#counted my matches wrong also but only if you count the battle royale as one. i guess you do since it had the cuddle moments but yeah | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

itjazzbicch · 2 years ago

Text

Heroes We Can Be

Pairing: Madcap Moss x Fem Reader

Summary: Being friends while teaming up with Happy Corbin, the reader and Madcap Moss didn’t let their fall out with Corbin ruin their friendship, joining forces against him and when Corbin injures Moss, the reader feels the duty to come to his aid and assist in anyway and when the reader is all alone, Corbin ready to strike on her after learning of their relationship, Moss shocks everyone coming back and saving the day…

(Also, my first time writing for Moss, so I hope I did well!)

Warnings: SMUT! (18+ ONLY!)(Fight that leads to injury, hospital visit, brief male x female wrestling interaction, shower sex, foreplay, creampie)

Requested by: No One (But I hope you all enjoy it!)

Word Count: 4.3k

Tag List: @demonqueen29 @peachy-satan00 @new-zealand-chic @crowleysqueenofhell @unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin @thatpanpal @damnnhausen @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @linziland13 @xxx-jazz-xxx @writtingrose @whenimakeitshine1234 @cuzimacomedian

I DO NOT OWN THIS GIF:

“I’m so proud of you,” I smiled, brushing back gorgeous brown hair back into a ponytail for him, “I’d go out there with you, but this is your special moment and you deserve to enjoy it.”

Moss and I have always been good friends, even while accompanying Corbin, but us ditching that asshole was the best decision we made. There was a fear at first that our friendship wouldn’t be the same after, but it actually made our friendship even stronger.

On top of making a stand for himself, he won the Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal and tonight, he was going to accept his trophy, taking this time we had backstage to show my support.

“Thank you,” He smiled bright, proud of himself too, fixing his suspenders while standing and hugging, “I’ll be sure to bring it right back here for you to see.”

“Aww, but it’s yours,” I hugged back, patting him softly, “Go get that bad boy.”

He always smiled a certain way at me; his cheeks would puff up so adorably, so pure and heartfelt, and it made me so happy every time I saw it, no matter how many times I saw it. I took a seat near the guerrilla near some monitors to watch his moment, lacing up my boots because I did have a match that night still.

The passion he spoke with every word was admirable, not only accepting his trophy, but letting everyone know his next goals in his career:

“And change title belts, into title suspenders!”

It looked like he wasn’t done with the camera being fixed on his face, near the microphone still, till there was a shriek and Corbin appeared from nowhere, smacking Moss hard in the back.

Of course this is when Corbin would show up to ruin his moment, delivering multiple strikes to his back, the force behind them keeping Moss down and any time he would pick himself up a little, Corbin hit even harder.

Quickly, I jumped out of my seat, tripping when I realized my boots weren’t tied, rushing to tie them and still watching, seeing the chair now over Moss’s head and neck, Corbin going to stomp, but his eyes landing on the Andre trophy.

Never in my life have I moved so fast, running and shoving past coworkers, crew members, even the security, but when I made it out to the curtain, it was too late.

I froze on stage, seeing Corbin smash the chair with the trophy, sending Moss into another world of pain, taking back the chair and without realizing it, I was sliding into the ring, covering Moss’s head and chest, fully prepared to take a strike from the chair, but nothing happened. Looking up with tears in my eyes, I had no control of my emotions, yelling at Corbin:

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

That only made him laugh, ready to swing the chair again till security finally came out, keeping my attention till I felt my hand being taken.

“Y/N-“ Moss tried to say, but he could barely speak, holding his neck with his other hand, squeezing my hand that he took.

“Shh,” I cooed softly, trying to keep my voice together while crying, cradling the side of his face, noticing the ME crew coming down, “We’re going to get you taken care of okay?”

When ME came over, they made me back away, Moss still having his eyes on me and with all of my emotions running like they were, I snapped when a crew member came over to me, trying to get me backstage because I had a match.

“I don’t give a single shit about that match right now!” I shot, pushing through medics to get to Moss, now in a neck brace and a stretcher, an ambulance sirens in the distance.

Disbelief was in his eyes a bit when I took his hand, rushing right along with all the medics, crying to him

“I’m not leaving your side, Moss. I swear.”

Every word I said, I meant with all my heart, not letting his hand go even when it grew sweaty from all the anxiousness, keeping it tight and he made sure his was even tighter, growing when we saw the big bald wolf himself.

Hate is a strong word, but I hated Corbin for what he did, his laughs making my chest heave, rage flowing through me so quickly that I couldn’t comprehend, but in the back of my mind, I knew that Moss needed me, that I couldn’t leave his side no matter how back I wanted to kick Corbin in the dick then punch him in the face.

Before he could let out a word, I growled to him

“Don’t you dare say a word!”

Moss’s eyes went up to me again, squeezing my hand harder and he tried to speak again, but failed, turning into rough, dry coughs. He was my primary concern, so I nodded to him letting him know I wasn’t going to entertain Corbin any longer, leaving him with a threat:

“You’re gonna pay for this, even if I have to beat your ass myself.”

I refused to let go of his hand the entire ride to the hospital and when they had to take him back for x-rays and tests, I was pacing back and forth the entire time, still in gear, having to use the hospital phone to call a friend at the arena because I literally had nothing.

At least the nurses at the hospital were kind, keeping me updated when his tests were going on, escorting me to his room when they were all over. I rushed right over, still in a bit of a panic, but sitting next to his bed slowly when the doctor came in right after me.

“I really hate to deliver this news,” Words that I really didn’t want to hear, looking up to the x-rays and results that he was showing, telling Moss how he had a cervical contusion.

It was so hard not to cry, somehow able to keep myself together while the doctor explained everything, how the contusion worked, healing processes, missing wrestling time. My heart was in the ground, feeling guilty that I didn’t get out there fast enough.

When the door shut, my head dropped, instantly taken over with sadness and all of that guilt, crying:

“Moss, I’m so sorry.”

He tried to provide some comfort and relief when he took my hand again, but my eyes were closed, tears not stopping, having me breathe heavily:

“I tried to get out there, but my dumbass forgot to tie my laces and when I got out there, it was too late. I’m so, so sorry.”

Taking another deep breath, I was hoping the tears would stop coming, but I shot out of my seat when I heard him groan deep, truly in pain and seeing how he was trying to turn his head to me.

“I don’t care if I have to watch you like a hawk,” I fixed his head straight, keeping his cheeks in my hand even with the neck brace making it uncomfortable a bit, “You’re already hurt and you don’t need to be in pain because of me.”

“I need to know something,” He whispered softly, the only way he could speak, tears in his eyes when he asked, “You were going to take that shot from him?”

“Of course,” I gasped for air, shocked that he would ask me that, “Do you think I was just going to let him keep beating you with it?”

I literally made it in the nick of time. Corbin was going to attack his head and neck again before I jumped on him to protect him from it; Corbin able to stop himself though.

Those few tears ran down the sides of his cheeks, just staring deeply into my eyes while I went on:

“I would’ve taken a million chair shots from him if it meant protecting you and I have never wanted to kick someone’s ass so badly in my whole life. I just feel like shit. I was right on the stage and-“

I began to cry again because I never felt a pain like this. Moss was the closest person to me, valuing our friendship more than damn near anything. There was no one like him, no one had the place that he had in my heart.

“I’m such a horrible friend,” I shamed myself, “Stupid Corbin, I should’ve-“

Getting lost in the overwhelming emotions, I didn’t feel his hand on my arm, not till he pulled me close, hand cradling the side of my face, bringing my lips to his.

Even in pain, he didn’t want me feeling all of those bad emotions and thoughts, kissing me slow and tender, pressing his lips one last time with a slight force to get his message across and getting my tears to stop.

When he stopped, I picked my head up slowly, staring deeply into his eyes with expanded pupils, blinking a few times to make sure I was in reality.

“Stop talking bad about yourself,” He whispered softly, “I should’ve known better than to have my back turned with him lurking around. Never put yourself in harms way over me. He could’ve seriously hurt you and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.”

We thought so much alike, wanting to keep each other safe from Corbin, willing to face any kind of danger in order to protect one another.

“I love you,” He admitted, having a tear come back, “I do love that you were protecting me, not leaving my side right now, but I don’t want you getting hurt. Ever.”

“But,” I sniffled and professing back, “I love you too and I don’t care who or what I have to face. I’m never letting you get hurt like this ever again. He could’ve broken your neck or something, maybe worse. Moss, I protect the people I love. That includes you, top of the list.”

A little relief was released now that I finally told him my true feelings. I always said we were just close friends or that it was just a little crush, but it was love.

I loved him and when he pulled back down for another kiss, more than just his words proved it. Taking away all of the tears and putting a smile on my face, stopping only to relax his head and neck.

“There’s that smile,” He breathed, smiling softly up at me, eyes closing softly with my hands softly brushing back the hair in his face, smiling more.

“I love you so much and I mean that Moss,” I cooed softly, “And we’re going to get you better again, as soon as possible.”

“I will get better again, soon,” He smiled back, holding my hand again and squeezing, “I love you even more.”

From that night on, we decided to make it official and begin dating. Keeping positive vibes all around us, keeping him at home and resting, trying to make the best of the situation that we were in.

Only issue that I had was staying so positive meanwhile for three weeks, work was kicking my ass. Since I skipped out on that match to stay with him after his attack, I had grueling matches and it was taking a small toll on me.

On smackdown, heading to Hell in a Cell, I was facing Natalya and there was no denying how incredible she was in the ring. I was on my toes the entire time, having to put up more defense than I could throw out offense.

Kicking out right before the referee hit three, I could barely breath, feeling her grabbing my legs for a sharpshooter. She was worn down too, so I tried to take advantage of that, finding a sudden burst of strength when I pulled her forward with my legs, then used all of my strength to shoot her back.

While she stumbled back into the ropes, trying to use it for moment, I knipped up in a flash, jumping and delivering a nasty knee strike with her running right at me.

That strike almost knocked her out and it was all the energy that I had left, collapsing on top of her, only an arm over her to pin her and win the match.

It had been a while since I had a match drain me like that, Natalya actually showing me respect and shaking my hand while laying next to her on my stomach, watching her roll out of the ring then laying face first in the mat.

All I really needed was a breath, not paying attention to my surroundings and becoming confused because the crowd was gasping, people jumping out of their seats. Briefly, I looked to see a girl with her hand on her head, pointing behind me.

Picking myself up, I felt a familiar presence, turning slowly to see Corbin standing over top of me, a stone cold look in his eyes.

“What happened to kicking my ass, Y/N?” He was emotionless at first, but evil forming all over his face, intensely looking into my eyes and squatting to me, saying into a microphone so everyone could hear, “I heard from a little bird that, you and Madcap are dating.”

No one knew we were dating just yet, we didn’t release it out to the public to know, so how Corbin knew? I had no idea.

I could feel the rage forming inside of me again, staring into his eyes and hoping that rage would give me strength, but I was so broken down from weeks of matches, the pain from my last match not letting me pick myself up.

“I’m ending everything that Madcap started, created,” He stated, going emotionless again, “And on top of threatening me, that includes you too.”

He was ready to strike and I tried to scurry away, but all of our heads turned when we heard sirens. We both stopped to look near the stage, an ambulance backing in and when the doors popped open, there was Moss.

My jaw about dropped to the mat, that god like figure of his stepping into the light with a death stare locked on Corbin, in gear and ready to go.

Things were going down and it all fired off when Corbin quickly took a handful of my hair, having me kicking and trying to break free, but he was too strong truly and I was too tired to match it, let alone beat it.

I looked up for a moment and saw how fast Moss was sprinting, jumping right into the ring. The motion of Corbin’s arm was trying to pull me up and use me as a shield, but he wasn’t fast enough, having to let go to cover his face because Moss started punching him with hooks.

Scurrying into the corner, I watched in shock, but was also admiring Moss, blown away because I have never seen him so enraged, didn’t even know that he was here!

The fight got so intense that Corbin could only put his arms up to cover his head, referees having to come down and break them up, Moss still fighting them, but of course Corbin weaseled his way out, unable to believe that he just got his ass handed to him.

“You ever even think of coming near my baby again and I’ll end you!” Moss yelled at the top of his lungs, arms bulked up and tense from gripping the rope so hard.

There was a burn in my scalp from how hard Corbin had me by the hair, body feeling so heavy, but seeing Moss go off like he just did, blindsiding everyone just by showing up, let alone fighting the way he was, then hearing him call me baby?

My heart about exploded, smiling through the pain and I could tell he was still in a protective and fight mode when he turned to me, rushing over and kneeling to me:

“You okay, baby?!”

The first thing he did was check my head, noticing I was holding it, making sure I wasn’t seriously hurts and I assured:

“I’m okay. I’m so much better now.”

I hugged him so tight, resting my head on his chest, not realizing how hard I was shaking till he hugged me back tighter, kissing the top of my head again and again.

“You weren’t going to tell me that you were going to be here?” I looked up softly, not upset, just curious.

“I had a feeling he was going to pull a stunt like this. The feeling was too strong, the second you left for work,” He explained, but smiled down to me, “But all of that loving you have healed me up just in time.

Head over heels in love couldn’t even describe how just madly in love I was with him, the crowd was already going nuts over us and when I kissed him, they were deafening. I stayed in his arms while rising, not leaving nor wanting to while heading backstage.

He was always sweet to me and tonight, the moment we got in my locker room, shower was going, got my bag and clothes set, ready for me when I was done, making sure I was taken care of and comfortable

“You need anything else, baby?” He asked, setting my towel in the hook next to the shower, glancing over to me struggling with my gear.

“My top please?” I whined, holding my arm, “I’m so sore I can’t even reach it.”

“Gotcha,” He went to face my back, undoing the strap and helping to get it over my head. It was the biggest relief, sighing deep at it once my arms were rested again, then I looked into the mirror.

“Moss,” I giggled, looking to his eyes fixed on my breasts in the mirror, “You’re blushing.”

“What?” He tried to play off, seeing my breast for the first time and clearly enjoying it, neither of us didn’t realize the situation is was making after a hype moment like that fight dying down. His blush was cute and I giggled more when he looked away, “I’m not blushing.”

“It’s okay,” I turned softly to face him, “It’s the first time, so I understand.”

His head nodding softly, still helpless but to look down at me again, “Beautiful as always.”

Now that made me blush, turning my head, “Aww stop. You look like a god compared to me.”

We watched in the mirror to see my hand run across his built, broad chest, down to his defined abs, even playing with his trunks, but still being my goofy self a little and grabbing his butt softly.

“You are beautiful baby, inside and out,” He kissed, “And you deserve to relax and unwind after all of that.”

I did agree to that, but I also had another idea in mind, keeping my head down, but still looking up into his eyes, asking quiet and timidly:

“Come along with me?”

There was a brief moment of silence and that made me so nervous, then a smile formed on his face and took it away, even laughing when he nodded:

“Sure. Maybe a good massage will help with that sore back. Besides, I have Corbin’s stench on me.”

Laughing out loud, I stepped out of my shorts softly, heading into the shower while he got out of his gear and the hot water felt so good, just the right temperature to help all of my muscles relax, nearly moaning at the feeling, dunking my head in and slicking my hair back.

“Feeling better already?” I heard a soft whisper behind me, taking a small step to let some water on him too, humming:

“Mhm. It’s so nice.”

“Good,” He leaned down to peck my cheek, hands resting at my shoulders and starting to massage slow and deep, keeping me humming as he hit all the right spots, hands so big and strong, instantly feeling the relief when he moved on to another part of my back.

The main source of soreness was in my lower back due to Natalya having me in a sharpshooter at one point. I refused to tap and my lower back sure paid the price.

When his hand pressed in, soreness hitting but vanishing, it made me moan out loud, staying upright and needing just a bit more.

“That’s needs it most, huh?” He noticed my reaction, rubbing a bit more softly, but reverted back to what helped at the signal of my nod.

“Just a little more?” I asked nicely, “It’s taking all the pain away.”

“As much as you want,” He cooed, massaging and having me moan again, my hips naturally guiding back onto him, letting out a more soft moan with his hands sliding down to my hips, massaging down to my ass, feeling that he was rock solid, grinding back a bit to learn the size of his cock.

My eyes glanced back quickly when I felt it, a smiling forming at the sight, looking up to see just how sexy he looked from head to toe, especially with his long hair wet and slicked back. It made me hotter than the hot water was.

“Nothing like a good massage to help,” He whispered, getting lost in his own thoughts, brining my hips back softly, tip of his cock sliding up my fold to feel the slick, all of his shaft learning too.

It was obvious that we weren’t nervous anymore, now curious and ready to learn something new about one another. The moan in my chest was deep, just the touching and feeling having my eyes close, taking in the pleasure and becoming energized, feeling myself growing even hotter.

Ignoring the water falling in my face, I whipped around in a flash, holding his face and kissing hard, pressing my chest against his, begging:

“Please keep doing that, baby.”

This time, I felt it all right on my clit first, legs shaking at the little jolts in my nerves, kissing becoming more dirty with my tongue twirling in, needing it more and hips moving toward him to get the high, blissful feeling quicker.

“I don’t want you to end up more sore, baby,” He was still concerned for me, but still reading my actions and the meanings every one had.

I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t know how good it felt for me, but I needed him and his massage really did help on top of the hot water loosening me up.

“I’m just fine now thanks to you,” I assured that I was okay, moaning softly like I wanted to, not trying to sound so desperate, “I want-; I need you. Just that alone feels so damn good.”

“It does,” He hummed, hands latching to my hips, care in his mind too, “If you’re too tired, just tell me.”

I nodded into our kiss, lifting up my thigh for him and showing that I had my strength, firm on one foot. His hand squishing my thigh had me even more ready for this. I knew he was strong and still was impressed how he lifted me up with ease after gaining my other thigh.

He found my entrance and just his tip easing in, the stretch from that having me gasp against his lips, dipping my head back in the water softly and letting myself adjust to his girth, being fed soft, slow thrusts at first, working in his inches because he knew I was adjusting too.

“Moss, baby,” I moaned softly, watching his cock slowly disappear from my sight and slide up inside of me, nudging my sweet spot made my hips roll to him softly, creating a slow burn.

“It’s not-“ His eyes showed he was back to being concerned and I shook my head, kissing and grinding my hips more:

“You know, you’re amazing at everything you do. You feel so good in me, baby.”

“Yeah?” He smiled, hair falling across his face when he watched his hips throw a quicker thrust, glancing back up to see my reaction.

“Oh my god, yes,” I whined, a new feeling that I grew super hungry for, “Go faster like that?”

Wet pressure hitting my clit, sweet spot getting his full tip, friction growing so sweet and tight, able to maintain that perfect speed? I was in heaven, holding onto the back of his neck tight and letting myself get lost in all of the pleasure, letting whatever moan and noise come out of me, making sure he got the praise of me moaning out his name.

“You feel so good around me,” He helped my leaning head up, wrapping his arms around my waist with my leg latched around his waist, loving how he was bottoming me out, pace picking up, “God, I love it.”

“I love it too,” My whisper was breathless, but I made sure the feelings I truly meant where there with it, softly in his ear, “And I love you. With all my heart.”

“I love you too,” He let out a soft huff, kissing hard but passionately, going faster again with my walls squeezing his cock tighter, the speed amazing me more meanwhile the showering running over us.

“Moss,” I gasped loudly, arms wrapped tighter around his head, playing with his hair, “You’re making me-“

Knowing my orgasm was coming, not even needing the words, made him thrust a little harder, on top of that speed, just how incredible his body and cock were, three thrusts was all I needed, all fours clamped around him tight, giving his hips only a bit of space to keep feeding thrusts, letting him know that I came with a cry:

“M-Moss!”

“Y/N,” He gasped slightly, pushing my hips down and keeping them against his, both of us able to feel how hard my walls were spasming, a gush of wetness that wasn’t the shower, and he earned more moans, soft whines when his cock started to throb.

I wasn’t trying to pull his hair, hand forming a fist in his hair and shaking, gasping at how hot his seed was, coating my walls and having stars spinning around my head, dropping to his shoulder, free hand taking a handful of his pec, whispering:

“I’ve never felt anything that good in my life.”

“I know just how you feel,” He breathed deeply, nose nuzzling mine and keeping me up in a hug, “Everything’s just amazing with you.”

“You’re the amazing one. Healing in just three weeks? Coming to save the day,” I smiled, nuzzling then kissing, “You’re my superhero.”

#wrestling #wrestling imagine #wrestling fic #wrestling smut #wrestling one shot #we #wwe imagine #wwe fic #wwe smut #wwe oneshot #madcap moss #madcap moss x reader #madcap moss imagine #madcap moss fic #madcap moss smut #madcap moss oneshot #read and enjoy

45 notes · View notes

xsamsharons · 4 years ago

Text

come here often? - n. lantsov

pairing: nikolai lantsov x healer!reader.

genre/warning: fluff. mentions of injuries.

words: 1.6k

summary: in which nikolai and you aren't really close, until he falls on his face and you fall in love.

It was a rather slow night considering you were working as the main healer aboard a ship that had the prince of Ravka as its captain and also counted the three leaders of the grisha triumvirate as part of the crew. Night after night, people would come in though the makeshift hospital David had built into your room for you, injured by the weirdest things you would ever imagine, and go back out to no doubt keep endangering their lives on behalf of their country. Now, you were not saying that fighting for your country was an dishonorable thing to do, the opposite actually, but for the life of you, you just couldn’t seem to understand how someone could possibly willingly jump off a ship and into an ocean filled with monsters and mythical creatures, and not expect any injuries.

Speaking of, as of right now you found yourself attending the injuries of none other but the captain himself, he looked like he hadn’t slept in ages, and reeked of sea water and sweat. The first time you had met him you had been extremely nervous about actually using your powers on him, after all, you didn’t wanna be known as the healer who had permanently injured the future king. That day you had learned that Nikolai became pretty delirious every time he was suffering from physical pain given as he had had a broken nose and damaged rib, but he had claimed that ‘the other guy had it worse’. This would’ve be a normal enough to say, except in this case, the ‘other guy’ was an ancient mythical being that has been believed to only exist in Ravkan’s passed down stories. Ever since then, he has been ending up in your room almost every night, and with your unfortunate luck, he always seemed to arrive right in your shifts.

His face was framed by messy strands that had fallen from his red tailored hair, and on his chest were displayed a couple of gold necklaces that matched the buttons of his red coat. He had been talking to you and distracting you from your work ever since he arrived, and to make matters worse, he had to rest on one of the beds in your room all night just in case the fall he had taken on his face somehow caused more damage than you had originally thought.

“So, you come here often?” he asked with a crooked smirk and wandering eyes.

“You mean my room? Where I work?” you answered, rolling your eyes when he nodded his head and raised his eyebrows, implying it was a totally logical question. “Yes, I come here often. Not as often as you it would seem. Quite prone to hurting yourself, aren’t you?”

“Maybe I just like to visit my favorite healer.”

Ah yes, the flirting. It seemed it wasn’t enough for him to already bother you with his presence, but he also made it his mission to flirt with you as much as possible during his stay.

“Firstly, I’m the only specialized healer you know, so that line isn’t as smooth as you think it is.” you started, continuing to work on his nose. “Secondly, I would appreciate it if you could keep your advances to the minimum. We don’t want you to damage your brain trying to come up with more pick up lines, seeing as it requires a lot of effort for you to even get coherent sentences out.” you said sarcastically and watched his smirk grow.

“What is it going to take for you to finally admit you actually really like me?” he asked, and for the life of you, you could not understand how he’d come to that conclusion when all you’ve ever done is turn him down. Nonetheless, you figured you’d follow his game. If you were going to spend your whole night by his side, you could use some fun.

“Well, for one, I have never seen you not beaten up, or showered for that matter, so that would be a great start.” you said, tailoring his nose to look like Sturmhond’s crooked one after you finished tending to it.

“It’s not my fault I always end up here in the nights when we get ambushed.” he said in a voice that could almost be considered as a whine, and you found yourself smiling at how cute he sounded when he wasn’t being an asshole. Still, you furrowed your brows in response to something he’d hinted at.

“Ambushed? What, like by other crews?” you asked and he nodded. “So, you tailor yourself to not get ambushed for being a royal, but we still are ambushed even when you look like Sturmhond? What’s the point then?”

“It may be kind of useless now that everyone in Ravka knows us, but I like pretending to be someone else sometimes.” he shrugged, a look that you’d never seen on his face appearing. “It’s stupid, i know” he snorted, trying to shake off the weight of his sentence after you remained quiet for a few seconds.

“It’s not stupid.” you were quick to deny. “I get it, believe me. Growing up as a grisha in Fjerda, I wished every night before bed to have the ability to simply be reborn as someone else.” you admitted, missing the shocked look on his face.

“You are Fjerdan?” he asked.

“What? That’s not in my file?” you answered with a question of your own and he rolled his green eyes.

After you accused him of violating your privacy for reading your file and he defensively said that it was his job to know his crew, you spent a few minutes teaching him Fjerdan words and took advantage of the little knowledge he had about your native language by making fun of his tailored face, knowing he couldn’t understand what you were saying.

“So, how come you praise yourself so much about your aim but seem to get beaten up every night?” you asked.

“Hey! I am actually an incredible shot, thank you very much.” he replied, offense clear on his voice, making you snort.

“Can’t be any good if the only times I ever see you is when you are injured.” you said sarcastically, and he made a face that seemed a bit dramatic in your opinion.

“Not my fault you are trapped between these four walls every night.” he replied, and now it was your turn to act defensively.

“Excuse you! I have a life outside of the hospital.” you said in a light tone, to let him know you weren’t truly offended.

“People who have lives don’t need to remind other people that they do.”

“People who are great in battle don’t need to remind other people that they are.”

“Touché.” he said with a smirk.

You spent the next couple of hours talking to Nikolai about random topics, him not failing to deliver a pick up line from time to time, and the night was slowly but surely starting to slip out of your hands. Right now, you were back to him being the topic of conversation after you had ranted for a couple of minutes about how hard it was to have to grow up in Fjerda hiding who you were. As you teased him telling him he had to settle for captain of a ship because he wasn’t a good enough royal (a claim he denied thoroughly), he looked like he wanted to say something else, before Genya entered the room with a smirk on her face.

“If you two lovebirds are done flirting, you are needed up on the main deck. Sparring session gone wrong - again.” she informed you, rolling her eyes at the usual recklessness of the crew.

“Yes, ma’am.” you saluted sarcastically, before turning back around to face Nikolai again and check his injuries one more time.

“You should actually stay upstairs with us sometime, that way I can prove to you that I'm actually good.” he suggested once Genya was out of the room again. “Plus, the day should be sunny today so we’ll probably spar a lot.”

“You’ve flirted with me every night you’ve been here and the answer’s always been the same, what makes you think tonight is going to be different?”

“Oh, come on. I promise I'll shower and I will try to not get punched in the face. That way you get to see me showered and not injured, it’s a package deal you can’t just ignore.” he pleaded, in reference to your words from earlier.

“All right, maybe I'll stay upstairs after I finish fixing the crew up, and if I catch sight of a certain arrogant royal I know, I might stick around to watch a sparring session or two.” you gave in with a smirk, leading him to the door so he could leave you alone to fix your room up a bit before you went upstairs.

“I’ll see you when I see you then.” he said while bowing his invisible pirate hat, and walked away with a wink.

He left you standing at your desk watching as, just like every other night, he slipped past your door and out onto the main deck again. You watched as he caught up with Genya and said something to her with a smirk, though you couldn’t quite catch the words the spoke, and turned back around to tidy up your room with a stupid smile on your face.

bonus:

“Did it work?” Genya asked him with raised eyebrows and a smile, her question in reference to the plan they had come up with to get Nikolai to spend more time with you. It consisted of Genya tailoring his face to look like he had fallen on his face and busted his nose open.

“Like a charm.” Nikolai nodded, a smile similar to the one you were wearing back in your room appearing on his face.

a/n: making fun of sturmhond's nose is a personality trait and it's mine (and alina's)

#nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lantsov imagine #nikolai lantsov fic #nikolai lantsov fanfic #sturmhond #nikolai #x reader #imagine #fic #fanfic #shadow and bone #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #nikolai duology #rule of wolves #king of scars #siege and storm #ruin and rising

385 notes · View notes

wonlouvre · 3 years ago

Note

Hiii can i ask for a mingyu x fem!reader royal au, where the reader is more to boyish personality?

Undefeatable

pairing: prince!mingyu x g.n. reader (but they’re also royal and vagina bearing) genre: royal au, fluff, angst warnings: violence, blood word count: 1.1k (oops)

💌: here is the last request from my very first round of opening requests! thank you so much for all who participated! hopefully i get to open requests soon because your requests and ideas really made me happy! i hope you, anon, and everyone else likes this anon! thank you everyone! <3

“Aren’t we the same Prince Mingyu?” You ask with a piercing glare. “Aren’t I as royal as you are?”

