on her back, frozen and still, like she should be sleeping.

But she isn’t. Her eyes are wide open.

Lena makes a noise and tries to lean away from Kieran. Her heart is starting to pound– she can hear it in her ears. Big and loud like a drumline, drowning out the sounds of everything else.

“Hey– hey, come back to me.”

The older man’s voice is foggy and distorted.

Lena sniffs as she leans further. She just doesn’t understand it– how her mom could turn so white and why her lips are so blue. It isn’t right– it isn’t her.

Her mom is supposed to be pretty like a princess. She’s supposed to be gentle. But now, she looks like the monsters Lena’s always been so afraid of. The ones she saw that night on the telly when she was meant to be sleeping and crept into the living room while her mom was watching a movie. She’d caught one glimpse and sprinted right back to bed so they wouldn’t be able to catch her, then hid under the covers, shaking, until she fell asleep.

Lena sniffs again, whining through her fast-paced cries.

Her mom is a monster and still, Lena wants to run to her. She wants to throw herself on top of her frigid body and shake her until she wakes up. Until she’s no longer sleeping with her eyes open like she’s frozen in time, paralyzed in the last second of her true existence twelve hours ago.

Lena wants to hug her. She wants to bring her back to life. She knows she can– she knows if she could just be allowed to try, she could do it.

So she fights with all she has to once and for all, throw herself right out of Kieran’s arms. She hurls her body forward– determined to run to her Mom one last time. She’s going to get to her. She’s going to fix her. She knows she can– she knows it, she knows it, she knows it.

But Kieran’s too strong. He pulls Lena back and holds her even tighter, turning his body around again so she can’t see her anymore.

He says something to her– something that’s supposed to be reassuring. But Lena can’t hear a word.

Her fast-past cries turn into screams and she opens her mouth as wide as it will go, wailing with all her might. She sobs over Kieran’s attempts to calm her down, kicking her legs with all she has because if she’s hurting– he needs to be hurting too.

It’s gut-wrenching to watch.

The cold air burns Lena’s throat and sears through her chest. Her cracked lips finally split from being open so angrily and each scream pounds in her temple upon its release. Her body is too tired for such emotion but Lena doesn’t care. None of it matters anymore. Her mom is gone. Her world is gone.

So Lena does the only thing she can do– she cries. Even when snot bubbles from her nose and trails down onto her lips. Even when drool drips from her mouth, down past her chin. She cries so hard that Kieran thinks she might make herself throw up. He freezes a bit when Lena gasps for air with a heave so intense her entire body lurches upwards. Her shoulders shoot to her ears and her face scrunches up.

But all that follows is an even heavier sob.

They get heavier and heavier until Lena’s entire body is shaking. Her screams grow raspy and strained– her vocal cords shot from the effort.

Kieran tries to calm her down. He talks to her and rocks her, tightens her blanket then loosens it again– anything to make her more comfortable.

But nothing works. Lena is utterly inconsolable.

Behind them, the woman’s body is loaded into the rig. The crunching sound from earlier returns, only quieter this time, when the ambulance leaves to take her to the morgue.

Kieran tries not to think about what’ll happen afterward. When the autopsy is done and Jane Doe is identified– a social worker will have to decide what should happen to the little girl in his arms. They’ll place her in foster care or if she’s lucky, with a distant relative. Perhaps a grandparent.

At some point, one of his teammates approaches him, holding a small ratty backpack patterned with mermaids. They tap him on the shoulder to catch his attention.

“We found this over by the benches,” The other paramedic says. She shines a flashlight on the tag on the inside, which is written on in neat cursive. “The name inside says Lena. Think it belongs to her?”

“Lena…” Kieran says softly, shifting the distraught child in his arms. “Are you Lena?”

Through her wails, Lena manages a nod. She gasps for air a few more times, her shoulders shooting up with each breath, then lets out a crackled whine.

“Oh, hun, it’s gonna be okay,” Kieran tells her. He rubs her back and tries to smile at her– not allowed to show that he wants to break right there with her. “Let’s get you checked out in the truck.”

#supercorptober 2024 #lena luthor #supergirl fanfiction #i have a various completed chapters for this that I may post as a fic on ao3 #if anyone is interested

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charliemwrites · 1 year ago

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Ahajskskskdjdj I just binge read all of Feral x Simon and OMG it's my new Roman empire

And your WRINKLY BRAIN IS GIVING ME WRINKLES OMG

WHAT IF someone finds out about Feral?? Either someone who just hears Simon giving Johnny a couple of tips on how to handle Feral or just answering some of Johnny's questions about Feral, and is deeply concerned or is to nosey about the elusive Ghost to pass up the chance to know more. OR AN ENEMY finds out about Ghost's little pet.

Either way someone tries to break out Feral while Simon is out on deployment. BUT Feral doesn't want that and Simon comes home, after getting an alert that the security system is down, to a wrecked house and no Feral :((((

How would Simon react??? First to of course find Feral but afterwards?? Poor Feral all traumatized and trust broken because Simon is supposed to protect them and where was he??

Ooooooh I like this concept a lot.

Say it’s someone from another team, hearing him and Johnny chat out in the training grounds. The guy gets it in his head this is a huge conspiracy - obviously ghost’s captain is in on it. Hell, it could even go further up the chain. Who’s gonna tell an asset like ghost that he can’t have one measly civilian in exchange for all the work he does? Well this guy has morals, he has integrity. He’s drawing the line in the sand.

He does some covert investigating, figures out where ghost is keeping his hostage. Then he just waits. The whole 141 is away on a big mission. By the time the bastards get back, Rando will be long gone with his rescue.

He shows up just before the sun is meant to set and breaks through the heavily locked and reinforced door. It looks… like a normal house. He shivers - how diabolical. He dreads what the bedrooms must be like.

When he walks into the living room, there’s still no signs of life or even noise.

“It’s okay ma’am, I’m here to rescue you,” he calls.

A face pops out from behind a doorway, scowling.

“The hell are you talking about? Get out!”

“No, really it’s okay,” he insists, hurrying closer. “I’m not with him. It’s not a trick. I’ll get you to safety.”

“I’m fine-“ the poor thing must be so traumatized. He’ll have to get her out for her own good. She’ll thank him later. “Hey!”

She starts kicking and squirming as he grabs her arm, trying to usher her to the door.

“I’m going to save you, ma’am. You won’t ever have to see that terrible man again.”

She’s putting up too much resistance, he’ll have to scoop her up and take her out.

And that’s when her expression changes.

—

Simon bursts through the door to a dark house. There’s blood all over the floors. Tracking from the living room into the kitchen. His heart drops into his stomach.

“Love?”

“S-Simon?!”

He follows her voice to his bedroom, where she’s just slinking out from under the bed. Her eyes are huge and blood is dried all over her face and neck and hands.

He hurries to her side, thinking she’s been badly injured and has been bleeding out beneath his bed this whole time. But she stutters out that it’s not hers. That there’s a body in the laundry room.

She’s practically trying to crawl beneath his skin, sobbing and shuddering.

“You promised,” she wails, “you promised.”

#asks #fanfiction #cod #thoughts™️#reader fic #my writing #keeper ghost #kept pet ghost #dark fic #keeper/kept au

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kosmokai · 8 months ago

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okay wait.. LEMME COOK. (this is a lil snippet of a fic i was thinking of.. lmk if u want me to make a full thing to it cause idk if i like it) alsoo thought of this while listening to chase atlantic’s tidal wave, so that’s probably what it’s gonna be called ‼️

nsfw under the cut, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

so, beomgyu is at the beach with a few close friends, just for a casual outing. his friends wandered off to do something, surfing if he heard correctly, but he couldn’t be bothered to learn so he eventually found himself at the bar.

as soon as he walked in, he caught a glimpse of the prettiest girl he had ever seen… cute little two piece, skirt at the bottom, crocheted bra at the top, make up and hairstyle cute with a few accessories to top it all off was what she had on.. she— no, you, were beautiful.

of course, after seeing you, beomgyu chose to walk over to where you where, and sat a few seats away so it wasn’t… weird or anything. you saw him soon after and said hello, taking his order.

“you guys have anything interesting? something i wouldn’t find somewhere else?” you’re usual response got caught in your through as your pretty, pink lip gloss covered lips closed. “mm… well, we have a new cocktail we made a few days ago, but it’s still known beta so i’m not sure it would taste the best-” “i’ll have that. what’s it called?”

you smiled, really getting a good look at who was in front of you. his blonde locks, fluffy and covering his eyebrows, relaxed and calm expression.. he was handsome. pretty, even. but that’s besides the point. “tidal wave. cause it’s blue and stuff, and it has a kinda beach-y taste, if that makes sense. just wanted to tap into the environment, i guess!”

you smiled, taking the crinkled ten dollar note from him, smiling even more when he refused to accept the change. after a few minutes, you placed his cocktail in front of him, and he was speechless.

to sum it up, it was blue hue at the top and clear at the bottom, in a shallow like glass. there was a lemon and a little yellow striped umbrella inside, with some— uh, peach coloured shaved ice at the side of the top to resemble sand. on the opposite side along with the lemon and umbrella, was a piece of ice, somehow shaped like an ocean wave.

“it’s pretty..” he muttered a little loudly, not noticing your smug smile. pretty drink served by a pretty girl? that’s probably the first time he’s gotten the best of both worlds in one night. but little did you know, he was about to rock yours.

“thank you. enjoy!” as you were about to walk away, he shouted a little loudly. “keys! your keys.” you had left them on the counter next to him, after having to unlock the ice room for his drink. “oh my god, thank you! thanks for you i won’t get fired today.” he smiled, more of a smirk, and spoke. “don’t mention it,—“

he stopped, realising he didn’t catch your name. “oh, _______.” “pretty name for a pretty girl.. who serves pretty drinks.” you turned back to him, stopping your attempt at walking away so you didn’t have to stare into his eyes again. only because you’d find yourself staring.

“you are..?” “beomgyu. or gyu. both work.” he started sipping at his drink, a satisfied look on his face that set ease at yours. “cute. call me to clean up your drink, we can talk more.” you paused as you walked away, “gyu.” a wink flashed against your eye as you finally walked off, leaving him to smirk dumbly.

if he wasn’t feeling flattered, he would’ve been thinking about all the ways he could have you, take care, or rather, fuck you so well that you’d flush out, creating a tidal wave of your own.. right between your pretty thighs.

but oh well, guess he’ll think about that after finishing his cocktail.

