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tarjapearce · 10 months ago

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Ok, ok, ok, hear me out….

Tarzan Miguel…

Ahh, nonny. Casually just saw this scrumptious fanart of him as Tarzan by @Miuworm in X 🫠. And yeah. (Kinda amazed at how you guys manifest these things 🤭)

Like Me

Tarzan! Miguel O'Hara x Reader.

WARNINGS: nothing too bad. Depictions of violence, a bit of implicit gore and animal death. No proofread.

Summary: Your savior from a certain death is quite touchy-feely.

Another for Miguelverse ❤️✨

The furious waves of the sea clashed over your body, submerging it in the freezing and alive water.

Arms moved, swimming your way back up, gasping for a much needed gulp of air as soon as you reached the surface.

Peeking around you, trying to find something to get a hold of or climb on, exhaustion was crawling up to your limbs, like hypothermia.

Fuck

Mind cursed with every foul word you could've imagine. How did trip ended up like this? In what moment the clouds turned so grey they darkened the sky, announcing a downpour with a loud rumble? It all took minutes to go sour and south.

You were there to do a land recognition, and see if you could get home some new species. Sergei Kravinoff, or Kraven The Hunter, was the lead of your expedition, all financed by a man named Kingpin.

Your name was called, echoed in the distance.

"Over here!!" You flailed your arms in an attempt of being seen, and hopefully the debris wouldn't blear their sight to find you.

You swam in the direction of the voice, teeth clattered, tool belt heavy on your hips, but you knew if you lost them, any possible chance of getting another were impossible. Plus, Kraven hated it when you lost your equipment as they weren't cheap.

Every paddle of your arms felt heavier, like if your wrists had been tied up with iron pounds, dragging you down. Lips turned blue and trembled. Salty and cold water doused you, but you weren't to give up.

You had fought your way to get a spot in this expedition and a pathetic ending like drowning wasn't an option. You spotted a wooden board floating nearby.

C'mon!

Your hands stretched towards it anf finally managed to keep yourself afloat. Panting, groaning and shivering, letting the cold to finally sink in. Feet had started to numb out, ragged breaths turned laborious.

Once more someone called you, this time you recognised the voice. Peter, the other nerd according to Kraven. You two were the ones selected to be the scientist that would lead Kraven to a certain victory in Nueva York.

Ever since Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius had discovered new species of spiders and reptiles, everyone proclaimed them geniuses ahead of their time, leaving the hunting behind.

Kraven was set into getting either a new species or something alike to regain his forlorn glory. He refused to be forgotten.

But everything pointed that the island you were now had a mind of its own. As if preventing anyone to delve in further into it's secrets.

You were pulled out from the board by Peter that immediately covered you up in a raggedy blanket. Despite the fabric being old, it gave you enough warmth to avoid death taking a hold on you.

Kraven cursed in russian, but was hopeful y'all be found soon. The ship's black box was ruined, your luggage at least was minimal, and it was enough to be saved by ether Peter or anyone kind enough.

A powerful and enormous wave had turned the boat upside-down. Knocking everything loose out of the board. The guns and other tools were the only things that survived.

But, you hoped, the whole fiasco was just temporary. Fisk wasn't a careless man, he'd probably send help soon. You closed your eyes for a moment, letting your bones to freeze.

----

You woke up nearby the makeshift fireplace, relishing the heat your body had lacked. Clothes were humid, but no longer soaked and freezing.

Sighing, you stirred awake, letting the tension leave your body with a groan.

"Hey, wake up." Peter approached, concern etched into his features as he helped you on your feet.

"Where's everyone?"

"I... We uh, got lost. One moment Kraven is here and the other he's not. Left us behind. Or, he also got lost."

"Kraven? Lost?" Peter could sense the deadpan in your voice and he sighed, exasperated.

"I'm just trying to light up the mood. He was pissed. So I assume that he just thought he'd do it himself." He shrugged and you sighed, rubbing your neck.

"Great! now we're lost, my luggage is nowhere to be found but at least we have tools, right?"

The faltering in Peter's face made yours to fall as he shook his head.

"God, I swear... Fuck him. If I'm discovering something, Ain't sharing with him!"

"Let's focus on surviving first. The soil is rich, meaning the jungle is nearby."

"And so is the wild life." You sighed and Peter groaned.

"Look, thinking negatively won't take us anywhere. I'm not saying either let's throw a party for being stuck in an unknown place. But we gotta move. It's about to get dark."

"Right... You're right" You rubbed your face, exhausted, at least you weren't freezing anymore. But being at Nature's mercy wasn't pretty either, yet again. You were selected by none other than Sergei. If he trusted your judgement to be valuable enough, why couldn't you?

With a new resolution in mind, you took the raggedy blanket and other little tools Peter managed to salvage and soon ventured yourselves in the thickness of the jungle.

-----

Sun had long disappeared in the sky leaving a faint trail of golden and orange in the clouds, and you were certain that it had been hours since you walked in the jungle. No signs of Kraven or the caravan of people.

No signs of society or at least his stupid russian jokes that you were sure people laughed at by sheer convenience.

The only advantage Kraven possessed in his favor, was him being an avid hunter. You only studied species, animals and flowers to be more precise, and had a little knowledge of mechanics. Enough to fix your own machines and trinkets. Peter was an expert in mechanics and soil. You followed him.

"I think I've seen that rock before" Peter sighed as he slouched against a tree.

"Don't say that, Parker." You wheezed as you followed him, resting your aching back against him. "I'm definitely finding some poison and put it on Kraven's drink."

"Relax. Without us he's going into unknown territory."

"In case you haven't noticed, he's a professional hunter. And I hate with passion skirts."

The distant rumble of a storm approaching echoed through the sky.

"A hunter, not a geologist. He acts like an animal to get animal bodies."

"Still, he knows his way around these places, Pete."

"Shooting things till they're dead isn't knowing about things"

Peter stood and offered his hand.

"Uh-uh I just sat down."

"We gotta at least go upwards. This area is prone to flooding."

With a vexed groan you took Peter's hand and he pulled you up. You were tired of walking, but if he said you needed to advance, you obeyed.

"Fuck..."

----

Despite the soaking rain pouring around you, Peter had found an amalgamation of trees and branches supported by a hollow tree.

Birds chirped and cawed, bugs joined the concert once the rain subsided, the distant flapping of the birds and the rustle of leafs prevented you from lowering your guard. The only comforting thing besides Peter's company was the petrichor smell, pungent in the air.

You'd spend hours inhaling the gift of nature, if it wasn't for your belly grumbling, and Peter had ran out of cashews.

Even crickets sounded tempting to eat. With the right spices, they tasted crunchy. But all you could do was to imagine their taste as it was time to move again.

"Knowing Kraven, he'd go up to the mountains, probably they've sent a camp nearby a river. So let's look for one."

"Yeah, even better so I can drown that fucker in. He better pay us good for this stupid prank."

Peter chuckled and looked around for a minute, his blue eyes narrowed upon setting his sight in a tree trunk. Broken in half, but what truly made his... whatever this unpleasant feeling to rise within was the vicious marks indented on the tree bark.

Powerful scratches filled with bloody chum and crimson liquid, paw like marks painted in the trunk. The source of such gruesome spectacle laid in whatever pieces was left a couple of inches away. He could make out a tail, and small hind legs. A baby monkey, or rather half of it.

"Uh... We better hurry."

Peter swallowed, and the urgency in his tone only made your worry to shoot heavenwards.

You both walked, speeding up the step. Unaware of the keen eyes, hidden in the bushes that followed your every moves like a hawk. A low growl filled in the space he occupied.

---

You were certainly to die.

Undeniably, and it didn't matter how fast you managed to run, the jaguar quick paced trotting had you pushing your limits. Tears blurred your sight, as a garbled sob escaped your lips.

Scratches adorned your arms, decorating your flesh with fresh oozing wounds, dirt and leafs stuck to your marred flesh.

Chest heaved with deep and ragged pants, wobbly legs menaced to give in under the pressure at any second

You were going to die.

Even though life had been incredibly dull and the only comfort was your investigation, you didn't want it to end so soon. Not whenyou were about to accomplish a promise to yourself.

Peter had gone lost and separated once the chase began. One minute he was before you, and the other, your friend was gone, out of sight and reach. But the relentless giant feline behind you preferred you. An easy prey.

Your wails and cries for help fell upon deaf ears, who would listen to you in the middle of the jungle? For once you wished to have Kraven's gun expertise.

You didn't care if hypocrite defined you right now. You took a thick branch, swinging it with difficulty and pain at the euphoric beast, like a demotivated baseball player. But the jaguar's claws swatted the useless weapon away from your hands, and making you stumble on the ground.

This was it.

Oh God, oh my god, no, no no

The animal pounced and by instinct, you shielded your body with your shaky limbs. But no harm came.

You could feel the beast's warm and bloodthirsty breath on your head, snapping it's maws at you, desperately trying to reach for a bite of your supple flesh.

Eyes wide in horror, and disbelief. The jaguar was held by his tail, earning whoever that was holding it back from devouring you a couple of swings with it's sharp claws. But the animal was set into getting to you. It pounced on your boots, claws sinking on the back of hour ankles, earning a sobbing and painful wail.

A gruesome crack and a roar echoed behind you, and only then you were able to see your savior.

The tallest man you've ever seen, even taller than Kraven, strong and well built physique, a rich tanned skin full of scratches and long healed wounds. Hair long, reaching a bit past his shoulders, muscles that heaved and rippled in every breathing you did. Body hair etched beautifully in his skin.

Covered in nothing but a loincloth.

If it wasn't for you being at the death's gates, you'd take your time to study him.

You gasped as he held the oversized cat with his hands and slammed it on the ground. They circled eachother, shifting between the roles of hunter and prey.

The feline hissed, and the man returned the threat, a cold sweat ran down your spine upon watching two overgrown canines, on his mouth. Fangs. He had fangs. Brown eyes stared at the four legged monster, defying it.

And soon the jaguar took his invitation. The two majestic creatures fought, enraged, proving their prowess to eachother, disputing the role of Alpha within the jungle's hierarchy. They rolled on the ground, biting and clawing at eachother.

With a lurid snap the man cracked the beast's neck, earning an agonizing wail from the mean cat. He staggered before slamming his fist on the animal, forcing the last breaths out of the beast.

His nose flared, proudly, while his hands slammed his chest.

Terror was still taking a hold of you, and there was nothing you could use as a weapon. Your hands braced your shoulder as you tried to carefully stand, but your clumsy feet stepped in a branch, snapping it in half, like the jaguar's neck. Brown eyes were immediately on you.

You swallowed hard.

He approached, hunched and prowling over, his knuckles and toes supported his hulking frame.

"S-Stop!"

He quirked an eyebrow, curious and within seconds he was before you.

Breath hitched on your throat, face so close to yours, he could feel your breath blowing on his chin.

You hissed as he took a hold of your arm, examining the damage. There wasn't rage in his features but nothing more than untampered curiosity.

His hands reached for your hair, sniffing the strands, you couldn't help but giggle when his nose hovered over your head, sniffing you, a bad moment to be ticklish, really.

Breath caught again as his nose nuzzled your neck.

"W-Wai-" His fingers prodded at your lips, rubbing the calloused thumbs on your soft mouth. A satisfied grunt rumbled in his firm and hairy chest

He toyed with your face, examining it with child like wonder. He turned, prodded and licked your cheeks, reminiscing in your taste with a confused look.

"U-uh, sir-"

What is he doing? oh god.

He hunched even closer to rest his ear on your chest. Heart pumping violently inside your ribcage, eyes darted towards the covered mounds, he sank his face in between them, taking a deep inhale. A low growl came from within and your cheeks flared in a deep flush.

Oh shit, shit

His hands cupped your mounds, sending a shiver through your body, but you slapped his hand away. He looked taken aback before baring his teeth to you.

"No!" You covered your chest and backed away, but his nose flared to then grab your head and placed it on his chest a tad forcefully. Warm and plush skin met yours. You gulped again.

Powerful echoes boomed through his chest.

The natural musk of him tickled your senses, his hands roamed your lower back and your alarms flared.

"H-hey, hey!"

He pulled your feet up, sending you tumbling backward, skirt rolling down your thighs, exposing your legs to him.

You tried to cover your skin by gathering your skirt up. His nose again sniffled as your wriggled underneath him. Hands prodding and picking at your toes, earning a clumsy giggle

His touch was like molten lava, it sent a shudder down your spine.

His fingers were having a good feel of your flesh, as if confirming you were real.

With each discovery his interest only grew. He then cupped your face again, smooshing your cheeks together, giving a deliberate lick on your lips.

"T-The polite thing to do is to take me out before that happens!" You mumbled nervously while trying to get yourself free.

His eyes narrowed once more as he lifted up your skirt completely, revealing your panties.

It gave you little to no time to prepare you for his next move. He sunk his face in between your thighs taking a good whiff of your scent, another pleasant growl came from him, by reflex, your hand slapped him. And this made him look at you, confused but clearly upset while holding his cheek.

"No! Stop it!" You warned while gathering your skirt underneath your knees and pointing at him. Cheeks impossibly red

He seemed to understand as he crouched before you. Muscular thighs flexing as he sat, mimicking your actions.

"Uh, uh. No. Don't do that"

"Uh Uh, No. Don't do that"

He repeated with the same authoritarian tone. Voice surprisingly rich and alluring. Your eyes went wide.

"You can speak!"

He repeated like a parrot.

"Can... Can you understand me?"

His brows furrowed then quirked. He was about to come up with a reply when the rustling and your name being called echoed behind the foliage.

"Over here!!!" You shouted, this alarmed the man as he stood, backing up from you with a mistrustful glare.

"Wait! No no! Don't go!" Your hands wriggled, but it was futile.

He left before anyone could see him. Climbing the trees like it was another playground game, until he disappeared out of sight.

None other than Kraven showed up, machete on hand, swinging it the weeds and plants that dared to cross his way.

A shit eating smirk plastered on his face.

"See? I told you, she'd be fine." Kraven patted Peter's shoulder as they kept moving to find a perfect spot for the camp.

Kraven crouched to where the jaguar's body laid and looked at you.

"What happened?"

"I... don't know. I-I panicked. Was running from a snake and I found that there."

Sergei just hummed, as he watched the body, eyes raking the feline's carcass before beckoning two of his men closer.

"Skin him. Don't have this type yet."

Kraven took a deep inhale. Death's stench sparking alive the hunter in him.

"Whatever killed it, needs to be in my personal collection of trophies."

Peter in the meantime cleansed your wounds with water, to then apply some clean bandages on them.

The whole group moved, upwards to the mountains.

"What the heck happened!?" he whispered aggressively

You made sure for Kraven to be within a reasonable distance to speak again.

"You won't believe me if I'd tell you."

Cause in truth, how would you explain a man, taller than Sergei, killed with his bare hands a wild animal and got way too touchy with you but is able to speak?

The road was long. You had time

Peter sensed your discomfort and pressed no further. However, the feeling of being watched never waned. It was the group, against the jungle's secrets.

----

Taglist:

@fayeofthenightingale

#t writes✨#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #Miguelverse #miguel o'hara #miguel x y/n

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morbidology · 5 months ago

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In the early morning hours of May 26, 2013, Nigerian cook Harrison Okene found himself in a nightmare scenario aboard the tugboat Jascon-4 off the coast of Nigeria. The vessel capsized due to heavy ocean swells, trapping Okene in a small air pocket within the ship's wreckage as it sank to the seafloor, nearly 100 feet below the surface.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Okene managed to stay in that pocket of air in the ship's overturned hull, where he awaited rescue. Over the next three days, he battled hypothermia, dehydration, and complete darkness.

Okene's miraculous survival came on the third day when divers from DCN Global, a Dutch company engaged in the recovery operation, stumbled upon him during their search for what they presumed were bodies. Equipped with video cameras, one diver was astonished to see a hand reaching out from the darkness. Okene, against all expectations, was alive.

The rescue operation, captured on the diver's helmet camera, showed the meticulous process of bringing Okene to safety. Fitted with an oxygen mask, he was carefully guided out of the air pocket and transferred to a diving bell, then to a decompression chamber for another 60 hours to prevent decompression sickness.

#harrison okene #world #survival

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literaryvein-reblogs · 7 days ago

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Writing Notes: Hypothermia

Hypothermia - A potentially fatal condition; occurs when body temperature falls below 95°F (35°C).

The danger signs include:

intense shivering;

stiffness and numbness in the arms and legs;

stumbling and clumsiness;

sleepiness, confusion, disorientation, amnesia, and irrational behavior; and

difficulty speaking.

