#and yes I KNOW the static silhouettes of his parents looked like him but let me cook

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Something I don’t see people mentioning that I might be over thinking is the other part of that lullaby for Bill

Like, yeah, all the chatter about his “strange eye” and how that definitely is about how he has it put in the center of his face and not to the sides like other Euclidian’s probably did to navigate a 2D space. But no one is mentioning the “Sharp angles and all” ??

To me at least, the sharp angles might be another oddity about Bill as he grew up. Maybe others had softer or more rounded edges? Maybe Bill was comparatively skinny or boney or didn’t look right? Maybe it was odd what angles he did have? Maybe being equilateral wasn’t normal and others had differing angles?

Idk, I’m just saying maybe it wasn’t just his eye

[yukidragon]

Our Life Snippet - Anchor

It’s time for another slice of the first draft of my fan novelization for Our Life: Beginnings and Always! For once, this is a direct continuation of a piece I’ve served up before. Last week we got the hurt portion of hurt/comfort in the moment Family with the snippet I called Adrift. Now it’s time for the comfort half with Cove and Jamie.

As always, thank you for enjoying my writing. Special thanks in particular for the game’s lovely creators @gb-patch for being so sweet and encouraging. You’re all wonderful and you bring me such happiness!

...

It was impossible for Jamie to tell how long she remained staring off into the far horizon, fighting to keep her head above water in the chaotic storm of thoughts she drowned in. She sat with her knees tucked against her chest, her cheek resting across her arms folded on top of them. The wind delicately blew her blue hair to the side, just strong enough to tease her bangs and end of her long braid.

A voice cut through the static screeching inside of her head. Someone was shouting, getting closer. Not even the presence of another person was enough to make Jamie move until she noticed that they were calling her name.

Upon that realization, she recognized the voice as well. She could never, ever mistake his voice for anyone else’s.

Jamie raised her head and turned quickly towards the shouts, her eyes wide. She quickly spotted a silhouette in the darkness where the sand gave way to grass. Even in the dim light, she instantly identified the figure.

Cove.

There was a moment where Cove stood breathless, his eyes fixed on Jamie sitting curled up where the sand met the waves, with the moonlight casting a shadow across her face when she turned towards him. The moment lasted only long enough for him to be sure it was her before he ran to her side.

Confusion and worry drew Jamie to her feet, clearer than anything else in her chaotic mind, and she fully turned to face Cove as he approached. “Cove,” she said, his name shaped with too many emotions to process. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

The question took Cove aback. “No!” He cringed a little at the intensity of his response and tried to calm his racing heart. “Not to me anyway. I wanted to know what happened to you.”

Jamie stared at Cove in confusion, her face blank. Her reaction only made him even more concerned, his grimace creasing into a deep frown.

“Mom told me you stopped by earlier,” he explained, his voice still a little frantic and breathless from his panicked search. “I went to your house to say hi, but your parents said you were gone, that you needed to get away.”

Jamie said nothing. She heard him clearly, yet failed to understand what about that alarmed him so much. She was fine.

It was her family who weren’t okay.

Cove only felt his worries grow the longer Jamie failed to respond or even show any emotion. Normally, she was so expressive that it was easy for him to tell how she was feeling, but now her face was a tense, blank mask that offered him nothing.

Nothing about all this was normal, and it was starting to get to Cove.

“I mean…,” he continued, pressing on despite the oppressive stillness of his best friend. “I had to think something was going on after something like that, so I came to find you.” His aquamarine eyes looked into hers - those normally captivating night blue eyes were so uncharacteristically dim, devoid of their usual sparkle and joy whenever they were together.

The look in Jamie’s eyes terrified Cove.

The silence stretched on, a heavy weight oppressing both of them. Finally, Jamie took a breath and wet her lips, tasting the salt in the air as she struggled to answer Cove’s concern, to reassure him and explain what had happened without making things worse for him.

“I…”

Even forcing out one word alone was a struggle for Jamie, but Cove was patient, willing to wait for her to speak. Her gaze dropped to the sand, unable to bear the worry in his eyes anymore as she fought for words. It was too loud inside her head, the static scraping away words she wanted to say with intrusive ones she never wanted to admit to anyone. There had been so much she had wanted to tell him earlier, but now there was too much.

Finally, Jamie managed to try again. “There’s a lot…” Her voice petered off, the words dissolving from her mind before more than a handful could leave her tight throat. She skewed her eyes shut. “Elizabeth… my parents…!”

She choked on the words, a hand moving up to cover her mouth as she tasted bile. The action urged Cove to take a step closer to her.

“Is everything okay?” Cove asked reflexively, even though the answer was obvious, as he placed a hand on Jamie’s shoulder.

The touch was warm, solid. It was a stark contrast to how disconnected Jamie felt from the rest of the world. She closed her eyes and focused on Cove’s hand, his closeness, his concern.

Cove cared.

Cove always cared about her, what she thought, and what she felt. He never judged her, never pushed her. Ever since they met, he was always there, so kind and mindful of her. He was her anchor grounding her when the waters turned turbulent and threatened to wash her away.

Jamie placed her hand on top of Cove’s, drawing strength from him as she always did.

“Thank you,” she eventually managed to say, her shaky voice barely more than a whisper as she lowered her head. “Thank you for coming…” She lifted her gaze, but could only reach as far as his worried frown; she couldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Cove’s brow furrowed even more as he only grew increasingly concerned, not as much by the words themselves but by the way Jamie said them. She sounded so… broken.

Despite his mounting fears, he held himself back from voicing his worries further, wanting to give her the chance to continue on her own.

Jamie closed her eyes and took another breath, giving the hand on her shoulder a small squeeze. It was hard for her to speak, to know where to begin, but the fact that Cove was with her now made things a little easier somehow. With his help, she would figure out what to do about Elizabeth, her moms, and…

And just like that the feelings she had been holding back surged forth like a tsunami and overtook her.

“My parents are dead!”

Cove froze at the weakly delivered outburst as it sent a shock through him. He couldn’t move, except for his mouth which fell open, but he was unable to do anything further as he stared at Jamie.

That wasn’t what Jamie had been intending to say, not at all.

For a moment, Jamie stuttered, scrambling to recover mentally, knowing she had to clear up the confusion she had just caused. “M-my biological ones… from before my moms… before they adopted me.” The explanation started as a trickle that only grew stronger, more emotional with each word, like water pouring from a crack in a dam that was only growing wider as more spilled free. “They died when I was a baby. Moms didn’t say how. Maybe they don’t know. But there wasn’t any other family I could live with. So that… that’s why I… why I g-got a-ado-adopte-”

Cove had heard more than enough. He closed the distance between them, pulling Jamie into a tight embrace.

“I’m sorry, Jamie,” he murmured, his warm breath ghosting across her shoulder. The comforting words delivered with such gentleness pierced right through her.

The warmth was familiar and comforting. It felt so right to Jamie, yet she stood frozen as Cove enveloped her securely in his arms. They were so close that his voice rumbled through her pleasantly when he spoke, creating small tremors that ran through her. In another situation this would be heaven. But this wasn’t right. She wasn’t the one who needed to be comforted right now. It was her sister and moms who needed it far more than she did.

“You… you don’t ha-have to do this,” she said, barely managing to force the words out, her voice cracking at the edges.

Cove rested his head against Jamie’s, his cheek brushing against hers. He refused to let her go. “Yes I do.”

He sounded so sure, yet for some reason that fact made Jamie begin to shake. Finally she could move, her trembling hands reaching up - to draw him closer or push him away was unclear - but her fingers hooked into his shirt at his sides near his back, the hold on the fabric so tight her already pale knuckles turned white.

“I… I-I’m o-oka…”

The lie was too big for Jamie to finish forcing it from her throat. She choked on it, her voice catching and quaking until it turned into a wail of anguish that racked her body. All of her denials and barriers broke then, and she crushed her body into Cove’s until there wasn’t even room for air between them. The tears she didn’t know that she had been fighting all this time gushed forth without restraint, spilling onto her best friend’s skin as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Cove held Jamie even tighter, as close as he could without hurting her, his eyes growing watery as well. Although they were of equal height, she felt so small in his arms just then. Her body shook almost violently against him from the force of her sobs, the sounds rending his heart in two.

Cove said nothing while Jamie cried, merely listening to the wails she made that almost formed words at times. It was painful to hear just how much she was hurting, but he didn’t falter. He would do nothing else but hold her until she was done bleeding out all of the poison tainting her heart.

It took time for the night to grow still again, save for the constant rhythm of the waves and the breathing of the two teens as they held each other on the shore. Eventually, however, the flood of tears slowed to a trickle, and then finally stopped when Jamie had no more left to shed. Her energy bled away along with much of the tension in her body, leaving her standing more by virtue of Cove holding her up than the strength of her own legs, her once firm grip limp, but still hanging on desperately.

When Cove noticed, he took great care to guide Jamie back down onto the sand. The position they sat in was close, with Jamie practically in Cove’s lap. Under normal circumstances, such intimate closeness would have left him a blushing mess fighting the urge to bolt like a frightened deer, but he didn’t even think about it now. The only thing he focused on was keeping her close to him.

Cove sat for a little while longer with Jamie cradled in his arms, until he was sure that she might be ready to talk. He didn’t release his grip on her, but shifted just a little, trying to catch a glimpse of her face to better see whatever expression she was wearing now without widening the distance between them.

Jamie looked exhausted, worn, but not as worryingly tense as before.

When Cove spoke again, it was delicate and deliberate. “Can you explain everything to me?”

For a moment, Jamie just breathed deep, the sound rough and hitching occasionally. Finally, she managed the strength to lift her head and face Cove. Her red-rimmed dark blue eyes met his, but only for a second before she had to look away. She nodded slowly before taking in a heavy breath and letting it out slow and shaky.

The actual event hadn’t actually been that long, but the telling took Jamie a while in stops and starts. Cove listened attentively, only nodding where appropriate or taking in a sharp inhale when words almost escaped him. He only spoke again when he was sure she was finished speaking, at least for now.

“Jamie,” Cove said, his voice trembling with heartache for his closest friend. He faltered, wanting so badly to say whatever it took to somehow make her feel better, but words alone felt inadequate. “I’m really sorry about what happened to your parents. So, so sorry…”

Jamie being adopted was something Cove learned early on after meeting her, but its importance never truly sank in for him. He never felt comfortable about prying into it, relating the loss of her original parents to losing his mom for a while due to the divorce, and the distance that had grown between them since.

Although things had gotten better for him, it would never get better between Jamie and her birth parents.

Cove tried to find the words to say more, but nothing came. He could only take in deep, shaky breaths as he struggled for something to tell her that might help heal her broken heart. It was frustrating. He hated feeling so helpless, especially when his best friend needed him.

Jamie barely acknowledged Cove beyond a slight nod of her head as she looked off at some point in the distance, not really seeing anything. She found more words to say before he could. “I had no idea it was so important to Elizabeth,” she said, her voice rough from all her crying. “She was so upset and angry even before our moms told her about her biological parents… and after they did she just…” She had to pause for a moment to take in a shaky breath before letting out slowly. “I mean… I thought about mine too, sometimes, but it’s not because I wanted to know who they were.”

Jamie made a vague motion with her hand before limply dropping it back onto Cove’s arm. “I sorta just figured either they wanted me or they didn’t, and if they didn’t, they weren’t worth thinking about. If they did…”

Closing her eyes, Jamie paused to take a deep shuddering breath before shaking her head. “I didn’t want to know if they did,” she confessed in a whisper, guilt dripping from every word. “I didn’t want to ask, but when Elizabeth did… when my moms asked me… how could I not?” Her eyes went to Cove, her expression almost desperate and only relaxing a little when she saw him nod in understanding.

“But I guess… they did want me,” Jamie said haltingly, the words coming out weak and fragile as she closed her eyes. “There were people who… l-loved me. And I can’t love them back. Ever. I can never love them like they probably loved me because they died, and I can’t remember anything about them. They’re strangers. They’ll always be strangers to me, even if they did have me. I’ll never get to know them and love them like my moms or Elizabeth or Lee and… and… and I just wish they didn’t and that they just threw me away and abandoned me because they didn’t want me like I always told myself they did so I wouldn’t feel guilty about not caring about them and being happy without them! Isn’t that awful?!”

It was hard for Cove to keep silent. He bit into the inside of his cheek to fight the urge to speak before Jamie was done unburdening herself. He only moved to gently pry her fingers from her braid as she started yanking on it at some point during her rant. It was only when she stopped, panting as though she had just been running, her dark blue eyes wild and desperate and looking right through him, that he spoke again.

“Jamie,” Cove said, drawing her attention back to him and away from that dark pit inside herself. His voice cracked as he struggled to keep himself together; he needed to be strong, for Jamie’s sake. “You’re not doing anything wrong. You know that, right?”

The emotions playing across Jamie’s face were too complex for Cove to understand, but he suspected that they were also too much for her to truly understand them either.

Cove took great care in choosing his words, which made them come out slower than usual, almost stilted. “I think you can be as sad as you want, for as long as you need. Or you can feel about it whenever you want, too. It’s okay for you to be happy. You deserve to be happy.”

It was a struggle for him, as his words felt woefully inadequate in the face of such dark thoughts as the ones Jamie laid bare before him. He was completely out of his depth here. Even comparing her situation with her birth parents to his own parents didn’t help him really relate; it just made him shudder at the idea of how he would react if one or both of them died.

Adding on the complicated feelings of never knowing them or loving them like he did was just…

Cove had to take a moment to breathe, exhaling deeply as he ran a hand through his hair and let his gaze drift to the ocean. The sight of it was soothing, which he desperately needed right now.

With another sigh, Cove shifted his gaze back to Jamie, meeting her intense stare with a look of sympathy and reassurance. He at least took solace in the fact that she was looking at him now and not lost inside her own head again. Even if he couldn’t really relate to what she was going through, that didn’t stop him from empathizing with the obvious guilt she held towards her own complicated feelings, or understanding how easy it was for dark thoughts to spiral out of control.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…,” Cove continued at last. “Whatever you feel about it is how you feel about it, and that’s okay. You don’t have to force yourself to be different.” He managed a faint smile, as he recalled what Jamie told him at the beginning of summer when he confided in her about his complicated feelings about his mother coming to stay. “There’s nothing wrong with how you’re feeling about all this. It doesn’t make you a bad person. No one would ever think badly about you for feeling this way about something like this.”

He sounded so sure, Jamie couldn’t help but believe him. It was strange how Cove had the power to do that, to be able to hold such pure faith in her that there was no room left for doubt. It was effortless for him to slip past her barriers, denials, and twisted up confusing feelings to reach her heart directly, always with a touch so delicate it wouldn’t disturb foam on the water.

Bit by bit, Jamie felt the knot in her chest loosen, and she found herself relaxing against Cove as she let his heartfelt words settle in. Instead of the static of broken thoughts, she listened to the familiar rhythm of waves meeting the shore, and the slow, steady breaths of her best friend by her ear. Her eyes drifted closed and took a moment to simply breathe.

Finally, Jamie started to see things in a new light.

When Jamie opened her eyes again, she was quickly lost in Cove’s aquamarine eyes that somehow seemed to glow in the moonlight as they focused only on her. The way the moon made his eyes shine so bright despite the darkness of night was one of the first things she noticed about him on the night they met. Although those enchanting eyes held sadness like they did that night, they were also overflowing with affection for her.

Cove always saw her so clearly, all of her, both the good and the bad. He could see her like no one else.

Although Jamie thought she had cried out all her tears before, a couple more beaded up in her eyes before slowly trickling down her face. Despite their presence, she managed a weak but genuine smile. Somehow, Cove always found a way to give her exactly what she needed the most. “Thank you, Cove.”

The tension wrapped around Cove eased a little as well, as he watched the light slowly return to Jamie’s eyes, and he returned her delicate smile with a comforting one of his own.

“You know,” he continued carefully, “Elizabeth and I haven't ever been super close, but… I don’t think she’d want her family to break up, or drift apart.” He paused for a moment to offer a weak attempt at a wry smile. “Even if she complains about it sometimes.”

Jamie let out a breath that was almost a laugh, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards a little higher, and Cove took that as a victory.

His expression softened as he continued. “And your moms definitely don’t. It doesn’t matter if you’re not blood related, you’re definitely family.” He reached up to gently brush away the stray tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. “I can see that… and I hope you can too.”

Jamie leaned into the touch, her eyelids dipping, but she didn’t want to stop looking into Cove’s ocean blue eyes. They were so bright and clear, able to see her with such sincerity. She could feel his reassurance in the way he looked at her, the certainty he held that despite everything she was going through, she and her family were going to be okay.