THOUGHTS?? might make a whole fic abt it if u guys want :3

#彡 𝙺✵𝚂𝙼𝙾 ⋆ 𝙺𝙰𝙸 𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴𝚂 #txt #beomgyu #beomgyu smut #beomie #tomorrow x together smut #txt fic #txt hard thoughts #tomorrow x together fic

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judasviscariot · 1 year ago

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vash post trimax being hunted still by humans who just don’t understand and the only one who ever did is gone and yeah he still has milly and meryl but it’s not the same and he’s cornered like a rabid animal, bleeding from a wound that doesn’t heal like it used to and sometimes -

sometimes he thinks it would be easier to just close his eyes and let it end and sometimes he hates nai for healing him at all, hates him for making vash lose him, for making him hate him, and he hates nai for loving him so much it stripped him of everything he ever held sacred

and sometimes he thinks it would’ve been easier to stay on that fucking couch with the corpse of the only one who ever truly saw the core of him and sometimes he thinks he should’ve buried himself in the sand beside wolfwood because he’d be safe, he’d be kept and safe and it would be so quiet, and maybe he’d get a moment’s rest there in the dark where the only one who ever saw the truth of him lies

and he’s bleeding from a wound that won’t close and he’s so fucking tired and the golden chain he wears around his neck is heavy but the laughter that blooms around him, called in on a breeze he can’t feel, is all light

“so, what? you just gonna give up?”

he grits his teeth. the bounty hunters are shouting amongst themselves, coordinating their movements to surround him, cutting off any chance of survival he might have

‘promise me somethin’, spikey.’

the church bells are ringing. they’re always ringing in vash’s head. they won’t stop. liquor burns at the back of his tongue and he can’t wash it down, not with anything.

‘keep smilin’. even when… i’m gone. okay? for me.’

he bares his blunt fangs. black hair falls over his eyes.

it’s always so dark.

‘don’t let them win, vash.

vash.

never said your name enough, did i?

vash.’

tears burn along the seams of his eyelids. the scent of cigarettes and cologne wafts under his nose and vash’s eyes fly open to find the sun blocked by a familiar silhouette.

“c’mon, vash. don’t you give up now.”

he can see his reflection in the preacher’s sunglasses. with a hitching breath, vash lifts a pale hand covered in blood. a small smile curls over that golden face, white teeth flashing around the filter of a crumpled cigarette.

their hands meet. wolfwood tugs vash up from the bloodstained ground where he was content to die.

when he teeters forward, unbalanced and inelegant from the blood loss, wolfwood isn’t there to catch him. the shouts are getting louder. death is coming.

“time’s up,” burrs a deep voice in his ear, “let’s get the fuck outta here, human typhoon.”

and he has to. doesn’t he? because wolfwood was the only one who understood him and now the only life wolfwood has exists inside him - in the memories that make up the ghost vash carries in his ribcage like a second set of lungs.

“run.”

and he’ll keep running. he’ll keep running until there’s no more planet left, and then he’ll run some more. if it keeps this piece of wolfwood alive…

he’ll run forever.

so he does, leaving cigarette smoke and whiskey in his wake, the shape of his spilled blood like a cross in the sand.

#vashwood #idk I’m so emo rn #Wolfwood keeping Vash alive even when he’s gone is my biggest weakness #trimax #post trimax

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ofmermaidstories · 3 months ago

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i just wanted to say as a long time reader i'm so happy to hear your thoughts on the ending, because i feel like so many people were very "this is the worst ending ever and it ruined the series" or "this ending was perfect and anyone who disagrees just didn't understand the story" when i think neither is really true at all lol... like it's okay to take what you need from the ending and agree and disagree with certain parts! no perfect story exists because if it did then writers would stop writing! but i'm still so excited to see where your love of the series takes you in the future, and i'm grateful that you share your work with us always :) i hope you have a good week!

i love the series too much to swing blindly either way. 🥹 and i understand/can see perfectly how like, there’d be readers who’d be upset with the wrap up, or otherwise feel the knee-jerk reaction to defend it from all criticism. 🥺 i’m not one of them though. 🥹 hori achieved what he set out to do (tell a very specific story about a boy learning what it means to dream, and the cost and responsibility of gaining and losing them), there’s just some pot holes on the road to it. 🥺 and maybe they could’ve (should’ve) been addressed, maybe easily, maybe not (maybe it’s a problem for when the road was first built, in terms of foundation or missing approval plans, maybe) but the road still works. we still get there in the end. 🥹

i had fun the entire time, even with the complaints lmao. i agree with you, anon! like, i don’t think perfect creators/writers exist. we all have blind spots, or biases that otherwise skewer what we try to achieve. i think flaws make creators and their creations interesting!!!!!! if anything i think that tells you more about them and their work than the things they get right does. The way Hori protects and almost babies his hero boys—his men—from their consequences, lmao, like he’s almost too scared to truly hurt them in the long run? He always just shies away from saying things outright—things are always left just open enough that he can back peddle later on, fix things. The complete dry lack of romance, despite him taking pains to hint at it and the way it’s guarded among Ochako and Tsyu like some precious, girlish secret. 💀 Idc what anyone says about that last one, I don’t believe he’s deliberately subverting expectations—I think he’s just bad at writing romance (that isn’t unintended 💀) and also a coward, lmao.

But that’s the stuff that’s fun! It’s fun to pick it apart and then it’s fun to piece it back together either by writing fic or trying to find fics that have like, the fix-its you want. 🥹 Hori’s flaws and deliberate gaps are what makes it the perfect sandbox we know and love. and i think he knows that, tbh—there’s so many tiny things he hints at, throughout the story, that we just never get full explanations of. The UA robot uprising, lmao. The cyberwar after the kids leave school, mentioned in this last chapter?? The fact that he’s plotted out the past users lives, and is just kinda like—eh, yeah, i’m never gonna tell. LOL. Maybe what I keep calling cowardice is just a misjudgement of the lines he draws for himself, in the sand. 🧐🥺 I guess we won’t know, lmao.

i’m waffling. Anon, I hope you’re having a good start to your week. 🥹 Thank-you for being so nice, specifically with your last words—there’s a lot I wanna write for MHA!!! I’m excited to start something new that gets to play with what Hori left for us. 🥹 Like Lili said in her earlier ask—I’d like to write them a hundred other happy endings, too. 🥹

#ofmermaidstories-asks #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers #my hero academia: the story of how we became heroes

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thatgirl4815 · 1 year ago

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Only Friends Predictions

Purely for my own entertainment, I want to make Only Friends predictions now so that I can refer to them later and see how accurate they turn out to be (which I don’t have too high of hopes for, but I’m gonna go for it anyway). I’m gonna make these attempts based on what we know so far/what some members of the cast have said.

I would be really interested though to see other predictions? Who do you think will end up together? Speculating is the only way I know to pass the time before it airs, lol.

In short:

- Ray and Sand will end up together.

- Boston and Nick will be split. Boston will still be alone, but Nick will have moved on to someone new.

- Top will have cut ties with the group after Boston ruins his relationship with Mew. Mew and Ray will continue to be friends, but Mew will remain alone (but content).

Of course, this could be totally off, but I’m going with it now based purely on ✨vibes✨

Getting into the details...

SandRay

First and Khaotung said that their storyline is emotional compared to the hotness of the other couples’ storylines. I also know that Jojo has a thing for mixing up established pairings. As we’ve seen, the messiness of SandRay’s relationship really revolves around Ray’s feelings for Mew. But if they keep Sand’s characterization from the trailer, he won’t stand for any of Ray’s crap (“I won’t be in anyone’s choices.”). Does this mean Sand will end things and leave Ray to grovel for his affections again? Will Ray confess to Mew, and come crawling back to Sand after being rejected? Will Sand keep standing up for himself, or will Ray make some grand gesture to win him back? Can he be won back?

Even though this series is being marketed as messy, toxic, and chaotic, I’m certain there will be some core thematic aspects at play in each characters’ relationships. For SandRay (and BostonNick, I’d argue), self-worth could be a fundamental aspect. How much do you value the relationship, versus how much do you value yourself? I also wonder to what extent there could be a privilege check for Ray’s character. We know he’s wealthy and a playboy, but will his wealth create a division between him and Sand? Will Ray change himself? Obviously I’m posing a lot of questions, but until we get more info, I’m going to predict that Ray and Sand will end up together in the end, mostly because I think Ray navigating his feelings for both Sand and Mew--and coming to terms with what these feelings say about himself--would find its natural conclusion in Sand. Given what FirstKhao have said about how emotional their storyline is, I think it’s clear the feelings run deep for both of them. Also, I’m getting the sense from the trailer that Ray’s crush on Mew is unrequited.

Finally, FirstKhao have made a comment about their characters ending up together. They did say this before filming I believe, so might take it with a grain of salt.

BostonNick

My biggest dilemma at this point is figuring out how the SandRay plot will differ from the BostonNick one, because both Nick and Sand and Boston and Ray are in a similar position. Nick, to me, seems more likely to beg for Boston’s affection while Sand seems more ready to let all hell break loose and cut ties. In other words, Sand’s reaction in the trailer might indicate that he values himself too much to stand for Ray’s indecision from the get go. For Nick, this could be more of a slow-building awareness. By that I mean, I could see Nick coming to understand that Boston doesn’t deserve his affection if he’s going to disregard his feelings and treat him as a fwb when Nick keeps pushing for something more. I could see Nick making a stand, essentially telling Boston “him or me?” and Boston choosing Top...only for Top to cut ties with Boston after messing up his relationship with Mew. In short, I foresee Boston getting the worst outcome of everyone. But maybe this is just because he seems to be responsible for most of the chaos in the trailer.

TopMew

Top and Mew as an established couple in the trailer seems like the most likely endgame--and that’s exactly why I think they won’t end up together. I have a hard time believing Mew will just let Top off once he knows about his relationship with Boston. (I’m operating under the assumption here that Boston and Top resume their affair while Top and Mew are together...at least for a little while.) I could see Top keeping up his fwb relationship with Boston for a short time into his relationship with Mew, but as he gets more serious about Mew, he tries to cut things off with Boston. And that’s when the whole situation gets out of hand and Boston essentially confesses to Mew about their secret relationship.

Mew is also presented as content with his solitude; he only pursues a relationship with Top when Boston pairs them up. If anything, this entire situation could serve as a lesson for him. And if I’m right in predicting (hoping) that Ray will undergo a big moral shift from beginning to end, then I could see their friendship being a core part of the series. (I think it would also be good representation to keep them together as healthy friends despite Ray’s previous crush.)

...As for how Sea could factor into any of this (if he really is going to play some part in the series), I’ve seen speculation that he could be a possible love interest for Sand. I think it would depend on how big of a role he’s given. I’m sure it’ll be a cameo either way, but how much of one is questionable. He could be involved in an episode or two to stir up some drama and equal things out between Sand and Ray; I think that’s a strong possibility (and the drama would be oh so juicy). Or maybe he ends up with Nick, if Nick moves on from Boston? So many possibilities.

