#i'm kicking this out like an unwanted guest

[cervidaecorpse]

Wait...

How do you hide...?

Zwijo has a similar appearance... does that mean...?

They look like fluffy cats coming out of the shower.

[kumkaniudaku]

Amen

Summary: Terry and Patrice learn more about their love through life changing news on New Year’s Eve.

Pairing: Terry Richmond x Black!OC

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Mentions of Death

Inspired By: Ask #1 + Ask #2

MASTERLIST

Grief was a bitch. 

A mean, ugly, unwanted bitch that had settled beside Terry as an unwelcomed guest just when he thought that he'd banished it out of his life, never to return. Over two years of joy that he'd fought tooth and nail to maintain came crashing down once grief came strolling into town without warning. 

Mike was dead. He knew that. He'd reckoned with it, talked himself through the anniversary of his death once before, sent well-wishes to his aunt every time he could, cried in the shadows, mourned, lashed out, and sat in silence with the knowledge that his little cousin would never come through the door again. Mike wouldn't see another birthday. He wasn't around for the wedding or Christmas. They'd never see another football game together. Mike would never meet Nyla. 

That fact came as a sobering realization while Terry watched his only daughter's chest rise and fall as she slept peacefully in her crib for the first time all day. A cold running through her daycare had finally latched on to her fresh immune system, turning his usually jovial baby into a shell of herself. He told his higher-ups that he needed to take the day to care for her in his mother-in-law's stead, but what he really needed was time alone to deal with his uninvited guest. 

Leaning over the sturdy walnut railing keeping his little girl safely inside her crib, he watched her with the ghost of a smile on his lips. Mike would've loved her. Terry was sure of it. He'd make his way to Fayetteville at any opportunity and cause havoc, probably irritating Patrice but definitely doting on Nyla in a way that only he could. 

Tears that had been fighting to see the world all day pricked Terry's eyes yet again. He almost let them fall but found himself blinking them back once Patrice pushed open the door and poked her head inside. 

She smiled despite work wearing her thin and waved with her fingers. "Can I come in, or would that be too much?" 

"Of course, you can," he answered, trying to put on a brave face to hide the true turmoil inside. 

Seeing her stand there, her bright smile directed at him like he was the sun, moon, and stars, was the first time he'd felt anything other than the weight of regret. He needed her to come into the room. 

Tiptoeing, Patrice approached Terry and peered over the crib's railing to look at Nyla. "How was she," she whispered before softly touching her forehead to check for heat. "Doin' any better?" 

"A little. I got her to eat and play for a bit before the medicine kicked in. She should be out for the night and good enough to sit with your mom by the ceremony on Monday. But, we'll see." 

"Good. Thank you for taking the lead. I know she was happy to have you around." She took a second look at her pride and joy, then focused all her attention on Terry. Worry and sadness had found a home on his brow line as they remained furrowed in thought. She leaned her head on his forearm and looked up at him. "And what about my other baby? How was he today?" 

The date wasn't lost on Patrice. She noticed when Terry slowly retreated into himself the week before. She saw him looking at Mike's Instagram when he thought she wasn't paying attention. She heard the conversation with his aunt when he promised to come by and see her the next time he could make it to Baton Rouge, even though she knew that time wasn't coming. Every shift in his demeanor and thousand-yard stare showed that he was reliving a hellish time she couldn't protect him from. 

No amount of soothing could pull him out of his rut. But that wouldn't stop her from trying. 

Terry continued to stare down at Nyla as he answered. "I'm okay. Not too up, not too down." 

"You need anything?" Terry didn't respond with words once he finally tore his eyes away from their daughter to look at Patrice. He only shook his head. "Can I give you a hug at least?" 

His first dose of physical affection for the day felt like the wind was gently placed back into his lungs as Patrice pulled him closer by his shoulders. His hands found her waist first, giving the spot a short squeeze before allowing his arms to fully encircle her body. 

"I love you. You know that?" 

"I know." That was the one thing he was sure of. His heart and mind were splintered into a million pieces, but he knew Patrice was there to help him put each one back in their proper place. His lips found her temple for a lingering kiss as he closed his eyes to ward off the sadness, still trying to take center stage. "I, um…I... didn't have a good day today…" Terry struggled with the words, opening and closing his mouth in hopes that something would come out while Patrice listened to him try to articulate his thoughts. A deep breath and closed eyes helped him settle before he spoke. "I could use some time together. Whatever you have tonight, I'll take it. I know you have to be up early tomorrow, so even an hour is –" 

His words were cut short by a simple kiss on his cheek. Patrice pulled back to look at him and flashed a reassuring smile. "Give me a few minutes to get changed, and you have me for however long you need me. I'll stay up late and everything. Dasia will understand if I cancel my hair appointment for tomorrow."

"I don't want you to do that." 

"We'll play it by ear," she answered to douse the early flames of a disagreement. "Twenty minutes. You can time me." 

Terry nodded in understanding and silently agreed to let Patrice out of his sight when he needed her most. Whether she was gone for 30 seconds or three days, the time away felt slow. 

Terry tried and quickly tired of distracting himself in Nyla's nursery before quietly slipping out and taking the trek to wait for Patrice like a lost puppy.

He settled into the plush velvet chair in the corner and sighed with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Closed eyes heightened his sense of hearing, giving him full access to Patrice's singing in the shower. 

Mike would've loved the Patrice he heard so much about. He'd call her 'big sis' and annoy her the way little brothers do. They'd argue endlessly but still find time for secret handshakes and inside jokes. He'd finally have someone on his side to pester Terry and receive sound advice from when the going got tough. They may have taken him in as their overgrown first child. They could've worked together to get him on the right path and save his life. 

Unfortunately, Terry would never know. The not knowing left the door wide open for sadness to creep back in. 

He breathed deep and tried to will grief away with Patrice's voice as a lullaby in the background. And for a moment, it complied. The dark, heavy cloud slipped off his back and down to his feet with every exhale, lightening the weight on his arms and shoulders until he felt close to a Terry who was safe, sound, and far from the troubles of his past. 

Mike would want that. He'd like to know what Terry had going on as the last person expected to settle down into a family man. He'd probably poke fun at his older cousin for attending birthing classes and fawning over ruffled outfits in Target when what he knew of Terry was brooding, reserved, and quietly menacing. Mike had seen his cousin kick up dust with the worst of them. Seeing Terry as a man who wouldn't so much as cough too loud if his wife or daughter was around would be a sight. 

As grief slowly packed its things and headed for the door, his comfort emerged from the steaming bathroom, looking like a lighthouse in a raging storm. 

Patrice's humming paused once she noticed Terry sitting in the corner. "Missed me," she teased, drawing a small, dry chuckle from her husband as she made her way to their dresser. "You could've joined if you wanted."

"That's alright. I know you need your time to decompress.” He gestured toward the garment in her hand. “Need help with that?"

She could've put her clothes on with no assistance, but Patrice knew that Terry wouldn't have asked if he didn't need the distraction. She granted his covert request for her attention by quickly plucking matching pieces from her sleepwear drawer and placing them in his outstretched hands. 

They spent time in comfortable silence while he slid soft cotton up her legs and then helped her into her shirt, kissing random spots of exposed skin along the way. "I didn't ask about your day. I'm sorry. I got a lot of…other stuff on my mind. How was work?" 

"It was work. Nothing too important. Glad it's the weekend. Two more days, and I get to see my first graduating class of freshmen that I taught. Isn't that crazy? I'm getting old, huh?" She laughed by herself. 

Terry avoided eye contact despite his faint smile, preferring to tie the drawstring at her waist in a neat bow like she preferred. "Never old. Only better."

"You're too sweet." Patrice cuddled him close when he was done and rubbed a spot at the nape of his neck to soothe him into closing tired, heavy lids. "I know it's tough, but I promise you'll be okay, babe. The sadness isn't gonna go away, but you'll learn to live with it. You'll learn to make space for all those feelings inside you at once. And I'll be here when you need someone else to hold some of them, too." 

Terry sighed. "I'm not tryin' to be a burden for you, P. We have enough going on as is." 

"You're not a burden, Terry; you're my husband – my friend."

To be accepted with all of the muddy waters traversing his mind and heart felt like too much to ask for in Terry's mind, especially from someone who'd spent so much time wading through all his bullshit without complaint. He owed her his life, the full weight of his love, until the day God deemed their time together but a beautiful memory forever etched in boxed trinkets and old photos. 

He wanted to give her the moon as she stood stroking his pain away with her fingertips but settled for kissing his way up her sternum on the way to her lips. 

One day, when other emotions had dwindled, and he was feeling more like himself, Terry would lay his head on Patrice's lap and tell her about the atrocities that had shaped the time before they reacquainted. That day wasn't today, and all he could think of was pouring his gratitude for her graciousness into making sure she was satisfied in the one area he could control. 

Shorts that had only been on her body for mere minutes found a new home on the floor alongside her top. Patrice was weightless in Terry's arms as he carried her to their shared bed, his lips attached to hers for needy kisses that felt more like life rafts to keep him above rough waters than affectionate gestures. 

Patrice questioning if he was sure about his actions fell on deaf ears, and soon, all of her inquiries became lost whispers in a room swirling with the sounds of desperate lovemaking. Terry left his mark on her neck and chest while he worked himself out of his clothes. 

His voice came in gravelly against the shell of her ear. "I fuckin' love you, Treece. Don't ever leave me." He was pleading and caught somewhere between raw desire and tremendous despair. "Please, don't ever leave me." 

"I'm not going anywhere, baby," Patrice reassured without hesitation.

Terry left soft kisses and big, salty tears on Patrice's cheeks once their foreheads met. "Please. I need you, Patrice." Grief was back and taunting him in his ear with its partner in crime, Doubt. She'll leave, just like everyone else. You don't deserve her. Lies filled his head with no shut-off valve in sight. The tears turned into sobs he couldn't ignore with breathing techniques or a change in his thought process. "I'm sorry. I just need you. I can't do this by myself. Don't leave." 

Patrice quickly cast amorous feelings aside to wrap her arms tight around Terry. "Woah, woah, TJ. I'm here! I'm right here." 

Grief was a bitch. Even when he threw his best punch at it, grief always hit Terry back with a haymaker that left him staggering and woozy in defeat. 

The moments after his heaving, hyperventilating meltdown became a blur of Patrice's soft-spoken instruction, lavender bubble bath, and candlelight. When he came back from a mental trip to Shelby Springs to live out alternate realities, where he emerged victorious with Mike by his side, he found himself nestled between his wife's legs, surrounded by fresh hot water and scented white foam. 

Patrice moved behind him, plastic crinkling as she peeled the back off of something he couldn't see before bringing her wet hands around to his face. "These'll help with the puffiness," she declared like an experienced esthetician informing a client. "I used to use this every other day in grad school. Cry all you need. No one will ever know by morning." 

A 'thank you' tried to rise from his throat, but Terry quickly found his voice too hoarse to say anything worth a damn. Patrice didn't mind, though. She was content to press another cold patch underneath his eye before grabbing the shampoo rinse cup resting near the baby monitor at the edge of the tub. 

Terry closed his eyes as the warm water washed over his short curls, sitting neatly behind a sharp hairline and tapered sides. His hair glistened under flickering lights provided by small flames in glass components. Patrice used her acrylic nails to work magic against his scalp, turning shampoo into a mountain of suds to cleanse the pain. 

"I swear every time my Nana and mama scrubbed my head, I felt like a new person after. One time, I was going through the worst friend breakup I've ever had, and by the time Mommy finished with me, I didn't even know that girl's name. Didn't even matter anymore." 

"What happens after the scrub, though? You just…go back to normal?" 

Patrice chuckled as she ran another stream of water across his head to start on a second lather. "Hell no. That's where the patches come in." Terry allowed himself his first genuine laugh all day, taking a stone out of grief's stronghold. His fingertips ran back and forth over the wet skin on Patrice's legs as he sat with his eyes closed in a battle for his sanity. They let the quiet ripple of water around them fill the humid air in the room, preferring to enjoy the feel of skin on skin over extraneous conversation until Patrice began running conditioner through each of his thick strands. "I love when you wear your hair like this. The haircuts are nice, but when it's grown out, it reminds me of young you." 

"Hot-headed, couldn't buckle down enough to work through being mad at not getting scholarships to still go to college me?" Terry scoffed, finding the notion of a younger, far less polished him being someone worth missing. 

Patrice shrugged. "I didn't know that Terry," she confessed. The stories of his anger felt like fables to Patrice. The only Terrence Richmond she'd ever known was sweet as homemade banana pudding after Sunday service and a whip-smart boy with the world at his feet. "My Terry and his little fro was always kind. Always noble and lending a helping hand. And now he's got a baby girl in the other room with a head full of her daddy's curls after she looked like Charles Barkley for three months." Terry smiled at the mention of Nyla and how she'd inherited at least one part of him after taking her mother's entire face. Patrice watched him reach for the monitor and bring it closer to his face for a look at his second favorite girl before she continued. "My Terry is who Mike loved. I never met him, but I know he saw the best in you. We all do, baby." 

More silence sat heavy as Terry wiped away fresh tears gathering at his waterline. Of course, they'd see the best in him when he couldn't see the best in himself. 

Grief came knocking again with Doubt in tow, but Terry ignored them to slide deeper into the water and rest his heavy head on Patrice's chest before speaking. "Mike and me…we used to get in a lot of trouble at my granny's house." 

"Yeah? Two badass kids, huh? Tell me about it."

"One time," he started, already smiling at the memory. "We got her beagle, Satchel, sick because we kept feeding him shrimp out of the gumbo. He threw up all over the back porch, and Mike got so scared that he told on us, thinking we wouldn't get the switch if we were honest." 

"Did y'all?" 

Terry laughed and nodded. "Wore our asses out. I hated that damn dog for the rest of his life. It wasn't his fault, but I was just a kid." 

"You knew better, though." 

"Whose side are you on right now?" Terry asked, looking up at Patrice with faux offense on his face. 

She giggled back. "Okay, my bad!" A final round of water cascaded down Terry's shoulders and back, washing the ugly soot of regret off of his grief to reveal the love making up its inner parts. Patrice kissed his wet hair and held her lips there even as she spoke. "Can you tell me more about Mike? I wanna know him through you."

The invitation erupted a dormant volcano deep within his Terry's heart.

He told stories of his cousin and their time together until the lavender-scented bubbles evaporated into tepid bath water. Until grief felt more like gratitude for memories made. Until Patrice's stomach ached from laughter. Until the clock struck midnight, and tears started to roll again. Until Patrice had wiped his entire face with her delicate fingertips several times over without a single inkling of exasperation or judgement while they lay face to face beneath cold sheets. And until she finally closed her eyes from exhaustion and turned her back for some shut-eye. 

Then, he talked to God. A long list of thank you's emerged from his heart. A thank you for keeping him alive, one for time spent with Mike, one for his daughter, and another for the only person keeping him afloat when all he wanted to do was drown. 

Terry looked at Patrice and smiled. Light from the television illuminated her face, highlighting her knitted brow and slight frown as she lay in the throes of a dream he could only imagine was vivid enough to evoke such a clear expression of disgust. The thought alone produced a genuine smile. 

Clicking the power button, Terry found himself in complete darkness, fighting for the words to finish his prayer. He sighed and looked back toward Heaven. "She's perfect, God. Even when she isn't. If you never give me anything else, thank you for Patrice."

"Hm?"

Patrice's groggy response to her name being called made Terry roll over on his side to calm her back into sleep. "Nothing, baby," he spoke into her shoulder before pressing a kiss on her skin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, earning a content sigh. "I was just praying for you."

She smiled without opening her eyes. "Well, amen to that."

Tears tickled Terry's waterline, this time filled with overwhelming gratitude. A blessing like no other. 

"Yeah. Amen to that."

-----

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[nemesis-writer]

[Unwanted Ransom(Chapter 2)]

Daddy Issues Masterlist TW- Neglect, depression

Everything was cold, I couldn't afford the apartment. The fact that I was also a minor, just made it worse. I couldn't get an apartment without a guardian and legal papers of emancipation, which hehe silly me. GOT WET FROM THE RAIN!!!

I had to beg in the streets like a fool. God, that was a shitty day. I felt as if it was better than the cold and lonely mansion. They have like 20 bedrooms and I was given a fucking storage. Ugh, I never complained, I was able to graduate high school because I passed the SAT's and my high IQ helped me go to France for a competition.

I was then able to get a dorm room at Harvard in a few months, because by then, they have noticed my high marks. It was weird at first, because hell I was 5,1 I was short as fuck. I couldn't even sit on my chair properly without nearly falling. I was accepted at Harvard Law, and started my first year. I had made multiple friends that felt like big sisters to me. But by then the famous Mr Stark, was making a donation for the university. There was a party being held for the donation.