The signs and symptoms of hypothermia follow a typical course, though the body temperatures at which they occur vary from person to person depending on age, health, and other factors.

The impact of hypothermia on the nervous system often becomes apparent quite early. Coordination, for instance, may begin to suffer as soon as body temperature reaches 95°F (35°C).

The early signs of hypothermia also include cold and pale skin and intense shivering; the latter stops between 90°F (32.2°C) and 86°F (30°C).

As body temperature continues to fall:

speech becomes slurred,

the muscles go rigid, and

the victim becomes disoriented and experiences eyesight problems.

Other harmful consequences include:

Dehydration

Liver and kidney failure

Heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure rise during the first stages of hypothermia, but fall once the 90°F (32.2°C) mark is passed.

Below 86°F (30°C) most victims are comatose, and

below 82°F (27.8°C) the heart’s rhythm becomes dangerously disordered.

However, even at very low body temperatures, people can survive for several hours and be successfully revived, though they may appear to be dead.

TREATMENT

Until emergency help arrives, a victim of outdoor hypothermia should be brought to shelter and warmed by:

removing wet clothing and footwear,

drying the skin, and

wrapping him or her in warm blankets or a sleeping bag.

Gentle handling is necessary when moving the victim to avoid disturbing the heart.

Rubbing the skin or giving the victim alcohol can be harmful.

Warm drinks such as clear soup and tea are recommended for those who can swallow.

Anyone who aids a victim of hypothermia should also look for signs of frostbite and be aware that attempting to rewarm a frostbitten area of the body before emergency help arrives can be extremely dangerous. For this reason, frostbitten areas must be kept away from heat sources such as campfires and car heaters.

Rewarming is the essence of hospital treatment for hypothermia.

How rewarming proceeds depends on the body temperature.

Other considerations, such as the patient’s age or the condition of the heart, can influence treatment choices.

Different approaches are used for patients who are:

mildly hypothermic (the patient’s body temperature is 90–95°F [32.2–35°C]),

moderately hypothermic (86–90°F [30–32.2°C]), or

severely hypothermic (less than 86°F [30°C]).

Mild Hypothermia

Reversed with passive rewarming.

This technique relies on the patient’s own metabolism to rewarm the body.

Once wet clothing is removed and the skin is dried, the patient is covered with blankets and placed in a warmroom.

The goal is to raise the patient’s temperature by 0.9–3.6°F (0.5–2°C) an hour.

Moderate Hypothermia

Often treated first with active external rewarming and then with passive rewarming.

Active external rewarming - applying heat to the skin (e.g., by placing the patient in a warm bath or wrapping the patient in electric heating blankets).

Severe Hypothermia

Requires active internal rewarming, which is recommended for some cases of moderate hypothermia as well.

There are several types of active internal rewarming:

Cardiopulmonary bypass - the patient’s blood is circulated through a rewarming device and then returned to the body, is considered the best, and can raise body temperature by 1.8–3.6°F (1–2°C) every 3–5 minutes. However, many hospitals are not equipped to offer this treatment. The alternative is to:

Introduce warm oxygen or fluids into the body.

Hypothermia treatment can also include, among other things:

insulin,

antibiotics, and

fluid replacement therapy.

When the heart has stopped, both cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and rewarming are necessary. Once a patient’s condition has stabilized, he or she may need treatment for an underlying problem such as alcoholism or thyroid disease.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Realistic Injuries

#writing reference #writeblr #dark academia #spilled ink #writers on tumblr #literature #writing inspiration #writing notes #writing prompt #poets on tumblr #writing ideas #creative writing #fiction #hypothermia #medicine #writing resources

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dairy-farmer · 2 months ago

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Did you know the little kid in Jurassic Park is named Tim!! Curious, knowledgeable about dinosaurs, great at survivability

Timmy’s parents get invited to Jurassic Park for their archaeology skills and investments in Ingen, the corporation. While Mathematician Dick (he went to college!) gets invited by a lawyer for the safety certification, he’s also investigating the compound solo.

While touring the area, Dick makes some excuses to break off from the group. Tim, recognizing who he is, clings and follows him. Bringing a kid along wouldn’t make him as suspicious so Dick takes him along.

And the tropical storm came! The powers in the park shut off, everyone is stranded on the island.

Wet and sticky with mud, and with the worry of Tim getting hypothermia. Dick took off their clothes to initiate skin to skin contact with Timmy high up on the treetop! Watching sunrise together.

Tim, in his fizzling mind, thinks that if he’s gonna die, he might as well tell Dick how he discovered his identity, and how to cover his tracks better.

And Dick held off until they’re off the island safely to snatch Tim up!

I love you dairy! Thank you for inspiring me to write, and I love how anons put cute emojis as their identities 🥰

- 🪸

oh my gof ohmygod ohmy god!!! this is so good!!! tim would absolutely know SO much about dinosaurs and everything about them, not only because his parents were archaeologists and stuff but also because it was genuinely so interesting to him!!

as a kid jurassic park was basically a nightmare inducing horror film more than anything. but dick ending up on the island because it is shady of the highest degree, in order to investigate it and meeting little tim drake who KNOWS who he is and is on a visit with his parents because they're investing in this future theme park.

the whole man vs nature survival with dick trying to protect and make it off the island with tim is SOO good especially if tim ends up helping save them more than once because he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the dinosaurs made, add in the subtle horror of the fact that the dinosaurs aren't actually "dinosaurs" they're just mashes of broken dna with snake, lizard, and whatever else the genetics company wanted. dick needing to figure of a way off the island once they realize that the dangerous exhibit animals have gotten loose and all the power on the island is completely gone. all of dick's equipment to call in for reinforcements and help are in his room because he was just going to be taking pictures and uploading them to a file because this was just supposed to be a light cover operation.

and all dicks, weapons, equipment, comm, and radio are stored in the lining of his suitcase which was behind a heavy, metal, automatic lock which needed electricity to open. he remembering their tour guide bragging about how the facility had state of the art security while showing how every single door on the facility was powered by electricity.

the island has a generator located in the middle of the park, miles away from the power station because apparently whoever designed the station was a moron who favored aesthetics over functionality of the infrastructure.

so dick has to somehow protect himself and tim while they turn the power back on and then get back to the welcome center so he can call for help all while avoiding prehistoric predators who can literally smell the sweat on their bodies.

just the absolutely stress and fear of dick in the survivalist scenario, trying to protect this sweet kid who has looked up to him for years, while navigating the capitalist hellscape of a literal prehistoric theme park built by asshole billionaires

#answered asks #asks #anonymous

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mercury-healthcare · 1 year ago

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Medical Equipment Manufacturer and Supplier in India

In the field of healthcare, the quality and reliability of medical equipment play a vital role in delivering effective and efficient patient care. Mercury Healthcare, a leading Medical Equipment Manufacturer and supplier in India, has emerged as a trusted name in the industry. With its commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer satisfaction, Mercury Healthcare has been revolutionizing the healthcare landscape in India. In this blog post, we will explore why Mercury Healthcare is renowned for providing the finest quality medical equipment in the country.

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Cutting-Edge Technology: Mercury Healthcare stays at the forefront of technological advancements in the medical field. The company invests in research and development to continuously improve its products and introduce innovative solutions. By integrating the latest technology into their equipment, Mercury Healthcare ensures accurate diagnoses, efficient treatments, and improved patient outcomes.

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After-Sales Support and Service: Apart from manufacturing top-quality medical equipment, Mercury Healthcare places great emphasis on Hyper-Hypothermia Machine after-sales support and service. The company provides comprehensive technical assistance, training programs, and regular maintenance services to ensure the smooth functioning of the equipment. Their prompt and efficient customer service team is always ready to address any queries or concerns.

Conclusion: Mercury Healthcare stands out as a premier medical equipment manufacturer and supplier in India due to its unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. With a wide range of products, cutting-edge technology, customization options, and adherence to stringent standards, Mercury Healthcare has earned the trust of healthcare professionals across the country. By choosing Mercury Healthcare, healthcare facilities can be assured of acquiring the finest quality medical equipment that contributes to delivering superior patient care.

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hcdragonwrites · 1 year ago

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Cozy (a @jttw-monkeybusiness Drabble )

So I made another one- this one was inspired by this ask (I suck at Hyperlinks I’m so sorry)

It rolled a bit in my brain and kept begging to be fleshed out, so I decided to give it life ! Enjoy!

Snow

Snow fell in white flurries, chasing away the blossoms and birds that had been sitting in the trees just moments before. The storm was in a full frenzy now, peeling petals from overeager trees who had budded too soon, and throwing the birds from the sky. The wind whipped up the cold powder to spray back in the face of the pilgrims as they continued on their journey. They had left the warm subtropical forest only hours ago, where Sophie had rolled her sleeves up to relieve some of the excess heat. Now however, she was shivering.

None of the group, save for Wukong, was truly equipped for the snow and cold. Pigsys ears were turning purple from the temperature as he tried, and failed, to hide from the worst of it behind Sandy. Sandy silently continued on, carving a path for Sophie (who trailed farther behind) to walk through. The snow was already deep, coming to her knees as they continued to follow the tiny path up the mountain. Black rock jutted upward and outward like broken teeth into the white air. Horse and Monk both were struggling ahead, Yulongs sides shivering in the wet as the snow melted on his fur. Tripitaka called Wukong over, asking him to scout ahead to look for a place they could shelter for the duration of this storm. Sophie could see there heads bent together as Master and pupil discussed. Wukong, for once, didn’t reply with a snort or a quick jab at how Trip should be lucky for him to be his disciple. Instead he had somersaulted off, gone in a flash of fur and tiger stripes, into the air.

“Would be nice if I could just somersault out of here.” Sophie muttered.

A freak blizzard had not been on the list of things Sophie was ready for. She had faced shape-changing demons, women that turned to great tigers to devour Tripitaka, mountain gods throwing stones down into their path and the like. Sophie was prepared for any person or creature - or at least- expecting it. The weather however? She was severely underprepared for. She had the travel clothes she had bought with the coin purse she’d been given. They were meant for light rain and mild heat. Not for a snowstorm. Sophies hair was getting wet and the cold was starting to chill her ears from where it melted.

“It’s so cold…” she muttered. She kept following Sandys footpath, thankful for the giant of a river demon and his slow shuffling walk. If he was walking normally he would have left her far behind in the snow.

Her foot hit a rock and slipped, sending her flailing into a rapidly growing snowbank. “F-f-f-freezing! AH!” Snow had gone down her shirt, sending a chill up her spine. Faster than a wildcat she had hopped from the bank, shaking herself.

“Hate snow hate snow hate snow—“ she chanted her mantra as she slapped off the powder, trying to prevent it from melting and wetting her clothes. Wet clothes would only spell disaster. Sophie could recall all the cold born illnesses from one special National Geographic did on Everest and the extreme exposure the hikers faced there: pneumonia, Trench foot, frostbite, hypothermia, flu, Chilblains, bronchitis —

Her foot slipped again as her mind was listing all the things that could happen. Sophie would have been in the snowbank a second time except something caught her by the midriff and hauled her up.

“Stupid women stay on your feet!” Wukong snarled in her ear, setting her down. Sophie nodded, teeth chattering and nose turning red as the cold began to chap it. “Of all the people here I thought at least you had the common sense to be aware of ice!”

From up ahead came the faint cry and heavy fall as Pigsys fell face first in the snow. Sandy had to quickly turn to hid a chuckle as the drenched demon began wilding swinging his rake around in rage.

“S-s-sorry.” She mumbled, shoving her hands beneath her armpits. “Slipped.”

“What’s wrong with your speech? You sound like a squirrel.” Wukong cocked his head, an eyebrow raised. He rolled his eyes when Sophie didn’t banter back irritated she wasn’t snapping back at him. That agitation grew when he felt something like worry begin to itch his pelt. Of the pilgrims, the two mortals were in his charge of care and were the most delicate. While Wukong could fight off monsters and Demons and wicked minded mortals he could not fight a storm. Well- he could if he really wanted to find the celestial body responsible for its creation. But that would take time- and time was not on his side on this.

Tripitaka had put on a brave face when he had asked the Monkey King to find shelter. That didn’t mean Wukong had not noticed how his Masters hands had turned red at the growing cold, how his body shivered and his nose sniffed. Wukong would have teased, poked and prodded at his master- it was his nature to rile and cause mischief. But when he had seen the half awake expression on the mortal man’s face, Wukong had bit his tongue (with great effort) and had instead nodded.

Seeing Sophie in a similar state made the itch beneath his pelt grow worse as fire ants had begun to bite his skin.

“Damn it.” He cursed beneath his breath. He snatched her arm, avoiding her hand, and started dragging her behind him. “Come on just a bit farther you softie. I found a cave up ahead where we can get out of the worst of it. You mortals are ABSOLUTELY worthless when it comes to weather —“

Sophie was only half listening to Wukongs ranting. She allowed herself to be dragged up the mountain pass, trusting the Monkey King to find a better route than her own dimming senses. The cold was like a blanket she wanted to escape out of. Or escape into? She couldn’t remember clearly. If she closed her eyes… she was so tired. The snow looked inviting, comforting. Like the best downy comforter. Like the fluffiest pillow.

Maybe I just … need to lay … down in the comfort. Just close my eyes for a few minutes.

They had been walking for hours before the storm blew in. Her feet hurt, her hands shook and it was so cold. Cold. She just wanted to sleep.

“SOPHIE LOOK AT ME!” Wukong yanked her and she was rattled enough to open her eyes wider in surprise. Sun Wukong was right in her face, leaning so close she could see every line of his facial markings in detail. His breath came from between his teeth like some dragons as he glared.

“Ye-es?!”

“Stay awake- we're almost there. If you fall asleep while I’m dragging your ass up the mountain I will bite your pretty nose clean off!” The demonic monkey spat, then, half carried, half dragged Sophie the rest of the way. Leaning against his back Sophie sighed. Through the clothing she could feel it- like desert sand warmed by the sun. Delicious heat. Sophie - who wouldn’t in normal circumstances have cuddled so close- practically melted against the warmth. What else could she do? Wukong was dragging her up the mountain- practically carrying her. She could see the bend in the mountain pass- a steep cliff where the road cut itself around and hugged the mountain as a snake would do climbing along a vine. Almost there.

“How come you get to be so warm?” She grumbled, not realizing she had said it aloud. Wukong had heard however, and his face became a storm cloud as his heart took a shuddering beat.

“Maybe grow some fur or ask for the Buddha to make you some furry creature. Bet he would too.” Wukong grumbled back.

Stupid fucking women.

They reached the curve in the mountain where Pigsy and Sandy- mostly Sandy since the pig demon kept complaining about how cold his snout was- were setting up three tents. The tents were simple, the leather treated against wet weather and solid. All pigsy had to do was drive the stakes into the stone which, it seemed, he was failing at.

“It’s so damn cold!” Pigsy snorted angrily stamping his hands together, having missed the spike for the third time. “Blasted Heaven and whoever ordered a storm now of all times! Don’t they know who’s crossing these mountains?”

“Less talking more working.” Sandy angrily chided. He had finished setting up the second tent all on his own. When Pigsy went to open his mouth to make another comment and the usually peaceful Sandy shoved him across the shallow cave to the last tent and the one closest to the entrance.

As Wukong walked past, Pigsy lifted an eyebrow at the strange sight. The Monkey King could see the pig beginning to lift a lip in a smirk only to stop when he noticed Sophie’s shivering.

“What did you do?” Those were the last words Wukong expected to come out of his fellow brothers mouth.

“WHAT DID I DO?!” He bared his teeth, fangs on display. He didn’t have time for Pigsy or for his own feelings to confuse him. He knew Sophie was practically clinging to his back like the newborn monkeys did to their mothers back on Flower Fruit Mountain. He was very aware of it. The last thing he needed was for this thick pink idiot to start shit with him.

“I DIDNT DO SHIT YOU THICK HEADED BOAR.” He spat, continuing past. “THIS IDIOT STARTED FALLING ASLEEP IN THE FUCKING STORM. NOW SHUT UP AND GET THE OTHER TENT SET UP.”

Wukong left Pigsy behind, angrily chattering to himself and feeling embarrassed all the while. He couldn’t let that thick womanizing boar know any of Wukongs feelings. If he did, the damn brute would only press his nose to it and route deeper. The sooner he got Sophie off his back the better. Even though he didn’t entirely want that.

He reached the back corner of the cave, setting Sophie down. She huffed, letting go with some reluctance to his warm back. The Monkey King knelt, leaning in. Sophie’s shivering was less. Good.