- X -

OK, so that’s my thought process at this current moment, but tomorrow I could have a wildly different one. If anyone is thinking completely differently, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, I’m gonna go stew over this some more until we finally get a trailer (Jojo, I’m begging).

#only friends #only friends the series #only friends predictions #only friends spec #firstkhaotung #firstkhao #neomark #forcebook #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #neo trai #mark pakin #force jiratchapong #book kasidet #gmmtv bl #thai bl #onlyfriendsseries #jojo tichakorn #gmmtv

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hxney-lemcn · 2 years ago

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To Fight For What You Love — Luke Skywalker x gn! Bounty Hunter! reader

summery: Being a bounty hunter for Jabba leads you into babysitting Han. Who knew that would mean you saving a princess and the rebel alliance in the process.

tw: reference to suicide (like the sayings, not actually talking about suicide). Fighting? Idk, anything in A New Hope.

a/n: Y'ALL 😭 I WAS NOT EXPECTING THE FIRST CHAPTER TO BE NEARLY 10k WORDS ODEWOKHVGK SAVE ME CUS I'M DOING ALL THE OG MOVIES

wc: 8.6k

Master List

Part One | Part Two

(Read on AO3 here if you'd rather)

I stood still as the Tatooine suns beat down on the sand. I watched through my goggles as Jabba called out to Han Solo. I’ve only seen him a few times, some smuggler. Had a silver tongue and tried to talk his way out of many situations, but this time Jabba wasn’t going to fall back.

Who am I? No one special. I’m a Devaronian, from planet Devaron. My father convinced my mother to allow me to come with him somehow. We landed on Tatooine, the heat reminding us of our home (although it was a lot more dry than we were used to). Quickly, my father couldn’t find work and landed in the clutches of Jabba the Hut. He tried to keep me out of it, but if he didn’t teach me how to fight…let’s just say Jabba had a different plan for me than being a bounty hunter like I currently am.

I turned around as Han came into the area. I repositioned my scarf back over my nose as it shifted down.

“Right here Jabba,” Han said. “I’ve been waitin’ for you.” The others pointed their blasters at him, but I just crossed my arms, ready for this to be over. I need to make more money for my family after all, and I can’t do that sitting around here.

“Have you now?” Jabba asked incredulously.

“You didn’t think I was gonna run, did you?” Han asked back.

“Han,” Jabba started. “My boy, you disappoint me. Why haven’t you paid me and why did you fry poor Greedo?” I tensed slightly as Boba Fett stood beside me. We never seemed to be on good terms. I suppose we were competition after all, but that’s why I let him claim all the bigger bounties, so he understood I wasn’t after his position.

“Jabba,” Han responded. “Next time you wanna talk to me, come see me yourself. Don’t send one of those twerps.”

“Han,” Jabba sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t make exceptions. What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an imperial starship? It’s not good business.”

“Look Jabba,” Han said defensively. “Even I get boarded sometimes.” Han walked on his tail before continuing, “You think I had a choice? But I got a nice, easy charter. I’ll pay you back, plus a little extra. I just need a little more time.”

“Han, my boy,” Jabba gave in. “You’re the best. So, for an extra 20%...”

“15, Jabba, don’t push it,” Han interrupted.

“Okay,” Jabba agreed. “15%. But if you fail me again, I’ll put a price on your head so big you won’t be able to go near a civilized system!”

“Jabba, you’re a wonderful human being,” Han said sarcastically.

Jabba motioned for the others to leave, but halted me, “You go with him, keep an eye out.”

I blinked, not believing this, “Will I be paid?”

“Yes,” Jabba said, waving his hand. “8% of Han’s payment.”

I tried to hide my surprise, knowing Han owed a lot. I nodded, and quickly followed Han and his co-pilot, Chewbacca inside. They looked at me, hands on their blasters.

“Aren’t you supposed to take your leave?” Han asked, raising an eyebrow.

I raised my hands in the air in fake surrender, shrugging, “I was ordered to come with you.”

“Great,” Han rolled his eyes. “Just what we need, a baby sitter. And you’re younger than me!”

I tugged my tan scarf under my chin and sighed, “Look, if it makes you feel better, I don’t want to be here either.”

“Whatever,” Han grumbled, standing up. “Don’t touch anything, Chewie, guard the door and escort our guests. I’m gonna go fix what I can.”

The two left the ship and I sat down behind the table. Moving my goggles onto the top of my head, I rested my arms on the table, looking around. It was not the best looking ship. Dusty, probably from the Tatooine climate, a lot of parts seemed rusted. This was going to be a long ride.

I nodded at Chewie as he walked through to the cockpit. He didn’t even acknowledge me. A few minutes later, the weirdest group boarded. Two humans, an older man and a guy around the same age as me, and two droids, an R2 unit and 3PO protocol droid.

“Hello,” I greeted with a small wave.

“Who are you?” The guy with blonde hair asked. I tried to ignore the way my mind immediately went to admire him.

“I’m-” I stopped once I heard the sounds of blasters being fired. I stood up quickly, making my way outside, blaster at the ready. I started shooting at the troopers. “Get on!” I shouted at Han. He kept shooting, running backwards towards the ship. I kept shooting, but Han grabbed my arm, pulling us into the ship. He shut the door behind us before running towards the cockpit.

“Chewie!” Han shouted. “Get us out of here!”

Not knowing what to do, I followed him, wanting to help however I could. I sat down in the seat behind Chewie, putting on my seatbelt. They quickly flew out, quite the bumpy ride.

Chewie growled something, Han replying back, “Looks like an imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought. Hold ‘em off. Angle the deflector shields while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked hesitantly. There was a reason why I was a solo bounty hunter, and that’s because I was really awkward with others. It didn’t help that Han seemed to have a sort of disdain of me being here.

“Yeah,” Han said sarcastically. “Don’t touch anything.”

I let out a huff under my breath. That was the second time he said that to me. I haven’t even done anything wrong! And it’s not like I have an incentive to sabotage him or anything either!

“Stay sharp. There’s two more comin’ in,” Han said to Chewie. “They’re gonna try and cut us off.”

The two human passengers came in standing next to me.

“Why don’t you outrun them?” The blonde guy asked. “I thought you said this thing was fast.”

“Watch your mouth or you’re gonna find yourself floating home,” Han snapped. “We’ll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers, we’ll lose them.” One of the imperial starships started shooting at us, and I held on tighter to my seat as the ship started shaking. “Here’s where the fun begins,” Han smiled.

“How long before you can jump to lightspeed?” The old man asked.

“It’ll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navicomputer,” Han replied, flicking switches.

“Are you kidding?” Blondie asked incredulously. “At the rate they’re gaining?”

“Traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dustin’ crops, boy,” Han snapped once more. “Without precise calculations, we’d fly right through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova, and that would end your trip real quick.”

Wanting to deescalate the situation, I decided to speak up, “I’ve mostly heard rumors about Han, but it’s common knowledge that he’s a pro at getting out of sticky situations.” They didn’t seem any more at ease at what I said, but blondie only continued his nagging.

“What’s that flashing?” He asked, pointing to a flashing light.

“We’re losing the deflector shield,” Han replied, batting blondies hand away. “Go strap yourselves in, I’m going to make the jump to lightspeed.”

Pulling a lever, the stars warped around us. I sighed, finally relaxing at the fact that we weren’t being shot at. I unstrapped myself as we glided through the universe. I followed Chewie into the main room of the ship. I sat next to him, watching curiously as the old man was teaching blondie something.

Blondie glanced back at us, “You never got to tell us who you were.”

“Oh,” I said somewhat awkwardly. “I’m with Han-” Chewie growled out, probably in protest to what I said. “Well, I mean Jabba sent me to go with you. My name is (y/n).”

Blondie nodded, “I’m Luke, that’s old Ben. And those two are C3PO and R2D2.”

I nodded, “Uhm, nice to meet you.”

“It’s good to see that there are still many Devaronians about,” Old Ben smiled. “Though I’m surprised that you’re so young.”

“My dad took me with him,” I shrugged, looking over to see that Chewie was starting a game of dejarik.

Nodding, Ben turned towards Luke, who turned on…was that a lightsaber? I’ve only heard tales of the Jedi. Being Devaronian, we tend to be force sensitive. Though we do not focus on these attributes of ourselves. I myself was not force sensitive, but my mother was. Although we do not focus on the force, we are taught the basics, and a little about Jedi. My father told me about their eradication, so seeing that they weren’t all gone was a marvelous sight.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard Chewie growl. I looked over at the board and watched one of Chewie’s pieces be killed. Leaning over I pointed out what I thought was the best move. This went on for a bit, but Chewie quickly grew frustrated.

“You can forget your troubles with those imperial slugs,” Han said while walking into the room. “I told you I’d outrun them.” Han took a seat next to Ben who didn’t seem to be doing well. I turned my attention back to the game. “Don’t everybody thank me at once,” Han said sarcastically. Chewie groaned as another piece was killed, and I tried to find a way to redeem the game. “Anyway, we should be at Alderaan in about 0200 hours.”

Chewie ignored the spot I pointed at, and C3PO said, “Now be careful, R2.” The R2 unit killed another piece and Chewie growled loudly. I sighed, holding my head in my hands. “He made a fair move. Screaming about it can’t help you,” C3PO argued. I shook my head.

“Let him have it,” Han spoke up. “It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee.”

“But sir,” C3PO replied. “Nobody worries about upsetting a droid.”

“That’s ‘cause a droid don’t pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose,” Han replied back with a smirk. “Wookies are known to do that.” I shifted slightly away from Chewie, not wanting to be on the other end of his aggression.

“I see your point, sir,” C3PO nodded. “I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookie win.” I let out a slight chuckle, I suppose I don’t have to help out Chewie anymore.

My eyes wandered back over to Luke, blocking against a training droid. He sure did look like a Tatooine local. Blonde hair that swooped out, tan skin from the twin suns, and a typical outfit you’d see of a farmer on Tatooine. What stood out the most were his blue eyes. I never met someone whose eyes drew me in so much. I wanted to just stare at him, but I knew that was weird, so I kept my attention on what he was doing.

“Remember,” Ben spoke out. “A Jedi can feel the force flowing through him.”

“You mean it controls your actions?” Luke asked.

“Partially,” Ben replied. “But it also obeys your commands.” The droid hit Luke, causing Han to laugh.

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster at your side, kid,” Han said condescendingly.

“Hey,” I spoke up with a glare. Han only rolled his eyes at me.

“You don’t believe in the force, do you?” Luke asked.

“Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other,” Han replied. “I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field controlling my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.”

“You clearly haven’t been to Devaron,” I scoffed. “I remember the elder matriarchs raising a statue without lifting a finger.”

“Tricks, I tell you,” Han scoffed, waving me off.

