#i am here for the dress saga | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

geminiwritten · 1 month ago

Text

this means war ; bones

fandom: star trek

pairing: bones x reader

summary: based on this song but incredibly drawn out and long winded (you're reuniting with the enterprise crew for jim's birthday almost six months after leaving for a job at the academy because of a messy breakup)

notes: hey, i'm back! life has been super busy but i was listening to this song a few months ago and decided that i had to write something for it... and then a few months and thousands of words later... here you go! it is a little bit messy, but i can't not post it. let me know what you think! please!

warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, sexual references (i promise i am working on writing actual smut and not this fade to black crap), and lots of words i'm sorry if it sucks

word count: 10749 (i have no self control)

The birth date of James Tiberius Kirk is either a taboo subject not to be mentioned or alluded to for the entire month of March, or an intergalactic holiday that must be celebrated for a full two weeks straight. This year, it’s a celebration. The USS Enterprise is docked at Starbase Yorktown after doubling back due to an unfortunate encounter in unfriendly space, but not even a month's setback on the starship’s five-year journey could put a damper on her captain’s birthday. In fact, the party itself was arranged in all its grandeur after the unlucky incident, seeing that shore leave provided the perfect opportunity to drink and be merry in celebration of Jim’s ageing.

So it was your best friend’s birthday celebrations that finally dragged you out of your dark and comforting office at Starfleet Academy for the first time in four months, all the way to Starbase Yorktown. It was a long journey, which you were thankful for, because despite it being almost half of a year since you left your post on the USS Enterprise, you’re still not sure if you’re ready to face her crew again. Of course you miss them, they were your closest friends long before the Enterprise’s five-year assignment, but when Starfleet made you an offer you couldn’t refuse, well... you couldn’t refuse it. Or at least, that was the story you stuck to when your friends begged you to stay. It most definitely had absolutely nothing to do with a saga of heartbreak and animosity.

“Okay, breathe,” you tell your reflection, watching the colour in your cheeks deepen the more you reminisce. The black dress you’re wearing is perfectly complimentary, accentuating all the right parts and boosting your confidence just enough to get you out the door. The hallway wasn’t too difficult, but the elevator descent awakens the anxious butterflies in your stomach, and the hotel lobby has your heartrate rising with every click of your heels against the polished marble floor.

“This is ridiculous,” you sigh, earning a few odd glances from passersby as you exit the hotel’s main doors. The artificial air outside is warm and the sky mimics a pink and orange sunset that casts long shadows on the pavement. You watch your own move as you head toward the party venue; a Federation building purpose-built for conferences and training seminars that Jim had somehow convinced someone to let him use. You often forget how respected the captain really is.

The walk isn’t long, and before you can even attempt to quell the nausea rising up from your stomach, you find yourself standing in the foyer of the building. The reception desk is empty except for a small sign atop it with an arrow pointing down the corridor, reading ‘Captain Kirk’s Birthday Extravaganza’. You have to force your feet to move in the direction of the music and chatter, despite every fibre of your being telling you to turn around.

The doors to the room are open, so you have absolutely no time to steel your nerves before the first person recognises you. A cadet from the MedBay, of course, you spent enough of your time there for every medical crew member to know who you are. His face is a mixture of confusion and delight as he calls out your name, “Y/N!”

You plaster on a smile, push your shoulders back, and walk into the party.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” the cadet, Trevor, says, “Doctor McCoy said you-” Before he can finish his sentence, another body slams into yours, knocking the breath out of you and almost knocking you clean off your feet.

You stumble back but catch yourself, suddenly wrapped in the familiar smell of wild berry scented shampoo with a ponytail full of brown hair in your face. You hug her back, fighting tears as you mumble into her hair, “Nyota.”

“I can’t believe you came!” she says as she pulls away, her own eyes glassy with moisture, “how long did it take to get here?”

“Not that long,” you shrug, “and it was nice to see the stars again.”

She frowns, “you can still see the stars from the academy.”

“Not from behind my desk, you can’t,” you say through a forced smile, trying to make your sad reality sound like a jest. You truly did hate your dark little office; the only window was facing right at a brick wall of the next building and one of the two ceiling lights had died within a month of you moving in. It was always dark, always cold, and so far from anyone else, you often felt as if you were living in an apocalyptic world.

You only catch a glimpse of Nyota’s sympathetic stare before you’re wrapped in another pair of arms. “Y/N!” Jim exclaims, right into your ear, “you’re here!”

Tears threaten to fall once again as you hug your used-to-be captain back. “I’m here,” you mutter into his shirt.

He pulls back, his blue eyes practically glowing as he takes you in, “you look incredible.”

“Thanks,” your cheeks warm, “not looking so bad yourself, Captain.”

He chuckles, “you can’t call me that anymore, remember. You’re not a part of my crew.”

You know he’s only joking, but the words still cause a small fissure in your already fragile heart. “You’re still a captain, and didn’t you promise to keep my post vacant?”

His previously easy smile falters, but only slightly. “I did, in case you change your mind,” he sighs, “but only for six months.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t hold the position longer than six months,” he puts a hand on your shoulder as if he’s giving you the worst news of your life, “if you decide to stay at the academy, I have to replace you.”

“Wait,” you frown up at him, “is that why you asked me to come, so you could tell me to officially sign off of the Enterprise?”

“No, of course not, I just-” he hesitates before sighing again, “let’s not talk about this now, okay? I invited you here because I miss you.” He pulls you back against his chest and you let yourself relax, allowing the familiarity of your best friend to soothe the fresh wave of anxiety coursing through your veins.

“Now,” as he pulls away, Nyota puts a flute of champagne in your hand, “there are a few people who would really like to see this gorgeous face.”

You roll your eyes as he slides you under one arm and walks further into the crowd. “Even though I know you’re talking about yourself,” you say, “I’ll still pretend I’m flattered.”

It doesn’t take long for the rest of your friends to realise you’re here. Sulu and Chekov are first, each wrapping you in a tight hug before Scotty appears. You didn’t expect him to be that emotional, but you find it difficult to hold back your own tears as he sniffles against your shoulder. Keenser isn’t far behind, holding another full glass for you and taking the empty one back to the bar, no doubt about to retrieve more drinks for himself and Mr. Scott.

The more you watch the grins on your friends’ faces, the more your heart aches to return to them. It feels as if you never left, aside from a few funny stories from the last couple of months that Jim reenacts for you with tipsy enthusiasm. You almost forget about the reason that nearly stopped you from being here; the reason your whole body wanted to turn and run with every inch closer you came to this place.

Almost forgot.

“Bones!” Jim exclaims, throwing his arms up and almost spilling his entire drink, “what took you so long?”

Your heart leaps into your throat, stopping your breath as fire spreads across every inch of your skin. You know your face must be glowing red, but you can’t help that, so you focus on keeping your expression calm as you try to remember how to breathe.

Leonard hesitates, his eyes lingering on you before he clears his throat and turns to Jim. “Sorry, medical emergency.”

Jim scoffs, “I can tell when you’re lying. You’re a very bad liar.”

Leonard takes the drink Sulu offers him and clinks it against Jim’s outstretched glass, “well, we can’t all be talented liars,” he glances quickly at you before turning back to the captain. “Happy birthday.”

His words punch you right in the chest, and you’re sure you can feel another piece of your heart break, but you can’t let it show. You tip the rest of your drink to your lips, sculling almost a full glass of champagne while the others take turns greeting Leonard. When you lower your empty glass, the group is standing in awkward silence, each of them watching either you or the doctor to see who will draw their weapon first.

You take a deep breath before meeting his eyes, offering a tight smile, “it’s nice to see you here.”

“Impolite would only be beneath us,” he remarks, before finishing his own drink in one gulp.

“It’s been what? Like, half a year,” you can barely hear your own words over the thrum of your heartbeat.

He considers you for a moment, his gaze tracing up and down your body before he response, “like nothing ever happened between us.”

Once again, your choke on your breath, his words not only hurting you but throwing fuel on the little flame of anger growing in the pit of your stomach.

“Another round?” Sulu asks suddenly, snatching the empty glass from your hand.

Chekov nods enthusiastically, “I will help you.”

As the two of them walk toward the bar, Scotty and Keenser shuffle away and strike up their own conversation, and Nyota mumbles something about Spock before disappearing into the crowd. You’re left with only Jim and Leonard.

“So,” you clear your throat, “how have you been?”

Like he said, impolite would be beneath you, and you can't let him know how much he hurt you. Even though, if he asked, you would tell him anything he wanted to hear because you can’t help the way you still feel about him. The way you know you’ll always feel about him, even if you’ll never know what actually happened between the two of you.

- 6 months & 2 weeks earlier -

Your boots hit the floor with force as you run down the corridor, narrowly dodging startled Enterprise crew until you reached the rear-most turbolift on the ship. Unable to contain your excitement, you continue mashing the button for the MedBay even as the lift descends, only stopping when the doors begin to open. You slip out as soon as the gap is wide enough and continue your run all the way through the MedBay toward Leonard’s office door.

You swipe your card and the door slides open, and you can’t help the way your heart leaps when you first see him. You’re not sure you will ever be used to the way he makes you feel.

“Len,” you exclaim, gasping for breath, “you won’t believe... I got it... the... the thing!”

He leans back in his desk chair, chuckling, “I gave you access to my office for emergencies.”

“This is an emergency,” you say between breaths, holding your chest with one hand while the other hits the button for the door to close.

“Are you going into cardiac arrest? Because you look like you’re going into cardiac arrest.”

You try to regulate your breathing as you give him your most unimpressed stare, “I just ran over half the ship, I’m allowed to be a little out of breath.”

He laughs again, “a little?”

“Would you stop being a smartass and let me speak,” you say as you round his desk and lean against it.

He pushes his chair back to properly look at you, a devilish grin curling his lips, telling you exactly where his mind had gone seeing you atop his desk.

“I had my meeting with the admiral,” you explain, “about the grant.”

His cheeky grin vanishes, replaced by an anticipatory frown as he leans forward with his elbows on his knees, “and?”

“They said yes.”

“They said yes?” he echoes, standing from his chair.

“They said yes!” you exclaim, jumping into his open arms and pressing your lips against his. It takes a moment for him to respond, but when he does, he kisses you back with fervour.

“You are incredible,” he mumbles against your mouth, “did you know that?”

You pull back giggling, “I know.”

“Did they have any questions?” he asks, “any conditions?”

“Nope, they loved it.”

"They loved you,” he says before kissing you again, muttering against your lips, “I love you.”

You freeze and your eyes snap open, staring up at him as his cheeks turn red. He hesitates before taking a step back, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Didn’t mean it?”

“No, I-” he rubs the back of his neck, “I definitely mean it, I just don’t want you to think I expect you to feel the same way.”

You step forward to close the distance between you, “of course I love you,” you stretch onto your toes and press a kiss against his lips, “more than anything.”

His eyes darken and his hands grab your waist as he steps forward. You stumble back until your backside hits the desk, and before you realise what is happening, he lifts you onto it and positions himself between your legs. One hand stays on your waist while the other cups you jaw, “you locked the door?”

Your mind races with filthy thoughts as his thumb traces your bottom lip, and the best response you can must is a soft whisper, “not sure.”

He chuckles, “then we better hope there are no medical emergencies.”

You knew exactly how you looked as you leant against the back of the turbolift – your hair a mess, cheeks rosy, and lips swollen – but you didn’t care; you just had mind-blowing sex in your boyfriend's office. You nod politely at the two other lieutenants in the lift as you step out, unable to hold your giggles at their uneasy smiles once you turn down the hall.

Nyota was waiting for you in the mess hall, tucked into a small booth on the edge of the room with her nose almost pressed to her PADD as she scrutinised its content. You slide into the seat opposite her, “hey, sorry I’m late.”

She takes one look at you before smirking, “have fun?”

“Lots,” you reply with a grin.

She shuts off her PADD and slides it aside, “so, how did it go?”

“The sex, or?”

“You know what I mean,” she says, rolling her eyes.

You laugh before replying, “it was amazing, actually; I can’t believe how stressed I was for nothing. They listened to my whole pitch, asked all the questions that I had answers for, and then said yes.”

Although her smile is still wide, she doesn’t quite leap for joy the way you had when you ended your meeting with the admiral. You frown, “what?”

“I’m waiting for the ‘but’.”

“Who said there’s a ‘but’?”

Her smile turns sheepish, “Jim.”

"Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you sigh, “I told him to keep it to himself, because I-”

“Told them no?” she interrupts, “and you said you want to stay on the Enterprise despite their generous offer?” Her tone tells you that she already knows what you said, which was, in fact, the exact opposite of what she just said.

One tiny piece of information that you intentionally omitted when you celebrated with Leonard was that in order to win the admiral’s approval for the grant, you might have accidentally accepted a job offer back at the academy. In your defence, it was almost impossible not to say yes. You were asking some of the most senior offices in Starfleet for a huge quantity of additional resources in order to run a twelve-month biomechanical programme aboard the Enterprise. How were you supposed to know they would offer you a position at the academy? And how were you supposed to say no?

By the time you finish telling Nyota about your meeting with the admiral from start to finish the mess hall is much quieter, and you’re surprised at how late it really is when you check your communicator. There is a long, awkward pause while you wait for her to respond, and you begin to feel like a child waiting for their punishment.

“I can’t believe you said that,” Nyota sighs, resting her elbows on the table and holding her head in her hands, “you can’t just say something like that knowing you don’t mean it.”

“I know, I just freaked out.”

“Freaked out?” she echoes disapprovingly.

“Yes!” you snap, “it was awkward. What was I supposed to say?”

She rolls her eyes, “I don’t know, maybe ‘I’m flattered, but sorry’.”

��Nyota, seriously.”

“I am serious!” she exclaims, “you can’t just take something like that back.”

You sit back and cross your arms, “yes, I can.”

She mimics your body language, raising her brows, “how?”

“Jim is going to talk to him.”

She scoffs, “oh, great idea. You know everyone already thinks Jim favours you?”

“I know how it’s going to look,” you sigh, “but if it gets me out of this mess, I don’t care what anyone thinks about Jim and me.”

Her scowl softens ever so slightly, “so, you got what you wanted and now you’re just going to back out?”

“Well, yeah,” you shrug, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Your communicator chirps and buzzes on the table, breaking both of you out of the intense staring competition you hadn't realised you were in.

“You better hope so,” Nyota says as she slides out of the booth, “and pray they don’t reconsider the grant.”

You check your communicator as you reply, “it’s going to be fine, Nyota, they’ll understand.” There are no missed calls or alerts, but the time reminds you just how tired and ready for bed you are.

The two of you leave the mess hall, walking together until you come to Nyota’s quarters where she bids you a good night. You continue in the direction of your own residency, flipping open your communicator along the way and calling Leonard. You listen to the dial tone for almost a minute before giving up and deciding to wait until he calls you back. Once inside your quarters, you shed your uniform and jump in the shower, scrubbing the stress of the day off before wrapping yourself in a fluffy towel. You check your communicator to find no missed messages, so you try calling Leonard again. No luck.

After an hour of flicking through data on your PADD, you begin to worry. You try calling a third time before you realise how late it is and your panic spikes, so you slip into your shoes and shuffle out the door. The halls are empty as you make your way down to the MedBay, only to find it just as desolate with a single nightshift nurse idly sorting different bits of equipment.

Two more unanswered calls and another half-hour of walking through the quiet ship has your heart racing anxiously, but its late and there’s no one else you can call without being a nuisance and waking them up. You make your way back to your room, dragging your feet until you’re close enough to fall into your bed face first and let out a few tears before exhaustion takes over.

You barely sleep, spending most of the night half-conscious worrying about Leonard. By the time your alarm goes off, you’re already dressed and slipping into your shoes. You shut it off before rushing out the door in the direction of the MedBay, retracing your steps from last night.

Relief washes over you when you see him standing in the doorway of his office, but a new kind of worry settles like a stone in the pit of your stomach. He’s not hurt or missing, so... was he ignoring you?

“Len,” you call as you walk through the MedBay, “hey.”

The look on his face is far from familiar; his hazel eyes seem darker and the circles beneath them are a deep purple, “mornin’.”

“Where have you been?” you ask, unable to mask the worry in your voice, “I was looking for you last night. I called a few times, but you never answered, I was so worried.”

He keeps his eyes on his PADD as he turns and walks further into his office, “sorry, medical emergency.”

You follow him in, trying not to choke on the panic rising in your throat, “oh, I didn’t hear about anything. Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he mumbles, “just busy.” He refuses to look up at you, keeping his eyes trained on the device in his hands and moving as if you’re both the south ends of two opposing magnets.

“Okay,” you say, your voice even weaker than before, “well, I spoke to Jim yesterday and he said we should break out the scotch tonight. You know, have a little celebration?”

“Can’t, I’m on call.”

"You could still come and hang out,” you force a smile onto your lips, “come on, don’t make me admit that I miss you.”

He only scoffs, his attention unmoving from his PADD.

You swallow the lump in your throat, “are you sure you’re alright?”

He sighs and finally looks up, his brows knit tight and something akin to resentment behind his glare, “Jim told me.”

“Told you what?”

“About the job offer.”

The stone in your stomach grows three sizes, sending a wave of nausea through your whole body and you have to lean against the wall to steady yourself. “He wasn’t supposed to,” you mutter, “he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone because I’m not taking it.”

“I think you should.”

His words feel like a knife being plunged into your chest, knocking you breathless and turning your voice into a whisper, “what?”

“I think you should take the job,” he says.

You blink back your tears, “why?”