“Yes. I never—”

“Then stop telling me what to do.”

That particular heated argument Mingyu had with you remains vivid inside his mind. He had no intention of ordering you around or much less offending you by questioning your value and capability. He doesn’t even remember what led you to assume such. All he ever wanted to convey was for you to lessen your engagement with combat during the war. It’s getting more and more dangerous and the chances of you coming out of there unharmed is slim to none.

You and Mingyu grew up with the knowledge that you’d marry each other someday. It was a perfect match. The two of you have both the intelligence and skills in ruling and protecting your respective kingdoms. But most importantly, the two of you have the same drive and ideals for the advancement of ending all armed conflict that’s harming thousands of innocent citizens.

Your wedding was simple and instant due to the circumstances. The marriage symbolizes the union of both kingdoms that will work together to ultimately end all wars. Both your parents have entrusted the important duty to protect the future of your people to your enjoined hands. You and Mingyu have been on the same page from the very beginning.

But for Mingyu, there is more to how he feels towards you than the ambitions at hand. He has admired you for the longest time. He fell in love with how graceful and kind you looked when you smiled at him at that one party. He fell in love with how selfless and compassionate you are in extending help to those who need them the most at one of the villages devastated by the war. And even during battles, where dirt, sweat and blood always blemishes your skin; he has never felt more in love.

Mingyu loves you and watching you everyday go all out fearlessly to fight this never ending war is scaring him to the bones. He wishes that he could have said something during that day to make you stop. He wishes you were here beside him instead because he believes there has to be some way other than violence. He’s currently strategizing with the rest of the advisors. While you’re great in formulating strategies like him, Mingyu recognizes how your combat skills are undefeatable. Mingyu is the brain and you are the whole army yourself.

He’s silent with arms crossed as he listens to the voices in the tent exchange ideas. His frown could make everyone around him think he’s in deep thought when he’s really not. The chorus of shouts and clanging sounds of metal outside sounds like there won’t be a ceasefire anytime soon.

“Your Highness!” Not until a panicked and sweating guard barges inside screaming, almost toppling over the first aid boxes at the entrance.

Mingyu can already sense that there is something wrong. He immediately unlocks his arms from his chest and walks towards the guard he’s awfully recognizing. He’s one of your guards assigned to always be right behind you. He’s about to ask what he is doing here when another group of men are shouting to move out of the way.

When they finally enter, your unconscious body and forehead profusely bleeding greets him.

Mingyu’s breath hitches and his legs give up on him that the only way he can hold you is by crawling to where your body is brought down. He takes you in his arms and wipes your blood with shaking hands to get a better look at the wound.

“They were fighting with an enemy when their neck got locked in a chokehold before getting striked with a shield,” one of the guards reports but Mingyu is deaf to the words.

He just cradles your head close to his chest as the medics rush to take care of your wound. He can see that you’re fighting the lightheadedness, definitely not backing down even at a time like this.

“Hey,” he calls and it pains him to see you struggling to open your eyes because of the blood running down your face. “It’s okay.”

“Your Highness, I’m sorry, but please let us move them to the bed.”

Mingyu nods and stands to his feet to carry your limp body on the medical bed. He moves aside when you’re completely settled and lets the medics attend to you. He exhales a shaky breath and closes his eyes, thinking and thinking. When he opens them again, he offers one last glance at you before grabbing his sword and telling your guards to follow him.

All he can see is red.

“We’re ending this war before sunrise.”

The Prince kept his word and when he returned to the tent as the sun started to rise above the horizon, you had gained your consciousness back. He meets your eyes and flashes you the smile you’re afraid you have fallen in love with. You sat up from the bed when he started taking slow steps to be near you. Your eyes follow him as he drops his sword, helmet and shield. The shirt under his armor was drenched in sweat but he could care less. All he wants is to fall on his knees and shrink small under your arms.

And as if you have read his mind, you allow his face to rest against your stomach and his arms to snake around your hips. You’re still quite dizzy but you can see him clearly. You can feel his warmth and that’s enough to make you believe that you’re alive, he’s alive.

“It’s over,” he whispers when he raises his head and sits up.

Tears are brimming on your eyes as you nod. You touch his bruised lip tentatively and he gives your fingers a kiss. He leans close to your face, nose grazing yours. A shiver runs down your spine when you feel his lips lightly touch yours. You don’t grow weak to others but when it’s Kim Mingyu, it’s a whole different story.

You take it upon yourself to fully capture his lips with yours and Mingyu is glad enough to let you. You both remain careful to not get carried away because you’re both badly wounded. But this kiss you’re sharing is passionate enough regardless of that.

When you retreat to take a closer look at the wounds on his face, Mingyu’s love for you can be seen through his gaze. Although he has avenged your forehead, he can’t help but still get bothered by the blood stained gauze wrapped around it. You notice that which is why you squish his cheeks with your hands and make his eyes come back to yours.

“I love you,” you bravely confess before apologizing, “and I’m sorry.”

Mingyu’s smile is wide and bright unlike the sinister one earlier during the battle. His canine can be seen making you smile back. He pulls your chin up and kisses you again and the words he mutters against your lips lets you breathe a breath of relief.

“I love you too.”

156 notes · View notes

smells-like-mettaton · 3 years ago

Text

Tali’s Alphys-Centric Fic Rec List

I’ve been meaning to make this for a while!! All fics are oneshots unless marked as a series or with a chapter count. Thanks to everyone who recced several of these to me on my 12am begging-for-alphys-fics post dfdksdl. These aren’t in any particular order. The “notes” section is my commentary about each fic. No fics are based on full AUs (ex. underswap, horrortale, etc). The only endgame Alphys ship included is Alphyne, though most of the fics listed are gen. Hope you can find something you enjoy here!

Extra Credit by FriedCatfish

Rating: G // Word count: 1,206 Summary: Undyne loses track of time watching anime. Set before the events of the game. Notes: Cute Alphyne oneshot! Short and sweet, very nice characterization

world comes pouring through by feralpheonix

Rating: G // Word count: 1,655 Summary: Alphys reunites with some old friends on the way home from taking care of business. Notes: 2nd person Alphys pov but it surprisingly works? A small moment with Alphys, Bratty, and Catty, which I literally NEVER see content for so it was really refreshing!! Takes place at/near the end of the pacifist route.

white lies to the dead by MiniNephthys

Rating: T // Word Count: 580 Summary: Alphys walks through Waterfall, talking to someone who's not there. Notes: Queen Alphys ending; Alphys “talks” to Undyne after she’s been killed. Hits me right in all the emotions ;;

Found Soul by LibraLibrary

Rating: T // Word Count: 1,331 Summary: Self-worth is a slippery, fleeting little devil, and the bastard flower that killed you isn't helping. Takes place during the final fight of the True Pacifist run, following Alphys from one purgatory to the next. Notes: Very angsty, definitely make sure you’re ready to handle Alphys’s suicidal thoughts, but a very good read! I love seeing the Lost Soul battle from her POV.

And I Feel Fine by Masu_Trout

Rating: T // Word Count: 1,685 Summary: The fallen human is human is fast approaching The Core, and Mettaton is ready to finally take the stage. Now, if only Alphys would stop worrying so much. Notes: Alphys & Mettaton friendship in the no mercy route, but manages to be surprisingly not depressing. Mettaton POV but definitely still deserves to be here. This fic does a great job of characterizing them both and it’s always great to see Alphys working in her element.

Experimentation by pickledragon

Rating: G // Word Count: 1,531 Summary: Alphys is, above all, a scientist. She may watch anime with religious fervor and make horrible Undernet shitposts in her free time, but she is good at her job. She knows what they say about her, behind her back. But when she stands there, time open before her, she resolves to collect data. Each experiment, intentional or not, brings new opportunities to change certain variables and observe others. Alphys is a scientist, after all. Notes: THIS FIC. it’s technically part of a series but it stands on its own (it’s the only one i’ve read by this author). EXCELLENT alphys characterization and writing style. Some Sans & Alphys friendship too which is always stellar. If you didn’t gather from the summary, it’s an alphys starts to remember resets fic.

Memory by Ash_yeet

Rating: T // Word Count: 19,962 // Chapters: 5/20 Summary: It's been two years since monsterkind have joined the humans on the surface, and Alphys is happier than she's ever been. But things can't stay great forever. She starts having nightmares, lapses in memory, flashbacks to things that have never happened. She hopes it will pass... sans is doing his best to adjust to life. When Alphys reaches out to him about her nightmares, he doesn't expect much. He quickly changes his tune. Someone is trying to come back. And they aren't what they used to be.sans and Alphys are trying to move on. But there's one thing they forgot: No matter how hard you try, you can't run from your past. Notes: I’ve only read chapter one so far, but it’s been really good! Looks like it’s going to involve Gaster in some way. Says it’s on short hiatus but was updated in April so doesn’t look abandoned.

Hot and Cold Blooded (Alphyne series) by perniciousLizard

Rating: varies by fic, usually G but a few T and one E // Word count: 36,516 // Works: 18/18 Summary: This series is a place to put all my Alphys/Undyne stories that aren't part of another series. Notes: this series has something for everyone; you can pick and choose which works to read. Most are feel-good fluff and humor, some hurt/comfort too. Some connect to the author’s Sansby series (which i also can’t recommend enough)

When Life Hands You Enantiomers by Kaesa

Rating: T // Word Count: 2,739 Summary: Alphys has a half-finished tile maze puzzle, reams of useless data, and a bunch of piranhas that can't tell the difference between lemon and orange scent. Sans has donuts. Notes: ONE OF MY VERY FAVORITES. Fun puns, science, alphys & sans friendship, piranhas, the opportunity to actually understand organic chemistry references,, it’s so good and fun

Friendshipping by AyuOhseki

Rating: G // Word Count: 4,564 Summary: Sans finds Alphys's secret Sans/Grillby RPF. This won't get weird or awkward or anything, we're sure. Notes: Hilarious Alphys narration, great characterization, it’s just so silly and warms my heart. I love terrible fanfic writer Alphys

social links by simplycarryon

Rating: G // Word Count: 2,525 Summary: Friendship's pretty neat, or so your video games and anime dictate. But you are not an anime protagonist, and you're not sure you know what friendship is any more. Notes: more solid sans & alphys friendship :D

See You Another Time by decamarks

Rating: T // Word Count: 18,500 // Chapters: 1/14 Summary: “Have you ever thought of a world where everything is exactly the same... Except you don’t exist? Everything functions perfectly without you.” Alphys spent a lot of time thinking about what it’d be like to start over. It wasn’t fair for someone like her to escape consequences. She knew that, yet the thought never left her mind—the thought that maybe, just maybe, she could get another chance; that she could abandon her life, her failures—everything—and start anew. But that would never happen. Sometimes, Alphys wondered. Would the world be better off without her? When unexplainable anomalies appear and begin to warp the world around her, Alphys discovers something she was never meant to know: the identity of the former Royal Scientist, and how he met his demise. Doctor W.D. Gaster vanished without a trace; he was erased from reality after an experiment ended in disgrace. Forgotten by the world, shattered across time and space—it’s like he never existed in the first place.And Alphys can’t imagine a better fate. Notes: This is a monster of a first chapter but definitely worth the read!! So much good stuff happening already. I’m a total wuss but I still love the cosmic/existential horror bits going on so far. Great Sans & alphys friendship and Undyne & alphys friendship so far. All the amalgamates also feel incredibly well written. Can’t wait to see more of this one

(And here are a few of my own Alphys-centric fics as well)

Seventh Time’s the Charm by Taliax

Rating: G // Word Count: 1,519 // Chapters: 1/7 Summary: Six bad "dates" Alphys has been on, plus one that is actually pretty good. Notes: Alphys is my favorite and I love giving her a bad time. First chapter is a “date” she has with Sans. Next chapter which I have in progress is going to be Papyrus. (Alphyne is still endgame of course.) Set mostly before the events tof the game. Get ready for lots of second-hand embarrassment sdlfkjds

Support Character by Taliax

Rating: T // Word Count: 1,814 Summary: If Sans is determined to fight the human, Alphys is going to make sure he's prepared. Notes: Sans & Alphys no mercy route friendship, based on the headcanon that Alphys was the one to give Sans the powers/magic he uses to fight the human.

it's your best life (if it's the life that you're living right now) by Taliax

Rating: T // Word Count: 4,046 Summary: Through messages saved to Sans's phone, Queen Alphys gets a glimpse at lives that might have been. With so many possibilities... how did this timeline go so wrong? Notes: Sans & Alphys friendship, Queen Alphys ending, mostly angst/hurt/comfort. I’m really proud of this one and it uses my main headcanon for how Sans knows about resets.

The Trans-Underground Alphys-Carrying, Match-Making Road Trip by Taliax

Rating: G // Word Count: 5,713 Summary: From her secret security camera, Alphys gets too invested in Sans's relationship with the voice behind the door. This wouldn't be a problem if Mettaton didn't decide to take her ship into his own hands. Trying to catch up with a battery-powered robot is hard work, but telling the truth is even harder. Notes: This is a really silly fic with some hurt/comfort sprinkled in. Has some Soriel and Papyton in the background. Has some Alphys & Papyrus friendship as well which is always underrated in my opinion.

#alphys #fic rec list #tali rambles #safeutdr #undertale #long post

154 notes · View notes

xenia-cenia · 4 years ago

Text

Bennett x Fem!Reader - Aster

A/N: The last post kinda blew up so of COURSE I’m doing more in this style. Also he’s totally the son of the pyro archon I don’t take criticism

Fun fact: at the end I legit started to blush a little bit.

Trigger/Content Warnings: Regicide/murder, violence, PTSD/nightmares, kidnapping, light swearing

Word Count: 3,560

Request: No

Summary: Everything that has been Lost will eventually be found; be it Princesses or swords.

----------------------------------------------------------

Very few places in Teyvat still bowed to royalty and Mondstadt was no different.

The people of Mondstadt bowed to alcohol and freedom; the people of Liyue bowed to commerce and wealth.

But you did not hail from Mondstadt or Liyue - you were born into a country far away from Archons and Visions. A country that was set under siege 10 years ago, a country that lost its rulers with a swift slash of a sword.

Rumors spiraled of the young princess escaping with a woman who burned with embers in her eyes and infernos in her hands. Some say the women took the princess only to end the royal line herself, others say she raised the child as her own. As more and more time passed on, people agreed that the woman never existed and the princess died during the attacks.

“Bennett!” You shouted from the balcony overlooking the entryway of Mondstadt. The white-haired boy's head snapped up, a smile growing on his face. You jumped over the balcony and ran to him, “How was your adventure?”

“I found so much treasure!” He began sorting through his pockets and eventually brought out a small bag, he opened it and brought out a golden ring with a raven insignia pressed onto the blue jewel attached to it. He extended his hand and smiled shyly, you slowly set your right hand down on his extended hand. The ring slipped onto your finger perfectly.

“Woah,” you gaped at the ring, admiring the way the jewel seemed to absorb every bit of light, “Where did you find this?”

Bennett chuckled nervously, not wanting to tell you the truth of how many traps he fell into while receiving the ring, “J-just found it... y’know... lying around.”

You looked up at him and narrowed your eyes, “Benny...”

He scratched the back of his head and mumbled under his breath, “I only almost died like... twice.”

“Bennett!” You yelled and lightly smacked his arm, “Don’t risk your life for this stuff! We’ve talked about this.”

“But you looked so happy when you saw the ring...”

“And I’m happier each time you come home to me! Promise you won’t do this anymore!”

“But...”

“Promise!”

“Fine! Fine. I promise I won’t risk my life for gifts anymore.” He sighed but couldn’t contain the soft blush on his cheeks.

“Thank you.” You grabbed his hand and squeezed them, “Really, thank you. I... just please don’t get hurt for me.”

He smiled brightly and kneeled slightly to match your height, “You’re the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me, (Y/N).”

You laughed and began to jog away, “Where did THAT come from? Barbatos save me, you’re so cute.”

“Cute?!” Bennett half-laughed half-yelled in shock, “(Y/N)!” He started running after you, “(Y/N)! You can’t just say that and run away!”

“Come and catch me then!” You giggled as he chased after you. It didn’t take long for him to catch up to you, grab you by the waist, pick you up and spin you around. You laughed and looked at him, “How come I’m nearly as tall as you, yet you can still effortlessly pick me up?”

He smiled and nuzzled his chin into your hair, “I spend all day fighting hilichulrs and climbing mountains, did you think I couldn’t pick you up?”

“I guess I knew you could, I just didn’t think you would.” You spun out of his grasp and grabbed his hands, “Ooh, that reminds me! You have to hear about this story I just found!”

“Yeah?”

“It’s so cool! It’s about Vanessa...” as the two of you walked back to your small house, you regaled him with stories you had read that day, gushing over the vast history that Mondstadt had.

When you had finished talking, the moon had taken its rightful spot in the sky and called you and Bennett to sleep. You lied on the bed and waited to feel Bennett's warm body press against your chest, his heavy arms draped over your sides. Within moments of him getting into bed, he fell fast asleep. You smiled and buried your head under his chin, letting sleep overtake you.

Screams echoing in your ears, you bit your lip as tears fell down your cheeks. The dress you had treasured was torn and burnt, you could hear pounding footsteps outside your door, looking for your head to hang on a wall.

You didn’t know when this started, all you knew is that you needed to hide. You tried your best to block out the noise, but you could still hear their death thralls and see your parents extend their bloodied hands towards you.

“Run.” They had whispered. And run you did.

You ran down the twisting corridors, you hid under your Father's desk and prayed to something - anything - that you would survive this and see your family again. But even as a 6-year-old, you knew that your chances of survival were slim to none.

Soft footsteps slowly made their way across the room, you felt heat begin to boil your skin. A woman kneeled down and set her blade on the ground.

“P... please don’t hurt me.” You shook.

She smiled; a warm and comforting smile, “Are you (Y/N) (L/N)?”

You stared at her with wide eyes, your heart sinking into your stomach. This was the end. You were going to die here. Your family's legacy would crash and tumble, the last thing you’d see was this woman's bright green eyes and smile.

She outstretched her hand, “Come, Princess, I can save you.”

You woke up with a deep gasp, sweat and tears mixing on your face. You looked at Bennett who was still sound asleep, you slowly slid out of the bed and took deep breaths.

How long was it since you’ve last this nightmare? What was it about sleeping next to Bennett that caused you to see the woman clearer? You shook the thoughts out of your head and decided to take a walk to clear your head.

Flower picking always seemed to calm you down. You crept outside your house and into the Mondstadt fields to reminisce in the familiar scents of flowers. You sat on the ground and quietly hummed to yourself, completely lost in thought, not noticing the figure watching you from a distance.

Slowly, he crept up to you until he grabbed your wrist. You jumped in shock and smiled nervously. “Hello?”

“What are you doing... out so late at night?”

“I... um, just picking flowers.” You used your left hand to gesture around, “It’s so pretty out, I just couldn’t sleep until I brought a few home for my boyfriend...”

“Oh?” The man kneeled down, “Boyfriend, eh? What’s he like?”

“He’s... well, he’s really unlucky.” You looked around to see if he had any allies with him - but even if he did you knew you couldn’t take him in a fight. You were more of a kind soul than a violent one. “He’s probably expecting me home any minute now, so I should really go...” you began to pull out of the man's grasp when he tightened his grip on your wrist.

“What a pretty ring.” He held your hand up to his eyes, “Not as pretty as you, of course.”

“T-Thank you?”

“Would you mind if we took a walk? I get a bit lonely walking through these fields all by myself.” He cheerily laughed.

“I... my b-boyfriend...”

He smiled brightly but his grip began to become painful, “I’m sure he won’t mind, will he? Oh, speaking of! I never got your name, how rude of me.”

“I really need to go.” You tried to pull out of his grasp again.

“Now, now. I know those eyes. Right, Princess?”

“Pri-” you began, but before you could finish your sentence he swung at your chin and you crumpled onto the ground.

“What a great find!” He chuckled to himself as he lifted your unconscious body over his shoulder, “The amount of money we’ll get for her...”

Bennett woke up the same way he does every day: with a sore neck and on the floor. He sighed and sat up, happy that he remembered to put pillows on the floor last night. He looked at the empty bed and smiled to himself, you were probably out picking flowers or meeting with some of your friends. It always made him happy that you had things to do while he was out adventuring, but it always made him happier when you stayed near the city.

It’s not that he didn’t trust you. You weren’t naive or sheltered just... not someone cut out for battle. He had tried countless times to teach you how to fight, even got his Dads involved, but you always seemed hopeless.

Your stance was wrong, you’d drop the sword or you’d nearly poke someone's eye out. Eventually, you decided to just stay near. Stay safe. Fighting simply wasn’t your thing - and that’s fine! He’d be okay with it either way.

He changed into his clothes, headed out of his house, and walked around Mondstadt. Katheryne smiled and waved hello, he walked over to her and asked about new commissions. She gave him 4 more and bid him good luck, before he set out he asked if she’d seen you today.

“(Y/N)?” She rocked back and forth on her heels, “No... I don’t think so.”

Bennett felt concern but quickly shook it away, “Tell me if you see her!”

As he set out on his commissions, he found himself being distracted. Not seeing you when he woke up was normal enough, but Katheryne not seeing you? That was weird. He only even asked as a formality - Katheryne always saw you. She always chatted with you before you met up for midday tea.

He palmed the hilt of his sword as he began walking to his second commission of the day, completely lost in thought and not noticing the small hole in the ground. One misstep was all it took for Bennett to trip and roll his ankle.

Bennett winced in pain and slowly brought himself out of the hole, “Just my luck, huh...” He reached into his backpack, pulled out medical supplies, and set to work on mending his wounds. On the ground, he spotted a few picked windwheel asters scattered around. He pulled himself over to them and smiled to himself, imagining the smile on your face when he brought your favorite Mondstadt specialty home to you.

As he twirled the windwheel aster between his fingers, he recalled his earlier unease. With a quick shake of his head, he replaced it with happier thoughts. He pulled himself up, tucked the windwheel aster into his belt, and headed home.

The unlucky boy more stumbled than walked home, beating the pain with fantasies of your smile.

As he arrived back in Mondstadt, he walked over to Katheryne who perked up when she saw him.

“Bennett!” She called, “You’ve been gone a while. Did you complete your commissions?”

“Not really,” he laughed quietly, “ended up rolling my ankle.”

“Oooh,” her eyebrows knit together, “I think Barbara is still working tonight.”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I can just sleep it off.” He began to step away when he remembered something, he knocked onto the counter with his gloved hand and shot a big smile, “Oh, that reminds me. Have you seen (Y/N) at all?”

Katherynes concern fell into nervousness, “I... I was going to ask you that.”

“I gotta go.” He broke out into a sprint towards your house, the pain from his ankle seemed insignificant compared to his pounding heart. As if some lucky break, he didn’t trip or run into anyone on his way home.

He threw the door open and yelled, “(Y/N)?!” No response. He searched each room in the house, tearing apart every spot that you could even possibly be hiding in before ran to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. He practically barreled through the door to the library and with heavy breaths looked a startled Lisa in the eyes.

“Bennett?” She took a second to regain her composure, “Oh, actually, have you seen (Y/N) lately? We just got a new book I think she’d-”

Before she could finish, Bennett left the library and ran into the Acting Grand Masters office.

“Master Jean!” He panted, his arms shaking as he held the edges of the doorframe.

Jean looked up at him, piles of paperwork covering her desk, “Can I help you?”

“Yes! Yes, you can!” He walked into the room, tripped over his feet, got up, and sat down in the chair, “You’ve heard of (Y/N), right?”

“(Y/N)...” she repeated, “Oh, yes. I have. She helps me out every now and then.”

“Have you seen her at all today?”

Jean leaned back in her chair, tapping her pen against her lips, “No, I can’t say I have. Why?”

Bennett groaned and leaned forward, “I don’t know where she is! I woke up today and she was gone, which, yeah, is pretty normal for her but still! Not you, Katheryne, or Lisa have seen her! I’m really scared - she can’t fight and she keeps going out to pick flowers really far away! Please, please help me find her.”

She folded her hands, “What’s your name?”

“B-Bennett!”

“Bennett. Take Lisa with you and look around Mondstadt. If you still can’t find her, come back to me and we’ll discuss this again. Understood?”

“I’ve looked around Mondstadt!”

“Okay,” she exhaled, “I’ll organize a search party.” Jean stood, grabbed her vision, and walked with purpose.

Bennett sat in the chair, shaking. “(Y/N)... where are you...”

You woke up with a pounding headache and with something wet pressed against the side of your face. There was a tight rope binding your hands behind your back and chains connecting your feet to a small metal cage you were trapped in. You sat up and took deep breaths, trying to recall what happened.

“1 million mora? For a princess? We can do better than that.” A voice sneered.

“How do we know she’s really the princess?”

“Wait until you see her eyes! The Lost (L/N) Princess and she fell right into our hands! Hah! How lucky!”

You looked around your surroundings, other than the cage you were in, it seemed like a normal campsite. You didn’t quite recognize the area you were in and that worried you.

“H... hey!” You called out. The two voices fell quiet and eventually, two men came into your view.

“You’re awake.” A young man with orange eyes and dusty brown hair spoke, a purple face mask concealing his mouth and nose.

You narrowed your eyes at him, recognizing him as the man who took you hostage, “Where am I?”

The second man who had a hat covering his face kneeled in front of you, happiness beaming in his light blue eyes, “Well, I’ll be damned. It really is her.”

He grabbed the chains on your feet and pulled you towards him, “I’ve been looking for you for so long.”

“Let me go.” You growled, “I swear to god when Benny finds you-”

“Benny?” The man wearing the hat turned towards the masked man, “Whose Benny?”

“Her boyfriend, probably.”

“Hmm...” he leaned back and thought for a moment, “Well, you know what they say about loose ends...”

“W...wait.” Panic began to tear through your body, “Wait, please don’t. Oh, god, no. Please don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you ask just... please.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Well, stay put.” He opened the door on the cage and motioned for you to open your mouth, you complied. He ripped a piece of cloth off your clothes and tied it around your mouth, “Can’t have you screaming for help now, can we?” He chuckled and shut the cage again.

“What do we do now?” The masked man stood, anxiously bouncing on his heels.

“Find the boy.”

“And?”

“Well,” the man sat in front of your cage, pulling down his mask and showing you a bright grin, “See how much he wants his beloved back.”

You glared at him with tears in your eyes, trying to push the gag out of your mouth but to no avail.

Bennett sat on your bed, trying to keep himself from crying. 3 days. 3 days you’ve been missing. He wrapped himself in your clothes, taking deep breaths and trying to smell you on whatever remnant he had left.

The smell was fading.

He choked back tears and focused on you. Your smile, your voice, your favorite story, anything. Anything at all.

A loud knock at his door made him jump. Excitement and nervousness built into his feet as he ran to the door, maybe the Knights found you, maybe it was you. He threw the door open and saw a small slip of paper on the ground. With shaking hands, he picked it up, and when he finished reading its contents he couldn’t stop himself from crying or collapsing onto the ground.

Benny -

You probably want to know where (Y/N) is. She’s safe. For now, at least.

You have 24 hours to either get 30 million mora or something of equal value to

get her back safely. If you miss the deadline, we will sell her to the highest bidder. Deliver the money to the great tree in Windrise.

Come alone.

Proof that we have her is attached.

On the other side was a lock of your hair. He clutched it to his chest before carefully tucking it into his satchel, and just like that he took off searching for each mora or item in your house that could even possibly have value.

He would have sold the clothes off his back if it meant he’d see you again. But in the end, he fell short.

Not even 1 million mora.

He walked to the great tree, hoping he could strike some sort of deal. With his sword at his hip, he knew what he had to do.

The unlucky boy shook as he set the sword against the tree, his eyes filled with tears as a single man came from the shadows.

“You didn’t bring anything?” He scoffed, “She really loves you more than you love her.”

“She... she’s alive? Thank... thank the Archons.” His head drooped in relief, “M-my sword. It’s worth at least 30 million mora. Take it.”

The man stepped forward and inspected the sword, “Hm.” He practiced a few slashes with it, “Yes, this seems like it’ll catch a fair price.”

“Where is she?” He pulled himself to his feet, “I gave you what you wanted... where is she?”

He laughed under his mask, “Long gone. As we speak, she’s being pawned off.”

“Wh... what?” Bennett stepped forward, “I did what you asked.”

“Yes, you did. A 30 million mora sword and whatever she sells for... now my buddies and I will have the life we’ve always wanted.”

“That’s not fair.” He began to feel his blood boil under his skin, “You... you can’t do that.”

Bennett saw red, and the next thing he knew his sword was back in his hands and he was marching directly to you.

Wrath and fear forced his body on and it only increased tenfold as he saw a group of people standing around a cage, one of the men counting mora as he loudly spoke about your name to the onlookers.

