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nurseofren · 3 years ago

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Keeping Your Promise - Chapter 30 (NSFW)

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Read chapter twenty-nine (NSFW-lite)

Title: Not a Fascination

Words: 14.1k (Um... don't look at me lmfao)

Summary: The other side of tragedy.

Warnings: vaginal fisting, needles, inappropriate use of medical equipment

ST Rambles: Here to drop this absolute MONSTROSITY of a 14.1k word chapter. But boy howdy was this thing a long time coming. Thigh riding, fisting, vein kink -- OH MY. To be honest, this thing was not supposed to be what it is, but I went with it and like how it turned out and how it will help the story along.

I take my NCLEX on July 7th and start my orientation on the 19th. Life is crazy y'all. Enjoy this.

[MASTERLIST] || BANNER // @elmidol

Bloodied faces, jagged flesh, the smell of iron scorching your nose, screams scraping against your ears and never ending, never faltering no matter how much you did.

All these things, these horrid thoughts, crowded your mind, and all you could do was keep running, keep tumbling through the unfamiliar halls of this place and hope you could get to him in time. Get to Kylo in time.

Because how many chances could the galaxy or the stars or the gods offer you? It felt like you’d used those chances up, maxed them out between Robbie and Snoke and Starkiller.

But you could not think like that, or at least you didn’t want to. It was useless, none of those gut-wrenching thoughts could help you or Kylo, and all of them just made you want to crumple to the floor and give up.

If he wasn’t okay, if he was dying…

The thought made you stumble forward, your fingers clamping onto a doorframe as you made another tight turn into the next hallway that looked like all the previous. You shot past couplets of workers, their shocked gasps dwindling behind as you raced away from them to wherever your watch was leading you.

CB-7070 raced just behind you, and maybe it appeared as if you were being chased by security, but you couldn’t care less, not as you felt the phantom flood of crimson slither along your leg, its ghost a cold, wicked reminder of how bad things could be again. The stormtrooper didn’t stop you, though, and you wondered briefly if she had been alerted to Kylo’s emergency as well. But it was a fleeting thought, and all you could think of was getting to him and being with him and not letting him go ever again.

Your heart burned in your chest and your legs flew faster than you ever knew they could, fast like your sprint toward the Command Shuttle when the planet was exploding alongside your life. This was all too familiar, too chaotic. You couldn’t do this again.

You wouldn’t.

The next turn you hurdled past, you promised yourself that you would do everything you could to ensure Kylo would never be helpless like he had been ever again. Trial be damned, license be damned, Snoke be damned! None of it mattered. Nothing mattered. Nothing but him, nothing mattered except him. It was always him.

It would always be him.

The tiny red blip of your radar display became centered, and you looked up just before you met a badge-protected door face first. Before you could process the thought completely, your hand flung to the badge hanging from your collar and slammed it into the scanner on the wall. The door hissed open and you catapulted into whatever room you’d been led to.

And then you connected with a hard wall of heat and muscle. Kylo.

Breath heaved from your lungs as your hands skimmed along his front, assessing for damage and wounds, searching for the sinister slip of blood beneath the tips of your fingers. You were only vaguely aware of the questions fumbling from your trembling lips, your ears ringing and head pounding as your hands took one of his clothed arms and smoothed along its strong length, wandering until they found nothing of concern and shifting to the opposite.

After finding his front and upper half free from injury, you went to spin to his back, but a hand caught your hip – a warm, firm hand that broke through the cloud of panic that’d swallowed you – and kept you from moving. You urged away from it, but it remained and kept you steady, and when you tried a third time, it grasped a little tighter, and you found your way back to the present.

Breath wheezed out of you and you looked up. Kylo was peering down at you, unmasked. It was there again, that odd, unreadable expression from the Command Shuttle that day, the one that looked like awe, but now it was laced with something more. The way he looked at you… Kylo seemed stunned, but there was this strength to it, like he hadn’t been expecting your worry, but that he liked it.

“Kylo,” you whimpered, your fingers reaching up to skim his face, the pad of your left ring finger etching along the black-and-red scar that struck through his face.

His Jaw tightened and your eyes fled to his, the weight of his molten amber gaze making you shiver. Something wet and hot slipped over your top lip, and only then did you realize you’d begun to cry.

“Kylo,” you mouthed, and then you rested your forehead against the broad width of his chest, your hands slipping from his face and reaching around his waist so you could pull him to you.

He seemed to relax slightly with you tight against him, but he was still rigid.

“Leave us,” Kylo stated simply, and your blood ran cold while your face heated.

In your panicked state, you forgot that CB-7070 had followed after you. She’d kept up with you through the halls and was now standing in the same room where you’d just caressed the Commander of the First Order’s face and hugged him. The room where you were still hugging him.

“Commander Ren, I am to remain with your provider during her time away from the Consulate,” CB-7070 said, an uneasiness clear even in her altered voice. “To leave her would go against my assignment.”

“Your assignment is with the General, is it not?” Kylo demanded, the hand on your hip flexing but never releasing.

There was a tense pause, and you heard the stormtrooper at your back shuffle uncomfortably, undoubtedly under the intense glare your master was shooting her right now.

“She is my provider, after all. Report to the General that you left her with me.” His heart was steady and unwavering in his chest, and you knew you should pull away from him, but you were too caught up in the reassurance of his strong form to do so.

Another moment of silence passed, you felt the steady gawk of CB-7070’s face centered on you, and you went to finally let go of Kylo. But he had other plans. Instead of letting you go, Kylo took the hand that wasn’t clasped to your hip and let it trail up your spine, dragging it along your back until it cupped the base of your skull and shifted your head so your cheek lay flat against his chest.

“Tell your general he can come to me if he has an issue with my order. I’ll be interested to hear his… perspective on the matter, if he feels so compelled.”

The lethal confidence that Kylo spoke with seeped into your bones. And though you couldn’t see his face, you heard the slight snarl he’d ended his words with.

A second passed, you took a breath, and the heat of Kylo’s gloved hand atop your nape sent a scalding shiver down your spine. Movement sounded at your back, and you could almost feel CB-7070’s surrender in the way the remaining rigidity left Kylo altogether.

The stormtrooper cleared her throat. “I will report as you’ve advised, Commander Ren.” Out of the corner of your eye, CB-7070 shifted toward you. “Officer,” she said in resignation, wariness tingeing her tone.

You couldn’t look at her. The only thing meeting her mask-hidden eyes would do is solidify that you had an odd, extremely inappropriate relationship with Kylo Ren. Between the trial, the shitty shift, and whatever Kylo called you here for, the last thing you needed was Hux up your ass. Or, further up your ass than he already was.

So you only nodded against Kylo’s chest, attempting to speak but knowing your words would be rasped by how thick your throat had become.

Boots sounded on the tile floor, then a rush of hydraulics, and finally the room settled around you. It was quiet, the only sound that of Kylo’s rhythmic, unfaltering heart and your own pulse finally slowing in your ears. He still held you to him – hand on hip and head – and for however long he did, whether it was minutes or hours, you felt the chaos of Starkiller’s downfall flood away. Kylo held you and you held onto him, and the planet at your feet kept still and steady, so you allowed a second a peace, clinging to every rise and fall of the chest that tided beneath your cheek.

Had you ever held Kylo Ren before? The thought struck through you, and you tightened your hold just a measure more, and you felt your body sigh against his.

Kylo had held you before, held tight your sob-wracked body on that all-too-recent day that seemed to have changed so much. Seemed to have changed everything, really.

“I thought something happened,” you murmured. “I thought you were hurt again like… like last time. And that I’d find you and you wouldn’t…” You swallowed, the grim thought choking you. “And you wouldn’t wake up this time.”

The hand on your hip smoothed over to the small of your back, the breath of his heavy sigh cooling the crown of your head. “I’m not that easy to kill,” Kylo said, blunt yet gentle.

You ran your hands up his back, surreptitiously searching for damage. “There’s nothing wrong with you,” you mumbled.

A gust of amusement left him, and he teasingly said, “I think a lot of people would disagree with that statement.”

He was… joking? “Nothing physically wrong, then. So why are you here, Kylo?”

He hummed, and the feel of his vibrating chest against your ear was chilling. The hand that rested on the back of your neck toyed with the stray hair there, and just as soon as your eyes lulled shut did they fling back open.

The Force returned with unyielding, unforgiving strength. It laved and pushed and whirled through your cunt, and you shuddered against Kylo and he held you to him, trapped you against him while you yipped and squealed and bit back wanton moans.

“I can’t just come see you?” Kylo rumbled, and you could hear the smirk he now wore. “It has been such a long, boring day, what with you ordering me against training for the foreseeable future, so I thought I’d pay a visit to my little nurse.” He sighed a low chuckle. “Thought I’d see how memorable your first day has been.”

Your hands bunched in the material of his outer tunic, your jaw slack and brow pinched, but through the thick pleasure you found yourself annoyed and… angry.

You were angry with him.

He came here with the intent to toy with you, just as he’d done during your entire shift. The same toying – albeit, much more vehement now – that caused you to be publicly reprimanded and shamed not even an hour ago. It made you feel so worthless, so unimportant that he hadn’t considered that you wouldn’t want to do this with him right now. Even worse was the fact you thought he was hurt or so much worse when your watch had alerted.

It felt like he didn’t care how these shifts would affect your trial. It felt like he hadn’t given a second thought to summoning you here, like he didn’t consider that you’d lose your mind at the thought of something worse happening to him as the events of Starkiller occurred not even two weeks ago.

“Kylo,” you warned, but it came out on a lusting breath. “Kylo, stop.”

“Is that another one of your orders you seem to be so keen on today? In that case…”

The Force shifted, and while it kept a masterful pattern on your clit, you now felt it move inside you, pushing into you just as his thick, heavy cock would. But the Force grew, it stretched you and you felt it deep, deepinside. A pitiful wheeze jolted from your lungs, and when your knees quivered, Kylo only pressed you harder into his massive, broad body, the Force filling you with relentless strokes.