Students screaming, confetti flying everywhere, many journalists and news casters seeking his attention.

"Mr. Stark what's the reason for this generous donation?"

"Mr. Stark is it true you were able to survive the war against Thanos?"

"Mr Stark smile for the camera!"

So many questions overwhelmed Mr Stark. I wanted to ask for his signature, until...

"Hey kid, get the fuck out of the way!" The fucking journalist kicked me. I screamed as loud as I can, but I didn't realise I got the attention of Mr Stark and the journalist.

"Aren't you the neglected child of Mr Wayne?"

"Aren't you the daughter of a dead whore?"

I was never that embarrased my entire life. I screamed back, "MY MOTHER"S NOT A WHORE YOU MOTHER-". I was cut off when I felt someone carrying me out.

"HEY, LET THE KID GO!" I was too angry to realise that it was Mr Stark that yelled that, I was placed down reluctantly by the guards.

"Hey kid, you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Here, I'll drive you home as an apology for having you deal with that." He proposed.

"I- I don't really have a home. I stay in the dorms." I revealed softly

"Oh, that's ok, I have a guest room that you can get, I'm also sure we have some warm clothes for you to wear." He offered.

"I really shouldn't" I said.

"No need I insist." He replied.

4 years later...

HEADLINES FOR TODAY...

THE STARKS AND THEIR TWO DAUGHTERS ARE GOING TO THE GALA AND MEET THE WAYNES...

[the-monstermash]

UNBROKEN BETROTHALS pt. 3

Aemond Targaryen x Reader

Synopsis: After running away from an unwanted proposal, you find yourself working in a brothel as a cook. When a certain guest takes an odd liking to you, secrets are revealed and betrothals unbroken

Warnings: Angst, Brothels, Mature, 18+, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language

Word Count: 2, 031

> A/N: Catch the corny tie-in at the end of the chapter. I think maybe one more chapter will wrap up this story.

You were in a bout of disbelief. You'd not left your room in days, taking your meals and guests in the rooms. Sylvi was obviously angry with you, because she’d said nothing about you not cooking. She likely had already hired a new cook to replace you, no doubt planning to kick you out the moment you stepped outside again. Where would you go? Back to the Riverlands was always an option, but you were afraid of what you might find if you returned.

How could you not be? Your entire life you had thought of your parents as betrayers. You'd thought they'd wished to sell you off to some disgusting man, to rid themselves of the burden of you. In reality, what choice had they truly had? To reject the king would be dishonorable, not to mention impossible. They would’ve had to respond immediately, to agree in your stead.

How could you ever think so lowly of them? They'd given you so much love in your youth, how would they ever do something so cruel if they'd had the choice not to? Were they heartbroken at the loss of a daughter? Did they think you dead? Or did they accept that you just didn't want to be with them anymore, and you'd left for a better life. Were they still looking for you? You didn't know which was worse.

And then there was Aemond.

Why had he cared so much? You were of no great house, and your marriage would be of no benefit to him. Your running away should've been to his relief, not his anger. Then, for him to track you down, and push his intentions on you. What was the purpose?

The knock on the door did not make you rise from the bed as it would've a week ago, and you did not call to the visitor like you would've a week ago. Instead, you waited for whoever it was to either let themselves in, or go away. You'd be happy with either one.

The creak of the solid door told you they'd chosen the former.

"Are you awake?" Lauryn's voice pulled a sigh from you. 

She'd come with more questions, or to gossip about what was happening outside of your room.

"If I was not before, your presence has brought me a sense of invigoration." You smiled sadly, patting the bed for her to enter.

She stepped inside the room, but did not cross the distance. Her absence in the door frame was filled with another. A much taller, blonder, guest, that put much more dread in you than she had.

"Lauryn, what is this?" You sat up, crossing your arms and pulling the blankets up to cover your nightclothes. He stepped into the center of the room, hands behind his back, looking around to take in the sight.

"He's demanded to see you." We can not deny him, is what she said with her eyes. You nodded at her and she quickly fled the room, closing the door behind her.

The silence was not comfortable, nor was it unwelcome. You knew if he spoke, it would be about the betrothal, and that would make you think of your family, and you would be back to worrying for your dear family and how they were fairing. You felt so vulnerable, wrapped up in your blankets and nightclothes before him, all alone.

"My prince, you wanted to see me?" You propped your knees to your chest, sure you looked like a big pile of sheets with a head on top to him.

"I wanted to see you were well." He finally took his eyes off your meager decorations, and looked at you. "Have you had any more spells?" You shook your head.

"I'm quite well."

"And have you thought any more of my words?" You sighed, exasperated, but relenting to the fact that he simply would not let this go.

"Of course I have. It's all I've thought about, holed up in this room. That, and where I'll go once Sylvi casts me from my home. Because of you." You wanted to yell, but you just did not have the energy.

"Me?"

"If you'd just accepted my answer, she would have gotten past it. But you pursued, and chased, and you would not relent."

"I'd relented the first time you rejected me, how many rejections did you expect I would take?"

"Relenting would've been leaving me be, not seeking me out here when you knew I was content."

"I did not come here for you, you happened to be here." You rolled your eyes.

"I *happened* to be in a kitchen, hidden away from everyone where *you* found me in search of 'wine’? There was wine everywhere up front, it is a whore house! You knew I was here, and you found me, because you could not accept the rejection. You sought me out, you said so yourself." He blanched at you repeating his words to him. Perhaps he thought you did not remember your last conversation.

"So I sought you out. What is the crime in it? You were my betrothed, and I would not have you running about the world any longer. I demand to know why you rejected me so long ago, and why you reject me now. I am more than suitable for you, and you should have been proud to serv-"

"I did not know it was you!" You silenced him with your yell. "I did not run away from marrying you, I ran away...because I thought my parents were to send me off to some gray man I did not know, and force me to wed him, and I would spend my whole life with some old Lord who did not love me, and I would never live! I was a child, and I was afraid, Aemond."

He was silent for a moment, before sighing and coming to sit at the edge of your bed.

"And why do you refuse me now?"

"I guess I thought if I married you, then I might as well have married the first man. It would've saved me a lot of trouble, and made my family proud, at the very least." He nodded at that and looked away. "Why do you want me so badly?"

He tilted his head, thinking for a second before shrugging his shoulders. You scoffed at that and stretched your legs to leave room for your crossed arms, not believing that he was just pointlessly pursuing you.

"I've had enough rejection for one lifetime. I'll not have any more." It was a simple answer, and given the past you knew of him, you supposed it made sense. He'd been refused a dragon, friends, a father, a crown. You could see how when you, a simple girl from nowhere, rejected him, it might have confounded him, and tipped him over the edge. He seemed deep in thought, or perhaps deep in memory, and before your eyes you saw him regress into the young boy he'd been, when all he knew was hurt and rejection.

In a way, you pitied Aemond. He had led a sad life, but he'd also led a privileged life. and that privileged life often made people overlook the hurt he'd faced as a child. He was a prince, and that made him revered and respected in many aspects, but he was also a scared, hurt little boy, with no respect from his peers and no one to truly turn to.

"I suppose I can understand that." He turned to you, his lips turning up in acknowledgement before he gently laid his head in your lap.

It surprised you, though it shouldn't have. He was desperate for appreciation and affection. That was why he was here, after all, begging you to reconsider marriage to him.

You had reconsidered it over these past few days. You'd thought it over in a hundred different ways, and truthfully, without the added angst of your parental situation, you really had no reason to say no to his proposal. He was a perfectly respectable husband, and with his doting nature, you'd thought he'd treat you quite well. You could see yourself content with him, if not happy.

"I suppose marriage wouldn't be so bad if my husband were agreeable." You gently found yourself petting his hair, making him close his eye.

"Hm." Was his simple answer, a hum of content, yet it prompted you to elaborate.

"He would have to be kind, of course. And perhaps handsome, though not superficial. I would like him to be strong, and brave. Though, not to the point of recklessness. Perhaps a Stark." You looked down at him with a playful smile, and he responded with a chortle. "You're right, I do hate the cold." You scratched at his scalp.

"You'll make an exceptional wife, and I'll make you happy." He turned onto his back so he was looking up at you, his soft eyes gazing up at you.

He truly was beautiful. His features were in total opposition, his long, soft hair, sharp jaw, and sweet eyes all combined to make a statuesque deity laid before you. His hair was almost pearlescent in the way the fire flickered across him, changing the hues in a second, and blending in oranges and reds and magnificent  yellows.

You could not think of a way to tell him you were conceding, and he'd finally won. You just smiled down at him and nodded.

"I need to see my parents." Your voice broke at the mere idea, and he nodded immediately, sitting up and turning to hold your face.

"I'll see it's done. We'll call them to King's Landing."

"Thank you, Aemond.”

He tilted himself just slightly, enough for you to understand what he was asking for. You leaned in enough to meet your lips to his in a soft and gentle kiss. You rest your hand on his jaw, and the other on his chest. He pushed himself against you more to deepen the kiss, pushing you back onto your hands.

His kiss was desperate, and held an air of pure satisfaction. It was not overly rushed, but deep and passionate. You could feel him pour his soul into it, like a beautiful piece of poetry. Every suckle was a sonnet, every sigh a sestina. He pulled your body to his, and it was a haiku, consisting of syllables only spoken in physical language. And you hung onto every single word.

You pulled away for air, but he didn't let you get far, holding his hand to the back of your head, your forehead pressed against his. Your bodies still moved in sync, rising and falling with breath, slowly calming yourselves back down.

"We'll marry as soon as your parents arrive. The very same day."

"Shouldn't you ask the king? I’m sure your family won’t relish  the thought of a prince marrying a common cook. You could marry at a much higher advantage for the war."

"There is nothing common about you. And besides, my father already approved the marriage all those years ago. My brother won't deny me." You nodded.

"I'll see you again? Before the wedding? Promise you'll come see me." He raised his eyebrow at that, clearly confused about something you'd said.

"You're coming to the castle with me, are you not, my Lady?" The title made you chew your lip, you had not heard it in a very long time. “I’ll not have my wife sleep in a brothel any longer, I’ve suffered it long enough.”

“This brothel is my home, and you’ve had no trouble turning in a night or two if I remember correctly. Besides, I wouldn’t want to offend your family by assuming I was welcome. You should confirm the betrothal first with the king.” He sighed and turned away, but came up with no argument.

“I’ll be back for you, in a week’s time-at most. Say your goodbyes, pack your things. Prepare to be a princess of the seven kingdoms.” He stood and leaned for one last kiss.

“I’ll be waiting, my prince.”

And with one more lasting stroke of your cheek, he left to unbreak the betrothal you’d abandoned so long ago.

@mamawiggers1980 @dahlias-and-marigolds @starrflowerr @aemondwhoresworld

[chipistrate]

Welcome to the Grand Opening of Freddy Fazbears Balloon Circus!

After an array of previous undisclosed incidents at the Mega Pizzaplex, ending with the sudden collapsing of the building due to an unexpected earthquake, Fazbear Enterprise has demolished the old mall and rebuilt a new and improved carnival on the property! But just because the attractions above ground have been overhauled, doesn't mean the secrets beneath the surface have magically disappeared.

Reblogs appreciated!

MANY more rambles about this AU under the cut: would much appreciate if you read them, but there's no obligations!

EVERYTHING HERE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE!! This AU has just been pieced together by my insane ramblings to my friend over the past few days, so everything in it's early stages of development, and this post is being written VERY late while I'm very sleep deprived and just trying to finish it in time to schedule it! If some things are a bit weird or inconsistent then please keep that in mind! Thank you! :D

Gregory, Vanessa, and Freddy all return to the now renovated lot where the Pizzaplex once stood, having been called back two years after their last failed visit too save a long lost friend, too repair their old creation known at the M.X.E.S after it was suddenly and unexplainably shut down again. Upon entering the new-ish carnival, they'll quickly find it hard to safely look for the entrance to the layers below as the friendly mascot suits above chase after them for being unwanted guests.

Above ground, they're hunted by the mascots- new suits built for both performers and endoskeletons to be able to wear. This night, controlled by corrupted endoskeletons, they've been ordered to chase after the intruders by someone lurking below the carnivals ground. As well as finding the littler animatronics, known as Balloon Babies, to be quite the inconvenience.

Below ground, they're hunted by the old Glamrocks, still functional after all this time, and now under a new threats command that's also trying to keep the 3 star family from reaching M.X.E.S; Vannie. Aka, Cassie. Still here in the ruins of it all, waiting for the her perfect moment to lure the family back in and get her revenge for what they did to her all those years ago.

The mascots are the new faces of the Freddy Fazbears Balloon Circus, their costumes built to be worn by both endoskeletons and actors- but in a safer way than the springlock suits. The actors are used during the day for greeting and interacting with guests, putting on performances, etc etc. While the endoskeletons are used at night as a replacement for security guards and STAFF bots, kindly, but forcefully, escorting any intruders off the premises. Under Vannie's control they, of course, are much less kind and gentle with how they "escort" the 3 star fam out of the carnival.

Balloon Babies are smaller, almost Helpy-like animatronics in appearance, built to keep lost and lonely children happy and entertained while waiting for their guardian to arrive. They can't speak, but they can play song, games, sound effects, blow up balloons with their fingertips, etc etc. They found Gregory after he had been forcefully split up from Vanessa and Freddy by the mascots, and upon the family reuniting, the Balloon Babies more annoying feature kicked in: The Emergency Alert System. Whenever a child they are playing with is approached by an odd looking adult or other figure that seems like they could be a potential threat to the child's safety, whether that be a kidnapper, unfit guardian, bully, etc. the Balloon Babies will use their emergency alert system to call one of the mascots over and deal with the threat, kindly guiding the threat away and bringing the kid to a safer area away from potential danger where they can stay with staff until a proper guardian arrives. The Balloon Babies had decided in their time with Gregory that Vanessa and Freddy were unfit guardians for leaving Gregory scared and alone this late at night, and any time Vanessa and/or Freddy is nearby, their alert system will sound off and call a mascot to their location. The problem, other than the obvious, is that the Balloon Babies are fixated on Gregory. They will always be attracted to him and find their way back to him no matter what, with the only exception being when he's under ground. Which means that, until they can find a way to deactivate or otherwise get rid of these guys, Gregory is forced to be split up from Vanessa and Freddy above ground, and regroup underground.

The only exception is Goldie, a soft yellow version of the Freddy Balloon Baby that doesn't follow the others. Goldie is the only one of the Balloon Babies that can go underground, Vannie specifically programming him to be able to do so. He follows Vannie around and provides her with much needed company, being her only real friend down here besides Roxy. Later on, Gregory will find Goldie, but instead of calling for the mascots whenever Vanessa is near, he'll send out a signal to distract the other Balloon Babies away from Gregory so they won't call for the mascots or overwhelm him. Goldie can tell that Vanessa and Freddy are fit guardians that love Gregory very much, and can also tell that they're afraid of the mascots, though he can't compute why- it's his job to make sure that kids and their families are safe, so he's doing his best to ensure their safety however he can. Later on, Vannie will come looking for her friend after a long period of time of him being away and find him with the 3 star family, causing more conflict between the two parties that Goldie can't understand- Cassie and Gregory are supposed to be friends, aren't they? That's what Cassie said. Friends aren't supposed to fight each other, they're supposed to protect each other. That's what Goldie believes, at least.

Random trivia;

-Gregory, Freddy, and Vanessa have been living together for about 3 years now. 1 year by the time of Ruin, and 2 years after the fact leading up to Balloon Circus.

-Cassie has been gaslit into thinking that all the stuff Dr. Rabbit did was actually Gregory himself with no outside influence, only fueling her want for revenge, not only for the elevator incident, but everyone he hurt. This will affect Gregory greatly(he has not 100% recovered and this Does Not Help).

-Cassie still doesn't fully trust the Mimic, despite being under its influence. She let the M.X.E.S stay up after the 3 star family put it back up after Ruin despite Mimic's demands for her to shut it down again, assuring him it was "part of her plan". She wasn't entirely lying, shutting down the M.X.E.S was how she wanted to lure the family back, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't also partially because she wanted to keep "that old endo" sealed away. He's not completely free from fault either.

-Gregory and Vanessa both have chips implanted in their heads, it's how Dr. Rabbit and Vanny took over way back when. Those same chips gave them VR vision, but the chips have since been "domesticated" and can't go full VR mode anymore. Despite this fact, they do still have a few side effects of the VR vision, such as some walls and objects simply not existing, despite them looking perfectly normal and real. They can phase through them without trouble, and this helps them navigate the Balloon Circus, becauseeeeeee;

-Cassie was there during the construction of the circus and set up VR walls in certain spaces to help her hide out and travel around undetected, even during the day. The 3 star family can also use these now as an easier way of navigating through the circus, but also as a way to hide from the mascots and even sometimes the Balloon Babies.