“I suggest you try it again, Luke,” Ben said, changing the subject. Grabbing a pilot helmet with the blast shield down, he handed it to Luke, “This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct.”

“With the blast shield down, I can’t see!” Luke exclaimed. “How am I supposed to fight?”

“Your eyes can deceive you,” Ben replied. “Don’t trust them.”

Hesitantly, Luke lifted the lightsaber back up. Immediately he got hit. I winced slightly for him.

“Stretch out with your feelings,” Ben instructed. This time, Luke managed to block three blasts. “See? You can do it.” I clapped quietly, a small smile on my face. Taking off the helmet, Luke glanced at me with a smile before focusing on Han and Ben.

“I call it luck,” Han dismissed.

“In my experience,” Ben spoke up. “There’s no such thing as luck.”

“Look,” Han replied. “Good against a remote is one thing. Good against the living, that’s something else.”

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t listen to him. That was really good, especially for a beginner.”

“Thanks,” Luke thanked, his grin growing.

A beeping sounded and Han spoke up again, “Looks like we’re coming up on Alderaan.” I moved out of the way as Chewie got up to go to the cockpit with Han. I let out a silent sigh as I held my head in my hand. Hopefully on the way back we don’t have to deal with the damn Empire anymore. I was brought back to the real world when suddenly the ship started shaking. Ben, Luke, and I all looked at each other before quickly going into the cockpit to see what was wrong.

“It’s not on any of the charts,” Han said, looking at the panels.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked.

“Our position is correct, except no Alderaan,” Han explained. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, watching rocks fly towards us.

“What do you mean?” Luke asked. “Where is it?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, kid,” Han explained. “It ain’t there. It’s been blown away.” I felt my heart drop, because I mean…just how was that possible? We were currently flying through the remains of a planet? One that held so many lives?

“What? How?” Luke asked, voicing my exact question.

“Destroyed by the Empire,” Ben spoke up.

“The entire starfleet couldn’t destroy the whole planet,” Han replied incredulously. “It’d take a thousand ships with more firepower than I’ve…” The ship started rapidly beeping. “There’s another ship coming in,” Han reported.

“Maybe they know what happened,” Luke said hopefully.

“I have a feeling they aren’t going to be too friendly,” I murmured, the sinking feeling getting worse.

“It’s an imperial fighter,” Ben acknowledged.

“It followed us,” Luke gasped.

“No,” I shook my head. “Those ships are short-ranged, it wouldn’t be able to make the trip to lightspeed.”

“There aren’t any bases around here,” Han replied. “Where did it come from?” Han continued to follow the ship as it tried to fly away.

“Sure is leaving in a big hurry,” Luke commented. “If they identify us, we’re in big trouble.”

“Not if I can help it,” Han mumbled. “Chewie, jam its transmissions.”

“Let it go,” Ben said. “It’s too far out of range.”

“Not for long,” Han dismissed.

“A fighter that size couldn’t get this deep into space on its own,” Ben commented.

“He must’ve gotten lost,” Luke suggested. “Been a part of a convoy or something.”

“He ain’t gonna be around long enough to tell anybody about us,” Han grumbled.

“Look at him, he’s heading for that small moon,” Luke pointed out. My heart continued to sink as I didn’t have a good feeling about this situation at all. There’s gotta be a starship that the fighter is from. There’s no way it’s alone.

“I think I can get him before he gets there,” Han said. “He’s almost in range.”

“Is this really worth it?” I asked, wanting to get out of here as soon as we could.

“That’s not a moon,” Ben said and I felt my fears come to fruition. “It’s a space station.”

“It’s too big to be a space station,” Han replied back confused.

“I have a very bad feeling about this,” Luke said, the closer we got to the ‘moon’, the more it was revealed to clearly be a space station.

“Han, turn us back,” I said, fear making its way through my tone.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Han spoke slowly. “Full reverse. Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power.” We kept getting closer and I felt my heart hammering in my chest. “Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power!”

“Why are we still moving forward?” I exclaimed, gripping the seat in front of me to try and calm myself.

“We’re caught in a tractor beam,” Han explained. “It’s pulling us in.”

“Oh great,” I scoffed.

“There’s gotta be something you can do,” Luke chimed in.

“There’s nothing I can do, kid,” Han replied. “I’m at full power. I have to shut down. They’re not gonna get me without a fight.”

“Fight?” I asked incredulously. “You’re gonna get us all killed!” I glanced over at Luke as he grabbed my shoulder, eyes locked on the sight in front of us. I didn’t think anything of it as I was more concerned about how the hell we were going to survive.

“You can’t win,” Ben said softly. “But there are alternatives to fighting.”

“Chewie, bring them to the smuggling compartments,” Han ordered. “(Y/n), help me make some fake logs.”

“Okay,” I nodded. Luke shared a worried glance with me, but I motioned him to leave with my head. He let go of my shoulder and exited with the others. “What’s the story?” I asked, looking over at Han.

“We abandoned the ship,” Han replied. Nodding my head, I helped him write a few logs before we both rushed to the smuggling compartments. We squeezed ourselves to fit, and I tried not to squish Luke any more than I had to. We heard stormtroopers walk over the compartments, and I waited with baited breath until we couldn’t hear any more footsteps. Han and Luke quietly shifted the fake floorboard off of us and looked around.

“Boy, it’s lucky you had these compartments,” Luke said quietly.

“I use them for smuggling,” Han replied. “I never thought I’d be smuggling myself in ‘em.” Ben came out of his compartment and Han turned to him, “This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I’d never get past the tractor beam.”

“Leave that to me,” Ben replied, getting out of the smuggling compartment.

“Damn fool,” Han huffed, also getting out. “I knew you were gonna say that.”

Luke got out, offering a hand to help me but I waved him off, “Don’t worry, I got it.”

“Who's the more foolish?” Ben asked. “The fool, or the fool who follows him?” Chewie’s head poked up from Ben’s compartment and growled.

Two Empire scanners entered and were quickly taken down by Chewie.

“Hey down there!” Han called out. “Could you give us a hand with this?” Three stormtroopers entered and Han and I made quick work of them. We decided that Han, Luke and I would disguise ourselves as stormtroopers. Luke stayed behind as we all rushed to wait by the command room doors. An officer opened them not too long later and Chewie knocked him out, and I quickly shot the other one.

Rushing in, Han and I took our helmets off, me struggling slightly due to the vestigial bumps on my forehead (it’s typically where horns would be but I didn’t have any). Chewie was growling and I ran my hand through my hair to fix it.

Luke ran in and took his helmet off with a glare, “Between his howling and your blasting everything, it’s a wonder the whole station doesn’t know we’re here.”

I felt myself shrink, since it was actually me who did the blasting. I know we’re on a stealth mission, but I panicked.

“The blasting was all them, kid,” Han replied snarkily, pointing at me. “Besides, I prefer a fight to all this sneakin’ around.” Luke’s gaze fell onto me and I turned to face the control panel, not wanting to fall under any more scolding.

“We found the computer outlet sir,” 3CPO spoke up. I was glad for the distraction.

“Plug in,” Ben ordered. “He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial network.”

R2 did as ordered and started beeping, 3PO translating for us, “He says he found the controls to the power beam that’s holding the ship here. He’ll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor. The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave.” On the screen, R2 showed the closest terminal.

“I don’t think any of you can help,” Ben stated. “I must go alone.”

“Whatever you say,” Han dismissed. “I’ve done more than I’ve bargained for on this trip already.” I couldn’t help but agree, I mean I was just meant to make sure Han didn’t try to run off with the money, but I got waaaayyy more to deal with than just that. I should’ve negotiated a higher price with Jabba.

“I want to go with you,” Luke whispered to Ben.

“Be patient, Luke,” Ben replied. “Stay and watch over the droids. They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path from mine.” Opening the door, Ben finished, “The force will be with you…always.” We all watched Ben leave, and once Luke closed the door, Chewie started growling.

“You said it Chewie,” Han agreed. “Where did you dig up that old fossil?” I rolled my eyes, of course he’s going to insult an elder. He really knew no respect.

“Ben is a great man,” Luke replied defensively.

“Yeah,” Han agreed sarcastically. “Great at getting us into trouble.”

“I didn’t hear you give out any ideas,” Luke defended.

“Anything’s better than just hangin’ around waiting for ‘em to pick us up,” Han countered. I bit my lip, I did feel uneasy just waiting here, but that could also just be because of the fact that we were stuck on an enemy base.

“Who do you think-” Luke was cut off when R2 started making noises. I’m sorry Luke, but if you were concerned about how loud we were before…well fighting amongst ourselves isn’t helping. “What is it?”

“I’m afraid I’m not quite sure, sir,” C3PO responded. “He says, “I found her,” and keeps repeating, “she’s here.””

“Who?” Luke asks, walking closer to the droids. I once again didn't like where this was heading. “Who has he found?”

“Princess Leia,” C3PO answered.

“The princess?” Luke asked in awe. “She’s here?”

“Princess?” I asked, confused at the lack of context.

“Where?” Luke asked excitedly. “Where is she?”

“Princess? What’s going on?” Han asked, also confused.

C3PO once again translated for R2D2, “Level 5, Detention Block AA-23. I’m afraid she’s been scheduled to be terminated.”

“Oh no,” Luke said with big puppy dog eyes. Don’t…think like that. “We’ve gotta do something.”

“What are you talking about?” Han asked, shaking his head.

“The droids belong to her,” Luke explained. “She’s the one in the message, we gotta help her!” I blinked in confusion as the two stood chest to chest. What message? Why is she so important? I mean yes, princess is a big title, but there are many princesses across the galaxy.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Han scolded. “The old man wants us to wait right here.”

“He didn’t know she was here,” Luke countered, then turned to R2. “Find a way to that detention block.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Han said, sitting back in one of the officer's chairs.

“They’re going to execute her,” Luke replied back with a glare. “You said you didn’t want to wait to be captured. Now you want to stay?”

“Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind!” Han argued back, and I felt hopeless watching the two fight.

“But they’re gonna kill her!” Luke exclaimed.

“Better her than me,” Han spat.

“Han,” I said sternly, but he only waved me off. Luke turned towards me, frustration showing in his crystal blue eyes.

“(Y/n)...” Luke trailed off.

I bit my lip, “We’d need a really put together plan…”

Then, like a lightbulb appeared over Luke’s head as he turned back towards Han, “She’s rich.”

Chewie growled and I felt like I was on the same side as him. I shook my head, They had no plan! This was stupid!

“Rich?” Han asked, turning towards Luke once more.

“Rich, powerful,” Luke listed. “If you were to rescue her, the reward would be…”

“What?” Han asked.

“Well, more wealth than you could imagine,” Luke replied.

“I don’t know…” Han trailed off. “I can imagine quite a bit.”

“You’ll get it,” Luke said persuasively.

“I better,” Han replied.