“Kylo, stop it. Stop it, now,” you panted, your voice rising a pitch when you felt the frays of pleasure tickle along your nerves. You didn’t want to cum, not for him, not right now when he’d made you so livid.

“You should be begging me to let you cum, not for me to stop” he hummed, a note of uncertainty present in his tone. “Why are you fighting me on this?”

“Because I don’t want to do this with you!”

The exclamation ripped through your throat, your nails nearly shredding through his thick tunic, and as you prepared to be drowned in the ecstasy of orgasm, the Force left you. It all stopped, and all you knew in that moment was that you were relieved he listened to you. Relieved he stopped and recognized that this wasn’t an empty plea born from a pleasure high. Recognized you were serious.

As you calmed, still holding tight to him, you felt the absence of his touch, and the room went completely still around you. It didn’t even seem like Kylo was breathing, or he was and it was disconcertingly quiet and insidious.

You took your hands from him and stepped away, seeing you were in a nondescript assessment room, a simple exam table in its center and a set of windows peering out toward the bay. The sun was slowly sinking toward the water now, casting the cabinet-lined walls with rich orange and purple hues. Only now did you realize the lights weren’t on, the panic you’d entered the room with quick to steal your attention from such details.

As you took another step back, wiping your face with the backs of your hands, you turned your focus back to Kylo. You were mad at him. He didn’t get to throw a fit right now. You did.

But before you could start, Kylo spoke, his voice deathly and haunted as he did. “Then who do you want to do this with?”

“What are you talking about, Kylo?”

“You said you didn’t want to do this with me. That implies there is another who you would rather be doing this with.” His face was forged in impenetrable steel, and yours was warped with exasperated confusion.

“Yeah, I don’t want to do this with you. Fuck, no I don’t want to fuck you right now. I don’t want to be fucked by you right now.”

He was entirely off base, and it sent a wave of quiet outrage through you that he couldn’t see why you were so angry with him.

He ground his teeth together, so hard it seemed likely he would crack a molar. The scarred side of his face hitched in a snarl when he whispered, “The physician, right? That would make the most sense. You wanted to fuck him before.”

“Hey!” you barked, stomping a pace toward him, utterly dumbfounded by how he was missing the point. “You don’t get to call me a slut. You know what? You don’t get to be mad right now. You don’t get to imply that I want to fuck anyone other than you just because your fragile ego can’t take that I don’t want to fuck you right now, that I don’t want you to touch me right now because…”

Thoughts were somehow coming too quickly and leaving too soon as you floundered in front of him. When you didn’t speak, when your hands grasped for the words that you couldn’t find, your eyes settled on the rigid flow of his breathing. And then lower to the fists at his sides, flexing and unflexing as the room settled into silence.

“You don’t get to be mad,” you said, and it was a quiet murmur from your lips but the room around you boomed as they left you. “You don’t get to be mad right now because I…” And it took a final moment, one where his eyes lit at the threat of more silence, but you finally understood what you were feeling. “You don’t get to be mad right now because I am more than your fuck toy.”

“Of course you are—,”

“No!” you interrupted, flinging a hand just inches from his chest. “You talk so much about how I need you and how I need to trust you first, but how can I when you won’t respect… me?”

Kylo’s nostrils flared, and you saw the heave of breath that left him, but he kept quiet. So you continued. “You don’t respect me. Or maybe you do and you just suck at showing it. Because you called me here, you alerted me that there was something wrong and I thought you were dead, alright? I thought you were hurt and that you were bleeding out and that if I didn’t get to you in time that you were going to die and that it would be my fault.”

“I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong,” he said, voice laden with visceral restraint.

“And that’s the whole problem, don’t you see?” You bored one last stabbing glare into his eyes, and then rage clutched at your chest. A whiny, tired roar tore through your throat. “I’m such a joke. I… I can’t do anything. I’ve lost so much time and opportunity being assigned to you that I never learned how to do anything right! And you don’t care! You don’t care that I’m working under a preceptor who graduated the same month I did. You don’t care that I’m here, working unpaid shifts so I can prove to the Board that even if I’m unfit for practice, I am still worthy of life.”

Breath burned your throat, but it never seemed to fill your lungs. Kylo glared at you, a cold, flat expression dulling his features. You didn’t care. He needed to hear this. You needed to say it.

“I sprinted here from the Infirmary, and all I could think about was that I couldn’t lose you. That I wouldn’t live in a world where I wasn’t with you.” His brow narrowed at that, but you couldn’t stop. “And when I got here and you were okay, I felt like I could breathe again. But then you start with your Force-fucking bullshit and made me realize that you will never take me seriously. None of this will ever matter to you – not the fact that I won’t ever practice again, not the fact that you caused me to miss an IV, not the fact that that got me humiliated in front of a whole floor of staff who will forever know me as Kylo Ren’s Provider, the girl with the red embroidery and the too-short uniform.”

You hadn’t noticed, but your hand had gone to trace the embroidery you’d just mentioned, and when you flung your hand away, you saw a flicker of something unfamiliar in Kylo’s eyes.

A bitter, cold laugh croaked out of you. “Do you know who I’m working under? Does the name Calliope Silvren sound familiar to you?” You eyed him, and when he didn’t speak, you nearly barked at him, “Do you know who she is, Kylo?”

“No,” he said, and it sounded like the truth, but it didn’t matter to you if it was or not.

“Calliope Silvren is everything I was supposed to be. She’s everything I’m not, and… and she’s the one you are supposed to be fucking!”

“What are you talking about?” He ended the question with a tense cut of your name.

“Because I was your little fascination, right?” You scoffed, rolling your eyes at the thought as your vision blurred with tears. “I was nothing more than a game to you, and she was the one who was supposed to be assigned to you.” Gulps of breath hiccupped in your throat. “She wouldn’t have gotten herself into this situation!” The heels of your hands dug into your eyes, and you realized you were trembling. “Calliope fucking Silvren wouldn’t have taken the blood from that fridge, and she wouldn’t have fucked her Commander! Calliope fucking Silvren wouldn’t have named a stormtrooper and she wouldn’t have gotten raped and she wouldn’t have killed anyone!”

Something hard and cold cracked across your knees, and your hands fell out in front of you. The floor. Your legs had given out and you were sobbing uncontrollably on the sterile, frigid floor.

With a stuttering chest, you hugged your knees and cried into them. ��I was never supposed to be here, none of this was supposed to happen. I was supposed to graduate and work in the Stormtrooper Hub and live a boring, mundane life.” Crushing pain flooded your chest, and your next words were nastier than you meant them to be. “A boring, mundane life where I fucked the physician until the day I died.” You looked up at him, then, and he was only a blurry outline of black and orange and purple. “Because that’s what I am to you, right? Just some slut who fucks all the men in her life.”

You scraped at your wet, burning eyes and a sob hitched in your throat. Kylo looked down at you, and you could feel the violent emotion that lived in his blackened eyes. But he said nothing, and when the silence pressed into you, the thought that came to mind was too loud to keep inside.

But that riotous thought came out on the meager dying breath of a whisper. “If your biggest concern right now is that I want to fuck Mason, then I have… I have deluded myself into believing that you care for me. That you ever cared for me.” The truth of it burned your tongue, and your chest ached for the death of the future you’d come running for.

Kylo didn’t look away from you for a long moment, and though he remained guarded, you saw something tense in his eyes. It wasn’t anger but sorrow. Sorrow and fear hidden behind a cracked mask. But then the notch in his throat moved and he turned away.

Anticipating his departure, you shut your eyes and braced yourself for the hydraulic hiss. Memories of the past few months flooded your mind’s eye, and you questioned if all this time it had been one-sided and imagined. The idea tore through you, and your chest hollowed when you thought of all the times you’d considered so dear could have only been ploys so he could control you, so he’d have access to his little fascination whenever he wanted.

The storm of thoughts overwhelmed you, but when you heard a drawer-release in the distance, muffled by the blood pounding through your skull, you lifted your head and opened your eyes to find Kylo hadn’t left. He was looking at you from across the room, his face haunted with a stabbing emotion you couldn’t quite place. His hands, glove-free now, held something, and when you caught view of it Kylo started toward you.

He didn’t stop until he stood just a stride in front of you, and when you stared up at him you saw his jaw was set, yet anger remained absent from him, still that sorrowful fear, but now it was softer, yielding. He took a silent breath, his shoulders rising evenly, and then you gasped and jolted upright as he folded himself to the floor before you and sat.

You gulped, gawking at him, noting he held an… IV starter kit?

“What are you doing?” you asked, taking in how awkward his massive form looked as he sat with his legs open and his knees slightly bent.

He said nothing, dropping the IV kit to the floor between his legs and proceeding to unclasp and shrug off the top layers of his uniform. He watched his hands while doing so, allowing you to observe him without the weight of his eyes pressing into you. He kept his eyes away until his chest was bare and you saw his biceps flex and flow as he placed the last of his clothing to the side.

Kylo picked up the sealed kit with one hand and your own in his other. He clasped the kit into your palm and pinned you with his gaze. “You are not a fascination,” he stated, clarity ringing in his voice.

He dropped your hand, only after squeezing it between his own, and then gripped the sides of your thighs and pulled you between his spread legs. You swallowed, heart thumping hard when he positioned your face just a breath from his.

He never looked away from you, and you couldn’t take your eyes from his, so when he next spoke you felt each powerful word kiss your cheeks and sink into your soul. “You are the light that has shown me my way.”

All at once, your heart stopped. Words refused to form. The harsh knit of his brow softened, and he lifted his forearm to rest on his flexed knee. With an unsteady, almost nervous emotion, he said, “You have not deluded yourself,” your name was a faint yearn off his tongue. “I care for you.”

He held his palm open and up, and the tips of his fingers played with the tab of the kit still resting in your hand, slight tremors coursing through your fingers. “Make this even. Use this,” he nudged the plastic container again, “and right the wrong I caused.”

It took a moment for your mouth to catch up with your brain, and when you finally spoke, your voice was small and weak. “I don’t know what you think will be proven by me placing an IV in your arm.”