-The entrance to the underground levels is behind a VR wall, but it's one set up by the construction workers so the patrons wouldn't notice it. The reason an intentional opening is there is because the new entrance is now used as a dumping ground for stuff from random items from the ruins of the Pizzaplex to unused stuff from the circus to anything the employees with access to the area want to throw in there. It's how the ruined Glamrocks ended up there.

-The Glamrocks were being slowly reintroduced to the public, the biggest attraction so far being 'Chica of the Sea', a tent for the underwater hologram show of a prerendered mermaid Glamrock Chica that would swim around, wave at guests, and do a few preset moves that employees could turn on whenever. There's hints of them wanting to reintroduce the others as well that haven't been shown off to the public yet, with the new roles being; Glam Freddy and Bonnie are the co-ringmasters of the main tent where the mascots performances are held, making sure everything runs smoothly. Roxanne is the mascots and glamrocks make up artist, as well as offering to do make up/face paint for any patrons that came by her tent (for a price, of course). And Monty would roam around the circus grounds as a strongman showing off his incredible strength. He also has a tent for this, but he was mostly supposed to roam around and sometimes try and make people swing by his tent, mostly so they would buy his merch.

-Chica being the first to be reintroduced has an effect on her character below ground, with her hearing the news and trying her best to dress herself up in whatever scraps she could find to look like her mermaid counterpart, practicing her singing and dancing despite her condition so she could prove that she could be just as good as the hologram if she just got a few repairs.

-Roxanne is headless, having lost her head in her tussle with the Mimic. But she still has control of both her body and head, carrying around her decapitated head in her arms.

-Vannie/Cassie cares about Goldie soso much that's her new bestie<33 Friendship ended with Gregory, Goldie is new best friend<3 (I'm so sorry Gregory)

-Vannie is also known as Vengeful Vannie, but usually shortened to just 'Vannie'. A callback to the "Vengeful Spirit" aka Cassidy, because I think the parallels between the two are neat<3 (THIS MEANS NOTHING LORE WISE IT'S JUST A NAMING THING.)

-Some of the stuff at Balloon Circus was bought from the carnival mentioned to be across the street from the Pizzaplex in the TFTPP epilogues, and rebranded to fit with the new Fazbear theming

I wanna talk more about these guys later- not sure what else exactly to do with them, but if anybody has any questions then feel free to send 'em to my inbox! I'll be more than happy to reply to the best of my abilities<3

[alliseaisfandom]

Some Coven of Chaos headcanons

(I haven't watched the finale yet and so I'm coping already just in case. For arguments sake we assume the road was real and at the end it gave Jen, Billy, Agatha and Rio the rest of the coven back, because I'm sappy and live in denial)

They're all alive and meet for holidays. Keep that in mind for the rest of the list.

Jen mixes the best drinks. Alcoholic or not, everyone is convinced there's magic involved. She's got a lifelong ownership of the liqueur cabinet at everyone's house.

Alice can play the cello. Billy is the only one who knows this fact. That is until he can get her tipsy enough to break it out someday play for the coven (he almost got it at Samhain)

Lilia has a "memorial pool" in her backyard.

She was also the one to veto Cats out of Billy's suggestion list for musicals they could go to

Said musical outing has yet to happen since almost everyone voted in a different thing

Agatha voted for wicked.

Rio voted for beetljuice (there was a fight over this, Billy remembers very little of it other than hearing Eddie yell "just because you say it three times doesn't mean your vote counts more". It was the first time he brought Eddie to meet the Coven, and sure at the time he didn't know he was arguing with Death Herself, but Billy was impressed regardless)

Lilia voted for Carmen. When told that Opera was not on the list, she argued that dying granted her an extra vote.

Alice agreed, and so West Side story lives on Billy's whiteboard with 2 votes

Jen voted first and picked Chicago, which Billy also voted for, unfortunately when he tried using Lilia's argument, he was reminded rather aggressively and extensively by Rio that being unmade and Dying are actually two very different things

It's the most anyone has ever heard her talk at once and Billy still regrets not taking out his notebook to remember more of it

Unfortunately he only remembered that he did in fact die as William after he and Eddie were on their way home

Rio hates easter with a passion. She has a great time during Good Friday and then sulks for the rest of the weekend

She also steers clear of most of South America and southern Europe in the ends of cotober-beginning of November, not that she doesn't like the Death related holidays, it's just that people keep spotting her even when she doesn't want them to! It's exclusive to that time of year and she's been trying - and failing- to stop it for centuries

The Titanic was a gift from Agatha to Rio. Yes the Iceberg was an accident, in the way that it rendered useless the very precarious fire she'd set to one of the engine rooms

Rio was very thankful.

Billy's school organised an end of year trip to Italy. That night he got a call from Lilia where she told him the best places to go to, what tourist traps to avoid, and asked if he could bring her back a package stashed away under the floorboards of what he eventually found out was a heavily guarded historical monument

The first time they all actually got together to celebrate anything was Alice's birthday dinner

Agatha found herself with 6 unwanted guests in her kitchen and zero explanation. She did not kick them out, a fact she loudly proclaims to regret as often as possible

There is a group chat

Billy, Alice e and Rio are the most active in it, with Jen following, a bit behind because she "actually has a real job that takes up time that you all seem to have free for some reason" (her herb garden died that afternoon and she refused to answer any of Rio's texts for a week after that.)

Lilia never interacts, and they're not entirely sure she receives the messages, as everyone's phones glitch when they try to check

Agatha leaves them on read

Jen was invited to a beauty event in New York. She brought Billy as her plus one, who proceeded to act as her agent all night, getting her two new brand deals, and a spot on a talk show. She brings him along every time now

To be continued

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen

matthew perry august 19

warnings: swearing

I hid behind the couch and bit my lip. Joey had offered to take chandler out today, knowing I didn’t like lying to him. The two of us had created an elaborate surprise party for him. Joey took him to a Knick’s game while I put the finishing touches on the party. Monica was behind the counter, Rachel and Ross were in chandlers room and phoebe was in joeys room. Various others from chandlers work were hidden throughout the apartment. I heard the door open and the lights turned on.

“Surprise!” We all yelled as we jumped up. Chandler stared at us all, blinking owlishly at me as his nerves settled.

“Happy birthday chandler.” I said, walking over and wrapping my arms around him. “Sorry I couldn’t…” chandler kissed me softly.

“you couldn’t lie to me. I know.” He said. “Thank you.” We smiled at each other before chandler broke away to take off his jacket. “Wow. This is a turn out.” He joked, wrapping an arm around me.

“It was all (Y/N)’s idea.” Monica said, patting my shoulder. Chandler smiled at me again.

“Oh I can imagine." He teased me. Chandler started to make his way around the room, talking to everyone and introducing me to people I hadn't met before today. Eventually we ended up on the couch, leaning into each other. "Thank you again." He whispered, playing with my fingers. I smiled softly at him.

"You're welcome." Chandler kissed me softly. "It feels like the least I can do. You've done so much for me, this feels small in comparison." He shook his head and tugged me closer.

"It means everything." He assured me. "More than you will ever know." I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder. "So where are the presents?" I faked shock and Chandler's face fell slightly.

"Presents?" I asked. Chandler nodded slowly. "At Monica's." He rolled his eyes and I laughed. "Figured you would want to open them in peace. Your coworkers don't know you as well as we do. Didn't think you would want to open anything in front of them and have to fake it."

"Oh they brought something?" He asked, surprise on his face. I nodded. "Didn't expect that. You guys sure. Them..." Chandler shook his head.

"There's receipts in case you need to return anything." I whispered. Chandler nodded. "Just don't go returning anything we got you. Rachel would have a fit." We giggled as Rachel walked past us. She rolled her eyes at us as she passed.

"So how much longer do we have to tolerate these stiffs?" Joey asked as he sat down next to me.

"Until we can force them out." I whispered back. "Sorry Chan. But they are."

"I don't understand how you can work with them." Joey said. Chandler laughed.

"I make jokes with you guys because my soul is dying there." He said. "I do need a new job though." I nodded and smiled as he kissed my temple. "Alright. I'm kicking them out. I'm bored." Chandler got up and went to usher his coworkers out.

"Well at least he's having fun." Joey said. I nodded.

"That's all anyone can ask for on their birthday." I agreed as I watched Chandler shoo the unwanted guests out.

"Alright! Present time!" He cheered as he headed towards Monica's apartment. I laughed as I followed him, everyone trailing behind me.

[thelonelyshore-if]

I’ve been replaying the demo, and every single time I just. I love Ravi. He’s so annoying and suspicious. Caring but distant. He invites you to stay at his house then immediately makes you feel like an unwanted guest–before you even get to his house. He’s a bag of contradictions and oddities. I just want to shake him. Wtf is wrong with drinking plain water, you absolute prune?? We’re roommates who are putting each other under a microscope like lab specimens. We’re annoying each other for fun. Why do you act like that? You’re so off-putting, you’re so endearing. We’re not besties, we’re not worsties, we’re some unnatural and disturbing hybrid. I almost want to stay with him on purpose to annoy him more.

That said, I will absolutely ditch him if you give me the option to stay with Beck or Perri in chapter 3. Call Beck up since they gave me their number like “Hey, turns out I’ll be sticking around for a while, but I had a disagreement with my current host. I sure could use a hero again, if you don’t mind. Plus, we get to hang out more :)” Or look up/ask for Perri’s number and call them up. “So, I’m actually going to be in town for a bit, but I no longer feel comfortable staying with my current host. If it’s not too much trouble, could I stay with you? Plus, it would give us the opportunity to talk more about that interview, since I’m stuck here Willingly Choosing To Stick Around :)” (Goodness, I think about these two too much. I've already got more Beck/Perri fog secrets thoughts to share, but it feels too similar to what I've already said.)

I want to print out this ask and put it on my wall. I've reread it like three times today and I'm just sitting here kicking my feet and twirling my hair.

Ravi is a walking pile of contradictions and I'm glad he comes across as such. I think about him every single day.

Also I'm dying you're not the first person to be baffled by his vendetta against plain water and you probably won't be the last. It's so funny to me. He's sooooo judgy for no reason I love him.

Staying with Ravi just to launch a campaign to annoy him is 100% a valid option ngl, but I'm excited to say that I will be adding stay with Perri and stay with Beck routes!!! Because I deserve a little bit of unnecessary branching, as a treat, and I think you all will enjoy them, too.

Plus it makes me laugh. Ditching the person you met two days ago to stay with one of the people you met yesterday.

No pressure to share your thoughts, but I would love to read them if you decided you wanted to!! Even if they were similar to previous ones. I love getting asks and reading people's thoughts about the characters and the story. It hypes me up to keep writing <3

[whitedarkmoonflower]

Saved

Part 1 – Sihtric x reader

Authors note: while rewatching the Season 2 of TLK and going wild with exploring my newly acquired skill of taking and editing screenshots I became obsessed with the idea of writing my own version of how Sihtric met Uhtred. Please bear with me as I'm working on learning to concentrate on the essentials and leave out unnecessary details, but I also believe that small details can make the characters more vivid.

Summary: reader is Uhtred’s sister and a skilled healer. She travels with her brother’s men and after the unsuccessful attempt on Uhtred’s life gets curious about the young prisoner, the sole Dane from the group of assailants that is left alive.

Warnings: violence and mention of blood

Word Count: 1,129

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Sihtric found you sitting in your favourite spot near the lake, beneath the shade of the ancient oak tree whose sprawling branches provided protection from the scorching sun. He hesitated for a moment, gathering his courage, before taking a seat beside you. In your presence, he still retained an endearing shyness, as if uncertain of how to navigate the depths of his feelings. Sihtric stole glances in your direction, admiring your strength and beauty. His mind raced with the desire to strike up a conversation, but he couldn't find the right words. Finally, he mustered the courage to speak.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me," Sihtric said, his expression serious as he turned to you.

"Saving you? What did I save you from?" you asked, puzzled.

"From feeling miserable, unwanted, and like I didn't belong anywhere," Sihtric replied, glancing into your eyes for a moment before lowering his gaze, his fingers fidgeting with the Thor's hammer amulet hanging around his neck. Nervousness radiated from him, mingled with a charming blend of insecurity and shyness that made a smile curl on your lips.

"You had every reason to hate me for attempting to kill your brother, but you never did. Instead you showed me kindness that I never truly deserved," Sihtric continued.

He had changed so much since the day you first met. You could still recall that evening as vividly as if it were yesterday, when Kjartan's men had tried to take Uhtred's life. They might have succeeded if not for Halig, who noticed the suspicious absence of the newly arrived Danes and urged the others to search for them. You had been on the verge of sleep after a long and busy day. Being a healer in a warrior's camp meant there was always an abundance of injuries to tend to, even without a battle. Men would hurt themselves during sword training, get kicked by horses, or foolishly engage in fights over trivial matters. Today, you had to fix a dislocated shoulder all because of an argument about the best whore at the White Goose tavern in Lundene. The shouts and clash of swords roused you from your slumber, causing you to hastily dress and rush out of your tent. Expecting yet another drunken brawl, you sought to find Uhtred and put an end to it. However, by the time you arrived, the fighting was already over. You approached the gathering of men, only to discover five lifeless Danes being dragged away from the lawn behind the stables.

"Uhtred!" you called out, fear lacing your voice as you saw him leaning against a stable pillar, breathing heavily. "Are you hurt?"

"All is fine. Don't worry, little sis. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for our Danish guests, but don't fret, they won't be needing your attention," Uhtred grinned, attempting to lighten the atmosphere as he noticed your concerned expression.

"Let me check on you," you insisted, pulling him closer to the torchlight so you could assess his injuries. At first glance, there were some bruises and a swollen eye, but no apparent serious damage. His movements lacked any signs of pain or hesitation, indicating that he likely didn't have any broken ribs. Still, you were reluctant to let him go, but Uhtred firmly took hold of your hands, kissing your palms, and with a determined voice, called out to the men dealing with the corpses behind you: "Secure the prisoner. I'll need answers from him later."

"I'm fine, sis. Truly, I am. Please don't worry," he reassured you, turning to plant a gentle kiss on your forehead. Apart from Ragnar, Uhtred's Danish brother, the two of you were all that remained of your family, and the bond between you had always been remarkably strong. You loved this proud, stubborn, and courageous young man, and he cared deeply for you.

Reluctantly, you turned your head to catch a glimpse of the young, bruised Dane, his hands awkwardly tied before him as Clapa dragged him away. The Dane was in a pitiful state, with fresh cuts and scrapes covering his arms, a split eyebrow, and a bleeding lip and nose. Anxiety radiated from his tense body. In a fleeting moment, his eyes met yours, and you detected a flicker of despair within them. It struck you how young and handsome he appeared, despite his current circumstances.

Uhtred's men returned to their respective fireplaces, the evening just beginning. You knew all too well that this minor incident wouldn't deter them from their usual activities of drinking, gambling, and arguing about the “best whores”, as they did almost every night. You had no desire to be part of that. Tomorrow, there would be more dislocated shoulders and broken fingers to tend to, and since Uhtred seemed fine you eagerly longed to return to your tent and go back to sleep.

As you made your way past an empty wagon, you noticed Clapa and Halig engaged in what seemed like an argument. Initially, you hesitated to involve yourself, suspecting it was another petty quarrel you didn't want to be dragged into. However, as you attempted to quietly pass by, your eyes caught sight of the silhouette seated by the wagon. It was the young prisoner, the sole Dane who had survived today's assault on Uhtred's life. His gaze, as he was being dragged away from the small battlefield by Clapa, his hands bound and his face smeared with blood, lingered in your memory. An unexplainable feeling stirred within you, prompting a change of heart, and you headed straight for Clapa and Halig.

“What are you two arguing about? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the prisoner?" you asked with frustration evident in your voice.

"We are, lady!" Clapa replied defensively. "Uhtred ordered us to decapitate the corpses, but Halig lacks the courage to do it."

“That's not true, lady!" Halig interjected hastily. "I just needed a drink first. You can't deny a man a drink, especially one who's tasked with severing heads from still-warm bodies. Besides, it's better to do it later when the blood has thickened. And there's no need for two men to guard a securely tied-up prisoner”

"Alright, enough quarrelling, lads. Halig, go and fetch your drink, and Clapa, get yourself an axe or do you plan on using your eating knife? I'll keep an eye on the prisoner," you ordered firmly. As Uhtred's sister and a skilled healer, you were accustomed to giving orders, and his men knew better than to argue with you. Both departed without hesitation, not bothering to question your decision, although it must have seemed peculiar to them that you wished to remain alone with the prisoner. Turning your gaze towards him, you approached cautiously, maintaining a safe distance just in case.

“Are you hurt?" you inquired, observing the Dane who sat beside the wagon, his back resting against the wheel. He raised his head, confusion, and distress evident in his eyes. He didn't respond just shook his head.