As his tender words and caring heart wrapped around her like a warm blanket, Jamie felt herself growing a little more certain as well. Cove was right - she didn’t have to apologize for how she felt, or even make excuses for it.

She didn’t have to deny how she felt either, not even to herself.

As the pain slowly receded like the tide, Jamie felt her almost overwhelming affection for Cove flow in to take its place. Mere words couldn’t express how grateful she was that he was here to support her, that despite seeing what she believed was such an ugly part of her, he accepted it and helped her see that it wasn’t as terrible as she convinced herself it was.

More than anything else in this world, Jamie knew that she could count on Cove to be there when she needed him.

Jamie no longer felt the need to hold herself back from fully accepting the comfort Cove offered her. She snuggled in closer, drawing her arms around his torso as she nuzzled her cheek against his. Being close to him, touching him, hugging him - it was always a soothing balm no matter how easily he could send her heart fluttering out of control. There was nothing more right in this world than being in his arms.

Although Cove started to become aware of their intimate position, it was a mercifully distant concern when compared to everything else that merely quickened his pulse. Not even his nervous crush on her could compare to the relief he felt knowing that his best friend was finally starting to feel better. He returned her affectionate gesture, brushing his cheek against hers, feeling her soft warmth and breathing in the faint smell of ocean and flowers that was distinctly Jamie. Despite how anxious he felt at times being so close to her, he couldn’t help but feel content holding her like this.

The two remained like that a while longer, neither inclined to separate now that the silence between them had softened into something comforting and familiar. For a while they simply sat together on the sand, idly watching the ocean as it reflected countless stars and the moon above.

[hansoulo]

lay back in cloying sin

part three of “Pillar of Salt”

Pairing: Boba Fett/Princess!Reader (she/her pronouns, no Y/N)

Warnings: NSFW-ish; references to marks and bruises, kissing, probably inaccurate descriptions of ballroom dancing, fluff, mentions of alcohol consumption

Word Count: 3.3k

Gif Credit: (x) by @/ktfhett

A/N: boba & reader: [tyler the creator voice] oh no i hope i don’t fall 

༓ series masterlist ༓ 

Dinner was a tedious affair, filled with hollow pageantry. It was one last hurrah before the send off of the honored guests, one of which you’d never talked to and the other who was nowhere to be found. The former, Lord Vader, sat at the head of the long table and made for very unamusing company. You had the distinct impression that he’d rather be anywhere than here, having to listen to his uniformed subordinates squabble in grating voices and your father simper about mining collectives. That made for two of you.

But the cavernous banquet hall was always beautiful, if a bit ostentatious, and the food never disappointed, so you consoled yourself with a loosened corset and the promise of a second dinner by servants who pitied your forced small portions.

You floated into the large room, shuffled through by the compounding procession before an older man offered to help you into your seat. The ornateness of your evening wear made you grateful for the help, watching in sincere thanks as he pulled out the high-backed chair.

“Thank you, um…” the color of his robes and the softness of his hands signalled high rank and you chanced a guess. “Duke...?”

“Sagcock,” he finished for you. “Jovron Sagcock.”

He has got to be joking.

Evidently, he wasn’t.

If the man saw you choke on a laugh, sputtering it into a hiccup as you sat down, he pretended not to notice. After all, princesses knew better than to be unbecoming or crass or know why any part of that exchange could be fodder for humor.

Fighting down one last cough, you attempted to regain some sense of decorum. What a wonderful start to the evening.

The arrangement of persons on this particular night was strange though, even disregarding the title of the man now seated beside you. There were more people than usual filling out the hall tonight, all fancily clad and buffed to shining. Boba wasn’t anywhere to be found.

The supposed importance of the occasion probably necessitated a shuffling of seats to soothe egos and encourage conversation, but you weren’t used to being so close to the head of the table, near parallel with your mother. Usually your elder sisters sat higher and provided you the benefit of distance. Of course, they were all gone now. Your brother was still too young to be at evening dinners, so there was no buffer between you and your parents’ ire.

Maybe this was the Maker’s way of getting back at you for your tiny tryst. Maybe they all knew about what happened in the garden and were just waiting for the shoe to drop, branding you as a harlot and finally letting you free. Vader’s static words travelled down the table and mingled with your father’s but you were too busy entertaining worse-case scenarios to understand conversation.

People were observing you, you realized partway through the first round of courses. Watching you with strange eyes as if you were the last scrap of halfway-spoiled meat for imperial officials and all the nobility that had come to pay their prostrate respects. No one had really given half a damn about you before, which made it all the more strange.

A heel foot softly kicked at yours underneath the table, breaking you out of your glazed thoughts. The fork you had been mindlessly moving across your plate stopping mid-swirl. Looking up, you met the quiet glare of your mother and cleared your throat.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” you asked. Your question was punctuated with a smile too large to be genuine. The queen’s head jerked towards the grizzled man seated to her right and you turned towards him at her behest, face open in trained invitation. “Oh, hello, General.”

General Enes, current commander of the army of Quas Killam. Not strictly Imperial, but aligned close enough to have him in the king’s good graces and to reside permanently at court. He was also a Duke and probably a cousin thrice removed, but who was counting?

“No need to stand on pleasantries, your Highness,” the gray-haired man assured you, one large hand resting over his stomach as servants replaced the dirtied plates in front of you with new ones. You only sipped delicately at your algarine as he chortled and remembered, “It seems like yesterday that you were running around the palace with your sisters. A little sprite of a thing, weren’t you?”

Was he drunk already? “Yes, I remember,” you tread pleasantly; carefully.

The general settled and let out one last chuckle before his eyes grew hawk-like again, trained in the jewelry and accoutrements that signified your being old enough to marry but young enough to have not yet been taken. Like a prize. Or a charity donation. “You’ve grown into quite the young woman, you know.”

So that’s where this was going. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes and tried to look gracious. “Thank you, sir. That’s a high compliment.”

“How old are you again, dear?”

Masking your surprise at the forwardness of the question, you supplied your age to a nod of approval from both him and your mother.

“A good age, I’d say. ‘Round the same as my youngest.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” you shot a look down the table and caught a glimpse of cropped flaxen hair, its owner sitting enough seats down to prevent any shared conversation. You counted your blessings for it and smiled, tight-lipped. “Your son and I shared company when we were children.”

“Well that’s very nice,” the queen interjected quite loudly and looked around the long table with a light laugh but cold eyes. “Isn’t that nice?”

Your father looked at you for the first time all evening as if on cue, boring a hole into your face with the words he seemed to be telepathically trying to put in your mouth.

The taste of bitter wine on your tongue made your thoughts fevered, though not borne out of alcohol so much as the memories of someone else’s touch in the same places. “Yes,” you repeated vaguely. “Very nice.”

Darth Vader apparently didn’t remove his helmet. You wondered why he came to dinner at all.

The remaining evening hours had been whittled away by dessert and drinks. Everyone who cared to stay shuffled into the ballroom, a behemoth of a thing filled with inky windows and sparkling artifice. It was a blur of waltzes and predetermined couplings with boys you’d been ignoring since you were old enough to kick them in their shins, but you didn’t care enough to go to pains to avoid it. They broke up the monotony of introductions, at least, and let your mind and body be somewhere else for a while.

All compounded, the night left you flushed and tired. You needed alcohol. Or air. The latter was probably the more reasonable choice of the two.

Being in the midst of ballroom theatrics allowed for an easy enough escape, and a side entrance to a balcony overlooking the palace grounds became the object of your attention.

The tall double doors lay open in their glass encasings and spilled out lamplight refractions on the guests’ gaudy clothing and gaudier jewelry, everything sparkling and warm. But you were far enough away from it to still be chilled by the night air, a balm for your flushed cheeks and fizzling temper.

Usually guests ignored it in favor of staying indoors, so you were fairly confident in the promise of solitude and an undisturbed breeze.

But someone apparently had the same idea as you.

“Hello,” you ventured out a greeting to the silhouette not yet fully in your vision. You stepped closer and the heels of your shoes echoed on clay tiles. “I’m sorry, am I bothering you?”

Royal Highnesses shouldn’t really care about whether or not they were disturbing strange party guests, you could make them leave if you felt so inclined, but something in you was feeling magnanimous tonight. You tried not to think about why.

The figure didn’t turn back towards you, still facing out towards the blurry glitter of urban lights far off in the distance. It looked pretty this far away, all glowing masses and amorphous buildings that scraped the sky. You’d never  been close enough to see all the dinge and smog that made its home in places not populated by princesses. Marble felt more familiar than metal.

The man wore metal too, and his voice scraped at your chest when he answered. “You’re not bothering me, princess.”

Oh.

You ventured cautiously towards the balcony’s edge, next to the man you now could recognize as Boba. The thick stone railing was cool to the touch. “Hello.”

His helmet tipped to the left, which was probably his way of saying it back.

“I didn’t see you at the dinner,” you noticed quietly. Would it be presumptuous to assume he was avoiding you? Intellect said yes, but ego didn’t listen. You leant forward, the speckled marble digging into your elbows as you mirrored Boba’s sightline out into the city. “You know, you wouldn’t have needed to make conversation. Lord Vader was the guest of honor and all he did was sit there.”

“I don’t like crowds.”

“Ah.”

A silence lapsed between you, awkward as if you were strangers. You were though, weren’t you? Strangers. Not friends. Not lovers. Not really.

But if he asked you to crack yourself open for him, you would. You would rip apart every satin petticoat and snap the boning in your corsets until your hands were raw if it meant he would touch you; skin to skin. You’d run away and cite a hidden fountain as the reason why.

You didn’t know what he’d give up for you, if anything. Boba didn’t seem like the type to have much in the first place. Either by choice or by necessity.

The garden afternoon nagged at you after having time to form coherent thoughts, and the fizzy shine of palace lights reflecting off his helmet reminded you of what you’d been meaning to ask.

Night made you softer-spoken. “Why did you let me take off your helmet?”

Night made his edges sharper. “Why did you want to?”

“I asked first,” you volleyed back as reason enough to get an answer first.

Boba wasn’t a Mandalorian in the true sense of the word, at least that’s what gossip told you, so it didn’t really matter if he took the helmet off or not. But he kept it on in front of everyone else.

The hunter gave you visor-silence and your impatience made you concede. “I just wanted to see you,” you breathed out, still not looking at him.  The admission sounded much more naive than you intended.

His words held their characteristic aloofness but were edged by gentle teasing. “What if I said the same?”

That he wanted to see you?

You still didn’t understand half of why he did what he did and what he wanted, but you turned to face him head-on anyway. Cold moonlight fell on your neck and the air cracked with fever. You tried to reply in jest. “Then I’d say that you were being stupid.”

“You’d be right.”

A swallow bobbed in your throat. He always seemed to take up your vision; fill it and suffocate you with seemingly no effort. “And then I’d ask you to do it again.”

“Do what, princess?”

He knew. He just liked seeing the words come out of your mouth.

“Let me take your helmet off.”

This time, he guided your hands up himself. They were slow and almost careful running across your palms, placing them on the mechanisms your fingers found in quick memory. Set on the balcony railing, the helmet seemed to be a prop. An upside down bucket filled with all the things you had yet to say to each other, spilling out onto the ground in a fog.

“I like you better without it,” you decided when he turned back towards you, his weight still resting on the railing with one cocked hip. Everything about the way he looked was dark: inky black curls and scarred brown skin and eyes that pushed the air in your lungs with a stall and a catch. They looked even darker next to tan clothes and green armor.

His voice wasn’t entirely lacking in humor. He did that. Humored you. “Do you now?”

“Mhm.” you nodded with fake seriousness, slightly giddy and slightly too brave. You blamed it on an excess of wine and good company. “Better-looking.”

He only scoffed, a flash of pearl-white canines serving as one half of a smile. A smile that had been wider when it was against your collarbones, your neck, your mouth. A smile that you wouldn’t mind being in other places.

You nudged Boba’s shoulder with your own when a waltz kicked up in the background, faint through the open ballroom door. “There’s music,” you implied, half-joking and half-expectant. There had been this whole time, of course, but acknowledging it now seemed better than never. “You should ask me to dance.”

“I’m not one for dancing, your Highness.”

The title made you roll your eyes, a commonplace formality that you usually insisted on but now found overly facetious. Coming from him, that is. “Clearly not,” you almost snorted. Pushing away from the marble ledge with a finality that seemed almost comical, you held your hand out and waited, eyebrows raising and fingers beckoning. Well? your face seemed to say, Are you coming?

His sigh was bone-deep and settled in your chest like chunks of black plaster, but it felt good. “You’re not going to let me leave, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” you replied, as if it’d be ridiculous to expect anything else. Princesses danced with men at parties. You were a princess. Boba was a man at a party. In a roundabout sort of way. “It’s easy, I promise,” you assured, wrapping your hand around his wrist and pulling him away from the balcony. His glove slipped down a bit; just enough that your thumb could press one soft circle against the tan skin over bone.

Uncomfortable wasn’t really the correct word for how you thought he felt. You doubted Boba could ever be uncomfortable. No. No, the right word would probably be… bemused. Like he was in a menagerie watching a creature, something exotic and pretty, with mild interest while it still had his attention. But you did have his attention. That was something.

“You put your right hand on my waist,” you moved to reposition the large fingers more accustomed to blasters than they were to bodices. Boba smirked, almost boyish, when you caught his hand wandering someplace else. “Not that low,” you chided with quiet exasperation, placing your palm atop his and guiding it back up.

The pale leather was warm underneath your skin and you bit down a smile, almost awe-struck at how strange your hand looked next to his. Yours was polished, weighed down by heavy gold bangles and softened by years of idle play. His, you suspected (for you didn't actually know; hadn’t yet actually seen), was anything but.

“That’s good,” you supplied lightly. “And then I do this,”your other hand reached to rest on Boba’s shoulder. “And then- no, no you give me your left hand. Hold it out- good.”

Still looking down, you were careful not to trip over your skirts or his boots. “And now we just-” you breathed out and glanced up, surprised to find his expression strangely careful. Almost tender. You gulped down the quiet notch in your throat. “-now we just um… sway. Like this.”

You eschewed complication in favor of a simple rhythm, just letting your feet fall wherever they liked so long as they didn’t tangle in themselves. Now wasn’t the time for anything laborious; you didn’t have faith enough in Boba’s footwork. But he actually wasn’t too bad all things considered. A bit stiff and a bit gruff, but those were part and parcel. It was a bit like dancing with a tree trunk. A very handsome, very broad, very taciturn tree trunk. It was easy to let yourself sink into it a little with how solid he felt.

The man arched an eyebrow when your fingers stretched to thread together with his. “Just sway?”

“You’re welcome to do a jig instead if you’d like,” you replied wryly as your weight shifted from foot to foot. The hand around your waist stiffened at the prospect and a grin escaped your face.

“Nevermind.”

The amusement that had previously only been in your throat escaped in a quiet laugh. “Thought so,” you whispered, victorious. Tension, bunched up in your shoulders and collected in your bones, melted completely when he pulled you closer and let your head fall against the space of his neck. Sinew fit against silk like puzzle pieces and warmed the quiet moment that followed. Neither of you spoke for fear of disturbing the fresh peace.

You found yourself dwelling more and more on hypotheticals. Unrealistic and stupid, you knew, given who you both were. But still you dwelt, unable to fathom a reality outside of the last nine hours and inside a reality within which Boba was gone.

Would he fit here, with the stucco and plaster and ivy? With all the sheltered society of an insignificant court? With you?

You wondered if he dwelt on hypotheticals, too.

Swallowing cold air as Boba thumbed the collar of your dress, you felt the light scatter of broken blood vessels from hours before smart again. Your cheek pressed against the pauldron of his beskar, but neither of you were really dancing anymore. “I- I wanted to talk,” you began quietly. “About earlier.”

“Did you not like it?” Did you not like me?

“No! No, I…” you shook your head, trying to rid yourself of his assumption. The crystals hanging from your headpiece tinkled with every soft movement. “No, I… I liked it. I like…” The lump in your throat seemed to travel down back into your stomach. “You,” you finished, swallowing the final word and leaving all its implications to settle in the night.

He could feel the rise and fall of your chest; delicate and airy and resigned. You spoke again. “But you’re leaving tomorrow and... and we could’ve been caught. And the more I think about it the more I really am not looking forward to the idea of some court scandal or being cloistered up like a nun because I—”

He called you your name.

He’d never used your name before.

You lifted your head off his shoulder, desperate-eyed and looking for answers you both knew he couldn’t give. “Yes?”

“Kiss me.”

You barely breathed out an okay before the arm around your waist tightened, crushing you against cold metal and a warm body.

He kissed you how a lover would. Like how a first kiss should’ve been.