“I’ll be back- I have to make sure the pink ham doesn’t fuck up the last tent. Once I’ve tended Yulong and seen to my masters comforts I’ll be back to check on you.”

Sophie pulled her knees to her chest. She was still so cold. She wanted nothing more then to curl up and sleep- to find something warm and hold onto it. She heard Wukong from far off - but she nodded.

“S-S-sure… just gonna fall .. asleep.”

“Don’t fall asleep you idiot.” He snapped.

“Why not?” Sophie groaned. She was tired

“Remember. You are in wet clothes. Wake up just to remember - Think. Use that reading brain of yours.” He flicked her between the eyes. That woke Sophie up enough as the pain cleared her head.

“Ow, what the hell Wukong?!” Sophie felt like she had come out of a daze. Her fingers started rubbing at the pain. It wasn’t terrible but … she felt like a child be scolded. Sophie glared up into the smug monkey face.

“Awake? Good. Now fucking listen before you nod off again.” Wukong smirked just a bit. The itching beneath his fur had eased just enough upon seeing her get mad. He spoke slowly, for her sake but also to press in how much he enjoyed giving her orders- and being right about them. “Your clothes are wet. You can’t sleep in them. Change to new ones. In fact, bundle up as much as you can. I’ll be back to check on you.”

Wukong stood up, then turned back around to flick her on the forehead again.

“Ow! I’m up, I'm up!” Sophie rubbed at the space between her brows.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes yes …” she uncurled herself and stood as well, looking down at the Monkey King. “Get out of wet clothes and get new ones. Bundle up. That really hurt you know.”

“If you are still in wet fucking clothes, I’ll do a lot worse then just smack you between the eyes.” And then he was away, already cussing Pigsy out who had, somehow, managed to rip the tent.

It was a only about twenty minutes later but Sophie had managed not to fall asleep. She had gotten into the tent and had peeled the worst of the wet clothes off. Her poor shoes were the worst for wear- the socks and the soles were soaked. She would have to wear her spare shoes tomorrow and let these ones dry. Sophie had set the wet clothes to the farthest side of the tent. She was now dressed in a pair of gray sweats, a long sleeve and her hoodie of bright orange with clementines decorating the front. She felt much warmer and absolutely exhausted. Her fingers were red where the cold had gotten them, her lips felt chapped from the dry air, and her body just kept shivering.

Sophie had retreated almost completely into the hoodie- only her face was viewable.

The tent flap lifted and Wukong stepped in, a bowl of some sort of wild berries and cold rice in one hand. He took one look at her huddled there on her sleeping mat and snorted.

“You look like some orange orangutan.”

“Hahah very funny. See how you like the cold when you don’t have fur.” She shot back. Wukong offered the bowl to her and she took it, digging into it with gusto.

“How’s Trip?” She asked between bites.

“Alive.” Wukong leaned back, putting his arms beneath his head as he stared up at the tent ceiling. “You two would have frozen if not for me- you were both starting to look pinker than yangmei fruit.”

“Thank you.” Sophie said.

“Mm? What are you thankful for ?”

Oh he was gonna ask her for all of it then? Sophie looked at him. Wukong had propped himself up enough to stare at her, waiting.

“Thank you for the food.” She lifted the now empty bowl- she had been famished - to him. “Thank you for finding a spot to rest. And … thanks for dragging me out of the snow.”

“You almost died I hope you know that.” He smirked, laying back down, eyes closing. She followed suit, too tired to sit up anymore or even bicker back with him.

“Yeah I did …” Sophie yawned. Usually she wouldn’t admit so readily to Wukong just how certain situations had made her dependent upon him. He was always, in some way or other, saving the lot of them. When Tripitaka was snatched up by some Goblins belonging to some chieftain of a nearby mountain, when Pigsy had boasted that they didn’t need Wukong and then (almost immediately) failed to find food when Wukong was sent away. He had stopped the dragon horse from foundering and taken to the care of his hooves and coat many a time. The Monkey King had seen to restoring the missing supplies from Sophie pack when a group of mischievous raccoon spirits had taken it. Wukong had even replaced Sandy’s teakettle when it was smashed in battle (Sophie was pretty sure he had stolen it).

He may act aloof and pompous but deep down, this big old brute cared for them. Even Pigsy.

Sophie felt her eyes grow heavy as Wukong kept talking about how she had stumbled in the snow like some “dumb struck fawn” until he came to help her.

As she relaxed to the sound of his voice rumbling on and on, it almost felt … cozy. Yes Wukong may like to slide the occasional wriggly salamander into her water skin, he may thumb through her things like they were his, he may call her idiot, stupid women, and softie. But. There was no real malice behind his actions.

He was also kind of … warm. She scooted closer, half listening to the Monkey ramble on about the idiocy of mortals and the greatness of beings such as him. He was rambling on about his natural prowess over mortals and how he had mastered the arts of immortality and Tripitaka couldn’t even master warding off a cold. Sophie fell asleep before he could get to the part about her looking like a slack jawed idiot in the snow.

Wukong was only a quarter way through his regaling of the story of how he had saved everyone this day when he felt hands wrap around his chest.

His heart nearly flew into his throat as he stopped dead in his speech. His mouth was open, voice cut off halfway through his speech. Sophie curled into his side, face buried in the crook of his neck and so close to his ear he could feel her breathing against its shell.

Electricity shot threw him, fur standing on end as if he had been in a thunderstorm.

He was suddenly very aware of many things. Of Sophie’s hands that had escaped that ridiculous orange sweatshirt and were now burrowed into his fur. One arm was across his chest. The second one was now, somehow beneath his head and tugging on his shoulder. Sophie’s face rested on his arm and in the curve of his neck, her face rubbing back and forth like a cat. As if … she was enjoying the feel of it.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Sophie moved just a bit, mumbling in his ear and Wukong felt his tail lash like it had just been bit. She didn’t say anything coherent but — the proximity alone—

Fucking Hell and all its Judges.

Sophie was … cuddling him.

She was practically twined around him.

And she smelled fantastic. Her scent always changed- sometimes it held a hint of lemons and the sweetness of grass, other times it floated like rain clouds and smelled of stones. But all of it together had a larger perfume beneath it. It was just her. Yes there were moments when her scent changed just enough that he felt like he was adding new spices onto his favorite dish. The essence of it, however, was just Sophie.

And now that cloud was all around him, filling his nose.

He looked at her, turning his head just a fraction to see.

Big mistake.

She was asleep, passed out completely. She looked so … fragile asleep. The dark circles beneath her eyes spoke of how she hadn’t been sleeping well. Her nose was stupidly pink like a Red Pika in her pale face. The cold must have chapped it. His eyes darted to her lips …

Mistake number two.

Wukong looked away, feeling his face flame. Fuck. Shit. He was stuck in a predicament now. He hadn’t meant to chat away about himself for so long that Sophie would fall asleep. Wukong was at war with himself. On one hand, he needed to get out of here. To leave before Pigsy and the others found out- before Sophie found out.

He couldn’t let anyone be that close to him- couldn’t let anyone be as close as Sophie was right now. It was a liability to his pride, to his reputation—

To his heart. Because if she rejected him it would ruin the friendship they had. And the feeling he had building in his chest- he would crush it in his fist before he let it jeopardize that peace between them.

I have to leave —

Wukong tried to move-

Only to feel Sophie’s fingers tug in his fur and her sleepy voice grumble “m’no don’t go.”

Jade Emperor flay me and boil me alive again.

In all the hundreds of years of living, Wukong had only felt trapped like this but once before. The first time he had lost his wager to the Buddha, having been unable to somersault out of his hand. The second time? He was trapped because he allowed it. He was trapped in a way no one in Heaven could have predicted- or had thought to do. Wukong had been placed in vats to be boiled, had wormed and tricked his way out of every trap and net that had attempted to keep his mischief managed. It had taken Buddha and his wager to finally end Wukongs terrorization of Heaven.

Wukong couldn’t move now. He was tethered here by frail fingers and the steady beat of a mortal's heart.

He could hear her heartbeat, feel it against his side. It was steady, soft. Like the steady roar of Water-Curtain Cave. Like the wind through the trees of the orchards on his mountain.

She was mortal. One day that steady beat would stop as all mortal hearts did.

That set his tail to lashing just a bit.

Hasn't she been afraid of dying? Of growing old? He remembered hearing a conversation late at night- when Tripataka and Sophie had those rare mortal conversations where he was explicitly not allowed to sit in on. He hadn’t known why it was such a secret conversation. So of course, since it wasn’t an order, Wukong had pulled a hair from his tail and made a doppel and floated somewhere nearby but out of sight to eavesdrop. The Monk and Reader had been chatting about death, about Sophie’s future.

Well her fears were unfounded. Doesn’t she know I would take care of her? Sophie shifted a bit closer as a gust of wind slipped beneath the tent flat he had left unsecured. Damn it all. Wukong carefully, o so carefully, shifted himself. He slid his body so he was now lying on his side, setting Sophie’s head beneath his chin. It was all the invitation Sophie needed to cuddle closer and escape from the wind.

“You stupid women.” He angrily whispered into her hair. He wouldn’t let her die. He would just fix that. He would fix a lot of her problems. She just had to tell him. He was Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He knew of a hundred different ways to achieve immortality. He could fix them all. Like her problem right now of being cold.

He was too tense to relax fully- too aware- but he grew just a fraction larger. His size now dwarfed Sophie’s a good bit and gave her a bit more to tangle into. And she did. Sophie curled her knees up, shivering slowing. Wukong waited. Watching. When finally the shivering had ceased he allowed just a fraction of tension to slide off of him. This stupid softie is gonna make me soft. The thought didn’t bother him as much as it would have months ago.

Maybe he wouldn’t get much sleep tonight but…

He could make her life Hell in the morning. It was something that she owed him on. His face was screwed furiously into a scowl because all he wanted to do was enjoy this moment but if he did- if he really truly did- he didn’t know if he would be able to stop.

She was most assuredly going to be bombarded tomorrow with the most annoying and snappish teasing and toying a King of Monkeys and tricks could give.

Sophie woke with a start as something cold and wet slapped her in the face. She panicked as any person would.

“GaH! DEMON!” She cried, grabbing at her face and throwing it aside. It was a wet rag.

“Relax.” Wukongs voice laughed at her. “Unless cloth can become possessed and has gained a hunger for red nosed mortal flesh, you're fine.”

He was at the tent flap, grinning ear to ear in a grin that promised problems. Really so early in the morning and he already wants to play games ?

“You could have woken me up in a number of other ways- why did you pick that?” Sophie rubbed at her face, feeling … huh. She didn’t feel as sore as she usually felt. When Sophie woke up there was almost a constant crick of pain in her neck from whatever odd angle she had slept in on the ground.

Maybe I had been so tired my body just finally didn’t care.

He shrugged. “You stink. Next place we stop at you better demand a bath of some sort or other.”

“Thanks….” She grumbled, letting the sarcasm drip off her words. She took the cloth up, rubbing the sleep out of her face and the worst of the dirt off her face and arms. She would kill for a warm bath, one that would wake up her bones and chase the last of the cold from her body. Once clean, she checked her wet clothes, bundling them away in a separate part of her pack to avoid them dampening the rest of her stuff. Then she stepped out of the tent, smelling the fire and the promise of breakfast being made.

Only for her feet to slip right from beneath her as a monkey foot stuck out and caught her ankle.

“WUKONG!”

He laughed, face full of malicious mischief as Sophie gathered herself up to chase after the errant Monkey. To do what, she didn’t know. He was a mystical demonic creature born of stone and she just a mortal women. As the morning light cut into the cave and Tripitaka had to order his disciple to calm down after he once again tripped her and she almost went sprawling into rocks, the pilgrims ate breakfast. They broke down their tents. And they were once again on the road.

None were the wiser of Wukongs happier mood. He hid it beneath a storm of frowns and a game of teasing torture as he became partically insufferable to Sophie. The threat of the hoop tightening spell was the only true damper to his mood when Tripataka heard Sophie scream as snow was dropped down the back of her shirt.

As the sun rose higher and the word was cast in a frosty flash of refracted gold, Wukong made a decision. He would solve Sophie problem of growing old. It was easy. And if Buddha couldn’t send her back…

Well she was a great sport for pestering and heckling. The least he could do as a benevolent King is give the poor women a roof over her head.

Maybe a few dresses down the line...

Girls liked dresses right?

“Hey Reader!” He called.

“What?”

“Dresses or suits ? What did you wear in that fake time long after this one ? Or whatever fake dimension you fell out of. What did you prefer ?”

And thus began the long hour debate that somehow pulled every one of them: Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka, into what was a heated discussion on the best attire for the best occasions.

#hcwrites #writing stuff #I DID ANOTHER ONE #thank you little anon for mentioning a cold snuggle scenario #I love when there’s cuddles even if one party doesn’t know or remember and the other is both ecstatic and pissed the fuck off about it #I Hope i wrote them well #the formatting took me longer then I thought #for jttw monkeybuisness #Sophie #Sophie and Wukong #sun wukong x reader #jttw sun wukong #jttw reader #jttw fanfic #I gave Sophie an orange hoodie because she already has a ‘magical’ peach kawaii cup.#make all her things fruit related #just writing the scene where Wukong walks back into the tent and has to pause because Sophie had turned into an orange made me laugh #I Hope i got your boy down Kiri!#thank you again for letting me write for you #this was a welcome break from my 30 page spree #I listened to two songs - the first part was #with Tourner Dans Le Vide #the second part where they are in the tent was with Of Monsters and Men ‘Love’#it helps to have a song hook you into writing because then you can follow the feeling of it and stay focused #I mean- songs are like a tempo to keep pace with.#sun wukong #jttw au #I did look up all the snow born illnesses to be a bit accurate.#also that falling asleep bit in the snow ? yeah that almost happened to me as a kid. it only took ten minutes - be wary of snow and cold #hcfanfics

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aceofwhump · 6 months ago

Note

Can I ask what your favourite whump prompts are. I wanna write something (broadchurhc alec hardy) and I'm at a loss for what to write

Okay first of all if you write any Alec Hardy whump please please please let me know cause I am ALWAYS in need of more Hardy whump fics in my life. There is not enough of it. That sad sack of a man is so whumpy.

Okay here's some prompts I love just in general:

Emotional: panic attacks, nightmares, insecurities, fear, grief, flashbacks, flinching, emotional breakdowns full of sobbing, scar reveals, anxiety, self hatred

Environmental: accidents, natural disasters like earthquakes or storms, hit by a car, collapsed building, falling through ice, heat exhaustion, hypothermia, falls, burns, infected wounds from lack of medical equipment, sickness, being unable to breathe, drowning

Small moments: limping, feeling weak and seeking support breathing through the pain, moving wrong in a way that aggravates the pain, and the sudden seizing of his body, shaking hands, pressing the heel of his hand against his temple because of a headache, taking a moment to close his eyes because he’s light headed/exhausted/has such a bad headache

Sci-fi: space illness, oxygen deprivation, isolation, being locked in the brig, hull of the ship getting damaged, alien attacks

Injuries: broken bones, gunshot wounds, hidden injuries, bruises, beaten, concussions, collapsed lung, slings, casts, crutches, knocked unconscious, blood loss

Torture/Captivity: Being hung by their wrists from the ceiling, drugged, chains, caged, tied to a chain, handcuffed to a pole, interrogated,

Comfort/Caretaking: hugging, “Are you okay?”, “You’re safe now”, “I’ve got you”, hand holding, helping to walk, ice packs, covering someone with a blanket, a cool cloth on their forehead to help with a fever, a fever check,

Magic: magical healing that causes pain, draining of powers, powers that are painful to use, curses

And some that I love that just so happen might be things I'd love to see applied to Alec Hardy:

Anything related to his heart issues. Feeling sick, collapsing at work, having a heart attack in front of people, needing to go to the hospital. What about focusing on his recovery after his pacemaker surgery? I'd love to see the towns reaction to it. See Ellie take care of him.

A previous case comes back to bite him and he gets kidnapped by someone wanting revenge. Could be Sandbrook related and have Lee be the one to kidnap and torture him or some other case he worked on before he came to Broadchurch

Sick fics. Literally never get enough of sick fics. And Alec Hardy is begging to be stricken with an illness and get taken care of.

Accidental injuries are fun. Falling down the stairs, twisting an ankle, concussions, breaking a bone.