“Your lip and nose have been bleeding quite profusely. Wait here, I'll fetch my bag," you said with a chuckle. "How foolish of me, as if he had much choice in the matter," you thought to yourself while making your way to your tent to retrieve your medical supplies. You always kept a bag prepared, stocked with clean rags, salves, potions, and other necessities, ensuring you wouldn't waste time searching when urgently needed.

Returning with your bag and a piece of bread in hand, you offered it to the prisoner, but he made no move to accept. Leaning his head back against the wagon wheel, he closed his eyes. Shrugging your shoulders, you placed the bread back in your bag and instead took out some clean rags and a leather flask filled with water. The Dane opened his eyes, watching your every move. Kneeling before him, you dampened the rags and reached out your hand to cleanse his face. Startled, he instinctively flinched and jerked his head back, accidentally striking it against the wheel, eliciting a groan of pain.

"Hey, stay still. I only want to clean your face," you said, perplexed by his sudden reaction. His whole body tensed as you gently touched his forehead and continued to clean his bruised cheekbones.

"The brow will require stitches," you informed him.

“Why are you doing this?" the Dane spoke, his voice husky but soft. "I am a dead man. Why would you bother stitching my brow if your husband will later torture me for information and then kill me anyway.”

Tilting your head to the side, you continued to wipe away the blood from his face, now focusing on his busted lip and chin.

“I don't have a husband. I have a brother whom you sought to kill tonight," you said, finished with cleaning his face you observed his features intently. "And if there's one thing I know for certain about my brother, it's that he has never tortured anyone, nor will he ever," you couldn't help but think about how handsome this young man was and you felt a pang of sympathy for his unfortunate circumstances. He believed his fate was sealed and had resigned himself to it. His gaze remained fixed on the ground, as if he dared not meet your eyes.

“I didn't want to kill him. I just did not have much choice about it," the Dane's voice remained calm, resolute, and tinged with sincerity. "I only wish Lord Uhtred would grant me the honour of dying as a warrior, sword in hand. And I would willingly share everything I know with him.”

“Not that I fear the pain," he hastily added, "I simply owe no allegiance to Kjartan.”

Unexplainably, you found yourself believing this man. Every word he spoke carried weight, and you suddenly felt deeply sorry for him.

“You are very kind to me, lady," the Dane continued, his voice filled with a sense of shame for being here, for being a part of what had happened. "I don't deserve your attention, but I am immensely grateful for it."

"What's your name?" you found yourself asking, driven by an inexplicable curiosity. It was as if fate had brought this unfortunate young warrior across your path, and a growing resolve began to take shape within you. You did not want to let him to the fate he thought inevitable.

“I am called Sihtric, lady,” the Dane answered with no hesitation. “Would you like to live?" you suddenly asked, as a seemingly absurd idea took hold in your mind.

[asses-to-ashes]

Longass post about some problematic aspects of 2000-2010 fandom, and why antis are not the solution for ongoing problems.

When people my age talk about 2000s-2010 fandom, they usually talk about it with rose-colored glasses as if it was the Golden age of fandom. I've done the same thing in some of my posts at times, and I don't necessarily see a problem with it, especially when you're discussing it under the context of the current climate of censorship and community harassment, but it's important to look back at the past objectively. When I say old fandom in this post, just know that I'm referring to 2000 to 2010.

There is a happy medium that needs to be reached between holding people accountable in fandom and avoiding censorship. The "anti" mindset goes way too far and polices how people explore fiction, but Old Fandom had its own problems with extremely poor behavior. In this essay I'm going to be exploring these problems in old fandom, the causes and solutions, why media censorship is never the answer. It's important to recognize and reflect on these things especially for people who weren't around to experience it. History repeats itself when Forgotten.

My point is not, and has never been that old fandom was worse than new fandom. My point is not that old fandom is bad at all. My point here is looking at problems, the solutions that have been made for those problems, and why they don't relate to censoring fiction at all.

I want to reiterate that I know things I'm about to discuss still happen. You do not have to comment. But it's important that we start looking objectively at Old Fandom as a wonderful, accepting but sometimes problematic (real problematic not the way antis nave coopted that word) space.

Keep in mind that this is an opinion piece. While I do provide statistics, I'm not trying to make any objective statements. My experience is probably different than yours. The experiences of my friends and my sources are probably different than yours.

With that in mind, let's get into it. Click read more for the meat of this essay

Cosplay Is Not Consent

Consent and sexual harassment have always been a huge issue within the cosplay community, there have been countless stories of women dealing with unwanted sexual advances such as touching, cat calls, kissing, and groping in convention spaces. At conventions in 2000, consent was never mentioned. With such a severe problem, the Cosplay Is Not Consent movement began.

This has been a notion that has been around for a while, been posted at some small cons as far beck as 2012. but it really only became a popularized sentiment at New York City Comic-Con 2014, where the phrase "Costumes Are Not Consent was posted publicly in the convention apace, along with a clear anti-harassment policy.

Even though research shows that most sexual harassment goes unreported, the amount of sexual harassment reports had more than halved in the first year of the visible anti-harassment signs and movement. The amount of sexual harassment cases at NYCC remained steady at "about a dozen" per year even as the number of attendees has increased from 151,000 in 2014 to more than 200,000 in 2023- A testament to the increased awareness of sexual harassment within fandom, an ongoing movement to protect attendees with anti-harassment policies.

A policy is only as good as the structure set up around that policy. An increasing number of conventions have a policy, display their policy prominently, define harassment, explain consequences, let guests know how to report harassment, and give separate protocols when convention organizers are responsible for abuse.

Now, instead of an unspoken "look the other way" policy, congoers are more likely to notice sexual harassment, come to someone's aid, and speak out. People who harass women are more likely to be kicked out of conventions and sexual harassment is more likely to be reported.

Obviously, sexual harassment and assault is still a huge problem in convention spaces, but with an increase in awareness around the issue, it's not as prominent as before.

Subsection: Yaoi Paddles, Glomping, and dangerous conduct

Reportedly first sold in 2002 at Otakon, yowie paddles are a wooden paddle with the word Yaoi burnt into the paddle end used for spanking people. They were a huge problem at conventions and caused a lot of people to be injured as a result. There were countless stories on forums about people being hit by random passerbys using a yaoi paddle, and people begged for it to be banned.

Glomping Is a running hug action that's a mix between a hug and a pounce. It was very popular in fandom, specifically around 2005 in the anime and furry fandoms. It was mostly younger people doing this and it caused a lot of people to be injured as well. Glopping incidents sometimes even included biting or groping.

Both of these behaviors were considered very poor etiquette, but were still very common in conventions. They were common enough so that even saying the words yaoi paddle or glomp to a cosplayer my age is like activating a sleeper agent. Your life flashes before your very eyes. Obviously I'm being dramatic here but it was very annoying.

Inappropriateness with Actors

In general, poor etiquette around celebrities is still a thing now. I haven't seen etiquette getting any better, so this point is less about a problem with old fandom and more about a current issue that still needs to be addressed. I'm going to be talking about real people, fan fiction and the blurred lines between characters and actors.

I'm not here to debate the ethics of "real people fiction." For those of you who don't know, RPF is a genre of fanfiction that involves real people. These people can be actors, politicians, historical figures, youtubers, really anything like that.

The problem comes from involving real actors in your fiction about them. What I mean by this is sending the actors your explicit fan fiction, or asking them inappropriate sexual questions. This is more of a problem from the early 2000's. While this does still happen now, it was really prolific in the early Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fandoms.

Actors would frequently be invited to fan sites that had explicit RPF fanfiction. I've seen cases where actors were asked to sign copies of RPF, actors were mailed RPF, and were showed these fanfictions at meetups and conventions.

RPF never died off, and it's still a very popular genre. Between 2016 and 2017, fanfiction about real K-pop stars. Increased 10% on Tumblr. In 2015, Larry Stylinson was the number one ship on Tumblr according to Amanda Brennan, senior content insights manager at Tumblr.

Celebrities have been harassed for not following a fandom script, online shipping has led to the real life harassment of celebrities. For example, Lili Reinhart reported that her castmate was sent death threats because her character was getting in between a popular ship. This happened in 2017 and represents an ongoing problem in fandom.

Nazism and the Anime Boston Incident

I distinctly remember going to conventions when I was younger and seeing Nazi cosplayers walking around sometimes. They could be from Indiana Jones, Captain America, or whatever movie allowed them to wear that.

It wasn't until 2017 when Rose City Comic-Con updated a change to cosplay policy outlawing Nazi cosplayers including satirical or ironic cosplays which use Nazi paraphernalia or gear. Other conventions have also enacted similar cosplay bands in response to incidents such as the hello Kitty SS uniforms (yes, this is real) and cosplays of other fictional Nazis such as old school Hydra and red skull.

The most memorable incident that I distinctly saw on the internet in 2010 was the Hetalia Anime Boston Incident. For those of you who aren't familiar with hetalia, it's a series that came out in 2009 and initially took place in WWII, and each character is the humanization of a country. There is still debate on the characterization, especially regarding the character Germany- Poor guy was the cause of this specific controversy. The Italia fandom had exponential growth since 2009, and at anime Boston 2010, there was an incident regarding a hetalia photo shoot where cosplayers decided to do a Nazi salute as a joke. Even at the time, the sparked controversy on the Hetalia fandom on livejournal which is why I remember this incident so specifically. There were incidents like this beforehand, but this garnered enough attention online so that lots of photographers made it very clear that no Nazi imagery or posing was allowed.

With more restrictive policies and increased awareness, these types of cosplays became a lot less common in the west. The band are usually around Nazi iconography and symbols such as salutes and uniforms. You still see these cosplays today, such as an example from Hong Kong at Ani-com that took place this month, July 2024.

Where do antis fit in here?

I want to make it super clear that none of these major issues that I brought up here have to do with fiction. The points that are related to fiction, such as cosplaying a Nazi character or sending RPF to actors are entirely based on people's conduct in real life.

People never stopped liking characters like Red Skull, people still write about him and draw him. People should be allowed to write about characters like Red Skull and people should be allowed to like him, the issue arises when you wear a Nazi uniform in a public place.

People never stopped liking Yaoi. Little fan girls never stopped reading exactly the same stuff that I was reading at their age. The difference comes from behavior in real life.

Universally, the vast majority of fandom regardless of the time are able to separate fiction from reality. The problems were never caused by fiction, but rather people's behavior.

In order to stop people from cosplaying Nazi characters, the solution was not getting rid of all Nazi characters in media and harassing people who write about them. The solution was, very simply, to ban this kind of iconography at conventions and hold people accountable for their conduct.

Regardless of the space and the fandom, there are always going to be people who can't behave properly. There are always going to be people who don't know how to treat others. That's just the reality of looking at a group of people, some people don't have common sense. It is not the fiction that causes people to behave this way, but rather having a large group of people in a relatively new scene that hasn't established proper regulations and etiquette yet.

Allowing people to create, consume, and appreciate fiction that is not personally tasteful to you, or appropriate for some audiences, is an important part of society. It's extremely valuable to protect these freedoms, as censorship is a slippery slope.

My next essay will be about censorship in the Cold war era, McCarthyist homophobia, and why comic books were censored for having "anti-american" ideas.

Keep an eye out for that.

[or13m]

Waking Dream (fnaf) Chapter 004

Moon had moved so fast that Foxy had no time to escape the claws that gripped at his coat and yanked him forward. The daycare door slammed shut, Moon kicking a kid's triangle block in place to prevent any more unwanted guests from showing up.

"Laddie, what ye be doing?!" the pirate animatronic growled, his one hand coming up to grip at the naptime bot's wrist while his hook waved threateningly in the air. Moon completely ignored his rantings, dragging the fox away from the door a good ways before he even acknowledged him.

"This is Cocoa," Moon said as he forcibly set Foxy on his feet in front of you, claws digging into the other animatronic's shoulders. "They are a guest in the Daycare. A PRIVATE guest..." You could only watch in awkward silence as the daycare bot tightened his grip, his melodic voice dripping with barely concealed venom.

Foxy was having none of it, however. He snarled when it clicked that the moon was threatening him. "Lad, ye be playin a dangerous game…" he warned, his one good eye glaring at the animatronic towering over him. The tension rose the longer the ensuing stare down continued, neither willing to give in. Moon's glowing red eyes narrowed into pinpricks, and you could see both bots' hands threatening to crush the other. You couldn't take it, you had to step in.

"Um, I don't want to cause any problems…" you tried to speak up, but it ended in a pitiful whimper when both animatronics turned their eyes on you. For a moment, they had forgotten that you were even there, despite your very presence being the reason for their current hostility. "I'm not ready to…um…meet everyone else yet?" You directed this last bit towards the older of the two. His hand relaxed its grip on Moon's wrist after a moment of studying your concerned expression. The stress trickled out of you when he released a heavy sigh, your shoulders relaxing as you breathed your own sigh of relief. You were grateful that everyone was much nicer than they were in the games…so far.

"A guest of yers, huh?" Foxy tossed over his shoulder at Moon who just huffed at him in return. He rolled his eye before turning his attention to you. "I be 'Foxy', Lad," he introduced himself with a flourish, releasing his death grip on Moon to make a sweeping bow with his captain's hat. He plopped the hat back into its proper place when he righted himself, a strained grin on his muzzle. With things calming down, you could spot the little curl of a white beard on his chin. It was a cute design choice, especially so since he was one of the original bots, so it helped highlight his age. "Captain Foxy," he stressed the "captain" part, throwing yet another glare back at Moon who—again—said nothing but did roll his eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Captain," you responded politely, not moving from your seated position on the floor. It wasn't that you didn't want to shake his hand or anything…it was just that you COULDN'T…

Do existential crises still happen for ghosts?

"They're dead," Moon intercepted before anything more could be said or done. You could hear a pin drop in the silence that ensued from that statement.

'Moon! That was too bold!' Sun complained from within Moon's head. 'Our new friend is going to be upset!'

Moon ignored his twin. He kept careful watch over the fox, determined to keep himself between him and the nearest exit. He didn't need the pirate to go fetch the leader of their little band of misfits.

Foxy's eyes widened at the announcement, caught off-guard. Dead? He did a double take at Cocoa, his gold eye latching onto the dark ring around their neck. At first, he had thought it was a necklace, but, upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was a death mark. He couldn't help but flinch at the fact that he was in the presence of yet another spirit. At least this one didn't seem fueled by revenge or terror. In fact, Cocoa was just as all there as any regular human—able to form thoughts and converse like anybody else.

The question was: why was there an adult here? As far as Foxy knew, no one was possessed by an angry spirit or malfunctioning from glitchy malware.

"They don't remember anything," Moon stated before Foxy could ask. "Sunny gave them the name 'Cocoa'," he elaborated further.

"And ye be fixin ter keep them as a pet?" Foxy snorted with a displeased scowl.

"I'm keeping them from being overwhelmed by a bunch of nosey bots," Moon quipped with a frown.

You could only sit there and stare up at the two bots quarreling about you. You were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed right now, to be honest, but you weren't brave enough to speak up about it. These two clearly had temper issues and must regularly butt heads. You were honestly surprised that they hadn't started brawling on the floor yet as tensions started rising once again.

Everything stilled when Moon brought out his final weapon.

"Sun is asking this as a favor."

You watched in mild amusement when Foxy froze mid hook shake. Whatever internal debate he had must have ended when he took a step back with an embarrassed cough. "Fer Sunny Lad, I be quiet."

Delight made way for curiosity. Did the sun daycare attendant have some blackmail on the furry captain? He backed down quick from running to Freddy with the knowledge of your whereabouts. Either way you were grateful…just intrigued.

Moon appeared just as gleeful, if not more so, but he only nodded in acceptance of the fox's pledge of silence. He may not know what Sun knew—his brother refusing to divulge such spicy information—but it sure was useful for times like these.

After that…eventful meeting with the pirate fox, you found out quite a bit of useful information. Foxy and Moon were rather good friends. Foxy had stopped by after noticing the lights being on at an unusual time and, with the intruder—aka you—hanging around, he'd gotten worried. Also, he wasn't the only old face that you'd seen tonight. It really HAD been Bonnie the bunny you'd seen during your walk through the building. The two of them had been found and rebuilt by the new owner of the establishment—a well-off man by the name of "Peter Lawrence". He spoke of the guy with pride in his voice, happy to work for someone like him. Moon had said nothing throughout the entire conversation, keeping a cool façade carefully in place.