“It sounds like a great opportunity, and you’re young, so you should take it.”

If it weren’t for your shoulder leaning against the wall, you could almost be sure the room itself is starting to spin. You can feel your heartbeat in every inch of your skin, heat spreading like wildfire through your whole body as your heart begins to tear itself in two.

“Just so I’m clear,” your words are soft and unsteady, “you want me to take the job and leave the Enterprise?”

He nods once, opening his mouth to reply but hesitates, as if suddenly deciding not to say whatever was on the tip of his tongue. Only then do you realise that tears are streaming down your cheeks.

“Okay, fine,” you say, wiping your face with the back of your hand, “I’ll take the job, and since you can’t seem to stand the sight of me, I’ll start in three weeks instead of six.”

You can barely see his face through the blur of tears, so you turn sharply toward the door and storm out, trying your best to keep your sobs muffled as you move through the ship and back to your room.

Those three weeks were the closest thing to hell that you’ve ever known. At first you were devastated, locking yourself in your room for four days straight, refusing to talk to anyone and living off half a meal a day. Everyone was worried but knew you needed space, especially after they heard you accepted the job at the academy. After the fourth day of wallowing, you got angry. You finally showered, dressed, and ate a full meal before deciding you would demand Leonard to tell you what the fuck you did wrong.

Jim said he could hear that first ‘conversation’ between you and the doctor all the way from the bridge... you were in the MedBay. You’re not sure you’ve ever yelled at someone so much, let alone someone you love, but it was like that for the rest of your time on the Enterprise. You couldn’t be amicable with one another, no matter how hard you tried.

“Y/N,” Jim nudges you with his elbow, “do you remember that?”

You blink away your daydream to find four sets of eyes on you and one pair intentionally avoiding you, “remember what?”

“When you weren’t wearing underwear and we-”

“Jim!” you smack his arm, “I thought you promised not to bring that up ever again.”

He wraps an arm around your shoulder, chuckling, “I’m sorry but I have a duty to never let that story die, it has to be one of the best days of my life.”

You roll your eyes but still join in the laughter of the captain, Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty. You’re almost positive you see Leonard’s lip twitch, but he quickly lifts his glass and takes a huge gulp of beer. Once the laughter subsides, Jim squeezes you closer and sighs, “you know, it’s just not the same without you on the ship. I actually miss you, like, a lot.”

You gasp dramatically, “did James Tiberius Kirk just admit to feeling something?”

“I’m serious,” he says, “don’t you miss me?” His blue eyes are wide and pleading, tugging at your heartstrings.

“Of course I miss you,” you quickly look around your circle of friends, “I miss everyone. It wasn’t easy to leave, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“Aw,” Jim coos, “do you mean it? You really miss me?”

You roll your eyes again despite the smile on your face, “yes, I really mean it.”

Leonard scoffs, “are you sure about that?”

You can feel the energy shift, everyone suddenly tense as you finally look up at him, “about what?”

“That you mean it.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” you ask, pulling away from under Jim’s arm.

Leonard shrugs, “sometimes people say things they don’t mean.”

“I guess,” you frown, “but why would I lie?”

“You tell me,” he replies, his expression unreadable as he takes another sip of beer.

You hesitate for a moment, the tension tangible as you scramble for words. “I’m confused,” you finally say, “Did I do something in the last twenty seconds to piss you off?”

He chuckles bitterly, “you know what? Don’t worry about it.”

The angry flame in your belly bursts into a bonfire, heating you from the inside and bordering your vision with red. “No,” you step forward ever so slightly, “you can’t just call me a liar and then tell me not to worry about it. What did I do?”

“Nothing, just forget about it. I’ll see you around,” he says, moving as if he intends to walk away.

“No!” you snap, taking another step toward him, “I won’t ‘forget about it’ either. This is not what I came here for, but if you have something to say, then say it. Or better yet, if you have something to feel, then feel it and stop pretending to be so fucking indifferent.”

He frowns, his hazel eyes full of an emotion you can’t seem to place. “Would you stop?” he murmurs, “you’re making a scene.”

Jim mumbles sarcastically behind you, “oh, how I miss the war.”

You ignore him, your glare locked on Leonard, “I’m making a scene? You’re the one that started it, but- oh wait,” you pause for dramatic effect, “that’s right; you can’t finish anything you start.”

The blow lands, because you can see the vein in his neck pulse even faster. Neither of you like to play too dirty, most of your ‘fights’ are just petty arguments, but every now and then a carefully crafted comment will remind each of you that if you wanted to, you could really hurt one another. You know Leonard isn’t proud of his divorce, and you know that bringing it up in any negative context can really get to him.

“Maybe you’re right,” his says in a low voice, “but at least I have the decency to walk away before I make a mess.”

It takes all of your self-control not to speak any louder than he did, “oh, you want to talk about making a mess?”

“No, because I’m going to leave before I say something I don’t mean.”

He turns and walks away before you can fully process what just happened. You can feel the red-hot colour of your cheeks as blood pumps through your veins twice as fast as normal, both from anger and embarrassment. Luckily, not many others noticed your little spat, and your friends had to deal with so much of that during your final weeks on the Enterprise that they’re not even phased.

You turn to Jim, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he chuckles, once again wrapping an arm around your shoulders, “on the scale of Y/N versus Bones, that was like a four.”

You can’t help but giggle as he guides you toward the bar.

“It would have been a three,” you continue, “but I’ll award an extra point for the jab at his divorce.”

“Jim!” you scold, nudging his rib with your elbow.

He laughs again, louder, “what? If I have to deal with my two favourite people at war, then I’m going to make a game of it.”

You spend the rest of the night right beside Jim, trying to ignore the guilt growing bigger and uglier inside your stomach. Leonard doesn’t leave until a few hours later, having been caught by a group of his MedBay buddies who insist on fetching him drinks, and you can’t help from keeping him within your sight. You’re jealous of every single person who gets even a second of his attention or a smile directed their way, and when one of the cute young nurses leans in a little too close to him, you feel your drinks bubbling up your throat.

You decide to say goodbye mere minutes after you see the doctor walk out the door, leaving Jim to his merriment with the rest of the crew who are more than a little inebriated, though he doesn’t let you walk away until you pinkie-promise to join your friends at breakfast in the morning. That should be fun.

The walk back to your hotel feels longer than it did on the way to the party. Your feet are sore and heavy, and your stomach feels like its full of toxic waste that isn’t going to stay there for long. You didn’t even drink that much, you just can’t help feeling sick over your argument with Leonard and the way that nurse touched his arm.

You kick your shoes off the second you step into your room and wriggle out of your dress, throwing it on the floor along with everything else you can remove from your body before falling on the bed. Just as you’ve done for the past five months, you begin to play back every interaction you’ve had with Leonard since he told you to take the job at the academy, starting with the newest addition to the library from this evening. The first time you did this was the first night you spent at your cramped apartment on the academy’s campus; you thought if you dissected enough of the interaction, you might be able to figure out what went wrong. After a while you realised it had become a sort of comfort, simply remembering that Leonard did still exist and he is still out there. You often wonder if he thinks of you just as much, but you try not to feed the hope that still burns at the back of your chest, which is exactly why you’re only allowed to remember the fights and arguments. If you let your mind wander further back than that, you might not ever return to reality.

A chirp from your communicator wakes you, so you rub your eyes until you can read the cheeky message from Jim reminding you about your breakfast plans. You groan loudly as you throw the comforter back and quite literally roll out of bed. You’re not ready for another battle, but you do have unfinished business with Jim relating to your status of employment aboard the Enterprise, or lack thereof.

You hadn’t mentioned it last night because of, well, obvious reasons, but there is another factor contributing to your decision whether or not to forfeit your post as a part of Jim’s crew. Before you left, as if your boss knew this trip would tempt you to return to your friends, the academy offered you another position co-leading a brand-new programme for aspiring mechatronic engineers. It’s not necessarily your strength, but it sounds incredible, and to be amongst some of the most intelligent people in Starfleet would be nothing short of inspiring, but that meant giving up the Enterprise (and her crew) for good.

You quickly shower and change into comfortable clothes before packing most of your belongings into your duffel bag. You do have another night booked, but you’re not sure you’ll want to stay on Yorktown much longer if this morning doesn’t go well.

Unsurprisingly, Jim decided to have breakfast at the Starfleet base where most of the crew would be staying during their time on the starbase. It was just the same as the mess hall on the ship or at the academy, just a little newer with better food because most people passing through Yorktown were high-ranking or dignitaries from the Federation, and apparently, Jim Kirk was also one of those important people. The Enterprise crew were given a private buffet on the mezzanine level of the huge eating area, where two long tables were laid out with all the breakfast food you could imagine.

“I think we might have to warn Starfleet about giving the captain a big head,” Nyota says, falling into step beside you, “or soon there won’t be room for anyone else on the bridge.”

You giggle, “but if there’s no one else on the bridge, who’s going to compliment his luscious hair and his humble courage?”

She laughs too and even Spock cracks a tiny smile beside her.

“Hey Spock.”

“It is nice to see you again, Y/N,” he responds with a nod, “I regret not being able to spend more time with you last night.”

You wave your hand dismissively and continue toward the tables of food. Sulu soon joins the three of you and you chat idly while loading up plates full of food. Jim is standing at the back of the room, leaning against the wall with a coffee in one hand and using the other to animate whatever intriguing conversation he and Scotty were having. You try not to acknowledge Leonard as you approach them.

“Hey,” Nyota whispers, “we don’t have to join them.”

You shake your head, “I’m calm, I’m sure of it.”

She can’t help but snicker quietly at the comically wide smile you force across your face as you reach your group of friends.

“Good morning gorgeous,” Jim greets you as you join them, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m surprised you’re here,” you say.

He rolls his eyes, “please, I have a liver of steel.”

You can’t hold back your laughter, “is that what that was on New Year’s Eve? It was your liver of steel that made you fall off the toilet and page Len because you couldn’t feel your left butt cheek?”

You laugh a little harder as you vividly recall the state Jim had been in that night, but the laughter from the rest of the group is soft and awkward, and only then do you realise what you said. Len. Only you called him that.

Jim clears his throat before it gets too uncomfortable, “uh, anyway, have you thought about your decision?”

“Oh,” you quickly swallow the piece of pancake you put in your mouth, “right into it, then.”

He shrugs sheepishly, “I kind of have to have an answer once I’m back on duty.”

“Well,” you sigh, “then I have to tell you about something else.” You steal a glance at Leonard, noticing his cheeks a darker shade of pink than usual and you wonder if it’s because of your slip up.

You explain the offer from your boss and the programme you’d be running to the group in front of you, trying to keep your voice neutral. You don’t want to seem too resentful of the tiny apartment and dark office you currently have, but you definitely don’t want any of them to think you’re more interested in the academy’s new initiative than returning to the Enterprise.

To everyone’s surprise, Leonard is the first to speak, “it’s a good programme, I’ve heard of it.”

“You’d leave for good?” Nyota asks, “give up your position on the Enterprise?”

“And surrender from the battle,” Jim chuckles, glancing between you and Leonard with a smirk. Nyota and Spock both give him their most disapproving parent stares, and his grin disappears, “sorry, not the time.”

“Well, I was kind of hoping my friends would help me decide,” you say, looking to each of them except Leonard.

“But you know what we’re going to say,” Nyota shrugs, “we want you to come back to the Enterprise.”

“I know, but,” you look pointedly at Scotty, “you can also understand that this is a huge opportunity. I just need some advice.” You know that above the rest, Scotty is the biggest advocate for your career, and you knew he would be the most excited about the programme at the academy.

“You’re right, lassie,” he sighs, “and I’d like to say I’ve missed you the most – it’s been hell down there with just Keenser – but I could never tell you not to take this offer. You’re young, and they’ve noticed you. If you go for this now, you’ll have endless opportunities at Starfleet.”

“But you also have endless opportunities on the Enterprise,” Jim argues. “The resources for your programme only just came in and we’re in the early stages of setting it up; you could take over and lead it. It is your baby.

Your pulse quickens with excitement at the idea of running your programme, but it’s been months since you had anything to do with it. “I’d feel bad taking it over from someone else,” you say, “I couldn’t do that.”

He shakes his head, “no one has been appointed to lead it yet.”

Sulu clears his throat, “well, Captain, we do have Mr. Scott and Dr. McCoy who could lead the programme aboard the Enterprise, and the offer Y/N has is huge. There are thousands in Starfleet who would kill for this opportunity. I miss her as much as anyone else, but she could assist remotely if we need her.”

Jim frowns at his lieutenant for not picking the same side of the argument.

“You’re right, Sulu,” you smile at him before countering Jim’s scowl, “Scotty and Dr. McCoy can run it. They’re the brains behind the whole thing anyway. All I did was pitch it, so really, my job is done.”

“Your job is not done,” Nyota butts in, “you have no idea how hard the last few months have been without you.”

“That’s because I haven’t been replaced, the crew is down a man.”

“You’re not replaceable,” Jim states, his brows even closer than before, “no one could-”

“I’ll stop you right there, Captain,” you interrupt, “because there are plenty of incredible people in Starfleet who could do more than simply fill my shoes.”

Jim huffs, failing to find another counter argument.

“If I may, Y/N,” Spock says, taking half a step forward, “but you are seeking advice to assist in making the decision, are you not? Though you argue only with those who advise you to return to the Enterprise, which would suggest that you have already made this decision. Unless you are simply waiting for a better reason to return, or perhaps, for the right person to ask you to,” he pauses and turns to Leonard, “Dr. McCoy?”

The air is suddenly thick with tension, everyone gaping at Spock and wondering if they might have imagined what they just heard.

“Fire in the hole,” Jim murmurs into his cup as he takes a swig of coffee.

Leonard clears his throat, “I don’t particularly care what Y/N does, so I don’t think my opinion should matter.”

Jim coughs, almost choking on his drink, “and take cover.” He pats his chest and turns to Spock, “have I introduced you to our newest cadet in the archaeological research division? He’s amazing. Nyota, Scotty, you too.”

Without so much as a hint of subtlety, everyone disperses, leaving you and Leonard alone in the corner of the huge room.

Somehow, you find enough courage to turn to him and ask, “why did you tell me to leave?”

“I’ve answered this question a hundred times,” he sighs, “it was a great job opportunity. You would have been stupid not to take it.”

“No, this time I want the truth.”

He rolls his eyes, “why do you repeatedly insist on having this conversation, knowing exactly how it's going to end?”

You can only just hear him over the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears; rage and anticipation coursing through you as you stand between the doctor and the rest of the Enterprise crew. You’ve already embarrassed yourself last night, you might as well give it one last go before you make your decision.

“Because I want the real answer,” you reply, keeping your voice even, “so we’re going to keep having it until you tell me the truth.”

“Okay, you want my advice?” he says, “take the job and give up your position on the Enterprise so that I can be rid of you and this conversation for good.”

Once again, his words knock the breath from your lungs. You can almost feel the new fractures splitting your heart into even smaller pieces, but the pain moves to the back of your mind as you realise that he did just admit something that he hasn’t before.

“So…” you whisper, searching frantically for your voice, “it was about getting rid of me, not about the job.”

An array of emotions you can’t even attempt to read cross his face in less than a second before he settles on a frown, “look, I don’t have to explain myself to you. If anything, you owe me.”

“I owe you what?”

“An explanation.”

You frown too, “what for?”

“For what you said before you left!” he snaps.

You can practically feel the sets of eyes on your back multiply, more bystanders finding interest in the exchange happening at the back of the room.

“Len, we were at each other’s throats before I left,” you say, lowering your voice, “I’m sure we both said things we didn’t mean.”

You try for a second to remember something deep and personal he’d said to you in your final weeks on the ship, but nothing comes to mind. In fact, all you can remember is petty fighting and childish arguments. It was almost as if neither of you truly wanted to hurt the other, or at least, not acutely. You never brought up the deepest and darkest pieces of pain from each other’s history, knowing it would irreversibly damage the relationship between you. The closest you’ve gotten was last night when you hinted at his divorce, saying he couldn’t finish anything he started, and even then, you felt awful.

“Not that,” he mutters, "what you said after your meeting with the admiral.”

You frown again, “that I got the grant?”

“After that.”

You have to think for a minute, playing back that day in your head as you’ve done a thousand times. Only this time, you allow yourself to remember all of it, without blocking out the parts that made your heart hurt. You gasp quietly when you realise, slowly looking up at him, “y-you’re angry because I said I loved you?”

His expression is the softest you’ve seen it in months, his hazel eyes almost green behind the sadness filling them, “I’m not angry that you said it, I’m angry because you lied.”

Tears begin to blur your vision, but you refuse to let them fall, “why would I lie about that?”

“Don’t bother, alright?” he says before clearing his raspy throat, “I heard you talking to Nyota.”

“When?”

“When you went to meet her, after we- you know, in my office,” his cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink.

You shake your head, as if it should help clear your thoughts, “I’m confused.”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” he snaps again, though this time with a little less bite.

“Well clearly, I have no idea what is going on!” You don’t care who’s watching anymore, this is the closest you’ve ever been to actually finding out what happened.

He sighs, “You called me, by accident I guess, and I heard you. You told her that you only said it because it was awkward, that you were going to take it back because you got what you wanted, and that Jim-”

“I’ll get Jim to talk to him,” you cut him off, realisation smacking you across the face. You feel dizzy as everything hits you at once and a montage of memories rush through your head. The pieces of the puzzle you’d been trying to solve for months finally fall into place, and you finally know why Leonard broke your heart that day.