“You will,” Luke agreed.

“All right kid,” Han agreed. “You better be right about this. What’s your plan?”

I stared blankly at the two. Idiots. Complete and utter idiots.

Luke looked around, “3PO hand me those binders there, will you?” Walking over to Chewie once he got them, he continued, “Now I’m gonna put these on you.” Only Chewie growled back, batting at the binders. “Okay, Han, you put those on.”

Han smiled, and I turned to Luke, “What’s your plan for getting out?”

Glancing at me, Luke turned towards the screen that showed the map, “Don’t worry, it’ll be an easy in and out.”

“Master Luke,” C3PO called out. “Sir, pardon me for asking, but what should R2 and I do if we’re discovered here?”

“(Y/n) will keep you safe,” Luke replied, handing Han his helmet.

I furrowed my eyebrows, discontent with the situation. I wanted to go with them, but the droids needed someone to protect them. It still somewhat hurt that I seemed to be automatically chosen to sit on the backburner.

“Lock the doors and hope they don’t have blasters,” Han chimed in.

I scoffed, “I know how to fight, thank you very much.”

Luke patted my shoulder, passing by me with a smile, “Don’t worry 3PO, they’ve got you two covered.”

“That’s a bit more reassuring,” C3PO agreed.

Once the three left, I turned towards the two droids, “Do we have any communications with them?”

“Yes,” The golden droid replied. “Master Luke gave me a comm link.”

“Good,” I mumbled, taking a seat in one of the chairs. “Hey R2, can you tell me the layout of the detention cell?” R2 beeped, pulling up the map once more. “What are all the exits?”

“He said that there is only one exit,” C3PO translated. “That is through the main elevator.”

I blinked in disbelief. This was literally a suicide mission. I groaned out, knowing this entire situation was going to go downhill.

“Any vents they could go through?” I asked exasperatedly.

“There is a trash shoot,” 3PO replied.

“Well that’s something,” I grumbled.

I spun around in my chair, trying to pass the time. Coming up with excuses to give Ben when he eventually comes back to a bounty hunter with two droids. I wonder who this princess was. Luke didn’t seem to have much experience outside of Tatooine, and there definitely weren’t any princesses there. Of course the first person I’m attracted to seems to like someone, a princess no less. I suppose I didn’t stand a chance in that aspect. Besides, I barely know Luke, so it’s not like I wanted anything like that yet. Best to get past these emotions than dwell on them. It’s not like I’m gonna see him again after this.

“C3PO, C3PO!” Luke’s staticy voice called out through the comm link. I sat up and turned towards the droids once more.

“Yes, sir?” C3PO asked back.

“Are there any other ways out of the cell bay?” Luke asked. “We’ve been cut off.” The sounds of blasting could be heard in the background and I shook my head.

“Lemme see that,” I said, reaching out for the comm link.

“Master Luke asked-”

“Don’t worry,” I waved him off. Turning on the comm link I replied, “That’s the only exit, but there are vents on the bottom that you can go through.”

“What was that?” Luke asked back, sounds of blasters getting louder. “I didn’t copy.”

“All systems have been alerted to his presence!” C3PO gasped after R2 beeped.

“You're being swarmed, there’s vents running along the cell bay, go through that!” I shouted into the comm link, hoping he heard.

“Open up in there!” A voice sounded outside the room. “Open up in there!”

“Shit,” I muttered, handing the comm link back to C3PO. I quickly put on the stormtrooper helmet, the more armor the better I suppose.

“Oh no,” 3PO muttered.

I got my blaster ready, looking around the room. There was a door, and opening it revealed a closet. I bit my lip in thought, they’re gonna find a way in somehow. I motioned the droids and they entered the closet.

“Pretend I’m dead, and act like you were attacked,” I whispered. C3PO nodded and I closed the door on them. I laid on the ground with my blaster being close enough to my body to grab, but far enough to look like it fell with my body. The sound of Luke’s voice could be heard coming from the comm link. Damn it, of course they need help when we’re being found. I just hope it stops when the stormtroopers enter.

From this position, I couldn’t see much as the door opened. I held my breath, my body tensing. I watched as a stormtrooper walked into my view, nudging my body with his foot.

“Look, there!” I heard a stormtrooper call out, and the one looking at me turned and followed. I let my breath out slowly, thankful for the armor blocking their view of my chest moving.

“They’re madmen!” I heard 3PO shout. “They’re heading to the prison level! If you hurry, you might catch them.”

“Follow me,” A trooper called out, and the sounds of their footsteps grew fainter. “You stand guard.”

Shit…I really don’t want to bring attention by blasting the stormtrooper. I moved my head slowly, I bit my lip. I don’t want to underestimate my enemy, but troopers tend to be really dumb. I saw C3PO’s feet in front of me. I let out a gasp, trying to act like I was an unconscious and injured trooper.

“Oh my!” C3PO faked surprise. “Let us escort this trooper to the medbay.”

The trooper rushed in front of me as I clutched my side, standing hunched.

“I’ll be fine,” I said with a groan. I slightly leaned against C3PO, not wanting to put too much weight on him, “Just keep guard.”

The trooper nodded, and just like that, we were out. I bit my lip to suppress my chuckle. I can’t believe we made it out of there alive. We made it down towards the ship, but a good amount away from any of the other troopers.

“You still got the comm link?” I whispered to him.

“Right here,” 3PO nodded, handing me the comm link.

“Luke,” I whispered into it. “Are you guys still alive?”

I tuned out C3PO as he talked to R2, listening for Luke or any stormtroopers.

“(Y/n)?” I heard Luke ask.

“Yeah, we managed to escape some storm-”

“We need you to turn off all the garbage mashers in the detention level!” Luke shouted. “Do you copy?”

“R2, shut down the garbage mashers on the detention level,” I ordered, just in case he couldn’t hear Luke repeat himself.

“No!” C3PO exclaimed. “Shut them all down! Hurry! Oh no.”

I clenched my fists, hoping we got it in time. R2 was beeping and I bit my lip. Suddenly, the sound of cheering filled the comm link and I couldn’t help but laugh quietly in relief.

“Listen to them,” C3PO said solemnly. “They’re dying, R2. Curses, we weren’t fast enough. It’s all my fault, my poor master.”

“Don’t worry, 3PO,” I chuckled. “I think they’re doing just fine.”

“You did great!” Luke praised, and I smiled. “Hey! Open the pressure maintenance hatch on unit number…where are we?”

I rolled my eyes in amusement, just glad that we all seemed to survive so far.

“Number 3263827,” Luke said.

“You heard that?” I asked R2, who only beeped while turning the controls.

We waited a bit, I kept low to the ground, not wanting to be spotted. After a bit the comm link went off once more.

“(Y/n), C3PO, do you copy?” Luke asked.

“We copy,” I replied.

“Are you safe?” He asked.

“For now, yeah,” I said. “We’re in the main hangar, across from the ship.”

“We’re right above you,” Luke said. “Stand by.”

I sighed, once again sitting like waiting ducks. More troopers came and went, the ship being surrounded. I wonder if they had a plan?

“I wonder where they could be?” C3PO asked aloud. After a minute, all the stormtroopers ran off, and a pit of worry hit my stomach. Did they finally catch them? What was going on? “Come on you two,” C3PO said, breaking me out of my anxious thoughts. “We’re going.” I nodded, discarding my helmet, no need for that now. Not that it was going to help me now. I followed behind them, blaster at the ready.

Luke, Han, Chewie, and I’m assuming the princess all came out at the same time. Luke got sidetracked, calling out for Ben. I turned to look at where he was going and my heart dropped. Being barely able to see through the horde of stormtroopers, I was able to see Ben facing off the one and only Darth Vader. His looming presence caused all my alarm bells to go off. I raced towards Luke, stopping beside him. Ben stood still as Darth Vader cut through him.

“No!” Luke screamed, bringing all their attention towards us.

“Luke c’mon!” I shouted, tugging at his arm. He stood his ground, shooting at the troopers. I helped him, as did the others. They called him to board the ship and I managed to blast the door close before Vader could cross through. I tugged at Luke’s arm once more, blasting with one hand as best I could. This time, Luke allowed me to drag the both of us to the ship.

I tried to catch my breath as the ship took off. I’ve caught bounties 2x my size, and that was nowhere near as scary as this entire trip was. I discarded the stormtrooper gear, grabbing my scarf and goggles once more. Getting my outfit all situated, I found Luke solemnly sitting at the round table, messing with the table. The princess brought him a blanket and sat next to him. I looked over to the droids and I decided to sit at one of the side seats.

“So you’re (y/n)?” The princess asked, looking at me softly. I nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, you really helped out in the end.”

“You too,” I smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry, but I never catched your name.”

“You can call me Leia,” She replied. It was silent once more, our focus once more on Luke.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Luke finally spoke.

“There wasn’t anything you could’ve done,” Leia tried to console.

“C’mon buddy,” Han said standing in the hallway. “We’re not out of this yet.”

We all followed Han, Han and Luke towards the guns while I followed Leia into the cockpit. She sat in the pilot seat and I stood behind her chair.

“Here they come,” Leia warned the two. Four tie fighter jets flew around us. I held onto the back of her seat as the ship started shaking. “We’ve lost lateral controls!” Leia shouted after a few minutes.

“Don’t worry,” Han dismissed. “She’ll hold together.”

We could hear Luke cheering and I decided to pipe up, “Just two more to go guys!”

We watched in suspense as the last two kept flying around. Luke managed to get one, and I sighed out in relief when the last one was hit.

“We did it!” Leia cheered, hugging Chewie and I. I let out a chuckle, hugging her back. I patted Chewies back before making my way back into the main room. I ran into Luke before making it.

“You did great!” I praised with a smile.

A similar smile graced his face, “Thank you!” Similar to Leia, he pulled me into a hug, which I of course returned. My heart seemed to beat a bit faster at the affection but I ignored it. Pulling away Luke seemed a little sheepish. “Thank you also for uh…trying to keep me grounded back there…” He trailed off, looking away.

My smile turned slightly bitter at the memory, “Don’t mention it. I know if the roles were reversed you’d do the same.”

Our eyes met and I felt myself soften. I ignored the sudden urge to kiss his cheek and nodded at him before continuing on my way. Soon after, Chewie and Leia joined me. I took out my blaster, checking to make sure it was clean. I didn’t do much fighting, but it never hurts to check.

“What’s your position here?” Leia asked as she sat next to me.

Looking up at her I started to fidget with my weapon, “I, uh…I’m not exactly sure how to explain it.” I chuckled awkwardly. “Basically, think of me as Han’s babysitter.”

Leia raised her eyebrow, “Well you aren’t doing a good job.”

“Well,” I sighed. “Once he drops you guys off, I basically just gotta make sure he returns to Jabba to pay his debt.”