#mod replies #my favorite tropes #alec hardy #ask

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luchicm04 · 4 months ago

Text

Sinking in the Metkayina - chapter 1

Masterlist

Summary: That night, (Y/n) couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned in bed and finally came out onto the deck. The night sea of Pandora seen from the ship was as beautiful as always. It was a world worth protecting. The woman leaned against the railing, recalling that terrible and scary battlefield... and just then, a wave rocked and swayed the boat all of a sudden and she... fell into the sea.

Pairing: Tonowari/Omatikaya!Fem Reader

Tag: #sinking in the metkayina fic

posted on ao3

Word count: +8k

All characters belong to Avatar, and all rights are reserved to the original work whose author allowed me to translate it. I took some (a lot) of creative liberties while writing, adding a few things and changing some. This is the first time I translate a Korean fic, so I hope I did it properly😅

The premise of this story is that humans have a respiratory system adapted to Pandora’s air. It’d be so annoying and interfering otherwise, and it wouldn’t allow for deep kissing and the endless things you can do with your mouth.

Overall warnings: hurt/comfort, fluff, edging, eventual smut⚠️

(Y/n) was a marine biology researcher. She used to do various studies on Na’vis and periodically go out to the ocean with her colleagues to collect samples. However, when many scientists who sided with the RDA were kicked out and sent back to Earth... she was left alone as an oceanographer, with no one to accompany her to the open seas anymore.

It would have been nice if Jake had more allies who sympathized with him, but (Y/n) swallowed her tears. Fortunately, there were still a few people who knew how to sail a ship, so she left Hell’s Gate and headed out to sea for her investigation after a lot of deliberation.

She was just staring at the water in the vastness of the ocean... and suddenly, she was struck with dizziness, wondering ‘What am I doing here?’

That night, (Y/n) couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned in bed and finally came out onto the deck. The night sea of Pandora seen from the ship was as beautiful as always. It was a world worth protecting. The woman leaned against the railing, recalling that terrible and scary battlefield... and just then, a wave rocked and swayed the boat all of a sudden and she... fell into the sea.

(Y/n), who had fallen into the water without any equipment, screamed while struggling. “Is there anyone here? Hello?!! Please, I need help!!”

She tried to swim closer to the boat but was pushed further away by the waves.

Even after the ship had completely disappeared from sight, (Y/n) continued to swim, but her hope was fading away. Time continued to pass, and she had no energy left because she had struggled so hard. Her lips were trembling from hypothermia, and only despair rose up in her.

‘Am I going to die here? Not on Earth, but on a distant star a few light years away?’

The strength slowly drained from her limbs and (Y/n) lost consciousness after hearing something that sounded like a whale’s cry.

──

When she opened her eyes... she screamed at the sight of Na’vis looking down at her with faces full of curiosity and wariness. The Na’vi, who were startled by (Y/n)’s yell, shouted along with her, making her scratch the back of her head in embarrassment after calming down. The surroundings had started to get noisy after she had woken up.

‘Vrrtep? ...They must be talking about me, right? This sucks... Well, at least I’m alive, which is a good thing... but it feels that I’m going to die anytime soon...’

Na’vis began to gather, and (Y/n) flinched in fear at their piercing gazes. They looked different from those of the Omatikaya; their skin color was lighter, their arms were thicker... oh, look those muscles... wait, what was she thinking? Did she want to die by a harpoon? She was silently praying, if it came to be, for them to kill her painlessly with one blow when two Na’vis appeared through the crowd.

Judging by the fancy and colorful ornaments, the girl was 100% sure they must be the Olo’eyktan and Tsahìk. She had to show them she had nothing but good intentions!

(Y/n) immediately jumped up and cast the ‘I see you’ while speaking in the native language, in which she was haltingly fluent. “I have no intention of causing harm. I am a tìftiatu.”

The Tsahìk looked up at the Olo’eyktan and they stayed silent.

‘Good thing I learnt that word from a baby forest Na’vi... Why aren’t they saying anything? Please, let me live to see another day.’

“Do you know why you are here?” the chief asked.

“When I opened my eyes, I was already here.”

“A tulkun saved you and brought you the shore.”

“Tool... kun? Wait, a tulkun?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god!!”

‘I had the chance to see a tulkun with my own two eyes?! I didn’t even get to see a single tail fin!! I should’ve woken up, and instead I missed it! Aaaah!!!’

(Y/n), who was mentally punishing herself while outwardly doing a one-woman show, barely came to her senses under the strange look of the Olo’eyktan, and desperately tried to appeal to herself that she was harmless by raising her frail arms and clearing her throat to speak.

“I am not a warrior; I mean no harm. I just want to know about life in this place and the meaning of Eywa.”

“...Why? You are one of the demons.”

“Because not all demons want destruction.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

‘Thanks for the lessons, forest kid.’

The male leader spoke to the woman with a softened expression.

“She doesn’t look dangerous.”

“What if it is only a mere appearance?”

“She does not possess any of the Sky People tools. Without those ‘machines’, they are no different from newborn babies.”

Was she being compared to a baby right now? ...Well, they weren’t wrong. (Y/n) listened to their conversation feeling nervous.

“...You are allowed to stay here.”

‘Yes!! However, asking for them to take me all the way back to the Omatikaya... I guess that’s too much, right? I don’t think they’ll listen... I’ll just have to survive in a place with no machines or anything technological. Luckily, I know about some creatures that humans can consume.’

“Then... where should I stay?”

The man replied calmly. “I’ll take care of that.”

“Tonowari!” the Tsahìk exclaimed.

‘So, his name is Tonowari? Huh, weird...’

“No matter how weak she is, we will have to wait and see if she is completely harmless. As Olo’eyktan, it is my responsibility to care and watch over her.”

“...Even though you might regret it?”

“That too is my lot to bear.”

Ah, great... is the leader of the tribe fighting with his wife already because of her mere existence on that island? She hopes she’s not ruining their relationship.

“O-oh, it’s okay... you don’t have to help me, I can manage by myself. Plus, couples shouldn’t fight... Ahaha...” (Y/n) said nervously.

Both Na’vi looked at her strangely. “We are not a couple.”

“R-really?”

“I suppose you didn’t know that Tsahìks and Olo’eyktans are not always paired up,” the woman stated drily.

The human was sweating profusely. “...I didn’t know...”

‘Oh, no... Did I just insult both them and their culture at the same time?’

“Anyway, you are my responsibility from now on. Follow me, I will show where you can stay.”

“Y-yes, yes... thank you...”

Leaving behind the Tsahìk, who was still looking at her as if she were an unworthy insect, (Y/n) bowed and followed after Tonowari.

After a short walk, they arrived at the area where the maruis rested above the water. Not long after that, the man stopped in front of the one she supposed would be assigned to her. She obviously expected it to be empty, but it was spacious and had traces of daily use. What?

No matter how you look at it, someone was already living there. When (Y/n) looked at him with a question mark on her face, Tonowari spoke as if nothing had happened. “I said you were under my responsibility. You shall be living with me for a while.”

“...I’m a girl, though?”

“You are a woman of the Sky People. Don’t worry, nothing unpleasant will happen to you.”

‘Well... of course, we are from different species... but something inside me... something similar to dignity is dying!! I want to tell him that, but I can't say anything because just receiving this invitation is a huge exception and privilege...’

(Y/n) walked to a corner and crouched down.

“Don’t be so nervous; you can relax, I won’t do anything to you.”

“Y-yeah, uh-huh...”

“Please, use the space a little more widely. There is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable.”

“T-thank you...”

Tonowari sighed as he looked down at (Y/n), who was sitting awkwardly and not knowing what to do.

It seemed like there was quite a long way to go.

──

The next day

“Is there anything you can do?”

“Uh... fish. I know them well. Sea... algae? Seaweed? I know seaweed well too.”

Tonowari looked down at her, curious that a Sky Person would be so interested in the sea life-forms.

(Y/n) shrugged. “It was my job to study them. I have lots of knowledge about them.”

“Hmm... I guess that is not necessary right now. What about hunting?”

“Nope, nothing.”

“I will show you how to weave a net. Follow my lead,” he said as he grabbed a few materials so he could show her the basics. “Even if it’s temporary, as long as you stay here, you have to do your share.”

“Yes, I know.”

“This way, the basic knot is complete. Now, you try.”

After a few attempts and feeling she was just making a fool of herself, (Y/n) questioned the process she was taking. “...Am I doing it right?”

“Put your right hand under the knot and pull it out to the left.”

“Like this?” she asked after somehow managing to tangle the material even more, but not in the specified form.

“...”

“...Like this?”

“...Let’s just try something else.”

“Hey! Don’t give up on me so easily!”

After wrestling with the cord for about two hours, (Y/n) unilaterally admitted defeat...

“Well then, tell me how to make fabrics at least.”

“If you can’t even weave a net, how will you be able to weave cloths?” he said pointedly. “I believe it’s best for you to follow me around for a while; look around and find something you can learn to do.”

“...You don’t have to be so straightforward about it.” She saw how he was carefully gazing at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

‘If we were friends, I would have thrown some joke like: “What’s the matter, hon? Am I that cute?” However, being in front of a 292cm (9’7”) giant Na’vi, I get so scared that I can only... squeak... Even though I’m tall for a human, I’d be like a little kid compared to Tonowari.’

Still, seeing this, (Y/n) sighed and wondered if Tonowari would be able to teach the customs of the Na’vi... to a human.

──

From that day on, (Y/n) followed Tonowari around and was shown all sorts of skills: how to cast and pull nets, how to manage a clam farm, how to sharpen and make spears, how to create accessories that are strong and durable even in seawater, etc. Surprisingly (or not), not a single one of them suited her.

(Y/n)’s self-esteem, once a highly educated person, began to plummet.

‘But I... I was a scholar capable enough to be dispatched to Pandora, so how can I be so useless? My knowledge has already been passed down through generations of Na’vis, and I have no talent for working with my hands... If I keep up like this, what are they going to do with me? What if I’m kicked out?’

The night was getting deeper; the sound of the ocean could be heard, and (Y/n) was anxious... She crouched down and tried to come up with something. Nevertheless, no matter how much she thought about it, there was no answer. She had to prove her worth, but she couldn’t do anything... (Y/n), who had always been ahead of the curve, felt like she was nosediving with no way up. The only thing she felt she was good at the moment was sniffling. Which she started to do, little by little.

And those sounds... Tonowari, who slept in the same room could, of course, hear them. Looking at (Y/n), who was lying down with her back turned and trying to quiet down her sniffs, he let out a small sigh and got up.

“You can’t sleep?”

“Y-yes... ugh... sniff...”

“It’s been an hour.”

“...Lie back down, I’m fine...”

As the remains of his sleep disappeared, the Olo’eyktan awoke completely from his drowsy state. Tonowari spoke with a soothing tone as he looked at the state (Y/n) was in.

“Every life has its own use and purpose in Eywa’s path. You, too, have your own purpose. Do not worry too much.”

“...Do you really think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

Only then did (Y/n) loosen her distraught expression and turn around. Her eyes were wet from sobbing, but now she was smiling slightly.

“You are very kind, sir.”

“Ahem... I am responsible for you. It is only natural.”

“But I’m a foreigner, so it must be burdensome for you, sir. Still, thank you.”

“...Tonowari is also fine.”

“Huh?”

“What I mean is, you don’t have to call me sir every time. Many people call me by my name.”

(Y/n) blinked briefly and burst into a small laugh. “You’re very kind, Tonowari.”

“...It is late; go to bed and rest. You have many places to go to tomorrow.”

Tonowari’s ears perked up a little as he spoke, so she found herself in a happy mood for the first time in a while. He looked very strict and serious, but he secretly had a kind side to him. He might even seem a little... cute?

As she laid facing the ceiling, the sound of the waves, which was unusually loud, acted as a lullaby... (Y/n) fell asleep after a few minutes.

──

(Y/n) and Tonowari searched the entire village for something to do... Clamming (too hard for a human), picking seaweed (can’t hold her breath for long, so ruled out), standing guard at the village border (barely getting by)... and finally! Finally, they found something she could do.

Teaching children.

(Y/n) was definitely into Pandora’s oceans, and her vocabulary was similar to the kids’ (lol) so it would be easy to teach them.

‘I was hoping I would end up doing something with my dexterity... haha... I was a bit disappointed, but still! I was happy to be useful, and I felt flattered in front of Tonowari. He also congratulated me with a smile.’

Of course, there was some opposition to the idea of the demon teaching their children, but after proving her knowledge was clearly useful, they decided to test it and see how it goes before making a formal decision. In order to do that, a Na’vi would be needed to watch and help out.

And on the first day of teaching the younglings... (Y/n) was wondering who would come while Tonowari walked from afar.

She stared confused as he approached her but was quick to greet him with the respect he deserved. “I see you, Tonowari. What brings you here...?”

“I heard you need someone to help you.”

“That’s true, but...”

“You are under my responsibility, so it is right for me to take charge of that task as well.”

“...Oh, aren’t you busy...?”

“I have some free time to spare at the moment. Don’t worry.”

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh- I thought we were going to do something like the neighborhood alphabet classroom, but now I have to do an observation class in front of the Olo’eyktan. Damn it!! And I’m just a researcher, not someone trained as an educator.’

While sweating profusely, (Y/n) kept repeating to herself like a parrot that the chieftain must be busy, so... why was he here?

The man was stubborn, so she gave up on that. The girl entered the space set up for what they would need and... there were more kids than she thought? (Y/n) raised a question mark. Could you blame her? Who could have thought so many would come knowing that they would be taught by a demon?

The kids confidently said they had come without their parents’ knowing. The curiosity of pre-teens in their prime couldn’t be defeated, funnily enough.

So, that was how (Y/n) started the first lesson. First, she listed the easy-to-find clams.

“Okay, guys! Do you know what this is?”

“Who doesn’t know that? It’s just a common clam.”

“Right, but did you know that this clam has 300 eyes?”

“Really????????”

“Curious, isn’t it? Should I crack open it and check?”

(Y/n) was trying her best to win them over...

No matter what she did, it wouldn’t work. Pandora’s creatures were so huge... It wasn’t easy, and a female human’s energy couldn’t even come close to that of a Na’vi.

Ah, she’d finally gotten their interest; she couldn’t just leave it like that. The woman trembled and used all her strength, but the clam was tightly shut. (Y/n)’s face was gradually turning sad until a large hand appeared from the side.

It was Tonowari. He took the clam from her hands, which hadn’t even moved regardless of how hard she tried, and easily opened it... In 0.5 seconds...

“Here you go.”

“O-oh, uh... thanks.”

“Wow~ Olo’eyktan is so cool!”

“Thank you everyone. Now, keep focused on what (Y/n) will teach you.”

“Okay~”

After that thankful action, Tonowari nodded to her with a smile as if telling her to go ahead with the lesson.

“Alright... Now that the Olo’eyktan has opened it, why don’t we take a look? Here, did you know everything in this side consists of the organs?”

“Eww~ it’s so gross!”

“It is, but thanks to that they know when predators ... no, tarioa- tairo-... I mean, when bad animals are coming, and they close their shells to protect themselves."

“But why stay there instead of running away?”

“...Well...”

(Y/n) got caught in the moment, but Tonowari intervened from the side.

“That is because the strong warriors of the Metkayina catch them. Nothing can escape our hands.”

“Uh... That’s right! Warriors of the Metkayina! You too will achieve that position when you grow up. By the way, aren’t you curious about how clams eat?”

‘Phew! Almost blew it back there.’

A few hours later, (Y/n)’s first class ended with unexpected success. And... it seems she got herself an assistant?

Tonowari woke her from her daydream, which was causing her soul to leak from her mouth, by tapping her. “That was impressive. There were some things I didn’t know. Did you discover them?”

“Well... not necessarily me... but my colleagues and I made a collaboration ... how do you say this in Na’vi?”

“Does this mean that this is the fruit of your efforts combined?”

“Fruit? Fruition... Yes, that’s right!”

“It seems like you’re doing well on your own. You are intelligent and talented.”

'...The first compliment I heard since I got here!’

(Y/n) was a little embarrassed, but she didn’t show it and replied “That’s just how I am” and shamefully left. Tonowari laughed a little at her cockiness.

On the way to the marui, the sky and sea were covered in the sunset. The two walked slowly along the sandy beach and looked at the landscape.

“It’s beautiful...”

“The bottom of the sea is even more beautiful. Have you ever seen it?”

“I’ve been there a few times. It was an unforgettable experience... Now that I think about it, I have never seen it here.”

“The coral reefs of the Metkayina are especially famous for their beauty. Someday, I will show you how to ride an Ilu and show them to you.”

“Really?!”

“It would be absurd to be staying with the reef people and not seeing the reefs.”