“Just do it,” he urged, “because this won’t work unless you trust me, and-,”

“I can’t trust you if you don’t tell me what “this” is, Kylo,” you said, and it was louder than you’d meant for it to be. But you peeled open the kit and scooted back from Kylo so you could begin prodding at his arm for a good vein.

As you looked, finding bountiful fat, bouncy, obvious veins poking just under his skin, you felt him watching you. He pumped his hand a few times, and the sight of his veins and muscles swirling and popping dizzied you for a moment, a steady pulse now throbbing between your thighs. When your fingers danced down one particular vein, the one you’d admired while he slept this morning, you pressed against its spongey prominence and trailed it all the way down to his wrist.

“Your veins are literal artwork,” you sighed, but you hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

There was a fragment of amusement in Kylo’s brow, but he brushed over your compliment like you wished he would. “If I tell you what “this” is, “this” won’t work.”

“Then I guess I won’t trust you,” you said, sassy and defiant.

“Mm, that won’t work for either of us,” he rumbled, and you wanted to slap him for his sly tone.

You flicked his vein and reached for the kit, but there were no gloves, and you needed a saline flush. And an alcohol wipe. “You know, it’s a bad look when you come ill-prepared for any procedure,” you said, looking at him before standing and searching for your supplies, “it makes you look like you have no idea what you’re doing.” Once you had what you needed, you gave him a pointed stare as you walked back to him, looking down at him as you said, “It creates a lack of trust between patient and provider.”

There was that whispered amusement in his brow again, the same in the set of his mouth. “What happens if the provider doesn’t trust the patient?”

“Then the patient gets a dose of Ativan and goes to sleep so the provider can do her job effectively.” You knelt within the cradle of his hips again and repositioned his arm so you had better access to it. Using the cleanser provided in the kit, you scrubbed his arm, a bit more forcefully than you needed to, but it wouldn’t hurt him. And if it did… so be it.

You could feel the humor he found in your feisty comments. It irked you. You continued, staring him dead in the eye while you snapped the rubber tourniquet above his elbow. “Or if the chemical restraint isn’t appropriate, there’s always good old-fashioned mechanical ones.”

“Is that what you want to do to me, nurse?” Kylo purred, and even though it was infuriating that he was leaning into your anger, the tone of his voice made your legs quiver. “You want to tie me up and have your way with me?” Kylo hummed and it went straight to your center. “Seems like I’d have to trust my provider for that to occur.”

“You have no reason not to trust your provider,” you said blandly, priming the extension tubing with saline.

“And what do blatant lies do to your all-important patient-provider relationship?”

That stopped you. And what squeezed something deep in your heart were the hard eyes you found when looking back to him. You swallowed a gasp, your throat bobbing harshly. “What are you saying?”

“You know what I’m saying.” There was a cautious chill to his tone, like he fully believed what he was alluding to.

It wilted your insides. “You think I lie to you? You think I’ve lied to you?”

“You have. Many times. You’re lying to me even now.” Without taking his eyes from yours, Kylo nudged the open IV kit. “Continue. You’re getting to my favorite part.”

“I’m not going to continue. I can’t. Not after you tell me you… tell me you think I’m lying to you.”

“Continue and I’ll explain.” He was all too casual for what he was saying, and the half-grin he gave you was more alarming than comforting. “A compromise.”

A deep breath did nothing to fill your lungs, but you gave him a small nod and turned back to his arm. The tourniquet had been on for a while, and you’d rather not bruise your pride further from a blown vein so you released the knot.

“I’m letting those veins rest for a few minutes.” You swallowed, tugging at your bottom lip with your teeth. “Explain, I guess.”

Again, he didn’t look angry with you, and you didn’t know what to think of the firm calmness he was exhibiting. But he tightened his jaw for a moment and began.

“To start, the first night you were assigned to me. You weren’t there. And I’m sure you remember the outcome of that.”

Heat rose to your cheeks as you remembered him pulling your head back as water rocketed down your throat, burning your lungs. A shiver slid down your back. “I apologized for that. And it technically wasn’t a lie, as I explained that same night. Your ship got back early.”

“And then the time you stumbled in drunk in the middle of the night.” He went on as if you hadn’t said anything, and you swore there was a faint fond smile tugging at his lips.

“I apologized for both of those occurrences. And, in my defense, you hadn’t shown up for curfew until the night I got home late. You were never there, not when I got home and not when I left for the medbay. I didn’t see you for a week.”

“But I saw you,” he said, and it struck you silent. “My training with Snoke was unpredictable, but I always found myself… checking to see if you were there. It was always in the early hours of the morning when I got back, so you were sleeping.” He swallowed hard before he spoke again, like he didn’t want to admit whatever it was. “I liked seeing you so peaceful. You were never peaceful around me.”

You stared at him in awe, the tourniquet limp in your hand, and no words dared come to mind as he continued.

“So when you weren’t there the night I’d finally made it home before midnight, something in me… I realized that you’d started to mean something more to me. More than the fascination I thought you were.” His eyes were practically burning now, and your heart squeezed tight in your chest. “And then I carried you to your bed and saw you’d kept my cape from the previous week. And I knew if I allowed myself to let you keep it, that I’d be permitting whatever I felt then to give into that more. So I took the cape, and I decided that would be the end of it.” His throat bobbed. “I wanted that to be the end of it.”

Truthfully, your head was swimming in all he was saying. You didn’t know how to deal with it, and you found yourself staring at the floor, thinking back to that night a few months back, thinking about how you’d wanted him to stay. And now it was more haunting, knowing that he’d felt similar to you then, and you’d just accused him of never caring for you.

Kylo’s large hand came into view and tugged gently on the limp tourniquet threaded through your fingers. “My veins have rested long enough. Continue.”

The weight of his eyes was back and it took a moment to take yours away and focus back on his arm. Sitting between his legs was… nice, but it would be awkward angling a needle from this position. So you fixed yourself to straddle his thigh, sitting back on your heels and resting his hand palm-up on your thigh.

“Comfortable?” Kylo asked, and you heard his slight grin in the word.

“Shut up,” you grumbled, extremely aware of the heat of his leg pressing against your sex, against the pair of briefs you took from him this morning.

“I thought you wanted me to explain?”

You sucked your teeth and snapped the tourniquet in place in the same second. A low chuckle rumbled from Kylo, and you felt heat rise to your cheeks, so confused by his casual demeanor.

Gliding a gloved finger along your chosen vein, you whispered, “Continue,” before activating the cleansing sponge and scrubbing along his arm vigorously.

His nails brushed along your inner thigh and you swallowed a gasp, but when you grabbed the needle, he spoke up. “When we got back to Starkiller, and you chose to stay in the medbay after seeing what that stormtrooper had done.” Kylo broke off, deep, seething anger simmering along the mention of Robbie. “The next morning I found you’d slept there, completely open to harm from anyone who wanted to cause it—”

“Those doors are coded to badge access. I was fine.”

“So was your residence, but he found a way, didn’t he?” The harshness of his tone stole your focus, and you found his set jaw and knew that harshness wasn’t for you, but for the one he spoke of. “You weren’t safe and when I found you’d slept there that night, I was…”

Kylo looked at you with hard eyes, and you thought you knew what he wanted to say – or what he couldn’t say, really. “You were… concerned?”

“No,” he said, “I was enraged.” He swallowed. “Not with you, or that stormtrooper. With myself.”

The intensity of his gaze was too much, so you looked down and turned the bevel of the needle upward and began to angle it against his skin. “Why,” you whispered, voice a mere rasp.

“Because I should have killed him the moment we landed back on Starkiller.”

The words boomed through the small room, the rich violet of the sinking sun curling around the chilled tone of Kylo’s voice. A halo of fire lit his folded frame from behind, and you thought it matched that which now lived in the molten amber of his eyes. You realized in that moment that Kylo blamed himself for Robbie, and he’d just told you a truth he’d known for a long time.

You went to speak, but his other hand came to the one you grasped the needle with and pressed so the metal tip advanced beneath his skin. A curse fell from your agape mouth when his touch left and you saw blood return, advancing the IV catheter quickly and watching as crimson threatened to spill out. You released the tourniquet and fumbled with the extension tubing, securing it and flushing the vein with saline, something of pride and relief spreading through your chest as you met no resistance.

The next steps went by quickly – clamping the tubing, placing the transparent dressing over top, securing with extra tape, and slipping off your gloves – but you felt Kylo’s eyes on you the whole time. He was patient, and he shifted his leg and made you wince as it hit just the right spot, so when you finished gathering your trash and looked up again, you didn’t expect to find him with an expression of such… fondness. Still tense, but strong and unyielding, reverent almost.

“What he did to… to me, it is not your fault, Kylo.” You clasped your hand over his that rested on your thigh.

“It’s not your fault,” Kylo corrected, and you knew he meant it. He squeezed your hand and pulled you nearer, his leg pressing into that bundle of nerves and making you shiver. “And maybe it’s not mine either, but that doesn’t change the fact that I wanted to kill him.”

“Why does that matter?”

He took a long pause and sighed, searching your eyes and looking at your lips when he said, “I shouldn’t have cared that he hurt you, or that he took you out in the first place. I shouldn’t have cared that you didn’t consider that I would have kept you safe, or that I would have wanted you with me that night and not alone on a freezing exam table.” He swallowed. “And I should never have cared so much that you went to McCarty the next night, even when you’d agreed to come to me.”

You licked your lips, unsure when you said, “I was scared that the Board would see me on surveillance. You knew that.”

“Yes,” he said and huffed out something that resembled a tired laugh. “I knew that and yet I still wanted you with me. Because I am selfish and consider you something of an invaluable piece of me.”

A piece of him, you thought, dizzied by the outpouring of truth he was allowing. You skated your thumb along the veins of his hand, heart racing as the sun continued to set behind him. In a whisper, you asked, “But why should you have never cared about… those things? I… I like that you cared about them.”