“Exactly,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

You’ve spent months wondering whether it was because of the job offer itself, or because you got the grant on his behalf, but Leonard wasn’t the type to be jealous of his friends. You wondered if he simply wasn’t ready for a new relationship, or if you’d scared him when you told him you loved him, but he said it first. You even wondered, very briefly, if he’d heard some stupid rumour about you and Jim, since you knew there were some of those around, but you’d spoken about it before, even laughed about it. You never considered that the whole thing could have been one, big, stupid misunderstanding.

Leonard frowns, “You can’t seriously tell me that you had no idea what happened until now.”

“Len, I-”

“No,” he shakes his head, “I really don’t want to-”

“Leonard, please,” you sigh “would you just give me five seconds.”

“You’ve had five months,” he exclaims, “and you still can’t admit it to my face?”

“Because you’re wrong,” you snap.

His frown disappears, “I’m what?”

“You don’t know what you think you know,” you say, clasping your hands over your stomach as another wave of nausea hits you.

"I heard you say it.”

You take a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves coursing through your veins like an electric current. “Yes,” you begin, “I said those things, but not about you. I-It was about the job, I… when I was in the meeting with the admiral, he offered me the job before he approved the grant, and I said yes... but I didn’t mean it. It was awkward and I needed him to say yes, so I accepted, but I never wanted the job. I didn’t want to leave the Enterprise; I didn’t want to leave you. I was in love with you. Jim was going to speak to the admiral for me, say that he couldn’t let me go, the ship needed me, and I had to run the programme, but then... well, you told me to go, so I-”

“Left,” he finishes for you, his eyes glassy as his mind wanders back to that night.

Your heart is thundering so loud you can’t even hear the commotion of the people behind you over the thrum of your pulse. Neither of you dare to speak, you don’t even know what to say. Six whole months of pain and anger, all because of a misunderstanding. If Leonard had asked you about the conversation he overhead, or if you asked him what was wrong instead of just leaving... you could have avoided the worst six months of your life. You feel stupid.

“You must hate me,” he finally says, every bit of anger gone from his voice, “I’m so sorry.”

Before you can respond, he steps to the side and strides right past you. He passes easily through the groups of people enjoying their breakfast, down the stairs, and out of the building.

“Ye’re barely off the ground for six months and ye already forget how ta solder straight,” Scotty shouts from the deck below.

You put down your tools and take two steps to lean over the railing and glare down at him, “for your information, I was never very good at soldering.”

He chuckles and waves a hand, returning his attention to the open machinery in front of him, ready to remedy your errors from attempting to fix it earlier. In your defence, you weren’t usually on the tools, but you wanted to be able to join in on the practical portion of the new programme when the time came, so you agreed to a month down in the warp core with Scotty to brush up on your skills. It’s been almost a week without incident, which you considered to be a personal record. Though you’re fairly sure it has nothing to do with your skills and everything to do with not wanting to end up in the MedBay.

Jim’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and you still haven’t spoken to Leonard since that morning. After he left, you went straight to Jim and told him you’d be back aboard the Enterprise effective immediately. You quit your job at the academy – luckily you were still within the probationary period – and had all of your belongings packed and shipped to the next Federation planet that the Enterprise is due at. You’ll be picking them up in a few days, but you honestly wouldn’t be too worried if they never showed up. You’re just happy to be home; it’s as if you never left. That is, except for Leonard.

You know you have to give him space, and obviously he wants nothing to do with you right now, so you can’t force yourself upon him even if you’d settle for just friends at this point. Your heart aches in a whole new way whenever you hear his name, but you haven’t yet run into him, and you’re not sure what will happen when you do.

“Shit,” you hiss, quickly pulling away from where you’re working to watch blood drip from your hand, “of course.”

“I told Scotty that it wasn’t a good idea putting a pretty girl like you down here,” Jim says as he wanders in from the corridor.

You scowl at him, “I’ll ignore the misogyny because I’m in pain. Can you get me the first aid kit?”

He chuckles, “I don’t think a bandage is going to cut it; you need stitches.”

“I do not,” you argue, despite the blood creating a small puddle at your feet.

“Yes, you do,” he insists, “and as a bonus, you can give Bones a heart attack.”

You take a clean rag and wrap it around your hand, allowing Jim to help as you ask him, “why would I give him a heart attack?”

He shrugs, “I’m not sure he knows you’re back aboard the ship.”

“Excuse me?”

“I haven’t spoken to him since Yorktown,” he clarifies, “I made sure he was okay after breakfast, but I didn’t tell him that you’d decided to return to the Enterprise. It didn’t seem like the time.”

You’re almost positive if looks could kill, Jim would dead on the floor right now. “But he’s the Chief Medical Officer,” you stress, “he has to know everyone aboard the ship.”

“Yes,” Jim says, “and no, there are a lot of crew members.”

“He would have had to sign me back on!”

Jim can’t help but laugh again at the way your voice cracks. “He’s been sick,” he states, “since we boarded. Doctor Gronan has been standing in for him until yesterday.”

“Doctor Gronan signed me back on,” you mutter to yourself.

“Yep.”

“Then why wouldn’t you tell him?” you exclaim.

Your captain laughs once again, shrugging as he replies, “I thought it would be fun to see how long it took him to find out.”

“This isn’t a game!”

“But it is fun.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“After you get stitched up, come on,” he sighs, guiding you toward the corridor by your shoulders, “I assume you know the way?”

“I’m familiar,” you reply, dragging your feet into the bright white hallway.

“Excellent, no detours, but first, where’s Scotty?”

“Deck below,” you mumble.

“Thank you,” he gives you a cheeky wink, “now, on your way.”

Your pulse quickens with every step you take toward the MedBay, which you’re pretty sure is why the rag you’re holding begins to soak with blood. Other crew members watch you hurry through the ship with concern, and by the time you reach the MedBay, you’re trailing little red droplets across the floor. The moment Leonard looks up from his PADD, he goes paper white and his eyes practically double in size. Despite being obviously unsettled, he looks good; you could never get sick of seeing him in his uniform.

“Hey,” you say, stepping closer to him in order to deter bystanders from eavesdropping.

He swallows thickly, “hi.”

Another beat of silence passes because you hold up your injured hand, “um, I’m bleeding.”

“Shit, sorry,” he finally notices the bloody rag, “come with me.”

You follow him into one of the treatment rooms and sit on the bed, legs swinging over the side as he pulls the stool and cart over to you.

“Sorry,” he says again as he arranges the equipment on the cart, “I- um, I didn’t know you were back.”

“I know, Jim thought it would be funny.”

He looks up suddenly, that familiar frown knitting his brows.

“I didn’t know,” you clarify, “I assumed you had signed me aboard and were just avoiding me.”

His frown softens and he opens his mouth to reply but hesitates, instead returning his attention to the bloody rag wrapped around your hand. He nods for you to show him, so you extend your arm and allow him to remove the make-shift bandage. You try not to wince when the material pulls on a dried bit of blood, but you can’t help your hand from twitching. Leonard’s own hand cups yours out of instinct; a comforting gesture that wouldn’t mean a thing to you from any other doctor but means everything from Leonard. He looks up at you, as if asking permission to continue touching you, waiting for you to nod before he starts cleaning the cut.

“Let me know if I hurt you,” he mutters.

Ironic... you think, though choose not to say it aloud. You nod again, “okay.”

Another few minutes pass as he finishes cleaning the cut, numbs your skin, and prepares to stitch it closed. He holds the dermal regenerator a few inches from your hand and it begins to whir softly, shooting out a blue beam that sews the skin back together. You let your eyes wander from the healing cut to where the doctor is touching you, his warm skin beneath the glove making yours tingle all the way up your arm and into your chest, waking up the butterflies that live in your rib cage. Their fluttering wings make it hard to breathe, and that familiar sense of anticipation and giddiness takes over any feelings of contempt or anger.

The regenerator stops and he looks up to meet your gaze, his pupils doubling their size, “all done.”

You flex your hand, “feels brand new.”

“Give it a minute,” he says, “keep stretching, and I’ll check it over before you go.”

You watch him pack away the cart and dispose of all the bloody gauze. His hands work fluidly, not once hesitating as his muscle memory tells them where to put each tool or piece of equipment. He pulls his gloves off and for some stupid reason your heart leaps; heat flushes through your whole body, concentrating in a tight ball just below your belly as your mind replays all the things those hands have done to you.

“Let me have a look.”

You willingly put your hand back in his, praying your cheeks aren’t as red as they feel. He presses gently around the faint line where your cut had been, glancing up with each new area he pushes on to see if you wince or react at all.

“Looks good,” he lets go of you hand and rolls back on the stool, “you can go back to work, just don’t lift anything heavy and please wear gloves.”

You try to fight the sheepish grin tugging at your lips, “yes, sir.”

His cheeks flush pink and you can’t help being a little proud. He stands up, avoiding your gaze as he picks up his PADD to check off a few more things, no doubt clearing you to return to work. You slide off the bed and straighten your uniform, trying to think of something else to say so you don’t have to leave. Should you make up an illness, or is that too desperate? This is the most amicable interaction you’ve had in months; you don’t want it to end.

“I jus’ want to say,” he clears his throat, “I am really-”

“I know,” you interrupt, “and it’s okay, you don’t have to apologise.”

He frowns, “you’re not angry?”

You sigh and lean back against the bed, “well, I thought about it, at first, but then realised that I gave up on us just as quickly.”

“What do you mean?”

“You told me to leave, and I left,” you reply, “I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t argue, I didn’t fight it, I just left.”

His frown doesn’t move, only his eyes, raking up and down your body twice before settling on your lips and turning that warmth below your belly into a full-blown bonfire.

“Besides,” you continue, your nerves forcing you to fill the silence, “if I honestly believed I'd heard my boyfriend tell someone that he regretted saying he loved me, I’d probably react the same way... or worse.”

He cracks a small smile and your heart races as if you’d just run five miles, but the light-heartedness on his face disappears just as quickly as it had come. “Ex-boyfriend,” he says.

You frown, “what?”

“You said boyfriend, you meant ‘ex-boyfriend’.”

“Oh,” you nod slowly, “well, actually, I don’t think I remember breaking up.”

He actually laughs, only a short chuckle, but it’s the best thing you’ve heard in months.

“I’m serious!” you insist, laughing despite your words, “neither of us actually said the words.”

His smile fades, and he looks back down at his PADD before you can figure out the new expression on his face, “regardless of words being said, I’m sure other things happened that-”

You cut him off, “what ‘other’ things?”

“I’m not naive,” he chuckles bitterly, “I’m sure there were plenty of Starfleet’s finest that were more than eager to meet the gorgeous new engineer.”

“Oh,” you know your cheeks are now glowing red, “thanks, I think, but- uh, no, I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

He looks up again, a mixture of confusion and something else you can’t quite place written across his face. Panic clouds your thoughts as you wonder whether he has slept with anyone in the time you were away. You hadn’t even considered it, hadn’t tortured yourself with that possibility because deep down he was still yours, it was almost as if a part of you knew it wasn’t over.

“Why not?” he asks.

You shrug, “too heartbroken.”

He drops his PADD on the nearest tabletop, sighing, “you have no idea how sorry I am.”

“Len, I told you-”

“Let me apologise,” he demands, stepping forward until his chest is an inch from your nose, “I need to apologise, because I don’t think I will ever stop hating myself for losing my one reason for existing.”

You gasp and then quickly forget how to breathe, holding the air in your lungs as if the slightest movement would wake you up from whatever wild dream you’d fallen into. You stare up at him, unblinking.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, hooking a finger beneath your chin.

You still can’t breathe, and your head starts to spin as he slowly closes the distance between your mouths.

“If you want me to stop,” he murmurs, his lips practically brushing yours, “just tell-”

“Shut up,” you mutter, before pushing up onto your toes and pressing your mouth against his.

His hands find your waist and your bodies snap together, like two magnets alone in their own field void of any other gravitational pull. His lips taste the same, his tongue moves exactly the way you know, and he feels like home.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers again, your mouths barely parting before his lips catch your breath again.

You step back until your bum bumps into the bed, and with the slightest effort, he lifts you onto it. His hands spread your knees, allowing him to nestle between them as his touch makes its way up your body to your neck, the heat of his skin on yours pulling the knot below your belly even tighter. You slide forward ever-so-slightly, unable to stop yourself from grinning when you feel the hardness of him rub between your legs.

He groans and tightens a hand around the front of your neck, “careful, darlin’.”

Your grin grows wider, “I missed you.”

He pulls back and his hands return to your waist. His skin is flushed and his pupils blown wide, his lips swollen and red, and you’re almost convinced you’ve died and gone to heaven. “I missed you too,” he says, before pressing a gentle kiss against your lips.

“Do you two know there are cameras in here?” Jim asks, appearing at the door and startling both of you, “or do you just have some kinky preference for being watched?” His smirk stretches from one ear to the other, and he attempts to appear casual by leaning against the door frame but his bright eyes are sparkling with mischief.

“Do you watch all the surveillance footage, or do you just have some kinky preference for the MedBay?” you retort, your fingers curling into the fabric of Leonard’s shirt to keep him in place.

He doesn’t even try to turn around for obvious reasons in his pants, but throws an irritated scowl over his shoulder, “really, Jim?”

Jim chuckles, “what’s the matter, Bones?”

“You,” Leonard snaps, “you’re the matter!”

“Why can’t you turn around?” he asks, his voice laced with evil intent.

You reach for the small pillow at the top of the bed and lob it across the room at him, “would you fuck off?”

He laughs again, “no need to be so rude, I just wanted to see my two best friends!”

Leonard rolls his eyes, his grip on your hips tightening, “you’re about to see a lot more than you’ve bargained for if you don’t fuck off.”

Your stomach flips and a warm, tingly sense of anticipation spreads throughout your whole body.

“Fine,” Jim sighs, pushing off the door frame and taking a step back, “I’ll just watch the cameras.”

“Get out!” Leonard exclaims, turning around as Jim cackles and hurries away.

Leonard presses the button for the door to slide shut and another button to lock it.

“You don’t think he’s really going to watch the cameras, right?” you ask.

He returns to the space between your legs, splaying his hands across your thighs where your dress has ridden up, “probably.” His hands slide up under your dress and you instinctively straighten your spine, tilting your head back in a desperate attempt to get your mouth closer to his.

He stays just out of reach, his breath hot on your lips as he speaks, “so you better be a good girl and put on a show.”

END.

56 notes · View notes

yakuza4you · 4 months ago

Text

collecting what he's owed 𖥔 ݁ ˖

彡 : ̗̀➛ content tags/warnings: dead dove do not eat, majima is a creep, plot develops the more you read, drugged noncon, smut obv, exhibitionism, dry humping, glove as a gag, corruption, spit as lube, asphyxiation, bdsm, power difference, dacryphilla, squirting, biting, tad bit of spoilers from the majima saga chapters

彡 : ̗̀➛ characters: majima goro, terada, uematsu, other tojo clan ppl, random off-screen men mentioned later on

彡 : ̗̀➛ relationship: majima goro x reader

彡 : ̗̀➛ word count: 3.5k

The distinctive sound of a familiar voice rang in my ears, a melodic hum singing a tune as the office doors swung open. Majima held a cocky attitude, strutting into the room with his body swaying with each step. Every officer and patriarch eyeballed his strange arrival, a few whispering to each other.

Confusion plastered many faces, the informally dressed man making his way to the clan captains seat. I stay planted next to Terada, questioning the bold patriarchs' actions.

The first to speak up is Uematsu, demanding answers from Majima. Uematsu earned that spot fair and squ- well, earned it his own way. So, why the hell did all the sudden Majima strut in and take his future seat?

Uematsu's rambling is cut short by a loud clap, a clap to signal his men to roll in through the door as well. All of the patriarchs have different looks on their faces. Some are still confused, trying to process this whole situation. Some angry, already vomiting up degrading accusations, while others are completely silent.

A wheelbarrow is pulled in, money spilling out of the openings. The men pushing and pulling it in panting from the heaviness alone. Their faces strained with agony, especially the one in the front.

"I heard the next clan captain was gon' be determined by revenue collected. And in that case, I guess it's gon' be me, ya?" Majima chuckles, his laugh exploding into the room as he plops down into the chair, getting too comfortable in it.

Eyeballing Terada, eyeballing any of the other patriarchs in the room, none give me a look of desperation back. I try not to look at Majima, settling with the ground instead. The tension in the room alone can be felt from miles away. "I think this matter can be discussed in our next meeting." Terada clears his throat, attempting to dismiss the room effectively.

"N'uh, I believe ya owe me for this shit. Hell, it's rare for me to even be able to get my hands on this much money." Involuntarily, my eyes glare up, accidentally meeting his one good eye. I can feel his eye pierce into mine, quickly shifting them off of his to try not to get any unwanted attention.

Majima The Mad Dog of Shimano snarls his teeth at me before averting his burning glaze away, "Why is she even at this meetin'?" The man speaks, in a way as if he had all the authority within the room. Expecting quick answers, tapping his heels against the ground. He's visibly uncomfortable, constantly shifting in the clan captains chair.

An outbreak of protests echoed into the room, Majima frowning with annoyance in response. His irrelevant question was ignored reasonably.

"Slience!" Terada swiftly yells, regaining control of the room. "As the chairman, I am postponing this matter for later." He's adamant. Firm with his words. Every man in the room remembering whose really in control, focusing their attention on Terada.