“Thank you, thank you! I will never forget this for as long as I live!”

“...Because you seem to love the ocean too.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“How could you not fall in love with this place?”

“Didn’t you say that there is an ocean where you came from?”

“Coral reefs are losing their color, animals are disappearing, and the water is tainted with dangerous substances. It can no longer be called an ocean.”

“...That is regretful.”

“That’s probably why I fell in love with this place so much. Living in this lively place feels like a dream.”

He didn’t speak any more. They kept walking Tonowari, who didn’t say anything until they reached their destination, spoke quietly.

“If there’s anything you would like to see, just tell me. I’ll help you as much as I can.”

The image of Tonowari speaking like that remained in her mind for no reason and continued to linger in her mind until she closed her eyes and went to sleep. (Y/n) must have fallen asleep because when she woke up the soft sound of the waves, like white noise, and the voice of Tonowari in her head were mixed together and she couldn’t tell which was which.

──

(Y/n)’s class was surprisingly booming as time went by.

The kids who came after taking a class said it was so much fun, so those who called her ‘demon’ at first started coming one by one out of curiosity, and her crowd eventually grew... The youngsters did many things there besides learning like playing with friends and, honestly, parents were happy they didn’t have to watch over them all day (her school had become in some sort of childcare).

It was also quite amusing to see the Olo’eyktan sitting solemnly on the sidelines and listening, then chiming in a word or two. And when (Y/n) muttered to herself something like “Oh, I don’t have this... I wish I did...”, Tonowari would quickly get up and disappear somewhere, then come back with it.

“Where did you find this?! Tonowari, you’re the best!”

“...You’re welcome.”

She would spend all day teaching the kids (actually playing with them) and then in the evening, when they dispersed, she would walk along the sandy beach with Tonowari and chat.

'At first, it was hard to talk to him because he scared me, but know that I know how considerate he is, haha, I feel I can speak with him more comfortably.’

“The conch shell that I showed you earlier, isn’t it pretty? Should I make some jewelry with it?”

“...Are you serious?”

“No, even if my dexterity was ruined, it wouldn’t be to that extent...”

“Well, I’ll make one for you instead.”

“Wow, really? Yay !!”

“ Yay ... Can I ask what that means?”

“Well, it’s a great word to use when something is really good and exciting.”

“...The Sky People’s language is really diverse.”

“Anyway, you promised to make me one of those ornaments. I like necklaces!”

“I see. I shall keep that in mind,” he said smiling down at her.

And... time passed, and the day finally came when Tonowari decided to give (Y/n) a ride on an Ilu.

Before, there had been a backlash that was summarized with: “We can’t trust the demon.” Now, through teaching, she had become close with the kids and established her own position, so things were better.

“(Y/n)! I heard you were going to ride an Ilu today!”

“Awesome! I’m so jealous!”

“I’m learning to ride one too.”

“I heard Tonowari himself would teach her.”

“Lucky... Come back without any injuries!”

“Do you think I will learn to ride soon too?”

‘I always do this kind of back and forth with my students. I can’t do Tsaheylu, but the mere idea of being the first human to ever ride an Ilu makes me feel like I’m floating! I don’t think any human on Earth has ever ridden one. Especially with an Olo’eyktan teaching me directly!’

Tonowari was barely able to calm (Y/n) down, who was almost jumping up and down with excitement, went out to the sea and called for an ilu.

“Everybody makes that sound, but how do you do it?”

“Like this.” He made some sounds from the back of his throat using his tongue.

She tried to copy him to the best of her ability. “Am I doing it?”

“...”

That was all for the lesson on calling the Ilu. Tonowari lifted (Y/n) and placed her on one who had come near.

“Whoa!!!!”

“Um, let go of my hair...”

“Sorry, sorry, you just surprised me all of a sudden...”

(Y/n)... was quite tall for a human, and no one had ever lifted her like that since childhood. So, out of fright, she had ended up grabbing onto the hair of the Olo’eyktan for support. She let go, feeling embarrassed, and Tonowari grabbed her hand and told her how to hold it on the saddle. His larger hand, that covered (Y/n)’s whole and still had a lot of space left, folded each finger accordingly.

She suddenly felt strange at the feeling of his hand... She thought it was because she was excited and let it go.

“How long can you last underwater?”

“I’ve had some training before, but... like 3 minutes?”

“That is ridiculously weak...”

“That... that is long?!” she affirmed offended.

“I guess we’ll have to do a lot of practice. Anyway, hold your breath, we are going into the water now.”

“Really? Now? Wait a minute, whoa-”

As soon as the Ilu dived, Tonowari grabbed its queue and dived with it.

(Y/n) barely managed to catch her breath at the timing, and as she closed her eyes tightly in a state of exclamation, she was dragged by the Ilu as it swam aimlessly. After a few seconds, she felt someone tapping her from the side, so she cautiously opened her eyes and almost opened her mouth as well to say: “Wow”.

The scenery before her eyes was truly fantastic. Colorful aquatic creatures swimming in the clear waters and colorful coral reefs... Shoals of small fish passed by (Y/n) and Tonowari, and the Ilu played in circles among the giant seaweed.

‘This sight will forever live in my memory,’ she thought to herself.

Tonowari, who was caressing the Ilu, smiled slightly as he looked at her as she was absentmindedly watching everything. Seeing that she liked it so much, he thought that he should have brought her out there earlier... (Y/n), who seemed to sense his gaze, looked back and waved her hand with a bright smile.

At that moment, Tonowari felt his heartbeat suddenly stop for a second.

Why? Had he stayed in the water for too long? No, it wasn’t that... The man put his hand on his chest and questioned this strange throbbing sensation.

Right then, he saw (Y/n) gesturing upwards as if she were out of breath and apologetically sent the Ilu up to the surface.

“Phew! That was really, really fantastic! Thank you, Tonowari!”

“...It was nothing.”

“It was not nothing. If it weren’t for you, I would still be feared as a demon and wouldn’t have had even come close to touching one of his fins.”

(Y/n) had been able to establish herself in the village thanks to Tonowari, so she smiled happily as she expressed her gratitude for that again. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her...

“Today I just looked around, but next time I’ll be looking for samples for research. Will you be coming with me?”

To this bold and valiant woman who fearlessly asked the Olo’eyktan to accompany, Tonowari could only nod... without even knowing why.

“I don’t know what samples are, but... if you want to.”

“Oh my? What if something weird happens?”

“I know you wouldn’t do anything to purposely harm us.”

“Wow... that’s touching. Why are you so kind to me?”

“...It’s no big deal.”

Tonowari always said that when he was embarrassed. But never the actual thing.

──

From that day onwards, (Y/n) went out to collect samples carrying the small bag that Tonowari had made for her. The man was always by her side and would even hold things for her if they were too heavy.

What’s more, he taught her breathing techniques so she could hold longer underwater... and the two naturally became closer.

“I’d like to go out for a bit. Is that okay?”

“It’s dangerous. I wouldn’t recomment it.”

“Um... Just for a bit? There’s something at the bottom I really want to look into...”

“I said it was dangerous.”

“Why can’t I? I’ll just dig that up and come right back!”

“...”

Strangely, it became difficult for Tonowari to say no to (Y/n)’s words.

She had become quite capable at holding her breath through continuous training (nothing compared to a Na’vi, of course) and was confident that she would be fine in deeper waters.

The day they decided to go far away, Tonowari came with a fierce-looking spear; (Y/n) wondered if it was necessary, but she thought that he would know better. The two of them went beyond the coral reef on Ilu... but the chief was so big that it was more like holding onto its queue with her on board rather than riding it.

Anyway, the two went down to the deep water and luckily, they quickly found what (Y/n) was looking for. The girl was carefully putting it in her bag with an excited face, when a huge shadow fell over her.

It was a Pxazang.

Before she could scream, Tonowari pierced his spear straight into the beast’s stomach and it shook violently, bleeding in pain. Right after, he narrowly escaped from having his arm bit off while holding onto the Ilu and (Y/n). Both continued to head down and down among the tall seaweed and coral. The predator chased after them, chewing and breaking through stone pillars like a madman despite having been stabbed.

Tonowari gritted his teeth and held (Y/n)’s arms tightly so as not to lose her and continued to descend... And the two, barely able to hide in a place where its teeth could not reach, held their breaths and tried to calm their pounding hearts.

Nevertheless, there was a problem... Not matter how much (Y/n) trained, she wasn’t a Na’vi and soon started to suffocate. She tried her best to hold it in, but when a gulping sound was heard, the man looked down at her... and realized the situation. Without even thinking, Tonowari lowered his head and kissed her.

The moment (Y/n)’s eyes opened wide, he breathed life into her... while she was hardly hanging on and clinging to his body.

How many times did she inhale and exhale like that? Finally, the human’s stomach settled down; Tonowari made a gesture, grabbed the handles of the Ilu and headed towards the surface.

“Gasp...! Cough, cough... Ugh...”

(Y/n), who had been holding to Tonowari’s arms, gasped and finally filled her lungs. Even though he had trouble breathing after sharing air with her, the Na’vi held her cheeks to check if she was hurt anywhere. The two looked at each other for a long time, catching their breath.

Tonowari’s heartbeat was so loud that it could be felt in his arms... The face that habitually looked down was full of relief at barely surviving, and subsided fear at knowing she had made it... The man met (Y/n)’s eyes, which were filled with a mixture of emotions, and impulsively kissed her.

Their pulse was thumping on their touching chests, the body head felt faint on their wet and cold skin... and yet, the tongue that was parting her lips and entering her mouth was so hot that she thought it would burn her... The chief pulled (Y/n) into his embrace and turned his head to kiss her more deeply, and this continued until the girl was out of breath and rubbing his shoulder.

──

Four days since the incident

Tonowari didn’t say a word about it and just treated (Y/n) as usual. Instead, they stopped going to the beach where they used to go for walks, and at night, he left the marui and went to sleep somewhere else.

In other words, he didn’t sleep in the same place as her.

Likewise, (Y/n) didn’t say anything about the matter, but she would sometimes look at his face as if asking for an explanation. When that happened, he would first look away and then leave the place.

The strange atmosphere was evident even to the Na’vis in the village, and the number of children asking what had happened to the Olo’eyktan increased.

Since they both declared it was nothing, though... what could a third party say? They just worried a little among themselves and let it go. Regardless of whatever happened between their leader and the demon, time passed, and it was time for the Tulkun to return. The Tsuraks, Ilus, Na’vis and Tulkuns all gathered together was truly a spectacular sight.

It was so frustrating and regrettable that she didn’t have a camera on her... (Y/n) went into the water to capture it all with both her eyes. And she also witnessed Tonowari going over to his spirit brother. The man kept moving his hands in front of the Tulkun, as if he had much to say. Meanwhile, (Y/n) stood alone observing everything.

That night, the village held a small festival.

It was a celebration due to the return of their spirit brothers and sisters and, naturally, a table of alcohol was prepared. She was sitting there, asking about the ingredients and thinking, “I can take this.” The Olo’eyktan and Tsahìk were at the top, and after a few words from Tonowari, everyone joined in and drank.

(Y/n), who had completely melted into the village teacher, had a few drinks and her face turned gradually red and started hiccuping while the other Na’vi teased her. As Tonowari saw her living effortlessly in the village without him, his feelings became complicated. It wasn’t something that should have become complicated; it was a good thing, but he couldn’t understand why his heart was like that.

Because of his compromised mind, the man kept drinking and got so drunk that anyone would worry of they saw him. Eventually, Tonowari nodded at the advice that it would be better to stop drinking and go inside to rest, and staggered slightly as he headed towards his marui. He would have normally gone somewhere else, but he was too drunk to consider that.

Leaving behind all that noise, he entered and laid down in his usual space... He closed his eyes dizzily, but then he heard footsteps, so he looked up and when he blinked... he saw (Y/n)’s face, red from drunkenness.

“Tonowari! I f- hic! finally see your face...”

“...If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll leave.”

“Who says I’m uncomfortable?”

And then, she sat down in front of him!

Actually, he realized, she had even brought a bottle of alcohol with her; she finally started gulping it down. He thought he should stop her, so he tried to get up.

“Why did you kiss me back then?”

He stayed silent for a moment. “...I don’t know what you’re talking about. You seem very drunk, so I think it’s best if you go lie down now...”

“Why did you kiss me?”

“It’s late. You should-”

“What, do you think I’m stupid? I laugh all the time, so it’s easy, right?”

“...You have never been easy.”

“I’m not easy, so you’ll just pretend like nothing happened? Is that what you do?”

“...I’m sorry. I apologize. Because of my lack of virtue, I forced myself to do something that you didn’t want...”

“When did I ever say I didn’t want it?”

“...?”

“Why do you think and decide on your own without even listening to me?”

Tonowari felt as if his lips were drying up... He moistened them and bit them carefully.

“...Then, what decision would you like to make?”

(Y/n) stared at him for a moment, then walked closer and wrapped her arms around his neck as she dat on the floor.

“Kiss me. Give it a try first and then decide.”

[[[The following content will be updated separately as an explicit post]]]

The next day, she woke to the sound of the morning waves as usual, suffering from a horrendous hangover. The girl tried getting up, but she felt like she had been hit to a breaking point and something was holding her tightly, so she couldn’t move. What was that? She opened her eyes and there were a pair of arms in front of her.

Tonowari was hugging (Y/n) in her torn clothes.

‘You’re crazy, (Y/n)! Crazy!! Because you had no one to sleep with, you laid with the Olo’eyktan...?!!! He’s not even a person. What should I do? Ah, I feel like I’m gonna die...'

Memories of last night flashed before her eyes like a panorama... She barely managed to swallow her screams.

‘But... strangely, I don’t regret it... It was a really odd sensation. It felt like the knot that needed to be tied was finally put together.’

On the other hand... there was no door there, which meant the place gave up any kind of privacy; anyone could have seen them, so she groaned and tried to get out, but... her arms were too heavy, and she couldn’t move. (Y/n) struggled for a while but gave up after exhausting all her strength. Moreover, her whole body hurt like she’d been beaten, especially her lower half. If it had been that bad in one night... She would’ve died if they had been at it for longer.

“...Excuse me? Tonowari? Hey...” The girl timidly patted Tonowari’s broad chest. A couple of times. Then several. She wondered how many times she ended up doing that. Her arms were starting to hurt, and at that moment, the man stirred.

And his open eyes were met with (Y/n)’s on his arms.

1... 2... 3...

“...!!! I’m so sorry!!! I will be punished for my sins...!!!”

“Shh! Shush...! The other Na’vis will hear us...!”

“Uh, I apologize...”

“Well... First if all, do you have anything to cover my body with? My clothes are all torn...”

“...I apologize for that as well...”

The woman placed the fabric that Tonowari gave her around her body like a wrap dress. And then the two were forced to face reality.

The bite marks and handprints left all over her body... he wanted to die.

Tonowari had never felt so small in his entire life. He had spent the night with a drunk and it didn’t even seem like he had been gentle. He managed to open his mouth with the determination he had left, unsure on what to say next.

“No, I mean... I did it because I like you... but...”

He raised his head. “Did you say, you did it because you like me?”

“If I didn’t like you, I would have said no, wouldn’t I?”

The Na’vi was just staring blankly at (Y/n), opening and closing his mouth several times.

“Um... I guess... that makes us... lovers? Something like that?”

As soon as she said those words, she felt Tonowari hugging her right away.

“...Are you sure you want me?”

“I don’t think that’s something you say when we’re hugging each other practically naked and have already had intercourse... I meant it.”

“I shall be a good mate for you. Definitely...”

“Okay, wait a minute, I can’t breathe...! I need air...!”

After holding her tightly for a long time, (Y/n) was finally released. She was still held in his arms, although lighter this time. It seems the one who self-appointed as her new mate had no intention of letting go anytime soon.

That was how Tonowari and her started dating... Of course, it was a secret relationship; (Y/n) had preferred it like that, because she didn’t know how the Na’vis of the village would react.

“Hmm, hey... Tonowari?”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“Other than my face... could you please look at this fish?”

“If you want me to.”

The children gasped and looked back and forth between the two. Was he planning on hiding this from the people or not? He was driving her crazy... One could imagine the answer knowing that instead of that fish’s gills, he was gazing at her honey-dripping eyes.

“(Y/n)... with the Olo’eyktan... by any chance...”

“Huh?! No, I’m not!”

“I think you’re right...”

“They’re so affectionate with each other, aren’t they? Hahaha...”

“It’s not like that...”

“Right, right...”