He leaned into you after a slow second, and his forehead met yours. His breath warmed your face before he said, “I should never have cared about them because it meant that I cared about you. That I care about you.” He said, and when you gasped you felt him shudder. “I care about you, and that makes you a pawn in games you aren’t even aware of. And that isn’t your choice. It is wholly unfair to you for me to make you a target for my enemies.”

“I think I know at least one of the games I’m a pawn in,” you said, voice so shaky you could barely recognize it. He stilled, and you took one hand from his and grasped the back of his neck, threading your fingers through his sun-emblazoned hair. “And Kylo, what if it is my choice?”

“Then I am every bit the monster people know me to be.” Kylo said it more to himself, and you wondered why he sounded so haunted in that moment.

“You’re not a monster, Kylo. At least, you aren’t my monster.”

“No, you killed him.”

“Yes,” you swallowed, and you couldn’t help the hesitance that crept into your voice. “I did.”

Kylo lifted his head from yours then, and you knew he wanted you to keep your eyes on his as he said, “I say that because it’s true and you shouldn’t feel shame for doing so. I told you I wanted to kill him, but I didn’t know how satisfying it would be to hear you say you’d done it yourself.”

“You’re proud that I killed him?”

“I am proud that you did not hesitate.” He swallowed, eyes haunted once more. “I am proud that you recognized your enemy, and you knew what it would take to beat him.”

You didn’t say a word, but you nodded, sliding your hand from his nape to his chest. You searched his eyes as he looked down to where his hand was, and you felt his fingertips find the raised, off-color skin of the initials he’d branded you with. He knit his brow just slightly, and you moved your hand to cup his scarred cheek. He spent several more seconds gazing at the scar he’d given you, but his gaze found yours soon enough.

“I’ll tell you something that I shouldn’t like.” His eyes narrowed a small measure. With the pad of your thumb running along the curve of his healing scar, the black-and-white stitching still there but lesser, you admired him for a long, quiet moment. He continued to trace along your scar, and his leg shifted again, your breath catching before you could stop it.

“You told me you like my scars already.”

A slight smile tilted your lips to the side, but you spoke with little amusement when you whispered, “I like my scar, too.”

Kylo went utterly still, and then he slid his hand up so his heated palm closed over the raised letters on your thigh. “When I did this, I didn’t know…”

“You weren’t supposed to know,” you murmured, and your heart sank to your gut as memories of that horrid day flooded back, images of Snoke’s mangled existence, echoes of Mason’s pained screams ringing through your commlink.

“I could have known.” Again there was no anger in his tone, but something aching, regretful almost.

You brushed a few stray curls back from his face and smoothed a thumb along his temple. “Snoke would have killed Mason. He was monitoring your thoughts that entire day. I had no choice. I told you this yesterday.”

“And as I told you earlier, I am selfish.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly at the same moment you felt his thumb swipe the inside of your thigh. “You could have told me, right after you’d met with him. That’s why you weren’t home when I returned, wasn’t it?” You nodded and he went on. “I should have known something was wrong the second you got back to the Finalizer residence.”

“No you shouldn’t have. That’s the point—”

“No, the point is that you don’t trust me.”

“No, the point is that I couldn’t tell you or imply anything was wrong because Mason—”

“I do not care about McCarty,” Kylo nearly barked, but it was a reined in response by the way his voice lowered at the end. “I don’t care about anyone apart from you, and no matter how duty-bound you felt to protect your friend, you should have come to me.”

“And what would you have done but gotten him killed and risked my life in the process?”

“I will never risk your life,” Kylo seethed, his hand clamping over the scar he’d made. “But that’s the one thing you’re willing to gamble away at any sign of trouble for others, isn’t it?”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything, I’m only speaking the truth when I say that you are so focused on trying to save everyone around you, that you fail to see how often you jeopardize yourself.” His nostrils flared, but the grip on your thigh lightened, and you didn’t feel threatened by him at all. “I have to be selfish because you will always be recklessly selfless.”

“And is that such a bad thing? I’ve saved two people, three if you count yourself, while being oh so recklessly selfless.”

Kylo’s face fell into incredulity. “And you now have the sweet promise of three more weeks with a pulse. And the added bonus of a chancefor more, but with the swift revocation of your license for however long you live afterward.”

The truth stung, but not quite so much as it did coming from him. “So, what? I should stop helping people?”

“I will never ask that of you,” he stated. “But I do ask that you not get yourself killed in the process.”

“Like you said, it’s probably too late for that.”

He looked at you hard and long, chewing his tongue. His eyes narrowed and he swallowed, staring at you with a thousand thoughts whirling in his gaze. He cleared his throat and fixed his features so he was no longer studying you so much as he was admiring you. Sultry eyes landed on your lips, and the hand over your thigh tightened, his other coming to mirror over your remaining thigh. He reared his leg upward and you yelped as the sudden friction settled into your clit, your torso slamming into the hard muscle of his chest so your arms were flung around his neck.

Kylo shifted you over his thigh, inching you up and back over the hard, thick muscles. His head turned so you felt his nose trace over the shell of your ear, his lips catching your ear lobe for a moment before you sighed from the pleasure of his movements.

He let you breathe for a moment, your fingers dipping into the curl of hair at his nape, his warm breath heating your neck. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Not entirely,” he rumbled, his thigh inching up another measure, his hands pulling, grinding you against him. A small, contented moan fled your lips when another rush of heat coiled in your belly. “But if I were, I’d say I’m doing a good job of it.”

Your hips shifted of their own volition, a seethe rushed past your teeth, and you felt the day’s torture rush up all at once. Hours and hours of being led and teased with the Force, withstanding Kylo’s earlier intentions to catapult you into ecstasy. Being so close to him now, the heat of his bare chest sinking through the material of your uniform, your thighs straddled against the muscles he’d trained over years and years – you felt yourself giving into his touch.

And maybe it was because of everything he’d just told you, but you felt… better about allowing him to pleasure you now. There was less of an overarching sense that you were nothing but a toy for him. The idea of giving into him now, letting yourself go and enjoying the feel of his massive form under you, it felt good. It felt different from before, and even though you still had questions, mostly pertaining to why he was here in the first place, you knew you wouldn’t deny yourself or him any longer.

As you held onto him, he rocked you back and forth along the length of his thigh, rubbing you just right, keeping a sweet pace and listening as you let out tiny gasps from each synchronized roll of your hips.

“I was angry that I’d allowed myself to feel so much,” he breathed onto your neck as he kept his pace with your hips. “I couldn’t stand the thought that I meant nothing to you, that I was nothing to you.” You felt the flicker of orgasm as your body began to tense, his words an urging caress. “So I marked you as my own, and I watched you bear the pain of it in near silence. I wanted you to react, to scream at me with the shattering rage I knew in that moment. But you didn’t. You were so quiet and still…”

Your arms were going limp around his neck, so you slumped into him. Kylo curled his head further so his lips were pressed against your ear, his voice no louder than the breath of a whisper. “I thought about how just hours before, I’d felt your tears stream down my back, and I couldn’t shake the thought that you’d betrayed me so thoroughly for so long. I was so angry, I couldn’t see you. I couldn’t think of what it meant that you were silent while I cut into you with every ill-intent I felt in that moment. I was blinded by your betrayal, but also my own, because I knew better than to allow myself to get so involved with someone, because I was bested by a weakness that never should have existed. The weakness I created.”

Tendrils of release crept up your chest and you rode the edge of pleasure as your breath panted against his skin and he ground you harder into him. His teeth pulled at your ear lobe and shivers quaked outward along your neck and spine, his touch and words a separate charge toward pleasure.

“You don’t have weaknesses, Kylo,” you panted, barely recognizing your voice. “You are not weak.”

“No, I am not,” he breathed, kissing the hinge of your jaw, “but you are a weakness of mine, a piece of me, and a target because of it.” You whimpered against him as your body sprinted toward sweet release, losing grip on that last fraying string of sanity when Kylo said, his voice ragged and raw, “And I am selfish enough to ask that you trust me. Trust that I will never risk you even though I am a risk to you, because you are an extension of me, and I will defend you as I would my very own flesh and blood.”

In that moment, you felt more than the sexual bliss of orgasm, sinking deeply into the rasped words he’d given life from his tongue, but were born from his heart. His heart that beat so steadily when you lay against it, the heart you’d ran toward so often, even when you hadn’t realized it. Euphoria pulsed through your body as every word and breath he’d just gifted raced around your mind, leaving you to settle into him as you returned to the present.

“Be selfish,” you murmured, breathing heavily. “I will trust you. I do trust you.”

The strength of his arms tight against your back, pulling you into him, was as shocking as it was calming. He was holding onto you, not just holding you, but keeping you to him as tightly and surely as he could.

Through closed eyes you knew the sun would soon be hidden from the sky and taken over by night, but you didn’t care that time was passing. Because as your breath fell into step with Kylo’s own, time might as well have stopped existing.

“Why are you seeing McCarty tomorrow?”

Although the words were quiet, even as he spoke directly against your ear, their sudden presence spread like ice water over your heated skin. It’s not that he spoke with any harsh emotion, just that it shocked the silence you’d been nestled into. The room settled as you took a few more silent moments, but then it occurred to you that you’d never told him that.

“How do you know that I’m seeing him tomorrow?”

Neither of you moved, and you even toyed with a black curl as he said, “I told you I didn’t need to be near you anymore to… sense you.” He sighed, and it melted along the length of your spine. “I heard you at breakfast this morning. Talking to Hux’s provider.”

Swallowing, you braced your hands on his shoulders so you could peel away from him. He didn’t go easily, not tightening his hold but not letting you go either. The palms of your hands pressed gently into the warm skin of his chest, and soon your eyes found his in the faltering light of day. With a kiss of deep purple still hazing through the room, you searched his gaze with your own, and you wondered if the conversation you’d shared with Talia had anything to do with why he was here.

But there was more to that conversation than your plans to see Mason, and you needed to know how much he’d heard. “How does this… sensingthing work? It’s the Force, right?”

Kylo nodded, his hands resting on the curve of your hips. “It’s developed over time. The first time it was like I could hear you speaking right against my ear, but it was like the connection was weak. I could hear you, but it was unclear.”