It was gentle. Warm. Tender-mouthed and aching, placing promises down your throat with a soft hand and closed eyes. It was… It was…

It was broken up far too quickly.

A voice called out your name from somewhere far-off, regally accented and not at all welcome. It called your name again, first middle and last with all the titles in between with much less patience. Your mother, queen consort.

The groan of displeasure that escaped you was muffled in Boba’s mouth and swallowed up before it could give either of you away. He recovered much faster than you did, peeling back from your body with eyes already alert and scanning the shadows for passersby. There were none. For now.

“It’s my mother,” you whispered, letting your eyes roll seemingly out of your skull. “They’re probably doing some send-off for Vader’s entourage.”

Neither of you mentioned the fact that Boba was part of that entourage too.

Your last words were rushed before the footsteps became too close and the mercenary pulled away. You didn’t really want to stay to hear the answer. “Will I see you again?”

Boba Fett, you’d come to learn, wasn’t the kind of man to offer more than what he knew he could give.

The helmet went back on. “I don’t know.”’

[simpz-art-stash]

A friendship poisoned by bad blood between brothers.

Day 4 - Poison for Starsfic’s prompt list!

Have a lil fic from the rp which inspired these drawings <3

Fang had of course went the same route as she usually did via cloud. Picking up Mei and telling her to wait atop one of the nearby skyscrapers. That she'd stay connected with her via phone call to allow her to listen in just in case. And that she'd call for her help if it felt like backup was needed.

Hopefully that would not end up being needed.

But the closer she approached the peak of the tower, the more her instincts were screaming at her to bail. She could only chalk it up to nerves at that point.

Just seeing his blurry silhouette in the distance waiting for her left her a lil uneasy as she approached.

Red stopped pacing when he caught her approaching. He glared silently at her, trying to look mean. However, the pained look in his eye made the effect more akin to constipation.  

"You have 1 minute to convince me I shouldn't just throw you from this roof." He said, hoping she'd be combative and he could explode on her.

"Well you're lively as ever.." Her brows furrowed a little, at least he didn't look like a dead mess inside like she did. Though he did look like he'd been put through a few restless cycles... Stepping off the cloud, her eyes barely glanced around to the garden, her sights set on him. Everything put back as it were as if their little scuffle hadn't happened at all. She stopped a few feet from him, looking just as uncomfortable to be there. "I need you're help. There's something ancient and evil lurking beneath the city working with Spider Queen. And someone told me that you've dealt with it before..." She claimed. "I'm not looking to reforge what we had because I know you're right. That we can't be together...But I was hoping at the very least..that maybe just for this, we could truce?" She looked at him hopefully.

"You're coming to me to help defeat the Spider Queen yet again?? Are you serious!? Are you all REALLY so INCOMPETENT that you cannot just handle her for once!? She's not even that strong of a demon, she just keeps getting lucky!" He snapped.  "Why don't you go ask your ole daddy to save the day on this one?? I've got better things to do!" If she would just leave, get angry and run off, he wouldn't have to....

She grimaced at him blowing up at her. Any other day she'd hardly find it all that hurtful to listen to him rage his frustrations into the air about her. But then he had to go and make things personal. And she only barely manged to keep her composure at him throwing her dad into the mix like that. "My dad's missing Red...I can't.." She sighed, crossing her arms as she glared at the ground. "Interesting." A voice of static crackled to life in one of his ears. His father's voice. "Proceed with what we discussed." Red winced at the static in his ear, but tried to pass it off. "Your... dad is missing?" He asked slowly. "UuuuUUGHHH!! FINE! Just... fine, let's sit down, have a drink, and talk it out, Monkey Princess." He waved her to follow over to the table. He reached under and brought out the drink. Rather spicy water, even for him. Ancient and potent looking. He must really feel bad about their break up...

She shot him a glance, almost a little surprised to see him succumb to her words. Honestly thinking he would've told her to just 'get over it' or 'who cares'. This only stoked what little hope she had for them. She breathed out a little, "Thank you.." Before she made her way over with him, sitting herself down opposite to him. Though she'd abstained from drinking for as long as she could, all the stress was just begging her mental status to relax.

He poured the drinks white she was settling, slightly obscured to her when he did. 'Better you than me,' he thought as he dropped in the poison. This was a mantra he'd adopted over the centuries when he started to feel bad about the things he did. This was the first time he didn't quite believe it. He picked up the glasses and handed the poisoned one to her. He sat across from her and took a bigger drink from his than he ever normally would, needing this for courage not to knock the glass from her hands. To her, it would just seem that their falling out was harder on him than he let on.... which was true.  Evidenced by him  brushing a finger over his old facial scar, something he didn't even realize he did when he was anxious. "So what in the realms could POSSIBLY have you worried about that self-important pestilence infesting the sewers calling herself a queen?" He FINALLY asked.

Though a part of her wanted nothing more than to just drink the night away like it were any other, she knew they had more important business. And considered that through the end of it that maybe it would be better to simply savor what she could of what time they had. Opting for once to speak over her drinking for the first time in a while. "She's working with someone..someone a lot more powerful. An ancient demon with dark magic..." She contemplated aloud, "We think it might've been what gave her the boost she had when she tried to take over the city the first time..but we're not sure." She glanced at him. "You feel it too though don't you? The city has been restless for weeks...something worse is coming." He winced when she didn't immediately start drinking.  He did contemplate about the city being restless.  "I thought that was just me being a surly bastard." He tilted his head in thought.  But now that she mentioned it, yes, for once, it did seem to effect more than just him. He sighed and sat back, swirling his glass, looking bitterly into it.  "That would make sense, I suppose.  That something bigger than her would be what's allowing her to be more effective at her job than usual." Fang nodded a little, "We've got a name to her but..we're unsure of just how strong she really is. She's managed to put a curse on my brother..an lead my father down a path even I can trace him back to..she calls herself 'The Lady Bone Demon." There was a bit of an avid silence between them before that same gravely tone crackled to life in his ear, "Interrogate her on this enemy." If she wasn't going to off herself then to them then they might as well gain any intel they can on this enemy.

"Lady Bone Demon..." He furrowed his brow, not needing to be prompted by his father one bit on this.  "It seems like a familiar name, maybe I've come across her in my research." he shook his head.  "But do go on, please." he waved, urging her to divulge everything. "Someone did say that you've dealt with her before. It's why I arranged this meeting in the first place..they claimed that you 'dug' her up from the 'pits of hell.'" She pointed out, not really sure how true it was but she wanted to cover her source as he'd claimed he wanted no part in anything regarding it all. "I'm not pointing you at fault whatsoever, I don't think you'd purposely let someone loose like that just to give them the upper hand...I'm just going on the only lead I have at this point.." She claimed. Red Son's brow furrowed at that, and he wondered how closely his family was listening.  It had indeed been the Demon Bull Family to dig up this menace from the depths of the earth. "That's... That sounds like the ancient energy that my father had us dig from the earth... The one that possessed him.  The soul reason we blighted our names to team up with the Monkey King and Nyoodle Boy.  But we defeated that!  Noodle Boy dealt the killing blow!" So he had dealt with it before. "Apparently he didn't finish her like you thought he did, because she's underneath the city working to off us all." Fang stated, "All the signs are there, and this proves it." He shook his head, cursing his father's arrogance under his breath.  Not that Red would have done anything different, in fact he was one to help dig the spirit up, proud to help his father in his glorious purpose.  However, he was still sore that his father had turned on him and his mother, even if his mother had forgiven DBK. "So now this horrible power that possessed my father, nearly killed me, and already nearly destroyed everything anyone holds dear, is BACK?  With the Spider Queen of all people, that DOES explain how that little gnat took the city!" he growled and was on his feet.  "So?? What are you doing about it? What sort of measures are you taking to combat this?" She blinked a little in surprise at his sudden boisterous attitude, well at least he was putting his anger towards something more worthwhile instead of taking it out on her. "Weeell..we've got someone currently scoping out the sewers looking for them, in hopes that we'll be able to find out exactly where they are. We've also been looking for any manner of history regarding them, or any relic's that might be of use to us for this specific demon. As well as any other allies..but we haven't had much luck..we're sort of on our own here an I..well can I just be honest with you? I have no idea what the hell I'm doing..." Red had been pacing, but when she got down and honest with him, he stopped. He looked back at her, seeing the scared, vulnerable girl that she didn't let out much to anyone. She'd been working so hard to stop this, and she was floundering, and destined to fail. Maybe it would be kinder of him to end her. Maybe this was for the best. He came back and sat down, nearer to her. "Well. I suppose that..." he sighed. "Dont worry your monkey head about this. I will do everything in my power to stop this demon, then. Not for you!" He quickly amended, remembering his parents listening. "But to avenge my family's honor! Take down anything that thinks it could possibly be greater than the Demon Bull Family! The audacity of this Lady Bonehead." Hus ears were blowing out a tiny bit of steam after his fit of passion. And though it might've made sense to him that it would be best to truce in hopes of taking down such a powerful ancient enemy. His father apparently thought it just as much of a mockery the second time around than the first. Where Red saw logic, Bullking saw the only fleeting chance he had to finally one up his oldest enemy and lose what footing he could to overtaking the city. He didn't need the aid of ANYONE, the Spider Queen had simply gotten the jump on him. But he knew now that was just because of some devious relic. And he wasn't about to tarnish the family name further. So again he had to remind his son who was really making the demands here. "Remember your place child." He warned him, "If you value what little sliver of loyalty you have towards you're family you will do as I say. And follow through with your mission." A small chuckle escaped Fang then, and a tear almost would've escaped her had she not hid it by brushing back her bangs. "That's probably the most relieving thing I've heard all week..." She smiled at him, that glimmer of hope in her eyes in knowing he had her back. Her hand raising her glass to him as a toast, "May we both be victorious in the end." He felt his blood run cold at his dad's chastisement.  He knew he wasn't likely to be spared should DBK's wrath overflow.  His father had proven time and again that he was more or less expendable. He had a good upbringing, though, and raised his glass to her as well.  "May victory smile on the Demon Bull Family." he made as if to drink, but waited to be sure she was drinking first. Then he slammed his drink, standing up.  "We'll take it from here.  Just rest." he told her, brow twitching in dismay. She took her shot then, her face scrunching a bit at just how strong the after burn of it was before she sighed. "Thanks...I really needed this.." A tired smile stared down at the now empty glass, never the wiser. "I mean it..even if we'll never be able to speak to each other ever again after this. And pretend we hate each other's guts. I'll always cherish those moments spent between us all those years ago...Just so you know..in case something happens to you." She stated her claim, before slowly standing herself upright. "I'll always be here for you man." Oh sure. She was just going to twist the knife in his gut.  Curse these goodie two shoes and their sentimentality!  And she was outing him more and more to his family!  He should have used a stronger poison.  What if the alcohol nullified its effects?? "I will genuinely miss you.  Forgive me that I don't have your back..." he hunched his shoulders, thinking quickly.  His parents didn't have a visual on them, just an audio link, as far as he knew. Before her eyes, he started his agitated pacing yet again.  And suddenly, he yanked something out of his ear throwing it to the ground and crushing it under his boot.  "I'm so sorry Fang..." She tilted a little at his sudden abruptness to it all, having wondered if he was just getting misty at her being so forward of just how much she'd miss him. But watching his jerking motions prompted a bit of confusion to her. "What're you?-" Then there was a cough that escaped her, and looking back at her would reveal her holding a hand to her throat with a look of discomfort. As if trying to breathe only for further coughing to escape her. "Red?.." She wheezed a little, staring at him with a confused look. He paced a little more, trying to think of anything he could do to stop this.  Any antidote.  But there wasn't one, that's why they had chosen it.  At the cough, he froze.  "My father was going to kill me if I didn't--" was all the explanation he offered, before biting down hard on his tongue and turning his back to her.  Poisoning was one of his least favorite ways of killing someone.  Too personal, too up close.  Imprecise and messy.  This was DBK's own way of torturing Red, by choosing such a horrible demise. He couldn't look at her, and he turned his back, holding his head up.  "I'll take care of things from here.  Just rest." he repeated.  He tried to look dignified but he was close to throwing up. Further coughing ensued, her fighting just to get any ounce of air in her lungs at that point. Her mind finding it hard to focus on his words but she heard him, and she felt a sharp panic drop in her stomach as a swelling heat rose in her core. "W-what did you-" She tried to get another word in, trying to edge around the table to meet him, but found her limbs betraying her and forcing her to collapse on the ground with a cry. Tears pricked her eyes at the surge of heat that was becoming overbearingly hot within her. Like she'd just eaten a demon pepper, only it was causing her to lose every manner of senses and replace it with pure hellfire. Where all she could do was grip at her chest in agony and let out a wrenching noise as she bellowed out a pleading cry. But that wasn't the only thing that bellowed out of her right then, a plume of red smog began to leak from her nose and mouth. Only furthering her suffering as she choked on it all, unable to breathe in nothing more than the pure rage inducing concoction she'd had forced upon her. A sickened snarl escaped her right then as one of her hands gripped at the ground, clawing at it enough to leave marks buried into the concrete that had forged it. And though her breath was shallow, it warped in comparison to the haunting fury that now laced her breath. "What did you do to me?!!" She screamed. He tried to be cold and cool, aloof the way his mother had taught him to be.  A strong man, not a quivering, weak boy.  But when he heard her collapse on the ground choking he let out a pained cry of his own, ducking his head and covering his ears.  He should have just let his father kill him.  It would have been preferable to this!  His only friend choking to death behind him.  His eyes squeezed shut, causing tears to fall that he hadn't realized even welled up. The last scream made his blood run cold, a particularly horrid sensation for a man so hot.  Something was different about her voice at a primal level, and it caused him to spin around to face her.  Any pretense he had held before this point was gone, and his face was just that of a sick, scared child.  "Fang!" Another pained cry left her curled in on herself as she almost looked like she was having a stroke. But that couldn't of been farther from the truth as a wicked sense of something horrid radiated off of her, like a mix of dark magic and death. A whimper escaped her as her fur began to warp from its pure sunshine blonde to a morbidly dark black, her hands involuntarily flexing in on themselves as she let out a haggard breath. "I trusted you..." It was low, warped and hollow, and through it all somehow she forced herself up onto her knees. If not to just look back at him with a look he'd only seen her wear the first time they'd met when he'd fought for his life and given her that horrid scar of hellfire. A look a pure primal rage.

[with-love-anu]

The risk of love

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: Sirius have been bestfriends since forever. Things change when he runs away from home

Warnings: Mentions of bruises and torture

Word Count: 2,798

Sirius Orion Black was the best and the worst person of your life.

He made it so easy being around him. He was as much a part of your life as the air around you. Even James, your childhood best friend didn’t compare to him. Your face would just brighten up whenever he entered the room. He had a charisma that attracted you to him. And you’d fallen for him. When? How? You didn’t know. Because it happened so slowly you couldn’t even pin point the exact moment. You were in love with every bit of him, even the darkest corners.

When you had first realized it, you did everything. You did everything to convince yourself that you weren’t in love with your best friend. You would beat down the bubbly flutter that emerged in your chest every time he was around. It was stupid. It was really stupid to be nervous around Sirius. Because if someone knew you, it was him. But each time he would touch you, even a simple brush of his hand would stir up something inside you making you go crazy again. You would shield yourself with your hands and legs trying to make these foreign, unwanted feelings go away only to be crushed by his thoughts again. You tried not to hate every person he kissed right in front of your eyes, as your stomach twisted up in dangerous knots and every good thing seemed to fade away. You wiped away the adamant tears that refused not to fall. You held your legs close to yourself deep into the night to stop the unbearable pain Sirius never knew he caused. You came up with every logical explanation to not fall for him, the mind abided, the heart didn’t. Come to think of it, when did the heart ever listen to logic?

Your feelings for him were ironic. You loved him with every speck of your soul and hated him for it. Because if there was one thing you couldn’t have, it was him. You had come terms with it long ago, knowing you’ll always love him and that he’ll never even know. And it was okay even though something crushed and shattered within you, seeing his lips red and swollen and his neck littered with bites every other day. You would gulp and force your lips to turn upwards at his proud smirk. You would hide behind your cup as your ears would pound. Remus knew. James did too. They would look at you with a pitiful expression that made you want to scream. But it was okay, because he was happy. That was all that mattered.

You were sitting in the common room perched over the coffee table, writing an essay. James sat beside you but he hardly looked at you. All he saw was the fiery red headed girl talking to a first year. Remus sat opposite to you reading the book thief yet again. Sirius came in and plopped down next to Remus, chuckling a little at James expression.

“Merlin! I hope I never fall in love!” he commented snatching Remus's book who released a ‘hey!’