Fire roared inside of him, their arrows and swords burned the moment he got near. Everything was burned to ash, except for you. He turned to the cage and felt his chest constrict as he saw tears pooling down your face and a gag keeping you silent.

He dropped his sword and ran over to the cage, it didn’t take him long to open the lock and remove the gag.

“Benny!” You gasped when you could speak, “Oh, god, Benny, I was so scared. T-They... they said they were going to kill you.”

“I’m here, it’s okay.” He broke the chains off your feet and untied the rope around your hands, “Can you walk?”

“I... I think?” He helped you out of the cage, but you immediately stumbled when you touched the ground. He wrapped his arms around your waist and caught you.

“I’ll carry you. Are you tired?” He sat you on the ground for a moment as he sheathed his sword, before picking you up bridal style and making sure to tighten his hands around so he wouldn’t drop you.

“A... a little.”

“I bet,” he beamed, “Bennys Adventure Team is here to help you!”

Your laughter dissolved into coughing.

Bennett frowned and held you close, “When we get home, I’ll read you a story.”

“About Vanessa?”

“About anything you want.”

You leaned into his chest and wrapped your arms around his neck, “As long as it’s you... I don’t care what it is.”

He was going to respond, but he noticed your eyes fall shut. He leaned down to make sure you were still breathing, smiled to himself, and began the long trek home.

Whenever you wanted to pick flowers or do anything outside of the city, he’d always offer to come with you. He doesn’t want you to go missing again. At night, he draws you close against his chest as he sleeps.

#benny x reader #bennett x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact bennett #genshin impact benny #one shot #oneshot #x reader #x reader fanfiction #fanfiction #bennett x you #benny x you #happy endings #saved by bennett #saved by benny

152 notes · View notes

kaialone · 3 years ago

Text

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Meta Knightmare Returns

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover all the cutscenes that appear in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode.

You can also watch these cutscenes for yourself in English (1, 2, 3) and Japanese (1, 2, 3).

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

Encountering Star Dream:

Star Dream:

……R…E…A…… ……D…Y……………・＞

...R...E...A... ...D...Y... ->

L...O...A...D...I...N...G...

Star Dream:

……………………。

...

.........

Star Dream:

アナタが…新しい… ゴシュジン様…デスネ。

YOU must BE... the new... MASter.

You must be... the new admin.

Star Dream:

……ナルホド、とてもツヨイパワーをお持ちのヨウデ…。

...UNDERSTOOD, it APPEARS that you possess quite TREMENDOUS POWER...

Yes. You possess incredible power...

Star Dream:

……………… OK＞

...OK >

...OK.

Star Dream:

…デハ、ソンナゴシュジン様ガノゾム…

...THEN, AS SUCH A MASter WOULD DESIRE...

As a new admin, you must supply your credentials...

Star Dream:

コノ星でも… カナリの強サを持つ…

YOU SHALL be given... THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLASH with a "sword USER"...

to the strongest warriors of this planet.

Star Dream:

「剣のツカイテ」と、タタカワセテ…さしあげマショウ。

WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH... even for THIS planet.

Executing Sword_Master.EXE.

Before Battling Sectonia Clone:

Star Dream:

……おみごとデ、ゴザイマス。

...MasterFULLY DONE.

...Impressive.

Star Dream:

ゴシュジン様にはショウショウモノたりナカッタかもしれマセンネ。

Perhaps THIS was A LITTLE UNsatisfactory for you, MASter.

That may have been a bit too easy for the admin...

Star Dream:

ソレでは次に、美シクまうようニ剣をアヤツる…

SO then, for THE next one, the most powerful queen...

Next up is one whose swordplay resembles a beautiful dance...

Star Dream:

最強の女王を、ヨミガエらせマショウ。

WHO HANDles her blades liKE A beautiFUL dance, shall BE RESURRECTED.

Let us bring back the most powerful queen from the void.

Star Dream:

ソノたぐいまれな戦いのセンスと王たるオー��…

HER exceptional APTITUDE for battle, and her majestic AURA...

Experience her royal presence and unparalleled fighting skills.

Star Dream:

ドウゾゴたんのうクダサイませ。

PLEASE, ENjoy them thoroUGHLY.

She will be a fitting test for you.

Before Battling Galacta Knight:

Star Dream:

サスガ、ゴシュジン様デス。ではサイゴに…

WELL DONE AS ALWAYS, MASter. Now, FOR THE LAST one...

You are mighty indeed. Now for the final test...

Star Dream:

かつてのゴシュジン様にハキンジられてイタ…

THE "Spacetime Transfer Programm", WHICH the previous MASter had FORBIDDEN...

This was prohibited by the previous admin...

Star Dream:

「時空テンイプログラム」をアンロックシ、

SHALL BE UNLOCKED,

Preparing to boot the Space-Time Transport program...

Star Dream:

イニシエの時代ノ剣士ヲ、ヨビダシマショウ。

TO CALL FORTH A swordfighter from ANCIENT TIMES.

Let us bring back a legendary swordsman from a forgotten time.

Star Dream:

…カレにコノあたりノ星ハホロボされてシマウと思イマスガ…

...IT STANDS TO reason that HE is LIKELY TO DESTroy the SURrounding planets, BUT...

He may end up destroying a nearby planet or two, but such is life.

Star Dream:

キット、サイゴノタタカイを楽シンデイタダケルことデショウ。

You will MOST CERTAINLY find THIS LAST BATTLE to be enjoyABLE.

The benefits of this final battle outweigh the collateral damage.

Star Dream:

ソレでは………！

NOW then...!

Prepare yourself...

Star Dream:

時空テンイプログラム… アンロック… 異空間ロード… リブート…

UNLOCKING... Space Time Transfer Program... REBOOTING... Another Dimension Road... (1)

Executing Space-Time Transport... Extra-dimensional road... Booting...

Star Dream:

…………３

3...

Star Dream:

…………２

2...

Star Dream:

…………１

1...

Star Dream:

…………………GO!!

...GO!!

...BEGIN!

Translation Note:

I’ll go over it in more detail in the section below, but the term I translated as “Another Dimension Road” is called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese. This term previously appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

Since the cutscenes of Meta Knightmare Returns all occur towards the end and are pretty short, I decided to cover all of them in one post like this.

Still, just because they’re short doesn’t mean there is nothing to talk about.

It’s only mentioned briefly in these cutscenes, but I want to go over the term I adapted as “Another Dimension Road” in slightly more detail.

In the original Japanese version, the term is 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, which first appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

To start off, 異空間/Ikūkan by itself could be translated as something like “different dimension", “different space”, “different realm”, or anything along those lines, 異/i meaning “different”, and 空間/kūkan meaning “space” or “dimension”, and the like.

This term has come up a few times in the Kirby series since Return to Dream Land, and the Japanese version of Star Allies actually gives it the English reading “Another Dimension”, which is why I also like to adapt it as that.

The term 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, adding the English word “road” to it, also comes up a few times in Return to Dream Land.

Given what I explained above, I like to adapt it as “Another Dimension Road”.

Magolor mentions this term when he talks about his home, saying that it’s far away, but that it’s connected to Pop Star via 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo.

The English localization of the game adapted this as “interdimensional tunnel” in this instance.

Also, the cutscene that is called “Final Battle” in the English version is simply called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese.

Going by that, it seems safe to assume that this term can refer to the “road(s)” that connects different dimensions, realms, or the like.

Now, there is a lot more I could potentially talk about with these two terms and how they come up in the Kirby series, but it would be too long for this section here.

I might make a dedicated post just for that at some point, if that would interest people.

So, most relevant to Planet Robobot, is the fact that “Another Dimension Road” is a term we had seen before in Return to Dream Land.

The English version might be trying to keep the connection to Return to Dream Land by adapting the term as “Extra-dimensional road“ here, possibly referring to the Extra Mode of that game.

Back to Planet Robobot, here’s something potentially interesting about Star Dream in these cutscenes.

You’ll find that in both Japanese and English it uses about the same speaking style as it did during its appearance in the main story.

And the English version actually adapts it in the same way as it did back then, so I appreciate the consistency there.

Like before, the English version has it use some more computer-like sounding phrases here, like saying “admin” instead of “master”.

Most notable as a change is probably the phrase “Sword_Master.EXE”, which would imply that Star Dream might have a dedicated program just for either cloning Dark Matter Blade, or sword users in general.

But what’s really interesting to me is something else.

Now, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence, but Star Dream does not refer to itself in first person at any point in these cutscenes

With the way the Japanese language works, this isn’t all too uncommon, but it still stands out a bit, because Star Dream referring to itself in first person during the main story was a notable trait it had.

A machine wouldn’t normally refer to itself like that, so Star Dream doing that seemed like a result of it gaining a sense of self during those events.

And keep in mind that those events, namely Star Dream fusing with Hatlmann’s spirit, don’t actually occur during the story of Meta Knightmare, meaning Star Dream actually should not have a sense of self in this scenario.

So, Star Dream not referring to itself in first person during these cutscenes could be meant to reflect that? But that’s just my guess.

In any case, because of the above, I decided to adapt its dialogue in these cutscenes without using any first person either.

And from what I can tell, it looks like the English localization may have thought the same thing, since they also don’t use any (singular) first person for Star Dream here.

I realize this means there isn’t any difference between versions when it comes to this aspect, but I still wanted to mention it, because it’s easy to miss.

In the Japanese version, Star Dream’s dialogue here contains more direct references to Milky Way Wishes, with it using several of the same phrases that Galactic Nova used.

Most notably, this includes it counting down from 3 and finishing the counter with the words “Go!!”, which is also referenced during its boss battles.

In the English version, these phrases are slightly rewritten and don’t match Galactic Nova’s dialogue from either English version of Milky Way Wishes, with the countdown in particular ending with “Begin!” instead.

As a result, that final line also no longer matches the visuals of Star Dream’s final boss battle.

If you only look at the text in this game right here, it does make sense to rewrite these phrases slightly, “Begin!” certainly sounds more appropriate than “Go!!” out of context.

But this, combined with the fact that any other subtle reference to Milky Way Wishes in the text so far has been glossed over in English makes me think that the English localizers either didn’t realize that these were references, or ended up ignoring them for some reason.

Whatever said reason may be, I still think it’s a shame, because when you add all of them up, there is a great deal of connections to Milky Way Wishes in this game’s text that are lost in the English version, leaving it only with the visual and musical references.

And those are still nice, don’t get me wrong, but it still feels like you’re missing out just a little.

Somewhat related to the above, Star Dream’s reasoning for its actions in these cutscenes is quite different between versions, changing a lot about the context of what is happening.

In the Japanese version, Star Dream seemingly comes to the conclusion that Meta Knight wishes to fight strong opponents. So, the reason why it proceeds to summon several powerful warriors is specifically because it is attempting to comply with that desire.

And that really seems to be all there is to it in the Japanese version, no apparent additional motivation other than to satisfy its new master Meta Knight.

At most you can speculate whether or not Meta Knight really was actively wishing for this to happen, or if Star Dream was misinterpreting him, but...

Considering this is a direct parallel to Meta Knightmare Ultra, and Meta Knight did wish for something exactly like that over there, I’d wager it’s safe to bet Star Dream’s assessment of him was at least partially accurate.

And of course, this also gives Star Dream another direct parallel to Galactic Nova.

In the English version, Star Dream instead states that Meta Knight has to supply his credentials, and thus all the battles that follow are portrayed as “tests” for Meta Knight.

This also implies that Star Dream would probably test any potential new admin in such a manner, in contrast to the Japanese version, where Star Dream seems to accept Meta Knight right away without question.

I know that this particular change has caused English-speaking fans to speculate what sort of test Haltmann may have had to pass, which can be interesting of course.

But for the reference, no such tests seem to exist in the Japanese version.

And still related to the above, in the English version, Star Dream states that Meta Knight must supply his credentials “to the strongest warriors of this planet”, which might even be a small translation error?

Because in the Japanese version, Star Dream only states that Meta Knight will have the opportunity to “CLASH with a sword USER… WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH… even for THIS planet”, so that latter part is only referring to the clone of Dark Matter Blade.

There is no clear plural in Japanese, so one could interpret the Japanese line as referring to all three warriors that Star Dream ends up summoning, but since it gives a little introduction for Sectonia Clone and Galacta Knight, I think it’s more likely this line right here was just its introduction for Dark Matter Clone.

The English phrasing also makes you wonder why Star Dream would even summon Galacta Knight, who’s not taken from this planet, or even this era for that matter.

It just kinda doesn’t add up when you think about it more.

And that’s about it for these cutscenes.

The most notable change is the completely different reasoning behind Star Dream’s action here.

I personally feel it gives this entire ending scenario a different vibe, and potentially the implication of what Meta Knight’s role in it is, considering the parallels to Meta Knightmare Ultra.

With that, we have covered all of the cutscenes of Kirby: Planet Robobot, but we are not done quite yet.

There is still more story to this game, so for the next part, we will start tackling the pause screen descriptions of the boss fights!

Feel free to check it out!

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

#kirby #kirby of the stars #kirby planet robobot #planet robobot #kirby translations #my translations #planet robobot translation comparisons #kirby planet robobot spoilers #planet robobot spoilers #robobot spoilers

28 notes · View notes

ev-pierce-writes · 3 years ago

Text

The Promise

The Heir Chapter 3

Pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) x Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 12K

Warnings: I can't even remember.

Note: Oof its been a while sorry

___

The council meeting was where everything started to go wrong. The members of the Neutral Systems were always dismissive and condescending toward you, but the presence of the Mandalorian made it worse.

"These people are not easy to convince, Din," you warned him before stepping into the meeting. "I don't know what your plan for Mandalore is but you are either about to make great allies or terrible enemies."

"I'll follow your lead," he said.

"You brought him here?" General Tarrow questioned incredulously the moment you appeared.

"Is there a problem with that?" you countered. Din sat silently beside you, helmet on, surveying the situation.

"You were always one to flirt with danger, Your Majesty. But I never expected you to court the enemy," Prince Cornith, representative of the Angor system, said. You hated his smug smile and arrogant posture. And his implication stoked an anger in your chest.

"And yet I'm not surprised at your apparent prejudice towards someone you've never met. The Mandalorian is not an enemy. He's an ally in need of assistance to fight for his people."

"How are you expecting this to play out? A little catfight amongst warrior clans who know nothing but to fight?" the General asked. A wave of laughter spread through the representatives. You did not join in.

"My people have seen Bo-Katan on Mandalore. She's gathering the people around her. Readying for battle. She needs to be stopped before this escalates and it spills over into other systems."

"So what you're saying is to prepare for war?" General Tarrow's questioned, jumping to a fairly major conclusion.

"I'm saying we need to be prepared for the possibility of one good Mandalorian having to face a hundred bad ones."

"Why should we even get involved in this? This guy can't be trusted," Cornith said, pointing an accusing finger at Din. "Take off the ridiculous helmet and then we'll see for real. Maybe he's a deformed monster under it all."

You bristled against the blatant insult but managed to remain collected. The Prince enjoyed getting a rise out of you and you knew no one would stand up for you if you fired back.

"If the wrong person ends up on the throne, and Mandalore returns to its militaristic ways, they will encroach on your territory. They used to control entire systems. Bo-Katan can and will take yours."

"We are prepared to deal with that if it happens."

"When it happens, General, it will be too late. None of us are a match for a well-organized Mandalorian army. We need to get ahead of this."

"Who's to say he's even the one we should be backing? We are the Neutral Systems for a reason. We don't take sides."

"Djarin is a good man. I trust him. Societies don't rebuild themselves overnight. We need to lay the right bricks now to build a foundation that won't just fall apart and take the whole structure with it. Djarin is the one to do that."

"I hate to argue with you, Your Majesty--" This was a lie. The Prince loved to argue. "--but I'm afraid your judgment is clouded by your shared history with Mandalore."

"And I'm afraid your judgment is clouded by your selfishness, Prince Cornith."

He stood. "I act only with my people's best interests at heart."

"As do I." You stood as well and stared the Prince down. General Tarrow watched the interaction from his seat, just as distrustful as Cornith but less vocal.

"What happens if Bo-Katan does take control and finds out we've been going behind her back to form an alliance?" Cornith said. "The rest of us are done for. Nhora might have the firepower to protect herself, but we don't."

In a way he was right. If this failed, everyone, including Nhora, would take the heat. Din had remained silent the entire time, unsure if he was even allowed to speak. But finally, he did. "You're right. I can't ask you to put your people on the line. All I can ask is that when the time comes you will support my people and their wishes. I just-- I want to protect my family. You can understand that right?"

Cornith eyed Din with distrust and then shook his head. "I'm out. Whatever deal you're going to try to make, I won't get involved."

"Can you at least promise not to align yourself with Bo-Katan?" you pleaded.

He sighed, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I can't take that risk. I'll do what I think is best to protect my people. I'm out."

Cornith's hologram flickered and then disappeared. Two others followed, leaving only you and General Tarrow. And though he still hesitated, Din's words had appeared to make a dent in the tough General's shell. If he wasn't going to listen to you at least he would listen to Din. He sat up and leaned forward, completely ignoring you when he spoke and looking only at the Mandalorian.

"How many soldiers are we talking? How many will it take for this little operation of yours."

"Six," Din said.

"Six?" both you and the General exclaimed at the same time.

"At most."

"And here I thought we were arguing over hundreds. Six we can manage." That was far fewer than either of you were expecting. Din hadn't explained to you what his plan was yet. And if he was being honest, he wasn't quite sure himself. But this was a start.

"You do realize what you are up against, Mando," you questioned. "She'll be expecting you to make a move."

"I once took out an Imp base with fewer than that. Bo-Katan doesn't want a war. She needs to defeat me in battle, fairly, to regain the saber. I just need to get in."

"And then what? Kill or be killed?" The thought made your heart constrict.

"I hope not. But probably."

The room fell quiet at the gravity of his words.

"I'm going with you," Zena said abruptly. She had remained silent throughout the meeting but now spoke with determination.

"Absolutely not," Din said. "No offense but I need trained warriors for this."

You could tell by the look on Zena's face that she'd already made up her mind. "It wasn't a question, Mando," she said. "I'm the best warrior on this planet and I'm going with you."

Din was silent. "Okay," he consented, though sounding a bit taken aback. "That's one. I'll need that Jedi too, Skywalker."

"Good luck finding him," the General said. "I'll discuss this with my Lieutenants. We'll see about filling out your team. But I'm not making any promises, Mando. And you're going to have to deal with the consequences of the Angor system potentially aligning with Bo-Katan. Prince Cornith will follow whoever offers him the best price."

And then the General was gone as well. You sighed, finally able to let down the hardened exterior you had put up for the council meeting. "That did not go as well as I'd hoped."

"I hate that Angor guy," Zena said with a huff.

"Me too. Eyed you like a slab of meat," Din said quietly. It was the harshest language you'd ever heard out of his mouth, almost protective of you. But he moved on quickly. "I was expecting the worst. At least we might have the General. I have a...friend on the inside as well. But I'll need help getting in contact with her."

"I'll take care of that," you said, sinking deeper in your chair, now only thinking that Din's plan might be a suicide mission. Din followed your movements, noticing the stress that radiated from you in waves. You'd taken quite the verbal berating from the council. He wanted to reach out and ease your worry the way he had last night but was too conscious of Zena's watchful eye. So he settled on speaking.

"You can back out," he said. His words caught you off guard. "I can go forward without you. You don't need to put your people on the line like this."

"Too late for that, Mando," Zena said, answering for you. "Once she makes up her mind there's no going back."

---

Zena was right. Your mind was made up. You were suspiciously silent through the rest of the morning's meetings and disappeared directly afterward to your chambers, reappearing again only for lunch. You were planning, turning things over in your mind, wondering how best to move forward. The next logical step seemed to wait on the reappearance of the Jedi and his ward.

Din noticed it all, the concentrated look on your face, your abnormal silence. He wanted to draw you out of your shell, tell you it would be alright, but he didn't know how. So he focused on Zena.

"I didn't know you could fight," he said to her. Zena had offered to give him a tour of the grounds of the palace, and you trailed along behind, eager for a distraction from the stressful morning. The three of you had come upon the sparring grounds, piquing Din's curiosity.

"I come from the longest line of warriors on Nhora," she said. "My mother, her mother, her mother... Not that they passed on anything cool like beskar armor. Is it all beskar?"

"Yes. Though mine wasn't passed on either. I got it through more... dubious means."

"And that? Also beskar?" Zena motioned to the staff on Din's back, topped with a sharp spearhead.

Din unclipped the staff from his back and handed it to her with surprising trust. She took it gingerly, feeling out the balance in her hands. "It's very light. Do you fight with this?"

"Is that a challenge, Zena?"

"Hah, I could take you, Mando. You want to go a round?"

Din didn't need to be asked twice. He was eager to see how your royal advisor fared one on one.

You stood above them on the observation ledge of the sparring grounds, watching as they faced each other below, knowing this would be a good fight.

Zena tapped the staff against the ground. "Where's your weapon, Mando?"

"No weapon. Wouldn't want to give you an unfair disadvantage." Though Zena took those words as a challenge they were not said arrogantly. Din's cool confidence was built on experience and success.

But Din was not prepared for what he would get hit with next. Specifically what Zena hit him with next. Zena struck out with the first blow, slamming the staff in a dangerously accurate hit to the side of his head. The beskar sent vibrations through his helmet and he stumbled back in surprise. Taking advantage of his disorientation Zena dealt a second blow with her foot to his side, and Din gasped, bending over in pain. He'd forgotten about rule one, never underestimate your opponent. And rule number two, no distractions. Having you as an audience was a damn good one.

Zena lunged again, though this time Din was ready, taking hold with his gloved hands of the staff and hauling her forward. But Zena anticipated the attack and counterbalanced, shifting her weight down and using the staff as a lever to launch him onto his back.

Din landed with a groan on the ground. Watching a Mandalorian get his ass kicked by your advisor was a very sufficient diversion.

"Unfair disadvantage, Mando? You seem to be the one at a disadvantage," Zena taunted as Din hauled himself to his feet. "Perhaps you're distracted by a pretty woman on your mind."

"We both know you're trying to impress her too."

Your heart began to flutter. He was trying to impress you.

"Ah yes, but the difference is I've already impressed her. You are behind."

That comment finally got to him. Din struck next, easily knocking the staff from Zena's hands and pinning her arms behind her back to immobilize her upper body. The staff went clattering to the ground. But it wasn't the end for your advisor. She kicked out her legs and took both her and Din to the floor, reaching out and taking hold of the staff to swing at his head. Din rolled out of the way, but not without having to relinquish his hold on Zena. She lept to her feet gracefully and lashed out her leg, planting a solid and swift kick to one of Din's pauldrons, sending him back to the floor.

"You should really work on your hand-to-hand combat, Din Djarin. I expected better from a lifelong warrior."

"I'm good enough to get by," Din said with a huff, finally making his way to his feet again.

"Good enough isn't good enough, Mando. You need to be better. The best."

"Fine, if you want a fair fight, you'll get one." Din pulled something from his belt. It was hard to tell what it was, just an oblong object in his hand. But then he pressed a button and the full length of it emerged, glowing and humming with electricity. The Darksaber.

"So when I defeat you, does that mean I'm the new Mand'alor?"

Zena was taking the appearance of the most powerful handheld weapon in the galaxy in stride.

"If you win, yes. But you're not going to."

The saber met the staff with a crash, sending reverberations across the sparring grounds. You felt a jolt of electricity spread over your skin, vibrating your body down to the core. Din suddenly took on a new appearance, powerful, intense, confident. The shift was small but compelling and you thought perhaps the vibrations spreading through your body were not just from the force of the saber.

Din attacked again, forcing Zena backward in a fight that had taken on a new energy. Zena was skilled and agile. She anticipated Din's every move and blocked his strikes. But she was no match to the Darksaber in Din's hands and found herself forced to step back with each blow until she was up against the wall. The staff narrowly prevented the loss of her head.

"How about now, ready to tap out?"

Zena held up a fist in response, letting him know she knew she was done for.

"I take that back. You are good."

In an instant, the Darksaber was gone again, just a hilt in his hands. "No, the Darksaber is good. You were right. I could use some practice. And I wouldn't mind getting it from the best around."

Zena laughed.

"I train at dawn. See you there, metalhead." With an affectionate rap of her knuckles on his helmet, she handed Din back the staff. "I've got work to do. Perhaps Her Majesty could finish the tour."

She bowed toward you with a dubious smile and exited the sparring grounds, leaving you alone with Din. You walked down the stairs and met him in the center of the ring, the power of the Darksaber leaving your skin vibrating slightly with its intensity.

"So, did it work?" Din asked, his tone level and unreadable.

"Did what work?"

"Did I impress you."

You couldn't suppress the shy smile that danced across your lips. "The Darksaber certainly did."

It wasn't the answer Din had hoped for, but he'd broken your silence, which was enough for him. Without Zena around to watch you, he felt a bit more emboldened to pursue your fleeting smile.

"Give me your hand," he said, voice still serious.

"Why?"

"Just--" He didn't wait. Din grabbed your left hand and placed the Darksaber in it, wrapping your fingers around it with his own. "Point it away from your face. And anything else you value. Then press right here when you're ready."

The Darksaber was in your hand. You stood frozen in shock, unsure of what to make of this gesture. Din was putting his most valuable, and most controversial, possession under your control.

"Go on. I know you want to."

"Are you sure I'm allowed to?"

Din shrugged. "I don't really care. I didn't ask for the thing."

You took a deep breath and then held your arm out from your side, worried you would accidentally slice your own leg off. But Din was right. You wanted to. Another breath and then--

Vroom. The shaft of the saber extended from its hilt with a jolt and you took an involuntary step back. The glow was even brighter up close, and if you listened carefully you could hear the crackle of electricity. You weren't sure why you'd expected it to be heavy, it seemed such a heavy object, carrying the weight of a people and a planet within it. But it wasn't.

Din stepped behind you, you thought to get out of the way of your swing, but then he placed a hand on your hip, showing you how to plant your feet and stabilize you. The left reached out and wrapped around yours.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice soft and guiding in your ear. Oh Maker, he was so close that you could feel his beskar armor against your back. The hand on your hip was gentle but strong, grounding you not to the floor but to him. You couldn't speak so you nodded in reply.

Din brought your hand up to your opposite shoulder and then guided it into a swift slash across your body, leaving a flash of white light in its wake that seared your eyes. The air sparkled, electrified. A gasp escaped your mouth at the sheer amount of power you held. But only one thought entered your mind.

"Can I cut something in half?"

Din laughed, in awe that this was your only request. "Sure, as long as it isn't me. Remember to balance yourself in your hips. Keep your feet planted. And maybe use two hands this time."

He released you and you stepped across the grounds toward one of the sparring dummies. Din watched, and though you walked gingerly, a bit wary of the saber, you held your head high. You were more powerful than you thought.

"Sorry, bud. This is for a good cause," you addressed the motionless dummy. Plant your feet, balance in the hips, and two hands on the hilt. Check, check, check. Draw back and slash. The Darksaber sliced straight through the sack of hay and sand, spilling its guts across the floor.

You squealed in delight. "Oh Maker, I think I could get used to this."

The beaming smile on your face lit the world on fire. Din found himself staring not at the mess you'd just made but at your expression of pure joy, glowing white from the light of the Darksaber. He wanted to make you feel like that all the time, he realized.

---

"What are the people like on Mandalore?" you asked, guiding Din around the palace library. It was quiet today, especially between the stacks, as everyone seemed to be enjoying the good weather outside.

Din sighed, unsure how to answer the question. "They need help. But they're stubborn and won't ask."

"Sounds familiar," you said and Din laughed in response. You wished you could see his face at times like these when the conversation flowed easily and he let you tease him.

"You know, some people on Mandalore don't even believe you're real."

"They don't?"

"They think you're a figurehead. A distraction from the real people in charge. That you only show up to make appearances at official functions."

It wasn't that surprising for you to hear. You rarely left the palace and never left the planet. But there was another reason you suspected their disbelief.

"I think I know why," you said.

Din's silence urged you to continue.

"Meet me outside the palace. At four. I'll show you."

When Din stood at the grand doors of the entrance to the palace, he thought for a moment you had forgotten about him up. He was looking for the regal version of you, the version where you wore your extravagant robes and were surrounded by guards. That is not the version that appeared.

Instead, you were dressed modestly, having abandoned your synthsilk robes for brown linen pants. A dark green cape was wrapped around your shoulders, the hood hiding your face, but the heat signature on Din's visor was clearly yours. The transformation was astounding.

Din bowed as you approached. "Your Majesty," he addressed you.

"Stop that, you'll give me away. You should use my real name."

Your real name? He hadn't yet been offered the privilege of that knowledge, and it embarrassed him to discover what an intense reaction the thought of it elicited from him. His heart rate picked up erratically and he thanked the Maker for his helmet to hide the blush on his cheeks.