Well, she let it slide for now. The kids left with such faces... She rubbed her throbbing forehead, but Tonowari came up to her and grabbed her hand, saying there were no children around anymore.

‘Now he wants to hold hands?! I actually want to, but whenever I see him smiling and saying that it’s okay, I feel weak again... Then again, what do the kids know? Ha... it’s alright I guess.’

──

The next day

A certain Na’vi called out to (Y/n), saying she had something to tell her, so she followed after the sea woman. Did they know each other? No matter how much she looked into it, she was a villager that had never spoken to her before... and right now, she just stared at (Y/n) without saying anything, with red eyes.

“What did you want to say to me?”

“...The Olo’eyktan! What’s so good about a demon like you?!”

Huh...? She looked up and tears were falling like raindrops from the woman’s eyes. The human girl felt flustered and tried to calm her down. “Oh, no, don’t cry...”

“Just like you! You can’t hunt! You can’t even weave a net! What’s the point of being twice as tall as you are?”

“No... please, stop crying.”

While rummaging through her inventory, (Y/n) held out a piece of cloth she had knitted for practice and told her to wipe her tears. The nameless Na’vi that was crying continuously stared at her and then caught her hand with her own.

“Make Tonowari happy! Otherwise, I won’t forgive you!”

“That’s not... I...”

“I will remember that!”

“No...”

And she disappeared, shedding tears... Leaving her behind with her mind echoing ‘When did it start to be rumored that we were dating?!’

But (Y/n)... She wouldn’t give up on their love affair.

When there were just the two of them, Tonowari immediately picked her up, pressed their foreheads together, kissed her and whispered words of affection. However, he tried hard to remain cold from the outside, no matter how in love his eyes looked.

As time progressed, he continued to stand close to her with his huge size, like a bear that got wet under the rain, unintentionally making it hard for them to pretend nothing was going on.

“(Y/n)...”

“Eh?”

“Olo’eyktan, you should at least try to pretend...”

“I’m sorry, I can’t assist you. I’m in a very important duty.”

“You’re just standing there...”

“It is called surveillance.”

Tonowari looked at the children who were doing their best in their lessons while keeping blank faces.

“(Y/n), I...”

“I’m in class.”

“Just a little bit...”

“I told you, I’m in class.”

Now, (Y/n) seemed to have forgotten that the other person was the Olo’eyktan. Tonowari raised his figurative eyebrow amusedly, but he stood there until the end of class. As soon as the kids started to leave, he quietly came and grabbed her hand.

“No, they’re still outside.”

“...Can’t I kiss you just once?”

“I’ll kiss you when we get to the marui.”

“Is it not possible right now?”

She glared at him, feeling like she’d lost again, and stood on her tiptoes. “...Just one.”

Tonowari bowed his head as if he’d been waiting for that moment and kissed her deeply. It was supposed to be a small one, but he intertwined their tongues, and before she knew it, she was receiving a sticky and lewd kiss from the hungry man.

After it ended and they broke apart, (Y/n) wiped her mouth and said, “Don’t do this when we’re outside...”, but found a Na’vi with their mouth open behind Tonowari. 'Uh-oh.'

“...!!!! Oh no, it’s not what you think...!”

“Mom! Moooom!!!”

“No!!!!!!!”

In the end, they abandoned their secret relationship that day.

──

She was forced to give up on Tonowari by issuing a ‘restraining order’ against him.

Even if it had to be revealed, she wanted to do it properly and by herself, but they had been caught kissing in an open space, so she was left in shame. (Y/n) felt like a dog, being told to stay at least ten steps away... Instead, it was Tonowari who chased after her like a fanboy.

He followed her around so pitifully... No wonder the Na’vis of the village had found out about it. (They all knew from before; they just chose to ignore it.)

“No! It’s different when you get caught at a crucial moment and get exposed!”

“Well... we already knew...”

“You could have at least pretended!”

“It was too obvious...”

Even after finishing her work for the day and going into the marui, (Y/n) sat away since the order had not been lifted. Tonowari’s ears drooped and he watched her closely... He couldn’t bring himself to get close, so he looked at her with a pouty expression, but she tried to ignore him.

“(Y/n)...”

“Are you going to ask me to hug you again? You know we can’t.” She tried to avoid his prying eyes.

“It has already been three days...”

“Can’t you even hold back for three days?”

“Can you?”

“...”

“If I cannot control myself... can you?”

“Not being able to control ourselves is the reason we ended up like this!”

He did not give up. “Do you not... hate that it has come to this?”

“...No, that’s not it...”

“We confirmed out feelings for each other, so I can’t understand why we must stay apart...”

The girl bit her lip, willing her spirit not to yield.

“(Y/n), I...”

“ Okay, to hell with it. Get over here.”

“...!!!!”

And Tonowari ran towards her like a puppy with its tail on fire and sat down right next to her.

After leaning slightly on her small body and smiling happily, (Y/n) couldn’t help but smile as well. And fit into those big arms and be hugged. The man enjoyed her body temperature and smell for a long time, rubbing his face against it. They kept whispering to each other until the sunset spread into the night.

From then on, Tonowari, who had been gifted with a big body, would not think twice before carrying the girl in his arms and walk around all day. He would take strolls around the village like that and would hide his face in embarrassment, thinking that other Na’vis might see them, but if there was no one around, he would sneak a kiss on (Y/n)’s temple.

At such happy times, a happy smile could be seen on the man’s face.

Even the shy (Y/n) would have no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck and lean on him with a tingling in her heart. If she did it correctly, she’d feel the strong arms and familiar shoulders, and the heartbeat on his chest. Even though they had been together for quite some time, she found it cute that his heart would still beat fast and loud.

Every day, the couple walked along the beach holding hands or spent time with the young Na’vis, who were just starting to learn how to weave nets. When dusk approached, the girl ran to Tonowari, who would come to pick her up and hug her. She also ended up meeting his spirit brother.

“The day the Tulkuns came back... what did you talk about?”

“Perhaps I have found someone who I can love.”

──

One day, as the two of them grew more in love day by day, Tonowari went out hunting with the village warriors, and (Y/n) was walking alone through the marui bridges.

However, something wasn’t right... it wasn’t usually that noisy, so she looked around and went to the shore, where something familiar caught her eye.

It was an Ikran.

Normal – Na'vi Italics – English

Vocabulary list: vrrtep (demon), olo’eyktan (clan leader), tsahìk (head shaman, high priest, interpreter), tìftiatu (researcher), marui (pods built in the giant mangrove-like trees alongside the shores and are protected from crashing waves by giant reef barriers), tarnioang (predator), tsaheylu (bond, neural connection), pxazang (akula), tsurak (skimwing), ikran (mountain banshee)

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nesaluvstherecoms · 4 months ago

Text

𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱.

ᴍᴀɪɴ ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍ ᴄᴏʟᴏɴᴇʟ ᴍɪʟᴇꜱ Qᴜᴀʀɪᴛᴄʜ x ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍ ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ ꜰᴇᴍ. ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: Feelings of grief, mentions of injuries.

ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ ʟɪɴᴋ

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔: 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭

The only sound that echoes through the medical wing room is the continuous buzz of the white lights above. It goes on and on and on, nonstop. And the more it continues, the louder it rings in Miles’ ears, piercing painfully through his brain. He hates it.

The stitches on his face burn, the wounds still swollen even with the fluid draining that the medics did on them. The gauze pads that cover them are uncomfortable and dry against the raw skin, secured awfully tightly by bandages and adhesive tape, adding to the burning sensation on his face. Miles’ heavy eyes remain unfocused, staring blankly at some random corner of the room. If only Prager was there. He would’ve stitched his cuts so carefully and soak the gauze pads in cold povidone-iodine to keep the cuts disinfected and cool his burning skin. He would’ve carefully placed freezing cold gel pads against his now dark purple almost black bruises, relieving some of his pain. But Prager is not here anymore is he? His body is probably rotting somewhere, decomposing in the cursed icy waters of Pandora. He’s now just another name, fallen in battle, soon to be forgotten. Miles hates it.

His swollen eyes try to move somewhere else around the room. That horribly bright white light blinds his vision, hurting the sensitive retina of his sharp, golden eyes. The buzzing gets louder.

Everything hurts. His skin, his flesh, his muscles, his nerves, his bones. Everything hurts. His heart. Everything hurts.

Was this all for nothing?

No, he doesn’t think so.

Why is he even doing this?

It’s his purpose.

He is a living tool.

He is the Colonel.

He’s living another man’s life.

No, it’s his life.

He’s suffering the consequences of another man’s actions.

No, those are the consequences of his own actions.

He has opened his heart for another man’s child.

No, that’s his own child.

He’s not that man.

Right?

The buzzing of the lights above him gets louder. His breathing is slow, shallow, too exhausted to even inhale long enough. His heavy eyelids hood over, blurring half his vision. The sheets and blankets placed over him yesterday to counter the hypothermia he was suffering, now feel awfully hot against his exhausted body. He wants to remove some of them, to relieve himself from this heat that has enveloped his form, causing him to sweat profusely. He tries to raise his bruised hand to pull them off, but he can’t move his arm. It remains still on the bed, taking IV fluid from multiple needles sticking into his veins.

He is completely naked underneath. The medics stripped him bare from his wet uniform before treating his wounds and stuffing him in the covers he’s currently in. He was shivering uncontrollably, the hypothermia getting to him as soon as he stepped down from his mountain banshee. The animal kept screeching as people rushed him towards the medical wing, trying desperately to follow but the soldiers sedated it before it could harm anyone. The rest is a blur to him. He doesn’t remember much. Just fragments of doctors erratically moving around him. It might’ve been the painkillers. He’s not sure.

The heat gets worse. He starts sweating harder. His body feels sticky underneath the covers. The buzzing continues.

His eyes feel so heavy. Maybe he should go to sleep again. He’s still absolutely exhausted. The medics said he might be suffering internal bleeding from all the equipment on the Sea Dragon crashing into his body as it was tipping over. He wants to laugh at the absurdity of his pathetic condition. Colonel Miles Quaritch reduced to a bloodied and weak mess. But no expression takes form on his face. It’s just blank. He closes his eyes. He wants to sleep. The heat doesn’t let him.

The card scanner on the other side of the door beeps, and soon enough a gentle hiss is heard from the doorway. Slowly, Miles opens his exhausted eyes again. A human doctor and two human medical assistants step in, making their way towards the large Recom sized bed he is laying on.

“Colonel Quaritch.” The doctor greets, a polite smile on his lips. “How are you feeling, sir?”

The assistants quickly move over to check his condition, observing how much IV fluid he has absorbed and the information on the monitors he is strapped to. Miles doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have the energy. Instead, his heavy eyelids slowly shut close again. Being met with silence, the doctor nods slowly, looking away and pulling out his datapad. One of the medical assistants leans over, finally pulling away one of the blankets covering him, relieving some of the heat from his body. The doctor begins checking over the data on the screen. As he is scrolling through the numbers, with his eyes remaining on the device at hand, he opens his mouth to speak again.

“We weren’t able to tell you yesterday, since you fell asleep shortly after being treated, but we have good news for you to make you feel better, sir. Your Lieutenant survived. The teams that were sent over to the scene were able to pull his unconscious body out of the water during the CASEVAC. He is currently being treated in another room. His condition is stable.”

Miles opens his eyes. He looks upwards, tracing the patterns on the ceiling above him. CASEVAC? Teams? But as the last sentence leaves the human doctor’s mouth, a gentle wave of relief washes over Miles, lifting some of the suffocating, heavy weight on his chest. Lyle is alive. He’s alive. The buzzing of the lights stops.

Y/N’s right leg bounces rapidly up and down beneath the conference table.

“The numbers are still going. We haven’t recovered everyone from the water and wreckage yet. But one thing is for sure, most of the fleet have been killed.”

“And the natives?”

“Very aggravated.”

“How much equipment have we lost?”

“Until now we have estimated to about five billion dollars worth.”

“Bloody hell.” Riley huffs out.

Y/N squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, disappointment weighing in her chest like a brick. They have been in this conference room for about two hours now and each detail mentioned gets worse and worse. She sits back and listens as Ardmore, ALPHA, operators from other departments and scouts continue on discussing. The tip of her tail moves slowly below her, adding to the rapid movement of her foot while she leans back on the cushioned chair with her right elbow on the armrest and her balled up fist against her right cheek. All this, just because of one man’s incompetence.

“How about amrita sourcing?”

“We have halted it momentarily as we rack up the numbers. We have to redistribute quotas to the remaining Sea Dragons to make up for the amrita sourcing we are losing with Captain Scoresby’s fleet.”

John who is sitting next to Y/N, slowly turns his eyes to take a look at her through the corner of his vision, taking in her reactions. But Y/N’s face remains stoic, just listening carefully to every detail being said like she has been doing for the past two hours. He wonders what is going through her mind. But before he can ponder on it more, Y/N shifts in place and opens her mouth. As soon as her voice gets to the ears of the people in the room, it falls dead silent and all attention turns to her.

“How about Colonel Quaritch? What was his testimony?”

Her question hangs in the air for some seconds. The operators who were investigating the scene and its circumstances exchange panicked eye contact with each other before one of them clears his throat and replies.

“Colonel Quaritch’s condition is pretty serious. He remains under intense supervision in the medical wing so therefore we have not had a chance to speak with him yet.”

The rest of the people in the room turn towards Y/N for her reaction. Her eyes narrow down at the man, clearly displeased by his answer. An uncomfortable feeling pits at the bottom of his stomach as the Recom’s alien eyes pin him in place.

“I see.” Is all she says before gesturing with her gloved hand for them to continue. The others exchange brief glances before the meeting then proceeds again as before. As people go back to discussing, Ardmore’s eyes land on Y/N, giving her a look of curiosity to see what she’s thinking. The Recom’s eyes turn back at her, with almost slitted pupils and a spark that has started to brew over until it is time for it to snap. Ardmore holds eye contact with her second in command for a few seconds before she turns her eyes forward again and sighs. Quaritch has a storm coming his way.

To say that Y/N was incredibly disappointed and angry, would be the understatement of the century. But to still be entirely fair, Y/N understood Quaritch’s side to some extent. He had been given only one Sea Dragon for only a week to get this mission accomplished. He had no exact idea of his target’s location, and his knowledge of the sea environment was limited. Even from her judgement, this could lead anyone to desperation. However, an officer with the rank and experience Quaritch has, would be wise enough to not rule out the possibility of letting this mission go, for the sake of preventing collateral damage and losing human lives in the massive amount that his actions caused. An officer with his expertise, would also know that chasing one target is not worth sabotaging said mission, after finally managing to get the upper hand. Not only that, but still managing to get your target to fight you one on one to death, and not only still failing to kill said target, but almost dying yourself, that’s just purely appalling. His squadron are all dead except for one operator, an entire Sea Dragon is completely destroyed along with billions of dollars of all the equipment and amrita vials that were in it, the entire fleet of said Sea Dragon are almost all dead, the sea natives are now incredibly hostile and aggravated and that’s hundreds maybe even thousands of them, a prisoner who spent months in base learning everything from the inside is now on the loose, apparently those whale things have now learned to fight back, and amidst all of this; Jake Sully is still alive and in a safe place along with his savage bitch and his demon spawns. Well fucking done Miles Quaritch. Well fucking done.

Y/N strolls irritated through the halls of the Ops Center, with John, Riley, Fernando and Oscar following behind. People open the way immediately without even blinking twice, not wanting to get in the way of the Recom General who has just stopped fuming after reading the newest report on her desk that morning. And who could blame her? Only the loss of that Sea Dragon and its entire equipment catalogue is catastrophic, let alone the amount of human and Recom lives lost. This is the biggest tragedy that the RDA has suffered since boarding, and bodies are still being pulled out of the water and wreckage.

John keeps an eye on Y/N as they walk, studying her expression. With the years the team has had with her as their commanding officer, they know what’s about to go down. Quaritch and Ardmore both better start appreciating the final moments of peace they are getting right now because they will be their last.

。。。

Quaritch’s tail can’t stop moving behind him. His body is tense, shoulders flexed and ears folded back. He takes a deep sip of carbon dioxide from his Recom Breather, trying to ground himself by filling his lungs with the much needed gas. The atmosphere in the two story hall is calm for the moment, humans pass below him, paying him no mind as they prepare and calibrate the Holofloor for the upcoming meeting that he has been dreading for the past week. Quaritch is about to face General Ardmore and the Major General for the first time. Since the battle at the Three Brothers, he has yet to give his side of the story and explain his actions. But having read the final report on the aftermath of said battle, even Miles Quaritch knows that he is in deep shit. As he was reading through every line on the document, it dawned heavily upon him how carried away he had gotten during that battle. The desire to kill Jake Sully had completely blinded him and all thought processes were thrown out the window. Though, he doesn’t fully understand why himself. Now he is left with no team, no equipment, no mission and worst of all; he has to cover for his ass in front of the two officers that command the entirety of Bridgehead and the RDA.