'Guess he doesn't like to show emotion around the others,' you thought to yourself. You felt a bit sad at that notion. His warm expression from earlier when he'd drawn you out of hiding was…well, heart-warming. You didn't understand why he wouldn't want to show off that side of himself, especially to his friends…

Foxy got to his feet with a groan, the metal in his knees creaking from sitting for so long. "Ah, Laddies, this old fox better be going fer the night," he declared with a grin. "I be needin a recharge fer tomorrow." His uncovered eye focused on Moon who was sitting next to you. "Ye best be gettin rest, ter," he ordered with a wave in the direction of a balcony positioned near the ceiling on the other side of the daycare. You'd noticed it when you'd come in through the main entrance but hadn't gotten a chance to really explore since you'd been in flight mode at the time.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Moon drawled with a mocking grin. He started chuckling when Foxy rolled his eyes and called him a scallywag before walking out.

"He was fun," you piped up, rolling onto your back upon the playmats. You couldn't feel their softness, nor could you feel exhausted, but your mind let you enjoy the temporary relief you felt at being left alone for a bit.

"If you like your ear talked off," Moon teased in his low rumble.

Or as alone as you could be…

"So, when does FNAF World open?" you asked, trying to get your mind on anything other than your existence…or lack thereof…

Moon hummed in thought, his network flipping through the files Peter had been creating in the main database. "Tentative start date is October 31st," he read out only for his expression to twist into a grimace. "Really, Lawrence? Halloween?"

You shifted to look up at him, seeing his irritation. "Could it be a coincidence?"

"No," Moon was quick to shoot down your theory. He didn't elaborate, just let the two of you sit in the darkness of the daycare so you turned your attention back to the ceiling. There was no glow from any stars—something that you would have found odd had it not been for Foxy telling you that the building wasn't completed yet. "FNAF World" wasn't "Freddy's Mega Pizza Plex". Apparently, Peter Lawrence—a man with too much time and money on his hands—had found and bought the bots from the old place and brought them here. You were still reeling from the fact that the games were ACTUAL coverups by the Fazbear company to create a fake mandela effect where certain people remembered the franchise but just thought it was a game.

If you hadn't been having an existential crisis before, you certainly were now.

"You need rest, right?" you asked before an end life crisis could hit you. "Captain Foxy said you should recharge…"

Moon tsked, getting to his feet. He stared down at you until you got the message and sprang to your own feet. A cable dropped down from nowhere as the two of you made your way across the daycare and towards the balcony. The hook on one end latched onto a metal loop in Moon's back, pulling him into the air. You watched in awe from the floor as it swept him up towards what you assumed was his and Sun's bedroom. He landed softly on the balcony, the bells on his feet and wrists jingling lightly. "You coming?" he called back down at you, eyes bright in the dark.

"How?" you retorted, feeling more than a little frustrated. Glancing around, you couldn't find a door or a staircase in sight—not even a ladder—to get up to the little alcove.

"Ghosts don't need stairs," Moon taunted, one hand on his hip as he continued to stare at you. There was a small smirk on his faceplate, as if daring you to argue with his logic. You pouted at his arrogance, fisting your hands as reality clawed at you.

You REALLY didn't want to think about that right now…but you supposed it would be better to face the music now rather than later when you least expected it.

"Is there an after-death manual or something I can read?" you complained, lifting one foot then the other to see if you could "step" onto the air. Moon only snickered at your misery. You rolled your eyes. "Big help you are…"

'Moonie…' Sun warned, clearly unhappy with the events unfolding.

'I'm only having fun,' Moon tried to brush off the incoming lecture. Before Sunny could give him the tongue-lashing he knew was coming, Moon relented. "Don't think, just do. You want to come up here, then come up here," he goaded. He couldn't keep the shit-eating grin off his face at the expression of pure annoyance on yours. You were so red, you almost looked like a cherry. You were easy to wind up. He, for one, wasn't going to tell you about the hidden staircase built into the wall below…

It took a few horribly embarrassing tries, but—a good thirty minutes later—you were floating in mid-air… Well, less "floating" and more "shot like a bullet" straight at Moon when he said you looked like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time…

Moon dodged out of the way just as you came careening past him into the room. He was full-on laughing now, his reserved chuckles long since passed. Your frustration had turned to shock the second you had realized what was happening but had been too late to stop it. It was beautiful.

"You are a bully…" you whined from your position against the far wall, upside down and worn out. Thankfully, you were no longer floating freely, but you were feeling depleted. You supposed that "flying" must take a shitload of energy for a spirit…or a new one, anyway.

"Funny, Sun just said that, too," Moon giggled, unable to contain his glee. "Welcome to our humble abode."

You dropped over yourself, glad that you hadn't phased through the wall because you would have no idea how to unphase yourself. You stayed seated on the ground, catching your breath as you looked around. If the daycare looked the most put together in the building, then this one was the least…

There was no carpet or tile on the floor, it was just the subfloor. The walls didn't have any drywall up—that was piled up against a wall on the opposite side of the room. Instead, they were just beams with wires running through for outlets and light switches. At least there were lights fashioned into the ceiling…that still needed to be completed since it, too, was just exposed beams and wiring. There were some boxes here and there, a few paint cans and brushes, but mostly nothing. The only things that provided comfort were a mess of blankets and pillows stuffed into a corner alongside a star-shaped nightlight on the floor. Their sleeping area was positioned next to a heavy-duty looking outlet with a large plug coming out of it.

You watched as Moon settled into the blanket pile and stuck the plug into a compartment at his back before saying something.

"Um, so…do ghosts sleep?"

[echoedcrosshairs]

Dark Redemption: Shadows Betrayal - part III

Warning: Cannon typical violence, Order 66, Pinning, former established relationship, emotional turmoil, smut piv, mention of wounds, mention of mount taniss, Crosshair’s depression, Crosshair’s head wound, Flashbacks, experimentation mention.

Word Count: 7k

Masterlist ~ part I ~ part II - part IV

Haunted memories hung in the air, the silence had taken a space as an unwanted guest keeping the both of you apart. The broken words of his question hung to your body like an ill fitting body suit taunting every flaw which continued to slowly shrink as the silence continued along with his thousand yard stare threatening to make you burst apart. Once you would have believed nothing could haunt the reaper but here it was the echoes of life taunting him.

Unlocking the door you let him walk in first, watching sit in the middle of the bed looking out the tiny window, this time it was your turn to sit infront of him. Gently placing your hand on his knee scared to jostle him out of his thoughts, "What do you need, Crosshair?" you asked staring at his off in the distance expression. He looked at you but not quiet seeing. "Riduur," you whispered causing his focus to momentarily realign.

"Space," he whispered looking back out the window, his gaze unfocusing once again.

Like a year of it wasn't enough, "If you need me, here," you said slipping him the spare communicator from your pack knowing what could happen, "I'm going out for the evening," you left the spare key openly out on your bed incase he needed to go for a walk, "I'll bring you back some food." You stole another glance at him wondering where or when his mind way, "Wrecker never blamed you for shooting him, thought you'd like to know," you said slipping out the door.

The air was colder, regretfully not bringing a coat you put your hands into your pockets contemplating how you wanted to entertain yourself for a few hours with out any company. You knew this town but this town didn't know you, no friends or even acquaintances roamed this zone. You kicked a tiny rock but headed to the tree you found him in. Not having the best entire on for climbing you managed to get to the limp and watch the night life of the city begin. By the time the streets lights turned on you decided it was finally time to explore. The world ghosted under your feet as you tread across it taking in various shops, cantinas and dinners, reveling in how peaceful it still felt since the rise of the Empire. No imperial broad cast on every passing holonet nor white contrasting the town, it was almost still like the days of the republic except here you stood a remnant of a age most were to tired to fight to regain. You were tired too, tired of the injustices, tired of dictatorship, tired of the abuse of the galaxies citizens and tired of the treatment of him. A familiar smell pulled you towards a restaurant, smile twitching on your lips at the distance memory.

~ Days of the Republic; Pizza ~

The smells of the real fire ovens wafted through the restaurant, "How archaic," Crosshair mused looking at the triangle cut food that littered the various tables. His eyes scoped the various toppings wondering how that sounded appetizing together. Seldom did he ever step away from regulation food but you had told him this indulgence would be worth it. Crosshair watched your smile as you lead him towards a small two person booth. 

"Watch it, Snarky or no dessert."

"I thought you were dessert," he retorted staring at you, letting his contentment shine in his irises.

You rolled your eyes trying to keep the blush from reaching your cheeks, "Says the man who didn't even kiss me," you taunted.

In hindsight, Crosshair had come to realize that was a poor decision on his part and one his brothers had enjoyed teasing him about especially Tech still doubting the compatibility. His fingers tapped the table as his mind trialed off wondering if perhaps Tech was correct, out of all of his brothers he was the most distant and harsh. Hunter or Wrecker even Tech could've provide better companionship. Tech's stupid chart taunted him, Hunter 81%, Tech 72%, Wrecker 56%, Crosshair 13%, had he really been that poor of a choice. He was tempted to get up and walk out when he felt your hand silence on top his. He stared at your hand before looking up at you only offering a stiff nod thankful for your observational skills, he stiffened as he felt your fingers lace through his as you one handedly looked through the menu. He had seen several nat borns do this but just made him feel exposed. Crosshair opened the menu nonchalantly using it to cover your intertwined hands from any prying eyes of the outside world.

You watched him patiently trying to gauge his reaction to the simple gesture. When the waitress walked over you didn't think his muscles could constrict any further when you both handed her the menus. Gently you pulled away your hand watching him relax, instead wrapping your legs around one of his knowing how dark it was under there and it didn't seem to phase him. It shouldn't have surprised you, Crosshair profile had described him as private, his little makeshift barrier between his bunk and his brother's had definitely proved that. It was possibly even a good thing, just so if this did turn out to be something it would be easy to hide. A smile tugged on your lips.

"What?" He asked leaning back in the booth.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Just thinking about you," you admitted taking a sip of water.

"What about me?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"How private you are even worlds away from Kamino even with your brothers handful of klicks away."

"It's who I am," he said flatly trying to conceal his emotions.

"It's cute."

He blinked while twirling the toothpick side to side in his mouth, "How?"

"Wanting to keep what's your to yourself," you offered, listening to a little hmm escape from his lips. You gently squeezed his leg, "It doesn't bug me if that's what's bothering you," you said looking at his knitted eyebrows.

Crosshair looked back up at you but not trusting enough to voice the doubt in his mind. He just nodded again. His stomach threaten to grumble at the smell of the food which caused a small sneer to tug at his lips. "Pizza," he mumbled once the food arrived, his mind was already cataloguing everything wrong with it when he noticed you digging in happily. Crosshair tended to be very particular about the division in his non regulation food to keep accurate portion sizes and organization about what he was consuming but pizza was just chaos. He sighed picking up the hot piece of food taking a bite, the combination of flavors flooding his mouth like the forced swimming lessons on Kamino. He set it down and stared at it before trying it again, "It's adequate," he said looking at the anticipation on your face. It was delicious, but his mouth wouldn't let him say it. He returned your smile, both of you eating in the pleasant silence.

You lingered ncxt to him leaving the leaving the restaurant casually heading towards a decent ice cream parlor, "Dessert?" you asked.

"That was enough taste testing for me today."

"Does that count me too?" You jested, running face first into his chest. You stared up into the gleaming brown eyes staring down at you his face was softer but still neutral as he grabbed your chin giving you a soft quick kiss before stepping back quickly scanning the surrounding area.

"Is that what you wanted?" He straightening his back. Trying to keep his nerves from showing this with drilled in training.

"Yes," you smiled still feeling the brush of his lips against causing your face to heat up. Biting your lip you continued walking realizing it was probably his first kiss, which stopped you dead in your tracks looking at a dark alley gently you tugged him towards it. You found him sneering at you with his arms folded, shut off which wasn't what you anticipated from the privacy, "I liked it," you whispered.

"So?"

"You don't say a lot but your face sure does," you said, "Why are you mad?" you asked observing him.

"Who says I'm mad?"

You looked him up and down cocking your head to the side, "You're really asking me that?" You watched his eyebrows descend with his furrowed squint. "Next time don't kiss me until your ready, Snarky," you offered leading his grumbly form to the ice cream shop. Regardless of if he ate it or not, you got him a chocolate cup. The rest of the walk was silent as you strolled your way back to the ship with food in tow as payment from the privacy.

Wrecker met you at the ramp jumping when he saw the bag of food, "I like this one!" He said excitedly as you handed him his own box of pizza picking you up by the waist along side it hauling you into the ship.

You had started getting use to the Batches shenanigans except Wrecker's accidental outburst, "What did I say about picking her up! Ask first," Hunter scolded.

"Uh- Right. Sorry," Wrecker said setting you down in the cockpit with them, finding Crosshair's pissed expression walking in.

"Someone doesn't like you manhandling his girl," Hunter snickered.

"Why not?" Wrecker asked in earnest confused.

"That is generally what one does with one's own partner not another's. If I were you I would keep one eye open while you slept," Tech said grabbing the other box of pizza sharing it with Hunter, "Assuming Crosshair is the jealous type," he added eyeing his brother, "I assumed correctly."

"So what if I am," he grumbled plopping down in the seat next to you, the question discreetly towards you.

"It is not something you can change, it is however something you can manage," Tech interjected, "Assuming this works out. To be blunt, I don't theorize will. Crosshair, you are too reserved to open up which from what I have read is the bare minimum and you tend to be aloof with anyone who isn't the three of us, most of the time, sometimes that even includes us. That being said managing emotions within a relationship does require the bare minimum"

"Shut up and eat your pizza," you replied flatly finding Crosshair's cold unreadable expression at his brother.

"Pizza is delicious," Wrecker said attempting to slice through the tension in the air, "Sorry for pickin' er up."

~

The door of the restaurant slide open relieving a small Mom and Pop's styled restaurant, you walked in automatically being lead to a tiny booth by a service droid. It seemed like a life time ago that you had managed to drag him out on a date if you could call it that as the flirtatious side comments had continued and after observing how annoyed he seemed with his brothers when we're were paired with anyone else on missions. You ordered a slice of your favourite and a soda float along with a pizza to go when you were done. Being alone gave you to much time for your mind to wander to unpleasant depths. You leaned your head on your hand staring down at the wood grain table, it's life story be on display for all to see wondering if anyone else had taken the time to read it and if anyone would read yours if this how it ended.

You ate slowly bidding your time while enjoying your float. By the time you paid, a mild food coma was setting in. Every step back to the hotel made you realize how exhausted you were. Your lips twitched pleasantly that Crosshair had at least showered and had pajamas on by the time you returned and their wasn't an imperial waiting for you before you forced them to straight line, "Pizza," you murmured setting the box on his nightstand.

"I'm going to shower," you murmured, grabbing your pajamas from your drawer heading into the refresher. Thankful for the old style water shower you turned it to warm letting it heat up as you disrobed. You barely had a chance to get your hair wet before you heard the door open, "Cross!" you exclaimed covering yourself facing the wall.

"Did you eat alone?" he asked propping himself against the wall.

"Is this really the time-"

"Answer the question," he hissed.

"For kriff's sake, yes."

"Then why does this place make you sentimental?" He growled waiting for the hammer of betrayal to drop.

"This is where Commander Cody told me I was getting reassigned to Clone Force 99."

He squinted but found nothing but the truth across your face, "Hmph," he said taking the tooth pick of his mouth, "You remembered what I ordered," a statement not a question, "We only had it the once."

"You liked it," you shrugged, "Now can I shower?"

"Can I join?" he murmured.

"Wha-," you steadied his expression, "Yeah," you swallowed turning as his fingers pulled off his shirt.

"You find me hideous now" He said flatly stepping in.

You looked at him, "No," your eyebrows came together for a moment wonder what would make him think that, "I just don't know what we are to each other now... you said once but didn't clarify..."

"No," he blurted out his hands finding the soap bar lathering his hands, "Commander Cody brought me here once," he added gently massaging your back and arms with his precise finger tips. "I don't know either," he admitted putting more soap on his hands before modestly washing your torso not lingering longer then he had too before moving down your legs. "Being a soldier is all I've ever known," he said standing back up, "I don't know if I can be anything else."

Your hand rested on his which sat itself on your hip as you took a deep breath, "The choice is yours. Be with me, be with your brothers, go out on your own or go back to the Empire if that's what you really want," you listening to another little hmm escape him before his hands moved to your hair. This would have almost been peaceful besides the conversation, even on the marauder you both had often used the sonic together as an excuse for some almost privacy to embrace. You tilted your head back into the water letting his nimble fingers rinse it out. Your eyes found his staring at you intently, cautiously you placed your hands around his neck tilting your

head back up. Taking a deep breath when you felt his hands go around your waist taking one step forward, bodies almost touching. You thought he was going to kiss you when he leaned in but he shut the water off returning his hand to your waist. There was a trace of hunger in his earthly eyes, pupils slightly blown but still fully in control of himself.

You felt his long fingers trial your side his look turning to contemplation, "I don't know what I'll want tomorrow. Right now, I need you," he breathed moving closer.