You leaned in, beckoning with a finger for him to come closer, and whispered to him in a soft voice. Your name. Your real name. It was a beautiful secret, a name all for himself to possess and wrap around his tongue. It suited you, Din thought.

He repeated it back to you, testing out its weight. You liked the way the syllables rolled around his mouth, even through the modulation of his helmet.

"Come on, we'll start at the market first. I have forty hard-earned credits to spend."

Din trailed behind you through the late afternoon crowds, weaving this way and that over bridges and around stalls. There was no way Din would have been able to find his way around, but you knew the place like the back of your hand, following the paved stone paths, recognizing your favorite shopkeepers, and pointing out the best spots.

Once fully immersed in the throng and away from any guards who may have recognized you, you let your hood fall from your head, tilting your face toward the sun and smiling contentedly. Though your face was no different than it always was, you had changed somehow. No one recognized you or even gave you a second glance, other than perhaps to admire the beauty of the sunlight reflecting from your untamed hair. At least, that's what Din was staring at.

And finally he understood, that beneath it all you weren't just a queen, you were any other person who could blend in with the crowd. He was jealous. He wanted to disappear like that.

"Keep up, Mando," you said, and reached out behind you to grab his hand. You did it to prevent him from getting swept up and lost to the swarms of people, but his heart fluttered at the intimacy and ease of the interaction as you pulled him closer.

"Why are there so many people?" he mumbled into your ear as you paused at one of the stalls to take a look.

"Tomorrow's the fertility festival. After the last day of planting the year's crops, everyone celebrates and prays for good yields. The city will be even more packed tomorrow, so the market prepares for the influx of people." You moved on, dragging Din along behind you. "But today is really the day to come. Fewer people and a better selection."

Selection of what? Din almost asked until you pulled him to a stop. Somehow, you were back at that stall Din had noticed during his first trip here, the one with the delicious smelling food that he'd been in too much of a hurry, and too poor, to buy. Din lingered behind you, eyeing the small pastries and steaming bowls of...something. He wasn't exactly sure what. But it still smelled just as amazing as he remembered, even through the filtered sterile air of his helmet.

"I'll take three of those," you said, pointing at the largest pastries on the top row of the display. The woman running the stall silently slid them into a paper bag, completely oblivious to your identity. You loved the liberating feeling of not having anyone call you by your title or even recognize who you truly were.

"And for the Mandalorian?" the woman asked, glancing slightly nervously at Din's hulking shape hovering just behind you.

You turned toward him. "Are you super hungry or just really hungry?" you asked with a grin.

"Oh, no thank you. I can't afford that."

You pulled a stack of credits from your pocket and handed them over, completely ignoring his comment. "We'll take two more fruit pastries and two of the vegetable ones, thank you."

And then you were off again before he could protest, guiding him further away from the palace and into the market. From the top of a bridge, you flagged down one of the canal taxis, stepping down the bank as it slowed to a stop.

"Now where are we going?"

You didn't respond, just pointed at the flat-bottomed boat, indicating for Din to get in. He did as he was told, jumping in easily, and you moved to follow, sitting on the edge of the stone wall to reduce how far you'd have to jump. But Din stopped you with his hands on your hips, lifting you easily with his arms into the boat so that you wouldn't have to jump.

"Where to?" the helmsman said.

You pointed along the canal in the direction opposite of the city. "Just follow on up that way."

"Lady, you're going to hit marsh. I can't go that far without my boat bottoming out."

"Just go until you can't anymore."

The taxi maneuvered up the canal, at first following the stone walls that lined the waters edge. Soon, however, they turned to grass as you left the boundary of the city, the market fading slowly behind you. The man was right. The canal quickly became more of a creek, marsh grasses and reeds growing up around you.

"This is as far as I can take you. Not sure why you'd want to be here, but I'm not coming back so good luck."

How kind. Din helped you out of the boat, a bit wary of your strange plan. There couldn't have been anything out here. But you were scrambling onto the grassy embankment, paper bag of food in tow, and he followed diligently behind.

"I'm starting to think you're a bit crazy," Din teased. He'd roughed it before, and this was by no means roughing it, but he hadn't expected this from you.

"I know what I'm doing, Din. Just follow me."

The ground leveled out, marshes to one side of the creek, a smattering of trees on the other. The two of you walked along the shrinking stream of water, a soft blanket of grass beneath your feet, until you found what you were apparently looking for.

"When I was a kid, I would hide out here. No one could find me."

Din wasn't surprised. The small clearing was absolutely secluded from the rest of the world, the city skyline was gone, the sounds of the market reduced to nothing. Around him, the chirping and croaking of wildlife was the only noise besides the rushing water of the shallow stream. The air was warm today, warmer than it had been in a while, and though the evening was waning, you pulled off your cape and tossed it to the ground.

Without a second thought, you plopped down on the ground next to the stream, back against a tree, and off came your shoes so you could dig your toes into the sandy bank. You opened the paper bag, fishing around for the first pastry. When Din didn't join you, you patted the ground next to you, inviting him to sit.

"You're sure we're safe?"

"Of course we're safe, Din. I know my way around my own planet."

Finally he sat, looking slightly out of place in all his beskar. But he removed his helmet when you handed him one of the vegetable pies, helping him to look a little more relaxed in these unfamiliar surroundings. He leaned back against the thick tree, looking around to better gauge his environment. You, and the planet you called home, never ceased to surprise him.

"Have you ever left?"

"Where? Nhora?"

"Yeah."

You looked up toward the sky where the sun was starting to set, casting an orange and pink glow through the clouds. But you weren't looking for the sunset. You were looking for the moons, already rising.

"There. See the smallest moon, up and to the left?" Din nodded in the direction you pointed. "It's actually the biggest, only it looks small because it's so far away. That's where I was born. But no, otherwise I haven't."

Din nodded solemly and took a bite of the pie. You weren't sure why he'd posed the question and he didn't seem inclined to explain. You watched as he chewed slowly, crumbs from the crust spilling onto his armor. And then his eyes went wide with enjoyment. The soft buttery pastry melted in his mouth, sweetness contrasting with the salty filling.

"Wow, this is delicious."

You smiled in satisfaction. That reaction was all you'd wanted all day, to see him blown away by the things you called home. He finished the first pastry in silence and then held out a hand, asking you wordlessly for another.

"I once visited a planet with no atmosphere," he said abruptly. It was surprising to hear him speak like this, freely, with no prompting. You held your tongue because it was the only way to encourage him to go on. "Then there was the planet where I couldn't stop moving unless I wanted to be someone's lunch."

He paused, thinking. "I know four languages. Aside from basic."

That one was impressive. You realized this was him opening up. Sharing. It made your heart tingle with warmth. Then Din fell into silence, indicating it was your turn.

"I can fly an x-wing," you said after a moment of thinking. "Not very well. But in a pinch. And I've never punched anyone, though I really want to punch that Angor prince sometimes."

"You can try it out on me."

"I think I'd rather not break my hand on your armor," you said with a laugh. What else? "I'm twenty-six years old."

Din took a deep breath. "I don't know how old I am. Maybe thirty-nine. Or forty."

"You look older than that."

Din glanced at you to gauge if you were joking. You were, in fact, joking, a big smile filling the round apples of your cheeks, mouth full of flaky pastry. "Alright, very funny. Your turn."

"I--" Where did you want to take this conversation? Din's presence next to you made you feel comfortable and warm and something about that inclined you to dig deeper, let him in a little more. "I don't know who my father was. Or is, I guess."

Din let out a quiet breath beside you. You were both watching the sunset, not one another, but you didn't have to see his face to feel comforted by his presence. "My parents are definitely dead if that makes you feel any better. No doubt about that."

The admission was a difficult one for him, and he was glad you didn't press any further. But then suddenly your hand was on his leg, gripping his knee tightly and telling him to be quiet.

"What's wrong?"

"Shh!" For a moment Din thought you were in imminent danger, but then he saw no alarm on your face, only excitement. "Don't move," you whispered.

The final light of the sun had dimmed, leaving you surrounded by a deep blue twilight. And yet, you still managed to spot the creature, sitting on a rock across the stream from you. You stood as quietly as possible, moving slowly so as not to scare it away. Without bothering to roll up the legs of your pants you stepped barefooted into the shallow stream, the cool water rushing around your ankles, not yet warmed by the sun of the warming season. But a little cold water wasn't going to stop you from catching the small creature.

Din watched as you bent over slowly and then snatched as quick as lightning, grabbing at something sitting on a rock. When you stood, triumph on your face, he nearly laughed. "What is that?"

"It's a glow frog, remember?"

Of course, he remembered. The animal you'd compared Grogu to. You were grasping the frog firmly but gently, holding it up for Din to see. It was a comical sight, a woman normally so regal and queen-like, shin-deep in marsh water, wild animal in her hands.

"So is the glow part just for kicks or..." The frog was not living up to its name. No glowing in sight.

"Just wait. It takes a second." The sun had fully dipped below the horizon now, the light from the three moons overhead the strongest source in the night sky. But then it happened. The small creature in your hands began to illuminate, green and fluorescent. It started slow, almost imperceptibly, until it shown bright, casting its glow across your face.

And you were right. The resemblance was uncanny. The frog opened its wide mouth, eyes large, and it croaked, surprising you enough into dropping it back into the water. You giggled, and suddenly Din spotted the youthful shine reappearing on your face the way it had the other night in the kitchen.

"They respond to pressure, releasing a chemical when you surprise them. I used to catch them all the time out here. The only downside is this," you said, holding up your hands which now fluoresced as well.

"That doesn't seem healthy."

"Oh, its fine. Look, it just washes off." You rinsed your hands in the water, the green fluorescence washing downstream, most of it coming off, though not all. When you pushed the hair out of your face with a wet hand, you left green glowing streaks behind on your cheeks. You glittered in the moonlight.

Din had never seen you so happy. What happened to you?

"What did you say?"

Oh Maker, he'd said that out loud. He hadn't meant to. And he could tell by the fallen look on your face that you had definitely heard him, only wanted him to repeat it to be sure. Din regretted the words immediately, watching as the joy faded from your face.

"Nothing. Forget it." But it was too late.

You waded back across the stream, a sudden chill running through your body as the night air cooled. You sat heavily, pondering the implications of actually opening up to the man next to you. You'd spent so long trying to bottle up how you felt, pretending it didn't exist, pretending you weren't attracted to him, that the tender gesture of Din replacing your cape around your shoulders forced it all out in one go.

Once you started speaking, you couldn't stop. And he listened.

"I was seven when the Clone Wars finally came to an end. It was a...brutal, destructive end. After my grandmother died, my grandfather came back to visit sometimes. He promised to protect us, even though it went against our customs. Something about Mandalorian creed. I'm sure you understand," you said, gesturing vaguely in Din's direction. "But Nhora seemed safe from the war. I was still living on Lunar Post 3 with the rest of the kids from noble families. It was easier like that, educating us all together in one place."

You took a breath, coming to the hard part.

"I had an older sister, Tia. She was so...perfect. I looked up to her. She was going to be queen and even though she was eleven years older than me she treated me like the only star in the sky." Tears pricked behind your eyes but you kept going, kept yourself steady by gazing up at the sky. "She and my mother came to visit for my birthday. It was the last trip she would make before her coronation. But everything went wrong. I don't remember it well, but when the explosions hit there was no one there to protect us, not the guards, and especially not my grandfather. The first one killed my mother. Tia died in the second, shielding me.

"The blasts were meant for me and the other noble children, the second borns, the replaceables, the one's who could be eliminated and then played like a bargaining chip to force my mother's hand to help the Independent Systems. I didn't understand. I'll never understand. I was too young. But instead they took out the royal line and left only me. And so began eleven years of non-stop training for a position I was not born to have. I wanted to escape so badly, to any planet as long as it wasn't this one, just to mourn them even. But this was all I had," you said, gesturing to your surroundings.

Din was silent, unsure what to say, but you were grateful for that. You preferred silence anyway.

"The scars have healed with time. Maybe one day they'll be gone."

"Emotional scars never heal," Din finally said. He was watching you, one knee propped up to support his elbow as he leaned against the trunk of the tree.

"Well, that's true, but I don't mean emotional scars. I mean physical ones."

"But you're so... well, you're so whole, so undamaged." He was thinking about your soft hands and how smooth they'd been on his face.

"That's not true. I have scars."

Din narrowed his eyes, prompting you to continue.

You shrugged your cape off again and started to unbutton to top buttons of your shirt. You had nothing to prove to this man, didn't need to do anything to earn his respect. And yet you wanted to show him the most vulnerable parts of you.

"You don't have to--"

You yanked the collar of your shirt down, effectively shutting him up, and putting the scar that sliced along your clavicle on full display. "Here's where the first blast hit."

Then you turned away, kneeling with your back to Din, and fully unbuttoned your shirt, letting it slip from your shoulders and gather at your waist to show him the second scar, another long slice that curved around your right shoulder blade. Both scars were old, softened and faded over the years from having grown much bigger than when they were inflicted. They no longer hurt to touch, though the searing pain of the memories was still there.

"How..." Din couldn't finish his sentence. He was too preoccupied with the sight of your bare back, smooth except for the line that hinted at the intense trauma from your past. And the scars were beautiful; you were beautiful. He realized with a shudder that you were now naked from the waist up, giving the marsh a show he'd been thinking of catching a glimpse of for a while now.

You heard Din move, heard him shift and lean forward, felt his warm presence behind you. You wondered momentarily if he would touch you and found you liked that thought.

You didn't feel him reaching out until a single finger touched your back gently, gliding along the path of your scar and sending a shiver down your spine. The goosebumps that followed his touch did not go unnoticed by either of you. You looked back over your shoulder, watching Din from the corner of your eye as several waves of emotions washed over him, pity, sadness, horror, fascination, admiration. But he couldn't seem to pull his hand away, ungloved, from the skin on skin contact.

"Do you miss your family?" His question was asked in barely a whisper.

"I don't really remember them anymore." It was difficult to admit that you had mostly forgotten what your mother and sister looked like.

"You can miss something you don't remember having." Din was right, of course, though he'd said it absentmindedly, thinking of his own family. His fingers were still tracing along the skin of your back, up your vertebrae, across your ribs. Something else had taken control of his hand, like he didn't know what he was doing anymore, unaware of his movements.

You could have stopped him. Brought him back from wherever his mind was floating up in space. But you didn't. You leaned into his touch, consenting to the reassurance of his presence. You let Din wrap his arm around your waist, place his warm hand against your bare tummy, and pull you in.

He didn't know what compelled him to hold you like this. He'd never wanted to touch anyone this way before. But you leaned into him, your body melting against his, a contented hum spreading through you and into the big hands that held you, and it felt like a piece of him he hadn't even known was missing had been returned to its rightful place.

It was oddly serene, this position of being encompassed by someone so much bigger than you. But he was hot against your naked skin, insulating you from the night air. He pressed his face against your neck, breathing you in, lips barely grazing your skin, and you thought you could sit like this forever, protected, safe, warm.

He didn't try to grope you, didn't try to get a peek at whatever you might look like from the front. It was intensely comforting, knowing that he respected you, knowing he wouldn't take advantage of you the way so many other men tried to do. He only wanted to inhale your scent and never let go of this feeling he had no name for. It was a feeling he'd only ever felt once before, while holding the kid for the last time, knowing he had to say goodbye. Neither of you wanted to move.

The sounds of the world melted away and it was only you and Din and his breath against your skin. You had no idea how long you stayed that way.

"We should go," you whispered. "Before someone realizes I'm gone."

Though reluctantly, Din pulled away, that all-encompassing warmth gone, and he helped you dress. He'd barely even seen you, barely even touched you, and he was craving more. He wanted to be linked to you forever, to hold your hand the way you had in the market, to kiss you. He'd never done any of it before and yet he knew without a doubt you were the person he wanted to be with. He just needed to know you felt the same.

"You don't have to do alone," he said, hoping you would understand what he was offering.

"Excuse me?" You turned back to look at him but the helmet was already on and you couldn't tell what he was implying underneath it.

"Rule. You don't have to rule alone. I know you can. I've seen you do it. But you don't have to."

You stood, suddenly feeling exposed though fully dressed again, like the Mandalorian had just read your mind and discovered every feeling that swirled around in there.

"Don't you dare tell me what I do or don't have to do, Djarin," you said sharply. But your voice cracked with suppressed tears."There are traditions to follow, customs I have to abide by. This is my place."

The words were harsh, more defensive than they should have been and you regretted saying them the moment they left your mouth. But Din had recognized in you what you truly wanted, to not be alone anymore, to have a family again, and it scared you.

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asked unexpectedly, standing as well.

"What are you talking about?" you asked, your words still laced with annoyance and defiance. You were still feeling defensive, but now you were equally as confused.

He repeated the question and you shook your head slowly. What was he planning?

"Good, I'm tired of walking," was all he said before he wrapped his arms around your waist, powered up his jetpack, and shot straight up into the air. Somehow, you managed not to vomit at the sudden change in altitude. But Maker, you were flying, and incredibly fast.

One moment you were frozen in shock and the next you were screaming, your voice lost to the wind that pummeled your face. You hid your face in the crook of Din's next, holding on tight. No, you weren't afraid of heights, but that wasn't the problem here. The problem was you felt like you were going to fall at any moment, no matter how tightly Din held you.

But it was a short flight. You landed less than gracefully at the front doors of the palace, stumbling like you'd just stepped off a boat. Din caught your elbow and righted you.

"Dank farrick, Din! You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry. You were spiraling. I had to do something."

You realized he was right. The shock of adrenaline coursing through your body had completely distracted you from the emotions you had been overwhelmed with only a couple of minutes ago. But now they started to flood back, the loneliness, the fear. Why did you feel these things, but only now, with Din right next to you? Did he remind you of how hard it was to be alone, show you what you were missing? You had to get away, to be with your jumbled thoughts for a moment and collect yourself. You couldn't breathe.

"Thank you for... spending the evening with me. I--" You couldn't look him in the face, even though it was hidden behind the helmet. You didn't finish your sentence, just walked away, leaving the Mandalorian standing in the entrance to your quiet palace.

"You can't run forever." You were already halfway up the stairs when Din called out. You didn't stop, didn't turn around, just ran like the coward you were from the feelings you couldn't hide from him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You were an idiot that couldn't tell the one good man on this maker-forsaken planet how you really felt.

In your bedroom you stripped, changing quickly into your pajamas and then curling up in bed under the covers. Maybe if you pressed your face into the pillow hard enough you could scream in frustration and no one would hear.

Din had watched as you walked, no, ran, away from him. He should have stopped you, should have told you how he felt. How did he feel, though? What words would he have to say to you, other than what he'd already said? And then what, just to have you throw his feelings right back in his face.

He didn't move until you'd disappeared from sight, only then making his way to his room. It wasn't often that Din got the opportunity to sleep without his armor on. He usually didn't feel safe enough. But here, in this palace, he pulled each piece off one by one and stacked it on the floor. Here, he could sleep in comfort, in peace, without anything to bother him--

Except that he knew he couldn't. Not when he felt there was something left unsaid. He hoped you wouldn't be asleep yet, hoped that when he saw your face he would know exactly what he wanted to say.

You didn't get the chance to scream into your pillow. Someone knocked softly at your bedroom door, disturbing your stress relief hours. You swore to the Maker, if it was Zena or one of your guards here to berate you for sneaking out again, you would actually scream, and not into a pillow but in their face.

But it wasn't Zena or a guard or anyone else. It was Din on the other side and you were wearing those damn transparent pajamas again like you knew what they did to him. But he had to focus. He had things he wanted to say. He'd caught a glimpse of the real you deep inside and he wanted it back, all for himself.

"I meant what I said." Din never raised his voice, but now he was becoming insistent. "You put so much into caring for others. But have you ever thought about accepting some help every once in a while?"

You took a deep breath, trying to steady your heart rate. Why did seeing his face like this make you so nervous? It excited you to find the Mandalorian standing patiently outside your bedroom, especially at this time of night.

"I don't need help," was all you managed to sputter out. Apparently, Din had made a stop in his room to shed his armor, the first time you'd seen him without it. You'd expected him to look smaller under it all but he still managed to fill your doorway and block your escape.

"Maker be damned, I'm trying to tell you that I want to take care of you. I'm not offering because I think you need me, I'm offering because you're allowed to need me." Din took a step forward, closing the gap between you even more. Written on his face was an urgency you'd only seen a few times before.

"I--" You didn't know what to say. I don't know how? "I can't think when you look at me like that."

"Like what?" Din's voice was low with earnest gravity.

"Like you care."

"I do care. I care a lot, but for some reason, you won't accept it." His hands found your face, holding your chin to force you to look into his eyes. "Somehow you think this is disingenuous. And I know you don't trust many people but let me be one of them."

Care. Trust. His words rattled around your brain and sent you spinning. He was so close, so warm. The world was hazy with that tingling feeling, the one that pulled you to him, made you reach out a hand to touch the dark fabric of his undershirt. You had no idea what you were doing, no control over the movement of your fingers as they took hold and dragged him closer.

"Stop running," he whispered softly, letting you pull your bodies together.

He cared. Oh Maker, he wanted you to lean on him, to give him some of the burden you carried. So you did, letting your hands find his shoulders and rest there.

"Do you trust me?" you asked in a hushed tone.

"Of course--"

"Then kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice, closing the last of the distance between you and kissing you with the same urgency that was written on his face.

You were it, the first and last. Your lips were like a siren's song, dragging Din to the depths of a passion he'd suppressed for so long, calling for him to relent to their addictiveness. He would drown in this taste until he succumbed.

Din kissed you tenderly, carefully, as if he was afraid you would disappear the moment he let go. No man had ever kissed you this way. They had all been greedy, triumphant, dominating kisses, as if you were a prize to be won, a conquest to be conquered. But Din, Din kissed like he had everything to lose and nothing to gain in return. He only pulled away when you did, breathless and panting for air, foreheads pressed together.

Your hands were still grabbing his shirt greedily as you dragged him into your bedroom. Din was so lost in capturing your lips with his again he barely noticed being pushed onto the bed until he was flat on his back with your body stacked on top of his. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing your hips flush with his, your knees straddling his waist in return, and your elbows leaning on either side of his head.

No matter how tightly he held you it wasn't enough. He needed to fit that missing piece back into the hole in his heart. But your lips were a start. It was impossible to tell where yours ended and his began and that's how he liked it.

Was this what he was missing out on his whole life? When you prodded your tongue against his lips, he let you sink deep into his mouth, moaning in response and sending vibrations through his chest and into yours. He ran his hands up and down your sides, memorizing every curve and contour, wishing the clothing that separated you two would disappear but not knowing how to make it happen.

You broke away to run your fingers through Din's hair, his really fucking soft hair, and place a kiss on the nose that was simply begging to be kissed. You'd wanted to do that for a while.

"How do you taste so good? Like heaven on my tongue," he mumbled. His words sent shivers down your spine and you pulled away to look at his face. Din's eyes were closed, heavy with bliss and experiencing the greatest pleasure of his life. Your body tingled with excitement.

"Have you never been kissed properly?" you asked teasingly. It was meant as a joke.

"Never been kissed," was his short reply, eyes still closed, a dumbstruck look on his face.

You stopped in your tracks, abruptly pulling away further and sitting up.

"What?" you asked, a bit louder than you'd intended.

Din's eyes flew open. He wasn't sure what to say. He'd thought it was obvious, considering how awkwardly unaware he was of what he was doing. "I've worn a helmet for three decades. Doesn't really aid in building romantic relationships."

Suddenly you felt like apologizing, afraid you'd forced him into something he didn't want. "Oh Maker, I'm sorry, if I'd known I would have--"

"Woah, slow down, Angel." You were speaking too fast, tumbling over your words a mile a minute. Din sat up as well, holding onto your hips to keep you straddling him, grounding you and letting you know it was okay. "Don't apologize. I want you. I need you."

Fuck, he needed you. The sincerity in his eyes and his tender use of a nickname eased your worry. But you were still unsure. What if this was some part of his Mandalorian creed, and you were breaking it? Din seemed to recognize the concern on your face, the way he always did.

"Look at me." You did. "I want this. I promise. I've dreamt about kissing you since the moment I met you. Fuck, you have no idea. I dream about holding you and touching you and making you feel good. I just--I don't know how. Tell me how."

This was...new. Uncharted territory. Men usually knew what they were doing. Or at least thought they did. Generally, they were arrogant enough to believe they were pleasuring you, even when they weren't. Never had anyone asked what you wanted. The fact that this man, the greatest warrior in the galaxy, was absolutely clueless but asking for your help, turned you on even more.

If he thought that kiss was good, you were about to blow his mind.

Din had seen naked women before. Once, he'd chased a bounty into a strip club and shackled the man as he was paying for a lap dance. But nothing could compare to you. The urgency that had dominated your kiss was gone, replaced by a deliberate craving. You guided his hands to the buttons of your shirt, urging him to take it off himself. He did, fingers grazing your skin as he slipped the item from your shoulders, leaving your heaving breasts bare before him. You were breathing rapidly and Din burned, knowing that he was the reason why.

"Tell me if you want to stop."

Din nodded, eyes roving all over you, from your face to your chest to the soft plane of your stomach. Between your breasts hung the round pendant of your necklace and he watched as it swung gently back and forth. You could tell he wanted to touch you but was unsure if he should, or how he should. So you took his hand, holding his fingers gently to place them on the soft skin of your neck.

"Follow your fingers with your lips."

At first, he was confused, but then you began to move his hand, dragging his fingers down your neck, along your collarbone, over the tender flesh of your breasts, across your hardening nipple, and down toward the hem of your pants. Din did as he was told, placing soft, open mouth kisses everywhere his fingers went. He placed his free hand on your back, stabilizing you as you leaned back to give him better access. He lingered on the soft mounds of your areolas, taking each into his mouth and sucking gently. He did it instinctually, not knowing what reaction he would receive from you, but taking immense pleasure in the moans he elicited from your mouth.

Mouth still tasting every inch of your bare skin, Din gripped your hips and flipped you around so that you were laying on the bed. He wasn't sure if it was what he was supposed to do, but it seemed like the right move. He continued to kiss you everywhere he could, meditating in the sweet floral scent that an evening spent in nature had left upon you. You nodded when he looked into your eyes, silently asking to remove your pants for you.

Maker, you were gorgeous. He took a ragged breath at the sight of you, slick with desire, all for him. You whispered his name, pulling his intense gaze away from your folds and back to your eyes.

"Watch," you said. And then you began to touch yourself, a lazy finger gathering your wetness and dragging along your slit. You let your legs fall open to give Din a better view as you pleasured yourself. With your middle finger, you found your clit and circled, easing into the satisfying feeling that you knew would build toward an orgasm. You added another finger, dipping slowly into your cunt and savoring the warmth you found there.

Din could tell you'd done this many times before, knew exactly how best to touch yourself. But now someone was watching you, intently, exploring your edges and lines with his gaze, cataloging every hitch in your breath and twitch of your stomach. He studied your patterns and movements like he did his bounties, learning what you liked, anticipating your reactions.

"Fuck," you cursed under your breath, the wicked voyeuristic sensation lighting something new in your core. What had once been your own dirty little secret you were now performing for an audience, an extremely attentive audience, and it was hot as fuck.

Din watched as your head flopped back in pleasure, a breathy moan escaping your throat, as your free hand came to your breast to pinch and twist the hard bud. Just seeing you this way, writhing beneath your own touch, was making his cock grow hard, but he wanted desperately to be the one to make you feel that way, edging you toward orgasm.

You noticed his need and grabbed his hand to replace it with your own, though not before bringing your fingers to Din's lips for a taste. He wrapped his mouth around your wetness with no reluctance, eyes sinking shut with heady desire and licking them clean.

Like heaven. He wanted you so badly, to know what every inch of you tasted like. He would have to be patient.

Everything about this was irritatingly slow, but it brought your craving for him to a new level. The urgency that had built as you worked toward your first orgasm had subsided to a dull ache without your consistent fingers, begging to be attended to. You knew you could finish yourself off, quickly and easily. But you wanted him to be the one to do. You wanted to know what it was like to unravel beneath the Mandalorian.

Din truly had no idea what he was doing and he couldn't sustain what you'd started. But he was curious, unafraid, and the acute learner in him caught on quickly. You gasped as a thick finger entered you, experimental and slow, and you grabbed onto his shoulders for both his support and your own. He added another finger, testing the velvet softness of your cunt and the ridges of your walls, filling you and stretching you in a way you couldn't do for yourself. He could get the angle right, you knew, better than your own fingers could, but it wasn't enough. You would have to show him.

You peeled open your eyes, unaware that they had even been shut in the first place, to watch him. He was taking you in with his eyes, leaving no part of you untouched by his gaze.