For the past week he has been pondering on what to say and the more he thinks about it the more he realizes that he has no valid excuses. Facing Ardmore alone will prove to be challenging, however he has been able to persuade her before so chances are he can do it again. On the other hand, the Major General is still an unknown mystery to him. From what he has gathered from the people on Bridgehead, General F/N L/N is also a Recom, who commands her own squadron of highly decorated and skilled Recom officers. She is always busy, doesn’t smile much, talks only to people she deems worthy of her attention, and spends her time in strictly two locations; either the battlefield or her office. From the troopers who accompany her and her team in missions, he has heard that she has no remorse when it comes to killing Na’vi and will turn the barrel of her gun on anyone who stands in her way, even her own soldiers. So for her to take time out of her day and come and interrogate him about his failed mission, it means that he really fucked up. But if his logic is correct, if he manages to convince Ardmore that it was all just a big accident and get her to give him another chance in pursuing Sully, then General L/N won’t really have a say in it. Right? She’s second in command after all.

As he continues thinking to himself, the sound of footsteps heavier than a human’s behind him catches his attention. He turns around, eyes slightly wide as the large and buff frame of the other male Recom gets closer to him with a warm smile.

“Colonel.” Wainfleet greets softly, nodding his head once in respect. At the sight of his right hand man, alive and well in front of him, a gentle warmth fills Miles’ chest. He smiles, opening his arms.

“Hey. What’re you doing here?” He asks softly as he hugs him, both men wrapping their buff arms around each other’s shoulders in a tight and comforting embrace. Lyle’s own soft smile doesn’t leave his face, patting Miles’ shoulder firmly as they part, giving it a gentle squeeze, and careful not to hurt any of his bruises. Their arms remain holding each other, large and bruised hands grasping each other’s veiny forearms. The Corporal’s face is also bruised, with a stitch on the upper left of his forehead. But it’s much less wounded than Miles’ and it looks like it’s healing well.

“I heard you were gonna report to the Generals today. I came to back you up, Colonel. I am the only other Recom who was there and survived after all. It’s only a matter of time before they called me in too.” He replies, squeezing Miles’ shoulder again as he speaks before they both release the grip they have on each other. Quaritch’s eyes look down, his head nodding once.

“So it’s really true then. They’re all dead.” He says in a low tone, confirming the worst case scenario that he had been afraid of for the past week. Wainfleet lowers his head, his ears pressing back against his head before he nods sadly.

“Yes, sir. I’m afraid so.”

Miles nods one last time in understanding, deciding to push the feelings of mourning away for the time being, before he looks up at the Recom in front of him with a sad but proud smile.

“Well, all that matters now is that we’re alive and well. Welcome back, soldier.” He says, grabbing the back of Lyle’s neck playfully and squeezing it as the other man chuckles, the deep and raspy sound resonating from the base of his throat.

“Thank you, Colonel.” Lyle replies softly, eyes staring into Miles’ with ambition and the confident glint of determination. “We won’t let the deaths of our brothers and sisters go in vain.”

The Colonel nods in return.

“Yer damn right.”

The doors of the Holofloor hall slide open with a loud hiss. Quaritch and Wainfleet part, turning towards the sound as the people in the room immediately start scrambling, setting up the giant device below their feet. Ardmore’s boots thud loudly on the ground as she enters the room, followed by her assistant, her right hand man, and six Recombinants that Quaritch has never seen before, while the large doors slide closed behind them. The Colonel and his Lieutenant straighten their postures as the RDA’s Expeditionary Force Commander approaches, face stoic and withered lips already pressed tightly into a thin line. The Recoms that follow her are large, with a strong, buff build and all dressed in a black Special Ops uniform, wearing full gear and all armed to their teeth. Quaritch and Wainfleet eye the way every inch of their skin is covered in thick layers of protection, black carrier plates with various equipment strapped firmly on their chests, boots laced tightly on their feet and tails wrapped in a semi-thick layer of military-grade black adhesive camo tape. At the sight alone, Quaritch and Wainfleet realize how little uniform they themselves are wearing compared to these Recoms. Their feet and shins are still exposed the same way they have been for months, their tank tops leave their arms bare and a good portion of their necks and collarbones exposed, and the sight of the other squad’s tails wrapped tightly in that camo tape sends an uncomfortable chill down their own tails. Large Recoms, armed to their teeth, with deadly faces and a proud glint in their eyes; these must be General L/N’s men.

Ardmore finally walks up to what’s left of the Deja Blu Recoms, taking her time to take a deep breath and ground herself before she has to deal with Quaritch yet again.

“General.” Quaritch greets firmly, saluting her and giving her a nod of respect as Wainfleet follows suit.

“Save your breath. You’ll need it.” Is all Ardmore replies with, making her way over to the people controlling the Holofloor to check if they have all the material ready. Quaritch and Wainfleet exchange a baffled stare, as Ardmore doesn’t even spare them a single glance. The other Recoms follow suit, dispersing through the Holofloor and doing their own thing. The atmosphere in the hall soon turns anxious. People start fidgeting as they wait for Y/N’s and the rest of the Recoms’ arrival. The technicians commanding the Holofloor are ready and are checking the material and footage of the battle with Ardmore next to them. Quaritch takes a look at the analogue watch on his left wrist. It’s almost time for the meeting to start, but General L/N doesn’t seem to have arrived yet. He lowers his wrist and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, praying silently that she will not show up and he will have to deal with just Ardmore today. However, the loud hiss of the large doors sliding open a few feet away, throws all of his hope out the window.

“Oh my, am I the last one to arrive? How embarrassing.”

Y/N’s smooth voice is teasing and filled with hints of sarcasm as she leisurely enters the hall with a smirk, scanning it with her amber eyes behind the round mirrored shades sitting on the bridge of her feline nose, the last four Recoms of her team following behind her. Quaritch and Wainfleet, along with everyone else turn towards her and her men, watching as they make their way to the Holofloor while the doors slide closed behind them.

“You’re just in time, L/N.” Ardmore speaks up, raising her eyes briefly to give her a glance, before turning her attention back to the screen playing the footage she was going over with the technicians.

Miles’ breath catches in his throat as soon as his eyes land on the woman approaching. From all the Recom and native women he has seen throughout his life and the memories from his predecessor, none seem to compare to the Major General. Her form is mind blowing beautiful, lean and toned with the perfect amount of plump that fills her in the right places. Her hips sway almost hypnotically as she walks towards them, with a long and elegant tail, wrapped in the same black camo tape, that sways behind her figure like she’s teasing. She is also dressed the same as her men, black uniform hugging her body and gear strapped tightly on her chest, hips and thighs, digging into the plump flesh. Her lean waist contrasts the curves that the gear accentuates, emerging between her carrier plate and modular shooter’s belt that’s loaded with pouches and different pocket storage bags. A rigid holster is strapped to her right thigh, holding a .40 caliber United Ballistics Zarkov-33, as the adjustable straps of the holster dig tightly into the mouth watering plump of her inner thigh, making the flesh swell between the openings.

The first thing Quaritch does is immediately remove his eyes from her form, disciplining himself internally to stop ogling at his higher up and show her some respect. Has he really gone so long without interacting with an attractive woman that he’s almost losing it? However, as he turns his eyes away and moves them to look at Wainfleet instead, his face almost loses color. Lyle is staring. Hard. His eyelids are frozen in place and his mouth is slightly agape as he shamelessly stares at Y/N without even realizing it himself. Quaritch clears his throat in his direction, and that seems to snap Lyle out of it as he straightens his posture and forcefully removes his eyes from the General, turning them to look back at Quaritch. The expression of “Fuck, she’s hot.” is plastered all over his face, and Quaritch squeezes his eyes shut in disappointment. He can’t believe this is really happening right now. Sometimes he forgets that when outside of the battlefield, Lyle does most of the thinking with his dick.

Y/N finally gets on the Holofloor, leisurely and slowly walking up the steps as if to test Quaritch’s reactions. The four Recoms that walked in with her stand behind her, lining up next to each other and taking ready formation, at attention for anything she might need. The Major General is now standing a few feet away in front of Quaritch and Wainfleet, moving one gloved hand up to remove the mirrored shades from her face. The sharp V1R receptors in the nasal cavity of Miles’ sensitive feline nose immediately capture the sweet scent emitting from her smooth striped skin as soon as she’s within range. His mouth waters, saliva pooling at the top of his tongue and he doesn’t know why. This has never happened before. Her scent holds something familiar but he can’t put his finger on it. Quaritch swallows thickly, before raising a toned arm and saluting her firmly.

“General L/N!”

Wainfleet follows suit, saluting her right after his Colonel. He is in no better shape. His sensitive nose has also captured her sweet scent and it brings back memories of his predecessor, listening in on the male Avatars he would escort into the forest, as they talked about the scents of the women and how much it affected them. He remembers huffing in amusement, mocking them internally for acting like dogs in heat, like savages. But as he stands there, nasal cavity slowly filling with the scent of this woman, who is his superior no less, making his tongue overflow in saliva, he understands. Quaritch reaches forward in Y/N’s direction for a handshake, his ears folding back in respect.

“Good evening ma’am-“

But as soon as he moves even an inch near her, all of ALPHA have drawn their weapons in a flash. John, Fernando, Riley and Oscar, being the ones nearest Y/N, have taken out their combat knives and have put their arms in front of her protectively, clutching their knives in a reverse knife grip with the cutting edges of the blades facing Quaritch. The rest of the team have all drawn their guns and are now aiming at his head threateningly, their stares hard and piercing. Ardmore who is watching behind the controlling panels of the Holofloor, tries to hide her grin by pressing her lips in a brief pucker, while Quaritch stands in front of Y/N and her men, baffled, with his open palm in front of him and ears pressed against his head as ten large Recombinants threaten to take his life right on the spot. Wainfleet stares shocked at them as well, one hand having instinctively moved on the gun strapped to the back of his left hip, to protect his Colonel.

“DO NOT APPROACH THE GENERAL WITHOUT PERMISSION! STEP AWAY, NOW!!” Riley yells in a threatening, loud and harsh tone, staring daggers at him. The people in the hall stare with wide eyes, the atmosphere having quickly turned tense. Quaritch raises his calloused hands up to the sides of his head to show them that he means no harm and takes a step back, looking at them with a still puzzled face. What the fuck just happened? Y/N chuckles, now having removed the shades from her beautiful face as the sound resonates from the base of her throat. She carefully clasps them on a small pocket on her left upper arm, and raises a hand to signal her team to stand at ease. The men and women exchange a few glances between each other before lowering their weapons, but maintain their threatening stares on the pair of Deja Blu Recoms. Miles swallows thickly again. Her eyes are so fucking beautiful.

Y/N’s pupils trail up and down Miles’ form, taking her time to take in every detail on him. His form is large, with muscular broad shoulders, as expected of a Marine. His biceps and triceps bulge out under the bruised skin of his buff arms, with long, thick veins that decorate his large hands and bulky forearms. A tattoo of an eagle is placed over his left lateral triceps, the black ink contrasting against the blue of his striped skin. His body comes down into a trim and lean waistline, as expected of a Na’vi but the sheer exercise that he seems to have put it under has made it a bit thicker, abs almost visible under the thin RDA standard issue military tank top. Her gaze moves lower, to his legs. His thighs are thick and muscular, tight against the fabric of his cut out camo pants and the leather of the holster strapped to the left one. Speaking of the cut out, his lower legs are still exposed like the last time she saw him, the soles of his feet planted on the cold glass of the Holofloor. His calves are thick, muscles strong and bulging out from all the running and movement he has been doing through the forest these past months.

Y/N’s eyes then travel up, raking over his collarbone and neck, to his face. Even though it’s still bruised, stitched and swollen, a small feeling arises in the depths of her chest as she stares at his features, just like when she saw his hologram on her first day on Pandora. He’s really fucking handsome. But even with these thoughts in her head, Y/N’s face shows nothing but stoicism. Under her gaze, Quaritch suddenly feels exposed, his mind racing at 100 mph to figure out what she’s judging on him.

“United States Marine Corps; General Orders and Knowledge for Tests and Inspections; Leadership Traits of a Military Officer. Number nine: Bearing: “You earned your uniform and everything on it; wear it with pride. Carry yourself with dignity and correctness. Master yourself before you try to master others.”” Y/N states, giving his form one last up and down look before her amber eyes trail up towards his own, looking through long lashes straight at him for the first time ever. “And yet here you are, a high ranking officer wearing a uniform with cut out pants, a tank top thinner than paper that leaves the entirety of you arms, neck and collarbone exposed, and walking on my floors with bare feet. Why are your toes out in my base? Where is your decency? Don’t you know any better?”

Quaritch’s eyes are so wide that his eyeballs look like they’re about to pop out of his skull at any second now. This woman might as well have just called him a whore for the lack of uniform on his body. Wainfleet’s mouth hangs open briefly before he composes himself and turns to stare at Quaritch, baffled. The rest of the Recoms in the room grin at each other, watching as the so called Colonel stands there, caught off guard. Quaritch clears his throat.

“I… uh- It was part of a strategy-“

Y/N raises a gloved hand to shut him up, turning her eyes away from him, unamused.

“I’ve heard enough.” She comments, walking towards the center of the Holofloor and saluting Ardmore, before turning towards the rest of the room. She opens her arms wide and brings her palms together into a powerful clap that echoes throughout the space, bringing all attention and heads towards her direction.

“Okay, anyone who is not part of this meeting; scram. The rest prepare your material and let’s begin.” She announces loudly. The people follow suit immediately, some leaving and some scrambling to get the footage and reports ready. Quaritch squeezes his eyes shut, taking in a deep breath to ground himself. This meeting hasn’t even started yet and it already went downhill. Ardmore was right, he really is going to need his breath for this. As the place empties out somewhat, and the ALPHA Recoms take seats, Y/N turns her head towards Quaritch and Wainfleet, her hair and neural whip braid moving with it as a sickly sweet smile plasters on her soft lips, promising the duo nothing but hell for the next few hours.

“Let’s begin, shall we?”

Quaritch takes a deep sip of carbon dioxide from his Recom Breather.

“Disaster. Absolute disaster. Hundreds of people dead, an entire team of Recoms gone, billions of dollars of ships and equipment wrecked to the point of no return, extremely aggravated natives, a prisoner who knows almost everything on the loose, and your target is still free. What the hell do you have to say for yourself?” Y/N presses, walking through horrific holografic images of the wreckage and bodies being pulled out of the water, being projected from the Holofloor all around them. Ardmore watches with her lips pressed tightly, arms crossed over her chest as she observes the briefing going on in front of her. Lyle’s ears press low against his head, looking over at his Colonel with a worried expression on his bruised face. Quaritch swallows a thick glob of spit that has pooled in his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion. His brain races to find an answer to dilute the situation and defend himself, but all odds are currently stacked against him. His actions caused this and he must face the consequences.

“I…” He trails off, pondering carefully on his next words. “I lost control of the situation-”

“Really?” Y/N frowns, cutting him off and crossing her arms under her chest. “You lost control of the situation? Well no shit, but that’s your best excuse?”

Quaritch clenches his jaw. His eyes remain down, refusing to look at either of the Generals. The tip of his large tongue pokes out briefly to wet his dry lips, but he immediately regrets it as the bottom left corner starts stinging painfully, reminding him of the busted bottom lip. He clears his throat and his eyes look up at the Major General.

“I had everything under control. But somethin’ went wrong and I lost the grip I had on the situation. I swear everything was going according to plan but they had advantages on water that I didn’t think were possible.”

“I am not asking you what they did, I am asking you why you failed so horribly.” Y/N replies, staring him down harshly. “I don’t want to hear bullshit of them having weird connections with nature, I want to hear why you, as a high ranking officer on this base, with the appropriate expertise and thinking skills, could not deescalate the situation, retake control of the circumstances and put the lives of the people under your command over your target.”

Ardmore remains silent as things unfold, with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Quaritch has embarrassed her to an extent she did not think was possible for someone his rank, and Y/N’s condescending stares of “I told you so” made it even worse. Not only is she embarrassed but she is fuming as much as Y/N about the losses they took, so for now, she has decided to remain silent and let Y/N rip him a new one.

Quaritch swallows down again, clenching his jaw tighter. Before answering, he inhales more CO2 from his mask.