"What if you decide you don't want me tomorrow," you whispered breaking his gaze, eyes accidentally trailing down his still chiseled torso. Why does he have to be so perfect?

"Cyar'ika," he growled, "I've always wanted you," he let his hands fall from  your waist but his fingers were caught by yours and you dragged him out of the shower letting him go only for a couple moments to hand him a towel and to dry yourself off before you dragged him back to the room towards his bed, "Even if you belonged with one of them."

"Cross," you murmured.

His lips were a sparking blaze igniting against your. Carefully maneuvering back onto the bed letting his hands guiding you to where he wanted you. His fingers tracing nearly forgotten flesh trying to recommit it to memory. Your beauty that had agonized him every morning ebut as time had passed it had become less and less frequent causing Crosshair to realize he missed it as the memory of you grew distant. His heart was racing like it had the first time causing his lungs to withhold precious oxygen from him. While his mind had nearly forgotten his body hadn't as he kissed deep remembrances down your neck speckling it in purple causing his name to fall from your lips pleadingly. He tensed hearing the desperation in your tone, his fingers digging into the bed. Crosshair tilted his hips down up grinding himself against your soaked warmth, groaning at the sensation his mind wandering to absolutely feral places over the feel of you, "Do you want me," he gritted out halting himself.

"Yes-," you breathed, feeling his fingers quickly entwine with yours bringing your joined hands over above your head. The contact of him consuming as he pressed his tip against your clit teasing you before pressing himself into you. You gridded your teeth as the stretched burned causing him to freeze as he seated fully inside resting his hips against yours. Tilting your chin up, he got the message bringing his lips to yours taking his time with every kiss gently pressing to sucking a pout into them until he felt you slowly relax around his cock. Slowly he dragged his body against yours not breaking contact with your mouth. Breaking the contact you gave him a loving head bump before resting your forehead against his. Every inch of your soul ached for him, crying out just to be connected to him again. His scent, his voice, his breath every single aspect of Crosshair consumed your senses as he lowered himself barely hovering over you as he continued his longing pace. The squeeze of his hand dragged you back to him to the fire blazing in his shadowed eyes, a broken grin threatening tearing spread across your face seeing him so... him.

Every collision was driven by the pure despair caused by the absent of being whole together, each kiss passionate as if it was the last while every breath was silently thanking everything above that Crosshair could have this time to be joined with you. He released one of your hands to cup the back of your head. Your fingers made contact with his scar, surprised at the tenderness your fingers had adoringly tracing it. He leaned into the touch. The feeling of being accepted even if was just for tonight was enough to quiet the forever nagging feeling in his bones that you belonged with one of his brothers, but here you were with him flaws and all. When he was a younger man, you had taunt him how to fuck but now he knew how to love. He lightly pushed your head down before lifting his own head up, both you staring down at where you were connected. It was always one of your favorite things to watch him disappear inside you. He slowly pulled out, barely leaving his tip inside before snapping his hips into hours reveling in the sounds of your slick coating him. After a few more times letting you begin to writhe at the approaching orgasm he moved his mouth now your neck alternating between kissing and licking the marks he had left, groaning as he felt you clenching around him vice holding. His chest vibrated with the groan that escaped his lips. Crosshair's hip fought against his self control to speed up the dance and ultimately won, what started as a slow dance of love quickly transformed into a tango of desperate passion. He released your other hand to roam his war harden muscles while his white knuckles dug into the bed. Hot mouthed kisses muffled moans to keep from getting a sound complaint this late in the evening. His hips frozen for a moment as you came, squishing to the point his vision went white a moment before he returned to an unruly pace while his vocal cords strained to keep quiet. Every rope released caused his balls to twitch at the violence of the eruption. He brought his hand down wrapping it around your back holding you to him and using it to stabilize himself as he laid halfway on you. He smiled at your twitching sheepishly, staring back at him. Never could such an ethereal being roam this galaxy, nor be his but again here you with a monster such as himself.

Only for a moment the past had merged with the reality of the present, silver gently speckled his scalp and Crosshair's eyes were the liveliest shade of earth possible but in a blink it was gone, "Cross," you smiled weakly moving your had to cup his face, your fingers trembling against his tough skin. Your body vibrated from the release, edging you to the point of exhaustion causing you to struggle to stay awake. His face buried itself in your neck, hot breath eased you to sleep until he woke you making you whine.

"You need to get cleaned up," he murmured pressing soft kisses to your jaw. You didn't move causing him to huff as he climbed off you scooping you up in his arms and carrying you to the refresher and gently seat you on the toilet before leaning against the counter.

"Are you really going to stay while I...?" You trailed off confused at his sudden interest.

"Yes," he uttered wishing he had thought to bring a toothpick to keep busy.

You raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off, trying to keep the red out of your face over his all seeing gaze. The red burning as you did your little routine hearing his desire fall into the toilet, not able to look at him. You felt Crosshair's hands on your knee staring at you, "It's just me." Covering your quivering mouth with your hand you still couldn't look at him. He pulled the hand away standing back up, "I didn't realize there was any privacy between us," he said flatly.

"Cross..." you groaned at another mood swing, "It's just that your.. staring and barely blinking, it's making me self conscious."

"I should know how to clean you up by now," he gritted out, another small failure on his part not being the clingy observant type after intercourse opting to go be alone after the intimate action trying to make peace with the intimacy within his soul and the deattachment he needed for his profession.

"Crosshair..." you realized this was deeply personal to him, "I'm almost done anyway," you mumbled wiping the rest of the drenching slick off, "Typically I would shower so I don't blatantly smell in front of Hunter, but he's not here so I will in the morning." You heard Crosshair's little hmm of a responsive before standing up giving him a warm kiss, "Goodnight, Riduur," you whispered before crawling into your bed grabbing one of the extra pillows and pulling it to your body but no matter how hard you closed your eyes you just couldn't get comfortable and the hair on the back of your neck was standing up. You craned your head finding Crosshair sitting on the edge of his bed observing you, "What's on your-"

"Can I join."

You turned further, of course both of you had slept together but usually not right afterwards. Eyeing him you opened the blanket watching his tall slender form sip under the blankets curling up into your back. You opened your mouth but quickly closed it not wanting to ruin whatever was currently transpiring. At first his aloofness had bothered you a great deal but with time and dedication you came to understand why he did some of the things he did, especially after one or two drinks to loosen your lips and find an excuse to get Tech alone to question his brother's behavior after wondering if you were the problem.

"This is nice," he whispered feeling sick yet warm on the inside as he buried his face in the back of your neck.

"It does," you whispered feeling like you were melting into the bed with him in it.

"I... am sorry for not doing this sooner."

You wrapped your arm around his and brought one to touch his face stroking his sliced cheek bones, "I accepted you, Crosshair, I knew what I was getting into."

"No you didn't," he whispered causing the room lap in silence, "You belonged with them."

"I belong to you," you stated, "whether you likes it or not."

"We had the lowest chance," he grumbled.

"Tech was wrong," that comment seemed to get his attention, "You can hold that over his head, for once he was wrong. It wouldn't have worked with anyone else, you want to know why?" you said forcing his arm to move so you could roll over and look at him, "None of them are you, Crosshair. They couldn't challenge me, they didn't look at me the way you do, they wouldn't have been been able to watch my back like you and I do for eachother so they don't the bond with that comes with that and they certainly don't make me yearn for their mere existence," you stated this time forcing him to stare at you.

"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum," Crosshair whispered examining the steadfast loyalty on your face.

"I love you too, Cross," you yawned, to tired to try to repeat the language fading in your mind from the lack of use.

"Go to sleep," he whispered pulling you closer to him caging you in with his legs. He smiled feeling you playfully struggle before giving into him. "I'll... be here when you wake up."

~ Dream : Days of the Republic; Injury ~

Life and death waged on the lush forest floor, an endless cycle to prove oneself as the dominant species through hunter-prey adaptations. Legs folded over tree branch, you looked up to find Crosshair being the king of all as still as the tree itself looking through his sights at his brothers in the distance. You saw his gloved hand beckon for you to join him, "Won't I distract you, Loth-cat?" you teased knowing how he hated the accurate comparison.

"Quit calling me that," he grumbled.

"Whatever you say snarky," you smirked as you started up the tree taking the branch next to him. You turned to stone leaning against the mass of the tree as you continuously scanned the forest floor for wildlife or any signs of clankers. "Incoming, due east," you said pressing the com button on the side of your head. You watched Crosshair's gaze shift for just a moment before returning to his brothers.

"How many?" you heard Tech reply.

"A dozen."

"Do you think you could take them?" Hunter asked you.

"Of course Sargent," you replied hoping straight out of the tree heading towards better cover away from Crosshair.

"Be careful," you heard Cross's voice through the private com link channel.

"Don't get distracted," you replied, "Crosshair having feelings? Who would have thought," you poked.

"Quiet."

You rolled your eyes, taking a tree several klicks away from him before firing on the clankers causing them to scramble. That wasn't enough to save any of them. "I feel bad for them," Hunter teased over the head set, "Sure you do Sarge," you laughed back, "Come on, they didn't even get to see the beautiful face of their angel of decommissioning," he tossed back with a flirting undertone.

Crosshair's anger boiled at the boldness of the flirt across the open com channel. He could feel his muscles twitching as he contained himself with the confines of his still form. Another quip he barely registers fell from one of his brother's mouths about your beauty, "Shut it," he growled into the headset.

"You both have been on exactly two dates in twenty-two rotations, you should not be jealous as you have failed to actually make a commitment to pursue the relationship, Crosshair," Tech replied, "We both also know you just fell to one of Hunter's intentional provocations."

"Fine. After the mission we take a short shore leave for ourselves," Crosshair gridded out.

"Such enthusiasm," you said sarcastically, "I can't resist."

"Yes or no," Crosshair snapped annoyed that he was letting himself get distraction by such a mundane thing on a mission.

"Yes," you said curtly.

"Good," Crosshair said flatly, ignoring Tech's following comment about that is not what he meant and further proof to the lack of compatibility. He spent the rest of the mission tuning them out unless it was completely vital.

One foot in-front of the other, thankful for the first time ever for Neyo's rigorous pain tolerance training. Just have to get back to the Marauder, you thought to yourself. You were still several klicks away from both the ship and clankers, your head snapped as you felt hands around you lifting you up before you could fight back you noticed Crosshair's gauntlet cover which panicked you further.

You tried to struggle against him but he gripped you tighter, "Crosshair, the mission!" you fussed feeling the now death grip hold he had on you.

"Kriff the mission," he hissed picking up the pace not bothering to shut off the com link.

"Crosshair you are breaking formation!" Tech berated.

"She's injured," he hissed back.

"Crosshair!"

"I'm taking her to the Marauder. End of discussion," he was jeopardizing the whole mission for her. A single life. For the first time in his adult life fear bone chilling fear ran through his veins. While it wasn't a life threatening injury, with the bleeding it wouldn't take long until it was going to be. Crosshair's pace picked up into a jog.

You were silent the rest of the way to the ship no longer struggling against his hold, nothing was going to change his mind. Never had Crosshair so much as flinched or complained about anything, staying still or not having a decent meal for days so that fact that he went against everything to get you to medical equipment. Through his movements you could see his agitation as he quickly stripped you of your chest armor grabbing the massive med kit practically slamming in on the desk next to you.

"If you wanted my clothes off you could have just asked," you coughed painfully as the adrenaline starting waning.

"Quiet," he replied quickly putting an IV into you and gel patches, "Almost done," he hissed into the com.

"Bring the ship when your done," Hunter ordered.

"I'll be right back," Crosshair said eyeing the patches before stalking off to the cockpit.

You laid in the bed feeling traces of his delicate touches but moved to cover yourself when the boys get on board. You heard shouting but it didn't make sense, maybe you felt a few light touches but the adrenaline had warn off and pain speckled your vision. The shouting started again but this time you knew it was Crosshair. You saw his hands in his now messy silver hair pacing squinting at the medical equipment, if his eyes could shoot the machine would be have been riddled. The moment he saw you looking at him, he froze composing himself back to the dutiful calm soldier.

You saw you had been uncovered with Tech's hand quickly working around the wound, "Apologies, Crosshair's minimal medical skills bought enough time for us to return and nearly get to a medical center. You will make a full recovery."

You could tell even with how much Cross was trying to hide it but he was worried. You opened your mouth to tell him to come sit but he dismissed himself for weapons cleaning and quickly leaving. Staring at his retreating form you blinked wondering if you miss read him, thankfully Tech didn't say anything else before re-covering you while alerting you that they will be arriving soon.

"I'm going with her," Crosshair stated cleaning the barrel of his fire puncher.

"You abandoned your post leaving us vulnerable!" Hunter reprimanded.

"She would have died. We don't leave our own behind."

"He has a point," Wrecker said looking towards Tech approaching, "How's she?"

"She will recover."

"You're not going."

"Court Marshal me then, Hunter," Crosshair growled grabbing his kit heading back to where you laid. He sat silently looking at your closed eyes but saw the steady rise and fall of your chest before returning his attention back to cleaning his kit. He growled watching Wrecker walk in, he eyed the man but stayed quiet as he took a seat next to him.

"I think ya did the right thing," Wrecker offered, "You two are cute."

Crosshair's eyebrow furrowed, "Me too." He saw you shift, taking a swift step the side of your bed, "What you need Cyar'ika?" he whispered trying to keep Hunter from hearing the softness in his tone. He felt your fingers brisk against his, "Give us some space," he looked at Wrecker who was smirking as he got up. Carefully Crosshair climbed into the tiny cot curling his arm around you kissing the top of your head, "Next time we're staying together." You and me, together.

~

As promised upon waking from the dream, you felt a warm bodily mass pressing into your back. You turned seeing the lights and shadows harshly highlighting his signature features. Moving just a hair his eyes fluttered open but the bags seemed bigger under his eyes today. You let your finger touch the bags with a small sigh twisting towards him, "We can go back to sleep," you offered in your best alluring voice snuggling closer to him.

His gentle fingertips brushed around your ear, "I rather spend the day with you," just one good day, that's all I need. Crosshair hadn't slept much, his mind kept him awake trying to make sense of the inner conflict between what he can do and should do. He ripped the covers back smirking as he saw you start shivering, "Sorry darling."

"Evil!" You jested pulling the blanket back but it had already lost its warmth.

"I can warm you up," he whispered seductively.

"Maybe after breakfast-," you breathed watching him lean closer pinning your hands at your sides, "What if I want you for breakfast," he leered waiting for a response.

"Someone's in a mood," you said eyeing the starved expression on his face, "Must have been some dream."

"I haven't woken up yet," he said gracefully pulling himself away between your legs, "Food does sound good," he added not wanting to make you uncomfortable with his advances. He searched the floor flooding up his discarded garments, he folding them before grabbing both of you a fresh set of clothes, "Go shower."

"But-" you saw the hitch in Crosshair's eyebrow, reluctantly you got out of bed knowing if you didn't he was going to through you over his arm and make you. There was nothing like a warm shower in the morning to ease your tired soul into the day. The mirror exposed marks of Crosshair's secretly sinful nature, your finger tips brushed the marks each spot still tender to the touch. Parts of your body still tingled from last nights love. The water alleviated some of the skins ache like a dried out mon calamari, you closed your eyes and dunked your head back letting the water completely rush over you. Quietly you heard him open the door before joining you in the shower. You watched as he soap lathered his skin delicately washing his extremities and muscles.

"What" he asked letting the water soak him off.

"I've almost forgotten how handsome you are," you gave a sad smile, tearing threatening to fall. Quickly you retreated from the shower drying off to throw clothes on. A loth-wolf in bantha fur, he's cold blooded killer but as beautiful as the stars themselves how easy it was to forget around him. He walked out in nothing but a towel around his waist.

You stared watching him smile putting his hand on his hip sticking it out a little, "See something you like," he teased letting the towel slip just barely to expose the v in his abs.

"You have no idea," you mumbled tossing him his clothes.

Putting his hand on his hip letting the towel fall to the floor, Crosshair caught the flying clothes with one swoop of his hand, "Thanks, Cyar'ika," he smiled pulling the garments on. He saw the flustered expression across your face his smiled widening, "Breakfast?" he asked eyeing the new scarf laid out at the end of the bed, the style reminiscent of his hair. He let his fingers feeling the material, soft and insulated, he wrapped the garment around him letting his hands drift to the mostly empty pockets already finding a container of toothpicks waiting for him. After all this time, she's still to kind for me. Crosshair pulled one out letting it rest upon his lips like the morning dew.

Day by day, you rested your head on his shoulder for a moment before grabbing the key, “I saw a couple places last night, let’s see what your tastebuds are up for today.”

“My pallet is more agreeable nowadays,” he smirked.

“I’ve tasted Imperial gruel, I would hope so,” you laughed watching his face flat line, “Sorry,” you mumbled seeing the barely perceptible annoyance lace his features, “It’s really not that bad-.”