"Din, look at me." His eyes snapped to yours. "Like this."

You showed him how to curl his fingers, how to press his thumb to your clit at the same time. And when he did, Oh Maker, it was the sensation you'd always craved but could never perform for yourself. He filled you so well and only his fingers were touching you. A stifled cry left your lips and you gripped his shoulder harder, trying to ground yourself despite feeling like you were being lifted off into space. He leaned down, fingers still moving magically inside you, and took a nipple between his teeth, nibbling gently and soothing the searing sensation with a soft kiss before doing it all over again.

"Does this feel good, Your Majesty?" he asked against the skin of your chest, voice husky with arousal. It was utterly sinful, using your title while he was finger fucking you into oblivion.

You could barely do more than moan in response. He was catching on quickly, noticing how your hips jerked in response to the pressure on your clit and your walls clenched around his fingers when he simply curled them up and forward. You were falling apart slowly but surely, your breathing erratic, some very unqueenly curses falling from your perfect lips.

This was torture, this build-up, slow, consistent, inching. You could feel it coming, feel the heat pooling between your thighs and your pelvic floor spasming. But it was so fucking slow, like marching straight toward a cliff and not knowing when the edge would come, when the ground would fall out beneath your feet. And you loved every moment of it.

Din's face had fallen to your neck, his lips pressing heated kisses everywhere he could put them. He could feel your erratic pulse beneath his lips, the vibrations of your moans spreading through him. "Does this feel good? I need you to tell me. Tell me."

"Fuck, yes Din, don't stop. Don't-- don't do anything different. It's perfe--"

The words got stuck in your throat as you moaned into your approaching orgasm. You would cum any moment if--

And then, the edge of the cliff gave out and there was nothing beneath you but your crashing orgasm and Din's steady hand, guiding you through your pleasure. Oh Maker, the progress had been so measured and gradual you hadn't even known it was coming, but now you were falling and falling, only to be caught by Din's unyielding touch.

Din's face was buried in your neck as you came, your delicious cries breathed directly into his ear. It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard, the sound of you fracturing into a million pieces by his hand. He cursed under his breath and you felt his words against your skin as you came down from your high, twitching and spasming.

"Are you okay, Angel?" he asked sweetly. He brushed the hair from your face to gaze deeply into your eyes, bewildered by what he'd just done to you.

"I'm more than okay," you replied with a giggle. You couldn't help the sound that bubbled up in your throat. "Come here."

You pulled at Din's shirt to drag him into a kiss and realized he was still fully clothed, the bastard. You wanted the shirt off with the rest of his clothes. You wanted nothing between you and him.

"Off. All of this off," you said, motioning to his clothes. Din complied and stood, tossing everything to the floor. You sat up onto your knees on the mattress so that you were at his eye level when he approached the edge of the bed once more. Reaching out to pull him in by his hips, you caught a glimpse of the amazing specimen before you. Broad and thick was the best way to describe him, both his shoulders and his cock. He had smooth, soft skin with hardened muscles beneath, no doubt from the taxing nature of his job, slightly tanned and beautifully scarred.

And he was hard for you. It sent a thrill up your spine to grasp gently at his thick length as he pulled you closer, lips against yours. He gasped into your mouth as he aligned his body with yours, bucking his hips involuntarily into your hand while you stroked him slowly. You took the opportunity to nibble his bottom lip, relishing in how fucking good it felt to press your skin to his. He was intoxicatingly warm, his big warm hands on your back, his big warm cock against your stomach.

"Can I ride you?" you asked against his mouth. Din groaned, eyes fluttering shut.

"I have no idea what that means but yes, please."

"Lay down." Oh Maker, it felt a little too good to tell this force of a man what to do and have him listen. But that was a feeling to be explored at another time. Now there was only fucking him into the next galaxy. You wanted to hear your name, your real name, from his lips.

You climbed across Din's lap, straddling him but not sinking onto him yet, instead letting his cock rest between your folds and tease your entrance gently. You were in no hurry, the high of your first orgasm still leaving you overly sensitive to touch, but you could tell Din was eager for release. He gripped your hips tightly as you leaned down, letting him take each of your breasts in his mouth, one by one.

When you began to grind your hips slowly against his, it took all his effort not to let the dam break right then and there. He'd gotten himself off plenty of times, even going so far as to hold back as long as he could to prolong the pleasure. But your folds were slick and warm against his twitching cock and he wasn't sure he could take the torture much longer. He needed to be inside you and he wasn't above begging.

"Are you going to take me or just fucking tease me all night?" Din huffed.

You smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips, wanting to taste his exclamations on your tongue when you finally sank your pussy around his length. And he did not disappoint. He was just as loud as you'd hoped he'd be, after finally lining your entrance with his length and easing down onto him. What you didn't expect was how good it would feel to have him inside you, your own moans mingling with his at the sensation. He filled you completely, stretching you further than his fingers had. It was slightly painful, but only in the sense that pleasure is often conflated with pain. You took him fully, feeling the head of his shaft press against the sensitive flesh of your cervix deep inside you.

Rolling your hips experimentally, Din jerked below you, trying to speed up your movements, but you wouldn't relent. With a hand on his face, thumb and fingers pressing into his cheeks, you maintained eye contact, the other hand against his chest for stability.

"Let me take care of you, Mando," you whispered with a hazy smile. He wanted so desperately to flip you over and fuck you however he pleased, but he held back, the sight of you beautiful and bare atop him mesmerizing and enthralling. The flush of your skin and the gentle bounce of your tits as you moved hypnotized him into obeying your request. He would do whatever his queen asked of him, he knew, without question.

You slowly picked up the pace, maintaining the rocking motion that dragged his cock along your g-spot and drove Din mad. He groaned and grunted beneath you, his sounds mixing with yours in the otherwise quiet bedroom. You leaned back, placing your hands flat against his thighs, and kept going, loving the way he let loose without inhibition or reserve. His hands gripped tightly at your hips, crashing you back down every time you rocked up, and you felt your second orgasm building in your core. It was now a question of who would come first. You suspected it would be Din.

It was his turn to fall apart, to lose control. You wanted him to relinquish his dignity the way you had to him. Finally, those precious words left his lips, at first a whisper and building louder, your name groaned over and over and over again. Your walls clenched at the sound and he choked beneath you at the sensation.

"Fuck, Angel, I'm gonna cum if you keep that up." You leaned forward again and noticed his eyes were screwed tight like he was holding back as best he could.

"Oh baby, that's the point. Cum for me, Din. Cum inside me, baby." The commanding words tumbled from your mouth, mixed with your shameless moans as you held back your own orgasm, wanting to clamp down around his cock as he came. With a jerk, you felt his cock twitch inside you, and Din cursed loudly with a groan. He seized your hips even harder than he had before, firmly holding you against his own as he came hard, his cum spilling deep inside you. With his heat filling you, you let go, releasing your own orgasm and contracting around his length, milking every drop.

You collapsed on top of Din with an overstimulated sob, not even bothering to pull off of his throbbing member. He wrapped his arms around your back and held you, his ragged breath in your ear slowly steadying and returning to normal.

"Fuck, that was beautiful," Din murmured. "You're beautiful. Oh Maker, you're so beautiful."

Din wasn't sure what was happening to him but he couldn't stop talking. Every thought, praises, rambling, absolute nonsense, that crossed his mind left his mouth, completely out of his control. You giggled, your own cock drunk brain unable to comprehend little else other than how sweet his soft grin was or how he had only one dimple on his left cheek.

"I'm going to just fall asleep like this if that's alright with you," Din said, rolling you over onto your side so he could pull the covers over the two of you and hold you. You giggled again as he rested his chin on the top of your head and you buried your face in his chest, letting his warmth wrap around you. "And then I'm never leaving."

Though he said the words lightly, it was difficult to ignore the finality they carried, so you deflected. "Didn't you promise Zena you would train with her in the morning?"

Din groaned at the reminder. "I did, didn't I?"

When you didn't respond, he looked down at your face. Your eyes had closed softly and your breath was deepening, sleep starting to tug at the edges of your brain. You hadn't realized how tired you were until you were hunkered down, feeling the security of Din's fingers pressed against your back, the rising and falling of his chest lulling you into a sense of safety.

Din pressed a tender kiss to your forehead, believing you to be asleep, but needing to say these next words anyway, needing to make up somehow the failures of your grandfather.

"I know I won't always be around. I can't always stay. But I'll always come back. I promise."

22 notes · View notes

crispyjenkins · 4 years ago

Note

Prompt where the 212 gets together to paint Obi-Wan’s armor so he would wear it more but at some point our fool gets captured and his captor wears the armor to piss Kenobi off so when the 212 comes in Cody goes absolutely feral when he sees someone else where his general’s armor and Kenobi gets absolutely railed by Cody after.

(i don’t do smut, but i love this idea so so much, i really don’t know why i haven’t come across more painted armour Obi stuff, and y’all have probably realised i’m all about Obi angst, sooo this one was a lot of fun. thank you so much for prompting, lovely! threw in some headcanon mandalorian family and courting culture just for you)

Jedi were not made to wear armour, they were not soldiers, at least not before. Cody knows his general picked up clone culture better than most, from the little bits of Mando’a to the importance of Vode An, and he should perhaps be thankful that General Kenobi wears any armour at all, but what good are simple pauldrons and vambraces when Kenobi throws himself against hundreds of clankers without backup on a weekly basis?

It’s Wupi that suggests it, drunk on Waxer’s rotgut and going grey with how often he has to patch up their general after missions. Boil is mostly amused by Kenobi’s apparent death wish, but he isn’t like their medic, or Cody: he doesn't have to deal with the fallout when Kenobi comes back to the Negotiator so much worse off than his men.

“Why don’t we give him one o’ yours armours?” Wupi had slurred, half out of his blacks and staring into his cup like it would relieve him of his duty. “S’General’s too nice to lose someone else’s.”

Wooley had jerked his attention from his own cup and stared at Cody because that... that wasn’t a bad idea.

And because Wupi is too hungover the next day to do anything about it himself, it’s Wooley that starts the task of finding and retrofitting pieces of clone armour to fit their general (their “wonderfully tiny" general, as Wupi had put before passing out in his chair). It takes a few days, bouncing between three different quartermasters and Commander Tano for input on how to wear it over more traditional Jedi clothes, but Wooley finally amasses something close to a full set that they might convince Kenobi to wear, and then goes around giving each member of the Ghost Company a few pieces to paint.

Cody tries not to think about why Wooley gives him the chestplate. He tries really hard.

There’s something to be said about family giving each other armour, of course, Cody doesn’t think Wooley or Boil or Wupi or Waxer are trying to woo their general, and it shows in the pieces of armour they choose to paint, but the breastplate is... forward, when not given in a familial sense, and Cody can’t pretend that he is. Giving it in a familial sense. Kriff.

Ghost Company all sit together in the empty mess one night, Cody having strategically made sure their sleeping shifts line up, and they paint the pieces while drinking more of Waxer’s rotgut and pretending they don’t have a battle tomorrow that they might not win. Cody’s men paint each piece to match their own, so that Kenobi’s set is a mix of bits of each of them. They aren’t quite sure how it works for natborn Mandalorians, there were limits on what the Kaminoins let the Cuy’val Dar teach them, but this is as close as they can get to claiming Ken— Obi-Wan as one of the vode. The meaning won’t be lost on him.

Cody carefully paints his sun rays onto Obi-Wan’s chestplate, the orange crisp and shiny-bright, and he wonders if Obi-Wan knows the meaning of colours on beskar’gam. He seems to know a lot about Mandalorian culture that even the clones don’t, but Cody has never pushed to know more about why, not when it makes Obi-Wan clam up like that.

Boil finishes quickly, and just as quickly gets completely smashed to the point he’s singing the last raunchy jig they’d picked up planet-side, and it’s almost calming to see him so relaxed. Waxer smiles fondly at his brother and switches his cup for one of water instead, shaking his head at Wooley’s disapproving glare.

Cody waits until the others have gone to bed to ask for the medic’s steady hand, to help him stencil a beskar’ta right above the sternum. He isn’t sure if he’s ever seen another vode with a beskar’ta, and perhaps it’s a little presumptuous for Cody to give Obi-Wan one without discussing it with him first, but he can offer no greater protection to his general. The way Wupi doesn’t say anything when Cody carefully paints in the lines says more about his relationship with Obi-Wan than he’d really like to admit.

Cody isn’t there when Wooley presents the armour to him, but when Obi-Wan joins them in the hangar before descent planet-side, he wears every piece as if it were the regalia of some ancient royal, and not a cobbled-together attempt to keep him alive. The rest of the 212th hide their stares inside their buckets, and Obi-Wan still wears his outer robe over it all, but Ghost Company all preen at the sight of their general not only protected, but in their colour and crests.

Obi-Wan smiles at Cody as they load into the shuttles, tapping a closed fist over the beskar’ta in all-too-knowing thanks. So he knows at least the familial connotations, which doesn’t bode well for Cody’s half hope that that’s all he knows.

Crys claps Cody on the shoulder with an eyebrow wiggle, and Cody wishes Jango hadn’t taught them a damn thing.

Day three without water, even with the Force sustaining him, leaves Obi-Wan more than a little delirious. The Nikto bounty hunter that thought they could somehow convince Count Dooku that they’d captured the famed Negotiator grows increasingly agitated as the hours roll by, and Obi-Wan wishes he had better presence of mind to appreciate it.

They have him on his knees and strung up in chains like a barbarian, and stick him with a needle every three hours with some sort of Force suppressor that makes him even more incoherent — Obi-Wan is fairly sure they’re over-drugging him. Actually, perhaps the Force isn’t sustaining him properly; that would certainly explain a lot.

The morning of day four in the brig of a ship Obi-Wan can’t remember the make of, the Nikto starts picking through his removed armour, with scathing comments about the colour and fact that it had come from “cannon-fodder slaves that are better put-down than eating up the galaxy’s resources”, and oh, Obi-Wan wishes he could rend them limb from limb.

“A bastardisation of Mando armour, you know,” the Nikto grumbles, sending Obi-Wan a pitying look when all he can do is grunt angrily. “Look, this even has an iron heart; what poor kriffing fool told you you were allowed to wear such a mark?” Scoffing, the Nikto discards their cloak to slip on Obi-Wan’s chestplate; every last scrap of energy in Obi-Wan screams at the wrongness, and he jerks in his chains.

The Nikto startles and doesn’t get to fastening the sides as they stare at their prisoner. “You shouldn’t have any mobility left,” they say in part surprise, part anger, getting back to their feet to drag the small medical crate of suppressors back across the room. They kick it open and pull out an almost-empty vial, but don’t get to the needles before a proximity alarm goes off.

They drop the vial and grab the blaster from their hip, and barely get it up in time for the single door to explode inwards, Ghost Company forcing their way into the room before the smoke has even cleared. And Obi-Wan trusts his men, his family, with every Force-forsaken bit of him, which means he promptly passes out at the sight of them.

He doesn’t wake in safety, rather with a vibroblade pressed to his throat and a hand twisting cruelly in his hair. His vision is filled with white and orange and warmth, before his brain catches up to what he’s actually seeing, and he focuses on the blank helmets of his men. The suppressors in his system do nothing to hide the molten metal anger that leaks into the Force all around them, and Obi-Wan must look worse than he thought, if Cody’s hand is trembling on his blaster.

‘Easy,’ Obi-Wan whispers without moving his lips, Cody giving the smallest of jerks so Obi-Wan knows the message is received.

‘Sir?’ Cody shifts on his feet, the Nikto saying something from behind Obi-Wan that’s surely full of gloating and threat, but Cody’s helmet is tilted towards Obi-Wan, his presence fluttering in the Force like a lamp in the dark.

‘I’m not quite sure how you’re managing this,’ Obi-Wan admits, with half a thought to the cosmic implication of Cody giving him a beskar’ta, which has meaning even outside Mandalore, outside even the Force. ‘But my lovely captor is weak on their left side, an old injury, I think.’

‘He’s wearing your armour,’ Cody all but growls and raises his blaster properly, and the Nikto must sense the change as they nervously fumble the vibroblade and cut through the collar of Obi-Wan’s tunic.

And Obi-Wan is tired, he’s been in chains for four days with drugs he’s never encountered burning the ends of his nerves and cutting off an entire sense he has never been without, so he looks up until he meets Cody’s eyes squarely. ‘Then relieve them of it.’

‘With pleasure, sir.’

Mando’a: Vode An — "Brothers All" (a Mando’a war chant taught to the clones by Jango and the Cuy’val Dar) Cuy’val Dar — “Those who no longer exist”, group of 75 Mando’ade and 25 others put together by Jango to train the clones beskar’gam — Armour made of beskar, “Mandalorian Iron” that was actually probably a steel alloy beskar’ta — “Iron heart”, the elongated hex-shape common in Mandalorian armour designs (great post here comparing them to katana tsuba). also called ka’rta beskar or “heart of the iron”

433 notes · View notes

ingek73 · 4 years ago

Text

Fairytales for fuckwits: Meghan, a children's book, and the school bully tactics of the British tabloids...

Piers Morgan's obsession with Meghan Markle continues, while Mike Graham appears worried there may be too many big words for him to understand.

Mic Wright

May 6

On May the 4th, there was a great disturbance in the force, as if thousands of tabloid reporters and talk radio pundits cried out at once: The Duchess of Sussex had announced she was writing a children’s book.

Since the earth-shattering news that Meghan has written a story about the relationship between father’s and their sons — apparently based on a poem she wrote for Prince Harry — the tabloid press and talk radio stations have gone into meltdown.

The Sun has managed to crank out seven hysterically-pitched stories on the announcement since it dropped — the book isn’t out until June 8th — with each more unhinged than the last:

MEG TO PAPER Meghan Markle writes children’s book inspired by Prince Harry and baby Archie about ‘bond between father and son’

MEG-A MOVE Meghan Markle’s first priority should be mending broken relationships with royals not writing kids’ book, expert claims

SOUNDS A BIT WOODEN ‘Schmaltzy’ Meghan Markle ‘on dodgy ground’ with kids’ book celebrating fathers ‘after own bust-up with dad’ says author

DOUBLE DUCH Meghan Markle accused of copying her kids’ book The Bench from another story – but author defends her

NOT WRITE Piers Morgan slams ‘hypocrite’ Meghan Markle for kids’ book on ‘father-son bond’ after ‘ruining Harry and Charles’ ties’

'RIDICULOUS' Meghan Markle using Duchess of Sussex as author name ‘laughable’ after she wanted to cut Royal ties, says royal expert

CUT PRICE Meghan Markle’s kids’ book has price slashed already at Amazon and Waterstones

You’ll notice that Piers Morgan — a man who has turned one drink with Meghan after which he claims she “ghosted him”, which took place in 2016, into a five year and counting obsession — gets his own story there. That’s The Sun filleting Morgan’s spittle-flecked Daily Mail column on the book for its own news piece.

Morgan, who trails his columns on Twitter like they are exciting new releases rather than the tabloid equivalent of a letter scrawled in faeces forced through your letterbox, dashed out his thoughts on The Bench with the indecent haste of a man running along while his trousers fall down.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @BreeNewsome

DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE, REFUND OUR COMMUNITIES

@BreeNewsome

Piers Morgan’s obsession with Meghan Markle is genuinely disturbing. He’s really just using the guise of journalism to be a public stalker and harasser.

May 5th 2021

1,414 Retweets10,252 Likes”

Beneath a typically screaming Mail headline — How the hell can Meghan 'I hate royalty but call me Duchess' Markle preach about father-child relationships when she's disowned her own Dad, and wrecked her husband's relationship with his? — Morgan howled:

… she continues to cynically exploit her royal titles because she knows that's the only reason anyone is paying her vast sums of money to spew her uniquely unctuous brand of pious hectoring gibberish in Netflix documentaries, Spotify podcasts or children's books.

Of course, her equally cynical publishers don't give a damn about any of this shocking double standard.

Forget the fact that Meghan had a good degree of personal fame before she ever met Prince Harry, Piers Morgan accusing anyone else of being a cynical fame chaser is beyond parody. From his earliest days as a gossip hack, Morgan has muscled into pictures with the rich and famous, desperate to be someone.

When Meghan was willing to indulge him, he showered her with praise, but once she stopped taking his calls, he turned into the Tinder match from hell. That he has been married to his second wife, fellow controversialist columnist Celia Walden since 2010 seemingly did nothing to dampen his obsession.

Having repeatedly interviewed Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle — another man aggrieved because a woman would rather not spend time with him — Morgan sneers:

If she really cared about father-child relationships, she'd take a chauffeur-driven limousine on the hour-long trip to see her own father who's never even met either Harry or Archie.

It’s projection again: Piers Morgan’s ego is so egg-shell thin that after Meghan decided that one drink was more than enough, he’s spent 5 years seeking revenge and convinced that he’s been wronged, just like her ‘poor old dad’. That’s the ‘poor old dad’ that insists on talking about his daughter to journalists at every possible occasion.

At the end of an article that implies Harry and Meghan contributed to the death of Prince Philip — he died of natural causes — and rants on about “the woke”, Morgan ends with this:

But then as we've seen from her gruesomely self-interested behaviour during a pandemic that's caused so much devastation and pain to billions around the world, Meghan Markle doesn't really care about anyone but herself.

Remember, the Duchess of Sussex’s only ‘crime’ here is to write a children’s book which people will be free to buy or ignore with equal ease. But, as ever, Piers Morgan treats the news with all the proportionality of a US drone strike.

The real story here is about how Morgan — the bittiest of bit-part players in the narrative of Meghan and Harry’s lives — is so desperate to upgrade his place in the cast list that he will rant and rave to stay relevant. His departure from Good Morning Britain came after his last stream of invective about Meghan and he knows this schtick gets him the attention and money he craves.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @MariaLRoach

Maria Roach

@MariaLRoach

Meghan Markle inside the tiny space called Piers Morgan’s head. #duchessofsussex Tap Dance GIF by Miss America

May 5th 2021

122 Retweets1,619 Likes”

Aside from Morgan’s column, MailOnline has published 9 other news stories on or related to the book announcement. The most telling of them is one that links the Duchess of Sussex’s book to another one… by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Headlined Bookshelf battle royale! Kate Middleton shares a glimpse inside her Hold Still photobook just a day after Meghan Markle unveiled her own £12.99 children's story, the story unsurprisingly treats Kate with kid gloves while continuing to imply that Meghan is the kind of person who would make gloves out of kids if it suited her devilish schemes.

There’s no shade thrown at the Duchess of Cambridge for revealing further details of her book just hours after Meghan’s announcement. Instead, the story — lavishly illustrated with images from the book — gushes:

The Duchess of Cambridge has shared a glimpse of her photography book Hold Still ahead of its release on Friday…

… Kate, 39, a keen photographer, launched a campaign during the first lockdown last year to ask the public to submit images which captured the period.

It even includes a mention of an image of a BLM protestor saying:

Over the course of the project, the Duchess shared a number of her favourite images on the Kensington Royal Instagram page, including a Black Lives Matter protester holding a sign reading: 'Be on the right side of history.'

If Meghan had done the same she would have been decried for “supporting extremists”. Remember the contrasting way their mutual taste for avocado was covered?

15 Headlines Show How Differently The British Press Treat Meghan Markle Vs Kate Middleton | Bored Panda

Over at The Daily Telegraph, Spiked alumna Ella Whelan offered her thoughts on a book that isn’t released until next month under the headline Meghan Markle’s fun-free children’s book may put an entire generation off reading, which makes it sound like a grimoire full of dark magic rather than a gentle children’s book about kids and their dads.

Just as with the Mail’s story on Kate’s book, it’s worth imagining what Whelan would say if the Duchess of Cambridge had written The Bench. Look at the following section…

It reveals something of the political superficiality of Harry and Meghan’s activism that an “inclusive” book would use the military father as its promotional message. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing, but if my kids have to read about soldiers, I’d prefer Hans Christian Andersen’s tin version rather than the woke posturing of a former royal.

… and notice that because Meghan is the author including a father who is in the military is “political superficiality”. If Kate had written a story that featured an analogue for Prince William — who also spent time in uniform, though in less dangerous circumstances than his ‘spare’ brother — Whelan would likely deem it a ‘touching tribute to their love’.

Similarly, Sarah Ferguson — the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, top Yelp! reviewer for Jeffrey Epstein’s houses and noted avoider of FBI questioning — uses the title Duchess of York on her many execrable children’s books.

Now that Meghan is the tabloid’s new monster in the monarchy, Fergie’s antics are pointed to as a positive with her books flattered even as Meghan’s as-yet-unpublished book is panned.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @talkRADIO

talkRADIO

@talkRADIO

Meghan Markle is releasing a new children's book about father-son relationships.

Mike Graham: "It's so juvenile. This is somebody who acts like she's still in high school... it's not exactly Tennyson, is it?

@mrmarkdolan | @Iromg Image

May 5th 2021

36 Retweets221 Likes”

Over on talkRADIO, Mike Graham — a melting mass of expired meat — ranted about a children’s book, worried perhaps that it will contain too many long words. Speaking to his colleague, Mark Dolan — Dennis Pennis without the charm — Graham crowed:

It’s so juvenile. This is somebody who acts like she’s still in high school… I don’t have anything against her for any particular reason, other than she’s a bit too American, you know. She thinks everything is just great and cheesy. Rhyming the words ‘joy’ and ‘boy’. It’s not exactly Tennyson, is it?

Ah yes, that famous children’s author, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, known for such devastating rhymes as this one from The Lady of Shallot: “She left the web/ She left the loom/ She made three paces through the room.”

I’m not saying The Lady of Shalott is rubbish — though I do still hold a grudge against Tennyson after some very tedious teaching in high school — but that focusing on one rhyme in a poem is an easy trick if you want to say its shit. That Graham cannot see the irony in decrying writing a children’s book as “juvenile” is just one of the reasons he’s employed by a station with less than 1% reach.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @NadimJBaba

Nadim Baba

@NadimJBaba

Piers Morgan ranting about the one who got away in 5, 4, 3.......

Media Guardian @mediaguardian

Meghan wins copyright claim against Mail on Sunday over letter https://t.co/cJZTgDMvgz

May 5th 2021

1 Like”

There’ll be a new round of these columns, stories, and talk radio segments when the book is released, particularly as The Mail on Sunday just lost the second part of Meghan’s copyright claim against it.

There’s nothing that either Meghan or Harry could do that wouldn’t drive these rats in a sack rabid. If they did nothing, they’d be called lazy. When they make things, take jobs, or really say anything the very media that benefits hugely from stories about them scream that it’s a cry for attention. And yet Piers Morgan regularly pissing himself in public is “commentary”.

#meghan markle #prince harry #duchess of sussex #duke of sussex #piers morgan #brokenbottleboy #toxic tabloids #uk press

24 notes · View notes

alovesongshewrote · 4 years ago

Text

Almost A Thousand Years - Battle Royal | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot: You’ve known Hisirdoux Casperan for almost a thousand years. You’ve hated him for almost a thousand years. And for almost a thousand years, you’ve been cursed to feel each others pain. But somewhere in that time, things changed. [Hisirdoux Casperan x Mostly Gender Neutral but Probably Female Presenting Based on How Historical Men Treat Them!Reader]

Word Count: 2,975

Warnings: (Y/N) is traumatized, but you knew that already

A/N: IT’S B A C K, SHE’S HOME

Taglist: @furblrwurblr @rainningdoom @fluffydmonkey @blondie0458 @sitherin-mxschief @jinxedleo @lawlesshedgehog @einahpetsyarcip @dolphincommander @sorrels-scribbling @anxious-stitcher @alive-and-afraid @animedweeb333 @douxiesdamsel @saroski05 @justarandomhoman

You were very pleased to finally get a nap.

It took a few minutes of answering questions, and by the end of it you’d basically told Claire and Steve every secret you’d ever had, but it was worth it. You’d answer all of their questions and a million more if it meant you got to take another nap in the corner of Douxie’s room.

Waking up to general panic, however, was not as good.

“Morgana’s alive and coming for us!”

You sat up just in time to see Morgana’s hand reach through a shadow portal, only for Claire to shut the thing before any real damage could be done.

“Well… that’s not good,”

“Douxie, what do we do?”

Your wizard turned to face you, then Claire, then the empty space where the portal had been.

“Merlin?”

You nodded, “Yeah, Merlin,”

It took you less than a minute to wake up from your nap, and five minutes to get to Merlin’s workshop. After that, it only took you an eternity to convince him that Morgana had really returned.

“I swear, Morgana’s not dead!”

“Rubbish,”

“It’s true, master. She saw her in the shadow realm, which is great for saving history,”

“But she’s coming to attack the kingdom any second!”