Slight heat nipped at your cheeks. “It was the morning after I stayed with you on Starkiller, right?” The morning you’d rode your fingers like they were Kylo’s as you wore the briefs he’d put out for you.

“That was a great morning for both of us, I think.”

“I like how easy you’re being right now,” you whispered, and you weren’t sure if you meant to say that aloud.

“I can be hard if you want me to. I am, actually. Very.” A smirk lit his face and he led one of your hands down to the hard press of his prominent erection along the fly of his pants.

“I’m sure we’ll get to that later,” you said, glancing a thumb along his length before placing your hand back on his chest.

“If you’re sure,” he mumbled, and he leaned in to brush his lips against the base of your neck. He pulled away and looked at you, a finger now tracing the length of the “K” etched into your thigh. “Now, though, if I want, I can hear you however far away you are, and it’s like you’re standing next to me.” He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes, their focus landing on your lips when he said, “I think due to the strengthening of the connection…”

His heart skipped under your palm. It startled you so much you had to stop yourself from flinching. His heart skipped… for me. “Our connection is… stronger now?”

He swallowed, his heart steadied, and he murmured into the dying light, “I want it to be stronger.”

“Why? If you can hear me clearly, why would it need to be strengthened?”

Kylo lifted a hand so it smoothed over one side of your face and found its way to the nape of your neck. “I can hear your words, what you say out loud and to others. But not your thoughts. Never your thoughts.” His expression was far away for a moment, his thumb pressing idle circles along the length of your throat. “Sometimes, though, I feel what you feel. Only recently.”

“What I feel?”

“Strong emotions, mostly.” Kylo continued to stare over your shoulder, and something dark and dangerous settled in his jaw when he paused. “The first time I could recognize it for what it was – recognize it was you– was just before Starkiller fell. It was right after I’d been struck. I remember blinking up, blinking blood out of my eye as I was flat on my back willing myself to get up, and through the pain of my injuries came this surge of…” His nose scrunched, and his lip lifted into something of a snarl. “It felt like I was on fire. Not my face or my side. But like the Force was burning through my whole body. And then I heard you, like you were screaming right next to me, and you were screaming at someone to get off of you.”

Kylo paused, his chest entirely still, like breathing was hard where his mind had taken him. His hand dropped from your nape and absently curled around your wrist, toying with the band of your watch. The pad of your thumb drew slowly along his sternum, and you watched the warm amber of his irises drown in a stark, frigid black.

“And then I wasn’t burning. I felt my own injuries again, and I was no longer trying to move. I was laid out on my back, Starkiller crumbling all around me, and the only thought I had was that…” Kylo shuddered, the hand around your wrist stilled, and his jaw hardened to steel. “I thought you were dead. And I didn’t know why, but that thought stalled me. I should never have cared for you, but especially not then, not when I thought you’d betrayed me.”

Kylo looked at you then, the very last remnants of the sun a muted halo behind him, and whatever breath remaining in your lungs fled under his searing gaze. “I sent a signal to your watch, but that burning didn’t come back.” He swallowed. “You were dead, and I couldn’t… I wouldn’t move. I knew I had to, but all I did was fall into the absence of that burning. The absence of you.”

Once more you thought of how Kylo had looked at you in the dark of the Command Shuttle, remembered how you thought it was wonder or shock. With an ember of breath you croaked, “You thought I was dead.” Such a redundant statement, but you said it and you felt the haunt of that awed expression die away. “You thought I was dead, but then…”

“Then you were there, and I thought I had died.” Kylo slid his hand up your palm and clasped his fingers around yours, squeezing tight and pressing it to the middle of his chest. Just above his heart. “But then I heard your voice again, but it was different. You weren’t in my head, but you were with me. I tried to reach out to you, but I couldn’t. I warred in my mind until I realized you were there, but I wasn’t.”

“The coma.” Kylo had tried to reach out to your voice. You’d thought he hated you then, that he wouldn’t want to be violated by the one who had wounded him so deeply. He told you he’d heard you days ago, but knowing he wantedyou there, even if he never said otherwise – it struck through to your soul.

“I could just barely feel your hands. I heard everything you said and it was agony. To be there, listening to you blame yourself, hearing the guilt and pain in your voice – and not be able to do anything? It felt like I was burning from the inside out.”

Before you could process it, a hand was behind your nape and your mouth was against his. It wasn’t a violent kiss, no thrashing tongues or frantic lips; rather, it was a kiss full of dead regrets and roiling anguish. Kylo claimed your mouth in a slow, steady pace set by a war between pain and need. It was a kiss of mourning and grief.

His lips left yours but only enough so when you breathed, yours would glance off of them. He panted and swallowed, and the hand keeping yours to his chest spread your fingers so you could feel the deep, steady thump of his heart beneath them.

“But that moment, it was me burning, not you. Just before you left, when I felt your lips on mine and pleaded with my body to finally come back to me, your presence was like a salve. It found me through the darkness, and it calmed me, quieted the flames roaring in my mind, and it steadied me.”

As close as he was, he found your eyes, and you felt them sink deeply into your own. “You couldn’t have given me more,” he kissed your name to your lips, “because when I woke up, when I found my body and felt the braids, it was all real to me. You were real to me.” Kylo paused, breathed, and his heart skipped beneath your hand. “You couldn’t have given me more. You were alive. There will never be anything more than that.” He kissed you again, and this time it was hungry, ravenous as he stole your breath and claimed your mouth. “It was everything. It is everything.”

Words were thick in your throat, heavy in your mind, but the whole of what came from your parted lips, between the soft pants of breath that fell from them as he continued to nod his own full mouth into yours, were sighs and gasps of contentedness. In his arms, right now, after all was said and all was done, you thought for a moment that should you have died, you would have gone happily.

It was a feat to pull away from him, but you did, and you watched as the purple and orange of the sun wasted away behind him. “I am seeing Mason tomorrow because he’s letting me grab some clothes for the trial. And he’s been weird since Starkiller. And weirder since getting to Canto Bight. I know you don’t like him much, but he’s important to me, and I need to talk to him.” Kylo’s lashes lowered after his heavy gaze pulled away from you, the hand on your nape going back to trace the scar on your thigh. “Is that why you really came here? Because you overheard me this morning talking about visiting him?”

For a moment he remained quiet, the faintest touch of his fourth finger kissing your skin, but he looked up to you and found your eyes. “I’m here because you were still concerned with the Board, and even Hux, and knew if that was true, that it would also be true that you hadn’t listened to me. That you still didn’t trust me.”

“Kylo—”

“I should never have expected you to trust me so blindly, not after I’ve given you countless reasons not to.” He swallowed then, something of an apology knitting his brows together. “But for your own safety, you cannot know everything—”

“About the elusive “this” you keep referencing?”

“Yes,” he said, and his voice was clear and adamant. “By whatever means, you will survive this trial. Trust in that.”

“Okay,” you said, and you meant it. He’d said a lot today. It was enough. For now, at least. “But may I propose something that maybe you haven’t thought of?”

With a deep, cleansing breath, you took both his hands and dropped them in your lap, dismounting his leg and once more settling in the cradle of his thighs, propped on your knees as you met him with an unfaltering stare. “I will trust you, but you have to trust me back.” You trailed a finger over the secured IV you’d placed. “Trust me with more than your body. Trust me… wholly.”

Kylo seemed off-put by the thought of that, and he studied you for long, seemingly eternal minutes; he looked conflicted, like he was weighing every outcome of what that meant. When you thought he wouldn’t answer, he cleared his throat and said, “I’ve done that before.”

He had, you knew that, but you needed to say something before he decided he wouldn’t do so again. “And the only reason you stopped was because Snoke weaponized me, used me to get to you so he can have you in his arsenal, at his expense whenever he wants. You are more than that, Kylo. More than his or anyone’s to use. Do not let him win. Not again. Not anymore.”

His jaw steeled as each of your hard words met their mark with deadly precision. And when he spoke next, his tongue was a blade, his tone a sharp, unyielding promise. “He’s already lost. He just doesn’t know yet.”

“So it’s settled. I trust you, you trust me.”

There was hesitance, but he gave a single, curt nod. His brows knit for a moment and then his features seemed to soften. “I can get you clothes. Although, I do prefer you without them.”

Heat rushed to your cheeks, but you knew what he was doing, and as endearing as it was, you wouldn’t yield to him on this. “I’m seeing Mason tomorrow, and no amount of dirty words or pretty clothes will change my mind.” You notched a brow. “You’ll just have to trust me, I guess.”

“Already abusing your power,” he purred, and he pulled you into him so your legs opened and splayed over his hips and behind him. “Don’t make me regret this decision.” His tongue traced along your carotid, followed by the plush press of his lips. “At least, not so soon.”

He pushed a hand into your hair and turned your neck to the side, sucking the tender skin until he surely left a mark. His teeth skated along the hinge of your jaw, his lips trailing up your chin until his skillful tongue pushed past the seam of your mouth. It found yours and led you into a breathtaking whirl of sensation. You moaned into him, loving his weighted breath, feeling his cock harden beneath, growing as you rolled your hips into him.

He hummed, slipping his tongue away and sucking your bottom lip, your hands leading into his thick, midnight locks as the room settled in the darkness of night. He nudged his nose into you and teased your lips again, chuckling as you leaned into his efforts and chased his toying mouth.

“Tell me one more thing,” he hummed, and his tone was decadent and rich, a pulse of heat lighting between your legs.

“Anything, Kylo,” you sighed, finally catching his mouth and biting his bottom lip.

“Were you going to mention that your friend is pregnant with the General’s illegitimate kid, or were you hoping I didn’t catch onto that part of your talk this morning?”

Well. If anything was going to kill the mood, that was it.

“You know,” you sighed, bracing yourself on his shoulders and pulling out of his embrace, “as much as I dislike General Hux, mentioning him doesn’t count as dirty talk.”

Kylo chuckled deep in his chest, and his mouth was twisted in a lopsided smirk. He insisted again, not a fowl note in his voice, “Were you going to tell me?”