I've always looked up to Majima ever since I got involved with the Tojo Clan. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't intimidate me. Being Teradas' right-hand man woman meant that I had to sometimes talk or work with Majima when it came to bigger things than just his own family. After a short break of quiet, Majima adds to Teradas' demands. "Right. I don't want the position anymore anyway. The girl'll do fine."

The topic of me is brought up again to the whole room. My train of thought is erased by Majimas' proposition.

"Come here, doll." The sound of his leather glove colliding onto his leather pants makes a snapping noise, adamant that I listen. I exchange concerned looks with Terada, questioning if I should actually do it. He gives me an unclear answer, so I follow Majimas' command and abide by our differences in ranks.

I'm hesitant, taking my time to walk over towards him. Once I get there, I face him dumbly as if I'm unaware of what he wants. Looking back at Terada, I try to plead with him one last time. My face stays focused onto Terada as I shift my body and lean my body onto Majimas thigh.

"What ya being shy for?" My weight is soon pulled fully on top of him, his hands on my hips to stabilize me. "Pretty lil' thang, ain'cha?" The promixity between our two faces close in, and in which I try to keep my distance. Any attempt to move back from him fails due to the grip he has on me.

"Majima-han, please, this really isn't necessary." I whine, pulling at his arms that are now fully wrapped around my waist. He watches me struggle for a good while before Terada finally cuts his act short.

"Enough, Majima. This room is to be dismissed immediately." For the third time attempting to empty the room, everyone finally takes their leave. Majima lets me go and run off while he shortly follows on after me. Teradas eyes glare him down as he watches Majima disappear into the hallway.

Fixing my knee-high skirt, I rough out any bumps and creases to make sure I continue to present myself in a modest way. Ever since the incident in the meeting room, I've been catching Majima always in the same place as me, coincidentally. The whole time I've worked with him, I keep things strictly professional as told to do so. However, the sudden change in his behavior disobeys that.

While getting ready to go home from the Tojo Clan HQ, I noticed something off about my car. I quickly ran over to inspect it, checking for any damage or issues. A flat tire. But not just any kind of tire, a slashed tire. As I run my fingers over it, thinking of how much it'll cost to fix it, Majima appears behind me.

"Ya car got somethin' wrong with it, hm?" he peers over my shoulder, checking out the work of his own. I groan with digust, trying to keep my focus on my tire and ignore him. "I was jus' about to call a cab, ya could catch a ride with me, doll." His hand rests on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"No, Majima. I'd rather walk." Rejecting him, I pull away from him and start walking as I prepare to call a car shop.

A cab pulls up, one that Majima had called. "It'd be rude if ya said no now, already told the driver they'd be getting paid for two." His smug smile plasters his face, opening the door for me in anticipation. With hesitation, I follow along with him and get inside the cab as he gets in next to me from the other side.

Majima pats the driver's seat, indicating that he's ready to get going. I'm practically hugging the window at this point, keeping plenty of distance between me and him. His manspread reaches out into the middle seat, almost into mine.

"I thought ya had respect for me, not very respectful to be avoiding me, doll." He spats out, getting subtly close enough to caress my thigh with his gloved hand. Getting more towards the middle seat, he shifts my legs to lay on top of his thighs. I try setting my protests aside, too scared of what he'd do if I did so. His position being much higher than mine keeps me quiet, allowing him to have his way with me.

My skirt is rolled up, giving his hand room to pervertedly inch up my thigh. I wrap my arm around his neck to hold myself up to prevent my head from bumping into the window due to the awkward position he has me sat in. "Majima-han, we're gonna get kicked out of the cab if this continues..." I mumbled, trying not to sound like I was demanding him to stop.

"The driver ain't nothin' to worry about, girl." I automatically get the hint from him. He paid the driver to shut up and just drive. There are no rules during this cab ride, which makes my heart drop. The way Majima abuses his authority sends shivers down my spine. Why did Terada have to turn down Majima becoming Captain? Now I'm the makeup reward for all that money.

I feel Majima pull the rest of my body onto him, now sitting sideways on his lap. I place a hand onto his chest, praying that the ride ends soon. His hand under my skirt gets closer to my panties, a big smirk plastering his face yet again. "Lighten up a bit, ya should be honored to be getting this kinda treatment from me." He speaks into my neck, placing light pecks to the sensitive flesh. I slowly try to convince myself that this could be worse, forcing myself to accept it.

His thigh starts to bounce, trying to use levity in a situation like this. Or was it to get me to hang onto him more and get closer to him so I don't fall off of his lap? Who knows which one it is when it comes to Majima.

As soon as his fingers glaze my panties, the driver comes to an abrupt stop. "This is it, Majima-sama." The driver nervously spoke, tapping on the steering wheel with their hand.

The cab door pushed open, Majima getting out first before pulling me out as well. He gets a good grip on my wrist before swiftly jogging away from the cab, not paying the driver.

"W-wait! You forgot to pay me," the driver shouts, bummed out that they fell for his trick.

I look around my surroundings when I get a chance, realizing that we are at his construction site. He guides me through the secret entrance before running down the stairs to the hidden palace below. "Wow, it's pretty down here," I say, trying to change the subject away from... the original one of why I'm even with him.

"Jus' down this long path is my office, doll. All I want is a drink with you. Considering that you're what I get from all that revenue I collected, hm?" He questions, placing his hands on my hips as we meet eye to eye. I don't answer him. I simply pull my eyes off of him and to the ground.

Before I knew it, the large decorated doors closed behind me as well as Majima. The office was empty. The only thing in it was a large fish tank behind a desk and some support pillars to the sides of the office. I swear there was even an echo accompanied by any sound made in it.

As I took a closer look at the desk, I saw a few control panels. My curiosity getting the best of me, I go to press a button on it. Right before I managed to, both of my hands were pressed down into the table with just one of his own. Majimas chest meeting with my back as he pins me to the desk.

The warmth of his voice hits the back of my ear, the close proximity causing goosebumps to form up my arms. "I got you a drink, ya'know to ease you up, pretty."

"Majima..." I whine out, trying to shift out of his hold but to no avail. A comforting shushing sound from him quiets me up as his other hand offers my lips the glass full of a sultry light brown liquid in it. Shakily, I wrap my lips around the rim of the glass. Tilting my head back, he dumps all the glass empty into my mouth. A strong taste attacks my tongue, causing me to struggle to swallow it.

I'm not a big drinker, but I could tell there was something off putting to the taste. It was not normal. A tear falls down my face as it runs down my throat, burning anything in its path. I naturally gag, yet still managing to keep it down. Majima sets the glass down, caressing my forearm as a way of praise.

"Atta girl." He verbally praises alongside the touch. My head is turnt towards his face from behind me, his tongue licking my burning lips clean from any liquor that had escaped through.

Oddly enough, the one glass of liquor hits me like a bag of bricks within only minutes. I'm woosy, and the only thing keeping me awake is the feeling of Majima grinding up against me as his gloved hands roam under my blouse. Any movement I make is weakened, my eyesight failing on me. The last thing I hear before blacking out is Majima chuckling to himself before catching me mid fall.

My vision starts to fade back, and with each blink, I gain more back. I'm greeted with a soft plush pillow behind my neck and the sensation of my legs being messed with. Not knowing what the feeling exactly was, I tried to shift my body up to be able to tell. However, it came to my realization that my legs were hoisted up onto a familiar faces' shoulders.

Any sound I had attempted to make was quickly muffled by his own glove in my mouth. Instinctively, I go to remove it out of my mouth, but my hands are slapped down to the sides of my head. I peer my eyes over him, watching him kiss at my ankle, his thumb rubbing at my ankle as well. I take notice that his jacket isn't on him anymore, his pants being his only article of clothing on him besides the other glove.

Making sure I keep my hands down, Majimas hands find their place back at my hips, pushing them against his pelvis. While I was passed out, my skirt was removed, leaving me in just my panties. I'm laid out for Majima on full display. Every time I struggled, it only fueled him on more. He made sure I would struggle with the way he grinds against my clothed sex. I could've swore he had us in one of those fancy rooms we had passed on the way to the office as we had an audience.

Something about the way he looked made my desire for him awaken. His always maintained hair, now tossled and messy, his face as pretty as ever. I know this shouldn't be happening, though. Never should two colleagues be involved like this. Is that why he drugged me? He knew I'd never actually say yes to this willingly. How long has he felt this way for me? Did he use what happened in the meeting earlier today as an excuse?

All of the confusion turns into stress. Light tears begin to roll down my face as he sees this right away and begins to coo at me.

"Aww, what's wrong? No need to cry, doll. I'll make sure to take good care o' ya." My tears are kissed by Majima then wiped by his thumbs. He gets a hold of my cheeks, pouting at me in mockery of my own face. The glove in my mouth soaking up all of the waterworks coming from my mouth, growing an even darker black than what the glove originally was. Him realizing this, he pulls it out, saliva strings snapping off of the glove as he tosses it to the side in disgust.

In relief, I breathed out quiet moans and pants to recover from the little air restriction that gave me. Giving me little time to catch my breath, my body jerks up into an arch from his subtle touch on my clothed clit.

"Really? That's all it takes? So pathetic..." Majima laughs at my reaction, talking to me as if I'm another one of his enemies. My mind as scrambled as it is, I involuntarily grab as his wrist. "Move your hands." A demand. Before he took action himself and swatted them away, I kept his hand still as I rocked my hips against his fingers. Turning my head to the side, I grip the pillow and shove my face into that as I begin to lose myself.

Majima gets a kick out of my desperation, and so does the male audience watching from outside the room. Some of them even fondling themselves through their own pants. Majima rips my blouse open before sliding one of his hands up my bra. He gives my breast a squeeze before pressing his thumb into my nipple. While lost within my own pleasure, I failed to notice that Majima had replaced his hand with his rock-hard dick. Now, rubbing himself off on my panties.

I plead for him now rather than wanting him off of me. I don't know what's gotten into me. But I need this, I need him. My cunt aches for him, more than just friction. Majima himself was a melting mess, trying to keep himself together but failing to do so. Impatiently, my panties are pulled to the side. Majima covers his hand in his own spit before rubbing it into my cunt as lubricate.

As I realize this is really happening, I try backing out like I even had a choice from the beginning, but it's too late. He had leaned forward, locking my legs over his shoulder and bending my body. I tap on his forearms that are wrapped around my thighs to hold them steady. His sweaty physique uncomfortably pins my body down as he teases my entrance with his leaking dick.

The way our slicks combine together into a sticky one, every glide of his dick giving off a lewd pornographic sound. Finally, he lines himself up before guiding himself in. With the position he has me in, he's deep inside of me, and it already hurts. This is the first time I'm taking him.

"It hurts, please stop... Majima..." Of course, he pays me no mind. Clearly, he feels good, and that's all that matters to him. Majimas mouth is agape, his hair falling into his face as he starts to push himself deeper before pulling himself out and repeating that movement. The way he stretches me out burns, causing me to claw at his arms to try to get him to stop. Again, the more I struggle, the more he gets off to it.

What I didn't expect from him was retaliation. My neck is greeted by his one gloved palm and given a rough enough squeeze to the point that my airways were almost completely blocked off. He'd give me second breaks to catch my breath before tightening his grip again. Those tears from earlier had broken out again, but this time, my cries were louder. Which made him take his other hand and cover my mouth. I bite down onto his palm, drawing blood from how hard I bit down.

"Ya're something, huh?" He moans from the painful sensation. I only fuel him on more with the way he begins to piston into me powerfully. Lifting my head, I watch as his dick appears out my cunt before slamming back into it, causing my head to fall back and roll into the pillow. To my surprise, I started getting off to his fucking. I slowly felt my body grow warm, building up an orgasm in my stomach. Every thrust from him was brutal. No mercy was shown.

At one point, I thought I'd pass out from all of the sensations at once, but he kept me awake by removing his hand from my neck and using it to instead rub unto my clit, which did not help relieve the overstimulation I was experiencing. Being pushed over the edge, I feel myself convulse, squeezing my hips around him as I intensely cum around his dick. His reaction to it is different, because I didn't just cum. I'm absolutely mortified to realize that I had squirted all over his torso. His face isn't an unpleasant one, just one of surprise.

"Somebody got a lil' too excited" He shames me in a teasing way, delivering light slaps to my clit before slowly continuing his pace. His face uncomfortably clenches up with each thrust, his own orgasm threatening.

He leans over to my ear, biting on the outer shell before slurring, "'m gon' paint you with my cum, pretty." With one last roll of his hips, he pulls out, rubbing himself off before ropes of his cum plaster my chest. I feel as if he's louder than me, moaning for everyone to hear as he finishes. Sweat drops falling from his forehead. Majima gives my cheek a slap before shoving his thumb in between my lips. I taste the sultry left over cum on his hand, dumbly sucking on it.

Majima collapses onto me, whispering concerning things that I can not process at the moment. However, I do know that this wasn't a one-time thing, I'm his now. Whether I like it or not.

crds to @cafekitsune for the dividers

#yakuza #yakuza 1 #yakuza 2 #yakuza 3 #yakuza 4 #yakuza 5 #yakuza fics #yakuza smut #yakuza4you #majima goro fics #majima goro x you #majima goro smut #majima goro x reader #yakuza majima #goro majima

61 notes · View notes

sweatinghoneybee · 2 months ago

Text

PRINCESS WINION

You know there’s many things in the live stream for the vengence saga that i could’ve gushed over alot, like Poseidon getting stabbed, the sailing away from charybdis, or even Hermes since it is “his” saga. But NOPE! the thing that made me stay to watch the stream till the end and the thing that i adored the most about the whole stream. Is this adorable winion dancing to Ody’s singing about how determined he is to go home. I MEAN LIKE COME ON LOOK AT HER!!! SHE’S JUST SO CUTE!!! THE DRESS THE TIARA THOSE BABY DOLL EYES!!! UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH THIS TINY PRINCESS JUST AWAKEN MY CUTE AGGRESSION ON HER!!! Seriously tho props to El_Craft for animating princess winion’s dance and also to their sister for voicing her! And yes i am calling this cutie “princess winion” cause with her cuteness she deserves nothing less then lots of devotion to her adorableness!!

And aslo

WHY THE HECK AM I ODYSSEUS WHEN I TOOK THIS QUIZ?!! NOOOOOO PLS NO!! I AM NOT MAIN CHARACTER BUILT TO HANDLE THIS GUY’S LEVEL OF TRAUMA!!! i wanted to be a lotus eater. . .

(Sniff) well at least i now know that i’m funny T^T

If anyone wants to try the quiz here’s the link, i tried it when i saw @ssiren-studioss post where she got Scylla

#epic the musical #epic the vengeance saga #digital illustration #sweatinghoneybee #fanart #digital drawing #digital art #i am not captain material #princess winion #i wanted to be a lotus eater #uquiz

48 notes · View notes

honey-minded-hivemind · 2 months ago

Note

I seem to only think about movie quotes today, so have a bunch of Reader shenanigans!

*everyone is busy so the Brotherhood is babysitting, now they are trying to teach Bby how to use their wings from their mutation*

Pietro: Here...We...Go! *throws bby off a very, VERY, tall tower*

*They all run to the edge of and watch Reader continue to fall while Pietro remains unbothered*

Todd: ...They're still not flying.

Pietro: They will.

Fred: ...Still not.

Pietro: It'll happen.

Lance: ...This is a tall tower.

Pietro: That's why it's good.

Todd: You should get them.

Wanda: They're gonna fall to their death.

Pietro: They're taking their time.

*Reader screams*

Wanda: PIETRO!

Pietro: I did that when Dad threw me off the first time.

Lance: They're getting too close to the ground!

Pietro:....You know what? They're not gonna fly.

*Zooms down to the bottom to catch the kid.*

‐-------------------

Logan, about Morph: I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I think I'm coming down with something.

Victor, an annoying older brother: Ooooooohh, I know what you have, brother. The L word.

Reader, too ace for this: Yeah! Leprosy!

Victor: No, no, cub. It's four letters, starts with an L, ends with an E.

Reader: *thinking hard* Ahhhh! Lice!

Victor: No-

‐-------------------

Reader, distressed: They think I'm a fascist? But I don't control the railways or the flow of commerce!

‐-------------------

Mystique, being used as a mannequin: It looks awful.

Reader, sewing Rogue's prom dress: That's because it's on you, dear.

‐-------------------

Kitty, to Lance: Would you like to stay for dinner?

Reader, ultimate wingman (when they are told what's going on, at least): WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?!

‐-------------------

Reader, looking at Erik: You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.

‐-------------------

*Reader and Magneto in a fight where they accidentally trigger a bomb*

Reader, shoving it at Magneto: Merry Christmas!

Erik, pushing it back: It's not Christmas!

Reader, tossing it at him and running away: Happy Hanukkah!

‐-------------------

Reader, about Victor: There's one in every family. And they always manage to ruin special occasions.

Logan: What am I going to do with him?

Reader: He'd make a very handsome throw rug.

Logan: Reader!

Reader: and just think, whenever he gets dirty, you can take him out and beat him!

‐-------------------

Lance: Rob? Tsk tsk tsk that's a naughty word. We never rob...we just borrow from those who can afford it.

Reader: Borrow? Boy, are we in debt.

‐-------------------

Gambit, carrying Reader after accidently lighting a bunch of fireworks with his power: Get off the roof Get off the roof Get off the roof!

‐-------------------

Reader, who has to be the distraction for the plan: I've got a jar of diiirrt! I've got a jar of diiiiiiiirrrrrrrt!

‐-------------------

Reader: Kurt, I'm afraid I've been thinking-

Kurt: a dangerous past time-

Reader: I know!