“Which is less great,”

“We are all in grave danger,”

“And what were you doing in the shadow realm, hmm? Its dark mirrors trick you, sozzle your mind. Morgana is dead, and no magic can change that. I haven’t time to chase ghosts. We have more immediate threats,”

Typical Merlin, unwilling to listen to anyone except Arthur. But something he said struck a chord with you. No magic could bring Morgana back, at least no magic Merlin knew of. You, however, had some experience with a different kind of magic, one that had some alarming potential.

“Morgana is a threat!”

“Listen well, girl, even if she had cheated death, we don’t stand a chance if Gunmar attacks before I finish the amulet,”

Past Douxie kicked down the door. He was talking, they all were, but you were very lost in thought. The Arcane Order had mentioned something about being older than the stars, and that meant they were round now. If their magic could possess you, and create the green knight, then-

“I know you think we’re just a bunch of dumb teens, but we have to defend Camelot from disaster,”

“Hey, guys? What if we’re thinking of the wrong disaster,”

You had Douxie and Claire’s attention, but not Merlin’s. What else is new.

“Think about it. Morgana had to be brought back by extremely powerful magic. Maybe Gandalf over here can’t think of anything that could do that, but I think I have a good idea of we might be facing,”

Your wizard and the sorceress watched you with anticipation, but Merlin had no time for this. With a wave of his hand, half-masks appeared, covering the bottom of your face. The same thing happened to Claire and Douxie.

“Silence!”

“Wizard got your tongues?”

You couldn’t speak, but with the limited knowledge of morse code that you’d picked up in the wars, you told Archie that you would fight him in a Denny’s parking lot whenever the opportunity arose.

“If you truly believe the kingdom’s in danger, then go protect it… outside. I’ve an amulet to finish,”

Green magic surrounded you, lifting you, Douxie, Claire and Archie out the door and away from Merlin.

As much as you hated being silenced, it was kind of fun to watch Douxie struggle to remove the masks. It took a few minutes for the green magic surrounding you and Claire to turn blue, and when it did, you were thankful enough to help your wizard with his gag.

“No sign of Morgana anywhere,”

“Nothing but unwashed plebeians stuffing their faces, eh, Steve?”

If you looked into the crowd, you could see Steve, an unwashed plebeian, stuffing his face.

You turned your attention from the teenager, who was now running towards your small group, to watch Arthur give his little speech. To be honest, you weren’t actually that focused on what the king was saying. In fact, you had zoned right out until he mentioned Bular.

At the king’s command, the troll was brought out into the shadows where the public could see him. The Gumm-Gumm prince roared, and you heard screams echo out through the crowd, one of which came from Steve.

You, on the other hand, didn’t scream. Instead, you took a few steps back, clenching your jaw and your fists. Seeing the face of the troll who had stalked you for a century, gotten you tortured, and tried to kill you and your friends was not something you’d been looking forward to.

Douxie noticed your discomfort and grabbed your hand, “You alright, love?”

“Not really, no,”

Your wizard looked around, forming a plan, “Ok, guys, come this way,”

You followed his lead and found yourself in a shaded alleyway discussing the plan. It wasn’t much, but it was way better than being anywhere near Bular.

“Right, we know Arthur’s the main target. I’ll draw stasis traps around the perimeter, put up defensive wards-” Steve cut him off, not with words, but with food, “I forgot how good these tasted. The ones in the future aren’t the same,”

You may have been viscerally upset by the fact that the Gumm-Gumm prince was anywhere near you, but you weren’t heartless. The sight of your boyfriend enjoying a part of his old home brought a smile to your face. Claire, however, had no time for this.

“Guys, this is Morgana we’re talking about. We can’t just wait for her to slice our throats,”

“Why not?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, Steve, but I’d rather not die horribly this week,”

“She’ll find a way in, she’s not just powerful,”

Archie flew down, perching on your shoulder in his dragon form, “No sign of any sorceresses, but then again, all you humans do look the same,”

“She is crafty. She’ll try to infiltrate the tournament,” your gang, minus Steve, started to walk down the street, “We have to go on the offensive, root the witch out,”

“You do that. We’ll secure the castle,”

Claire looked between you and the wizard. You gave her a nod, Douxie gave her a high-five, and the three of you ran off, Archie flying behind you.

You wanted to avoid Bular as much as possible, so you followed your wizard, placing your own protective warding around his. It didn’t take too long for your mood to improve greatly. Spending time with your loved ones just kinda does that sometimes.

“And there. The king’s chambers and Merlin’s tower, completely warded. No evil sorceress getting in now, eh?”

“Oh, you’ve done it alright. Overdone it,”

You cringed as a bypasser found himself trapped in one of Douxie’s sigils, and you walked over with him to free the poor dude.

“Well, at least the castle’s safe,”

“As safe as it can be when an evil sorceress is breathing down your neck,” you crossed your arms, looking around at your work, “I really hope we never have to use these,”

Douxie wrapped an arm around your waist and placed a hand on the side of your face, turning you to look at him, “You never know, love, but whatever comes next, I promise I will keep you safe. I won’t let anyone, Arcane Order included, hurt you again,” the emotion in his voice almost surprised you.

You knew that what the Order did to you had caused damage, both physical and mental, but you’d never really realized that had done the same to him. Obviously, you were worse off, but you just now realized just how much guilt Douxie felt over this, and it made you feel a lot worse. You already knew that he would blame himself and that it would just add to the guilt he already felt about messing up time (which was not his fault), but you had miscalculated just how much remorse the man you loved would feel.

You didn’t say anything. How could you say or do anything other than pull him towards you and bury your face in his chest?

“Thank you, Douxie,” you looked up into his hazel eyes, “And uh, just in case you were wondering, I’ve got your back also,”

He smiled, letting out a small laugh, “I know. Thank you, darling,”

“Ay, no need to thank me,” you said, a lazy grin on your face as you kissed your wizard.

Your hands moved from his back to rest on his neck. Maybe it wasn’t the most romantic thought, but you were really glad that you weren’t driven to strangle him. You broke the kiss, still grinning. He turned his face, taking one of your hands and kissing it.

“I love you,” his words were a little muffled by your hand, but that didn’t take away any of the meaning.

If possible, your smile got bigger, “I love you too,”

Externally, everything was quiet and peaceful, but internally, you were screaming and thinking, “Fuckin finally!” over and over again.

This might have been a bad idea for a future you, but screw it. You’d been waiting for this for long enough, and the same went for Douxie. You had been through a lot in the past few decades, and you both deserved a goddamn break, and to spend some time with each other.

But clearly, the universe did not agree.

“OI, the king summons you!” oh wow, and it was Gallahad specifically ruining the moment, which is, what, the second time he’s done that? He grabbed your boyfriend and shook him around a little before continuing, “Come with me at once!”

“What-”

You and Archie shared a glance of mutual confusion before following the knight and the wizard.

“We have reached the time that’s not the beginning, but not the end! A half-time, if you will. Enjoy this match of misfits, my lord!”

“Ugh, I thought the king was in danger, not looking to use my friend as a sideshow,”

“Well, that’s Camelot for you,”

While the crowd watched Archie burn a gnome to a crisp, you watched Bular, who sat looking extremely bored, in his corner. Technically speaking, he hadn’t sent spies after you, ordered your torture, or tried to kill your friends yet, but you knew he would one day, and that was enough to set you on edge.

Douxie slipped a hand into yours, squeezing it reassuringly, and you smiled. You may have been a ball of nerves and edges at that moment, but you still had a heart.

“Now, the formidable Knight of Skulls and his challenger, Sir Clairee of the House of Nuñez!”

Now, you were always down for a good scheme, but this was a little too unexpected. Your jaw dropped as you watched Claire enter the field dressed in her purple armour. Without a second thought, both you and Douxie had thrown yourselves over the stand you’d been in to get closer to the girl.

“What is she doing?”

“I think she’s Mulan-ing it,”

Whatever the hell Claire was doing, she did it with style, fighting with grace and elegance in a swirl of purple and black. She was doing well until her opponent grabbed Steve’s drink and threw it in her face. The girl fell back and the Knight of Skulls raised his axe above her head. With no other option, Claire used her magic to throw the guy against the wall.

“Sorcery? That is forbidden!”

“Yeah, but you have to admit it’s pretty epic,”

Claire didn’t give a shit about what Arthur had to say, something you respected. The girl got straight to business interrogating the fallen knight. You didn’t know why she was doing it, but you assumed she had reasons.

Or you did until she flipped the guy’s helmet off revealing a very confused red-haired dude.

Lancelot and another guard grabbed Claire, removing her helmet and revealing that she was, in fact, a woman. This mattered to no one. What did matter, was that she had used magic.

“The witch is disqualified!”

“You both fight with no honour! Begone!”

“Well, that isn’t the worst thing that could have happened,”

“Hail, Morgana!”

“But that is!”

A man with a green glowing blade appeared behind Arthur, prepared to stab him. Before he had the chance, Claire portaled the assassin out onto the field where he transformed into a troll.

“Oop, changeling,” you muttered, earning a half-smile from Douxie.

The creature laughed as it drew more green knives, one for each of his four hands. Lovely.

“Yep, changeling. Protect the king!” Douxie yelled as said changeling threw two knives. The blades hit their marks, turning two guards to stone.

The situation somehow got worse as the king entered the fray, jumping in front of the creature. The changeling, however, did not attack the king, instead, he elected to make your worst nightmares come true.

“Run free, Gumm-Gumm prince,”

“At last!”

“(Y/N), run,” Douxie said before he, too, threw himself right into danger.

As Bular pounced on the king, Douxie created a shield around himself and Arthur. Upon impact, the sphere-shaped defence rolled away and out of the courtyard. Bular wasted no time going after them, not even giving you a second glance. You supposed you should be relieved, but you could feel the hits Douxie was taking, and suddenly relief was out of the question.

You went to follow the king and your wizard when the kingdom exploded. You braced yourself for a moment before continuing on your course. Bombs or not, you were going to protect your wizard. And also the king. That was probably important.

You made it out of the yard just in time to see Bular jump through the flames and over the now crumbling walls of Camelot to his freedom. Cool, dope, the threat to your life was gone. Now all that was left was the threat to Arthur’s life.

Speaking of, you darted in front of the king, creating a shield just as the changeling attacked. It bounced off the force-field you’d created, giving you enough time to draw your sword. Your friends and Lancelot stood tall, protecting the king, weapons at the ready. It probably looked awesome, but you couldn’t tell. Fortunately for you, I can tell, and it did look awesome.

“Stay back!”

The creature growled, “Fools, I’ve already won!”

Your eyes widened as you watched explosions surround the castle, each one contained in a force-field of its own.

“Merlin’s tower!”

“Good call with the defences, guys!”

“Yeah, but they won’t last long,”

“Oh no, Douxie,” Archie warned, flying towards you.

“What?”

“The other Douxie! With the man-bun, in the tower?”

“fUCK!”

“Ohhhhh fUZZBUCKETS!”

You, Douxie and Claire bolted to the castle, but your speed did not stop your snark, “Still not gonna say it?”

“Be patient, love!”

By the time you got to the castle, green smoke was everywhere. True, it was surrounded by shields, but that didn’t make it any less horrifying.

Douxie was equally horrified, if not more so. This was his home once, and watching it go up in flames was not a pleasant experience. It also put the thought of Claire, or worse, you going up in flames into his head, and that made him feel sick.

“(Y/N), Claire, stay here, help the civilians,”

“Are you kidding!?”

“Douxie, we can help!”

You looked around. The civilians were, in fact, in need of help, and as much as you wanted to help your friends, the people needed you more. But that didn’t mean Claire had to stick with you. She was good in a fight, and you were more of a doctor. It just made sense for them to do this.

“Ok, you guys go, I’ll stay,”

“(Y/N)-”

You cut off Claire’s protests, “Ah, ah, no, we don’t have time for this, just-” you took a second to kiss Douxie, because you did have time for that, “Come back to me, ok?”

They both nodded, and you ran off in separate directions.

Healing calmed you. Sure, you could fight and whatever else, but healing was your passion. You hadn’t studied medicine for centuries for nothing. Taking on your role as a doctor cleared your mind. You were able to direct people to the safest places, protecting them from falling debris and fixing whatever wounds they had.

Then there was another explosion and your mind went fuzzy again. You didn’t feel any pain, so Douxie was probably fine, but you were still concerned. You ran back to where you’d left Steve and the knights, just in time to see the kid get himself knighted.

Everyone was alive, thank god, and they all appeared to be in decent condition, except for past Douxie who was passed out in a barrel.

“Do you have an explanation for that, or should I just assume you’re trying to give your past self head trauma?”

Douxie just laughed, and you hugged him, sticking with the head trauma theory because no other answer had been provided.

You relaxed into his hold, returning the hug, “Hey, can you do me a favour and never run into an exploding building again, please? Thank you,”

“I don’t plan on it, love,”

You smirked a little as you pulled away from his embrace, your hands remaining intertwined, “Good, would be worried if you did,”

Douxie laughed again, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you went to check on Claire and Steve.

It was just then that Merlin finally fucking noticed that his two apprentices were getting along. Even the old wizard had to admit, it was nice seeing you two not trying to murder each other. It really looked like that binding spell paid off.

A win for team Merlin.

#hisirdoux x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #douxie x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux imagine #almost a thousand years #aaty #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #toa douxie #toa hisirdoux #fluff #angst

118 notes · View notes

ktheist · 4 years ago

Text

saving grace | 4

muses. duke!yoongi x lady!reader

universe. arranged marriage / minor traces of magic in history

concept. driven into a corner with the new king, seokjin, offering to marry you off to a prince in a foreign land and a persistent mother who would seize the chance of a lucrative marriage for her daughter, you’re forced with the only other option to secure your freedom ‒ enter into a beneficial agreement with the man who reaped the seeds of war, the duke of cralon, yoongi min.

words. 6.2k

warnings. mentions of war, it’s cliche and cheesy all in one package

index. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / finale

isabelle armwell is not present.

naturally so, showing up here would only intensify the naturally main topic of the conversation today - baron armwell’s heinous crimes that’d come to light after his daughter came up and confessed everything to the authorities. some days after your visit to the royal palace, you’d invited isabelle to shop for the dress you’d be wearing for the engagement party.

it wouldn’t look suspicious if you take more time than necessary in the fitting room. somewhere in the corner of your heart, you cursed yourself for becoming exactly like the ladies you claim repulsed you. and yet with a smile on your face, you wave to isabelle before stepping through the room, leaving her alone to wait for you.

but by the time you came out, she was already gone. the staff recounted the disheveled condition she’d left in after having a chat with a customer who’d left without buying anything.

“she must have felt sick after that and decided to leave immediately,” the manager, who wasn’t there to witness it because she was helping you change, deduces.

“perhaps,” not allowing your conflicted feelings show, you agreed with a pitiful smile and excused yourself for the day, saying you’re far too worried about your friend to pick a dress today.

a week after that, baron armwell had been arrested for not only theft but further investigation showed that he’d been involved with tax evasion, bribery and so much more that the same exact people who are criticizing the barn, are doing behind closed doors.

“can you believe how brave lady isabelle had to be to confess to her father’s crimes?” irene’s striking emerald eyes matches the ribbon tied around her light brown curls as well as her unconstrained envy for ranks.

there are only two noble ladies from a baron family, namely her and isabelle that are active in social gatherings as of late. while she praises irene, she also laughs at the situation the blonde woman is facing.

“you’ve always been close with isabelle, lady ___, did you know?” krystal’s cat-like stare searches for a fault in your response but unlike when you’re with a certain crimson eyed man, you manage to smooth out your expression into a regretful smile.

“did we seem so?” a hand clasps over your lips, “i wish we were close enough for her to confide her problems with me but, alas, she’d be suffering on her own this whole time.”

and with that, the silence lapses between you and the two ladies while the round of hooves against the ground and wheels rolling echoes from the front. the guests are still pouring in and yoongi, having been swamped with the additional charges against baron armwell, has been cooped up inside his office. you wonder if he’ll manage to show up at all.

“m-my, lady ___, you’re so kind to worry about lady isabelle even on the brink of your engagement party.” irene tries again, the angle of her smile now positioned awkwardly after you declared your support for isabelle.

after her disappearance, you’d sent her two letters. one, inquiring her of her well being as a friend - an undeserving one at that. the other one being the invitation of your garden party three days apart. her written reply, as expected, appeared as if nothing was wrong but the news blew up in a matter of hours after the winter knights bearing the crown’s warrant began pouring into the armwell residence and their warehouses.

“who would have thought lady ___ would harbor such amicable feelings for the daughter of baron armwell?” the smile that adorns krystal’s face doesn’t match her icy stare.

perhaps it’s the emphasis of isabelle being baron armwell, a loyal supporter of the aristocrat faction - it’s much easier to persuade a family of the royal faction than the noble’s even though the odds are lower than when the crown was succeeded peacefully. or perhaps it’s the due reminder that she, a marquis’ daughter, still ranks higher than you, a mere count’s daughter regardless of who your future marriage prospect is.

whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like she’s acting as part of seokjin’s vassal, “i think it’s important to separate emotions from business matters. the matter of the which side the armwells are on and whether isabelle deserves the credit for stepping up and confessing to her father’s crimes are entirely different matters.”

the woman’s cat-like gaze remains impassive, “but i suppose i don’t need a trip to the optometrist to see that one wears her loyalty like clothes these days.”

the silence that lapses after you’ve finished your words is presses down on your throat with its invisible hands. irene’s paling complexion, as she looks between you and krystal, is enough enough to tell you that the elephant might be bigger than you thought it’d be.

“lady ___, you look as splendid as the roses that bloom in the duke’s garden.” count henry approaches, only bowing in greeting after having praise you with his famous empty words. he’s the only few young nobles who’s succeeded the title from his father.

“thank you, count henry, but the credit goes to the gardener and his grace - i’d only started admiring them just recently myself,” you gladly welcome the new comer, turning your full attention to him.

“oh yes, as the future lady of the house, are you going to make changes to the garden and hold more gatherings? i’d be the most blessed man on earth if i could see you - i men the roses in their full bloom next year as well,” his dream like eyes widens with excitement while not failing to compliment you.

“thank you, you’re very generous with your praises, marquis,” is all you force out, unwilling to go down this praise littered path any longer than you should.

as though the planets and the stars align, whispers begin to spread among the guests. some gazes at something behind you with the same stars that shines its luck on you, some observing the object of fascination with care.

“___, apologies for arriving late to our own garden party,” yoongi’s uncharacteristically suave smile enters your view whilst you slip your hand in the one he has extended midair.

“don’t worry, you’re just in time,” at the sight of his crimson eyes watching you through this lashes as he presses his lips to your gloved knuckles, you can’t help but replay the events that transpired within the closed door of your mother’s parlor.

it was nothing and everything you’d imagined a proposal from yoongi could be. whilst the extravagance of best tailored dresses and perfectly cut diamonds were taking up every possible space in the main parlor, yoongi had pulled out a simple cerulean diamond encrusted ring and slipped it on your finger, kissing it right after - a seal of promise to love and to cherish.

you didn’t need to ask to know that it was a perfectly cut piece from the siren’s heart. its much larger counterpart being showcased somewhere in the main parlor.

“i-i see,” your voice shook and your cheeks felt like summer came early and for some reason, yoongi let out a brieft chuckle before he slipped a hand underneath yours and kissed it, murmuring, “you’re not against it and that’s good enough for now.”

“looks like i’ve missed the fun,” the breath that fans the shell of your skin brings you out of your thoughts as he whispers lowly, eyes boring into yours instead of taking notice of the peering gazes.

having spent most of his time winning wars, yoongi’s never truly attended any social gatherings. this would be his first in a long time and yet he’s already caught onto the shimmering heat that hangs over the air after your and krystal’s conversation.

but more than that, you’ve only ever seen him in dark colors with unmanageable hair that brushes against the top of his eyebrows and sometimes almost serves to hide his eyes if he’d just lowered his head. but today, his hair is sleeked back and he’s decked in a pristine white suit and deep crimson undershirt that highlights his eyes as well as the dragons and silver shield engraved in the back of the cape that’s attached to his shoulders and flows down until inches from his ankles.

“there’s more where that came from,” you offhandedly remark, concealing a small sigh at the thought of the draining battle that will ensue.

“greetings your grace, i’m henry from the house of lau. it’s an honor to make your acquaintance.” the easy smile that slips onto henry’s features tells you he’s shifted from being a lecherous casanova to a diplomatic marquis.

“marquis henry,” yoongi acknowledges, his hand snaking around your waist and pulling you closer until your back presses against his front, “i saw you, lady irene and lady krystal keeping my fiance company, thank you.”

the young marquis’ flinch is skillfully hid by his smooth chuckle, muttering a generic recount of the conversation about the roses before offering to walk with the other two ladies, leaving you alone with yoongi.

“h-how much did you hear?” the schooled smile on your face wavers as you avoid the duke’s naturally intense gaze.

“enough to know i won’t be having any problems buying the whole of the lau family’s mines,” the charming smile on his devastatingly handsome features is tinted with a sure promise as the hand on your lower back pulls you closer, your chests almost brushing.

forcing out a chuckle, you calmly placate, “but wouldn’t that be counterproductive since seokjin affirmed that he’s part of his majesty’s faction?”

“i’ll find someone to replace him,” he cocks his head to the side, eyes disappearing behind his lashes as his smile stretches wider.

“i see,” your shoulder line falls as you mentally bid good luck to henry before catching sight of a group of noblewomen and men huddled together adjacent to you with fans hiding their faces whilst they steal glances your way.

“your grace,” with and hand on yoongi’s chest and heated cheeks, you light push him only for him to raise an inquisitive eyebrow, “people are watching.”

but when his lips curl into a smirk, the beating organ encased within your chest drops to the ground, “and?”

before a series of protests manages to leave your lips, you find yourself staring into a pair of molten rubies before your eyes flutter shut as a familiar pair of lips lands on your forehead. your hand balls into a fist in front of your chest, trying to suppress your palpitating heart as the seconds stretch on and everything begins to fade into white noise.

...until the sound of someone clearing their throat brings you back to the canopy filled garden. “master. madam. all the guests have arrived.”

“alright, thank you jackson,” yoongi nods at the butler as though he didn’t just exhibited an act of affection that should have been shared between only the two of you privately.

you dread the forthcoming headache that’ll be knocking on your temples at the thought of rumors of the nature of you and yoongi’s relationship, spreading like wildfire.

“madam...” the butler trails off, head lowered at you as though pleading for something, “the master doesn’t like drawing attention to himself even though it is the min residence that the party is held at...”

“you don’t say,” side eyeing man in question that, out of all times, happen to be glancing at the sky, you doubt its sapphire hues are any more worth gazing than yesterday, “very well, i’ll announce the commencement of the party.”

“thank you, madam,” jackson dips briefly before walking away to stand with the valet and head maid a few feet away.

a soft breeze blows past the roofless area. though smaller compared to the garden in the palace, it’s still the size of half of your mention with its perfectly trimmed rose bed in the middle that’s half your height and makes up a maze where a fountain lies, rimmed with a deeper shade of rosebeds.

an even with the maze, at the heart of the garden, area between it and the mansion is still large enough to fit five tables with five chairs at each table scattered around the pavilion where you come to stand, hand around yoongi’s arms.

“ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. i hope you all enjoy yourselves today,” looking up to see those crimson eyes staring back at you, a smile slips onto your lips as you turn to the guests, “we trust his majesty has sent invitations to our engagement party to every family representative to those who are present and we hope to see you all there in a fortnight.”

the garden party drags on for hours with words as swords and superficial smiles as shields. as they get into the argument about seokjin’s rule, it isn’t hard to pick out the weeds that grow over the year after seokjin ascended the throne.

“to have completely disregard the nobles for a whole year, his majesty is a brave one.” count vernon’s lighthearted chuckle does not match his contemptuous remark.

“yes but, it’s not his majesty that we should be worried about, is it?” krystal’s question brings about a series of murmurs. of course, the question of your family’s stance must have been lingering on their minds even though your hosting and indulging the upcoming party should be answer enough.

“ah, i heard lady ___ and his majesty are quite close,” henry snaps his fingers, eyes shimmering with a recollection, “he used to summon you frequently back then, you know, before you and the duke got engaged. if you had any weakness, it’d be your beauty for having caught both the eyes of his majesty and the duke at the same time.”

at that, all eyes turn to you though some narrow their eyes at the marquis’ cheap tricks. suppressing the bile rising from your throat, you fix the beaming man with your own smile, “as you know, his majesty had just ascended the throne and asked for house ___’s advice on the matters at hand. my father was originally supposed to go but since the drought, he’s been required to ride to our estate and help the people there so i took over his job for him.”

glancing at the silver haired man whose lips twitch with humor at your feigned smile, “as for yoongi, when we met, it was like first love!”

whilst most of the ladies who are likely part of seokjin’s faction swoons at the way yoongi returns your smile. you barely notice the question thrown by one of the ladies to yoongi, “how was it for your grace when you met lady ___?”

a playful glint shines in his eyes as he chuckles, “when we first met, i remember thinking ‘this isn’t really happening, right?’” though those words hold a completely different meaning, the guests doesn’t seem to think it anything less than a romantic love-at-first sight kind of scenario as they murmur to each other and lament about their own first encounter with their partners. those who aren’t yet married or announced their relationship sending their wishes to the goddess to grant them something akin to your love story.

“your grace,” count jimin’s voice cuts through the air and silencing the crowd, striking hazel eyes boring into the silver haired man’s, “do you not feel betrayed? after coming home and bringing victory to king who severed the head of the one you sworn to serve?”

a pause lapses over the table as the question hangs in the air like a dark cloud. most of the nobles have reverted their gaze from you and yoongi as though looking at him would have caused their lives. you don’t have to crane your neck to know how piercing those deep rubies are.

“home,” a gravelly voice scoffs, “when i came back from the war, all i could hear was the people on the streets talking about how the cuts that were visible on my body could’ve been deeper so i’d die. how my cursed bloodline would doom the kingdom.” the man leans his elbow on the armrest, cheek leaned against his knuckles as his gaze fleets over the count, “it’s the same whoever i serve but at least the current king has improved the lives of the people by a large scale compared to that dim-witted uncle of mine and the rest of his supporters that roll around in the money they got from forcing such high rate taxes over their people.”

count jimin’s dry laugh echoes around the table, “those are serious accusations, i hope you have proof to support them, your grace, otherwise it’d be considered slander to all the noble houses present.”

“indeed it would be a grave insult,” you cover yoongi’s free hand that’s threatening to break the wooden structure of the armrest, relief flooding your system when it relaxes under your touch just the slightest bit whilst curious eyes peer at you, waiting on the edge of their seats for what you’re tying to get to, “only if it’s untrue. so how about a challenge for each house’s territory? his grace may conduct inspections on the park family’s territory and if his grace finds no fault in under the count’s rule, then the count will obtain the port to make up for the slander but if his grace’s words prove to be true, then the arable field belonging to the park family will go be part of the dukedom.”

“that’s ridiculous! his grace is the one who should present evidence before running his mouth.” the elder man’s face contorts with anger, nose flaring as he slams a hand on the table and sending his drink spilling over the fuchsia tablecloth.

you gesture for one of the maids to take away the spilled cup of tea before cocking your head to the side as though in deep thought, “count jimin, why are you getting mad? if what his grace says is a mere hoax, then you’ll be getting the iyesgarth port along with the rights to collect taxes... unless, you have something to hide?”

the maid returns with a new set of teacup, placing it in front of the silently trembling man and pouring newly brewed tea into it.

“i-i like lady ___’s suggestion,” lady irene’s timid voice warrants a turn of heads but despite the sudden attention, she still manages to deliver her reasoning, “both contribute significantly to the economy of the kingdom. if i’m being honest, the port is too good of a bargain to be given up easily.”

the stiff movements of several nobles as they stir their tea or reach for the delicacies laid out in front of them, is telling enough who they choose to push as their scapegoat.

“lady ___ didn’t you say to separate feelings from business matters? isn’t suggesting such challenge proves that you’re acting on your emotions because of count jimin’s rudeness?” you doubt that krystal’s question has anything to do with shifting the spotlight from the deathly silent count jimin than it does with challenging your judgement, “furthermore, you went ahead of yourself and didn’t ask for his grace’s take on this.”

you don’t miss the wide-eyed gazes coming from the nobles at the uncharacteristic chuckle that falls out of yoongi’s lips before he simply announces, “isn’t that a given? ___ and i are to be wed, consider whatever lady ___ say to be my own words from now on. i agree with giving up the port in the event that i’d baselessly besmirched the park family name.”

“f-fine, i agree to that arrangement.” count jimin finally declares, burning with pride and dignity that he’ll soon learn are fragile little things.