“Quiet,” he gritted opening the door motioning for you to go. He took a moment to pull you to him, his lips holding yours intensely before letting go. He clenched his jaw for a moment and pulled the door shut hoping his plan goes accordingly.

You sighed walking listening to his light footsteps follow. You looked over at him with the dawn illuminating his features, today more life colored his features even with his annoyance shadowing it. Smiling you took his hand for a moment squeezing it before letting go watching his face lighten up. You felt Crosshair slip his hand into yours gripping your hand as if his life depended on it you looked at his side profile seeing him looking at you out of the corner of his eyes before returning to the path ahead. Gently you tugged him towards the direction of one of the breakfast places asking his opinion of what sounded good. Hearing his laugh and wit settled the longing your body felt, the galaxy felt right again everything back to how it always should have been.

Crosshair slid into the booth across from you watching your lit expression as you scanned the menu. The atmosphere was peaceful, being you eased the burdens in his soul. He watched you rearrange your silver wear and cup placement, a small quirky thing you did similar to him. This is what it could be like, every day, he smiled, all you have to do is come peacefully with me. He played with his fork tapping it on the table silently counting down the minutes, wondering if you could ever forgive him or if he would ever forgive himself. His mind had wandered time to time wondering what it would be like with no brothers to be jealous of, just the two of you together again like it should have been. You and me, together. He saw the ship approaching in the distance, he sighed setting down his bite of food, “Being a soldier is all I’ve ever known, war is forged in my blood and bones but you are the only thing in my heart.” He watched the color drain in your face, “Come with me, come home.”

Your hand pulled back as you saw the white moving towards the door, “My fate was sealed the moment we landed,” you gave him a small smile taking a data chip out from your pocket and sliding it towards him, “For when you come home.” You stood folding your hands behind your back finding two familiar brown haired men approaching with the stomach curtling Cheshire smiles, “Admiral Tarkin, Rampart,” you said politely.

“Good job, Commander,” Rampart said not looking but handing Crosshair an armor case, “Now isn’t it my favourite Rebel.”

You pressed the button on your communicator letting the batch know of your capture before dropping it to the ground and stomping it into thousand of tiny pieces. Taking a deep breath you looked to find him changed back into the garments of war, scarf and helmet in hand. You gave a small nod, last night the intimacy and closeness, you should have known because that wasn’t him. As the betrayal settled in your mind, your gaze locked with his - your eyes held no hatred only understanding, acknowledging that in Crosshair's betrayal all he wanted was for you to be with him; both of you mutually ruined for anyone else even if it meant the end of one another. This is who he is, he made that decision on the platform and nothing changed his mind. Crosshairs greatest downfall was his loyalty. Tears fell out of the corner of your eyes, rolling down your face but you didn’t make a sound.

“Willingly come with me,” Crosshair whispered staring you, “We can be a team again, we can have purpose again, live instead of hiding like vermin.”

“Crosshair is dead,” you uttered turning your attention to the brown haired men, “I’m ready, Rampart.”

“Oh I have something far worse then death in store for you,” he said beckoning the storm troopers forward.

"Take her to The Doctor for her... rehabilitation and re-integration," Crosshair's eyes threaten to go wide at Admiral Tarkin’s word but he forced them to stay as is watching the injector put you to sleep, ending your struggle against them, "Don't worry, Commander, next time you'll see her - she'll be just as loyal to us as you are. Hopefully she’ll give us the information to find your brothers, so they can join us as well.”

Tag: @projectdreamwalker

[doodlesbf]

Blind child chapter 4

(Tag @luimagines )

The chain and pirates are out on deck to defend, attack the other ship that still shoot cannonballs. Pirates, chain load the cannonballs in other to fire back as tetra curse again to dodge a cannonball.

Tetra: those assholes.

Wind: tetra! Language!

Tetra glare at wind like he say worse but see the blind child just came out the door to hear the commotion and legend see the child and ran over to them to grab their hand to guild them out the way quickly as a cannonball land to the spot were the child was standing as legend fell on his butt but held onto the child for their safety than his own as the child hands grip onto legend and let out a small whimper but legend quickly get up to move out the floor to try get to a safe place but as soon he turn around he see a fish monsters climb aboard the ship, legend reach to grab his sword and move the child behind him in order to protect them yet he open his mouth to yell out that unwanted guests are aboard as the chain and pirates look and quick take out their weapons to attack the fish monsters now that the cannonballs stop firing from the other ship and now is closing in on the pirates ship that fish monsters are coming in.

Time slice down the fish monster with a spear as green blood splash on his sword and it guts slip out from from the slice he did yet time run to help the others as quickly as he can but he's looking for the child that's with legend but can't see them making time curse under his breath as he block a slice of a sword with his and roughly push off the enemy so he can slice it throat then kick the fish monster off the ship as he turn around seeing suddenly the fish monsters rushing out the ship at a alarming rate then the other ship pull away from the partly damaged pirate ship.

Everyone watch the ship leaving and see that ship going under the water slowly til its completely gone that they all took a breath but tetra is angry her ship is damaged and the cannons are too plus her crew have been injured during the fight.

Tetra: fuck.

Sky: language miss.

Tetra glare to sky as hyrule goes around to check on everyone with injured to heal them yet he look to wind and ask them if there's anyone that injured from their group. Wind quickly goes to check on the chain only to see legend is sitting down grip onto his led that have a nasty deep stab injury and his blood leaking out fast and a slice cut on his arm that stain the fabric of clothes as the blind child with him face held worry for him as wind ran over and call out to legend ,child.

Legend: wind, do you have a potion on you?

Wind patting down himself to get a healing potion but unfortunately he already give it to someone who needed it and shake his head but wind see the child reach out their tiny hands to gently place on legend leg were his stab injury is as legend bite back a hiss of pain.

Legend: child, I'm okay-

Wind: no your not.

Legend look to wind as in shut up but the two look to the child and see their hand glow green and the glow green magic start to heal legend leg injury to the injury is close and looking like a scar and the cut on legend arm is close too and a scar that the child magic dissapeared and the child stay still taken in breaths as the two star that the child but legend lift his hand to place on the child shoulder to ask them if their okay. Legend worry but see the child nod their head and their hand come up to their face to rub their eye that he let out a sign of relief but sudden a portal open up from under the chain and making them fall but leaving the pirates shock and confused yet tetra sign, she'll make them payback for that but wants to see the child again since their cute.

The portal open up as the chain and child fall through some trees and twilight, time,warrior are on the ground that have lucky a huge pile of leafs. wind,wild and four land on bushes that comfort their fall. Sky,child,legend and hyrule are on the trees still as everyone groans and warrior the first to call the others to ask them if their okay but he didn't hear the child so he grow worried til he hear sky say their fine.

Warrior, time and twilight get up first and patting off the leafs then go twilight, warrior go help the three stuck in bushes as hyrule, legend and sky climb down the tree safely as time can see the child is grip onto the tree upside down for dear life and clearly they can't get down on their own.

Time stand under were the child is and open his arms and he clamly tell the child to let go and see the hesitation but he knows children don't have much strength and will likely let go eventually.

Time: I'm right here, I'll catch you.

Child: what if you miss?

Time chuckle to himself but he stand there still "I don't miss child, I promise to catch you. I swear on my life." The child took a deep breath and let go of the tree falling down with their eyes closed as time catch the child in his arms and seeing the child slow open their cloudy eyes that time relax and carefully place them down on their own two feet.

Time: any injuries little one?

Child blink and shake their head no and their ears wiggle to hear sound of birds and other nature as time chuckle to himself again to see the child ears wiggle to what's around them but time look to the group seeing some of them unhappy to have Bush thorns or have leafs still on their bodies. Time easily can tell that this area is his hyrule and knows we're they all are immediately knows that there close to lonlon ranch.

Time gently grab the child hand to walk them to the group and the child let him as their still taken in all the sounds their hearing from all around them yet time guild the group on a path that leading to hyrule open fields and right ahead of the group is were lonlon ranch is.

The child hold time hand while walking and hear the others talking about the fish monsters they fight with back go wind's hyrule that the child try to understand and imagine what those fish monsters look like but since their given so little detail that the child imagine of those fish monsters make no sense and decided to give up on what the fish monsters look like entirely as they feel time stop walking that the child stop walking.

Time: were here at my friend place.

Twilight: that's good but why is it surrounded by thick wooden walls?

Wild: good, I'll take those throns out already.

Four: your not the only one wild.

Four pull out one of the throns from his arm but left a small pain behind, Time shrugs to twilight question since he doesn't know or remember why but when he's about to walk he heard hyrule yelp and a splash and look over to see hyrule cover in mud and legend cover his mouth to hide his laugh but hyrule grab the mud and throw it at legend head to get mud at him.

Hyrule: heh now we're even.

Legend: hey! It's not my fault you trip and land on mud.

Sky walk over to try be the mediator but he slip and fell in the mud to as warrior, twilight came over to help them but in the end and wind try to help as well by accidentally get pull down when he try to pull one of them up, they somehow gotten mud on them which leaves time,wild,four and the child only ones have no mid on them.

Wild: okay guys, stop messing around and lets-

Wild get mud to the face and now it leaves the three untouched by mud as time sign cause he knows that malon will bead if they come in her home cover like this he'll never hear the end of it but it's worse if their injured. Four offer his hand to

Four: guys just how did ya became tripping accidents?

Time: probably from the wet grass and mud.

Child: will they be okay?

Four: yes their-

Four slip on the wet grass and slid down to the mud making him crash to the mud cover boys as they each try to get up and out the mud. Warrior complain quietly about his scarf cover in mud and the others about something else while getting out the mud. Time just shake his head that the boys are in head to toe cover in mud and turn around to walk them through the big way to lonlon ranch that he failed to see the small rock and he trips on it fall down to another set of mud, since he held the child hand they fell down quick to the mud too and time quick to get back up and pull the child that's now cover in mud out.

The child wipe off the mud out their face and hair but now themselves and the chain cover in mud continue on with some effects reach lonlon ranch and time try to take them all to a spot to clean up but-

Link! What in the world are you and the boys cover in?!

Twilight: who was that!

Time: malon...

Time silently prays that the lecture will be a quick one but deep down he knows better that the Goddess will not come to this situation and sadly he was right as malon come around the barn to put down a bucket and rag to see the chain covered head to toe in mud and see a small child too in mud. Malon eyes look dead to were time is with a look of *explain on how you all cover in mud now or you'll be worse lecture of your life* and the boys shiver to how hard malon look is and even felt a small dose of fear in their bodies but thank whoever is watching them all the blind child walk slowly til they stop right infront of malon and reach out to gently grab her apron to lightly tag on it so malon eyes stop looking to time and look to the child now their up close can see that the child is fully blind and still hold onto to her apron.

Child: please don't be mad with time miss. It wasn't his fault or big brothers, we had slips up and fell on mid on the way here.

The boys felt a tightness in their chests to be called big brothers by the child and some of them held onto their chests have the same mindlink too. Sky,four,wind,twilight and wild " So adorable!!, they called us big brothers!!!" Warrior felt pride to being called big brother and would try his best to be the favorite, time can see the boys reaction and felt bit down to that call but he can't have his hopes up just yet to be called something else since he can see that child was just found yesterday and their parents must be looking for them too.

Malon go down and gently pick the child up which confused the child just much but she's warm and have a feeling that she's a good lady so they'll trust their gut feelings and is held by malon side, the child hold onto her arm in case as malon turn away to head to her house leaving the chain alone for now.

Time felt safe til he hears malon voice as she walk away with the child.

Malon: ya clean up and change to clean clothes. Ya are not off the hook quite yet.

Wind: hey! Don't take my buddy!-

Warrior: wind, your shoes or do you want to face her lecture now?

Wind pout and follow the others to get clean up and wash off mud from his shoes though have a smile to being called big brother. He haven't heard that since he started this journey and bit homesick but he knows the portal will open up again eventually just hope it'll bring them all to his home so he can see his little sister and grandma again.

[woodohwanedandproud]

@diveintovortex Now that I think of it, from my non-Western upbringing, it was normal for us to come uninvited into a friend's house, or any person within one's social circles, but it was super annoying when complete strangers or unwanted guests did the same—people need to learn some basic manners. From my time in the city, it was slightly stricter: no strangers and you do lock the doors, but friends can come over unannounced, and you would open up for them. From my time in the countryside, it was normal to go onto someone's *land*, even as a stranger, and some gates would never be locked, too, but you'd still want to announce your presence and ask permission before coming into the *house*. Now living in the West, the law here is a lot more strict, and "trespassing" is not only applied to the house itself, but to the land as well. I suspect, this is where the Korean law might come from with it's "empty house" wording—it's ok to come in if whoever is inside is able to either consent to it or kick the guest out, but it's very suspicious to come into an empty house. @vindicated-truth It's funny 'cause thinking about it now, because my grandmother's house has a big yard, I'd often just see a car rolling inside the gate without any prior announcement 😆 I'd be like, "oh we have guests," and it's not a sight out of the ordinary 😆 I realize that the concept of "private property" is very much a modern one, an urban one, and also historically a colonial one. Before my country was colonized, the Philippines had a very tribal culture, which means everything communally belongs to everyone in the tribe. It's only our colonizers who taught us the concept of "owning" something (which, when you think about it, is exactly why they're colonists lol) And re: basic manners—oddly, it's precisely because everything is open and shared that people are more respectful, ironically. Because I mean, if everything is open to everyone all the time, what use would you have for breaking in? 😉 You can just for anything you need anytime anyway. Need something to eat? Ask your neighbor if you can pick from their tree. It's often as simple as that. Life was so much simpler without the complications of modern life, urban life, and yes colonial life lol But yeah, this is why I wonder if it's the same in Korea. Which makes all the more sense why Dongsik never locks his gates. And it's amusing to note that Joowon gets the "heat" of "breaking and entering" when technically everyone else in Manyang does the same in Dongsik's house, including Jeongje, Jihwa, and Jihoon, from what we've seen. It's just that Joowon was the one was shown doing it the most lol. Please take this with a grain of salt as I'm not entirely knowlegeable of Korean laws either lol 😅 It's just the info I found when I looked it up, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the info I got was complete, or even updated, because I couldn't otherwise validate it lol 😆 But yeah, perhaps anyone who lives in or has lived in Korea or has better knowledge about Korean law can clarify better better for us lol @diveintovortex Okay, yeah, I agree with that, Dongsik doesn't close his gate, and that's interesting (although absolutely not weird, since it's just the gate). But do we have any canonical confirmation that he doesn't lock his *house*? There aren't many moments to deduce it from. There is that one "you promised" moment, when Dongsik tells Joowon off and goes inside, but the thing is Dongsik was at home when Joowon came (Dongsik was outside, but if he wasn't planning to leave, why would he lock the house?). In ep.2 when Dongsik finds Jeongje inside, the door isn't locked when he comes in, but it's unclear if it was *Dongsik* who left the house unlocked, or if it was *Jeongje* who unlocked the locked house. When Jihwa comes in with Jeongje, Dongsik is at home, so it's not weird at all that the door isn't locked (and they are friends, so it's not weird that they don't knock). When Jihoon comes in, again, Dongsik is at home—he's a *male* who is at home, why would he bother locking the door? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any other instances. All in all, objectively, there is just not enough information to draw any conclusions. We simply don't know if he locks his house or not. For Minjeong, *objectively* it doesn't make sense for her to bring her keys to Seoul where she plans on partying—it's too easy to loose her keys, and her father is at home most of the time, and even if he's not, she can just call him. *Subjectively*, on the other hand, if we take her motivation into account, she wants to avoid her father at all costs, so having her own set of keys makes perfect sense. For Jung Cheolmun, well, yeah, objectively, police usually stays outside when they need to protect someone in their house. But here is a devastating thought: if only they damned the propriety and stationed one officer inside, he would be alive. Also, there is a chance Dongsik was looking for his sister in his garden specifically, and never thought about looking inside the house, because it doesn't come to his mind that Jinmook could or would do anything inside the house on his own—because while the gates might be open all the time, the house is mostly locked, unless Dongsik is at home. Even if Jinmook was basically a step-brother, he still needed a construction work excuse to hide Yuyeon's body there. (And I need to rethink that bit from my post about Dongsik keeping his spare keys at Jinmook's store, woopsie:)

Offering an Asian perspective as a Filipino:

I'm curious if it's the same in Korea, so if there is anyone here who lives in or has lived in Korea, please feel free to let me know too, but—

In the Philippines, especially in what is known as the "countryside", there isn't actually a strict concept of "private property".

Legally it exists of course, but in practice, people in the provinces and rural areas don't treat houses and properties as strictly "private", because everything is actually communal.