“You don’t want to fall in love?” Remus asked him.

“Nope. Can’t end up like him!” he said pointing towards James who narrowed his eyes at him.

“But Sirius, you will fall in love one day.” James said shrugging.

“Nope. Don’t want someone after my necks for dates and all that cheesy romantic stuff!” he huffed rolling his eyes.

“Who said everyone wants all that greasy romantic fluff?” you asked raising your eyebrows.

“Well, don’t you?”

“No.”

“Well then, what do you want?” Sirius said smirking at you in challenge.

“I would rather have a quiet relationship, knowing my partner loves me and cares for me like no other.” You said simply.

“Aha! But you see I don’t think love is as pretty as you make it to be. Take James, for example! He says he is in love with Lily there, but has got nothing but hurt in response.”

You all felt silent for a while. You could see the smug look on Sirius’s face and all you could think was how wrong he was.

“We don’t choose who we fall in love with, Sirius. It just happens. And it makes us more human. It’s better to get heartbroken than never experience it even once. It’s… it’s like a drug, once you have a taste of it, you keep wanting it more and more.”

“Yes, but why want all that pain? Why take the risk?”

“And you say it as a cocky proud Gryffindor.” You sassed. You sighed. “Because if we never take the risk, we leave out the chance to be the happiest we can. Because love makes us powerful, happy and strong. Would you rather sit on your death bed thinking what would have happened if you chose to give love a chance?”

Something flicked in Sirius’s eyes before he looked down and changed the topic to the next day’s plans.

***

You were at James house over summer. Your parents had gone abroad and Mrs. Potter was only too happy to take you in. You sat playing exploding snaps in James room late at night when there was a crack at the window. You both looked at it as yet another stone flew right in. James stood up and went to investigate, with you just behind him. You saw a dark silhouette under the dim street lights. Wait. Was that Sirius?

The two of you ran towards the front gate, bolting through the stairs. Your heart stopped as the door opened and you saw Sirius. His face was all bruised and his eye was swollen. You sucked in a breath, taking in his state not knowing how many more scars his torn clothes hid. Your head pounded as you stopped yourself from panicking.

“You said I was welcome at your house if I-“Sirius started but James had already took him in.

“What happened?” James asked quietly as you all went to his room.

“Mother and father were particularly angry tonight, didn’t mind a few crucio’s” your heart stopped as you looked at him. His face was static, hollow. You wanted nothing more than to pull him into your arms but he seemed so fragile that if you did just that, you thought he’d break.

So you walked in a dazed state not knowing when you reached the bed. You went to the washroom where you knew the first aid kit was. James decided to not wake his parents and tell them in the morning and Sirius was too happy to oblige. He didn’t want to talk now. Soaking a rag in cold water, you kneeled in front of Sirius who sat at the edge of the bed. He didn’t quite meet your eyes. You took your trembling hand towards his face only for him to turn it away. Your heart broke a little, seeing him so scarred and broken. You knew he wasn’t scared of you. It was an involuntary reaction. You gulped, placing the rag on his skin as he hissed softly. You cleaned his face and hands while James made sure to change the water very often and bring in some clean clothes.

“You need to remove your shirt.” You whispered pulling back. Sirius obliged, nodding, working like a robot. You swallowed the lump that formed in your throat on seeing him. His chest was red and blue. You knew Sirius would pull away the moment he saw your pitiful gaze, so you worked in silence and schooled your expressions. He gasped and hissed a little at deeper cuts and you whispered apologies to him. You bit back the tears that were threatening to fall.

You had never seen him silent and stoic for so long. Your heart thumped in your chest as you performed healing spells on him along with James. James gave him clothes to change in the washroom. As he went inside, James looped an arm around you and you finally let tears fall. You buried your head in his chest as he rubbed your back.

“He- He-“

“It’s okay. He’s okay.” He shushed you as you tried to calm down. You wiped away your tears as you heard the bathroom door creak.

“You can sleep in the second guest room, come on, I’ll take you.” James said leading him there. You sat on the bed with a thump. James came back moments later and gave you a reassuring smile.

“He’ll be alright. Go to sleep, you need it.” You nodded dragging yourself towards your room. You stopped at the door. You turned around and walked towards Sirius’s room instead. Opening the door slowly; you somehow made out Sirius’s outline.

“Who’s there?” his voice came all rough.

“It’s me” you whispered.

You went around the bed and sneaked under the covers slowly. Sirius tensed immediately feeling your weight on the bed. You came closer to him and spooned his back, looping an arm around his waist. Sirius froze. He felt your warmth radiating into him and gulped. He slowly relaxed as he felt the silence wash over him. He liked it, your arm around him. He felt safe for the first time after running away. He didn’t dare move, should he break the spell that brought you here. He didn’t know when he fell asleep.

***

Sirius woke up in a daze, taking the unfamiliar surroundings in. The events of last night slowly hit him and he turned to see the side where you lay last night. It was empty. Sirius gulped. Was it a dream? He didn’t want it to. It was one of the best sleeps he ever had and it was because of you. He could still feel your warm hand as you looped it across his waist, your fingers light as feather as you healed him. His eyes stinged with tears and he let them fall for once. His head pounded as he took in the situation he was in. He took in deep breaths calming down and going to wash his face. There was a knock on the door and he called to come in.

He turned to see you in your pajamas holding two bowls.

“I have breakfast!” you said offering one of the bowls to him. He smiled a little taking it. The two of you sat in silence, eating. Sirius had never been a quiet boy. Seeing him like that saddened you but you were ready to provide him any comfort you could.

Sirius didn’t say much all day. You and James made sure to talk about good and happy things. It was rare to see him smile, even rarer to see one that reached his eyes. At night you did the same thing you did the previous night, you slipped in beside him. He didn’t tense up as much as the last time, so you counted that as a win.

You all fell into a rhythm. Sirius woke up with you and James bringing him breakfast. You would go out around the city the whole day, eat, drink, play and come home. You would slip into his room at night, holding him as you both fell asleep.

***

Sirius was coming to admire you a little more every day. You never did anything that made him feel inadequate or uncomfortable. You didn’t push him to do anything and he’d come to love those peaceful silences the two of you shared. He looked forward to nights because they meant your tight embraces that made him feel warm and safe. He started noticing how you were so beautiful in a very natural and raw way. He found himself smiling involuntarily at your laughs and giggles. He needed you close to him every moment of the day. And you happily gave him that. Come to think of it, you were one of the most constant people in his life and he felt guilty for not being grateful for you before. He wasn’t blind. He noticed how you were genuinely saddened by what happened to him. His heart contracted as he saw you crying into James shirt one day. He waited for the pending look of pity you would give him, but it never came.

Lying on the bed, James had corrected him over and over again to call his, he waited for you. He heard a creak as you came in. He felt a weight on the bed as you slipped in. He sighed at the familiar feeling of your arm around him. He closed his eyes but he didn’t want to sleep. He turned around to face your shining eyes in the dark instead.

“(Y/n).”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you care so much about me?”

“What are you talking about Sirius? You’re my best friend, of course I care about you!”

“But I am nothing. I would understand if you wouldn’t have seen me like this, at my worst. You see me and yet you care about me so much.”

“Sirius, I don’t care about pretences. I love you. You. All if it. No matter how bad or dark it is.” You whispered.

Sirius didn’t say anything right then. His eyes were glistening and he hoped you wouldn’t see it. You cupped his face, kissing his forehead. He was your best friend and you would be damned if you let anything hurt him. You would always love him, even if he didn’t feel the same.

But Sirius did feel the same. You had stirred something in him. He had started to want all the crazy romantic stuff. He didn’t want to admit it, but if there was someone he would risk falling in love with it was you. And it wasn’t a sudden realization. It took a hundred smirks from James as he looked at you with a loopy smile, a nudge from Mrs. Potter telling him how cute he would look with you, making him stutter for the first time in his life.

***

Remus visited you three a week later. The four of you goofed around planning all that you would be doing at Hogwarts. As much as Sirius was happy to see Remus again, you spent too much time with him. Sirius’s face had upturned a bit as he saw you run to Remus hugging him tightly when he arrived. He schooled his expression shrugging it off. But now it seemed that the two of you were attached to the hip. Sirius sulked as he saw you and Remus huddled together over a book. He felt jealous of Remus. He didn’t read books that he could talk about with you.

He went and plopped down beside you.

“Hey.” He said as you looked at him with a bright smile.

“Hey!” you said and turned to discuss the book again as Sirius pouted.

“(Y/n) I think you might wanna talk to Sirius over there or he’ll die.” James exaggerated as you turned towards Sirius who looked at James indignantly.

“What?” you poked.

“Nothing.” He grumbled, getting up and out. You frowned as he went away. Telling Remus to wait, you went after Sirius and grabbed his hand.

“Come on, tell me, what is it?” you said as he shook his head. You narrowed your eyes at him, thinking of something. You went forward and started to tickle him.

“(Y/n)!!! Stop!!!” he said as he rolled out laughing. You didn’t stop continuing your torment as he grabbed you and you fell on the top of him, giggling. As you both tried to calm down, Sirius noticed how beautiful you looked so close. Your (Y/e/c) eyes just sparkled with mirth and he couldn’t help it. He raised his head and kissed you. You gasped as his lips met yours. He pulled away as soon as he realized what he was doing.

You blinked slowly, getting up as Sirius did the very same.

“(Y/n) I…”

“Sirius, please tell me you didn’t just kiss me because you don’t have anyone to do it.”

“WHAT?” Sirius asked. “Are you kidding me?!? Don’t you see how much you mean to me? Can’t you see it? You make me smile out of the blue, make me wanna do all that lovey dovey stuff they do in movies and I wanna be your boyfriend. I get it if you reject me, but don’t-“

Sirius stopped as you pressed your lips against his. It was slow and soft. He wanted to feel it, the moment. He tasted your bubblegum chapstick feeling your soft lips against his dry ones. As you pulled back, you smiled at him.

“So what does being your girlfriend entail, again?” you said breathlessly as he pulled in to kiss you again.

A/N: Let me know what you think!

[ms-rampage]

New Dawn: New Horizons Chapter 4 - The Twins 

Warnings: Language, some violence

Word Count: 2.0k

Summary: The 5 Winchester kids meet The Twins after they invade their home. 

Guest OCs: Just the usuals

Guest Characters: Mickey and Lou. Archangel Raphael [Supernatural: Male vessel], John Seed [mentioned]

Note: Far Cry: New Dawn and Supernatural crossover. Sorry for the gaps in-betwern chapters 😖😅

Written by @athenalillystar and myself. Hope y'all enjoy!! 😁❤

Taglist: @wargames94 @vicki-the-sinner @rabbitsoldier @mrsladydiana

_________

Flashback 16 years earlier

Paige and Kate had given birth to kids. Paige had triplets, 2 boys and 1 girl, having to get a C-section with the help of her friend Cody who happens to be a doctor, and performed the surgery, and was living with them underground in the bunker. 

Kate having a vaginal birth a few weeks later, and giving birth to a little girl. Thought she would’ve been a single mother but around the time the bombs dropped, some angels had been cast out of Heaven, and one of them seeked shelter with the Winchesters, their friends, and family. Archangel Gabriel aka Trickster aka Loki aka several other names, appeared in their bunker hours after the bombs had dropped. 

He had lost about 70% of his powers, and was basically also human. Him, and Kate grew closer, and eventually developed a relationship. 

After Kate gave birth to her daughter Daenerys, Gabriel grew to love the infant, and became her father.

He protected her, he loved her in many ways possible as she got older, even though he was technically her adoptive father, her real father being John Seed. 

She always saw him as her birth father, and nothing else. Not knowing that he was an Archangel, and her adoptive father. 

________

A few days have passed. 

One morning everyone at Prosperity wakes up to the sound of an explosion outside the safehouse. 

Kim Rye alerts the Winchester-Smith compound for back up, and they immediately rush to their aid.

Paige, Kate, Kenny, Mandy, Barbara, Nate, Mark, Cody, Marty and Adrian had taken off to help out against the attacking Highwaymen.

The kids, Cristina, Bianca, Jeffrey, Thomas and Daenerys stayed back with some of the other adults. 

In case the Highwaymen attacked there, and that’s what happened. 

The Highwaymen attacked, throwing bombs and shooting at the front gates of the compound. 

“Come on they’re here!!!” Cristina yells, going to their families gun case.

All the kids each grabbed a rifle, ammo, explosives, and took their positions. 

They were all trained for something like this. Their parents trained them since they were younger than 7 years old. They all knew what to do when they were attacked. 

After wiping out all of the Highwaymen. Getting shot at, and coming out uninjured.  A gruesome battle of exchanging bullets. 

"How many did you kill?" Jeffrey asks his younger triplet brother. 

"16" Thomas answers, "You?". 

"19" he responds, with a cocky tone. A smug smirk on his face

He scoffs, "Whatever showoff". 

The 5 Winchester kids meet face to face with the Twins Mickey and Lou. Lighting off fireworks outside the gate, getting the siblings' attention.

“Oh shit!” Cristina exclaims, "Oh no" when they see they have children hostages. 

They run towards them, aiming their guns at them, and their followers. 

“Better put those down. You don’t want to scare the kids” Lou tells them. 

“Cristina” one of the 3 kids, whimpers out of fear.  

“Everything is gonna be fine kids" she reassures them, "You all better leave now!". 

Lou, one of the twins, laughs at her comment and threat, Mickey back slaps her in the face which only pisses off the elder Winchester sibling.

“You piece of shit!” she angrily mutters, as her younger brothers hold her back from bashing in her face.

“I’m sorry I just don’t like to watch people lie to little kids” Mickey tells her, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

“Why are you doing this?!?” Bianca asks.

The eldest Twin breaks it down to the 5 siblings. 

“Because of your hero parents” Mickey starts off, “Until they started to grow your little family Army, everything was running smoothly. But you. You all have become a fucking problem. Taking from us. Throwing everything out of balance”.

“I think we should just kill ‘em” Lou says, while holding a grenade.

Sending off the youngest of the 5 with a threat of her own. 

“Do that, and you’ll be dead before you get the chance to pull off the clip bitch” Daenerys threatens them, while aiming her slingshot with a throwing knife at Lou. Bianca lowers her weapon as the Highwaymen aim at them. The older Twin tries to calm the situation. 

“No. Hold on. We don’t want any martyrs here” Mickey intervenes, “What we want is to make sure everyone understands your help. Your whole family is a curse. Every person you help, every child you inspire, every settlement you build, we will take from you”. 

The 5 of them stare angrily at the two sisters. Wanting to kill them right there, they see the chance and it’s slipping. 

“You’re gonna have a hard fucking time doing that!” Cristina informs her, while being held back by her younger brother.

“And when you’ve got nothing, we’ll come for you” Mickey continues, getting into Cristina’s face.

“Bring it bitch!” Daenerys yells out, while Bianca and Jeff hold her back.

“Calm down Dae, calm down” Bianca whispers, trying to calm down her cousin.

Even if they’re completely outnumbered by The Twins and their followers. Cristina knows they'll have a chance at killing them, if only the small children weren't there. 

“Don’t drop it” Lou tells one of the kids, putting a grenade in his hand without the clip. 

“The only currency in this world is power” Mickey yells, “You. You made us look weak. That ends now!”. The older twin getting into Cristina’s face once again, "We are going to take everything that you hold dear. Starting with your home” she continues. 

“And if we can’t take it, we’ll break it” Lou says. 

“You ain’t taking fucking shit from us!!!” Cristina growls. Glaring up at the two. 

“Don’t be here when we come back” Mickey says, pointing at the elder sibling.  

She throws the grenade clip at Jeffrey, and he catches it. 

They get into their trucks, and drive down the dirt road. Leaving behind a trail of dust. 

“Oh god. Oh my god” Bianca mutters, as one of the kids holds an active grenade.  

“C’mere, c’mere kids” Cristina says, to the two of the kids.

Jeff puts the clip back onto the grenade. Disarming it, and taking it from him.

“Come on kids. Lets go. Lets go inside” Bianca tells the group of children, as they guide the kids back inside the compound. 

****

Meanwhile, Lucifer and Gabriel follow the sound of a high pitched static ringing, which most likely means there is an angel nearby.

“Over there!” Lucifer says, walking towards what was once Peaches Taxidermy. 

They see the silhouette of a figure, and when they get closer they see.

Their brother Raphael, pacing back, and forth. Looking lost.

He stops pacing, and looks in their direction.

“Who’s there?!?” he calls out.

“Don't you recognize your own brothers?!?!” Lucifer says, in a joking manner. 

“Lucifer? Gabriel?’ he says, in shock, “You both fell too?”.

“I’ve fallen a long time ago” Lucifer tells him, sarcastically.