‐-------------------

Deadpool, hugging Reader: I shall call them Squishy and they shall be mine and they shall be my Squishy! Come here, Little Squishy!

Reader: *punches DP*

Deadpool: OW! BAD SQUISHY! BAD!

‐-------------------

Reader, about the X-Men: This is my family. I found it...all on my own. It's little...and broken...but still good....Yeah, still good.

This... is a masterpiece. Behold everyone, the saga of Reader!!!

Enjoy their antics, and weep from the funnies!!!

#honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere marvel #yandere platonic marvel #platonic yandere xmen #yandere x-men #platonic yandere marvel x reader #platonic yandere xmen evolution #platonic yandere xmen evolution au #go sugarsoda go!!!

38 notes · View notes

arlequinelunaire · 6 months ago

Text

Verthandi in the Middle Ch. 1.1

SV Next>

CW: The first couple of chapters involve a serial killer.

_ _ _

Because I’m the one who gets stuck with the serial killer, aren’t I?

…Okay, guess I should back up. Long story short, short-ish anyway, I go by Vera Norin, well down here I do. I’m one of the three owners, okay, one of the only three employees of the Wyrd Sisters Agency in Stockholm. Says a lot that my older sister Ruth told us we’d all have equal say, but then named the agency after herself. Er, after one of her alternate names.

Put simply, we control fate. No, we don’t just see your fate like a fortune teller, and unlike them we’re the real thing. Control it. Wanna go from rags to riches with us as your fairy godmothers, send someone you don’t like from riches to rags, or avoid your appointed death? Arranged all that and more thousands of times, and big sister Ruth even gets to control the past. Because of course she gets everything.

Er, guess I’m not being much of a saleswoman here, am I? Hey, I’m still the best of my sisters in that department, probably. Like Ruth would just tell you a bunch of flowery mythic-mystic bullshit before getting to anything important, while my little sister Svea would just prefix everything with ‘SUPER-’, ‘AWESOME-’, and ‘EPIC-’ and add a whole bunch of exclamation marks and a digi-cyber-guitar solo. Wait no, not epic, nobody says epic that way anymore, unless they start doing that again in the future when it’s retro. Huh, you’d think Svea of all people would know the actual meaning of the word ‘epic’, given we were there when the old sagas were being written. Then again, the past is Ruth’s domain- oh shit, I’m giving too much away, aren’t I?

Right, I take it you’re thinking if we’ve got power over fate itself, why are we letting mere humans have a say with this agency? Er, fellow mere humans, I mean. Simple, come the 21st century, someone as stuck in the past as Ruth has finally learned about democracy, and not just the barely-counts Ancient Greek kind. If we’re gonna hold this much power over people’s lives, the least we can do is actually give those people a say in things. That’s part of why I’m sharing this with all of you. Not that there aren’t conditions and restrictions of course, we’re still judge and jury, been doing this for millennia- ah, for years after all. Though I assure you, Ruth’s just as strict with us as she is with you, way more so. She’s had thousands of years to hammer into us “You can’t do that”, “Such is unbefitting of us”, “No using your power for your own gain” and on and on.

Okay, what’s this about me getting assigned a serial killer then? It started when a bunch of teens, you know the type, pimply, dour-faced, arms perpetually crossed, would’ve worn baseball caps backwards in past decades, lurched their way right into our office. “Wait, this is the place? Thought a ‘fate-writing’ place would be all dark and spooky, y’know all haunted castle. But this looks like where my parents work,” one of them whined.

“Fate-weaving, kid,” I muttered. Actually, we were still renting this basic white walled, brown carpeted office, and this kid reminding me of that got him on my nerves even more. Granted, freedom to decorate would give Ruth full reign to make everything all lacey and doily-draped and Svea to put spikes everywhere and drown it all in black paint. I shuddered at the thought. But speaking of her, “Svea, you know these guys?” I called out, since they were about high school age. Not that there’s only one high school in Stockholm, but eh, no harm in asking.

“Awesome, you guys saw my flyers!” Svea’s voice rang out all through the room. Which at least showed I was right, even if my ears throbbed. She ran up to them dressed in the exact opposite attire your standard office would demand. With her black hair uneven, leather coat clearly too big for her, knee-high combat boots ringed with spikes, it showed restraint that she didn’t enter the room to a guitar riff. Of course, I showed up to work in my usual anorak and jeans, and Ruth normally arrives in full Victorian garb, so we’re hardly any better. “Alright, so what can Verth and I do for you guys? Anything fate-related, that’s us!” Svea said with an ear-to-ear smile and both thumbs up.

“…Yeah, knew the loudmouth to be behind this. The handwriting on that ad was so bad, couldn’t be anyone but her,” one teen said, rolling his eyes. Huh, since when did stroppy teens care so much about handwriting? Oh yeah, as an excuse to bully Svea they do, though it looked like that remark only got a twitch out of her, on the surface anyway.

“So, if you people really can control fate,” another of the teens began as a smirk crept across his face, with me facepalming at what he said next, “Prove it by making the hottest girl in class fall desperately in love with me.”

“Not happening,” I wasted zero time in telling him. There was no way I’d risk Ruth coming into the room and hearing that one of her biggest rules was in danger of breaking. “We can weave what a person does or what happens to them into their fate, but not how they feel about it. Emotions are a person’s own domain.” It’s a testament to how much Ruth drilled those words into us that I could repeat them on the spot.

“Pfft, sounds to me like you can’t ‘weave fates’ after all,” that teen had to say, his smirk somehow even wider. “Or that hearing about hot girls reminds you how plain and drab you are, anorak,” he snickered like he thought I couldn’t hear, I then winced as Svea snickered with him. The little shit was so lucky that I was in a professional service environment right now and so couldn’t just deck him. Though any more talk like that, and he may find fate has decreed for him quite a few fists to the face. Or worse, decreed for him a life in retail.

“Hey, we can still do a whole bunch of stuff. Like with my domain, I get to decide who lives and who dies-” Svea began, before I put my hand right over her mouth.

“Oh no, you’re not putting that power in these losers’ hands,” I hissed in her ear. And on top of… the obvious, did she have to use the term ‘domain’? I then turned to the brats and told them, “How about sticking to your own fates, okay?”

But then one of them, an even more morbid type who’d been slinking in the shadows so far, had to ask, “What if you fated someone who really deserved it to die? Like a serial killer.”

Now that had me thinking. Obviously there’s been debate after debate on if killing someone can ever be justified, even the oh so brutal Viking Age still had Althing meetings over this sort of thing. On the other hand, like I’d shed the slightest tear over the death of a serial killer. On the other other hand, I was in no mood to become a bunch of snotty teens’ own assassin for hire, let alone foist that on Svea.

So I wussed out and went the rehabilitation route, how Scandinavian-justice-system of me. “How about we just fate it so that they never succeed in killing anyone again?” I offered. Naturally, I said that before knowing who and how bad this serial killer even was. Of course, Svea promptly frowned right at me.

“Fine. Just as long as, y’know, you actually do something involving fate already,” the first teen said. “Oh right, and that you don’t charge too much, we’ve been here long enough.”

Long enough? Since when’s a few minutes ‘long enough’? Not that I can’t sympathise with being strapped for cash, as Ruth won’t let us fate-weave ourselves rich since we ‘can’t use fate-weaving for own advantage’. But at the same time, who the Hel’s this kid to tell us how to run our business? Still, a compromise came to mind as I smirked back at him, “Our price is the satisfaction we get when you all concede that we really do control fate. How’s that?”

“Deal,” the teens said in unison, their faces still sour. Hey, I’d be happy to get this whole thing over with too. The one in the shadows then kept scrolling on their phone until they went, “Yeah, this guy looks like the right candidate.”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t have an actual killer in mind till just now?” I asked them, mouth agape. Just when I thought these teens couldn’t annoy me more. And they flat out ignored what I just said and held the phone up to my face. “Anastasios, surname unknown, the ‘Scarecrow’ killer,” I read. So named for his scrawny, nigh skeletal looks and the way he ties up his victims. Main stalking ground is… all the way down in Athens? These kids were absolutely sure they didn’t pick this guy at random? Then again, a serial killer’s a serial killer, and I like to think I’m more principled about death than Svea. “You got it, this guy’s killing days are done for. Check the news for any more reports on him if you don’t believe us,” I said with a smirk of my own. “Oh, and when that happens, make sure you tell all your friends just how wrong you were about us. Now scram.” Not the best thing to tell your customers, but Ruth wasn’t around, so as if I cared at this point.

“You mean you’re not gonna let us see your actual fate-writing, weaving, whatever process?” one of them had to blurt out.

This again. “Look, a nuclear plant isn’t gonna let you hang around radiation, we’re not gonna let clients hang around the destiny threads. They’re the whole of a person’s time on this Earth, maximum caution required. Now scram,” I said as I shoved them one by one out the door. Hel, ‘scram’ was me holding back, my first instinct was to tell them ‘Fuck off’. Then again, scram is what you say to kids, too Sesame Street reminiscent, while fuck off is what you say to adults, and I didn’t fancy treating them like that.

Then the second I’d dusted my hands of them, I turned around to see Ruth as prim and proper as a 19th century nanny staring right back me into my soul. Oh come on, I didn’t even hear her come in. Well, that’s typical for her, why announce your presence when you could make your sisters fear you’re always watching? “Vera,” she said looking down at me, like that word was all she needed to say.

“Hey, it’s just us three now, you do know you can use my real name?” I said first, then actually replied to what she’d implied with, “And I’m doing my job. I kept putting up with those kids till we reached an agreement, and now we’re gonna change fate per their request. What more do you want?”

“For you to start treating our customers with respect, to begin with. It would not do for our business to be saddled with a bad reputation,” Ruth said as she loomed closer over me. She then placed a hand on Svea’s shoulder as she kept chewing me out, “And in addition, you insulted the very customers your little sister invited. Think about how she must feel, after she put in all the hard work of advertising.”

I was about to point out to Ruth that, had she not shown up at the last minute, she would’ve heard these kids insulting Svea too. But as the future’s not my domain, I’d failed to foresee that Svea would betray me. “Oh yes, Verth was really mean, and to me too. She kept telling me no when I had any idea about how to give our clients what they wanted,” Svea said as she ‘cried’ at Ruth.

“Because Svea wanted to let teenagers order a guy’s death,” I hissed. Don’t know why I did, because if Ruth didn’t ignore me, she probably would’ve manufactured some excuse to defend Svea. Anything for the ‘baby’ of the family. So I then said, “Hey, we’re the only fate-weaving business on Midgard, in all the Realms even,” …as far as I knew, “We’re the last people who need to be worried about customers leaving for the competition.”

Ruth sighed down at me. “We know that, but they do not. To those more superstitious, any charlatan with cards and a crystal ball could be just as valid as we. To those more skeptical, we could be yet more quacks. We cannot afford to drive away clients, Vera. And even if we could, such behaviour would still be utterly unprofessional,” she said through gritted teeth. Then she softened her voice and used my real name, “Verthandi, as the past is not your domain, I don’t know how well you remember this. But in the Eddas, in all the Sagas too, any time our names were said, it was in fear or hatred, and that was when they chose to acknowledge us at all. The last thing I want is for that same fear and hatred to follow us into the 21st century. And that is why manners matter,” she huffed as her voice shot back up to its normal volume.

“…I know,” is all I said to her about our, well, past infamy. I seethed at her thinking all those things said about us didn’t still hurt me. I mean I get it, if you hear someone else controls your fate, it makes sense you’d be resentful of them. But I never asked to be shat on just for doing my job.

Though now she mentions it, if restoring our rep’s so important, doesn’t us using aliases defeat the whole point? Especially when they’re so paper-thin anyway, though I was at least grateful not to get stuck with the proposed ‘Bertha’.

Oh, and since Ruth had just ‘wrecked’ me, Svea of course had to stick her tongue out and pull down an eyelid at me. Yeah, that’s ‘manners’. And how is Svea going ‘killing is totally awesome’ not as harmful to our reputation as me saying a swear word to some kids? “Let’s just weave this fate already,” I settled on.

Guess it’s no use still trying to hide who we are, huh? Even Ruth’s gone and used my real name. Right, I’m Verthandi, Norn of Present Time. And if you’ve so much as squinted at a Norse mythology book, I take it you’ve figured out Ruth’s Urth of the Past and Svea’s Skuld of the Future. Told you our aliases were flimsy. We’re the Nornir and we’re, er, hard to describe, and that’s coming from one of them. We’re not goddesses, let’s make that clear, even if we do have to hang out with them. Urth tells us we’re Jotnar, which gets translated as ‘giants’ despite her only being six foot four, Skuld being a shrimp, and me being average as always. Yeah, you can argue the exact difference between Jotnar and Gods is pretty flimsy, but trust me, you really don’t want to compare the two to their faces.

Of course, my domain being the Present and not the Past means my memory’s kinda hazy, so I only have Urth’s word for it that I even am a Jotun. Hel, I don’t even know my own parents, think I heard Dad’s someone called Mogthrasir? He’s a real deadbeat, whoever he is. But I guess Urth’s telling the truth, like what would she have to gain from saying we’re Jotnar specifically?

Anyway, the fate-weaving. The three of us walked over to a corridor as bland and unfurnished as the foyer, till we came to a door no mortals could see. Or at least, they better not see, if all the runes we scribbled on it are working right. Our local fate-weaving room… how to even describe it? Have you heard of a tesseract, you know, a four-dimensional cube? Picture a whole cavern of four-dimensional spiderwebs, where each dewdrop reflects a moment from someone’s life, from big things like birth, graduation, and death, to the smaller stuff like that one time traffic was real bad, or it rained when the forecast said it’d be sunny. These webs of fate are also this room’s sole light source, with a person’s past shining white, their future shrouded in hazy black, and their present a smushed pallet. Or so it looks like to me anyway, if my sisters see their domains differently they’ve told me squat. Though I think Skuld wouldn’t want her domain to be any other colour than black, like her soul~.

While we didn’t have any super strong leads, knowing some basic information on this killer did help in tracking down his specific thread of fate. As Skuld and I approached the threads, our hands as usual morphed themselves into instruments akin to a spider’s pincers. Yet another reason we don’t humans watch us fate-weave, they’d be sent screaming seeing us turn semi-arachnid. Still, it’d help a lot if I could actually use an opposable thumb for all the tricky, obnoxiously precise bits.

I got to plucking out all the murders the Scarecrow killer ever would’ve committed from this point; I suppose I should’ve felt disturbed seeing them but well, I’m thousands of years old. I may not have the best memory, but the seriously bleak things from the past are all too good at sticking in the mind. Meanwhile, Skuld got the even more laborious job of lengthening all the threads of his future victims, now their fated deaths had changed. And all the while, Urth just… stood in the corner. Watching us do all the work.

“We are tampering with the web of fate enough,” Urth told me as soon as I glared at her, “Were I to get involved and rewrite the fates of his past victims, we don’t know how drastically we would complicate the web.” Which yeah, was exactly the response I expected. Again, alive for thousands upon thousands of years, I can’t fathom how many times she’s told me that. Although, makes sense we couldn’t show those kids we’re the real thing if the killer never even got to kill in the first place. “Not to mention-”

“The gods of the dead don’t like us taking those who’ve already died back from them, I know,” I said. Though it wasn’t like those three could afford to lose a soul or two, especially Odin. I then dusted my hands and said, “Anyway, we’ve got all these fates sorted. Let’s hope our next client asks us for something more pleasant.” And has more money to throw around.

“Oh no, we are not done yet,” Urth said as she looked right at me again. “You’re to watch over this Scarecrow to see how he reacts to having his capacity to kill taken away.”

“What? Why?” I asked, as I instantly assumed she was having me do this out of spite. “We know he’s not gonna kill any more, so what’s the point?”

“Yeah, and how come Verth gets to meet a serial killer and not me?” Skuld had to ask.

“Because Verthandi, you should know by now that the consequences for reweaving fate are nothing you should ignore. And seeing the reweaved in person is to remind you that these are fates of people we deal with, not dolls,” Urth told me, then turned to Skuld and said, “Skuld dear, I will absolutely not let you meet a serial killer. It simply isn’t healthy for you.”

“Why isn’t it?” I actually found myself coming to Skuld’s defence for once. “We can’t weave ourselves into his or anyone’s fate, but even then he still can’t kill her. Can’t kill the future after all. Not to mention some gods she’s met are way worse than serial killers,” I felt the need to keep my voice low for that line.

“Yeah, so lemme meet the killer. Why does Verth get all the fun?” Skuld kept whining.

“Verthandi, this is your little sister you are talking about!” Urth snapped at me. She then steadied herself with a deep breath and said, “Besides, while he may not be able to kill her, there are still plenty of awful things, physical and mental, he could still try on her.” Then she turned around and went, “Skuld, why don’t you and I go out for ice-cream instead? Maybe we can bring your hoverboard to the park?”

Oh, so suddenly those ‘awful things’ are okay when I’m the one in the crosshairs, are they? Yeah, Skuld’s stuck in permanent adolescence, but she’s still been in existence since, like, forever. Though I could immediately imagine Urth replying to that with ‘as have you’.

But if I said all that, it turned out Skuld wouldn’t have my back anyway, as she instantly said, “Ooh, ice cream!”

By the way, if you wonder why we make Skuld go to school even though she’s an immortal, well, one part that permanent adolescence, her being future potential embodied, but also Urth’s whole ‘gotta know the people’ thing. Everything I’d heard about school just made me glad Skuld got stuck with the Future and not me.