“I did as much as I could. My team did as well. They saved as many human lives as they could. But some things were just out of our control. They had the upper hand and we realized that too late.” He explains firmly as he puts the mask down, trying to get Y/N to understand his perspective as well.

“No. You had the chance to retreat. And you didn’t. You reeled Jake Sully back in and forced his hand into killing what was left of your team and the remaining people on deck. You could’ve retreated with the two daughters you had hostage and we would still be having some of our people, Deja Blu Recoms and two high value prisoners. But you didn’t. And I want to know why.” Y/N replies, not buying into what he’s saying for even a split second. Quaritch grinds his teeth slightly, his tail swinging once behind him. This is the first time he has met this woman and she is already at his throat like no one else ever has been. But he doesn’t really blame her. He would have reacted the same if he was in her position. Wainfleet’s anxious eyes remain on his Colonel.

“I… I thought I could accomplish the mission, finish what I went there for.”

“And why didn’t you?”

That catches Quaritch off guard. He thinks for a moment, brain working to figure out the answer to her question. Why didn’t he? Then he remembers. He doesn’t want to tell her about how Sully’s batshit crazy wife almost killed Spider, and how Miles Quaritch at that moment realized that that boy is his deepest weakness. But how is he supposed to come up with a believable lie and tell it to this woman’s face? Even Wainfleet doesn’t know what happened, no one does really. It was just him, Sully, his woman and spawns, and Spider.

Now everyone is looking at him for an answer. Wainfleet senses that something is wrong so he jumps in.

“The odds were really stacked against u-“

“Did I say you could speak?” Y/N cuts him off, her voice raising in tone as she holds up a pointer finger in his direction before snapping her head to glare at him. Wainfleet’s ears press harder against his head.

“No ma’am-“

“Then why are you still speaking?” She continues, her own ears folding back in irritation. Wainfleet shuts his mouth at that, lowering his head down.

“Everyone here barks when I tell them to bark and that includes you.” She finishes with Wainfleet and turns back to Quaritch. “So, let me rephrase my question. You had two of his daughters hostage. You reeled him back in. You had the upper hand. How did you end up losing that advantage?”

Quaritch clenches his jaw. He must think his answer carefully.

“His wife was there, pointing her arrow at my head. It was either my life or the girl’s.” He lies, with a firm voice and confident eyes, hoping Y/N won’t see through it.

“And what exactly was stopping her from firing the arrow?” Y/N asks, raising a brow, unimpressed. That starts to irritate Quaritch.

“I don’t know. Probably didn’t want to kill someone in front of her youngest daughter.”

Y/N narrows her eyes at him suspiciously. It does make sense, no one would want to let their child watch a dead body drop, especially the Na’vi who are known for their empathy. But still, there’s something that doesn’t sit right. She brings the mask of her Recom Breather up to sip some much needed CO2, before continuing to question him.

“And then you managed to get Sully to fight you one on one.” She says, letting go of the mask. Quaritch nods.

“Yes ma’am.”

“And why did you let him go? I mean all that charade couldn’t have been for nothing.”

Quaritch takes a deep breath. This is gonna hurt his pride, badly.

“I didn’t let him go. He managed to choke me unconscious.”

That sentence hangs in the air uncomfortably. Multiple pairs of eyes land upon him, staring him down judgmentally. The ALPHA Recoms are the ones with the worst stares, piercing through him like an array of needles. An uncomfortable silence fills the space. Y/N raises both her brows, blinking rapidly. The fuck did he just say?

“Say that again?”

Quaritch squeezes his eyes shut briefly. God fucking damn it.

“We were engaged in close quarters combat, underwater, as the Sea Dragon was flippin’ over. He managed to get me into a chokehold, and the lack of carbon dioxide from that, adding to the lack of air underwater for several minutes; I lost consciousness.”

Another moment of silence passes. Then, Y/N presses her palms together, and brings them up so the sides of her pointer fingers press against her soft lips. Her beautiful face looks almost flabbergasted.

“Let me get this straight. You; Miles Quaritch, Colonel of the RDA, with the mind and expertise of an excellent long-timer trooper, and the strong and trained body of a twenty year old Na’vi; engaged in close quarters combat with Jake Sully; a wounded and exhausted jarhead Avatar that went AWOL more than a decade ago, who is pushing thirty four, who has had a litter of spawns and inhabits the build of your average dad; and you still lost?”

Quaritch remains silent. His eyes are now fixated hard on Y/N as each word of that sentence leaves her mouth, almost glaring at her but holding himself back. His lips are pressed tightly into a thin line, ears folded back and displeasure plastered all over his bruised face. Does she really need to rub his face in it? In front of all of these people? What is her damn deal? He wets his lips again, tongue raking over the skin, this time avoiding the busted corner.

“Indeed, ma’am.”

Silence falls yet again. Quaritch feels the uncomfortable prickles of humiliation slowly crawl up his neck. The judgmental stares of the people in the hall still fall on him, almost burning into his striped blue skin. Ardmore hasn’t changed her expression, remaining silent with her arms folded. Y/N on the other hand still has the sides of her pointer fingers together pressed against her lips. Her head is lowered a bit, her elegant eyebrows are furrowed in sheer disappointment and her golden eyes look up at him through long lashes with an expression that nearly pities him. Wainfleet who is standing by Quaritch’s side, has his head lowered, avoiding eye contact with anyone at all costs, finding the Holofloor glass beneath his bare feet safer to look at than the people in the room.

After a few more minutes of suffocating silence, Y/N lowers her hands and plants them on her hips. She brings her Recom Breather mask up again and takes a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut to ground herself before she loses her fucking mind. How the fuck was a man this incompetent given the rank of Colonel? She opens her eyes again, swallowing the saliva that has pooled in her mouth, and nods slowly in disappointment, pupils glued to some random corner of the Holofloor while she lets go of the mask. At this moment, not being able to handle the pressure and embarrassment anymore, Quaritch speaks up. But this time he turns towards Ardmore.

“Ma’am, I swear on my life, this was just a huge miscalculation on my part. It will never happen again-“

“You’re damn right it won’t.” Y/N’s voice cuts him off. He turns towards her again and this time he is met with a soul piercing glare that freezes him in place. His cropped ears press against his head, eyes widening and tail stiffing. Y/N raises her head, taking a few steps back slowly. Her combat boots thud on the Holofloor, the sound echoing through the silent hall. Slowly she turns around, turning her back towards Quaritch and Wainfleet, and walking to the center of the Holofloor.

“Well, I think that by now it is clear to all of us that this situation was entirely caused by Colonel Miles Quaritch’s bad decisions and actions.” She says out loud, making sure everyone in the hall can hear her. “Just like I predicted would happen.” She adds, turning her head back to give Ardmore a cold, cocky stare as she says the sentence. Ardmore clenches her jaw, looking away, defeated. Y/N’s lips stretch into a victorious grin, before she turns her attention towards the room again. She starts walking slowly around the Holofloor.

“Now that the situation has been concluded and the culprit has been identified, then it is only fair that the appropriate measures are taken. That means, that Colonel Miles Quaritch…” She states, stopping her movement to stare long and hard into Quaritch’s eyes. “Needs to be reprimanded.”

Quaritch’s jaw clenches tightly. He holds the eye contact with his superior, his breathing pattern getting faster. Y/N smirks lightly, breaking the eye contact and slowly walking to the edge of the Holofloor, facing her own team.

“So, before I make my decision. Would anyone like to chime in?” She asks, her tail raising up in an arch behind her. Quaritch balls up his fists at his sides, the veins on his forearms popping out. Is she being fucking serious? She’s asking for people who are lower in rank than him to decide on a punishment for him? No, this isn’t about briefing anymore. She’s trying to fucking humiliate him. The ALPHA Recoms on the other hand, exchange some knowing glances between them, hiding their smirks. Oh how they love their commander.

“Based on the severity of the situation he caused, an order of censure should be the right reprimand.” John speaks first, deep voice echoing through the room.

“Adding on to that, a forfeiture of the allowances and benefits he has on this base should be ordered. We all saw what happened when a single Sea Dragon was put under his command.” Fernando continues.

“Aside that, a reduction in rank seems the most logical course of action. We cannot afford a Colonel that makes these mistakes. And adding on to my suggestion, some time in correctional custody in the brig will do him good.” Riley adds, throwing a condescending glare in Quaritch’s direction.

“I believe extra duties should be given ta hem. I’m sure ya can think of some appropriate tasks tha’ he must perform ta make up fer hes mistakes.” Scott continues, looking at Y/N as he offers his suggestion.

“I would say that an order of restriction is more appropriate in this case.” Henry speaks up, one gloved hand holding his chin as he indulges in the topic at hand after some moments of thought. The rest of the team turn towards him. “He did not cause any problems for us when he was still roaming the jungle. Well at least, minimal problems. But the second he was given access to an area where Jake Sully was present, he went off the rails and crashed. I believe that an order of restriction that excludes the areas that the fugitive Avatar is deemed to be, would be a good addition after Colonel Miles Quaritch serves his punishment. He will have a better chance to focus in his missions if he is restricted in a certain area and banned from going near Jake Sully.”

Y/N brings her Recom Breather mask up to her face again, before nodding at her team once, proudly. Just as she thought, her team are as sharp as ever. They didn’t fail to identify any of the punishments she has in mind. The Recoms exchange smiles, looking at each other just as proudly. On the other hand, an additional vein has popped on Quaritch’s neck with each suggestion from the ALPHA Recoms. Wainfleet’s cropped ears are almost flattened against his bald head, eyes wide as he stares between his Colonel and the other Recoms. These people are animals.

Y/N finally turns towards Quaritch again. She slowly walks in the duo’s direction, stopping a bit further away.

“So, thanking my team for their feedback, even though some were harsher than what’s fit for this case,” She throws a glance in Riley’s direction before turning back to Quaritch. “Here’s what my reprimands are. And these are final.”

The entire hall is now listening with open ears as the intriguing play before their eyes is finally concluding. The Recoms, Ardmore, the humans in the room, and Wainfleet and Quaritch, stare at Y/N, waiting eagerly for her to continue.

“I have three temporary punishments for you, and two reprimands that will remain in place until you cease to exist in this organization. Punishment number one is the same as what First Lieutenant Álvarez suggested; your benefits on this base will be forfeited until I decide to give them back to you. This means that your authority on this organization will be reduced. I will not take away your rank, however your control on our air, land and sea troops is no more. Every decision and every order you want to give to our soldiers, our employees, and our personnel from now on will have to be approved by me until I am satisfied with your performance. Punishment number two and three are what First Sergeant McCaskill suggested. Both of these punishments are extra duties, but they differ from each other as much as they are related. The first one is undergoing additional knowledge and specialization training. It is very clear to me that you are used to how the RDA was operating in the time of your predecessor’s death. However, today that is not the case. The RDA no longer works on private administration but on full military administration and command. That means that you will no longer break the United States Marine Corps’ rules and regulations, like you have been doing for months on end. You will undergo additional training where you will relearn every single sentence on the USMC Manual and the USMC Handbook, because you have clearly forgotten everything. Adding on to that, you will identify and highlight every single rule and regulation from these documents that you have broken until now, and write a finalized report where you explain in detailed paragraphs how you broke them, why you broke them, what you should have done instead, and what the USMC says that the consequences for each one of them should be. This report will be handed to me when you are finished and based on my satisfaction, the second punishment will be lifted if I find that you have done a good job. The second extra duty and your third and final punishment, is that you will undergo additional physical training with Second Lieutenant Riley Jones, until I am satisfied with your performance. Lieutenant Jones is responsible for training our troops, therefore he will have no trouble refining and polishing your skills in combat. You almost lost your life engaging in close quarters combat with a middle aged Na’vi and I will not have that. So, these are your three punishments. They are temporary and can be lifted whenever I find it appropriate for them to be lifted. The better you excel in your extra duties, the sooner you will find yourself out of these punishments.”

“Now, on to your two reprimands. Unlike your punishments, these are permanent and will remain in place until you are retired or dead. The first one is what Captain Keller suggested; a formal order of censure. This will be put in your personnel file, detailing your actions and the consequences you caused at the Three Brothers, and will remain there permanently. It means that no matter if the authority on base changes, decisions regarding you will be affected by this event. Your second reprimand is what Master Gunnery Sergeant Davis suggested; an order of restriction. From now on you are restricted within areas that I approve, and if you step out of these areas it will be considered trespassing and you will be disciplined for it. You are banned from entering an area within a thirty mile radius from Jake Sully, whether that be by foot, by vehicle or by animal. To ensure that you will follow this order, I will have the science department design a tracking chip that will be implanted into your body. Your Lieutenant as well will undergo this procedure. All of my Recombinant operators have tracking chips in them, and that will include you two as well. It’s simply standard procedure that you have been excused from for way too long. With that being said, I’m sure that you have already been informed that you and your Lieutenant have been moved from General Ardmore’s primary command and have been put under mine. This means that from now on I have the same commanding authority over you as General Ardmore does, and you will be coming to me first instead of her. And with that all being concluded and hopefully understood, this meeting is now over and your punishments and reprimands take effect immediately. You start training first thing in the morning. Everyone is excused.”

The hall starts buzzing at the final sentence, personnel and people already standing up to head back to their respective tasks. The images and footage of the aftermath at the Three Brothers, projected from the Holofloor disappear as people start leaving and others entering through the large doors.

Quaritch stands there, frozen in place and unblinking. His brain is scrambling, trying to process the array of punishments that the Major General just laid upon him. Forfeited benefits, extra duties, a formal order of censure, and an order of restriction. She can’t be serious, can she? This is all just a big, bad joke, right? The color from Miles Quaritch’s face has been drained. Wainfleet stands there, eyes almost bulging out of his skull and mouth nearly agape. His ears are so far back that it’s cutting the blood flow of said cartilage, and his pupils move to stare at his Colonel. Quaritch’s jaw looks like it’s about to pop out of its sockets, his eyes glued onto Y/N as if trying to shoot lasers at her. Y/N in question stares back at him with eyebrows raised, challenging him to dare and say something against her words.

Ardmore who has now started walking towards the direction of the door to take her leave, walks past them without another word, followed by her assistant and her right hand man. As she passes, Y/N, Quaritch and Wainfleet nod at her in respect, straightening their postures. She stops briefly in her tracks, turning her head to look up at Y/N.

“You did well L/N.” Is all she says, before turning her head forward and continuing to where she was heading. Y/N nods once in respect, with a polite smile on her soft lips.

“Well, I wish you a nice evening and the next time I see you I expect better performance.” Y/N tells Quaritch after Ardmore leaves, still challenging him with her eyes to try and dare say something. Quaritch remains silent, having decided that the best course of action is to shut his mouth before he says something that he will regret deeply. He only nods once respectfully, fists clenched at his sides. Y/N grins, taking a sip of CO2 from her mask and giving him one last look from top to bottom before slowly, teasingly, turning around and starting to walk away as well, her long tail flicking slowly behind her as if to add on to his nerves.

“Ma’am.” Quaritch and Wainfleet farewell politely at the same time as she takes her leave, followed by her team who quickly are short on her tail. Quaritch’s jaw remains clenched, waiting for her to finally leave so he can get a grounding breath in.

The doors slide open for Y/N to leave, but just as she’s at the exit she stops. Turning around briefly, her amber eyes fall on Quaritch’s form yet again, looking at him over her shoulder.

“And enough with this tree-hugging savage crap. Go put on some goddamn clothes.”

With that, she’s gone. And so is her team, one by one until the only Recoms on the Holofloor are Miles and Lyle. Miles’ eyes are glued on the now closing doors, right where Y/N left from, and his lips press together. His glare is filled with anger, coursing through his veins and burning through his body.

You know what? He actually fuckin’ hates this damn woman.

Title explanation:

Fire for Effect – Military term indicating that the adjustment/ranging of indirect fire is satisfactory and the actual effecting rounds should be fired. In this case it holds its euphemism meaning for the execution of a plan. The plan in question is the punishments and reprimands that Y/N had been brewing inside of her, just waiting for the right moment to lay them down upon Quaritch, therefore “firing for effect” on him when she indeed does so.

End of chapter notes:

I hope ya’ll liked this chapter because I have read so many articles from the USMC handbook about rules and reprimands for this-

Additionally, I lied. The way Toddy got in Y/N’s office will be revealed in the next chapter lmao. ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

Also pookies, keep in mind that tiny detail of how Y/N’s scent affected both Miles and Lyle more than usual. And how Y/N lingered her stare on Miles for a bit too much. 👀

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ

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