“I’m one of them that fell” Gabriel tells him, “What happened?!?”. 

“I don’t know” Raphael answers. “But there are more angels out there”.

“Who else?!?” Lucifer asks.

“Michael, Samandriel, Castiel, Uriel, Gadreel and probably more” he tells them, looking around the radiated wasteland. 

“Do you know where?!” Gabe asks.

“I heard a frequency going that way” he points, towards the direction of the Drubman Marina.

“Alright let’s go” Lucifer says, already walking towards the direction.

They walk in the direction of the Drubman Marina, walking through the toxic radiation that they can’t smell, nor does it have any effect on them. 

“Do you have your powers Gabriel?” he asks.

“Very little” he answers, “I lost like 70% of my powers. What about you?” 

He sighs, “About the same. I’m surprised I can survive in this radiation”. 

“Have you tried to contact dad?!” Gabe asks. Looking at his older brother. 

“Yes. but he doesn't answer” he replies. Looking at his younger brother. 

Lucifer jumps into the conversation, “Yeah, I know. Same thing with me”

They’re halfways to the Marina, and Lucifer picks up the frequency of another angel. Looking around, trying to spot another celestial through the thick fog. 

“Where have you been Gabriel?” Raphael asks.

Before he could answer, “He was living with the Winchesters and he’s a father!!” Lucifer tells him.

Raphael looks at his little brother, “You brought in a Nephilim?!?!”.

Gabriel groans, and stammers over his words, “No, no. I didn’t bring in a Nephilim. Kate Winchester was pregnant already, and when I fell I teleported to them in their bunker because they were the only humans I knew that would’ve taken me in”.

The eldest Archangel gives his younger brother a piece of his mind. 

“Plus Mandy Winchester said you told her about Joseph Seed” Lucifer says to Raphael. 

A look of disappointment on his face, “Yes, I did several years ago. I told her about him, and that he needed to be protected. Why? Because our Father spoke to him. I didn’t know he meant for all of this to happen” he responds with his arms out. 

“Dad spoke with him for all those years. To recruit people for his “Cult” and look at what happened” Lucifer says with his arms out. 

“I didn’t know!!. I didn’t know he was going to do this!, if Joseph wasn’t protected” he defends himself.

They continue walking towards the Marina, and the pitch ringing comes back.

“Over there!” Raphael exclaims, he can somewhat hear the angelic frequency. 

A silhouette standing still with their head lowered, muttering something to themselves. 

They get closer, and they see Uriel.

“Uriel?!” Raphael calls out. 

He lifts his head up slowly, and sees his older brothers

“Raphael?, Gabriel?, Lucifer?” he questions, relieved, “Are there more of you?!?”.

“Most likely. According to Lucifer” Gabriel tells him.

*****

The 5 siblings sit at the front steps of the main house of the compound, waiting for their parents to come home.

“We could’ve killed them right then and there” Cristina mutters.

“If we did, we could’ve killed those kids too” Thomas tells her.

“We just have to wait until they come back, and maybe they can figure something out” Jeffrey says. 

They sit at the steps until their parents come back. After what felt like hours, they finally come back. They see the mess that the Highwaymen, and the Twins had caused.

“What happened?!?” Paige asks, approaching them.

“The Twins” Bianca answers. 

“Fuck!” Paige whispers in frustration, “Are you guys alright?!”.

“Yeah. We’re fine” Thomas answers. 

“What did the Twins say, or do?!?” Kate asks them. 

“They said that we better not be here when they come back, and that they’re gonna take our home” Cristina answers. 

“Like Hell they are. I’m gonna put a fucking bullet between those little cunts eyes” Kate mutters, angrily. 

“Okay, calm down, we’ll get them. We need to prepare for it. They hit us, we’re gonna hit them back harder” Paige tells them. 

“What do we do?!?” Cristina asks.

“We’re gonna need more supplies. The 5 of you can go out, and scout for more supplies. Anything you can find, and while you’re out get some intel on those little shitheads. I want to hurt them” Paige instructs them. 

They get up from the steps, and go to the garage. Taking one of the cars, and drive towards Roughneck’s Crag. Since that’s where all the best supplies are. There and that abandoned gas station near the Meatfort. 

[bakutae]

haikyuu headcanons #4

today's menu:

a shot of bokuto kotaro, drip of sugawara koushi and a glass nishinoya yuu

scenario:

losing their child in the supermarket

author's note:

i had a lot of fun writing this~

bokuto kotaro

honestly speaking, are we even surprised that he forgot about his kid?

if you are then hi there, you must be new to the haikyuu fandom

leaving bokuto and his kid alone in the supermarket was one of the worst things you could ever do

but you had no choice; or rather, they had no choice

bokuto wanted to go to the supermarket to get some ingredients for the surprise anniversary dinner for the two of you and he didn't want to leave your two year old kid alone at home

you just so happened out with friends during the day and could not take care of her (it's gonna be a girl that's going to be spoiled rotten by bokuto)

so the two of them went, using the public bus and he almost lost her, since he almost forgot to pick her up when they left the bus stop at their stop

it was only until an elderly woman asked him if that was his child, and only then did he realise that he actually had a daughter and was there with her

oh my god bokuto i swear-

he felt so guilty when he saw his daughter on the bus seat, with her brown eyes that she got from kotaro staring at him, with a hint of confusion in her eyes

"babyy i'm so sorry for leaving youu! daddy will never ever forget about you again okay?" he'll tell her, pouting

and literally fifteen minutes later he lost her again

he was so excited and was so absorbed in looking at the cuts of meat that he, once again, completely forgot about the existence of his daughter

spent a good amount of time choosing between sirloin and ribeye and kept asking the staff what the difference was when he was interrupted by the intercom in the supermarket

"attention please, we have a lost child at cashier number one, i repeat, cashier number one. she's wearing a pink dress with a ribbon on the top left, and has both...black and white hair?"

bokuto heard it, but decided that it had nothing to do with him and ignored it

"she appears to have...brown eyes *distant crying sounds* and oh my- please don't pull at my hair! *static noises*"

"pfft, what a feisty kiddo." bokuto mutters to himself, while listening intently to the butcher, eyes fixated of both cuts of meat

"*weird muffled sounds* waa! daddy!! *thumping sounds on mic*"

when he heard the kid's voice, bokuto jumped and hastily looked behind him

his daughter was gone

looks at the butcher, a horrified expression on his face

"i-is that my daughter..?"

to which the butcher is confused and replies with "i...don't know sir. is she?"

"shit."

and he drops everything and leaves for cashier number one while almost tripping over himself smh bokuto are you the baby or is your daughter the baby

sugawara koushi

let's be real, he'll never lose his kid at the supermarket

he's way to father material to even do that

but because he's father material, he will lose his children at the supermarket because he has... too many kids

alright let's say you popped out five kids within the span of three years; one oldest boy, one pair of twins, both girls and another pair of twins, one boy one girl

you and him hadn't actually planned to produce that many offspring in that short period of time but you two were in a blissful family and wouldn't trade it for the world

okay so, the oldest was six, first pair of twins were five and the second pair were four; basically a nightmare to take care of in the mornings

but somehow, he does it? cause he's THAT sugawara koushi if you get the reference you're a real one

okay so, you were trying to make dinner, when you realise that you ran out of ingredients to feed your big family and asked sugawara to help you get them at the supermarket

at first, it started with the oldest boy wanting to follow him, to which he said yes to

but soon, every single one of the children wanted to tag along with him

he found it too difficult to say no since he didn't want to see any creases on their faces so he reluctantly agreed

you knew how fatherly he was anyways so you didn't object and sent him off at the door

it was quite the journey though, the both pair of twins kept chasing each other in the streets and almost gave sugawara a heart attack when they ran out to the roads

luckily, there were no cars around

he really let his emotions get to him and lectured the four young ones in a harsh tone on how important road safety was and how they only had one life and they should be careful

if it were you lecturing them, the kids literally would not care

but since it was their precious father doing so, they decided to be obedient and walked like a normal human being while the oldest one is just there oops

honestly, sugawara would have had it handled before they reached the supermarket so it would be all good in the end :)

nishinoya yuu

he was out with his son to the supermarket because he was asking for some power rangers special chocolate bar that all his friends in kindergarten had so he wanted one too

noya, who loves his son to bits, agreed to buying him a couple bars to bring to school throughout the next few weeks and thus goes to the supermarket with him alone

you wanted to come, however, you were suddenly down with a cold and couldn't join the both of them

when he reached the supermarket, his son immediately goes in a frenzy at the thought if the chocolate bars and runs away

and soon enough, could no longer be seen

he panics

he starts to panic because he's afraid of what would happen if he doesn't find him (i feel like his kid would be a boy that will be a splitting image of him) and would be really scared of your reaction towards it

so when that happens, the first thing that comes to his mind is to panic-call you

he really didn't want to disturb you when you were sick but to him, that was the best option available

"u-uh, y/n? i lost our baby."

"what? *cough* oh my, yuu, maybe going to the cashier would help? they can make an announcement after all."

you knew better than to lash out on him so you decided that giving him advice on how to tackle the situation would be better

"thank you so much, i love you. sorry for calling you while you're sick!"

he ends the call and scurries along to the cashier where the announcement machine thing was

"h-hi there. i-i'm..."

before he could finish his sentence, the lady working at the cashier asked him

"hi there, little one. are you looking for your parents?"

nishinoya: 0-0

he was about to get annoyed when he reminded himself what he was there for and shook his head briefly

"no, i'm not. i'm actually looking for my child? he's a boy, around six years old, wait no he's six years old this year. has black hair and brown eyes, is wearing a tayo the little bus shirt with snoopy pants. could you make an announcement for him? thank you."

the lady was shocked, needless to say

"ah...right. i'm sorry! i thought you were-"

"it's fine, just please hurry page for my kid thanks"

so after she paged for him, he was waiting there, pacing back and forth, worried sick as he shoots longing looks towards the shelves, hoping that some kind soul would bring his son back to him

with you still in his mind, he'll send you a quick text on how he already paged for y'all's son and was now waiting for his return

soon enough, he heard someone scream 'daddy!' really loudly while making a beeline for him

he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and sighed with relief when he saw the familar silhouette of his son

he'll bow and thank the cashier before running to the kid

"where did you run off to? i was so worried!"

"to the choco bar area daddy! that's why we came here right?"

nishinoya has never felt more dumb in his entire life

tag list: @sugacookiies @shiggywiggy @sushij1ma @leoamber66 @keiyoomi

message/send an ask to be in my tag list!

[jabbajambler]

3

Powerless

The Mandalorian/Din Djarin x f!OC

Word Count: 2,019

*GIF by @monicarmbeau​*

        "So. What've you been up to?" I asked, fiddling with my thumbs from my seat. Din didn't answer me. I didn't really expect him too, but he seemed so friendly just a few minutes ago. I guess that was just to get me on board this crazy plan. "What about you?" I smiled and turned to the child. He cooed, a much more friendly response than someone.

         Tatooine was already in sight, which I was incredibly thankful for. This entire flight felt like torture. Din wouldn't say a word except for the quick debriefing and the kid, as adorable as he is, isn't much of a conversationalist. The trip consisted largely of me looking out the window and hoping this would all be over soon. I was expecting a much larger hoorah when we finally met again, but I guess this works too.

         I mean, we were friends before everything else happened. I thought we would just fall back into that rhythm again. Boy, was I wrong. There was nothing familiar about this, not even a petty remark or joke. This was the galaxy's worst silent treatment.

         Din carefully approached the planet and landed the ship in Peli's hangar. Man, I missed that crazy old woman. He seemed to linger in his seat for a moment and if my ears were correct, I could hear him take a long, deep breath.

         "Stay here. It'll only be a second." He finally spoke.

         I sighed and leaned back in my seat, picking at the pieces of cracked red leather. "Fine."

           Din rushed out of the ship like he couldn't spend another moment in the small cockpit. I don't think I'd ever seen him move so fast. He took his time with everything, walking down the streets as though every planet was his own runway. Yet he jumped at the chance to get away from me.

         There was a small poke against my shin, followed by a little babble. I looked down to find the child staring up at me with his enormous brown eyes. His hands were held high in the air, just like any little kid wanting to be picked up.

         I scooped him up and cradled him in my arms, unable to keep a frown on my face when he was patting my cheek with his tiny hand. "Din's changed, hasn't he?" I sighed and rubbed his small head. "I figured. I screwed up, I do that sometimes. I'm going to fix it though, I promise."

         He giggled and grabbed my nose, squeezing it lightly. I laughed and pulled his hand away from my face, holding it in my own. It was so small in comparison, so helpless despite knowing the feats he can accomplish.

         "I missed you. Both of you, but you the most," I whispered. "Don't tell Din, though. It'll hurt his feelings. Not that he'll ever admit that, but I know." I winked and wiggled my fingers, pulling his ears over his eyes through the Force. He seemed to enjoy our little game, laughing and trying to grab his ears to keep them away.

         "Okay, uh..." Din's voice echoed through the ship. "Put your egg-things there and climb up the ladder."

         I snickered to myself and rocked the child slowly in my arms. A frog lady emerged from the arch, croaking at me in what I assumed was a friendly greeting. I offered her a smile and nod while I shifted the child into my right arm. It was a bit of a struggle climbing down the ladder with one arm, but I've managed with worse.

         The ramp squeaked as it rose and clicked in place with the rest of the ship. Din stood, his back facing me while he watched it. His silhouette was powerful, armed and unknown to most. The expanse of his shoulders was broad, which I accredited that to the armor, but who knows. His stance alone could've scared off any quarry, so confident and ready for whatever they could possibly throw at him.

         I didn't even realize I was admiring him until it was too late.

         "What are you staring at?"

         I blinked and found him looking back at me. I swore I never even saw him move. "Nothing," I lied and set the child down on the ground once he started to squirm. "I was just going to see if I could wave to Peli before we lifted off, but I guess it's too late."

         "She mentioned you earlier. I think she likes you."

         I smiled and watched Din shift on his feet. "Is that so hard to believe?"

         "Not at all," he hummed and looked back towards the ladder with a subtle nod. "Are you climbing back up or staying down here?"

         I could feel my stomach dip at his words, trying to form an apology or something, but I couldn't speak without making a fool of myself. "I'll head up, yeah." I mumbled and swiftly climbed back into the cockpit with Din not too far behind. It felt so forced to talk to him, I hated it.

         Din maneuvered his way into the pilots seat and pulled the ship off the ground. Getting into the sky was the easy part, getting to Trask would be much more difficult with our circumstances.

         "Now, I'm gonna ask you to stay strapped in whenever you're seated." Din said as he poked at the control panel. "Traveling sublight is a bit dicey these days. Whether it's pirates or warlords, someone either ends up with a nice chunk of change or your ship."

         I scoffed at his pessimism while the frog lady pulled her seat belt on and croaked. I could only assume she agreed with me.

         "I don't speak whatever language that is. You speak Huttese?" He asked and rambled on in the language.

         "It'll be fine. We can just ask yes or no questions." He sighed and turned away from both of us, staring back out at the sky. "Or we can just stay silent the entire ride, again." Receiving no response, I looked to the frog lady who was busying herself by looking out the window. "So, your husband is on Trask?" She nodded. "That's cool. I've never been there, it's always nice to explore other parts of the Outer Rim."

         "So, I'm gonna hit the rack. I've set the nav for our course. It's gonna take a while, I recommend you both get some rest." Din stood in a hurry and descended down the ladder, leaving the frog lady and I alone in the cockpit. I suppose now was as good of a time as any to get some shut eye.

         I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest while leaning back in my seat. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but it would do for a few hours. At least, if no one caught up to us.

         My eyes fell shut with ease and I could feel myself lulled into a subconscious state. For a while, there was nothing but darkness, as one usually experiences in sleep, but then there was something else.

         I saw a flash of silver metal hitting an orange blade, one a bit too similar to my own. In the metal was a reflection of something red, mixed with orange and yellow tones to create something terrifying. It was a combination of all the worst things I'd ever seen, but in a way, it was beautiful. There was something powerful about the scene displayed before me and I wanted to know more.

         I tried to reach for it, whatever it might have been. It was strong, enticing, and maybe just what Aaryn and Obi Wan were telling me to search for. How could something so magnificent possibly be bad?

         Before I could reach any further, an alarm blared through the cockpit and awoke me from whatever vision I was seeing. Din slid in the room with the doors hissing behind him as he sat down, tapping at the incoming radio message. So much for getting some rest.

         "Razor Crest, M-One Eleven. Come in, Razor Crest. Do you copy?" The static voice emitted from the transmitter.

         "This is Razor Crest." Din spoke calmly, "is there a problem?"