“It wasn’t my news to tell.” You shoved his shoulder. “And it’s not yours either, understand?”

“Really? I was looking forward to congratulating him and sharing a few cigars with the father-to-be.” You shoved him again and he laughed, appearing so young as he put his hand atop yours and traced his thumb over the back of your hand. “I don’t plan on telling him. And I don’t care if your friend—”

“You are allowed to call her Talia. You’re also allowed to call him Mason, if you didn’t know.”

“I’m not very fond of being on a first-name basis with someone I don’t plan on ever knowing. As for the physician,” his brow ticked as you frowned at the title he used so often, “I just don’t like him.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I don’t care if Harper”—you smiled at the compromise—“tells him or not. I’d actually find it quite funny if she kept it from him until the very last second. He could use a good kick in the pants.”

“So, you really won’t tell him, then?” You pushed a lock of hair back from his temple with your free hand.

He sighed exaggeratedly, and the next thing you knew, you were in the air and being lifted to sit on the edge of the exam table, Kylo’s hands resting on the tops of your thighs. “No, I won’t tell the General of his bastard lovechild. Or maybe I will,” he raised a teasing brow, “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

“Oh, really?” you challenged, leading the flat of your hand up the rigid muscles of his chest.

“Really,” he breathed in answer, dipping his head and laving his tongue past your lips, stroking it against your own as his hands caught the hem of your uniform and pulled it from the length of your body.

Your hands lifted for him, and soon you were bare – bare to the cool room, bare to the city that sprawled behind you. Bare to him. The only remaining article was his black briefs. His mouth was on your neck, kissing and biting and sucking along your pulse. Large, bold hands slid down the curved lines of your sides, thumbs petting over your belly. Kylo leaned down to your chest, kissing into the tender flesh, mouthing at the swell of your breast until he pulled a nipple into his mouth and tongued over it, around it, until your head fell back and a long, throaty groan left you.

“I need to taste you,” he breathed, taking his mouth from your breast only for a moment.

A needy hand found the back of his neck, and you pulled him closer as you arched into his mouth, into the heat of his tongue trailing to take your other nipple between his plump, scorching lips. He looked up at you, heated amber seeping into your eyes as you saw his mouth move and felt his tongue draw on the tip of your breast.

Kylo smirked when you shuddered against him, and then his hands left you. There was a metallic squeak, and he popped your breast from his mouth. When you looked down at him next, his eyes were full of mischief and a tantalizing glint that made your heart drop.

Kylo had pulled out a set of stirrups that had been locked beneath the table. And by that damn glint in his eye, you knew his every intention. You knew, too, by that very same glint, you wouldn’t need convincing.

“Trust me?” he asked, and the devil lived in the smirk that spread across his face.

“I probably shouldn’t.”

“Much too late for that.”

Kylo leaned forward like a predator readying to strike. First his mouth found yours, kissing you deeply, his hands cupping the back of your neck. Then, he kissed down to your breasts, tonguing a nipple, looking up at you when he bit down. A rumble rolled in the depths of his chest. Large hands smoothed over the curves of your silhouette, gripped your thighs and led you toward the edge of the table.

He stopped for a moment, his chin skimming your soft belly, his gaze a vice grip on your own. And when he had you positioned as he wanted, his thumbs curled into the briefs’ waistline and he pulled them out from under you. Kylo stopped once he uncovered your sex; keeping his eyes on yours, a tether of pure lust between you, he dipped his head and dragged his nose over your mound. His inhale was self-indulgent, slow and torturous, his eyes slipping back before his lids shut, the smell of you seemingly a drug of the highest potency.

Kylo groaned, inhaling a second time, the fog of his exhale flourishing over your tender, slick flesh. He slipped the briefs free from your legs, holding your ankles in one massive, binding hand.

“As much as I enjoy you wearing what’s mine,” he hummed, a hand under each ankle now, and leaned down to join his nose to the supple skin of your inner thigh, dragging ever closer to the pulse now aching to be attended to, “I admit taking it off you is much more satisfying.” His lips pressed into the sensitive flesh, his hot exhale whispering along the top of you slit. “Ask me why that is.”

Heat was enveloping your body, and your breasts heaved as breath came in short, harsh pants, but when you went to speak, Kylo’s tongue distracted you. Just before the question left your lips, he sucked the skin of your inner thigh and bit down. And as you moaned at the heady sensation – that wondrous pleasure pain – his arm encircled the leg already attended to and blindly placed it into the hard cradle of the stirrup. When it was secure, his hand slinked up the length of your body, grasping your breast while he kissed and sucked and nipped at your left thigh.

“Why,” you breathed out, unsure if you said anything, head spinning impossibly.

“Because,” Kylo crooned, muffled against the tissue he mouthed at, “the clothes are mine, but so are you. And I am undone at the sight of what is mine bared and sprawled for my taking.”

Soft, pretty moans slipped from you when he repeated the process of placing your leg in the second stirrup, his words a sweet poison in your thrumming veins. Once you were settled, and after he’d kissed his way up your calf, he stood between your raised legs – the sight of his purely masculine form laving your nerves with anticipation and lust – and watched, perhaps too intently, as he pushed your legs apart until you were sure you’d split in two.

In the light of fresh dusk, the notch in his throat bobbed, the weight of his gaze settled on the sight of your dripping, desperate cunt. Kylo’s tongue dipped into sight momentarily, glinting when it unthinkingly swept over his bottom lip. His eyes remained steady, the flat of his palms lighting sparks along your inner legs, and you watched as he brushed two long fingers down your folds, parting your sex and slipping through the wetness that was welled there.

Finally, his gaze lifted, the scalding, rich amber of his irises melting into you when the thick tips of his fingers prodded your entrance. Kylo watched you, enthralled, as those fingers sunk into you, deeply, wholly, filling you until you writhed around them.

Eager hips lifted from the table, leveraging the stirrups, guiding him that much deeper. He granted your silent wish, grasping one hip and pulling you forward, leading his fingers back and forth, curling them upward and pressing that oh-so-decadent spot in a paced, torturous pattern. You met him with each thrust, slowly rolling your hips, raising your hands to touch and mold your breasts.

A strong thumb found residence over the aching body of your clit, your answering moan unapologetic and entirely too loud. He rolled his hand over and inside you, stroking and filling you so masterfully that you quickly felt the first stirrings of orgasm.

Right when you were poised to cum, you felt it, felt a third finger push into your cunt, the sensation indulgent and overwhelming. It’s like his hand was lodged so full and far in your body that you could feel him in your throat. Kylo continued stroking your nerve as your hands clutched the edges of the exam table, your back arched and head flung back. The room was filled with sounds of sex, the smell of it too, and it all built on what you knew would be a world-shattering release.

“I feel so full, Kylo,” you moaned.

Before he answered, heat crowded your torso, and the brand of his lips burned the line of your breastbone, the hand that filled you never stalling. “You can take more, though.” His nose nudged the base of your breast, his teeth glancing off of the tender tissue. “You can, and you will.”

He didn’t know what he was saying, because there was no way—

“Oh, fuck,” you mewled, throaty and deep, when you felt a fourth finger fill your brimming cunt. “Kylo, there’s… oh, I can feel you… everywhere. You’re everywhere.”

It was no lie, the flow of his four thick, long fingers deep inside your soaked pussy engulfed every nerve you had, and the way his thumb continued to stroke your clit made it so you felt like your soul would float from your body.

But then that thumb left, Kylo moved down the length of your abdomen, kissing and claiming, until you felt his tongue draw against that bundle of nerves. The hand that grasped your hip anchored your writhing body to the table, but the press of his fingers suddenly deepened. Then, just as suddenly, occurring in the very same breath, you felt his thumb join those other four fingers.

A guttural, animal cry born from the deepest depths of your lungs filled the room and shattered against the night-peering transparisteel. His whole hand, fisted and tight, moved against you, filled you unthinkably, and snapped the last coil of sanity that bound your body and soul. His mouth sucked your clit, his tongue striking you with tight, paced licks.

It was all too much, he was too much – his hand, his mouth – your body bowing from the table, legs shaking and sweaty. Every sensation drenched your skin, every shared word blared through your mind, and ecstasy rushed you with a force that rivaled that which precipitated the fall of Starkiller.

Luminous, you were a nebula at the mercy of a black hole. Though you knew the deep pull of him left you broken and breathless, you found yourself surrendering to it, and it called to you just the same. He blazed with darkness while you drowned him with light; in this moment, neither of you could tell where one ended and the other began.

Slowly, the world around you reentered your thoughts. The sound of heavy, breathless pants spilled from your parted lips. A branding heat covered your front, and your hand had at some point come to tangle into Kylo’s hair, scratching the back of his head in idle patterns. There was a slight ache coming from the now vacant space of where he’d just had his hand, but it was pleasant in a way. You opened your eyes, and you couldn’t help your gasp.

The stars were out tonight. They looked so different from when you were in space, far away yet crowding every inch of the evening sky. Clusters twinkled on one end, groups seemingly traveling together. Every so often, as you spent minutes on your back admiring the night’s speckled beauty, a hazy cloud would drift in and out of view. Some were a dusky orange, others a lush violet that cast such complementary shadow over the backdrop of the star-brimming sky.

“The stars are out,” you murmured, melting into the feel of his weight covering you.

Kylo didn’t say anything, but you felt the soft press of his lips dip into your belly. Then lower, and lower. His actions carried no sexual intent, and you soon learned why.

A certain reverence lived in the hand that brushed over the scar etched into your left thigh. Kylo’s thumb swept over the raised, healed lines of his initials, circling the area over and over again. Soon, the warm breath of his exhales grazed the exposed skin, and you gasped when you felt the familiar touch of his lips.

He kissed the flesh there, a kiss of longing, a kiss full of silent… apology? No, not apology. Not sorrow or remorse. It was a kiss of gratitude, and you thought you could hear the soft murmurings of words too quiet to comprehend just as he pressed his lips again to those two precise etchings that would live on you forever.