“great, the inspection will begin two days from now,” your lips curve, delighted at the conclusion of the ordeal, “it’s better to get this settled than drag this suffocating atmosphere to the engagement party, i would hate to have such a momentous day to be defiled with unsolved bad blood.”

the count opens his mouth as though the words of protest are a second away from falling off his tongue but after five solid seconds pass, the man clamps his lips shut and turns away. for the rest of the afternoon, nothing as strenuous as transpires.

those who attended are with their own reasons - whether to satisfy their own curiosity, to build connections or to simply witness for themselves the duke and future duchess’ stance in politics. either way, it concluded peacefully with the nobles from seokjin’s faction expressing their wish to see you more at parties and be invited to the ones you’ll hold in the future.

though you did not lift a finger, the duty to clean up naturally becomes yours as you oversee the process until the table clothes are folded, teacups and teapots stacked and delivered to the washing room whilst the tables and chairs are stored in the building separate from the main mansion.

yoongi disappeared as soon as the last five guests boarded their carriage. granted, there must have been a lot of paperwork and reports he’s supposed to get done. you wonder how he’s managed to squeeze you in his busy schedule when you barely knew each other.

the hand that hovers inches from the door to his office freezes at the deep voice that flows from the gap between the doors, “you don’t have to knock.”

“so it’s true that you have heightened hearing,” pushing the door open and stepping through it, you assert.

“it gets annoying sometimes, especially when i wake to the sound of the servants shuffling somewhere in the-.” the man hums in affirmation as he leans back. his usually towering frame appearing miniature surrounded by stacks of paper on both sides of his desk, the space in the middle being reserved for him to write on, “-not there.”

with lift eyebrows you meet the man’s crimson gaze, questioning why he suddenly stopped talking and how he has the nerve to forbid you from taking a seat on one of the sets of sofas in the middle of his office. whatever expression you must be making must have been the reason for his sudden retraction, “i mean, could you please come here?”

there isn’t any chair anywhere near his table but you get up anyway, heels clicking against the wooden flooring before stopping in front of him only to have man’s brows furrow with conflict. so you walk the extra distance around his table, your own features flashing is confusion,“why are you-”

but before you can even get the whole question out, a yelp escapes your mouth as the fingers that curl around your wrist yanks you forward. your fall into his lap may have been unceremonious as you reach out to grasp onto something for stability and that something just so happen to be his well built shoulders but he doesn’t seem to care. the muscles ripple underneath your touch as he hoist you closer as to not let you fall off sideways.

the heat spreads all over your body like poisonous smoke, sending your heart lurching into your throat as you bare yourself in those deep crimson eyes yet for some reason, you manage to push out a barely stable vocal, “i hardly think this is an appropriate position to be caught in.”

“the servants know not to bother me when i’m working.” the sight of his lips curling into a teasing smile now feels familiar, like the alleviated feeling of coming home after spending weeks at the capital for a mere ball.

“then i shouldn’t bother you either.”

“you’re allowed to. i give you my permission.”

“thank you, i’m honored.” you’ve only realize now that the chuckle from the garden party and now are no different. except the quietness just after the fall of the sun allows you to pick up on the adoration that wraps around his voice.

letting out a soft sigh, you suppose you don’t entirely dislike being held like a child like this.

“by the way, you didn’t have to go as far as gifting me a whole fertile land.” he says after the traces of humor disappear into the air but the lightness of the atmosphere engulfs you like a blanket.

preparations for the inspection has been commenced, the day after tomorrow, yoongi will ride with his men and arrive some time in the evening at count park’s territory with the help of a magical shortcut maintained by the wizard guild which are of close relations with the min family. despite the two day window, you’ve already got the necessary information about almost all the nobles’ activities, including count park’s. all yoongi needs to do is move in the direction you point: the missing daughter of a recently deceased baron that owned 1/8 of the land at stake as well as the territory’s reputation for the highest death rate ever recorded in the kingdom.

“shush,” you wave a dismissive hand - the same hand that bears a deep red diamond on its ring finger, “that’s the least i could do after you gave me the siren’s heart.”

“you should have picked some of the necklaces and bracelets as well,” he means from the boxes and boxes filled with sparkling jewelry that he sent along with the siren’s heart.

your mother had no qualms salivating over each content of the box until you instruct for whitlace’s representative to take it back, saying ‘i’ll explain to the duke’ when the man’s face pales at the lack of jewelry picked.

“i already have plenty,” you announce. having already explained your reason for declining such lucrative gifts - most of them decrease in value over the years unless it’s rare gems or gold or private property.

“that won’t do,” his ungloved fingerpads feel callous against your skin yet comforting as he traces it over the diamond encrusted ring, “what if i’m called stingy because my duchess isn’t wearing any accessories?”

“whoever that is must have a lot of time on their hand.”

“shall we acquire the territory of anyone who speaks ill of the duchess of cralon?”

at that, you burst out laughing. perhaps, it’s the way he proposes such idea - as though it’s as easy as stealing candy from a child. perhaps, it’s the underlying promise to go through such deeds if someone dares to insult you. perhaps it’s the delicate crimson gaze that’s looking at you as though he wants to take this moment and frame it in his memories.

the faintest of smile makes its way to yoongi’s lips as he leans into your palm - his skin is as soft as it appears to be. you fear it’ll end up bruising under your touch. his own hand slips under your hand, callous fingers tracing your jawline. just like moth drawn to flame, you find yourself leaning down, eyes glazing over the pink lips but before you even manage to have a taste of sweet sacrilege, the the sound of the door swinging open echoes throughout the room.

“master,” jackson’s bows briefly, a tray of letter in one hand, “the countess sent a letter to the madam.”

“i-i see, is the carriage here?” you make an attempt to hop off the man, smile pointing in an awkward angle before realizing the tightened grip around your waist.

yoongi meets your hard stare nonchalantly, even having the nerve to raise an inquisitive eyebrow as to why you’re moving away until he relents, a sigh escaping his lips before his arms fall away from you.

“that... the countess sent the letter through a maid,” the butler stops in front of the desk, dark brown eyes fleeting over to the fireplace and then the shadows that its makes and then his polished shoes - anywhere except your eyes.

since you’ve sent one of yoongi’s footmen to notify your family coachman a few hours ago, you figured that’s how the letter was delivered. yet you don’t pry, butlers are often put in difficult positions due to their masters, “thank you, jackson,”

with that, you go to stand directly in front of the window for better lighting to read your mother’s undoubted cursive writing whilst trying your hardest to ignore the heat of yoongi’s body as he not-so-secretly reads over your shoulder.

dear daughter, i sent felix to run some errands. he won’t be available until tomorrow noon. i’m afraid you’ll have to spend the night at the duke residence. but fret not, i sent the leslie to help you with anything you need. plus, she’ll have to familiarize herself with the mansion once you get married anyway!

the ghost of a delighted laugh that belongs to your mother rings in your ear as your mind conjures a picture of her sitting at the maple desk gifted by your father some years ago, a plotting smile on her lips.

“jackson,” yoongi voice drums a second after your eyes fleet across the exclamation mark, “prepare a room for ___, looks like the coachman of the ___ family can’t come.”

“th-that won’t be necessary,” with a hand on the duke’s chest to capture his attention and prevent him from making any rash decisions, you quickly say, “i think leslie might’ve come with the sevant’s carriage.”

“miss leslie came by foot.” jackson informs.

“th-then the min house’s carriage...” you trail off with the last ray of hope only to catch the butler’s eyes glazing over something behind you before breaking into cold sweat.

“d-dylan has caught a cold so i sent him home for the night.”

twirling on your heels, the ominous stare that does a 180 into an uncharacteristically innocent smile does not go past you. the stare down seems to stretch on for hours, you with your stern gaze and yoongi with his unrelenting smile, until you find yourself letting out a sigh, eyes averting to the writings on the paper scattered on his desk out of the sheer need to not get swayed any further than you already are.

“very well, thank you for ha-”

at the words of affirmation to stay, yoongi speaks over you hurriedly as though stamping a seal to a deal and rendering you unable to backtrack and come up with a new idea on how to get home, “jackson, prepare my mother’s room.”

his late mother’s room would mean the predecessors of the duchy. you’d eventually have to move into the late duchess’ room as yoongi did with the late duke’s room but you’re not yet married and nothing close to having the title of duchess-

“yoongi, perhaps an ordinary guest room-”

“it’s either that,” his breath fans your ears as he leans dangerously close to your face, “or my room. your pick, my lady.”

the heat comes back full force, like flames burning your entire body and sending your heart palpitating wildly in your chest. with one step backwards and a robotic twirl towards the door, you announce, “jackson, please show my the way to the late duchess’ room,” as the silhouette of the man clasping a hand over his mouth as muted chuckles fill the air before you walk through the door pulls on your heartstrings.

the duchess’ room had been decorated with muted but calming tones. pristine white furniture complements the dusty peach walls and chandeliers that hung in the ceiling like diamonds. the bed, encased by a material like fine satin in the shade of pink but considerably lighter than the fuschia skies at dawn, could have been jackson’s choosing. but the interior designs couldn’t have been easily altered from its previous dweller’s touch. it was only three months ago that you’d met yoongi, and it’d take more than one or two months to get a renovation done even if yoongi wanted to surprise you with your new room.

it was a complete contrast to the darker interior of the mansion that sought a more sophisticated design with minimally furnished rooms and garnet curtains that were drawn apart to let sunlight pour over the wooden flooring and creme colored walls.

even if yoongi is the master of the mansion, you couldn’t sense a touch of him within those walls. it was almost as though he was but a ghost that resided mostly in the studies book shelves took up the entire walls on both sides adjacent to the door. and even with all that space to himself, the space between deep brown settee sets perched in the middle of room and his desk had painted an invisible line between him and the whole mansion. as though his only space was somewhere behind the desk and the spot where the sunlight poured graciously behind him.

and as you stared into the darkness after the lights were turned off, you wondered if yoongi had ever felt the warmth of a home. all of a sudden, a sense of emptiness crept into the crevices of your heart at the thought of having all the luxuries and adoration one could ever ask for but at the end of the day, coming back to long winded hallways and beckoning shadows.

so when he’d walked into the dining room that morning, you’d hoped he’d at least remember breakfast with you to be more than just deep garnet curtains, long table and empty chairs.

the vapor hovering of your teacup dissipates with the softest gush of wind but your main concern is the hem of your skirt fluttering around your ankle, almost threatening to send you flying.

your lips draw into a frown as your eyes flutter, prettily made hair starting to turn unruly.

“you have the worst luck with winds, ___.” when the gush ceases, you find yourself studying the towering figure that’s pulling the chair across from you to your side, his knee bumping into yours when he takes a seat. the swaying blades of grass and leaves surrounding the pavilion does not go unnoticed by you.

“yoongi,” the name tastes like your favorite candy on your tongue, “i thought it’s a perfect day to have breakfast outdoors.”

his damp hair appears a deep shade grey, fringes that would usually brush over eyebrows now almost concealing his crimson eyes. he’s donned in his black and yellow uniform, possibly to report his departure to count jimin’s territory to seokjin.

“i’m not saying i dislike this though,” he brings the teacup filled by jackson at his arrival, to his curving lips.

at that, you can’t help but let your own smile slip onto your lips, “i slept well last night.”

a flash of something you can’t pinpoint crosses those crimson eyes, “as you should. everything in that room will be yours - no, they already are.”

“if you keep saying that i might be inclined to give you another piece of land,” you pop a miniature cheese tart into your mouth, the sheer sweet and creamy taste melding together on your tongue.

“and i thought it was just me who’d want to spoil you with all the luxuries in the world.” the faint smile seems more apparent under the sunlight as his pink lips take on a lighter shade whilst last night’s events flood your memory like a broken tap-

“can’t i go with you?” the question tumbles out of your mouth much sooner than you plan it. but if you’re talking about planing, you were definitely envisioning asserting yourself as part of his inspection team.

“that’ll shift the suspicion to you if you’re seen aiding me,” his crimson eyes almost appear pink when they glaze over you, “they might even go as far as saying everything was planned out from the beginning by the duke and future duchess.”

“i know you were going to say that,” you lean back against the chair, shoulder line sagging at the dead weight of having to survive without yoongi for at least five days until he returns. and as you know many things, you both see his success in proving count jimin’s unspeakable deeds.

breakfast goes on with reminders of the key vassals yoongi is supposed to look for. count jimin may have owned a majority of the land but not the entire granary. there are two other nobles who are in charge of overseeing the work put into sowing and harvesting the crops but one had passed away last summer and his only son had been missing since while the other hasn’t appeared in public for a whole year. despite the rising death rates among the villagers, it could have easily been brushed off as a natural cause - it always had to be some tragedy falling upon someone of noble blood to allow for such inspections. otherwise, the opposing factions would band together in a circle just to protect their own.

but when an unsuspecting inspection is made in the name of one’s honor, not many dare to challenge its grounds. as though one’s title is worth more than the increasing rate of lives lost under the count’s reign.

“well, i suppose i have things to settle myself,” you murmur mindlessly before taking a sip of the green tea you asked leslie to prepare.

a chuckle escapes your lips when the duke doesn’t say anything yet lulls his head to the side in wonder.

“i think i found a bride candidate for seokjin.” you confess.

“a bride, you say?” yoongi blinks, those crimson eyes piercing with confusion.

“for now, i don’t have enough information to be sure but lady krystal is the person i have in mind.” when the man continues to stare, as though expecting you to at least mention which house krystal belonged to, you can’t help but let bubbles of laughter trickle from your lips. “she’s the one with stunning cat-like eyes and light brown hair from yesterday.”

“did she not try to challenge you openly?” the twitch in yoongi’s eye is enough to tell you he’s bothered by your decision but not as against it as he should be because he trusts your judgement.

“rather than that...” the image of krystal’s indifferent gaze burns at the back of your mind, “she stands on her own and doesn’t sputter out empty praises just to get on my good side. she’s also ambitious and far from a pushover.”

it is a second later, after what seems like a deep mull, that yoongi allows his free hand to ruffle the back of his head as a sigh leaves his lips, “if you say so, then i believe you.”

the sight is almost endearing if not for the effects he has on your heart, yet you till manage to chuckle to yourself over the irony of the circumstances, “have i ever been wrong?”

note. and there goes another chapter for saving grace! hope you guys enjoyed it!!

taglist. @ayujmi @fanfuckingfic @deathkat657

#bts smut #yoongi smut #bts scenarios #yoongi scenarios #bts fic #bts x reader #bts fanfic #bts x you #yoongi fic #yoongi fanfic #yoongi x reader #yoongi x you #bts au #bts imagines #yoongi imagines #bts x yn #yoongi x yn

143 notes · View notes

itsadamcole · 4 years ago

Text

one last night

fem!reader x adam cole

It’s been two weeks since reader and Adam have broken up. She goes to the house she lived in with Adam for a year to get the rest of her things. He begs her to spend one more night with him, to maybe see if he can change her mind about leaving him

word count: 5k+

warnings: a little angst, smut, sad!adam, sad!reader, a long ass imagine

— another sad imagine ... well, semi sad. kind of .... also i promise i’m getting to requests. they’ll be out in a few days —

masterlist || send in a request here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

***

Adam’s POV

I sit on the couch a nervous wreck. Y/N is coming over to collect the rest of her things. She moved out two weeks ago and requested a brand change the next day so she was moved from NXT to Monday Night Raw. I haven’t been able to speak to her, until two days ago when she texted me asking if she could pick up the rest of her things.

She’ll be here any minute. My hands are shaky and sweaty with nerves. Why are they shaky? Why are they sweaty? I don’t even fully understand why I’m nervous.

There has to be a way for me to get her to forgive me. I love her too much just to let her go. Yeah, I’ve said somethings that hurt her but I was drunk and frustrated after a loss.

“I’m just trying to help you, Adam.”

“You’re not helping me so just stop! You’ve never helped me. You’ve only made things worse for me. Before you, I was one of NXT’s top stars. I was getting the push. Since you, I’ve lost my NXT title. I’ve lost a match to get my title back. It’s your fault.”

“Fine, then I’ll leave.”

“Good. Goodbye. I won’t miss you.”

Then she was actually gone. I found out the next day from William Regal that she requested to be moved to Raw or Smackdown, and he granted her that request. If I could go back and take everything back then I would.

Y/N means everything to me. Contrary to what I said, I’m grateful for everything’s she’s done to help me feel better after a tough loss.

When I lost my NXT title, she made me my favorite dinner in bed while I sulked around the house and just laid in bed. She put on my favorite movie and laid in bed with me.

I lost a battle royal match to become number one contender for Finn’s title the night I told Y/N she never helped me. I got drunk and was frustrated. I took everything out on her. I took my frustrations and anger out on her. I pushed her so far away from me that night to the point she left.

I realize that my cheeks are wet with tears and I’ve started crying as I reminse on the worst night I’ve experienced in years.

*** two weeks ago ***

I’ve been drinking since I got back to the house. I’ve drank two bottles of whiskey and I’m halfway through the third now. Y/N sits on the couch, watching me drink away.

I’m drunk. Very drunk.

Fucking Johnny Gargano eliminated me so I couldn’t win the match. I deserved to win that match. I want my title back. I want to beat Finn Balor for the NXT championship. That won’t happen now. Fucking Johnny Gargano.

“Adam, please come talk to me,” Y/N says to me as I take a swig of the bottle. “Please.”

I look over at Y/N and say, “No.”

She says, “I know you’re frustrated and I know your angry. I just want to know what I can do to make it better.”

I take another drink and say, “There’s nothing you can do to make it better, Y/N.”

Y/N looks upset as she says, “I’m just trying to help you, Adam.”

She flinches back as I raise my voice. I drink again and she asks, “Do you want me to leave?”

“I would love it if you would leave,” I snap again as I take another drink.

Y/N stands up and says, “Fine, then I’ll leave.”

I finish my drink and watch as she walks to the door. I say, “Good, goodbye. I don’t care if you come back or not. I won’t miss you.”

Y/N looks hurt as she walks out the door. She looks back at me before she closes the door and she says, “Enjoy your life, Adam, since you won’t miss me apparently.” She takes off the promise ring I gave her and leaves it on the table by the door.

As she closes the door, what I just did hits me and it hits me hard.

I drop the glass bottle to the ground and run to the door. I walk out and call, “Y/N! Y/N, come back!”

Her car is already down the street and I watch as she turns the corner. I fall back onto the ground and cover my face as I begin to cry.

She’s gone. She’s actually gone. I messed everything up. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get her back.

***

Your POV

You pull up to your house. Your old house. This isn’t your home anymore. Your home is with your brother in Jacksonville until you can get a place on your own closer to the Performance Center.

It looks the same but brings so many now painful memories.

This was the first house you bought. You bought the house with Adam Cole. Two weeks ago, he told you how he really felt.

“You’re not helping me so just stop! You’ve never helped me. You’ve only made things worse for me.”

You love Adam, you really do, but what he said to you crossed a line. You’ve done everything you could to help him feel better after a tough loss. You sacrificed so much time and energy to make him feel better after a loss, and that’s what he says to you.

Drunk words are sober thoughts so you know that he’s probably felt like that for a little bit.

You gather the courage to get out of the car. You lock your car and trek up to the front door. Sighing softly, you knock on the door.

There’s shuffling behind the door before it opens, revealing a very messy Adam Cole. He’s always worn sport shorts when laying around the house. He’s wearing a Mario shirt and Zelda pajama pants. His hair is messy, like he hasn’t brushed it or showered in days. His eyes are red.

“Hey, Y/N,” Adam says, his voice monotone. “Come in.”

He moves aside and you walk in.

You look around. It looks normal. Not what you expected. You expected it to be a mess or alcohol bottles everywhere. It’s clean. You glance at the table you left the promise ring on and see that it’s still there. He hasn’t touched it.

Adam closes the door as you leave the foyer and walk into the living room he and asks, “Can I help you with anything? I can grab boxes for you.”

You look at him and say, “Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you.”

He nods and walks down into the basement. You walk around the living room. The pictures of the two of you still are on the walls and the table.

The picture of Adam holding his newly won NXT title standing next to you is in its usual spot. A picture of you with Adam’s title around your waist doing the “boom” thing sits on the table next to a picture of you and Adam sitting on the beach at sunset as he presses a kiss to your cheek.

You walk out into the foyer again and pick up the ring you left. You look at it and sigh.

Tears start to roll down your cheeks and you hear Adam coming back up the basement steps. You set the ring back down and wipe your tears away as you walk into the living room.

Adam appears in the living room holding about a dozen collapsed boxes. “Um, I can build them as you need them,” he says.

You nod, afraid to talk. You walk upstairs to the bedroom. Adam follows you.

As soon as you walk into the room, you turn the light on and walk over to the closet. You take your hanging clothes out and throw them onto the queen-sized bed as Adam builds a box.

You avoid looking at Adam as you pack your things. You wipe away tears as they start rolling down your cheeks. Hopefully Adam doesn’t notice. He looks too concentrated on building boxes to notice though.

He slides over a box to you by the bed so you can pack the clothes that you threw on the bed. You pack the clothes on the bed.

That’s when Adam notices the tears falling down your cheeks. “Y/N, baby, what’s wrong?” he asks.

You shake your head and don’t say anything. Your terrified to talk because you are scared to break down.

You never wanted to leave Adam. What he said hurt you. You got to your brother’s and you cried for days. You unfollowed Adam on everything and turned your phone off, until two days ago when you texted Adam and asked if you could come by and get your things.

You close the box. Adam walks up and stands next to you.

“Y/N, I know you,” he says. “What’s wrong.”

You finally look up at Adam. The heartbreak you see in Adam’s eyes when he sees the tears on your cheeks makes you so upset.

You’re two people who love each other who are about to go separate ways. It hurts.

Adam says softly, “I knew something was wrong. You’re a terrible liar.”

You start to break down and you cry, “It hurts, Adam. It hurts so much.”

He says, “Please talk to me, Y/N. We haven’t talked since you left. Maybe if we talked then you won’t leave.”

You look up at Adam with tears in your eyes. You ask, “Why would I stay when I apparently can’t do anything to help you? Why would I stay when I make everything worse?”

Adam says, “I didn’t mean that. Please know I didn’t mean that. You’ve done so much for me, Y/N. When I lost the NXT title, you made my favorite meal and watched movies with me. It made me feel so much better.”

You say, “I don’t believe you, Adam. You never even tried to stop me from leaving.”

He says, “I ran out after you but you were already gone. You turned around the corner by the time I got outside.”

“Why’d you say it?” you ask. “Tell me why you said it.”

Adam sighs and says, “I was angry and frustrated. I was drunk and took everything out on you. I didn’t mean anything I said to you that night, Y/N. I’m so in love with you and I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me. You mean everything to me and I’ve been devestated these past two weeks because you left.”

You say, “I left because you hurt me, Adam. I was so upset and hurt that I couldn’t come back to face you. My heart was broken.”

“Stay the night,” he says. “Let me make it up to you. Let me show you that I never meant to hurt you. If you still want to leave in the morning then you can and I won’t fight you on it.”

You look away from Adam and say, “I don’t know.”

Desperation is laced in Adam’s voice as he says, “Please, Y/N. Just one last night together. If I can’t convince you to stay by the morning then you can finish packing and you can go.”

You don’t want to go but you don’t want to stay. It’s late out too and it’s a long drive back to Jacksonville, and that’s the only reason why you say, “Okay. You have until morning to convince me to stay.”

A sigh of relief comes from Adam and he says softly, “Thank you.”

“I’m only staying because it’s late and I don’t want to drive back to Jacksonville in the dark while I’m emotional,” I say, walking away from Adam.

He says, “I’ll take anything, I guess.”

You walk downstairs into the kitchen. You look through the cabinets and in the refrigerator to look for something to eat.

There’s almost no food in the house at all. You fine some crackers, Nutella and expired milk. That’s about it.

“Adam, what have you been eating?” you ask, turning toward him. “There’s almost no food here.”

He stands behind you in the kitchen, leaning against the kitchen island counter. “I’ve been ordered Postmates or I just don’t eat,” Adam admits.

You pout and say, “You have to at least eat, Adam. If not for you then for me.”

He nods and he pulls out his phone. “How about I order us some McDonald’s or Taco Bell on Postmates?” he says. “I know how much you like McDonald’s or Taco Bell.”

You smile and nod. “Taco Bell sounds nice,” you say. “Thank you, Adam.”

“Of course,” he says, tapping on his phone for a second. “Does a six soft tacos and nacho fries sound good?”

You nod and say, “Sounds amazing.” Your stomach growls. “I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

He laughs and places the order. “It’ll be here in about thirty minutes,” Adam says. “I also got us some lemonade since all I have here is milk that’s gone bad and tap water.”

You giggle and say, “I don’t want to drink expired milk so thank you.”

Adam smiles and walks out to the living room. You stand in the kitchen for a second before following him out to the living room.

You can tell he’s trying to make it up to you. He’s trying to show you that he never meant to say what he did. Deep down, you know that he never meant to say that you made everything worse. You know that sometimes you’ve helped him though losses.

A part of you want to give in and stay but a part of you is scared to stay. You’re scared he’ll hurt you again.

The two of you sit on opposite side of the couch. The awkward tension rising in the air between the two of you. You play with your thumbs and Adam asks, “Have you been staying with your brother? You said you drove here from Jacksonville.”

You nod and say, “Y/BR/N took me in and is helping me looking for apartments down here.”

You look over at Adam to see that he looks sad. It breaks your heart.

To make him feel a little better, you move over to him and you rest your head on his shoulder. “I see that you’re finally wearing the pajama pants I got you,” you say. “Are they comfortable?”

Adam nods and says, “Extremely comfortable.”

You smile and say, “Good. I’m glad.”

He puts something on the TV as the two of you wait for food.

The food gets to the house about thirty minutes later. You and Adam sit at the kitchen island, eating the tacos and nacho fries while drinking your lemonades.

Neither of you talk as you eat. You have no idea what to say to Adam.

Adam starts a conversation. “When I lost my NXT title, the first thing I thought about was coming back to you,” he says, sipping his lemonade. “I knew immediately that I wanted you and I knew how much I needed to see you. I never cared that I lost the title. I cared about getting back to you because I knew you could make me feel a million times better than I did after I lost my title.”

You look at Adam with sad eyes and you listen to every word before you say, “Telling me that nothing I did helps and that I made everything worse hurt me, Adam. It made me want to stay away and not come back.”

He looks heartbroken when you explain how you felt.

Adam says, “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you if I have to.”

You say, “Give me some time, Adam. I need some time to think everything through to make sure that I want to-”

In a quick movement, he turns me toward him and he kisses me. You pull back immediately and look away from him. You say, “You can’t kiss me to change my mind.”

“That was for me,” he says. “In case you make the decision to go in the morning.”

You stay quiet and continue eating. Adam sighs softly beside you.

Once you’re done eating, you clean everything up.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” Adam says behind you as you throw out your trash. “I don’t mean to pressure you into a decision by kissing you.”

You say, “Stop kissing me until I make my decision. Kissing me won’t do anything to my decision.”

You turn and look back at Adam. He says, “It’s one kiss. Calm down.”

“Calm down?” you ask. “You want me to calm down? Are you kidding me? Have you met us? A kiss is a kiss, until it turns into sex. That’s how we work, Adam. You kiss me and somehow we end up in bed without clothes on.”

He says, “I know that, Y/N. It was just a kiss for my sake. I wouldn’t have let it get that far.”

“Would you have?” you ask, walking over to Adam. “You’re a terrible liar, Adam. I know when you’re lying.”

Adam gets up and walks over to you. “Tell me you didn’t want me to kiss you,” he says. He now stands in front of you.

You look up at him and say, “Of course I did. We both know how much I love when you kiss me, but-”

He interrupts me, saying, “If you’re going to leave then please just let me give you a few kisses, as goodbye.”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you say, “Adam, no. I’m already confused and I need time to think.”

It’s already taking everything in you not to touch Adam or kiss him like you want to. You would love just to kiss him and things go back to the way they were but that can’t happen. Not right now. You don’t know if you can trust him.

“Y/N, please,” Adam says, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. “I can’t go another day without you here. I’ve been going crazy without you.”

You look up at Adam with tear filled eyes. “I can’t trust that you won’t hurt me again,” you admit. “I’m scared to come back to you. I would love to kiss and make up but I’m terrified.”

Adam cups your face and says, “I’ll never do anything to hurt you again, Y/N. I never meant to hurt you in the first place. I’m so in love with you.”

“You love me yet nothing I say or do helps you,” you say. “You told me you didn’t care if I came back or not.”

He says, “I’ll never stop apologizing to you for that, Y/N.”

The tears start to roll down your cheeks and you say, “I don’t know if I can believe you. I cant trust that you won’t get drunk and say those exact things to me again.”

In the moment, you decide to leave in the morning. If you can’t trust that he won’t hurt you again then what’s the point in staying.

Adam’s heart breaks as you talk. He realizes just how much his words hurt you, and he realizes that you will probably end up leaving in the morning because of how much he hurt you. When the realizes this, he starts to cry too.

He can’t look at you. He can’t look at the person he loves the most and hurt the most.