         I snickered from my seat, "you got caught by the cops." I said as they responded.

         "Yes, I'm pre-Empire surplus." Din answered while casting me a subtle look, his silent way of telling me to be quiet. "I'm not required to run a beacon."

         "That was before." I think I could hear the roll of their eyes in their voice. "This sector is under New Republic jurisdiction. All craft are required to run a beacon."

         Din sighed, "thank you for letting me know. I'll get right on it."

         "Not a problem. Safe travels."

        "Uh," he paused, "may the Force be with you."

         I mouthed the words with a teasing smile as the X-Wing pilot spoke the phrase, "and also with you." Maker, it sounded like a cultish response. "Just one more thing." They continued.

         "Yes?" Din's tone was gradually growing more frustrated.

         The two continued on about transmitters as Din hopelessly failed at avoiding it. Honestly, I thought we would've gotten away just fine, but then the two pilots switched channels and soon expanded the wings of their ships.

         "Was your craft in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bothan-Five?"

         Din continued to stare out the window, his grip on the controls tightening with their words. "Hang on." He mumbled under his breath before lurching the ship forward towards the closest planet, bringing a scream out of the frog lady's chest.

         I grasped the arms of my chair as tightly as I could, regretting that I hadn't buckled-in earlier. We moved quickly through the clouds as the pilots urged us to "stand down," but we kept flying chaotically through the sky.

         "Hey, uh.. Mando?" I shouted as I struggled to keep my hold on the seat. "Are you open to suggestions right now? Because maybe-"

         He thrusted the ship downwards again while I frantically pulled my seatbelt over me to keep me at least somewhat in place. I was able to snap it shut just before we went hurling towards the ground.

           The frog lady started to scream, which didn't seem like a bad idea, but I had a better one. Instead, I yelled several swears and many things I would be ashamed for my parents to hear as we sped towards the icy surface. Before we could hit the terrain, Din shot the ship back into the sky and through a frozen canyon.

         The walls surrounded us, slowly closing in and threatening to turn us into a kabob with its icicles. We were inching closer to the walls, practically suffocating in them as they nearly smashed the engines of our ship.

         I grabbed onto the back of his chair and leaned towards his seat as much as I could, keeping my voice low as I grumbled, "Din..."

         He sighed and glanced over at me with a slight turn of his head. "Hold on," he grunted as the ship slid along the ice. I was tossed back into my seat while we came to a screeching halt. Din started to switch the controls, but I was finally granted a moment to catch my breath

         "Thank the Maker," I huffed. Apparently I'd spoken too soon.

         I heard a crunch, followed by another. It seems the others heard it as well, because we all started looking around for the source of the sound. Then there was a large crash and the ship crashed beneath the ice. The frog lady screamed and Din was in a silent panic, as usual, then nothing.

         It all went dark and there was nothing else this time. Not a dream, not a nightmare - or, visions, as I was told when I was younger. There was nothing but cold and darkness and that's the closest thing to a nightmare I've ever had.

taglist:

@emiijemii​

[blankdblank]

If You See Him

Day 22/23 Prompts - this is pt 1 of this story - sorry ran out of time yesterday to  edit and post but here it is :D

“Stop it! It tickles!”

“Quit it or I’ll bite.”

…

“You’re going out dressed like that?”

“The skirt is supposed to be this short.”

“Take. It. Off.”

…

Clunk, clunk, clunk. Heavily the axe in Thranduil’s hand fell to the stump he was using to split wood on now turned away from so he could toss the split pieces of wood into the back of the atv he had used to collect wood from the fallen trees taken out by last months storms to stock up for the growing winter season coming his way. Hundreds of acres up in these mountains were his to claim after decades of toiling away in the city on various sky scrapers in his architecture firm in search of a closer view of the stars. Out here was where he found it, a company retreat up in the ski resort a private jet overhead was flying to. The final piece of chopped wood was added and back he turned to chop some more.

Hours he had been at it as again she had flooded into his mind, his childhood pen pal from a class project in Doriath pairing those from Gondolin. In their early teens their parents had arranged a meet and it became an annual tango of arranging breaks to visit one another, winters, springs and summers with various dates together. From the first moment he loved her and those silver flecks in her purple eyes reminding him of the stars, all under her shimmering white gold curls glimmering in the moonlight. His Darling Starlight, a living star in his eyes for how bright she shone when a smile split across her face, images trapped in his mind.

.

Another warm summer day had her strewn across his bed enjoying the sunlight pouring in through the open windows like a giant cat content in the warmth after weeks of rain keeping them both inside. It was the first day of freedom and from his closet and smirking Thranduil strut out saying, “I’m ready.”

In a turn over he caught her wide eyed gaze before she said it, under his black tank top was her favorite yellow skirt with black bird silhouettes across them not buttoned down the side as it should but tucked into his bright green boxer briefs under revealing his long tones legs. “Why are you wearing that?”

Cheekily he replied in a turn to flash a glimpse of him from the back, “The skirt is supposed to be this short.”

“Take. It. Off.”

Onto her stomach she rolled and jumped on his back making him laugh in their scrambling match ending how it usually did, him sitting on top of her after she started to nibble on his ear and the side of his neck. Nowhere near anything amorous but enough to make him cry out, “Stop it! It tickles!”

Atop her he folded his hands around hers fumbling at another try to stroke his ears making him pretend to bite at her hands in return as he managed to grab them, “Quit it or I’ll bite.” Quick apologizing pecks on her palms were given after gentle nibbles on the edges of her hands before he leaned forward in the mess of her giggles to plant their locked hands on either side of her head in his own chuckles. A nip at her lip halted his bubbling laughter in the wonder what her odd curious grin up at him meant, suddenly she lifted up and his eyes shut when their lips met. Tighter his fingers clenched around hers in her pull away and when he would have leaned in to steal another kiss he straightened up retracting his grip to peer at his bedroom door after the signaling creak of the wooden floor alerting for a guest.

A stolen stroke of fingers on his stomach had a burst of laughter leave him in the flex of his abs from the ticklish stroke making him squirm from her touch as the door opened. Her giggles continued in a glance at his father looking over the pair of them and then his son’s outfit. Narrowing his eyes for a moment Oropher inhaled sharply then stated, “You’re going out dressed like that?” hastily he wet his lips, “Little Bud, at least wear some knee high socks or something, that is an absurd amount of leg for the cool breeze today. Tomorrow perhaps, it is supposed to be hotter.”

Thranduil smirked at him, “I’ll wait then. None of my socks are long enough.”

Oropher nodded then said, “Alright then. Don’t forget to be home by four, your Naneth’s work dinner is at five.”

Thranduil, “I won’t forget.”

Oropher nodded then turned around, “As you were then.” Closing the door behind him smirking at another set of giggles in his stroll away.

Down again Thranduil ducked though this time cupping your cheeks to awkwardly mash his lips into yours quickly being corrected while your hands gripped, one at his shirt and the other around his neck.

.

That was the last summer and he could feel himself shaking remembering each night after you creeping from your bed to his for more hushed bouts of tangling up under the covers in heated make out sessions and how it timidly pushed into more amorous explorations.

Each blow of the ax growing harsher in the tears welling up in his eyes remembering the news splashing across the screen as his family sat for a family movie night. ‘Ship overturned’ that was it, along the way to Gondolin a ship had been traveling, it took two days to get from Doriath to Gondolin crossing those waters and in the aftermath of an attack on Gondolin the shockwaves sent monster waves that overturned the ship.

Hours he had spent awake as the images flashed back like his hours switching through channels hoping for answers. War. Ship. Death. Waves. “Nothing, nothing, nothing,” he whimpered to himself through his tears remembering it all, from your first letter, the eagerness, the nerves, all up to that final morning, a hungry kiss and that final release of locked fingers to claim a tight hug at that boat dock.

“I love you, Dew Drop.” The words haunting him like a clap of thunder in a clear night sky hitting him at once making him shiver each time it suddenly echoed in his mind.

Sluggishly in a panting sob the ax tapped the stump and he lowered to crouch clamping his eyes shut in the rubbing the backs of his gloved hands over his face in a pained groan hearing his whispered reply, “I love you more. Just till Spring, then we’ll be married, my Darling Starlight.” Warmly he kissed her cheek and then he let her go. He hated himself for that right then, he should have held on, he should have thrown a tantrum, they should have run away to Helcrax like she had mentioned in their dreaming whispers in their first time tangled up in his bed.

A wedding in the snow, a cabin wrapped in a glistening blanket with peaceful herds of Elk dwelling within, and that was just what he had done and collected as if somehow it could have brought her back to him for those long overdue vows.

Inhaling sharply his head raised as he heard a static click and his son’s voice call out into the silence, “Ada?”

Standing up he huffed and wiped his cheek on his shoulder and mumbled, “Fuck,” Blinking down at his shoulder seeing a spray of dirt on his shoulder, a speck of which got in his eyes, “Least it’s not a splinter.” Crossing to the atv he leaned into the cart grabbing the walkie talkie saying, “Ya, Leg?”

“Everything alright up there?”

“Ya, just got some dirt in my eye. Storm rolling in?”

“Ya, how’d you get dirt in your eye?”

“It was on my shoulder, just give me a few minutes, I’ll drive back.”

“Don’t forget the ax this time, you know how Gimli gets about axes.”

“Oh yes, how could I forget the three days of shouting last year as he dug up a twelve by twenty patch of snow to find it wedged in the cart.” Thranduil let out a laugh blinking away the watery gaze in his eye from the dirt working itself from his eye almost hearing his son laughing remembering his boyfriend’s endearing trait. Fetching the ax he added it to the cart he closed and then straddled the seat on the atv pulling of his work gloves he left in his lap to wipe his cheeks in a settling exhale remembering feeling that body filling light his son and Gimli were wrapped up in. There was no worry of his objecting at all knowing how useless it would be in how enthralling life was when you had that light.

He caught flashes when he could remember you and he could never rob Legolas from that, but he did have to draw the line when Gimli wanted to rearrange his bookshelves to try and ‘repair’ the one crooked shelf after having broken the banister on the front porch somehow after repainting it for him. Somehow the adorably clumsy and repair blind fiery haired Dwarf assumed himself master of all. Yet still he could make a hell of a breakfast smoothie, part of how they had met in a cooking class so Gimli could open his own smoothie shop Legolas loved dreaming of joining with his own dream year round orchard and produce in a special greenhouse he and Thranduil were still designing.

Adding his gloves again a passing glimpse of the ring she had picked for him led to one of the Elk from the herd living on these lands. He fired up the engine and started driving off to the cabin in the distance hearing the rest of the herd entering the clearing now free of the dangerous fallen trees he had cleared much safer for their young ones. They would have come out when he was there had he stayed longer, certainly unafraid of him and even willingly wandering to his cabin, especially their leader who loved to make faces at him through the windows terrifying him early in the morning. Each time making him shake his head and wonder if it was some sign from her to keep some laughter in his days, no doubt another trip coming up by the glint of mischief in the buck’s eye watching him leave.

Parked in the garage he climbed off the atv he switched off and he sighed stretching his legs on the stroll out to the side steps he walked down the snow bank on the concrete half wall beside it to avoid the ice on the steps. Hopping down again he walked to the front door where he froze seeing Gimli racing around in a circle inside the front door, “Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

Peering inside he spotted Legolas grabbing the keys to the bronco saying, “Ada, Tulney said Tony’s loose again.”

Thranduil exhaled and tuned grabbing the flannel coat by the door he wrapped around Gimli’s side halting his circles with a quick grin saying, “Not helping. Back seat, go get comfy,” Gimli nodded and Thranduil turned taking the keys, “I am driving, last time you spooked the moose by driving too close. Come on,” waving his hand for his chuckling son to exit the door he locked behind them in the trot to the bronco in the wrap around driveway.

 **

Three inches from a heart attack you sat ignoring the fact that your boyfriend hadn’t noticed you were on your way to an emotional dive, after all this was your first time meeting his family. It had only been two months, and five dates, which was absurdly early but in a sudden answering of his mother’s skype call in the middle of your last date where she demanded you come out to the ski resort their family owned. Clearly the Numenorean mother had no intention of remembering your name as three times in the twenty minute conversation through that dinner.

But with two packed bags you sat struggling to calm, and a lovely silver necklace with a sapphire ended spiral to goad you into coming you couldn’t stop stroking between glances at your shimmering heart shaped ring. A shimmering white heart shaped stone surrounded by a ring of smaller matching stones spreading onto a trio of bands coated in more shimmering white stones making you miss your first love all the more as it matched his with silver antlers around a heart shaped white stone with woven bands. One person’s misfortune left this dazzler and his in a pawn shop well within your price ranges.

Finally a big hand circled yours on your lap and your head turned to peer up at the dark haired dark eyed scruffy chinned man who said, “They’re not gonna eat you,” as the ding sounded for the landing of the private jet arriving at the resort.

“I know. Just, this is a family thing-,”

He waved his free hand, “They invite the help to join us all the time.”

Nodding your head you looked to the window opposite his and mouthed, “The help.” Inhaling sharply you tried to shake off the memory that you had met at your being hired to photograph a shoot for an article on the founder of the company he works at a few months back he got your number from. That phrase was clearly written all over you as you entered the lobby in your non designer jeans and sweater under your thick fur lined jacket that had clearly seen better days. All the same under the lights overhead heads turned when your white gold hair shimmered and those silver flecked purple eyes lit up in taking in all the decorations inside the building you been forced to come to.

Twelve numbers apart, presumably at opposite ends of the same floor, your rooms sounded to be. Honestly you didn’t mind as the mousy haired mother who called you a seventh alternative to your name you forced a grin and watched as she darted off with her son naming a leggy raven haired beauty who toasted her martini to him on her naming. Five minutes was what his father gave you, the blonde who had his eyes locked on a fiery haired Dam across the lobby he left you for.

Pocketing your key you strolled after the others into the reception area for the luncheon planned for the arriving guests. Ordering an orange juice was all you had been given time to do after a bathroom stop when the party kicked on and in the sea of people you were pulled into mingling and then two hours later your arm was tapped.

A peppy blonde aid came into your view forcing a grin onto your face as you stole a glance out at the starry night coming into view in a break of the incoming snow storm, “Mrs Erge wanted to speak to you.”

You nodded, “Oh, okay, sure.” Standing up you felt your finger ease against the bands on your index finger and you followed the blonde in her trot through the crowded room making you mumble in Gondolin Elvish, “Not a problem, not like I’m busy, being the help and all..”

She glanced back asking, “Did you say something?” With a wide grin.

Shaking your head you forced a grin yourself, “Sorry, just admiring your earrings.”

A blush coated her cheeks and she turned stroking one of the dangling heart shaped pink earrings, “Aww, thank you! My husband bought them for me.” Turning around she continued on and at the door she whispered before opening it, “Her bark’s worse than her bite.”

You nodded, “Thanks.”

Through the door however you were urged inside and it seemed more like meeting a Doctor for a tumor consultation than meeting the parents of your five time date. Words seemed to blur and holding your grin you listened to her spout on and on about the long line of successful Men from her family and how they all had expectations from their boy.

“So you see, it takes a certain amount of pedigree to join our ranks, and, well, some Elven photographer out sightseeing their way through eternity isn’t what we want for our boy. And he has said he has certain, plans for the future, however any of that future would not be funded by us. Now, Belinda, I am certain your family-,”

A chuckling exhale came from you and her brow inched up as your gaze dropped to your lap then rose back to her parting her lips as she saw the tears in your eyes even as you held your smile growing more stunning as it grew. “Mrs Erge, you have no idea who I am, or even my name you haven’t bothered to remember. One thing I can tell you is I lost everything, and everyone I love when Gondolin was attacked.” Your hands reached up behind your neck and you removed the necklace you set on the table saying, “No fight necessary. Family is everything, and clearly I will never be enough.” Squirming on her seat you cut her off from saying anything by saying, “Especially when your son said I would be welcomed because you often invite the help.” On your feet you turned to the door, “Forgive me for wasting so much of you and your son’s time.”

Through the door you went and straight up to your room you went, a quick stop to pee and you eyed your bags you strode to mumbling, “Screw this. I’d rather sleep with the bears.” Grabbing your duffel you shouldered with your rolling suitcase in your hand. On the way to the door strolling through the lobby you left your key on the unmanned counter and strolled your way right out the front door into the night. A quick tug hat your beanie eased on over your braid you tucked inside your jacket you zipped and clasped after raising your hood. “Come on, you can be my little snow bunny!” You mocked to yourself after the first mile you had walked as the wind picked up.

True as an Elf the cold and snow didn’t trouble you but the skidding feet leaving you wide eyed and bow legging yourself across patches of black ice had you grateful when the snow started to float down. In a soft sigh you mumbled, “Dew Drop would never have done this.” Glancing around you sighed again, “This place would have been perfect.”