When I was a child growing up and we would often stay at my grandmother's house in Pangasinan, where my mother was originally from, it's not uncommon to have people freely coming and going inside my grandmother's property. There's no concept of a locked gate or locked doors, not even a concept of a doorbell or knocking on a door.

Neighbors and relatives would just come inside and announce that they're there—whether or not you're ready or open to have visitors. It's just a given that anyone can come inside the house at any time of the day. The idea of "trespassing" or "breaking and entering" isn't even a concept in the provinces because the gates and doors are always open to anyone who wants to come in.

In fact, it's not even uncommon to have uninvited guests suddenly show up at whatever event or party you're holding in your house. It's why, if you choose to have a party in the provinces, you better be ready with lots of food, because the whole town might show up, regardless of whether or not they're invited. It is not actually uncommon to see unfamiliar faces at your wedding reception for example, because it's just a given that anyone can just show up anytime.

And that is completely normal in our communities.

That was my childhood back then at least. I'm not sure if it's still the case now, as I haven't been back to the province in a long, long time.

The reason why I'm saying this—and why I'm curious to know if it's the same in the more rural areas of Korea—is that to be completely honest, I don't necessarily find it completely surprising to see people freely coming and going inside Dongsik's house, if I am to draw from my experiences growing up in the province.

I realize this because the idea of "breaking and entering" as fandom discussions about it are is more of an "urban" concept—for people living in the city—and at the same time, also very Western.

Asian communities are by nature culturally communal. Everything is shared, everything is open to everyone. And that includes your properties.

(I reiterate though that this is truer in the rural areas than the cities. Just like any other country, cities in the Philippines are stricter when it comes to security in private properties.)

I've never really thought about it before but I imagine the idea and concept must be foreign to people outside the Philippines. (Pun intended, lol)

But yeah. Considering Manyang is supposedly a small town in a more rural area, the concept of people coming and going freely in anyone's property might be more normal than you think, if the Asian culture is similar in Korea as it is in the Philippines.

After all, Dongsik never locks his gates, either.

Because it’s not only Joowon who freely comes and goes. Jeongje definitely does the same. And we also see Jihoon freely let himself in without having Dongsik open the gates or the door for him.

So yeah, here's an Asian perspective humbly offered 😆 Who knows, perhaps the reason why Dongsik isn't entirely surprised to see Joowon in his house(s), nor does he even mention it at all if it's illegal, is that perhaps culturally, it's a more common practice than one realizes 😉

[pumkinbopie]

yet another episode idea

for a bit of context, the royal academy is surrounded by a haunted forest that keeps out unwanted guests (Similar to the forest from hotel Transylvania). Later on in the t.v show it is revealed that the mind entity possesses the school and the surrounding forests, and that is where the Principle first meets the entity, but more on that later.

The whole gimmick of the forest is hallucinations, cause the entity's magic is mental, it takes your biggest fears and projects them into existence. The teachers and principle all have mind crystals that can control the forest/ school so they are free to wander as they wish, but the students don't know of the entities existence so they just assume it's haunted (which in some ways it is).

So for some reason or another the gang decide it would be a good idea to journey through the forest to they loose something and have to go get it, like Jeb kicks a ball into the forest, goes to try a and get it, doesn't come back so the rest go and look for him (the reason doesn't matter too badly but they're in the forest). Whilst they're in the forest they start seeing these figures that are the training dummies they use in their weapons training class (They move like marionettes, very head first movements). But they get separated and that's when the forest starts targeting them individually, each of the Gang is forced to deal with the thing they fear the most whether it be a tangible or non-tangible, like for instance Jeb's is being forgotten and abandoned by everyone he loves, like there is a scene where he finds his mother in the forest and she just berates him or something (that might be too much but stuff along that line). So they just go through all of that and eventually jeb is defeated by the forest and completely distraught and gives up trying to leave, until the principle and the rest can be heard calling out for him sparking a little bit of hope in him, he gets up and starts to run towards their calls, making eye contact with Pierre and calling out to him alerting Pierre to his presence. Pierre begins like full sprinting towards jeb, desperately trying to get to him as quickly as possible and practically tackling him to the ground with joy and they hug tightly, just happy that they're both alright, then everyone else joins the hug and everyone's saved.

Jeb asks the Principle why he was in the forest to begin with and he responds with something like "oh well I always like to do rounds through the forest to check and see if any students got lost" (but like it's totally cause he knew they were trapped in there cause of his connection to the mind entity) and cut to they're like in the infirmary talking about their experiences and stuff, Harper had to deal with being kidnapped, which the gang saw she doesn't cope well with the first time they got kidnapped (whole other episode and more princess lore), Rei and Elise have more tangible fears like clowns ote something (I don't know whether or not to make clowns canon in this universe). And then jeb shares his and it's all sad and stuff and asks Pierre what he saw in the forest, Pierre kinda tenses for a bit before relaxing and avoiding the question being like "Well that's not important right now, we're all safe and accounted for and I'm just happy to be out" then the school nurse and principle return and tell the kids that they're fine to leave but want to do another test on the princess just to make sure nothing bad happened to her making a joke like "we don't know what the king would do if this school was responsible for permanently traumatising his child" and she says she'll catch up with them later and goes with the principle and nurse and the door closes on them with seeing the principle start to kneel in front of her.

The gang either return to a common room or sot a class IDK but the episode would end with Pierre looking at jeb ranting about some random topic or them talking about their experiences in the forest some more intensfully before sighing and scooting closer to jeb and resting his body on a desk or something, and jeb gently putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

Then the episode would end

[tomurderornottomurder]

taking care; eddie munson

pair. eddie munson x male!reader

summ. (request) reader is sick but sent to school anyway and eddie finds out, insists on taking reader home, sees reader's shitty home, and takes him to his

gen. angst, fluff, sick hurt/comfort

tw. implied abuse, implied neglect, shitty awful parents, puking, dry heaving, allusions to physical abuse, use of "queer" as a slur, swearing

wc. 2.3k

note. i was planning on getting requests out earlier but i have actually been busy w/ friends n family and i'm going on a little trip tomorrow! anyway, hope u enjoy!! (also i feel like maybe eddie's dialogue is ooc so i apologize)

Your head spins and your stomach churns as you stumble out of your room, holding your hand against your forehead. You know it's a bad idea to even ask but you just feel so awful that you hope your mother would let you stay home. Your hand trembles as you reach out for your mother's bedroom door. You stand there for a solid ten minutes before you get the courage to turn the doorknob and carefully step into her room. "Mom?"

She stirs, head snapping in your direction. "What?" She spits. 

"I- I don't feel good," Your voice wavers as you pathetically croak. "I can barely stand and I threw up twice already."

"And?" She looks at you expectantly, sitting up before setting her glasses on her nose. 

"Could I... stay home?" 

"No," She swings her legs over the bed. "Of course, not! I can't have you here!"

"B-but I'll stay in my room and it's serious, mom. I can't huuh-" You cover your mouth as you dry heave. You shoot your mom a look and she's unmoved. 

She makes a shooing motion with her hands, giving you an icy glare as her answer. 

"Okay," You put your hands up before covering your mouth again as bile travels up your throat.

---

Once you step foot into Hawkins High, you head to the bathroom to empty your guts. After you stop throwing up, you sit against the cold tile of the bathroom floor (that also happens to be pretty disgusting). You rest your head against the stall with your knees pulled up to your chest. You take a good few moments to breathe deeply and collect yourself. After you're at least pretty sure you won't throw up as soon as you move, you open your eyes. The bathroom isn't the greatest place for you to be breathing deeply but alas. You push on your knees as you stand and almost throw up again at the sight of the toilet before you flush it. You inhale sharply before throwing your bag over your shoulder and walking out of the stall. 

With as minimal stumbling as you can manage, you make it to your class albeit late. The teacher doesn't even blink an eye at you as you wobble your way to your seat. It looks like a chunk of other students were missing or skipping out on class. You're surprised and relieved at the lack of a lecture. 

---

Third period. With Eddie. There was no way he wouldn't be able to see through you. Nonetheless, you try your best to put up an act. It's a bit easier since you arrive before him and he can't stare you down as you walk on trembling legs. He takes his usual seat right in front of you, tossing his bag to the floor before he turns around to chat you up. You can't help smiling back at his beaming and beautiful face. 

"How was your morning?" He asks casually, resting his arms on your desk. 

"Greaaat," 

"Rough mornin', sweetheart?" He gives a slight chuckle, playful eyes staring back into yours.

"Yep," You pop the 'p' and nod your head. 

"Well," Eddie drawls, "tell me about it."

"First of all huuh-" You slap your hand over your mouth as you start dry heaving. Your eyes blow wide and you scoot your chair back as you fold over, still holding your hands over your mouth like your life depends on it. The dry heaving doesn't stop and soon you begin to feel that unwanted guest creeping up your throat. Tears sting your eyes as you kick back your chair and make a run for the bathroom leaving Eddie in the dust.

You fall to your knees once you see a toilet and in the next moment you finally free your mouth and let it all out. You're too preoccupied with throwing up to notice or feel the bruises forming on your knees or the other person entering the bathroom. That is until you hear their voice ring out.

"Y/n?"

You really wish you would have locked the door behind you because in the next second Eddie Munson is squeezing into the stall with you. Thankfully (or not), he locks the stall behind him, crouches down, and rubs reassuring circles against your back. "Hey, it's okay," He whispers, brushing some hair from your face. 

Once you're done, you feel empty. If Eddie wasn't there with you and so close -pressed up against you like a torturously fantastic dream- you would have looked pale and drained but your face was flushed and your stomach was whirling with butterflies. You sort of wiggle out of his grip as you get off your knees, turning to sit with your back against the stall like before and pulling your knees to your chest. Eddie does the same to give you what little space there was before his eyes fall on you, staring intently.

"Care to share what that was about?"

You glare at him, thinking it would be fairly obvious. "I'm sick, dumbass." 

"No shit," Eddie retorts. "What're you doing at school then, huh?" He looks at you like you had a choice in the matter.

"Can't stay home."

"Bullshit."

"I'm fine," You settle for. "I'll make it through the day with a few quick bathroom breaks, no big deal."

"No big deal?" He looks at you incredulously. "Man, you're throwing your guts up, you look like a ghost, and your eyes are all..." He moves his fingers in a circular motion which doesn't help him explain nor make sense to you. He scoots the little bit there is closer and takes your arm gently, "And you're shaking."

He lets go of your arm and you shrug. "That sucks, I'll be fine." It was what your mother would say.

"No, fuck that!" He takes your hand and stands up. "C'mon, you're going home," He pulls you up, wrapping his arm around you. 

"Eddie!" You whine.

"No arguments, big boy, c'mon!" 

---

You sigh as Eddie turns off the ignition, his van sitting in your driveway. "Eddie, this isn't a good idea," 

"Why? Because you need to go to school even though you're clearly dying?"

You roll your eyes at him, "No. Because who do you think sent me to school anyway?" You turn in your seat, looking sternly at him. "I do what I have to, okay?" Your gaze softens.

"What do you mean by that?" 

"It's just- Nothing. I don't mean anything by it." You shake your head a little. "Go," You motion him toward your door, "be my guest."

Eddie looks at you puzzled but persists nonetheless. He unbuckles and hops out of his van. You could almost laugh as he struts up to your door, it's too bad what he was about to see wouldn't be too funny nor prove whatever point he had. Eddie softly knocks at your door, holding his hands behind him and rocking on his heels. He jumps at the door opening and his eyes immediately scan over each and every bruise and mark littering the exposed skin of your mom's body.

"The hell do you want? Soliciting some magazine I ain't gonna read?"

Eddie doesn't really know what to say. His muscles tense up as a taller man joins your mother's presence. There are two large handprint-like marks on the man's neck like someone tried to strangle him.

"You here 'bout our son? He ain't lay hands on you, done he? Like yous a woman?" Your dad asks, leaning his hand on the doorframe. 

Eddie still stays silent, unsure about how or even if there was a way for him to go about this.

Your dad slams his fist against the doorframe causing Eddie to jump. "Well?" He asks. "Fucking queer touch you or not?"

"I'm sorry," Eddie puts his hands up. "Wrong house," He squeaks out before turning tail and running back to the van.

You wish you could have just laughed at this because your parents really were something but they were more than that. You turn to look at Eddie. "First, are you okay?" He nods and you sigh. "Then second, I told you!" You almost want to curse him out but you're sure he got enough traumatization from your parents. "I fuckin' told you," You mumble, crossing your arms over your chest.

---

You honestly expected Eddie just to take you back to school but now he was passing the building. "Eddie, where are we going?"

"My house," He answers nonchalantly.

"What do you mean 'your house'?"

"Well, trailer but still,"

"Eddie," You're practically boring a hole into the side of his face. "Eddie," You repeat. "Eddie!"

"What?!" He snaps his head toward you. His face quickly softens, "Sorry."

"Why are you taking me to your house?"

"Because you're sick!" He throws both of his hands up and off the steering wheel. In a calmer tone, he adds, "Besides, I'm not letting you go back to your house or the school. I'm taking care of you."

You're silent for a moment. You've never had anyone take care of you like this, at least not since you were really young. "You don't need to-"

"I don't need to do anything, I know! I want to! Okay?" He looks at you sincerely, his big baby browns staring back at you.

"Okay," You reply defeatedly.

---

With your arm over his shoulders and his over yours, Eddie practically carries you into his trailer and into his room. "Ugh, Eddie, you need to clean in here,"

"I know, I know." He puts his hands up defensively as he stands over you. He's a bit out of breath from carrying you around. "Okay, first things first," He picks up a small trashcan and empties its contents out onto his floor, "Puke bucket," He says, handing it to you.

"Why did you dump out all that trash? That's gross,"

"You know you're very judgemental for someone who I watched unload their guts not even an hour ago,"

It's your turn to puts your hands up, "Okay, okay."

"Besides, if I knew you were coming over, I would have cleaned up the place, dolled myself up, the works."

You shake your head and laugh at that. Eddie returns your smile.

"Your humor's intact, that's good." He points at you with a goofy smile. "And since we here at Munson Medical are so..." He motions his hand in circles as he tries to think of the word, "Fuck, I don't know. All I know is, you're resting," He points at you. "And I'm cleaning."

---

True to his word, after you passed out from meds he gave you, Eddie had cleaned his room and part of the trailer as well. He had been meaning to do that for his uncle for a while and it seemed like a good time. Then he watched you sleep for a bit, a little paranoid at first that you might have died, and then quickly reassured by you turning over in his bed. Which was strange to think about. You in his bed. He tried not to let it fry his brain too much and opted to distract himself with LOTR. As he stopped every so often while reading, he wondered if you had read any of the books or even heard of them. Maybe he could read to you if you hadn't. Or you could read to him. He couldn't decide which would be better. 

After a handful of chapters, you start to stir and soon enough you're stretching out like a cat before you curl back up into a ball again, eyes lazily moving over the room, and finally landing on Eddie's. "How long have I been out?" You ask before yawning.

"Two-ish hours," He gets up from the floor, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Wow, it's clean in here. You really work wonders, Munson."

Eddie's nose scrunches up at the name. "Don't call me that," He insists. "Can I sit closer?"

"Hey, it's your funeral if you get sick," You warn but he doesn't seem to care, haphazardly jumping closer.

He kicks his shoes off before turning and laying down the length of his bed, carefully setting your head on his chest. With his head just barely propped up by his worn pillow, he looks down at you and strokes your hair.

"Hey," You pipe up. "'m sorry you had to see that. My parents, they-"

"They're assholes," He fills in. "Letting a pretty boy like you stick it out as sick as you are."

You can't help but agree maybe not on the pretty part but still. "Yeah..." You look down so as to not meet his eyes. "I should have been straight with you about them. It's just that- It's hard, you know?"

Eddie nods. He understands a little too well. He was glad he had Wayne now. Maybe you could have Wayne too.

"And I'm sorry for being an asshole the whole time. I just didn't want you to see.. to know..."

"I know, sweetheart," He strokes your cheek with his thumb. "You don't have to worry about anything with me, okay? You got that?"

You nod and cover his hand with yours, intertwining your fingers. You close your eyes as a wave of tiredness hits you. "You're too sweet to me, Eds."

"Could never be. Not for you." He watches your eyes close and does his best not to move too much as he leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. "Get some rest, pretty boy."

BONUS:

"Eddie, how in the hell do you burn soup?!" Wayne's incredulous yell bounces throughout the trailer but you can tell it's not of anger and rather absolute confusion.

Eddie looks at you and then back at his door before gently climbing out of bed, giving you a peck on the cheek, and rushing out the door. "Sorry, Uncle Wayne!" He sounds like a little boy and you can't help but laugh.

"Oh, what I am going to do with you, Ed?" Wayne brings Eddie in by the back of his head for a hug. 

"Show me how to make soup?" Eddie looks at him hopefully.

Wayne sighs, "What kind of uncle would I be if I didn't?"