“I see,” Leia sighed, seeming less friendly. “So I’m assuming you're not going to help.”

“I wish I could…” I trailed off. “Really, I do. But I have to go back and continue to take care of my family.” I knew my reasoning was selfish, I just hope she understood.

“I suppose we all have our priorities,” Leia shrugged. I looked down, feeling guilty of my decision. It was quiet for the rest of the ride, only Chewie's growling breaking it from time to time.

Once we landed, I couldn’t help but look around the planet in awe. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a planet with such luscious greenery. I smiled, a comforting feeling as it reminded me of home. We were escorted to a hangar. People were all around preparing their x-wing ships. Clearly the rebels were preparing for a fight. Once again, I felt guilty. All these people who either lost their family or left them to fight for a noble cause while I cower and run away back to the monotony of my life, being Jabba’s puppet.

Someone greeted Leia as we finally stopped. I looked over to Luke who was looking around in awe. His gaze met mine and I felt flustered and embarrassed at the fact that he caught me looking.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Luke asked breathlessly.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I didn’t realize the rebellion was this big, but I suppose I didn’t think of it much.”

“C’mon, they’re going to go over the plans to defeat the Death Star,” Leia called out, waving us over.

Luke looked towards me once more, his blue eyes shining brilliantly, “You think they’ll let me pilot a ship?”

“Definitely,” I chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll take all the help they’ll get.”

Once we got to the meeting room, I stood next to Luke and his droids. If this was going to be the last I saw of him, I might as well make the most of it. He was a sweet guy, and I would love to stay friends with him. There needs to be more people like him in the galaxy. I zoned out as the person was discussing their plans to defeat the Death Star. It didn’t involve me so I didn’t find any harm in it.

Once they all started standing up, Han patted my shoulder. I looked over at him and he motioned me to follow him and Chewie. Looking towards Luke, I spoke up, “Uhm, bye Luke.” When he looked at me, I waved.

“Cya,” He grinned, waving back. Following the two smugglers, I felt like Luke didn’t understand that we weren’t sticking around. When we all made it back to the hangar, boxes of credits sat next to the escort.

“Help me with this woudja?” Han called over to me. “If you want Jabba to pay you that is.”

I rolled my eyes, but said nothing as I helped him load the payment.

Luke quickly came onto the scene, “So, you got your reward and you’re just leaving then?”

“That’s right,” Han nodded. “Yeah. I got some old debts I gotta pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn’t, you don’t think I’d be fool enough to stick around here, do ya? Why don’t you come with us? You're pretty good in a fight. We could use ya.”

“Come on,” Luke frowned. “Why don’t you take a look around? You know what’s about to happen, you know what they’re up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You’re turning your back on them.”

“What good’s a reward if you ain’t around to use it?” Han asked back. “Besides, attacking a battle station ain’t my idea of courage. It’s more like suicide.”

“All right,” Luke said with no emotion. “Well, you take care of yourself, Han. I guess it’s what you're best at.” Then, Luke's gaze fell onto me, “You too, (y/n)?”

I kept my head down, knowing I couldn’t meet his gaze, “I’m sorry, Luke. But I can’t stay…”

I heard him scoff, “I guess I just expected you to be different.”

I felt like crying as I heard his heavy boots storm off. I kept my head down as I loaded the last box. One thing I hated the most was disappointing the people I care about.

“Hey Luke,” Han called out. “May the force be with you.” Chewie growled and I finally looked up. “What are you looking at?” Han asked us. “I know what I’m doing.”

Boarding the escort, we made our way back to the Millennium Falcon. We then loaded all the money onto the Falcon. Chewie and Han bantered a bit, but I kept to myself.

“What’s got you so quiet?” Han asked as we carried the last two boxes.

I stayed quiet, placing down the box I was carrying, “...I…wish it could be different. That we could help.”

I heard Han sigh, “If you want to help you can, I’m not making you come with me.”

I felt tears brim my eyes, feeling even more guilty due to the fact that Han spoke the truth. I kept blaming others for this choice, when I can only really blame myself. My obligation to my family was more important. I mean what would my dad say? What would my mom say?

Han shuffled before continuing, “If it’s what Luke said…kid, we all have to choose what’s more important to us. We can’t please everyone.”

I nodded, “I know.”

“C’mon,” Han said, ruffling my hair, making me glare up at him. “Let’s get outta here before it gets bad.” The sound of ships flying could be heard above us. “And that’s our queue.”

I followed Han into the cockpit, Chewie already getting the ship running. I sat behind them as they started to fly away. I couldn’t help but watch as the tie fighters were getting shot down one by one. My heart clenched as for all I knew, one of them was Luke. This felt wrong. It all felt wrong. Just leaving them there when we could be helping. Couldn’t we help them before we left?

It was quiet in the cockpit. My gaze wouldn’t leave the Death Star as it continued to shrink. I bit my lip in worry. I couldn’t get this damn feeling out, and I knew it would haunt me the rest of my life. The uncertainty of it all. Leaving my newly founded friends behind to die. Tearing my gaze away, I looked back to Han. He was quiet, his face contemplative.

“We should go back,” I spoke up, not being able to stand the guilty feeling bubbling under my skin.

“No,” Han dismissed.

“This isn’t right,” I countered. “Once we finish helping them we can go back to Tatooine.”

Han stayed silent, the Death Star was now almost out of site. Chewie growled, and Han’s frown grew worse.

“Please Han,” I pleaded.

Finally he seemed to snap, “If the both of you are gonna keep whining about it then fine.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I cried out, wrapping my arms around him.

“Quit your yapping and go prepare the shooter,” Han waved off, flipping some switches and turning around.

I quickly ran to the same ladder that Han and Luke went into before. I sat in the seat putting on the headset. I flipped some switches and the gun hummed, turning on.

“All right,” I spoke into the comms. “Everythings a-okay here.”

We quickly approached the Death Star, getting in position behind three tie fighters. Only one x-wing was left and I knew we got back just in time. As fast as I could, I aimed for one of the tie fighters and got it in the first shot. Han whooped into the comms and I let out a ‘hell yeah!’. The other two tie fighters nearly collide, one falling outside of the Death Star.

“You’re all clear, kid,” Han said. “Now let’s blow this thing up and go home!”

Luke shot right into where it needed to go and we all flew out. I laughed out in relief as the Death Star blew up.

“Great shot Luke!” I cheered.

“That was one in a million,” Han cheered as well. I got myself out of the gun pit and went back into the cockpit with Han and Chewie. Han clapped me on the shoulder, “You had a great shot too.”

“Thanks,” I smiled breathlessly. That weight of guilt that was pushing me down seemed to lift. Luke was safe and so were all these fearless rebels.

We quickly made our way to the hangar. We found Leia and Luke already hugging, Han and Chewie quickly joining. I went to follow but was blocked by the other rebels. My huge smile fell quickly as they continued to cheer for each other. I raised my hand, but lowered it. I suppose I’ll cheer from a distance. Luke suddenly looked around and his eyes met mine. I smiled awkwardly and he quickly made his way towards me, pulling me towards the rest of the group and hugging me tightly. I hugged back, just as tight as he lifted me off my feet slightly.

“I knew you weren’t like that,” Luke whispered, nuzzling his face into my neck.

“You should thank me,” I laughed. “It took a bit of convincing to get Han on board.”

Luke laughed, letting me go. We gazed at each other for a second before we all looked up to see R2.

“Oh no,” Luke said breathlessly.

“Oh my,” C3PO cried out. “R2, can you hear me? Say something. You can repair him, can’t you?”

“We’ll get to work on him right away,” A rebel agreed.

“You must repair him,” C3PO replied. “Sir, if any of my circuits or gears will help, I’ll gladly donate them.”

“He’ll be alright,” Luke consoled.

Leia wrapped an arm around me with a knowing smile, Han hugging her other side. I wrapped my arm around Luke’s shoulders and followed the other two, dragging him along.

“Wait what?” I asked, turning towards the rebel members who held up the outfit I was supposed to wear.

“It’s an award ceremony,” One said. “You weren’t expecting to wear your regular clothes were you?”

“I mean…” I sighed out exasperatedly. “I don’t know. I’m not used to dressing up for anything.”

“The princess picked this out for you specifically,” The other mentioned.

“Of course she did,” I mumbled. “Fine, I’ll wear it.” They left to let me change. Once I was finished changing, I couldn’t help but pick at my clothes. They were so form fitting in some spots, a drastic change to my casual wear.

I stood in between Luke and Han with a slight frown. Luke looked towards me and his eyes widened.

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Is it really that bad?”

“N-no!” He stuttered out. “You, uh…uhm actually look really good.” I looked away, not used to compliments.

“Oh,” I said, not exactly sure how to reply. “Thank you, you look real nice too.”

“Thanks,” He replied in a whisper.

“C’mon you two,” Han said, rolling his eyes. “Quit flirting, the ceremony’s starting.”

I looked up at him aghast, but the doors opened and I tried to calm myself down. As we walked, I tried to keep my gaze on Leia and not the hundreds of eyes that were currently on us. Once we reached the stairs, we stopped and Leia stepped forward. She looked at Han sternly, her gaze fell on me and she smiled a bit more softly. When she looked towards Luke, they shared a goofy smile, which seemed to spread to me when I glanced at Luke and noticed that he did the same.

When Leia put the medal on Han, he winked at her which made me roll my eyes. And he says the awkward compliments Luke and I gave each other was flirting. Leia placed a medal around my neck, and then finally one around Lukes. We all bowed our heads in respect. Suddenly, R2 showed up, beeping and whistling. We couldn’t stop our laughter, happy to see the droid was okay. Turning around, Chewie growled and everyone started clapping. I felt small, finally seeing how many people were looking.

Once the ceremony was finished, everyone started packing. It was time to move to a new base after all. I was waiting for Han to stop bothering Leia when I noticed that Luke snuck up next to me.

“How’re you feeling?” Luke asked, giving me a side hug.

“Much better outside of all that attention,” I replied, returning the short hug.

“You don’t like being recognized as a hero?” Luke laughed lightly.

“Not if it means that many people are watching you,” I replied back.

“So…” Luke trailed off. “Are you staying?” His smile somewhat fell at the question and he looked genuinely concerned.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, looking down at my fidgeting hands. “I was just gonna talk to Han about it. I’m sure my parents would understand and support my decision…but…I don’t know.” I looked back up at Luke feeling somewhat helpless, “What do you think I should do?”

Staring back at me, he smiled gently, “Well…I think you know what I’m about to say.” I laughed softly, crossing my arms.

“I think I know what Han’s gonna say too,” I sighed, watching him interact with Leia. It’s clear he was interested in her…but wasn’t Luke as well? This was definitely going to get messy.

“I’d love for you to stay,” Luke spoke up. “Uh…a-all three of you, I mean.”