 ** Two Days Later **

“We have everything? Shop’s gonna be shut down for weeks.” The pair nodded and Thranduil eased closer to his son’s side saying lowly, “You can beat the storm if you’d rather stay with Gran and Gramps so you won’t be stuck with me out here in the middle-,”

Gimli inched up to his other side, “Hup, hup, hup, no, no you are not getting rid of us that easily! Storm or no storm we said we were booked to stay with you for the month and the month we will stay.” He grinned wider, “Besides, I brought Jenga and Life.” He nodded making Thranduil smirk at his son.

Legolas smirked back grabbing Gimli’s hand, “Come on you wild one you. We need to get these supplies back to the house.”

Out to the Bronco they strode while Thranduil once again drew attention to his ring keeping the woman behind the counter from trying to hit on him again after the first time he had moved in and come to stock up. Into the growing snow he smirked and helped to fill up the back Gimli closed as Thranduil eyed the road ahead in his stroll around the bronco to climb in the driver’s seat.

Backing out he smirked catching a glance of Legolas holding Gimli’s gloved hand in the rear view mirror. Shifting gears he turned his gaze back to the road wondering what that speck was in the distance coming from the split in the road. The closer they got the couple in the back leaned forward and Legolas asked, “Is that a person? Walking? There’s nothing around for miles!”

Gimli, “With luggage too. Where the hell could they be going?”

Thranduil said, “Well they can’t be thieves, no one would be foolish enough to rob someone, on foot using suitcases to getaway in this storm.”

Gimli, “By the size of them looks like a Lass. Maybe her car broke down.”

Legolas, “Ada, we can’t just leave her out here, storm’s growing.”

Thranduil, “I know. We can see at least where they’re headed.”

Pulling up beside the stranger he rolled down the window instantly feeling a slap of snow billowing inside through the window, “Car break down?”

All –

@himoverflowers​, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator​, @sweeticedtea​, @ggbbhehe4455​, @thegreyberet​, @patanghill17​, @jesgisborne​, @curvestrology​, @alishlieb​, @jogregor​, @armitageadoration​, @fizzyxcustard​, @here2have-fun​, @lilith15000​, @marvels-ghost​, @catthefearless​, @imjusthereforthereads​, @c-s-stars​

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim​, @jotink78​, @pastelhexmaniac​

X Thranduil - @evyiione​, @sweetlytenacious25​, @tigereyesf​, @pastelhexmaniac

[elizabeth-234]

Chapter Nine

Someone to Care

Chapter Eight

The last thing he had to work on was an AI to go in her suit. There was many times when Jarvis had saved the day when Tony had been incapacitated or unable to make decisions. Friday was a godsend as well and had, on multiple occasions, told Tony that she was one of the smartest beings in the world. He wanted that for the kid, someone to help her along the way if he wasn’t there and sometimes it was just nice to have someone to talk with.

It was with a frantic pace that Tony set about designing a new AI. At first he was going to just download Friday into the kid’s suit but then he thought better of it. Friday was, at her core, loyal to him and Tony wanted Peyton to have something like that, someone to look out just for her. He didn’t want the kid to think he was spying on her either. She had a way with words and he could imagine all sorts of trouble she could get into. Once he heard her age Tony had been dead set on not letting her go to Germany. It was just too risky. But then she had rested those big, determined eyes on him and had spoken with such vigor, he felt like he had no choice but to let her come. Of course, they worked it out so she wouldn’t have to fight, but still.

When he was all done Tony scanned through the various functions in the suit he added and realized that there were way to many, especially for a curious mind who was supposed to be sitting on the sidelines. So he locked them away under the ‘Training Wheels Protocol.’ He bet she would be more than a little annoyed if she ever found out about the name. But it would be upsetting if the kid became overwhelmed and then couldn’t defend herself if the time came.

He thought back to when he had watched her fight the first time she came over to the tower. She didn’t really have any techniques to be honest. The only thing that Tony could clearly see influences of were some moves from a popular self-defense strategy. But besides those, there was no pattern other than a tendency to fight defensively. This wasn’t really a issue now, as she had told Tony that most of what she did on patrols didn’t warrant such aggression but he was worried because Tony knew as she got older and more advanced, she would want to take on larger problems. With that all done, Tony left the naming of her AI to the kid. Give them something to bond over.

He knew that when he first became Iron Man it felt as if the world lay at his feet. There was nothing he couldn’t do, nobody he couldn’t save, and that thinking caused some issues along the way. It caused the crushing guilt that held him down when he thought about all the people he couldn’t save. Tony didn’t want that to happen to Peyton. Didn’t want her to become racked with pain so similar to his.

Tony Stark looked up from his screen to glance at the girl sitting across from him. Today he needed some peace before the chaos of the weekend ensued. The tower, as of late, had been feeling large, cavernous and it made the feeling more bearable to have someone there. Even though they didn’t have any work left he hadn’t wanted her to not come today. It was nice just sitting there and each working on something. He was on his Stark Tablet writing emails after finishing with the AI and Peyton was working on some type of homework. From the look of annoyance on her face and books scattered on the table it was some sort of paper. Her curly bangs hung in her eyes and every minute or so she would blow them out of her way. Her nose, slightly shiny, scrunched in concentration.

He hadn’t been sure what exactly they should do. It didn’t seem quite appropriate to go out and do something fun. Tony thought that he would be too distracted anyway. Casually he asked if she just wanted to chill in his lab and to his surprise she agreed. A girl after his own heart, she had even volunteered to do homework still looking a little flustered from her encounter in the elevator. Tony hoped Pepper hadn’t pried too much. She had that direct look that could make anyone gladly confess his or her deepest secrets. He watched, amused, as she first went over and fist bumped Dum-E, giving him an extra scratch behind the claw. The robot hummed happily and swayed to the tune afterward. Then she pulled out what should have been an illegal amount of books from her backpack and got to work.

It had been, Tony checked his watch, about three hours and it was getting close to the time they normally got food. The kid didn’t look like she would be stopping anytime soon. He quietly got up from his desk, stretched his back, and headed into a little alcove off to the side of the lab.

What to make that the kid would like? They had tried a surprisingly diverse amount of food that week ranging from Indian, to sushi, to good old American, and, one of Tony’s favorites, Italian; more specifically pizza. Tony was shocked and dismayed to find out that the kid didn’t eat meat. Something about a favorite cow and a petting farm she went to as a kid. He looked around the shelves above the sink and found nothing but some old protein bars Pepper had bought him a while ago. Carry out it was.

“Hey kid, want Thai food tonight?” He peered out from around the corner. Not a muscle twitched upon her face. “Kid, you want Thai?” He spoke louder.

Her eyes furrowed deeper and her raised shoulders dropped slightly. 
“Um yeah, sure.” And a statue sat in her chair again. He had Friday call an order to a little Thai place a couple of blocks down and sat back down, waiting for the food.

He balanced the various brown paper bags in his arms as he carried them up to grab the kid. He had noticed her shivering earlier and didn’t think it would be very comfortable to eat in the lab. The elevators opened and she was right where he left her.

“Okay, that was more work than I have done in a long time. Pepper’s going to think I’m sick or something. Let’s go eat kid.” Her eyes slowly focused on his face and slowly made their way to the food he was carrying.

“When? Did you leave?” The kid’s expression was so adorably perplexed he had to laugh.

“Just to pick up the food from the lobby. We got Thai. You did say yes but I don’t know if you actually heard me.”

“Uh, I didn’t. But, that’s not to say. I mean, Thai food is great. You didn’t have to Mr. Stark. I will pay you back.”
She had been worried about the money all week, insisting on paying even though it was pointless. Tony could out stubborn a mule.

“Peyton, it’s my treat. As you probably can tell I’m not wanting for money and I like to share it.” She was going to have to learn this when she came over next time. Next time Tony? Was she going to be coming over here after? Was that what he wanted?

Sure, he enjoyed her company and this week, while stressful, had been fun. He had been worried about letting her make decisions on her suit. He knew if he were that age he would have asked for as many impractical accessories as he could. But the kid had come prepared with notes on that first day. Everything that she had suggested, never demanded, had a detailed reason and even examples of why she thought it was a good idea. He had, of course, added things he knew he wished he had in the past too.

And now their time was coming to a close. This weekend they would be off to Germany and then, well he didn’t know. Better to not worry about all those … feelings now. He had to focus but it was so dang hard when she looked so trustingly at him with those big brown eyes. The kid was saying something to him, probably thanking him a billion times for the food but he couldn’t hear anything over the static rushing in his head.

They made it to his floor in silence and he had a moment of reprieve. She was so awed by everything that she had forgotten her shyness and was gushing about everything her eyes landed on. For that he was glad. Tony set the bags on the counter and took out a box of white rice, marking the top with a permanent marker. His favorite, pad thai, came next then two orders of spring rolls and various other dishes. After marking all of the boxes the static had receded a bit and he looked up to see the kid’s silhouette against the glass.

Sometime while they had been down in the lab it had started sprinkling and the windows were now peppered with droplets. They dulled the light to create small specks of shadow around the apartment, marring her face with their impression. She really did look tiny compared to the ceiling to floors windows. Small compared to the world.

“Food’s ready.”

They ate in comfortable silence on the new couch, Brooklyn Nine-Nine playing in the background. Pepper would be annoyed, as he was the one who insisted on getting another one and she didn’t want anyone eating or drinking on it. He thought she was just mad because she picked the last couch out. He looked to his left and found the kid curled up, fast asleep on the couch, reminding him of the way a kitten sleeps. Her knees tucked up to her chest, head turned toward him resting on her arms.

Not wanting to wake her up and certainly not wanting her to take the subway home he carefully moved from his spot. Making a note to clean up later. He stretched out and then, with gentleness he didn’t know he possessed, put his arms under her knees and behind her shoulders to pick her up. In the dark, rainy lighting they moved through the empty floor, silence following them. This close up her dark circles were more apparent. He wondered if she was getting enough sleep or if she had still been going out as Spidergirl after their meetings this week. He’d never thought to ask.

Her seatbelt buckled and still she didn’t move. Luckily, she had given him her address when she signed up for the internship cover. Peyton had told him very little about her home life. He still didn’t feel like he had the right to pry information out of her so he took what he could get. He knew that she lived with an Aunt but wasn’t sure what happened to her parents or how long she had been living there. This could look bad to her Aunt. An older man she had never met carrying home her catatonic niece. Yeah, that could be very bad.

Tony swallowed and looked at the apartment complex. The paint looked a couple years old, nothing chipping but a discoloration marred the tan paint, and the gutters needed cleaning out before the winter. The cement floors were tidy and as he walked along the railings looked like they had recently been replaced. He gathered the kid up in his arms before making his way up the stairs. She was heavier than she looked and by the time they made it to her floor he was sweating. Sleeping beauty was still resting her head on his shoulder in a deep slumber.

He knocked and waited for an answer. A woman in wrinkled scrubs stood in front of him. Her hair smooth but frizzy from the day was escaping a loose bun at the top of her head. She stared at him before looking down to the kid. “Oh, thank god. Please come in.”

She showed him to the kid’s room and he laid her on the bed, taking an unnecessary moment to pull the covers over her shoulders. He only had a brief chance to look around before the woman was ushering him out into the living room. Noticing only clothes thrown about and what looked to be a stack of outdated technology sitting on what he thought was a desk.

“Thank you so much for bringing her back. I was getting worried when I didn’t hear from her, Mr. Stark.” So she did know who he was. That was both a relief and worry. He knew what his track record looked like.

“Just Tony, please. Yes, she had been working very diligently and fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake her so I thought it would be easier to bring her here.”

“Well I’m beyond grateful to you. I’m so tired I forgot my manners. I’m May Parker, but call me May. Can I offer you anything to drink? Want to sit down?” He declined the former offer but accepted the latter. They sat down on a well-loved couch. Something you could tell was good for naps.

“I’m sure Peyton has told you about the internship she was offered? She has been working all week to prepare for the convention that is this weekend. She has been a big help.”

“Yes, she told me all about that. I will be working doubles so it’s a relief to me that she won’t be alone all weekend. But I just wanted to say thank you, Mr. stark.”

“No thanks are necessary, your niece was accepted on her merits.”
A smile took over her face but her hands twisted the bottom of her shirt.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from my little P. She always was a dedicated person. Whatever she set her mind to soon enough would accomplish.” Tony smiled and agreed that sounded just about right.

“But I wanted to say thank you for something else. I’m not sure how much Peyton has told you about our situation and I don’t want to break her trust but I feel as if you should know. I lost my husband, Peyton’s uncle, about seven months ago. It hit us all hard but she was especially struck. Her parents died when she was young, and Ben and myself took her in. They had a special sort of bond, she would always confide in him. Always looked up to him. Ever since she has been withdrawn and unresponsive to me. I’ve been working longer hours at the hospital and as a result haven’t been able to spend as much time with her as before. She hasn’t talked to me in so long that when she came home one day to announce this internship I felt some hope. This whole week she has been walking on air. Telling me how excited she is to be working for you. Thank you, Tony, for giving my little girl a chance and more so thank you for giving your time. It means the world to know there’s someone who cares for her.”

May had tears gathering in the corner of her eyes by the time she was done speaking. Tony produced a handkerchief and handed it to her, watching as she patted them dry and politely blow her nose. He wasn’t sure how to respond so he just nodded and again repeated what he said about Peyton’s work ethic. May had a knowing gleam in her eye and even hugged him on the way out.

He sat in his car for a while after that. “Someone who cares.” What was that supposed to mean? Sure, he didn’t want her to fall ill or anything but he had barely known the kid for long. Certainly not long enough to form any type of bond. The rain beat down against the glass pane as Tony’s focus on each smaller raindrop blurred and morphed into one large sheet on his windshield.

Why did he spend so much time on the suit then? Not only that, but he invited her to work on it with him, taking her into his personal lab and everything. When he had a chance to cancel their meeting today he hadn’t, instead just chilling with the girl. Hell, she felt comfortable enough to fall asleep on his couch. He still had Friday keep track of all the press about her and had double-checked that there was tofu instead of chicken in her pad pak.

Tony wasn’t sure if that was what caring was. He was long out of the habit of it, but all he did know was that he wanted her safe. He wanted the kid to be safe and sound, tucked away in his lab. He wanted to see that one freckle on the bridge of her nose to furrow in concentration and to watch as her hair grew wilder when she became animated about something. He also wanted her to thrive; to become not Spiderman but Spidergirl and show the world who she really was.

He pulled into the garage and turned off his car. First he had to deal with Cap and that situation, and then he could get a handle of himself. Yes, practical first.

And as if that was a sign to the universe, Friday informed him of movement from the Rogue Avengers.

“Well Fri, It’s time to kick some starred and spangled ass.”

Hope everyone’s day is swell!

Chapter Ten

[dearlazerbunny]

By Any Other Name; Ch. 18

Pairings: Kylo x Reader

Genre/Ratings: Highschool AU; M (eventually)

Words: 1000

Summary: Your new lab partner proves to be nothing short of an asshole- or is he? The more of Kylo that’s revealed, the more you can’t help but think you might be falling for him just a little…

Requested Tags: @foxface9000

Click HERE for Chapter 19.

While Kylo is downstairs doing homework, you sneak up to his room and press Rey’s number on your speed dial.

“Hey, what’s up? I was just about to call you.”

“We have a problem.”

“Uh oh, trouble in paradise?”

“Kylo just asked me to prom.”

“Oh, yes! Did you love it? Man, he’d been planning that for weeks. We all helped- Poe practically charmed the pants off the guy at the balloon store so we got a great discount- wait. Why is that a problem? Don’t you want to go?”

“Of course I want to go, Rey! You know that!”

“Well, yeah, you’ve been talking about it since, like, middle school. So why is it a problem?”

“I just-” you sit down on his bed. “I didn’t think it would be like this.”

There’s silence over the phone for a few moments, and then a rush of static as Rey sighs. “Look, I know tings aren’t… great, right now. But that doesn’t mean it has to ruin your night, okay? You’ve got an amazing guy who’s head over heels for you and will probably look like a right snack in a tux, you’ve got the three of us by your side- I promise, we’re not going to let anything or anyone mess this up for you. Okay? You deserve one night of nothing on your mind.”

“God, what did I do to deserve you guys?”

“Must’ve been lucky in a past life or something.” You can hear the implied wink over the phone.

“Something like that.”

“So, are you going to wear that dress you picked out earlier this year?”