You lifted your left leg from the stirrup and led it down his back, hooking it around his hips before leading the other in the same path. He looked at you then, and you leaned up and cupped his jaw in your hands before pulling him up and kissing him softly. He held your waist and lowered his head as you moved your mouth against his.

When your hands led down the pane of his abdomen, you broke away from him and held his eyes in your own. Even with so little light, there was something bright about them now, like the smoking embers of a long-burned fire. The scar that cut through his features was healing, you regarded, and you made a mental note to have a physician remove the black-and-white stitching that remained nestled across his cheek.

His eyes narrowed for a second, but he turned away before you could question it. Kylo took your discarded clothes from the floor and helped you redress. His touch was achingly gentle, such a contrast to what you knew he could do to people with the strength imbedded in his soul. Soon the hooks of your bra were met and the light caress of his briefs returned to your hips. You held your arms up as he slid your uniform over your head and onto your waiting body.

“Thank you,” you whispered.

Kylo nodded and began gathering his clothes. You slid from the exam table and slipped your shoes on, wandering to the wall of windows and peering out over the city. It was truly magnificent, especially now that it surrounded you with all the life of night buzzing down below. It carried this silent threat that it could swallow you whole if you allowed it.

Then, from the corner of your eye, you spotted what Quynnland had been staring at so intently. It was closer now, and you could see that it was a large, hollow structure. It was a racing track, like you’d thought, but it was enormous. There was movement inside of it, but even squinting you couldn’t quite catch any detail of what was going on.

Warm hands met your shoulders, and you knew he wore his gloves now. “Why are you staring at the fathier track?”

“Fathiers?” you wondered aloud, leaning into him and clasping a hand over one of his.

“Racing creatures that serve as entertainment to the corrupt wealth that live in this city. Impressive beings, really.” He leaned down and his lips caressed the shell of your ear. “What’s interested you with them?”

“I had a patient today. He told me his brother is there. His kid brother.” You swallowed, offput by the memory of how helpless Quynnland had sounded, had appeared as he told you this. “He asked me to get him away from there.”

Kylo tensed behind you, and a long push of breath fogged the side of your neck. “Always trying to save everyone.”

“I won’t get myself killed. I promise.” You sighed, running your hand down the length of his arm. “Did you take that IV out? You should have let me help.”

“I’m healing, not incapacitated.” Kylo took a step back from you and you turned, seeing him waiting for you at the door. “We should get back to the Consulate. I’m sure your shadow has given her report by now.” A half-smirk pulled his mouth up.

“Why does it look like you think that’s a good thing?” You walked over to him and he activated the door, the two of you stepping out and meandering through unfamiliar halls.

“If he suspects that there is something going on between you and I, Hux would likely use that information when he testifies next week. But, to claim you had inappropriate relations with me would force him to publicly acknowledge that all similar relations between any provider and their assignment are inherently inappropriate…”

Kylo pulled open a door and let you pass, the two of you walking toward a transport docking bay stationed at the top of the medical structure. When you stood in front of a familiar transport, he stopped next to you and you watched as the entrance descended to let you in.

Kylo stepped forward, his boots heavy on the ramp, and he turned and looked at you with features gilded in prideful victory. “As much as Armitage Hux dislikes you and hates me, he is an intelligent man. He would never make himself appear so weak by publicly contradicting himself by shaming you for fucking your assignment when he is actively doing the same with his provider.”

He spoke so powerfully, it was like the night around you had quieted to hear him. You took a breath, all the air having seeped from your lungs under the weight of his adamant eyes. “And you’re sure of that?”

Kylo held out a gloved hand, offered it to you before he said, his voice the deepest caress, “Do you trust me?”

In that moment, with the night cloaking you from the city, with the words he’d earlier spoken echoing around your mind, and the touch he’d painted your body with that was altogether yearning and claiming at once, you knew you did. Wholly and completely, and perhaps too much, you trusted him.

So you took his hand, and you looked up at him with the same strength that lived in his eyes, and said, without a single doubt in your mind, or your heart, “Yes, Kylo. I trust you.”

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren fanfic #kylo ren smut #kylo ren imagine #smut #fluff #angst #st kyp #keeping your promise

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stripper-patrick · 4 years ago

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China Doll 🎎Andy Barber

Part 1

Part 2

Warnings: smut, language, daddy kink, straight up nastiness, dom!Andy, face sitting, angst, protected, this is a 2 parter

Tags: @rebellious-desires @mrsbanreswillseeyou @eclecticblkgirl

Relationship: Andy Barber x black plus sized reader

Being an intern for Andy Barber was fun so far. In the year that I’ve worked here I’ve been treated with nothing but respect and to say my boss was eye candy was an understatement. Yet he’s married. Me and Andy have gained an amazing repertoire with each other becoming more so friends that boss and intern. It’s just his coworkers who have yet to respect me and I don’t wanna day anything because they have more seniority than I do and I don’t wanna damage my internship

“Blondie file these for me” Neal drops an entire stack of files on my desk on top of the stack I already have and by the looks of it I’ll be here all night. Neal was the one who hired me but I sort of migrated to working with Andy majority of the time. I cut him a side eye and he smirks staring at me with lingering eyes that don’t reside on my face, more so on my breasts. I wish I could slap that smirk off his face. He’s the only who calls me Blondie because he doesn’t see my intelligence yet if I weren’t smart I wouldn’t be an intern at the most prestigious law incorporation in the world.

“Don’t call me that Neal I’ve told you before” I stand my ground daring him to do it again with my fierce eyes.

“Blondie” he chuckles walking away from me and I groan rubbing my hands over my face.

I grab my midnight green iPhone 11 Pro Max and tap twice on it revealing the time. 7:32. I’ve been here for almost 10 hours. I stretch my neck rolling it and I stand up stretching allowing my shirt to to rise above my belly button showing my piercing. I let it fall and a door opens. That’s when I see Andy. Face long and tired but nonetheless he still works harder than ever.

“Hey China Doll I didn’t know you were still here” I nod. I’ve been told he calls me China doll because of my big pretty brown eyes. In Andy’s words not my own.

“Yea Neal is making me file all of these”

“Fuck him lets go to a bar” I chuckle at his jokes and vulgarity only to see he’s dead serious

“As much as I wish I could leave he’d fire on and this isn’t even a real job”

“Y/N I wouldn’t let him do that you’re my best girl here and frankly most hard-working” although this was true it’s something about the term ‘my best girl’ that leaves guilty butterflies floating in my stomach. Guilty because he’s married with a child “come on I’ll buy all your rounds” he smiles

“You don’t have to” I set down the files and grab my purse. I save and log out of my computer. Andy leads the way and I follow suit. He pulls the door open letting me go through before turning off the lights and locking up. We head outside to his Audi and my Lexus.

“I’ll follow you”

“Ok I know a bar just down the way” I nod and get in my car watching Andy get in his. I take a deep breath turning the engine. I’m really heading to a bar with my boss’s boss.

Me and Andy are about 2 shots in and we’re giggling like children “ok take a shot if you’ve ever been blackout drunk” I watch Andy grab his glass as I grab my last and he watches me turn the glass letting the acidic liquid glide down my throat. I grab a lime sucking on it to decrease the taste of the brown liquor.

“You’ve never been blacked out?” He had one more shot that hasn’t been touched meaning I lost the game. Now that I’m really looking at him he looks hot. Maybe that’s the liquor getting to my head but it’s just something about the way he looks at me that makes me feel hot. “No my friends have but I haven’t”

“You wanna know something?” I smile leaning forward unconsciously. He does the same mocking me with a playful smile.

“I didn’t think you were this laid back. I was honestly scared of you” I laugh hiccuping

“I get more laid back than this” he smirks with suggestive eyes that create a pool in my underwear “Can I tell you something?” He asks

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking about you since the day you walked through those doors” and that’s when it began. The room got hot and my cheeks were flushed with sexual blush. That’s when I realized I wanted him right then and there.

“Do you mind if we leave?” I ask

We bust through the door of my apartment and his hands are kneading my ass all while picking me up to wrap my legs around his hips. His soft lips are clad to mine and his perfect teeth graze at my bottom lip. I open my mouth inviting his tongue. The taste of tequila and mint consume me along with his powerful cologne that makes my knees buckle. Andy tears off my button down revealing the lacy red bra. He holds me up with one hand and the other moves to my hair pulling me back. He picks a broad stripe up my neck ending it with a hard duck making my clit jump.

He gets me to my bedroom laying me down and slithering up to my lips. I flip us around taking control as I kiss his neck. My skirt is hiked up to my waist and I pull it over my head throwing it on the floor. I grab the bottom of his shirt lifting it over his head discarding it with the rest of the clothes.

I feel how hard Andy is under me making me grind on him harder. He slaps the side of my ass. He grabs my throat pulling me down to his lips. He lets go of my lips with a smack and moves his lips to my ear kissing me softly “sit on daddy’s face” I couldn’t be wetter. With confidence I pull off my underwear and place both of my thighs on each side of his head resting my dripping pussy on his lips. Right off the bat Andy sucks my clit like a lollipop and my hands rest on top of his that are on my hips.

My body has a mind of its own as I rock against his hips. I look down at his steel blue eyes glimmering in the dim lamp light looking back at me. He lets out a beautiful moan and I bite my lip exhaling sharply. His tongue moves from my clit to my inside slurping me straight from the source. “Just like that” I moan. My right hand unclasps my bra taking it off and my other hand moves to his head keeping him steady as I ride his face. My moans get louder as he goes back to flicking my clit in a fast motion not hesitating to press his blunt nails into my hips holding me down.

Andy wraps his lips around my clit sucking on me like a leech. My vision becomes hazy, partly because the liquor is still in my system, as he keeps me in the same spot not able to move. My breath becomes more shallow and I try pulling off of his face feeling the pleasure become unbearable “it-it’s too much daddy it’s too much” I moan in a rushed tone He continues his assault until I’m screaming his name and cumming in his mouth. I hear his vulgar smacks and moans from under me making my body rock that much harder. Andy stops moving completely letting me ride out my orgasm on his face holding direct eye contact. This man is the devil.