I looked back over to Luke as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, looking away.

“Okay,” I couldn’t help but agree with a giant smile. How could I leave the friends I made now?

#luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker #x reader #star wars #star wars x reader #a new hope #anh #han solo #leia organa #princess leia

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lookingupatthesamemoon · 23 days ago

Text

selfshiptober day 12 - married + ritual

pairing: ryejoe :)

summary: Rye and Joe decide to spice up their wedding ceremony.

word count: 1.4k

note: vaguely vent-y about my parents... don't mind that 😭

divider by @/saradika :)

Wedding planning was hard. Rye knew it would never be easy, but even in attempting to plan the most minimalist wedding ever conceived, she and Joe were having a tough time. They had most of the big picture ironed out – well, at least they figured they did – but they were finding themselves getting stuck on the smaller details. More specifically, they were trying to figure out how to make it interesting.

Their wedding was never going to be a big event. Both Rye and Joe agreed their families would not be getting any invites, for plenty of good reasons – but, that did significantly limit the wedding party. With a guest list only four names long, they supposed they didn’t have to go too crazy. Still, though, they hoped to make their big day more than just a literal walk in the park.

“Well… We don’t have to do anything extra,” Joe reasoned. “I mean, we can all just go out to the meadow, do the ceremony, and then get a big dinner together at Buck’s. I bet if we butter him up, Clem’ll pay the bill.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice…” Rye trailed off. “I just… I don’t know, I do want the smallest, most lowkey wedding possible, but I would at least like to try to incorporate one (ADD WORD) thing to the ceremony, you know? To make it, like, extra special.”

Joe nodded, racking his brain for ideas.

“Like, for instance,” Rye continued, breaking the silence, “my parents’ wedding? They used a gazebo in some park in their hometown – I don’t even know if they had the proper permits, actually, now that I’m thinking of it… But, anyway, they decided to do this thing where they took this huge glass jar and filled it with sand-”

“Like… Like, beach sand?”

“No, no, like crafting sand. They each took a different color, and then I also had a color, and then all three of us poured our sand into the jar at the same time to make some cute little wedding craft. It was like some sort of ritual to symbolize the three of us coming together as a family, I guess, I don’t know… But, something like that would be nice, I thought.”

“Well… We could always just do that.”

Rye raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting to me that we copy my parents for our wedding? No chance.”

“Not necessarily!” Joe responded. “We can add our own spin or whatever on it. But I like the idea, it’s cute. And we’d get somethin’ nice for the house out of it! An extra little keepsake from the weddin’.”

“I mean, yeah, it’s a cool idea… I just wasn’t really hoping for my parents to influence the wedding is all.”

“Well, what if we put it this way: we can reclaim it and make it way cooler,” Joe suggested. “I mean, you said yourself that you liked the idea! If you saw it on Pinterest or whatever I bet there’d be no hesitation.”

“Yeah, there wouldn’t be, because that would be different,” Rye replied. “I don’t know… I guess my concern is that we’d end up with a wedding keepsake that’s ultimately tainted by my parents.”

“... Can I ask you somethin’?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“What colors did they use?”

“For the sand? I think it was, like, blue and white.”

“White? I mean, really, Rye, could they have picked anythin’ more borin’?”

Rye chuckled, meeting the eyes of her fiancé. “Would’ve been worse if it was white and tan. The jar they picked was fucking ugly, too.”

“See, if we made a sand jar or whatever, we’d at least have one that looked cool.”

“You know… I bet a heart-shaped container would look nice.”

“Yeah, see? That’d be perfect!”

“... You’re really gonna talk me into doing this at our wedding, aren’t you?” Rye sighed, shaking her head slightly.

“Well, if you don’t want to, we won’t… But it kinda sounds to me like you want to.”

“... Can we add glitter to it, too?”

“O’course we can add glitter.”

When the day finally came, both Rye and Joe were equipped with small containers of sand and glitter. Joe held onto all four, keeping them tucked firmly inside of his suit jacket. He had chosen a bright orange, while Rye had opted for a darker, more muted purple. They had handed their glass heart over to Kickin’ Wing a mere two days before the ceremony, entrusting him to keep it safe and get it set up for the big day.

In fact, he was serving as their officiant. Joe always joked that Kickin’ Wing had completed the most side quests in life out of the friend group – and the more Rye learned about him, the more she believed it to be true, though Joe surely gave him a run for his money. Kickin’ Wing wasn’t the only one of their friends assigned a special task, though. Joe had asked Charlene to bake them their wedding cake – something simple, with just a single tier to be shared amongst everyone. Of course, Brandy had been recruited as the ringbearer, happy as a clam to see her best friend ready to settle down with the woman he loved. For a couple of years, she thought it would be her, but ultimately she and Joe always worked better as friends – she couldn’t have been happier to have met a woman who could love him more than she could.

They had arranged for their little ceremony to take place in the very same flower field they had confessed their feelings in just a year and a half prior – the ground that was once brown and frosted over was now painted with tulips and peonies of pinks and yellows. Rye couldn’t hide her smile as she reached the hilltop, taking in the breathtaking scene just below. The pink hues of the tulips almost matched those of the flowers on her dress. She couldn’t believe this was all happening. In fact, she wasn’t sure it would ever happen… But here she was, about to get married to the best future-husband she could ask for.

She and Joe stepped hand in hand to the small makeshift podium Kickin’ Wing had set up at the top of the hill, overlooking the field. The rest of their dearest friends cheered them on from the sidelines as they exchanged their vows, their smiles bright enough to blind even the sun. The two took their sweet time sliding their shiny new wedding rings onto each other’s fingers, before finally sealing their marriage with a kiss. Then, of course, came time for the sand. Joe fished the various containers out of his jacket pockets, handing the purple ones over to Rye, unable to wipe the smile off his face. Being able to call her his wife made him giddy.

“So… Are we supposed to go at the same time, or…?”

“I think so,” Rye nodded.

Of course, having forgotten to bring a funnel along, the process was a little tricky. The couple couldn’t help but chuckle under their breaths as sand and glitter blew onto the ground at their feet, narrowly escaping the little heart shaped jar. Even with the spilled bits, though, the heart ended up almost full, the orange and purple grains blending seamlessly inside the glass.

"Well, I guess we'll always remember the exact spot where we tied the knot," Joe grinned.

"Yeah... That glitter will be there for quite some time..."

“Before we seal it up, I got one more thing I wanna put in there,” Joe said, slipping a small piece of paper out of his jacket. Rye raised an eyebrow inquisitively, watching as he rolled it up. “It’s our vows,” he explained, tucking the paper into the heart. “I figured it’d be nice to have ‘em in there forever and ever.”

Rye grinned, tears pricking her eyes as she leaned in for another kiss. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you more,” Joe replied softly. “Now, come on… I think everyone’s gettin’ a little impatient for the cake, huh?”

Rye simply nodded, carefully picking up the glass heart, which had just been sealed by Kickin’ Wing as a means to end the ceremony. She held it up to the sunlight, admiring the sparkling flecks of glitter that peeked through the sand. The little piece of paper that Joe had slipped in was just barely visible, poking through the surface of the mixture. It was perfect. Perhaps her parents’ marriage had left her with at least one good idea after all.

#one day i will write a full and proper ryejoe wedding fic #but until then... take this 😋#rye writes !#ship: same moon #self ship #self shipping #selfshiptober 2024 #selfshiptober

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 years ago

Note

LEONA STANS HOW WE FEELING???

Leona looking like he just overthrew Farena on his card sitting on the throne with that pose. I am looking sinfully 👁️👁️. I really appreciate how Leona really looks like he is in his element, definetly he has never looked more princely than he does now. I'm so excited for this event, I really believe we are FINALLY going to meet the Kingscholar big bro!!! We got Felmier grandma, Viper sister, so now I hope Farena makes an appearence. Also more Cheka shenanigans, hopefully!!!! (kinda disappointed Ruggie and Rook are not included tho)

Also I bet Crowley is gonna send us over there with Leona to try and find a way home. Like every time. Sigh.

[Referencing this post!]

👆 Me Y’all right now 😌 Oh, but I’m sure the Leona fans are doing juuust fine… I don’t know if I can say the same for their gems and keys though 💦

bxsvsjwbw NWURrrAajUUYNAUR DONmT lET LEoNA OVERTHROW hiS BRImoThER AnD SiT ON THAT tHRonE 😭 it makes him too sexy hot BUT YEAH, L*ona looks really in his element here 🤡 definitely very powerful, very regal!! Like he knows all the moves you’re going to make and has already calculated ways to counter them…

HNFZhxbbzhababBHHFHHHHGGGGHH JUST LOOK HIm, LOOK At ThE FAcE THIS bASTARD iS MAkI NG I WAnNA JUST. UGHHHHHhHhHHGHH **aggressively shakes him like I’m making a frothy cocktail**

I sure hope we get to meet a member of Leona’s family 👁️ My money’s also on Farena being the most likely person, but I wouldn’t be opposed to meeting Leona’s sister-in-law or even totally new characters twisted from those in The Lion King! (I have a bias for birds, so if there was a new character at all, then I’d want to see twisted!Zazu~) And, of course, hopefully we see the return of Cheka!! Lil’ guy needs more screentime, he’s been sorely missed since his cameo in the first Halloween event 😂

I think it’s still possible that Ruggie and Rook go home with us for the event (they just won’t get new outfits/cards), it depends on the circumstances. For example, Kalim went to Silk City for the Scalding Sands event despite not being one of the characters that got a Yasmina Silk card. Something similar could occur for Ruggie and Rook; maybe they’ve come to spectate in an event or a ceremony but not participate in it themselves (so they wouldn’t get special attire).

I don’t think Crowley will?? There’s only been one major instance of him sending Yuu to a new location to research a way home, and that was Glorious Masquerade. All of the other times when Yuu visited someone’s homeland, it was because they were invited to join for an event (ie Kalim invites them to Silk City’s fireworks festival, Epel invites them for Harveston’s sledding race). Other events like Vargas Camp may have Yuu tagging along for practical purposes (ie helping the teacher). In fact, Crowley sending Yuu away to new places for the purposes of finding a way home is actually a very uncommon excuse used to shoehorn them into exploring Twisted Wonderland, it’s definitely not “like every time”.

#Leona Kingscholar #Cheka Kingscholar #Farena Kingscholar #Falena Kingscholar #Rook Hunt #Ruggie Bucchi #notes from the writing raven #NOT L*ONA ROT #Kalim Al-Asim #Dire Crowley #Epel Felmier #spoilers #believe it or not though Kalim is my favorite of the group #with Lilia’s design being a close second

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tinyinvadr · 2 months ago

Text

Next chapter!