With me left with nothing but to groan, I followed Urth out into the scrubby patch that passed for our backyard. There, she picked up a rune-adorned old clay jug of water and held it aloft in the air. Everything shook as a massive, twisting root came down from out of the sky to drink from it. That’s our other job, attending the World Tree Yggdrasill. Well, ‘Yggdrasill’ is just what it’s called now, after Odin hanged himself from it. Its real name is… huh, I don’t think I even know. Maybe Urth does, but if she did she’d probably find some excuse not to tell me.

Anyway, even a root this size was still a minor root for Yggdrasill, nowhere near the three big ones, but it’d do for my assignment. “Ah, the Norns, what can I do for you today?” the tree’s personal squirrel chirped as he scurried his way down the branch, his alien green eyes letting you know this wasn’t your standard red squirrel. Well, that and the little reporter's hat and jacket he was wearing. And the voice thing.

“Nornir,” Urth had to correct, as if the fuzzball at all cared.

“I just need a lift to Athens, Ratatosk. That’s all,” I told him quick. I was about to tell him not to dump me on the outskirts, but knowing my luck that would probably be where the killer’s hiding.

“Why, you three already bombing in Stockholm?” he had to say. Him being the only one amused, and then having to dodge a can thrown by Skuld, he followed with, “Okay okay, your ride to Athens is ready. All aboard.”

I then took hold of the end of the root, and with that was pulled through creation all the way from Europe’s north to its south. Nothing I hadn’t done a bunch before, but I could only imagine how terrifying the experience would be for a regular human, especially for their arm.

And now you know all about how I got assigned to babysit a former serial killer. Here’s hoping he won’t be too much of a headache to deal with in person, I could use less of those in my life.

52 notes · View notes

chairofchaos · 3 months ago

Text

All That Follows

Pairing: Azriel/Eris (Azris my beloveds)

Summary: Sequel to ‘Death’ which is, in turn, the start of a sequel to “When the Blood Burns” - I’m ngl guys I’m too tired to write a summary sorry lol just… trust me please and see A/N

Rating: Teen? I guess?

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: allusions to violence, references of past violence from “When the Blood Burns” and “Death” (ik, you’re like “seriously Chaos? With THIS SERIES? THAT’S IT???” But like… yeah?) AND serious canon divergence. And written on mobile so truly HORRIBLE formatting. (See below)

A/N: ‘Twas the night before hiatus, and all through the house, a few creatures were sleeping but Chaos certainly wasn’t.

I wanted to post & All That Follows on this date, for reasons you might remember if you reread ‘Death’ first (wink wink). On that note: I don’t have time to finish the Masterlist edits I made on this blog. If you go to @fictionalchaos you can see all the posts really easily through that masterlist (Blood, Burns and/or Burns CV, then Death) or you can use the search function. I am so sorry about that. In the meantime, enjoy this completely unedited, un-beta-ed rough (ROUGH) draft of the series finale (but likely not installment, there’s some stuff ~missing~ from the middle) of the WtBB saga. All my love to you all. Enjoy today for me. 💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Azriel?”

It was warm. Uncharacteristically warm.

“Az!”

A solid hand gripped his shoulder and shook him.

“Azriel Vanserra.” Eris’ voice was firm.. “Get up.”

Eris.

Azriel’s eyes shot open. It felt like someone was banging on his head.

Eris. Eris.

“I’m here,” Eris smiled.

“Eris,” Azriel choked, the tang of blood lingering a moment on his tongue.

Eris laughed, “Hello.”

“I had to kill you,” Azriel whispered, his brain finally snapping to attention. “Over and over, I— I know it. Why don’t I remember it?”

“Ah,” Eris winced. “People don’t seem to remember things about the in between as much as know them. Here, sit up.” He pulled out a canteen from his hip, offering it to Azriel, who sat up, took it and drank deeply. When was the last time he had had water?

“The in-between?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Its a path of sorts. To here.”

“Here,” Azriel replied, fumbling for Eris’ hand, his wrist, Eris himself, as if he could retreat within the body of his mate and never return to himself.

“Here. Where we are now. Look around,” Eris gestured. “What do you see?”

You, Azriel thought. I see you, and that is all that matters.

Eris was waiting patiently, letting Azriel dig his fingers into the flesh of his wrist— warm, real— until he stopped staring, his chest and head pounding with some dull thud of feeling. Was it his heartbeat, the sound of blood rushing in his veins? It had been so long, so long…

The glen. Azriel blinked, and the world came to him all at once. They were in the glen, Eris kneeling by Azriel’s side the way Azriel had knelt at his to heal him in life.

Where they had lay together and stared at the stars.

Their dreams, breathed on the air and planted in the soil, absorbed into the trees where they were fed by the leaves and the magic of the earth around them, dreams held in nature when they could not be held in hearts.

“Why here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s the only place I’ve ever felt free, and you were brought to me?”

“Was I?” Azriel stared, incredulous. The corners of Eris’ eyes crinkled the way they always had when he was happiest.

“You appeared here, just now.”

“Eris,” Azriel growled. “Where is here?”

“I don’t know,” Eris admitted evenly, sitting beside him. “Truly. What I do know is this isn’t the end, either.”

Azriel just stared. Eris reached over and brushed a blade of grass from Azriel’s leathers. They were both dressed as they had been the last time they were left the clearing: Azriel, ready for battle, Truth Teller strapped to his side and Illyrian blades at his back. Eris wore light armor, leather mostly, over a plain shirt and trousers. A dagger was strapped to his belt, and on the grass next to him, a broadsword gleamed in the sunlight.

“Others have come and gone,” Eris continued. “No one I knew, or at least, no one I recognized. Everyone comes a little differently. It’s hazy, sometimes. I think people take different paths. But we aren’t meant to stay here.”

“Where do we go?”

Eris shrugged, leaning back on his free hand. “I don’t know.”

Azriel glanced around the clearing, tightening his grip on Eris so as not to let him go, not to lose him again, again, again—

It was light. When was the last time he had felt the sun on his face?

He fluttered his wings gently, then stretched them out. Eris squeezed his hand, then stood.

“You can fly, you know,” he gestured up at the sky. “I see fae all the time flying overhead.”

“Would I lose you?”

Eris shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

A movement at the edge of the clearing drew their attention. A female stepped into the clearing. Her eyes were clear as she looked about, but it was as if she barely saw them. Azriel realized if he didn’t focus, she barely registered to him as anything more than a shift of the light. The female walked evenly across the clearing, not pausing once.

The thought came to him suddenly, a raindrop before a deluge. “They are all going somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“You’re here.”

Azriel stared as the light filled Eris’ eyes in recognition. “I knew you would come. You always have.”

“You waited for me,” Azriel breathed.

“I did,” Eris knelt on one knee, reaching for Azriel’s hand. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I killed you,” Azriel accepted the offered hand and rose with Eris. “I was the reason you died, the reason we didn’t have a life together.”

Eris smiled softly, embracing him. “I know.”

“I pierced your heart,” he whispered.

“‘It was always so.’”

“You spoke to the Mother.”

“I did.”

“She told you it always happened that way.”

“She did.”

“Did she say why?”

“Not in any way that was satisfying. What was more interesting was what she said about here.”

A beat. Two. “Well?”

“I could wait for you forever, or I could journey on alone. I had the choice,” Eris’ voice turned bitter, “A choice we weren’t offered in life. A chance to walk together under the sun.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The Mother said you may know, if you considered it.”

Azriel blinked, the memory flashing behind his eyes. Eris, or rather, a creature who was not Eris, eyes as black as the depths of the night sky. Truth Teller, plunged into Not-Eris’ chest over and over. The Mother’s face from under her veil, the veil lifting.

“She helped us.”

“Oh?”

“Somehow, I think-” Azriel shuddered. “I think she intervened. She promised me I would see you again.”

A russet eyebrow crooked toward the sky. “And?”

He loves you more than life itself.

Life itself.

“Eris,” Azriel stepped backward, looking his mate in the eyes. “Did you make a bargain during the war?”

Eris paled. “What?”

“Did you make a bargain during the war?”

Eris took a sharp breath.

“Eris.”

“Yes,” he snapped. “I did.”

“What was it,” Azriel breathed. The pounding in his chest and head was now a crushing, steady pressure, a strain on his strength. “What was the bargain?”

“That you would survive the war.” The words flew from Eris’ mouth like embers from a fire- small, and yet scorching. “That you would live.”

The pressure in Azriel broke, and the mating bond roared to life, as if that ember of truth had burned away some floodgate and water now crashed against them.

“I recieved a letter from a Seer I knew from my youth. He— stop looking at me like that, I was trying to figure out how to tell you all of this— he said a vision he had showed a bat injured, and another bat dead trying to save his friend. That it showed it was from this war. And that my mate was involved, somehow, and how he knew that I don’t know, but I couldn’t let it happen, Azriel. I couldn’t let you die. When I saw Cassian stumbling away, I knew it was that moment. I didn’t know what it would do. I’m so sorry, Azriel,” Eris whispered, dropping his head to Azriel’s shoulder. “I’ve spent this whole time trying to figure out how to tell you, how to make it up to you, but I can’t.”

“Who was the bargain with, who has that kind of power?”

“The Cauldron,” Eris frowned. “I didn’t realize what I had done until a tattoo appeared over my heart.”

“Here?” Azriel rested a finger against Eris’ chest, a precise spot he was familiar with from nightmares and repeating that offense over and over again, until the suffering was over. He was here. They were both here. Alive, or whatever it meant to be conscious in a time and place after a life you have passed through.

Eris nodded.

“A warning,” Azriel mused. “To be careful.” He stroked Eris’ spine, neck to shoulder blades to lower back, and back up again. His mate, his beloved mate, who had done everything in his power to save him and gotten killed in the process. Until his breathing evened, Azriel would hold him. They had been alone for so long, and now all they had was time.

“She said that to me, too. It’s about me.”.

“No, I think it’s about both of us.” He paused a moment, then continued, “Eris, did you call me Azriel Vanserra?”

Eris lifted his head at last, a small smirk playing on his lip. “A little fireling told me you changed your name. I bet Father hated it.”

Azriel laughed. “He did. Every second of it, but I did it in Night and never left the court again. There wasn’t anything he could do to stop me.”

Eris shook his head. “You always were strong willed.”

“And you were always impulsive.”

“Could be said about both of us.”

“Strong willed, too.”

It was quiet a moment.

“Where do we go now?” Azriel asked.

“That way,” Eris nodded over his shoulder.

“Should we talk while we walk, then?”

“I think so. Are you ready?”

“Ready to walk?” Azriel raised a teasing eyebrow. Eris rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“Walk, yes. Are you ready?”

“I am. Are you?”

Eris smirked. “Ready to walk, and ready for what might follow.”

Azriel laughed. “What, like stargazing? Or like battle? You don’t seem concerned.”

“No. No stargazing. My star is right here,” Eris kissed him gently. “As for everything else, well, we’ll have to see what comes.”

Azriel watched as he bent to pick up the broadsword, wrapping the sword belt around his waist and buckling it with practiced fingers. “Well, if we don’t know what’s coming, we’ll have to stick together.”

“Always,” Eris agreed, eyes flashing.

“Through anything that comes,” Azriel promised.

“And all that follows.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag list: @unanswered-stars (I owe you many thanks, especially for going starting this wild ride with your lovely request.) @ninthcircleofprythian @dusk-muse @lilah-asteria @chunkypossum @c-starstuff-man0

Give me a shout VIA ASK WHILE IM ON HIATUS PLEASE if you want on/off the tag list (general or Azris or what have you). Thank you!

31 notes · View notes

llumimoon · 1 year ago

Text

Introducing a very important side character and the big bad villain in the EAH au!!!!

Nicky being a bunny rabbit is ABSOLUTELY a running gag in the story btw Lark is fucking fuming and beefing with what appears to be just a normal ass bnuuy and its so funny. its SO funny.

Willy does play the role of the previous Evil Queen before Scary so here he is imprisoned his Magic (Doodler) Mirror that he will totaaaallly stay trapped in. mhm. definitely will not trick someone into breaking him out. (I am lying he definitely gets out)

A small section of the Nicky Bunny Rabbit Saga btw:

Also new Wonderlandian development lead to this

(AU by @rindomness, @kaseyskat, & I!)

Image description under the cut !!

[ID: Image 1: Ever After High AU Nicky Close posed with one hand up holding a pocket watch and the other hand hesitantly raised by his waist. He is labeled with the text ‘The White Rabbit’ and there is a word bubble that says ‘can transform into a bunny!’ And an arrow pointing to a white bunny in the bottom left of the image. The bunny has a pink bow and two piercing on an ear that match the piercings on Nicky’s bunny ears on his humanoid form. His humanoid form is wearing a light blue striped tailcoat with a white shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled up and a pink bow. He has large white gloves with pink toe beans on them and dirty white pants with various white belts and buckles and pink and blue knee patches and a pink sash belt with a bow on the left side. The pants are tucked into blue and pink buckled boots with white rabbit feet sticking out at the ends. He has three extra pocket watches on a belt loop and the pocket watch in his hand is open to show the time and a locket picture on the other side of Sparrow Oak dressed as Snow White.

Image 2: An ornate mirror is in the center of the image. The frame of the mirror is made up of intricate black swirls reflecting purple, blue, and red light from around it. The mirror has four eye shaped gems, the biggest one being a red eye at the top and the other gems being smaller and about the same size on the left, right, and bottom of the mirror. The gems are emitting a glow corresponding to their color. The glass of the mirror is shattered and is giving off a purple glow. Willy Stampler dressed as the Evil Queen is smirking and is trapped inside the mirror with his eyes glowing purple. The mirror is surrounded by purple particles and sparkles.

Image 3: A discord screenshot of messages in a server between ‘rin (doodler gender)’, ‘hero enthusiast (cal)’, ‘sparrow enjoyer’, and ‘hermie apologist (silver)’. Rin says ‘POTENTIALLY WEEKS!’ And ‘lark at some point going is this actually nicky. Is this actually nicky or am I legitimately just beefing with a real rabbit this wonderland kid picked up. did i fool myself’ then Cal and Nyx (who is ‘sparrow enjoyer’) both send keysmashes and Cal says ‘is this nicky or is this some random bunny who hates me specifically’ then Rin sends 'EXACTLY' and Silver sends ‘LMAO’ and Rin sends ‘did i piss off some other bunny-related person. what is this. what is happening. The exact opposite of nicky forgetting he could go rabbit mode when he first started keeping an eye on the kids for sparrow is him staying bunny mode MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH LONGER THAN IS NECESSARY OR REALLY USEFUL’

Image 4: A doodle of EAH AU Taylor ‘s head with bunny ears and an excited smile in red next to EAH AU Hermie’s head with a mischievous sharp teeth grin and cat ears in pink. The top of the image says ‘Update:’ while under the sketches Taylor is labeled ‘half white rabbit’ and Hermie is labeled ‘half cheshire cat’. /end ID]

#dndads #dndads s2 #dungeons and daddies #dungeons and daddies season 2 #eah dndads au #cal draws #nick close #nicholas foster #nicky freeman #willy stampler #hermie unworthy #taylor swift dndads #btw im gonna do a post w/ all the kiddad designs at some point #i feel like 80% of this AU is us bullying the fuck out of Lark. its hilarious to me #yeah this au is lovesong too which means Nicky and Sparrow are a thing. which makes the Lark and Nicky beef SO MUCH FUNNIER IMO #also btw Hermie immediately clocks that the rabbit is Nicky but plays along with it for the bit #Scary is the only one who doesn't know who he is shes more preoccupied with other thinfs #(at this point in time Normal is missing and they're trying to deal with Willy. its a lot)#and YEAHHHH the doodler does play a part in this au #idk what you expected from me the doodler guy and rin also the doodler guy #doodles is some Entity that was used to trap Willy in the mirror it is what makes the mirror magical #so when the mirror breaks . in a way doodles is also freed. but not completely #we WERE also gonna release it until we realized how op having the doodler would be so we were like okay nvm u need to do some other shit #to fully release it #when working on nicky i was using my usual nicky colors aka blue and red #and then i realized hes the WHITE rabbit #so i lightned everything up to be pastel and BOOM now hes trans colored. hes the trans bnuuy #hes kinda sillayyyy #hermie and nicky r truly the ones making this shit a comedy. otherwise it would probably be a horror #also scam is the cheshire cat. we realized kitty and her mom's dynamic fit hermie and scam VERY well and ran with it

196 notes · View notes

kiss-me-muchoo · 8 months ago

Text

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 || 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

part one: the albatross

part two: little old her

part three: no name yet

Summary_ As the force awakens, what you know as the truth starts to crumble and the sudden change of emotions for Kylo Ren also interfere with your destiny.

Warnings_ age gap? lol (reader 20, Kylo 28), slowburn, ? to almost lovers to enemies to lovers xd, eventual angst, fluff and dramaaa

A/N_ this is exactly how I imagine myself in the Skywalker Saga bye. song recs: the albatross (Taylor Swift) and psycho (EMM).

♪ ♫ my Adam playlist (awful) ✰ index (masterlist/ other works there)

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

There was a crack in the glass. A straight line was visible in the glass separating you from the stars. Was it dangerous enough to break the whole thing with pressure? Not your business. You had been part of the First Order long enough to know that by the next days over, that crack was going to be gone. They cared a lot about their surroundings. No wonder why their floors were always shiny and squeaky.

A pair of boots can be heard. You remain looking at the glass. The pair of boots do not sound squeaky against the black floors. These are angry steps, confident and threatening.