You look up at him, seeing tears rolling down his face. He knows it too. That you’re leaving in the morning.

“I wish I could take everything back,” he cries. “I miss seeing you at work. I miss waking up next to you. I miss cuddling you at night. I miss kissing you goodnight and good morning. If I could take back everything I said two weeks then I would. I miss you so damn much, Y/N.”

Every word hits you hard and you start to cry. You stare up at Adam and listen to every word.

He breaks down and you cup his face. You say, “Look at me, Adam.” He does and you find his usually pretty blue eyes filled with sadness and anger. “I love you, and I miss all those things too, but I can’t stay. Your words haunt me. I don’t trust that you won’t say them again. They broke my heart, Adam. I would love to stay and make up, but I don’t trust that you won’t say them again.”

Adam says, “What do I have to do to make you trust me again? Y/N, please tell me. I can’t just let you walk away.”

You push some hair that has fallen into his face away and you say, “Time, Adam. Give me time. I’m not walking away. I just need a few days or a few weeks to trust you again.”

He nods and looks down at his feet, tears still falling down his cheeks. The sight breaks your heart.

He loves and misses you, and he’d do anything to have you back in his life. You know he’d do anything to make it up to you.

After glancing at the clock above the stove, which says 1:28 am, you look back at Adam. You take his face in your hands and tilt his head up.

His wet cheeks and sad eyes make your heart hurt.

While his words have hurt you, your words are have hurt him too. You telling him you don’t trust him has hurt him. You telling him you can’t stay has hurt him.

In one movement, you bring your lips to his. You move them against his slowly, still unsure if you want to kiss him.

Adam kisses you back.

Sure that you want to kiss him, you wrap your arms around his neck. You hold him close to you and both your tears stop.

You always feel happiest when you’re with Adam. He’s the same way. That’s why you’ve both have stopped crying.

That’s when you realize that the tears won’t stop if you leave. If you leave, both you and Adam will be a mess. You know he’ll make it up to you eventually. You and Adam won’t survive a break from each other.

Adam pulls back from the kiss and looks at you. “I thought you didn’t want to kiss me unless you made a decision,” he says.

You peck his lips and say, “I’ve made the decision that I want you. At least one more time.”

That’s all Adam needs to hear before his lips are on yours again. He stumbles toward the stairs before the two of you stumble upstairs and into your room.

Once inside, you walk backward to the bed and pull off Adam’s shirt as he pulls off your hoodie. You’re not wearing anything beneath the hoodie so your upper body is completely exposed.

Adam notices this and attacks your breasts with kisses. You gasp and moan softly, taking Adam’s hair out of the ponytail it’s in.

He lifts you up, holding you by your thighs. You run your fingers through Adam’s long locks as he kisses and sucks on your breasts.

Adam lays you on the bed after pushing your unpacked clothes off of the mattress. You pull Adam’s lips up to yours and your lips crash to his. The kiss is rough from the start. As you kiss him, you kick your shoes off before reaching down and pulling off the pants Adam’s wearing.

Adam pulls off your leggings and moves down, kissing your thighs. You gasp as he trails closer to your core.

He looks up at you right before he gets to your clothed core. He’s looking for permission, so you nod. Adam pulls off your panties then immediately dives in. He runs his tongue through your folds and your core begins to ache. “Adam,” you sigh.

You feel Adam push two fingers inside of you, making you moan softly. You put your fingers in his hair and grasp gently. With every flick of his wrist, you moan louder. “Adam, fuck,” you sigh.

He puts your legs over his shoulders as he slips a third finger inside of you. You moan louder, throwing your head back against the bed.

Right as you’re being pulled to your orgasm, Adam pulls his fingers out. You pout and look at him. You watch as he pulls off his boxers. He says, “I can’t wait anymore. I need to be inside you.”

Adam hovers over you and you kiss him softly. You mumble, “Don’t hold back, Adam.”

He nods and kisses you back as he thrusts hard inside of you. You moan and put your hands on Adam’s back. He moves slowly but deeply into you.

As he moves, Adam buries his face in your neck. He kisses and sucks on the sensitive skin as he thrusts his hips hard. He’s so deep inside of you that his hips are flush against yours.

Your legs, which are wrapped around Adam’s waist, begin to shake as you are pulled to the edge. “Adam, baby,” you moan. “I’m close.”

He hums, “Me too.”

Adam laces his fingers with yours and he pins your hands to the bed above you head. He kisses you as he pushes you over the edge.

You moan his name and a bunch of profanities. You roll so you’re straddling Adam’s waist. You move and kneel beside Adam. You take his member in your hand, pumping him a few times before you take him in your mouth.

You swirl your tongue around his tip and start to bob your head up and down. Adam holds your hair behind your head so it’s not in your face as you suck him off.

Adam groans softly as he pulls lightly on your hair. You moan softly and pull back, licking your lips as you crawl back onto Adam’s waist.

He bites his lip as you position his member outside of you and he asks, “You gonna ride me, baby?”

You smirk and say, “You know it.” You lower yourself onto Adam, sighing softly as he slips deeper into you.

You rock your hips, both you and Adam moaning softly as you move.

It does not take very long for you and Adam to reach your highs. You both come at the same time.

You help Adam ride out his high before you collapse on top of him. Your sweaty chests stick together as your messily makeout. Adam’s hands on your lower back as you kiss.

After a few minutes, both you and Adam get comfortable and ready to sleep. You lay cuddled up to Adam, your eyes closed.

Adam thinks you’re asleep after a few minutes and he whispers, “Please don’t go in the morning. I need you in my life, Y/N.”

You doze off a few seconds later.

***

Adam’s POV

I’m woken up by noises in the room. Before I open my eyes, I pat around the bed trying to find Y/N. My eyes fly open when I don’t feel her in bed with me.

She’s over at the closet. My shirt hangs loosely on her body and I can see a sliver of her underwear when she lifts her arms.

My heart breaks when I see this. She’s still packing to leave. I put my head in my hands and sigh.

“Oh, you’re up,” Y/N says.

I nod and say, “Yeah. I’m up.” My voice is monotone and has no emotion. She’s leaving and I did everything I could to convince her not to go.

I hear the box move and I look up. The box is a few feet away from her, and it’s open. I tilt my head up and see there’s nothing in the box. Y/N pulls a box over to her that’s full of clothes and she starts pulling clothes out.

My eyes widen and I say, “You’re unpacking.”

She nods and looks back at me. “I’m unpacking,” she says, smiling at me.

I rush out bed, still completely naked, and almost running over to Y/N. I hug her tight and tears start to fall down my face.

Y/N laughs and hugs me back. “Okay, Adam,” she says. “Calm down. You just almost tackled me.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, burying my face in her neck.

She pulls back from the hug and looks at me. She says, “Baby, don’t cry.” She wipes my tears away and I smile.

I say, “I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I woke up and thought you were going to leave.”

Y/N says, “I’m not going anywhere, Adam. You’re stuck with me.” She holds up the right hand and she’s wearing the promise ring again.

I smile wide and kiss her. Y/N kisses me back and cups my face in her hands.

Two weeks ago, I thought I messed this up but she’s here, back in my arms. The past two weeks have not been the easiest. I’ve been a mess and I haven’t been able to hold myself up around the guys. Kyle, Roddy, and Bobby have all been worried about me since Y/N left.

Now they don’t have to worry about me and I can walk around the NXT locker room without behind haunted by the memories of Y/N.

I pull back from the kiss and say, “Now that we’ve kind of made up, can you come back to NXT? Please?”

She smiles and says, “I haven’t signed my Raw contract yet so technically, I haven’t left NXT. I’m sure Regal and Triple H would love to keep me on NXT.”

I smile and say, “I’ll make sure that Regal and Triple H keep you on NXT. I’ll just threaten to move myself and the boys to Raw with you.”

Y/N laughs and says, “That doesn’t sound that bad actually. Minus the traveling.”

I smile and say, “I’ll talk to them tomorrow because today, it’s all about you and making up for lost time from the past two weeks.”

Y/N realizes what I mean and she smirks. “Bring it on, Cole,” she says.

#adam cole imagine #adam cole smut #adam cole fluff #wrestling imagine #wrestling smut #wrestling fluff #wrestling angst #wwe imagine #wwe smut #wwe fluff #wwe angst #imagines #imagine #nswf imagine #smut #fluff #angst

94 notes · View notes

lyranova · 4 years ago

Text

A Fractured Diamond:

Episode 9: Neva vs Llyr

Hi guys! I’m so sorry its been so long since I’ve posted a chapter of this, I’ve been busy with other fics and series and haven’t really felt inspired for this lately. But I got hit with the inspiration recently and finally finished it 😁! This is the last part to this ‘arc’ so I hope you all enjoy~!

Taglist: @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @succulentsunrise @jovialnoise

Word Count: 4,528

Warnings: Violence

Neva rolled her shoulders back as she heard the announcer shout. This was it, she felt her nervousness from a moment ago slowly fall away. She needed to put Llyr and Langris out of her mind for now, she had to focus on the task at hand. She turned to look at Sonas and Lavis, they were just standing there, apparently they didn’t have any idea what they were supposed to be doing. She sighed and shook her head, they were useless.

“ Ok, since neither of you have mapping spells can you at least sense mana decently?” She asked as she crossed her arms, they would need to move soon before the other team discovered their location.

“ U-Um…not really.” Sonas muttered softly, Lavis shrugged his shoulder.

“ I’m decent, but not as good as most.” Neva growled in irritation.

“ Well what are you two good at?!” She snarled, she needed to do well, she wanted to be a part of the Royal Knights and she would be damned if she didn’t make it because of these two! “ Whatever. Just stay here and guard the crystal. I’ll take care of the other team.” She quickly equipped her Effervescent Armor and took off before either of her teammates could say a word.

“ Well she’s in a mood.”

——-

Yuno watched as Neva seemed to almost glide across the battlefield, she seemed to know exactly where the other team and their crystal was. Her mana sensing was quite impressive, but it didn’t help that the other team was already on their way to where Neva’s team was situated so she was at least a level 4. He watched as she summoned a crystal pillar to pierce through the other team's mode of transportation. Her armor disappeared and she began to use Diamond Shower to attack from long range and Diamond Palisade to block the team's attacks.

‘She has gotten much stronger.’ Yuno thought somewhat proud, the thing was; Neva didn’t realize how much stronger she had gotten in the past few weeks, anytime they trained she would always mutter how she needed to get stronger, how she was still too weak, how she couldn’t call herself a member of the Golden Dawn until she was able to beat someone with the same magic type as her. He shook his head slightly, she was putting too much pressure on herself. But the more he watched the more his suspicions were confirmed. These three mages she was fighting against, they were all decently strong and she was handling them with ease. Not a single spell was able to hit her. Suddenly, he watched as a single Diamond Arrow shot out of her hand went straight through the other team's crystal; they had left themselves wide open to an attack.

“ Crystal Destroyed!” Rang out through the battlefield, Yuno watched as the teams walked away from each other and climbed onto the small disks that would float them back up to where the other knights stood.

“ I told you; she doesn’t work well in teams.” Klaus muttered as he pushed his glasses up, Yuno turned to look at him.

“ But, she works well with us!” Mimosa argued, but everyone had seen it. She went rogue.

“ Yes. But the key word there is us, she knows us and has learned how to work with and around our affinities.” Klaus argued before they heard heels click against the stone ground, Yuno turned and saw the fair haired girl in question walking towards them.

Neva was breathing heavier than she would have liked, the battle really wore her out, it also used a lot more mana than she wanted. She shouldn’t have used her armor, but she wanted to get the battle done and over with as quickly as possible. She wiped the small beads of sweat off her brow with the back of her hand as she walked over to the others. Yuno’s eyes were narrowed slightly.

“ What’s wrong?” Neva asked as she stood in front of him.

“ Nothing. You did very well out there.” He answered simply, Neva quirked her eyebrow. She was sensing a ‘but’ in that statement.

“ But?” She pushed slightly, Yuno was a terrible liar or at least when it came to little white lies anyway.

“ But you need to remember this is a team test. You can’t just abandon them like that and go off on your own, that’ll most likely disqualify you if you do it again.” Yuno explained, his usual monotone voice held a certain sternness to it. Neva gritted her teeth, she knew he was right, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

“ Says the guy who told me to use them as decoys.” She threw back, Yuno blinked in surprise for a moment before he looked away in shame, he did tell her to do that didn’t he?

“ I shouldn’t have said that.” he admitted softly, causing her to sigh as well. Everyone in this test had been dealt a bad hand. Some worse than others.

“ What do you suggest I do then? Since I can’t go off on my own?” She asked him before crossing her arms, she watched Yuno think for a moment before he did a small half shrug.

“ Adapt.” He told her simply. Neva blinked, that was it? To adapt?! That was all the advice he could give her?! She shook her head before walking past him for a moment and coming to stand next to him, she watched as a small team cleaned the field for the next team.

“ Easy for you to say, you can adapt easily. I...I’m not so lucky.” She muttered under her breath, Yuno frowned, she was decent at adapting in his eyes. Sure she wasn’t as good as others, but she was still decent. Before he could open his mouth to argue his team had been called.

“ Looks like it's your turn.” Neva said as she turned to look at him, a small smirk on her face. Yuno nodded before walking towards his team.

“ Hey Yuno,” he turned as he suddenly heard Neva call him, his breath hitched in his throat slightly. She was smiling softly, like at the Star Festival. “ Good Luck.” All Yuno could do was nod in response before he turned and stood on the small platform that would take him and his team down to the small battlefield. He had seen that smile two times before, so why did it still make him feel...weird? Like he couldn’t breathe. He quickly shook his head, there wasn’t time for any of that, he needed to focus on the task at hand.

———

Neva watched silently as Yuno and his team entered the battlefield, she was nervous, even though she knew he would be alright. She didn’t really know why she was nervous for him though.

‘Maybe because you don’t want him to get hurt, hm?’ That little voice in her head teased. She quickly shook her head, no, that wasn’t it! That couldn’t be it! But a small part of her did wonder if that little voice could be correct, when Neva thought about it she was nervous when Mimosa and Klaus were fighting as well. She paled instantly, no, that was the complete opposite of what she wanted! She had to keep her distance, the walls needed to stay up, for everyone's sake. She heard the announcer begin the match and watched as Yuno and his team split up. He took charge almost as soon as they had landed on the field, he knew what he was going to do, and he expected them to follow.

Neva watched him in awe, the way he moved on the field...it was amazing! The way he used his affinity to carry himself, the way he was able to use both offensive and defensive spells at the same time without using very much mana. It was one thing when she fought alongside him, and another when she was watching him. She never noticed the way he flicked his wrist when he went to use one of his many offensive spells, or the way he clenched his jaw when his opponent made a counter move, or the way he seemed more comfortable in the air than on the ground. He carried himself differently on the battlefield than he did when he wasn’t, he was more confident, more comfortable here. This was his space. Neva hadn’t realized her mouth was slightly open in awe at him until she was snapped out of her thoughts by the one person she never wanted to see again.

“The Honest; always gives, but never takes.

A protagonist; never makes mistakes.

The honorable; always provides solace.

A leader; one that truly intimidates.

The true hero; the honest.

An honest man; is he.”

Llyr closed his poetry book with a soft ‘snap’. He came to stand beside Neva and watched as Yuno continued to dodge the lesser mage’s spells.

“ Are you trying to tell me something Llyr?” Neva asked in irritation, she hated his stupid vauge poems, ever since he was a kid he was always partial to that art form. He chuckled softly.

“ Maybe I am. But sadly, the message probably goes over your poor little head.” He sighed in disappointment. She glared at him.

“ Well I’m assuming the ‘honest man’ you’re referring to is Yuno, yes?” She asked with a smirk, she saw the genuine surprise on his face before he quickly covered it.

“ My, you have changed Neva. What a smart little girl you’ve become.” Neva growled, the way he was speaking to her, like she was a naive child, was really starting to piss her off.

“ You’ve got to the count of three to go away before I kick you across the field.” She warned, Llyr held his hands up in mock surrender before he laughed.

“ Aw don’t be that way Neva, I was only teasing. But you are correct, I was talking about Yuno.” He confirmed with a nod. “ May I ask you something?”

“ You’re going to ask anyway so I don’t see the point in you asking for permission.” She snapped, Llyr always did and said what he wanted, so why should he start asking for permission now?

“ How can you two be so close, and so similar, but yet be so different at the same time?” He asked, Neva turned to look at him in confusion.

“ What are you talking about? Yuno and I aren't very close.” She stated she didn’t think they were very close, or at least not closer than how squadmates usually were, he shrugged simply.

“ You sure? Because, it doesn’t look that way to me.” Llyr smirked slightly, causing Neva to roll her eyes at him. “ Y’know what I noticed? You didn’t deny that you were different, yet similar.”

Neva hmphed a bit, she had noticed their similarities a bit. Both were quiet, focused, and didn’t really want to make friends and yet they were different in the sense Yuno told everyone what he was thinking and didn’t have a problem telling them about his family, about the people back at his home in Hage village, while she, well, she didn’t talk about anything.

“ Crystal Destroyed!” Suddenly rang out, pulling Neva out of her thoughts, Yuno’s team had won and she missed it, because of Llyr!

“ Great thanks a lot.” Neva snapped, she had wanted to see all her squadmates' victories. The red haired man smirked and ‘tsked’.

“ What a shame you missed your boyfriend's overwhelming victory.” He tutted, Neva growled and she glared at him.

“ He is not my boyfriend!”

“ Whatever you say blondie, whatever you say.” He teased before walking away, she glared at the red heads retreating form. He was probably the most infuriating person on the planet, a small piece of her wondered how his fellow squadmates hadn’t killed him yet. She looked over when she saw Yuno and his team come over, Noelle walked past her to go speak with Asta and the other Black Bulls that had come to cheer her on while the man from the Green Mantis went over to be by himself, or that’s what Neva assumed anyway.

“ You did great out there.” Neva said with a smirk, she hadn’t gotten to see the entire match, but from what she had seen, and what she knew about him, it was probably an easy victory.

“ Thanks I guess. It wasn’t that difficult.” Yuno said quietly as the two watched a small crew begin to clean up again.

“ I didn’t figure it was.” She said with a small laugh, she figured most of these matches would be pretty easy for him, unless he went up against the Captain of the Aqua Deer or one of the Vice Captains. That would probably be the only time he would struggle.

The raven haired man and platinum haired woman stood in silence as the next team entered the field, neither really felt the need to constantly fill the silence with small talk like a lot of people felt they needed too, Neva had to admit it was nice not having to think of something to say. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw he appeared to be lost in thought, most likely about his next match. She sighed softly, she had been trying to think of a strategy herself, but considering her two teammates might as well be useful as a chocolate teapot in the middle of summer.

Neva blinked as suddenly the next team was already leaving the battlefield, what? When did she miss that? Yuno frowned as he looked over at her.

“ You alright?” He asked, he watched the blonde girl shake her head. The last time he looked at her she looked to be completely lost in thought, he shook his head, she was stressing herself out.

“ I’m fine, just...got lost in thought.” She laughed humorlessly, she frowned when Yuno made a disbelieving noise, but neither commented on it. She wondered why he had made that noise. Suddenly she watched his eyes widen and his mouth open slightly in shock. “ What’s wrong?” She asked before she followed his gaze up to the board. She gasped softly as her own eyes widened at the names.

The next two teams that would be going against each other were hers and Llyrs!

“Seriously?!” She said softly, why did the world have it out for her?! It wasn’t that he was stronger than her, it was that she had to deal with his personality on the battlefield. He was already annoying enough just speaking to him, she could only imagine how he was when you fought against him!

“ Well well well, if this isn’t a pleasant surprise.” Llyr laughed as he came up to stand beside Neva and Yuno, she gritted her teeth and glared at the red head who only smirked. “ I was hoping I’d get to test out your fighting skills today. Hopefully I won’t be disappointed.” He chuckled before walking towards his teammates.

Neva shook her head before she walked over to the small platform that would carry them down to the arena.

“ You’ll be ok Neva. You’ve got this.” She froze as she heard those words leave Yuno’s lips, she turned around to face him and he had his usual look on his face that she couldn’t read, but the look in his eyes showed he believed those words without a doubt. She smirked and nodded.

“ Thanks, Yuno.” She said as she stepped onto the platform with her teammates and floated down to the arena, she couldn’t help but sigh slightly in relief. She felt better knowing someone else believed in her.

———

Neva looked around, they had been dropped in a different location than before, they were in a small slightly worn down building that was surrounded by trees and foliage. She had to admit it was a good spot to hide in, well hidden, secluded. But it was also the perfect spot to be ambushed, so she made sure to keep her guard up. She looked over at Sonas and Lavis who just stood there looking around, she sighed in exasperation; these two were completely hopeless.

“ What’s the plan boss?” Lavis asked as he crossed his arms, Neva rolled her eyes; why did it always fall to her to come up with a plan? Did neither of them have a brain of their own?

“ I don’t know.” She confessed with a shrug, Sonas blinked and looked down at the ground.

“ L-Llyr is a really strong mage and his two teammates are as well, h-how are we going to beat them without a proper plan?” He asked nervously, Neva placed a hand under her chin thoughtfully.

Llyr was not dumb by any means, sure he liked to pretend he was dumb and aloof, but he was probably one of the most intelligent people she knew. She began to pace around the room as Lavis and Sonas watched her. Llyr’s main weakness was his pride, anger, and his ego. He believed he was more powerful than he actually was, now that wasn’t to say he wasn’t powerful, but she had gone against a lot more powerful people than him before. She smirked a bit as she was hit by a sudden idea, a memory from a previous conversation had popped into her head and she knew exactly how to beat Llyr!

“ I have an idea, but I’ll need you both to listen to me very carefully and follow my instructions exactly as I tell you. Do you understand?” Neva asked them, they both frowned but nodded.

Llyr sighed as he used his water magic to carry him, his teammates, and their crystal towards Neva and her team. He lucked out in getting a mage who had a mapping spell, so they were able to locate them pretty easily.

“ Huh.” The Blue Rose knight who was using the mapping spell suddenly muttered, causing Llyr to glance over at her.

“ What’s wrong? We’re almost there.” Llyr asked in mild annoyance, the girl frowned and looked up at him.

“ The group; they’re splitting up and going in completely different directions!” She exclaimed in surprise, Llyr smirked which only surprised the team more.

“ Ah, she’s taking a huge risk doing this. But is the gain really worth it?” He muttered to himself as he suddenly dropped the water transportation spell, he landed on his feet while the others landed flat on their faces.

“ She thinks she can weaken our team by separating us, making us all go in seperate directions.” He suddenly began to chuckle. “ But she forgets; it weakens her team as well. Where is the strongest mana coming from?” He asked the Blue Rose Knight, she looked at her mapping spell before answering.

“ Straight ahead. It’s a large concentration of mana but-.” She didn’t get to finish her sentence before he took off in the direction she pointed. “ H-Hey wait!” Llyr didn’t listen, he knew where there was a large amount of mana meant that Neva was there and, knowing her, she would be guarding the crystal herself!

Neva smirked as she stood in a small clearing, waiting for the red head to show up. She glanced at the crystal behind her, she hoped her plan would work, no, she knew her plan would work. She quickly faced forward before suddenly feeling mana approach her and saw Llyr flying towards her and her smirk widened; he brought his crystal with him.

What an idiot.

Llyr suddenly let out a yell as a wave of water came towards her, Neva quickly used ‘Diamond Palisade’ and a wall of diamond quickly appeared in front of her and blocked the water mages spell. Droplets of water splashed around her, some even landed on her cheeks, but she remained calm. There was no way he would be able to cut through her diamond.

“ Nice reflexes blondie.” Llyr smirked before he sent more and more waves of water towards her.

Neva either dodged or blocked them with her Diamond Wall, she would use her Diamond shower on occasion, but he was pretty fast himself. Llyr would dodge or capture it in a bubble of water before letting it drop to the ground. The more the two fought the more destruction they caused. Tree’s were being cut down, the ground was being destroyed. But worse of all; Neva was getting tired.

‘I...I used a lot more mana than I thought.’ Neva thought somewhat bitterly, she hadn’t meant to use so much earlier but she had no choice. She tried her best to defend the crystal, she couldn’t let him break it, that one thing held her chance at being a Royal Magic Knight!

“ Haha my my, the Diamond of the Golden Dawn is getting tired is she?” Llyr teased as he sent more waves of water towards her, that had been a title given to her shortly after she became a Magic Knight. She usually didn’t mind her title, even though it wasn’t used very much, but she absolutely hated the way it fell from his lips. Like he was mocking her accomplishment. She sent more Diamond shards towards him but again he dodged or captured them on bubbles. Neva began breathing heavily, she didn’t have much mana left.

“ Hah!” Llyr suddenly shouted, he sent a spear of water towards her and she made yet another wall, but as soon as the wall went down he sent a slash of water at her, but she didn’t have time to create another wall. The sharp edge of his water knife grazed her cheek before curving past her and cutting straight through the crystal. Neva heard the crystal shatter behind her and fell to her knees; this was it.

“ Hahaha! I can’t believe it, even after all this time you still can’t beat me and you’re supposed to be a part of the Golden Dawn!” Llyr laughed almost manically as he held his head high in triumph. “ At first I’ll admit, I thought you had really gotten stronger, especially since you’re in the Golden Dawn. But apparently, I was wrong. You’re still that weak little girl from many years ago who knew nothing about her magic and could only make little sculptures with it.” He stepped towards her and glowered down at her.

“ What a disappointment.”

Neva’s head shot up at that comment and Llyr’s eyes widened; she was smirking at him. Why? Why did she look like that? Like she had just won. That’s when it suddenly hit Llyr like a ton of bricks.

The announcer didn’t call out ‘Crystal Destroyed’. His blue eyes traveled towards where the crystal had sat only moments ago, he had destroyed it hadn’t he? So why wasn’t he being declared the victor? He growled as he looked at Neva’s smirking face again.

“ What did you do?!” He shouted in rage, and all Neva did was slam her hand to the ground and a diamond spear appeared behind him and pierced his team's crystal. He whipped around and stared as the shattered remains began to disappear. He gaped like a fish out of water, what the hell did she do?!

“ Crystal Destroyed!” The announcer shouted and Llyr felt his blood boil as the blonde stood up and held her head up high.

“ I listened to a friend's advice and used everyone as decoy’s.” She smirked as Yuno’s teasing words popped into her head. He had meant it jokingly, but it was actually a pretty good idea when she thought about it. She began to walk away from Llyr, he began to follow her and just glared at her back.

“ You see; I used my Diamond Magic to make 3 fake crystals that were nearly identical to the one we were given. In order to do that I had to use a lot of mana, plus I had to insert some of my, as well as my teammates, mana into them so your team wouldn’t be able to tell which ones were real and which ones were decoy’s. The real one was hidden in that old building behind me. I used your ego and against you Llyr, I knew you would come after me if the teams split up because you want to prove you're stronger than I am. Of course you failed because you let your pride get in the way of your intelligence.” Neva finished as she turned around to face him.

Llyr was pale. He had been played like a fool, and that made him angry. He began to shake violently, how dare she be so smug about this? How dare she think she’s better than him! He was able to beat her during their matches when they were kids, he was able to prove to everyone that he was better, stronger, and more capable than she was! He suddenly leapt forward to try and attack her, but Neva was quicker.

Without a second thought, the minute he got close enough Neva quickly kneed him in the groin, causing him to stop instantly and double over in pain. She shook her head and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“ You’ll never be better than me, not in a million lifetimes. Sure you can get strong, but I’ll get stronger. After all, I was gifted with more mana than you,” she smirked as she lowered her voice even more. “ commoner.”

The word slipped off her tongue like a slur, she watched as Llyr’s body stiffened and she could feel his rage bubbling. But he couldn’t say a single word to dispute her claim. She was born a noble, he was born a commoner. That’s why he had taken so much pride in beating her as children, because who would have ever thought a commoner would be able to beat a noble. She quickly turned around and walked away from him, sudden guilt beginning to eat away at her. She never threw her status in someone's face, it wasn’t who she was, but Llyr...he needed to learn to stop being so cocky all the time!

She glanced up at Klaus and Mimosa and saw them beaming with pride and happiness, even Yuno seemed to be slightly proud of her. But all she felt was shame. ‘Llyr deserved it, he wanted to call me weak and put me down, he deserved a taste of his own medicine!’ She tried to justify to herself, she quickly looked away from her squadmates and stood on the platform that would take her back up to the others.

Neva had thought she would be happy she had finally beat Llyr in a battle, but instead all she felt was guilt.

———

Ah I apologize this wasn’t very good but I hope you all enjoyed and I’m so sorry for the wait 😅! Hopefully chapter 10 won’t be as long a wait! Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#a fractured diamond #oc neva #black clover oc #black clover fanfic #episode 9

11 notes · View notes