Psychoborrower 2

Chapter 7

Traveling with the Aquato family, even for a short distance, is an experience.

Seeing such a big family and watching how they all interacted with each other was something new to me. I was an only child, and for most of my life, the only family I knew was my parents.

Well, them and my Nana, but she passed when I was little, and I couldn’t remember her too well.

It was a stark contrast to the parents, four kids, and grandmother packed into a relatively small caravan, all locked in a conversation while the adults had to simultaneously wrangle the two youngest who refused to sit still.

What they were talking about, I don’t really remember. It was probably about Raz, but I had my own issues with him to worry about. What was he up to and why couldn’t I know about it?

We arrived at the campgrounds, and I parted ways with the Aquatos there. I followed a trail of fresh tiny footprints in the sand into a tent that had already been set up. Inside, Dad was sitting on the ground while Mom stood beside him, holding his hand.

“Hi, Flint.”

She smiled, but the uncomfortable tension in the air was hard for either of us to ignore.

“So… What do you think of the place so far?”

She sighed. “It seems very peaceful, but we’re not suited to living outdoors like this. Once the weather gets cold, we would have to leave anyway.”

“I can talk to Hollis. The Motherlobe is already setup with accommodations for borrowers.”

“Man-made accommodations. Structures built by humans with the specific purpose to control our methods of transportation and force dependency on them. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? The amount of power that they have over us?”

I understood her point, but I knew for sure that the Psychonauts had only good intentions. I just had to make her see that.

“They’re not gonna hurt us, Mom. They only want to protect us.”

“That’s also dangerous. Our fear of humans is instinctual for a reason. It’s how we survive. But if we desensitize ourselves to that fear, we could end up running into trouble if we encounter humans who don’t have our best interests at heart. It doesn’t matter how nice these people seem. We aren’t meant to live among them. Their attempts to help us are just going to cause more harm in the end.”

She was just as stubborn as I remembered her. But I got my own stubbornness from her. This argument could go on for a while.

“Who says we’re not meant to live among humans? This could be our chance to change things, make our lives better. If we have the Psychonauts on our side, we won’t have to be so paranoid all the time. We can just… live our lives.”

Mom went quiet again, her thumb brushing against Dad’s hand.

“Can you say with 100% certainty that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE here, is not going to be a threat to us?”

I didn’t want to lie to her, but if she knew about the mole, there would be no chance of her letting me stay. But it wouldn’t be a lie if I dealt with the problem before she could find out about it.

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about. We’re perfectly safe here.”

Dad smiled. “That’s a relief. I’m really not built for traveling anymore. And the air is so fresh here. It’s nice to be out in nature and- OH GOOD GOD WHAT IS THAT??”

Outside the tent, Lili’s pet rat scampered by.

“Oh, that’s Harold. He’s harmless.”

I realized that Harold would be my best bet at catching up with Raz, so I said goodbye to my parents and stepped outside to ask him for help. Being the helpful little guy he is, Harold happily agreed to carry me on his back and take me to Raz.

I probably would’ve found him sooner if I hadn’t gotten sidetracked.

As we passed the waterfall, I noticed Raz’s older sister standing dangerously close to it. Then, I saw an arm made of water rise up and reach out for her. I signaled for Harold to stop, and I jumped off his back and ran over.

“Look out!”

She panicked, looking around as the water arm dissolved.

“Who’s there?! Who said that?!”

I waved her down, though it still took a second for her to notice me on the ground. It didn’t help that the tall grass hid me from plain sight. Never thought being well hidden would be a bad thing.

“It’s just me, Flint. Raz’s friend. Isn’t it dangerous for you to be this close to water with the curse and everything?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course it is. But acrobats live for danger.”

“But I saw that hand reaching for you! Don’t you think it’s kind of stupid to get this close to something that’s actively trying to kill you?”

She smirked. “I dunno. Why did you become friends with my brother when you thought he was trying to kill you?”

“That’s different. I was wrong about Raz. You could seriously die here.”

She sighed, sitting down in the grass.

“A little water’s the least of my problems.”

I approached her, sitting down next to her knee.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Why should I? I don’t even know you.”

“Yeah, but I’m a Psychonaut. Well, I’m training to be one, at least. It’s my job to help people with this sort of stuff.”

She thought it over for a minute, then nodded.

“Okay. But you can’t tell anyone about this. Not even Raz.”

“Of course. Whatever it is, it stays between us.”

I waited patiently for her to find the right words to say what she needed to say. Then, finally, she spoke.

“I’m psychic. Raz knows this, but the rest of my family doesn’t. I would tell everyone else, but I… discovered something a couple months ago. I have Hydrokinesis powers. As in, the same kind of powers that killed my grandfather and cursed my family. I know they’re not gonna take it well. I don’t want them to be afraid of me. But at the same time, I like having these powers. It’s just too complicated. It’s better if I don’t say anything.”

Her feelings were all too familiar to me. It was the same sort of thing that I went through with my parents. Well, not exactly the same, but I could understand where she was coming from.

“Whether you wanna tell them or not is ultimately up to you, but I think you should at least talk to Raz when you feel ready. I can’t say for sure how your family will react, but at least from the time I’ve spent with your dad and your brother, I know that at the end of the day, they love you more than anything.”

She smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Flint.”

“Glad I could help, uh…”

“Frazie.”

“Frazie. Huh. I like that. It’s pretty.”

I hadn’t realized what I said until after I’d already said it. I ducked my head, making my bangs fall over my face to try and cover it as much as possible. Her expression turned into a smirk as she chuckled.

“Oh yeah? You think so?”

“I’ve gotta go see your brother now! C’mon, Harold!”

I hopped on my trusty rat steed and got out of there as soon as possible. God, that was embarrassing.

Harold brought me all the way back through the Questionable Area, and we found Raz inside a little abandoned diner. Sam and Lori were also in there, making pancakes while a bunch of terrified animals shuddered behind the counter.

“Hey, Flint! I got the internship! Coach Oleander didn’t mind having two, so now Sam and I are co-interns!”

“Want a pancake, little man?”

Raz locked eyes with me, shaking his head and silently begging me to say no. I could only assume her cooking hadn’t improved much. I remembered seeing her try to help Ford out in the kitchen one time back at camp, and it didn’t end well.

“No thanks, I’m in a bit of a rush. Got some important Psychonauts business to deal with.”

As I spoke, I retained eye contact with Raz, glaring at him. He knew full well why I was there, and he also knew that he wouldn’t be able to shake me this time.

“Aw, that’s too bad. Well, if you chance he your mind, we’ll probably still be here later! Coach asked us to make a LOT of pancakes. I wonder what they’re for? Maybe he’s planning a brunch?”

“Nah. I bet he’s building some sort of pancake-powered super weapon.”

“Haha! That’s funny. Where do you come up with this stuff, Sam?”

“That’s what he told me.”

Okay, whose idea was it to pair Coach up with Sam?

Moving on, I practically threw myself at Raz so he would catch me. I knew he would try to leave without me, so I made sure to stay two steps ahead of him.

“We should probably get going, right?”

He sighed. “Right.”

After we left the diner, I immediately went into interrogation mode.

“Alright, no more trying to ditch me. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that if we don’t catch the mole, it’s over for me. My Mom told me that if there’s a single person here who could be a threat to us, she’s making me go home. It’s obvious you know something that I don’t, so spill. I mean… come on. After everything we’ve been through, you can trust me, right?”

“Of course I trust you, Flint. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to keep this from you. I was told not to tell anyone, but you’re right. This concerns you, too. And… I could use the help. I’m sure Truman won’t mind if it’s just you helping me.”

“Okay, good. Now, can we backtrack? ‘Cause last time I checked, Truman was out cold.”

From there, he explained everything. Truman was only pretending to be unconscious so that the mole wouldn’t go after him again. While neither of us were sure how this was possible, Truman was insistent that the mole was capable of bringing Maligula back, and the only person who would be able to stop them is the man who defeated her in the first place: Ford Cruller.

Raz was able to bring Ford to the Motherlobe using their mental link, but his mind was still in a shattered state, so he had himself locked up in the bowling alley, mail room, and hair salon. Teleportation is weird.

We had to enter the minds of each of his personalities in order to piece them back together, but in order to do that, we had to get close enough for him to let us in.

The first order of business was getting a senior league membership card for the bowling alley. Raz had already talked to the only remaining member of the senior league, Compton Boole. He wasn’t willing to cooperate, though.

Much like his grandson, Compton had explosive tendencies when he got overwhelmed, so he had himself locked up in the Psychoisolation Chamber. However, he told Raz he’d consider giving him the card if he could help him find his old friend. In order to do so, we had to bring him a bee from the Forgetful Forest.

Finding the bees wasn’t hard, though we did get momentarily stuck in a trap Lizzie set for an animal. Compton had apparently also sent her to catch an animal for him, though we weren’t sure why.

She took that opportunity to try and scare us with the urban legend of the Green Needle Witch. It sounded pretty fake to me, so I wasn’t worried. Though, if she WAS real, then yeah, sounds pretty terrifying.

We made it to a big beehive in the middle of the woods, and to my horror, Raz pulled out a jar.

“Why do you have that?!”

“What? It’s just a jar.”

“Just a jar… and what do you think people use to trap borrowers in, huh?”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I had no idea. But it’s not for you, it’s for the bee.”

I scoffed. “I doubt the bee would like it in there either.”

“C’mon, Flint. We really don’t have a choice here. I don’t think any of these bees are gonna come with us willingly, and they’ll probably sting us if we try to pick them up.”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not happy about it.”

With a swipe of the jar, he managed to catch three bees.

“Wow! I got three!”

I sighed, placing a hand on the glass as I looked in at them.

“I apologize for my friend. He doesn’t have the same sensitivity for bugs that I do.”

Suddenly, we heard something rustling in the leaves behind us. I figured it was just an animal. I could only hope it wasn’t a bunny. God, I hate bunnies.

Instead, we were faced with something even worse. Lizzie wasn’t kidding about the Green Needle Witch. She snuck up on us, ready to give us a hug and stab us with her needles.

Strangely, she seemed to have some sort of connection with the bees, because the moment Raz started to run, the bees swarmed together and chased us out of the woods.

And we got caught in Lizzie’s trap again.

“Seriously, Pooter? I just finished setting that up.”

“The Green Needle Witch is back there!”

Lizzie shook her head as she freed us from the trap again.

“Okay, I didn’t think you’d get THIS freaked out about that story. Look, it’s just a dumb legend made up by the locals. There’s no Green Needle Witch.”

“But we saw her!”

“Sure you did, shortstack. If you guys are this paranoid, maybe you should go.”

She didn’t have to tell us twice. Besides, we had more important work to attend to. There was no time to investigate the possible scary pointy witch sighting. My future as a Psychonauts was on the line.

#giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #psychonauts

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