“You were expected to lead a division of stormtroopers along Phasma. I was clear enough about meeting you in Jakku” Kylo Ren says through his well-known modulated voice. You can hear his breathing, he’s angry.

In four years of knowing him, you got used to his terrible anger control. So you remained calm. Or at least tried to do so.

“And you knew that I had an important dinner in Canto Bight. Supreme Leader Snoke said you were notified of my departure.” You respect him, a lot. But ever since you were saved by The First Order at eleven years old, Snoke told you to cover your face until you were old enough to show your face to the galaxy. Whatever that meant, you obeyed him. And refused to turn around and face the masked man. On rare occasions, you had seen his face, as well for him. It was a weird dynamic.

“Supreme Leader Snoke might have the last word, but you always come and report to me first, not him.” You sigh, tired of never being able to get a compliment from him. Four years, and you feel like time has slowly passed. You have so much to give, but nothing to rely on that thought.

“This is the last time I want to hear about you not following my command. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Master Ren.”

There’s more. You already know that little pause he tends to make before adding more.

“Dinner is over, get changed and ready. The map to Skywalker is in a droid, it should be back with us soon.”

He leaves and you finally turn, looking at his tall and imposing figure walking away. Then you look down, checking at your dress, all black and covering you. You liked feeling dressed up, wearing heels, using exotic makeup, and letting your hair free. But you weren’t a fancy woman of Canto Bight, you were a force user with a military ranking in The First Order. You were a young woman who knew nothing other than lies, which remained unknown to you. But not for so long…

…

You look at General Hux and your master arguing once again. The BB unit droid being unable to be found was transforming into a big issue for everyone. You hadn’t had time to train, you just looked at your superiors sending daggers through each other’s eyes. When Ren left, you walked towards Hux. You notice how tense and tired he is, holding his serious and professional facade as long as he can.

“How can you stand him after all this time? I’ve been here longer than him, but I haven’t known him long enough like you” The red-haired man makes a face of disgust at your words.

“I’ve learned to not care enough, I just care about Snoke preferring my techniques rather than his. After all, he is just the Supreme Leader’s puppet” You frown, but you then remember. Snoke took Ben Solo under his wing, there was no Kylo Ren before. You were still eleven when he joined, he had killed the original leader of the knights of Ren and everyone started fearing him. Except for Hux who was just starting to lead his father’s legacy at the time.

“Do you think I’m a puppet as well?” Hux shrugs, then looks at you. He has known you since you were a teenager and he was a young adult. For some reason, he knows you very well.

“I cannot tell what you are to Snoke. But you are Ren’s albatross” he says, making you smile. You avoided causing trouble, but it was evident that all you did was annoy your master, instead of bonding with him like you wanted. Because Phasma was not mean to you, Hux was something like a friend, but you wanted to not feel alone. You wanted to feel the warmth of a bond.

“All I want is from him is to not make me feel like a burden”

“Stop caring about what he thinks. Your goal should be to prove yourself to Snoke”

Maybe he’s right.

…

Hux's advice keeps coming back to your thoughts. You shut your thoughts to your master, who is sitting beside you, piloting a ship.

“Was the next step in my training necessary to be outside of the Starkiller base?” Later that day, Ren and you met with Snoke. His hologram assured you were ready to take another step in your training. Then your master literally dragged you to a ship and quietly started a route unknown to you.

“Yes.” He says uninterested, mask fixated on the control of the ship.

“Oh.”

He takes a small glimpse of you. Your black attire partially covers your face with a delicate transparent fabric, it was difficult to see if he had given you bruises over the years of training. You have sad eyes, and he can’t help but feel a little like the cause of it. He doesn’t hate you like you believe. It just was so fucking difficult to have someone under his mentorship when Kylo Ren himself still felt like his training wasn’t over.

“Can you still see your surroundings if you cover your eyes with that thing?” He suddenly asks, making you frown in confusion.

“Uhh… yes. Why?”

“It’ll be better if you cover your whole face when we get to our destination?” He made you believe it was to be in disguise but actually, it was because he was taking you to a place that was used by ancient Jedis. Snoke couldn’t know where the mission happened, just that it was completed. He was taken there by his father when he was a kid. Ren knew he shouldn't be there, but something from the place was calling him.

“Oh, okay.” You limit yourself to say. He nods and you know you are in Dantooine once he enters the planet. There is an orange sunset covering the empty land. It was only a field that you saw after your master carefully and perfectly landed the ship.

“Master Ren, this is beautiful.” You say as soon as your boots touch the yellow grass, breathing the fresh and almost pure air.

“This isn’t the reason why I brought you here”

He can see some strands of your hair flying around the edges of the fabric covering your face. He can sense you are in a state of pure relaxation. It surprises him to see you like this. Even he feels… peace?

“Aren’t we gonna train here?” He sighs under his helmet.

“Follow me.” He guides you towards the little mountain. It’s a simple hike. At the top, there’s a curve and the entrance of a cave. He gestures for you to walk inside. It confuses you enough to frown and stop moving.

“You want me to go in?” You just know he is rolling his eyes inside the helmet.

“Correct. You go alone and pick a crystal. Remember… you’ll know once it’s calling you” You can’t hide your surprise. But knowing who your master is, you just nod, entering the cave. The day you would build your lightsaber was coming, but it shocked you to know it was already happening.

As soon as you start venturing inside the cave, some crystals start sparkling in blue, yellow, dark green, purple, and indigo. The force feels incredibly strong inside the cave. And you know that isn’t how the dark side feels. It was peace, balance, order. Some blue crystals shine brighter than others. But finally, one starts pulling you towards it. It’s a bright green, like lime and mint mixed. It was beautiful, it transmitted a feeling of wisdom. Your hand touched it, and a shiver ran through your spine. The voice of a man clearly echoed suddenly.

The light is closer than you know, y/n.

You pulled the crystal quickly and looked around, the cave became dark, as all the crystals stopped shining, except for the one in your hands.

That wasn’t the voice of Ren. Perhaps it was just the cave. But it felt very personal. Almost like the voice knew you.

When you get out of the cave, it’s almost dark. What you thought it was a couple of minutes had actually been almost an hour. And Ren is there, holding his helmet in his hand. His face takes you aback. Sometimes you forget he is also a human like you.

He glares at you and starts looking, probably for the crystal. So you show it to him.

You know what's next, and honestly, you weren’t ready.

“This is where I suppose I have to make it bleed” Kylo almost wants you to keep the crystal-like it is, it was certainly beautiful. And your happiness was resulting infectious.

“Do it when you’re alone. It’s not easy to do so, you need to concentrate…”

“And let the pain take over me, I know, master,” you say, almost angry at him suddenly. You just hated the process. It was enough to feel alone already.

“I can help you… If you want.” The fabric in your face had been brushed aside, showing most of your features. Ren sees each mole, the dryness in your lips, the hope in your eyes. And he understood you just wanted someone to bond with. He felt it a while ago, a little after you two officially met and started working together, but he wasn’t just ready to share anything of himself. Yet, when you stare at his full lips, sad eyes, and non-expressive face, he knows he can have a potential ally staring at him in that empty valley.

“I would like that…” he nods, starting to go down the little mountain once again.

“Wait, master Ren” he turns to face you.

“When I touched the crystal, I heard a voice, it was a man. I thought it was the cave, but it just felt weird, like it was meant to be for me”

“What did the voice say?” He asks you to stay quiet. He senses you are unsure whether to tell him or not. He walks back again, staying just inches away from you.

“You can tell me…” he meant it, staring through your lashes, he expects your answer.

“That…that the light was closer than I know” you admit looking at the hem of his black robes.

“I’ve felt it too, a pull towards the light” his words leave you shocked. You gulp, blinking a few times before staring at his brown eyes again.

“We can’t fail…” the way you said, it made him feel like… he wasn’t alone.

…

The room is cold, and dark and has a peculiar smell of humid rocks. Snoke appears in a hologram form, sitting on a throne that makes him look impossibly taller.

“Dear child, What is it that has your thoughts running unstable?” His raspy voice echoes everywhere, you focus on his face, trying to see anything, but Snoke has never shown signs of emotion.

“We haven’t received any news from the ambush in Takodana…” Your voice trembles a little bit, and Snoke notices it.

“You are quickly caring too much for your master suddenly”

Busted.

“I want to care for him… and as much as I hate to admit it, I want him to care for me” you accept, looking down, embarrassed.

“But of course, you need to build a connection with your master. Is there anything conflicting with you?” You certainly don’t want to tell him about the incident in the cave. But you know the supreme leader must’ve already sensed it.

“When I was searching for the crystal for my lightsaber, a voice called me, saying that light was closer than I knew. Supreme leader… What could that possibly mean?”

“When I found you, my dear child, your home was already a living hell. But the lands where you came from were once filled with so much light. Your roots will always call you, it is in yourself to keep being on the right path” It might have been a comment, but it felt like a threat. A warning that you had to remain faithful to the dark side.

“Go and find your master. Gain his trust and guide each other towards your mutual goal; finding Skywalker and destroying the hope of the Jedi.” You nod, lowering your head as his hologram disappears.

In the silence of that empty room, you meditate on what just happened.

Your inner voice was clear; Snoke was keeping some details to himself. You never thought of your past. You lounged a family because you knew you had one, but… it didn’t matter anymore. Only that the curiosity was inevitably growing.

Quietly you leave the room. The hallways of the base are filled with troopers walking and moving in different directions.

They came back from Takodana.

You start walking faster, pacing till you stumble upon a dark tall known figure. Kylo Ren looked incredibly intimidating with the mask and hood together. He gestures to you to go inside an empty planning room and you open the door. He was looking for you too.

He follows quietly, closing the same door. His hands remove his helmet and place it on a table. You are just analyzing each movement he does.

“Did you get the map?” you ask straight to the point. Ren actually wanted to ask if you had finished building your saber. But you had other questions.

“In a certain way, yes.” You cross your arms, confused at him.

“Can you be more specific?”

“The scavenger, she has seen the map.” you huff in disbelief.

“What? You brought a dirty scavenger instead of the droid?” his face covered in moles sighs, quickly losing patience, you can tell.

“I’ll take the map from her”

“Don’t underestimate that girl. She has been able to get away so far, she might be more dangerous than we thought” he rolls his eyes.

“Stop it.”

“This is nonsense. We were supposed to have the actual map with us and-“

“ENOUGH!” He yells, his hand rises and you are quick to suppress his use of the force, making him bend half of a chair that was near.

Shocked, you realize he was going to choke you. Anger quickly builds up, and Hux’s advice rings into your head; Stop caring about what he thinks. Your goal should be to prove yourself to Snoke.

“You are my master but I will never be tired to remind everyone I’ve been here long enough to know what is convenient for us and what isn’t. You just might have invited the whole Resistance to the base and it won’t be my fault, Master Ren.” You push past him and you leave the room slamming the door. You take off the fabric in your face out of anger.

Some minutes pass and you are still mad. He was such an asshole. Always giving you the cold shoulder instead of listening to you. You were younger, but you had almost the same training from Snoke as him. Ren was difficult and very stubborn. Whoever was the famous scavenger, you could feel she was going to be a problem.

Out of nowhere Phasma appears, holding a blaster and looking down at you.

“Lieutenant y/n, your command is required by General Hux” You nod, calming yourself as you start walking with the woman. You pass near the throne room and you are able to hear Snoke and Kylo’s voices. You stop Phasma and she seems taken aback, but soon you tell her to hear and she relaxes.

“We’re going to get caught” she whispers. The woman was known to be on her business and on no one else’s.

“I’ll be quick” you whisper back.

Then Snoke starts saying Kylo is going weak. He reminds your master about his father; the infamous Han Solo. That the scavenger resisted him and that he isn’t putting your training on his priorities.

You hear Kylo say he always thinks back on you. And you know you shouldn’t have blushed or felt your heart racing, but you did. He made it sound like he cared for you.

“There are many mysteries surrounding us that she must not know,” Snoke says and it triggers you. Thankfully Phasma pulls you away and forces you to keep walking. Probably just in time so Kylo wouldn’t see you overhearing.

Snoke isn’t telling you everything. Ren knows something too.

“Everyone heard your argument with Commander Ren,” Phasma says teasing, but also commenting to warn you. It didn’t surprise you that the argument was loud. Any argument with Kylo ends up being in the news of the First Order. Also, Phasma doesn’t say anything about the conversation you two just overheard.

“I’m getting tired of being his apprentice. I want to succeed by myself, not by being his shadow.”

“Your time will come. A little treason wouldn’t hurt. Everyone here is dying to escalate in ranking” she admits. You look at her chrome helmet with curiosity.

“You seem happy with your position forever”

“I am.” Phasma must’ve been smiling under the helmet.

She disappears as soon as you both reach the command center.

Hux is there, along with other officials who monitor the aftermath of the weapon that had just attacked the Republic.

“The girl escaped and Ren must be angrier than ever,” the red-haired man says looking straight at you, with his hands behind his back.

“She is force sensitive…” Hux nods.

“I knew this was bad. I told Master Ren, but he didn’t listen…” An anxious feeling starts creeping into your stomach.

“Yes. And thanks to his little outburst and obsession with the girl, we are closely monitoring if we have a sudden attack from the Rebels” Once again, you sigh.

The feeling in your stomach grows, making you frown. Hux also frowns, caressing your shoulder.

“Are you alright?” You feel a sudden pain in your chest and you describe it. It was Kylo, someone he loved who died. It had to be his father or mother.

“Something's off, I can feel it” you manage to say. At the same time, a loud explosion is heard, the floor is assaulted by a little tremor and alarms start sounding.

You exchange worried looks with Hux and both run to see what just happened.

The chaos quickly envelops the Starkiller base, there are troopers moving everywhere, officers getting in and out to report things to you and Hux. And still, you are only thinking about your master. Was he safe?

Your guts were telling you he wasn’t safe.

With the invasion of the Rebels, everything was getting trickier.

“We need to evacuate. The base is about to collapse, lava is going to consume the surroundings at any time” Hux says hurriedly.

“I won’t leave without Ren. I will go for him!” before you can leave, the man grabs your forearm.

“Be quick, a boarding ship will be waiting for you both… but not for long” You nod, offering a serious smile before leaving.

The base was enormous, you had no idea where could Ren be. Each step feels unsure because you don’t know where you’re going, you try to concentrate but the constant explosions and screams from people entering in panic don’t help at all.

Master Ren, please, guide me towards you, you repeat in your head, hoping he’d hear.

Through the wide crystals, you can see TIEs and X-Wings flying around, and you grow impatient.

You stop when another tremor comes. Holding onto a wall, you close your eyes, trying to reach for Ren one last time.

You call him. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want your help, or if he’s mad at you for yelling, you just know you don’t want to leave the base without him.

Snow, droplets of blood in the white snow. The scream of a woman and the sound of sabers colliding.

He answered.

…

The lava makes you hurry, time is running out. The snow is fresh, it makes your boots sink and turn your steps slower. The beating of your heart grows as you distantly see a purple light, created by a blue and a red lightsaber.

They don’t notice you yet, but you are able to see a man unconscious near the woman fighting your master; the scavenger.

She’s skilled, fearless and you have to admit it impressed you. But the thought is quickly gone when you arrive, witnessing how the woman sliced your master’s face.

“KYLO!” You scream in horror when he falls, dropping his saber. The woman turns to look at you and you send her flying, making her skull collide against a rock. You run towards the man and kneel beside him.

His face was covered in blood, it was a deep wound, part of his attire was ripped, and you could see his shoulder bleeding.

“I’m here… I’m here.” Your desperate attempts to make him gain stability fail. But he slowly blinks, holding onto your hip to clear his vision and stop feeling like everything is spinning. His face hurts, his head pulses and he feels on the verge of fainting. But he’s able to clearly see your face. You came to help him.

“I’m not leaving without you.” You say touching his chin, trying to calm him.

A lightsaber ignites and you know the scavenger was still there. Your little moment of vulnerability was enough to make her recover.

You stand, turning to face her. She looks pissed, desperate to run, but so you are.

You grab your freshly made lightsaber. It’s dark chrome and with tiny details that resemble constellations and stars. And it’s cold, but soon turns warm when you ignite it, revealing a red double-sided saber.

The scavenger runs, confident that she will attack and target you. But you’re quick, you remember Kylo saying you had the ability to use your reflects too quickly.

The double sides of your weapon trigger the young woman, who is already tired. You can see how she huffs annoyed. But you take that to your advantage. You keep hitting her blue saber until she starts giving up. She is conflicted, she is a nobody, and you can feel how alone she has been.

Her weaknesses are your strength, and in the blink of an eye, you have burned her leg, making her scream and fall. And before you can do anything, a trail of lava appears, and the whole base is about to disappear. The scavenger gives one last curious look before running away. And finally giving you time to run back to Kylo, who is still breathing and wants to fall unconscious.

“Stay awake, hold onto me. We need to get to the boarding ship to leave” he seems to have nodded, his strong arms feel heavy and weak. It’s difficult to walk with his massive weight relying most of it on you.

With each step, he keeps leaving a little trail of blood. You need to hurry, the snow is slowly melting, drenching your boots.

Kylo is in shock, he tries to process everything but he can’t, because it isn’t over, he needs to get to that ship. But somehow, he holds onto you. He feels slightly better knowing that you came for him. That you are guiding him through the woods.

To him, the sudden change of getting closer to you was abrupt. He wasn’t used to talking much or looking out for someone. Not even with his knights.

He succeeded for a long time having no issues with you. But now, you dragged his body into the ship, his body lying and a droid immediately checking him. He hears distant voices and through blurred vision, he sees you talking with Hux.