The dress in question was a light pink A-line covered in rosettes and lace. You’d seen it in the window of the dress shop and practically begged your dad to buy it for you on the spot. You’d even gone in and tried it on with your mom. It fit perfectly, much to your delight. But thinking about it now made your stomach turn a bit. “I don’t think so. It just… doesn’t seem right anymore. Is that weird?”

“No, I totally get it.”

“Plus, it’s not like I actually have the funds anymore to buy anything. I guess we can hit up the goodwills? Sometimes they have stuff like this…”

“Um- about that.”

She had that tone in her voice. “Rey. What did you do.”

“Well, it was actually Finn’s idea-”

“What was Finn’s idea?”

“Well, we were thinking about the money thing, since obviously your parents are… well. So we decided we’d take up a little collection, just in your classes, and see if we could raise some money that way.”

“Rey. You did not.”

“Y/N, we got almost two hundred dollars.”

“You- what?”

“I know you’ve been afraid of people making fun of you for what happened- and yeah, there have been a few assholes- but for the most part? Everyone wants to help. Everyone loves you, Y/N. I’ve had at least ten girls come up to me and promise you could borrow whatever you needed, and the band alone raised half of what we made. Even some teachers got in on it.”

“I- I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes when you win prom queen.”

‘Oh, please, like that’s going to happen.”

“I think I’ve just proven to you how popular you are. You’re a shoe-in.”

Your grip on the phone suddenly tightens at then thought of standing up in front of all those people, a crown on your head. “Well. I guess we better find a dress then.”

“Damn straight. And it’ll be way better than anything you’ve found so far, trust me.”

The next day, you ended up riding to a small boutique all the way on the other side of town- somewhere almost no one would think of for a prom dress. The consignment aspect guaranteed something unique, something Rey was adamant about- there’d be no cookie-cutter prom dress for you.

“Okay. Where do we start?”

“Well…” you lightly run a hand over a soft blue taffeta gown hanging on the wall. You check the price tag. Acceptable.  “This one seems nice?”

“Nice is nice; we want spectacular. And if you keep looking at price tags I’m going to chop off your right hand. Don’t worry about the money, just find something you love.”

The two of you spent the better part of an hour digging through racks and racks of gowns. Some were too short, others not your color, and most out of your price range. You tried on dress after dress, color after color lacing around your body in all sorts of silhouettes. Sparkly, lacy, satiny- you tried them all. But nothing seemed to stick, even Poe and Finn (who were FaceTimed in) agreed nothing seemed to be quite right.

“Should we call Kylo? Get his opinion?”

“No! I want it to be a surprise.”

“Okay, okay. Just checking.”

The hunt continued until you were both exhausted, both hands full of rejected gowns to hang back up on the way out.

“Well, there’s other stores. Don’t get discouraged. We’ll find something, trust me.”

Just as you were passing the front counter, a piece of silky material caught your eye. You get the attention of the lady behind the counter. “Excuse me. Can I see that one, please?”

“Sure thing.” She pulls it out by the hanger, draping it over the counter so you could see it better. “Just came in today, haven’t even priced it yet.”

You take one look at it, run your hand over the material, and turn to Rey. “This is it.”

“This one? Really?”

You nod, already imagining the look on Kylo’s face when he sees you. “It’s perfect.”

[avidbeader]

Voltron fanfic: “Scattered” Chapter 11

Season 2 AU. No ships, K+ to T rating. Begin at the beginning here.

After grabbing a pair of sentry heads that looked whole and tossing them into the cabin of her speeder, Pidge tried to shift the first fallen drone. But even though it was much smaller than the fighters used by the warships, it was still much bigger than she was and quite heavy. There was no way she would be able to bring it back to the village on her own, even with her anti-grav platform.

“Fine. When the others get here we’ll load you into a spare cargo space. Then I can start taking you apart. In the meantime…” She brought up her gauntlet and powered up the scanner. Starting at one wingtip of the drone, she began carefully scanning every inch of the thing to create a schematic.

As she worked, she let her thoughts drift back to her family. She had the last known location of her father and brother. They had been together, were hopefully still alive. She began talking to herself.

“Maybe I can convince Allura and the others to go there first. We’ll want to take them back to Earth after all, and if we go to the slave camp first we don’t have to backtrack. One less wormhole for her to make.”

She was two-thirds of the way through the scan when a thunderous boom rolled through the air. She looked up instantly, scanning for storm clouds, although the noise had been more self-contained than the thunder she knew. It was more like a sonic boom. And then she saw the silhouette rise over the far horizon.

Pidge ran for her speeder and threw herself into it. After a split second of debate she headed for the nearest set of rocky hills. Perhaps she could find a cave to hide in and wait the ship out. Maybe they didn’t know where she was yet.

Regrettably, confirmation came in the form of a purple energy bolt, striking the ground to her right and tossing the speeder twenty yards to the left from the shockwave. She lurched and banged her head on the windscreen.

Yeah, not forgetting my helmet again…

<> <> <> <> <>

It had taken hours, hours he didn’t have to spare, but Darzi had his new accomplice. He had carefully sounded out the people who showed disappointment or anger on his behalf after his imminent departure was announced. A captain who shared his views on the danger of alien threats had a cousin among the medtechs. The captain convinced him to help Darzi, then altered the schedule of people monitoring Kogane to put him there alone at 0330.

Darzi was still angry at himself for misjudging Perkins. Just because the man was slow in movement and speech didn’t mean he was slow in thinking. And the problem with trusting a stand-up guy like Perkins was that his loyalty could shift if he decided the other side was more moral. But Perkins was gone already and no one else could bear witness to what had happened. Darzi reminded himself not repeat that mistake, not to let Kogane provoke him.

Darzi stepped inside and nodded at the medtech, Blackwell, who was already making preparations. The monitors for Kogane’s vitals were set up with the alarms on them turned off. A saline drip was in place and ready to accept the drugs.

“All right. He’s due for another round of sedatives in less than three hours. This is your best chance for countering the sedative with enough time to administer the amotrazephine once he’s awake again and get a few questions in before we have to clear out.”

“Understood. Start with the adrenaline.”

The medtech stuck a syringe into the Y-set and began slowly adding adrenaline into the liquid. Darzi watched Kogane’s face like a hawk, but there was no change yet. The rhythm of the monitors for heart rate, respiration, and brain activity did not shift.

Blackwell was watching the monitors, continuing to empty the syringe of adrenaline very slowly. When the syringe was empty, the medtech pulled it free. “That’s the first dose. Starting the second dose. Given the previous evidence of his high tolerance for any drug, we will pause after the second dose to allow time for it to take effect. While we wait I will administer the first dose of amotrazephine.”

“Understood.”

Blackwell took the same care as before, adding the adrenaline very slowly and watching the monitors. The second dose was almost gone when both men noticed a quickening in the low beeps.

“It’s working!”

The medtech finished the second dose and picked up a larger syringe. “Yes, all his vitals are showing signs of the stimulant. Starting the amotrazephine now.”

<> <> <> <> <>

Pidge had the speeder’s throttle wide open, going as fast as she could toward the cover of the hills. She registered that a whine began to sound just before the shot went off and used that to dodge as randomly as she could, given her momentum. Two more blasts missed, with her being able to ride out the shockwaves, before her luck ran out.

She was almost to her goal when the next blast came too close and clipped the speeder. The automatic ejection system vaulted her into midair and she frantically tried to control her trajectory with her jet pack before gravity took over. Yet another strike missed and the shock wave sent her spinning through the air, rattling her already painful head. She screamed as she tried to right herself, hearing that telltale whine again.

The noise was eclipsed by a sudden roar and the blasts seemed to pause. Pidge focused, as she was hurtling toward the ridge of the rocky hills too fast, and yanked out her bayard. She shot the blade into the ground as an anchor and fired her jetpack in bursts to counter the centrifugal force before it could slam her into the ground. She landed sideways and rolled several yards before she could stop. She pushed up to her knees, her stomach ready to pull a Hunk, and she looked back.

The Green Lion was flying on its own. It appeared to have rammed the Galra ship hard enough to bend the ion cannon. Now it dove straight for her and instinctively Pidge scrambled to her feet and used her jet pack once more to jump high enough into the air to land in its open mouth.

She raced to the cockpit and threw herself in the pilot’s seat. “All right, let’s get this ship away from the Arusians!” They took off for the south, past the old location of the castle.

<> <> <> <> <>

The Castle exited the wormhole and Allura held it in place until the Metrean transports were all through.

Coran activated his scanners to look for the Green Lion. They began flashing red and an alarm sounded. “Quiznak! Galra warship, headed south from our location!”

“Paladins! To your Lions! We need that ship destroyed immediately!”

Hunk left his position escorting the Metreans and shot in the direction indicated. Shiro and Lance ran for their doors and dove in, following seconds later.

Shiro spotted the ship as they flew over a mountain ridge. “Visual! One Galra warship…and the Green Lion! Jawblades out! Let’s take it down!”

He went right and Lance went left, scoring the hull of the ship on both sides and leaving fireballs in their wake. Hunk activated his super-armor and surged up from beneath, head-butting the ship so its own blasts went harmlessly into the air. The Green Lion dove from above and fired its lasers into the bridge area.

Shiro arced the Black Lion around for another pass. “Pidge, can you hear us?”

There was a burst of static, then Pidge’s voice came in. “—ight, forgot. The Lions have comm panels, too!”

“All right, everyone! One more attack, all lasers on full power. Pidge same target you just used. Lance, propulsion in the rear. Hunk, aim for the hull below the cannon. I’ll come in from below. Everyone in position?” At the chorus of ‘ayes’, he shouted, “Fire!”

The Galra ship cracked apart in flames.

<> <> <> <> <>

They’re trying again.

Keith could feel his awareness returning, though he didn’t bother to open his eyes. Two voices mumbled as if discussing something, then one of them, a new voice, rose and addressed him.

“Cadet Kogane, please tell us about the events of six weeks ago when you and several others disappeared in a ship that looked like a blue lion.”

“You wouldn’t listen to Shiro.” You never listen.

“Where did the lion take you?”

“Home.” The Blue Lion brought us to her home.

Another voice interrupted. “I was right! He is an alien! Ask about the knife!”

“Where did you get the knife you carry?”

“Parents.” It was in a box of things. The only things I got from them.

The second voice crowed. “See?”

“Get control of yourself. He’s not really giving us enough information to determine that.”

“But the amotrazephine—”

“Is not foolproof. He’s practically answering in monosyllables. We need details.”

“Then give him more!”

“Two doses sent him into a near-catatonic state last time. You’ll lose every chance if I do.”

“Perkins said he was controlling that! If we give him more, then maybe he’ll be too out of it to retreat like that.”

There was a long pause, enough to make Keith wonder if Darzi was about to lose yet another ally.

“A quarter-dose. I’m not willing to go farther than that.”

“Fine!”

Damn.

<> <> <> <> <>

As the ship touched down on level ground near its original location, Allura began issuing orders. “Hunk, lead the Metrean transports on a scouting run and see if there is a location they think will be suitable. Lance, bring your Lion in and go to the passenger halls and find the Holts. Shiro, check on Pidge. Coran, keep up constant scans in case more Galra show up. I’m going to the Arusian village to let them know what’s going on.”

Like the cogs in a well-oiled machine, they all sprang to do their part

<> <> <> <> <>

Lance raced down the hallways, answering questions from the former slaves on the fly. “We’re good for now! Galra ship is destroyed! We’ve landed, we just need to coordinate with the Arusians and find a good place for you all! Hang tight!”

He skidded to a stop in front of the door to the Holts’ quarters. It slid open to reveal Matt ready to leave and the doctor pulling on a jacket.

“What’s the word?” Matt looked at Lance with the mild squint he had developed in a year without glasses or contact lenses.

“We’ve landed on Arus. There was an issue with a Galra warship, but it’s been taken care of.”

Dr. Holt looked alarmed. “Is Katie all right?”

“I think so. Shiro? Have you got Pidge yet?”

“Almost. She’s heading back now.”

“I’m here, I’m here! Sorry! I promise not to forget my helmet again until I have the wrist communicators ready!”

“What wrist communicators?” Lance asked, baffled, and the Holts looked just as baffled since they had no way to hear the entire conversation.

“Yeah, so we can stay in touch even when we’re out of uniform.”

“Okay, that is a good idea. Meet me in your hangar?”

“What, now?” I need to go back to the village. I left my helmet and all my projects and—Shiro! I think I found where Dad and Matt are! We can—”

“Pidge,” Shiro interrupted. “Trust me. Take your Lion to the hangar first.”

“Why…okay, I’m coming.”

Lance’s grin threatened to split his face. He grabbed each of the Holts by an arm. “This way! Let’s go!”

<> <> <> <> <>

Pidge set Green down in the hangar and scrubbed one hand through her hair. She felt filthy after her desperate race from the Galra. She was definitely going to have a very, very long bath. She smothered an ‘ow’ when her fingers found the place where she had hit her head. Time in a cryo-pod was on the agenda as well.

But first she would see what the heck Lance thought was so important, then corner Shiro and Allura about rescuing her family before making the trip to Earth. Her arguments were logical and practical, but she knew Allura was frantic about Keith. And that was also a logical reaction, given that they had had absolutely no signal from him. But Keith couldn’t get into too much trouble on Earth, could he?

Lance and a couple of humanoids entered the bay doors on the other side of the hangar. Pidge wondered idly who they were as she left the cockpit and followed the ramp down to exit her Lion. People he had picked up on his adventure, perhaps. He had found a work camp of some sort and saved the workers from the Galra…

Wait.

It can’t be.

She jumped the rest of the way down the ramp and out into the hangar.

“Katie!”

She didn’t realize she had started running until she slammed into her father, flinging her arms around him. A second pair of arms enveloped them both. She heard a voice crying over and over, “It’s you! It’s really you!” Belatedly she realized it was her own voice.

“It’s us, all right!” That was Matt.

“Kiddo, we are so glad to see you!” Dr. Holt pressed his cheek to her temple and Pidge blinked. She was so much taller now than when they had left for Kerberos! Fighting a sudden wave of dizziness, she pulled back enough to get a good look at them. She noticed Lance hanging back and swiping his eyes in a suspicious manner.

“I can’t believe it! I just found records of where you were taken, I was about to beg Allura to go get you before we went back to Earth! But you’re here!” She jumped into her father’s arms again and hugged him with all her might.

“My turn, runt!” Matt tugged at her and the siblings embraced. Matt then pushed her to arm’s length and looked her over. “I think I like you better with long hair. You look too much like me, now.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “It was the only way to get access to the Garrison after Iverson banned me. And it worked – they never recognized me there!”

Her father chuckled and laid a hand on her head. Pidge pulled back and hissed as pain flared. “Kiddo? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing important. Banged my head during the fight. That’ll teach me to leave my helmet behind.”

“Whoa, you’re injured?” Lance interrupted. “We need to tell Allura and get you into a cryo-pod!”

Pidge started to shake her head, realized that would be a huge mistake, and replied, “No, I need to talk to them first about going to the coordinates I found…” She trailed off as her brain caught up with the changed situation. Her family was already here. They could leave straight for Earth at any time.

Her senses were starting to get fuzzy. Pidge clinically assessed the probability of a concussion as her legs started to give out.

Lance darted forward and caught her before she could fall. “Yep, definitely a cryo-pod for you!” He scooped her up and headed for the hangar doors. “This way!”

<> <> <> <> <>

He could feel a difference now. His thoughts felt less under his control and his link to Red seemed more tenuous than before. Red!

I am here.

Don’t let me go!

Never, my Paladin. Stay with me.

“His brain function is a bit slower, but his heart rate is increasing. I don’t like it.”

“Ask quickly, then!”

“What is the Voltron?”

Keith tried to stay silent, but the notion that Voltron was a thing had to be denied. “Not the Voltron.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not an it. A team.” The best team I could ever be a part of.

“What team? Who else is on this team?”

“Answer us! Who else? McClain? Garrett? Gunderson? What happened to them?”

“Defenders…” Defenders of the Universe.

“A bunch of second-rate cadets, a compromised pilot, and a punk like you? How could you defend anything?” He felt a hand on his face, gripping his chin, and remembered the last time this man had laid hands on him. Panic sent his heart rate skyrocketing.

At that Red’s presence surged forward, stronger than ever before. She snarled in his defense. Paladin! Let me in!

Keith opened his mind to her.

<> <> <> <> <>

Blackwell forcibly yanked Darzi’s arm, breaking his grip on Kogane, and looked nervously at the monitors. “His brain function is quickening. I don’t understand how that could be.”

“Then add more amotrazephine! The others thought it was slowing things too much but that’s not the case!”

The medtech swallowed and put another syringe in place, ready to add the drug in tiny steps.

The youth opened his eyes.

His glowing, golden eyes.

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