He overheard the annoying General saying how much of a trouble you were for him. You started twisting his thoughts, the need to feel closer to you, the attraction towards the light. Hux was right.

You were Kylo Ren’s albatross.

_______________________________________________

To keep going with this mini series or not lol

#kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo x y/n #kylo fanfic #adam driver x reader #star wars x reader #star wars fanfiction

64 notes · View notes

lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom · 3 months ago

Text

On Birdo's Gender

Heads up this post will quote manuals and website descriptions and by no means supports the messed up language in it. It was wrong then and it is wrong now, this post is purely for educational purposes. Also, this is meant to be a useful tool to use against people who try to use this Pink Dinosaur to be losers all while clearing up any actual confusion.

So... appearing first in Super Mario Bros. 2 USA, Birdo first gets the following description in the manual. "He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called 'Birdetta.'" But it is a bit different in the Japanese version than in the localization. "Katherine, thinks they are a girl and spits eggs from their mouth. Calling them Kathy puts them in a good mood." So while the Japanese manual isn't as bad it is still not great. The reason for this Japan isn't the kindest to trans people. Many people themselves in Japan will use pejoratives to refer trans people, mislabel them, make "jokes" at their expense, and yes misgender them. Look no further than that one Metroid developer interview where a developer called Samus Aran a newhalf as a "joke." This information provides some context on why Birdo is treated the way she is not just in the West but in Japan itself. Btw as a side note on this idea of "jokes' this also might be the reason the Mario series uses Luigi wearing Peach's dress as a joke so often. To the point they made this description for Luigi which can be interpreted as implying some things about Luigi. "When Toadette finds one of these, she can transform into the super-powered Peachette. (Sorry Luigi-only Toadette can use this item!)" Note, the Luigi thing is a maybe and not guaranteed, this is just speculation. That aside, let's move on.

Shows up in a Japanese commercial where she has a deeper voice, which is points to the obvious fact that she is intended to be trans. Side note, trans women can have both deep and high pitched voices, and thus this depiction of Birdo can go either way here.

Next up is a description of from the Double Dash Japanese Website. 「ヨッシーの彼女に見えて実は彼氏!?」 "Birdo appears to be Yoshi's girlfriend, but is actually his boyfriend!?" This is some more of that yikes moments when it comes to Birdo and how they are treated.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Popple appears to almost misgender Birdo but ends up not doing so. This seems to be a decent depiction of her. Now some people believe she is being deadnamed, here, however Birdie seems to be just a pet name she likes being called.

So at this point people on this topic typically bring but the next thing and call it a day, but I have more here to bring up. So some people bring up Birdo's Brawl description, but it is irrelevant to this topic because Smash Bros. is not canon.

Next up Birdo's BS Super Mario USA depiction. As mentioned in a previous post, Birdo has sisters. This also makes some decent treatment of her and her sisters. In addition the Super Birdos are voiced by Jun Donna, Rika and Akemi which are all trans women if I am correct. If I made a mistake at all here let me know. In addition they all have deep voices. See the video BSスーパーマリオUSA　パワーチャレンジ　第1回 from the channel kukun kun.

Now Birdo in Paper Mario: Sticker Star Birdo sings a song. “Heart of a woman, heart of a man… Both can know of love's grace…” This one is a bit iffy, it might be intended to be something intended to be used to mistreat Birdo, or it might not be and is just meant to refer to her being trans. Side note, in Paper Mario: Color Splash Birdo sings a song that references Doki Doki Panic and her relationship with Yoshi. In addition her being a performer in this game is a follow-up to what she said she would do in Superstar Saga.

Next up is Birdo's descriptions in various games. Games like Super Mario RPG, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Tennis, Mario Kart Double Dash, and Mario Party 9 all use the correct pronouns for Birdo. Now I've heard it claimed Super Mario Party does the same but I don't have access to it, and it is also claimed in the UK version it misgenders her. It also has been claimed that in the Japanese versions she is also misgendered but again I don't have access to those to check them. But even if the Japanese did say that, it would be better to abide by the US localization's usage of Birdo's pronoun since she is intended to be a trans woman.

Finally in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Birdo is featured on the sponsor Women Of Racing Organization thus acknowledged her as what she is. In addition the Sunshine Airport Intercom refers to her by the correct pronouns as well. Source: Sunshine Airport Intercom Voices in 4 different voice overs! [MARIO KART 8 DELUXE]

Now on Birdo spitting out eggs alongside the rest of her species doing the same. It is never stated anywhere whether or not the Birdos have sexes, and they obviously don't have any spectrum sexual dimorphism as most Mario characters don't So it is probably safe to say Birdos either are sexless, or if they do have a sex then like Yoshies all Birdos can make eggs.

23 notes · View notes

marichive · 8 months ago

Text

𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 : 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄

Writing / roleplay prompts collected from the POV chapters of Cersei Lannister in A Feast for Crows , the fourth book of the ASOIAF saga. Feel free to adjust pronouns / etc. as needed.

tw: dark & mature themes, death, violence, suggestive / sexual content

❝ We are not alone. ❞

❝ Where are my guards? ❞

❝ I must show no fear. ❞

❝ What do you want of me? ❞

❝ The Lord Commander said come get you. ❞

❝ I am dreaming still. I have not woken, nor has my nightmare ended. ❞

❝ A dream, that’s all it was. A dream. ❞

❝ I drank too much last night. ❞

❝ These fears are only humors born of wine. ❞

❝ I will be the one laughing, come dusk. ❞

❝ My children will be safe, his throne will be secure, and my twisted little brother will be short a head and rotting. ❞

❝ He keeps guards around him night and day. ❞

❝ We found a hidden door behind the hearth. A secret passage. ❞

❝ Who is with the king? ❞

❝ Allow me a moment to dress. ❞

❝ The bright star of the west has fallen, and the nights will be darker now. ❞

❝ They would not dare lie to me about such a thing. ❞

❝ That is not the way a lion dies. ❞

❝ Now there is a hole in the world where he once stood. ❞

❝ There will be no more talk of forcing me to wed again. ❞

❝ Such a man deserves a retinue to attend his needs in hell. ❞

❝ No one is to enter or leave without my permission. ❞

❝ He had steel in his voice as well. ❞

❝ I am the only true son he ever had. ❞

❝ This cursed tower has too many steps. ❞

❝ Should I scream and tear my hair? ❞

❝ Did you weep for your own father? ❞

❝ How could you leave him like this? ❞

❝ And how shall I deal with the girl? ❞

❝ What is she doing here!? ❞

❝ He was questioning her, to be sure. ❞

❝ And what better way to question her than naked, with her legs well spread? ❞

❝ Do you expect me to believe that you knew nothing of her plans? ❞

❝ Later he will come to me, for comfort. ❞

❝ We are his heirs. It will be up to us to finish his work. ❞

❝ Don’t ask me to rule. ❞

❝ I shall rule until my son comes of age. ❞

❝ I don’t know who I pity more. ❞

❝ I must have been mad to think he could be Hand. ❞

❝ The hand does not argue with the head. ❞

❝ I will need to move carefully with that one. ❞

❝ The girl is twice his age and twice widowed. ❞

❝ A man may prefer the taste of hippocras, yet if you set a tankard of ale before him, he will quaff it quick enough. ❞

❝ I will not suffer guards to sleep on watch. ❞

❝ He is in the walls. ❞

❝ I laughed in her face, but she had powers. ❞

❝ I saw my future in a drop of blood. ❞

❝ It is blood I need, not water. ❞

❝ We will not appear at the sept wet and bedraggled. ❞

❝ The gods are weeping for him. ❞

❝ If the gods could weep, they would have wept for your brother. Rain is rain. ❞

❝ I thought there would be more people. ❞

❝ He never wanted love. ❞

❝ You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night. ❞

❝ The mob must have its show. ❞

❝ Let him run to the ends of the earth, he will not escape me. ❞

❝ The man is as useless as nipples on a breastplate. ❞

❝ His eyes could see inside you, could see how weak and worthless and ugly you were down deep. ❞

❝ It is my look they will flinch from now, my frown that they must fear. ❞

❝ I am a lion too. ❞

❝ I shall be greater. ❞

❝ She has a good many ladies waiting attendance on her, night and day. ❞

❝ I am happy to see you looking so much stronger. ❞

❝ The riverlands have need of a strong hand. ❞

❝ And you are going to be wed as well. ❞

❝ May your wife give you strong sons. ❞

❝ Knighting him was a mistake, and bedding him a bigger one. ❞

❝ Do you have many friends across the water? ❞

❝ She even smells of sin, like some exotic lotus. ❞

❝ You are most kind. I know that we shall be great friends. ❞

❝ If there is aught that I might do to serve in this dark hour, you need only ask. ❞

❝ Do they think I will just serve the realm up to them on a gilded platter. ❞

❝ I will see you dead. ❞

❝ We’ll see how sweet a corpse you make. ❞

❝ You will not speak of this with anyone. ❞

❝ It may be that the cause is . . . less natural, let us say. A spell, I think. ❞

❝ The archmaesters are all craven at heart. ❞

❝ Need I say that it will go ill for you if any word of your labors should pass beyond these walls? ❞

❝ Your secrets are safe with me. ❞

❝ He broods too much. ❞

❝ He needs to be put to work to get beyond his grief. ❞

❝ I scarcely knew what I was saying. ❞

❝ He is gallant, but a bit of a fool, let us be frank. ❞

❝ You were unwise to shame him in front of half the court. ❞

❝ Every man needs someone he can trust. ❞

❝ You ask much of me. ❞

❝ If you are resolved against another marriage, I will not force it on you. ❞

❝ My place is with my son. ❞

❝ Open your eyes and look around you. The kingdom is in ruins. ❞

❝ I shall set matters right! ❞

❝ He never thinks, he laughs at everything and everyone and says whatever comes into his head. He is a handsome fool ❞

❝ You are as unfit a mother as you are a ruler. ❞

❝ By what right do you presume to give me terms!? ❞

❝ You would be wise not to take me lightly, and wiser still not to make of me a foe. ❞

❝ Are you threatening me? ❞

❝ They are both able men . . . and loyal ❞

❝ Name either one and make him yours. ❞

❝ That is my counsel, take it or no. ❞

❝ My brother is dead. I am going to take him home. ❞

❝ Tighter. Cinch it tighter, you simpering little fool. ❞

❝ He will be safe, I promise you. ❞

❝ He will not kill the same way twice. He is too cunning for that. ❞

❝ He could be under the floor even now, listening to every word we say. ❞

❝ I will not have him alone with her, not for so much a s half a heartbeat. ❞

❝ Husband and wife should sleep together. Even if they do no more than sleep. ❞

❝ Let them warm each other in the night. It will bring them closer. ❞

❝ A man should not sleep apart from his wife on the night of their wedding. ❞

❝ I cannot bear to look at it. ❞

❝ Wildfire is treacherous. ❞

❝ It will be a lesson to our enemies. ❞

❝ Now you sound like him. ❞

❝ Guard your tongue. ❞

❝ How could I ever have loved that wretched creature? ❞

❝ He has become a stranger to me. ❞

❝ This is wrong. It is too soon. ❞

❝ You forced me into this travesty of a wedding, and I shall not soon forget it. ❞

❝ It was the cloak my lord father used when he wed my lady mother. ❞

❝ Insolence has its price. ❞

❝ When a dog goes bad, the fault lies with its master. ❞

❝ I do not believe she is a maid. ❞

❝ Once a man puts on that cloak, it changes him. ❞

❝ It certainly changed you, and not for the better. ❞

❝ His crown was all you ever wanted. ❞

❝ She is pretty enough. ❞

❝ Only a fool would ever claim she was more beautiful than I. ❞

❝ I cannot let them see me cry. ❞

❝ A woman may weep, but not a queen. ❞

❝ If this is true, why tell me? ❞

❝ Why would you betray her? ❞

❝ No one who wears a crown is ever safe. ❞

❝ Do not presume to smile at me, you treacherous little bitch. ❞

❝ You will be begging me for mercy before I’m done with you. ❞

❝ All the wine in the world would not be enough to see me through this wedding. ❞

❝ It is my day now. It is my castle and my kingdom. ❞

❝ The flames are so pretty. I want to watch them for a while. ❞

❝ You should not stay alone. ❞

❝ Off your knees. Show me what you’ve brought me. ❞

❝ She said that a forgotten prophecy couldn’t come true. ❞

❝ Have you attended to that little task I set you? ❞

❝ A tiresome creature, this prince. ❞

❝ Their leaders preach of doom and demon worship. ❞

❝ The Red Wedding was an affront to all the laws of gods and men, and those who had a hand in it are damned. ❞

❝ He shares his father’s taste for treason, too. ❞

❝ She fancies him. She likes his scars, I think. ❞

❝ Scars make a man look dangerous, and danger is exciting. ❞

❝ I did not come a maid to his bed. ❞

❝ Who was this lover who was so . . . full of danger? ❞

❝ Men have scars, women mysteries. ❞

❝ I will have his name out of you soon enough. ❞

❝ Come sit with me by the window. Will you take a cup of wine? ❞

❝ You have a bold tongue. You will make me forget myself again. ❞

❝ You are a wicked man, and no true knight, I think. ❞

❝ I want you. ❞

❝ You’ve had me. ❞

❝ You did me a valiant service, and you had your reward. ❞

❝ Do you think our little queen is pretty? ❞

❝ Lying with a queen is treason. ❞

❝ I’ve killed more boys than I can count. ❞

❝ A queen must have a consort. One who knows no fear. ❞

❝ I am your man. ❞

❝ Will you dream of me tonight? ❞

❝ And when you’re abed with her, in her, will you dream of me then? ❞

❝ I was made for this. ❞

❝ She has a secret admirer, a knight so smitten with her beauty that he cannot sleep at night. ❞

❝ I’m the king. The throne belongs to me. ❞

❝ I have grave matters to decide. ❞

❝ Matters that you are far too young to understand. ❞

❝ I suppose she thinks you ought to be at my council meetings too? ❞

❝ When you are older, you can attend as many councils as you wish. ❞

❝ I promise you, you will soon grow sick of them. ❞

❝ I waited, so can he. ❞

❝ I waited half my life. ❞

❝ If she thinks to cheat me of my hour in the sun, she had bloody well think again. ❞

❝ No mother should outlive her children. ❞

❝ No captain should outlive his ship. ❞

❝ His sigil ought to be a fat man sitting on his arse. ❞

❝ An irritating name for an irritating man. ❞

❝ The number seven is sacred to our gods. ❞

❝ It pleases you to make a jest, I see. ❞

❝ When I make a jest I smile. Do you see me smiling? ❞

❝ I assure you, when I make a jest, men laugh. ❞

❝ How is your little brother faring? ❞

❝ I am running short of patience with him. ❞

❝ It’s past time he broke in that little filly. ❞

❝ Would she prefer someone else? ❞

❝ She’s always touching him when they talk. ❞

❝ It’s me he’s eager for, fool. ❞

❝ All he wants of her is the lordship between her legs. ❞

❝ I hope his sword is quicker than his wits. ❞

❝ It is not like me to forget myself. ❞

❝ Walk with me. I need a word with you. ❞

❝ He calls her that to irk me. ❞

❝ Bruises and bloody lips are all part of being a knight. ❞

❝ We keep no slaves in Westeros. ❞

❝ A bastard in the belly would explain that. ❞

❝ She and I would play together when the two of us were small. ❞

❝ The poor girl is quite . . . exhausted. ❞

❝ Are you drunk, or merely stupid? ❞

❝ It is all because I am a woman. ❞

❝ He still wants me. ❞

❝ Pining for what you’ve lost? ❞

❝ You’re a fool. A beautiful golden fool. ❞

❝ Pray all you like, she will be dead before the moon turns. ❞

❝ What is a queen’s honor against a mother’s fears? ❞

❝ My enemies are everywhere and my friends are fools. ❞

❝ He was more than a man. His blood was the blood of Old Valyria, the blood of dragons and gods. ❞

❝ He has been wounded, but I will mend his hurt when we are wed. ❞

❝ A man does not marry his heir to his servant’s daughter. ❞

❝ Have you ever seen a lion weep? ❞

❝ He will find another man for you, a better man. ❞

❝ Do you think she is still a maiden? ❞

❝ He is your only child, is he not? ❞

❝ My husband has asked the gods to bless us with another son. ❞

❝ It is good of you to care. I know you love me well. ❞

❝ If I had known I was going to have to walk, I would have dressed for it. ❞

❝ We ask no vengeance for our dead, only protection for the living. ❞

❝ A king who does not protect his people is no king at all. ❞

❝ Why are all men such children? ❞

❝ These false kings espouse false gods. ❞

❝ We have been picking autumn flowers in the wood. ❞

❝ Such a restless girl, our little queen. ❞

❝ Every day in every way she tries to steal him from me. ❞

❝ I have no time for riding through the woods and picking flowers. I have a kingdom to rule. ❞

❝ I know what a burden you bear. You should let me share the load. ❞

❝ There must be some things I could do to help you. ❞

❝ It would put to rest all this talk that you and I are rivals for the king. ❞

❝ Is that what they say? ❞

❝ How foolish. I have never looked upon you as a rival, not even for a moment. ❞

❝ Beauty can sometimes mask deadly danger. ❞

#rp memes #rp prompts #roleplay prompts #roleplay memes #inbox memes #rp prompt #[memes ; mine]#[memes ; literature]#[memes ; for muse]#[memes ; general]#[memes ; sentence]

41 notes · View notes