Andy finally lets me go and he unlatches from me with a smack. I come off of his face watching his beard glisten and a smile on his face. “Fuck me please” I lean down kissing him tasting myself on his lips and tongue. My hand glides over his stomach grabbing his dick but he quickly grabs my hand flipping us around and pinning me to the bed. “Are you ready for it?”

“Yes daddy” Andy pulls down his boxers and he wasn’t lacking in neither width or length (I know y’all saw that Chris Evans leak😏). My jaw drops at his size and he chuckles “I haven’t seen that in a long time” he grabs a condom rolling it on getting prepared.

He starts with the head stretching me out a little. Now here goes the hard part. Andy keeps inching in me as I breathe through the pressure of my walls expanding accepting him gracefully. Once my clit is rubbing against his pelvis he’s fully inside of me, Andy starts off with small strokes along with peppering kisses along my face and jawline. “Faster daddy. Harder” he chuckles at my requests pulling out completely leaving me empty. Before I can demur he plunges back into me leaving my mouth wide open. Andy is rhythmic making sure I feel each and every inch when he reenters me with such passion. “Fuck you’re so tight. I gotta stretch that pretty little pussy out”

“Please stretch it out daddy fuck” my nails glide down his back which I know will leave marks. Andy’s hips ripple into mine with such force that drives my eyes to the back of my head. My jaw drops and Andy comes down kissing me with such passion if I were standing I’d be dizzy by now. He bites my lip still drilling me, my breathing is ragged and my moans are so loud my voice is getting hoarse “such a good little slut for me aren’t you princess”

“Yes yes yes” as he continues thrusting leading us both to the edge that wallowing coup de Grace is close to its mark. Andy wraps his hand around my throat squeezing to make me dizzy but I still have limited air. I bite my lip feeling his necklace hit the bottom of my chin. “Look at me when I make you cum” it’s damn near impossible but I manage to watch him. I grab the sheets and my body rocks as he pounds me through my soul shattering orgasm. Andy’s eyes close and he leans down placing his head in my neck never losing rhythm. “Fuck” he grabs the back of my neck pressing our foreheads together as he fills me with his seed mewling out. He starts slowing down once he’s bottoming himself out and comes to a stop leaving me sore but still very happy. Andy pulls out rubbing my clit making me jolt with how sensitive I am. He throws away the condom and lays next to me while I throw my arm across his chest. He cuddles me closer pushing me into a deep well needed sleep.

I feel the sun poking through my curtains and a raging headache that’s making me dizzy. I notice I’m extra warm and I feel an arm around my waist and something poking me in my butt. I look back seeing Andy asleep and I smile then my smile fades and turns into a horrible frown. I tap Andy’s shoulder and he stirs in his sleep before opening his eyes. His phone vibrates in his jeans and he gets up grabbing it. His face goes blank and he answers the call “hey Laurie”

My jaw drops and I drop my head in my hands. I feel nauseous. Andy ends the conversation and looks at me “did we have sex last night?”

It’s a silly question I can feel the soreness between my legs. I stand up out of bed nearly falling over again from how weak my legs are.

“We did and that was Lauie” he says running his hands over his face. I start panicking and sit back on the bed. Obviously it’s clear he sees it. Andy comes over towering over me. He gets down on one knee lifting my leg over his shoulder kissing it softly “Andy you’re wife just called and I know she’s worried sick- oh fuck” his plump lips wrap around my clit “Andy we can’t- oh god” my back arches and I grab his head with the intent to move him away but my hands bring him closer as my breathing picks up. My hips roll along his face and I bite my lip as he continues sucking on my clit like he didn’t just assault it last night. “Andy we’re gonna be late for work Jesus”

“Mhmm” he hums going deeper and using 2 fingers to work at my entrance. He curls those 2 fingers sucking on my clit and hitting my g-spot like no tomorrow until I’m left leaking on his tongue and crying out his name. My legs shake trying to close his head in yet I want him away as the overbearing pleasure dizzies me.

“That’s my girl” he moans cleaning me completely. Andy stands up and I lay back just staring at the ceiling “come on now we’re almost late” he winks

“Wait I need to get my car”

“Ok I’ll wait for you to get ready” and that’s just what he does. Occasionally his wife would call and he’d talk to Jacob before school but other than that he was right there.

I’m all ready and dressed in a tight dress and he grabs his jacket that he had on last night. We get in Andy’s car and he drives off to the bar around the corner. Just watching him drive made me want a round 2 but he had a family to go home to and though I’ve already done so I don’t wanna interrupt that. Yet I already have. The guilt feeling consumes me again making me nauseous and overly dizzy.

“Andy pull over” I wretch and he obliges. I open the door vomiting whatever little food I had the night before. I cough letting all of my contents out while feeling Andy’s large hand rubbing my back. Once I’m finished he pulls over to my car and hands me some water. I gargle it walking to the back of the car spitting it out. I go in my purse and grab a piece of gum “I’ll let you know when I make it to the office” I make it to my car and he opens the door for me.

“Ok and Y/N” I look up at his dazzling blue eyes that are softened on me “I don’t want you to beat yourself up over this. I don’t regret it”

I nod and close my door pulling off.

#chris evans x you #chris evans x woc reader #chris evans x black reader #Chris Evans #defending jacob #andy barber smut #Andy #barber #Andy barber #Apple TV #smut #chris evans gif

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villlainarc · 5 years ago

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All of These Stars (Will Guide Us Home)

Summary: Logan had a guardian angel. Okay. He could sort of work with that.

Angels were real. He could work with that a bit less, though he supposed it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

His guardian angel was very pretty and absolutely fascinating—from an objective and scientific standpoint, of course. He knew that those two were indisputable facts, so he didn’t have a problem with that, he could accept that.

The fact that he had a guardian angel meant he needed help.

Oh, absolutely not. Logan couldn’t even pretend to work with that.

In which Logan finds himself stuck with a guardian angel and a strange feeling blossoming between them.

Pairing: Logince

Warnings: brief mention of not eating (though it isn’t intentional), swearing, it gets real sad before it gets happy again

Word Count: 11,504

Taglist (ask to be added!): @max-is-tired @raaindropps @kiribakuandcats @main-chive

Notes: for the sanders sides reverse bang, run by @sanderssidesfanfiction. as per the rules of the reverse bang, the art this is inspired by was done by none other than @2queer2deer and is here

and finally, many thanks to ren for offering to beta this after it got too long for me to catch everything myself and my brain gave up on me fjskskd

ao3

_________________________

Logan was a neuroscientist. He knew that a fight or flight response was triggered when the human brain was overwhelmed and stressed. He knew exactly how it dealt with information and that if need be, it would formulate more believable scenarios when the current one couldn’t be processed. He knew that when it came to sleep deprivation, intense hallucinations would only start after a full seventy-two hours of no sleep.

Logan was not overwhelmed. Logan’s mind had always processed things in the way it should have, and he was not prone to coming up with scenarios that had never happened. While it wasn’t as much sleep as would have been ideal—seeing as he had been consistently sleep deprived for the past week—Logan had still slept for a full seven and a half hours last night.

And that’s why, for the life of him, he could not figure out why there appeared to be an angel in the middle of his lab.

“Ah,” the angel said, turning around, completely oblivious to the fact that it (he?) was not supposed to exist. “You must be Logan.”

So. The angel knew his name. Logan found himself nodding blankly in response, trying to think up some sort of explanation for why there would be a fucking angel in his lab.

“Nice to meet you then, Logan. How are you?” the angel asked, still clueless about how utterly impossible its (his?) being here was. He (Logan had decided somewhere in the back of his mind that calling something humanoid “it” felt distinctly wrong) lifted himself onto one of the stainless steel tables littered about the lab, swinging his feet as he continued talking. “I’m Roman,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

Logan blinked. The angel—or Roman, as Logan supposed he should refer to him—was sitting on his lab table, and that’s about all Logan’s mind could process at the moment. Acting on the one thing that made sense to him, Logan took a step forward. “Get off my lab table.” After taking a breath and making a very conscious effort not to scream, he tacked on a clipped, “Please.”

“Oh! Sorry, yes. I’ll do that.” Roman pushed himself smoothly off the lab table, landing on the ground with barely a sound.

“Right,” Logan said under his breath. “Right,” he repeated, this time directed more at Roman than himself. “I’m going to have to wipe that down, and then you’re going to tell me exactly why you’re here, how you know who I am, whether or not you’re actually an angel, how your wings work, and then you’re going to get the fuck out of my lab.” With that, Logan felt perfectly secure in grabbing a clean cloth and a spray bottle of bleach before walking back to the offending lab table and wiping it down thoroughly.

“I think you’re going to have to repeat all those questions for me, one at a time, and at a far slower pace,” Roman said, hovering in the background once Logan had begun cleaning. “I caught exactly none of it.”

“Yes,” Logan agreed. “I apologize, I was rambling a bit. Give me one moment and I’ll be right with you.” With a final swipe of the cloth, Logan put away the cleaning supplies and pulled a notepad out of his lab coat. “Now,” he said, scrawling something across the page as he sat down, “please, have a seat in this chair right across from me and then answer this to start: why are you here?”

“Why, for you, of course! I’m your guardian angel, Logan, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

That raised a fair few more questions than it answered, but Logan wasn’t going to think too hard on that just yet. He finished noting what Roman had said and then moved on to his next question. “I had asked you how you knew who I was, but I think that question just answered itself, so I’m going to skip it.” Logan tapped his pen against the notepad for a moment, recalling what he’d said next. “Ah, and then I asked if you were actually an angel, which, again, I feel has been sufficiently explained. Now then, how do your wings work?”

“Like any wings would work, I suppose,” Roman said, ruffling his feathers a bit as he stretched them out to their full width. Logan winced as a few feathers fell to the floor, making a mental note to sweep them up as soon as he could. “I flap them, and they help me fly. What else would you like to know about them?”

“Hm, they do protrude from your back, correct? And you were born with them?”

“Yes, and yes, I— where are you going?” Logan had gotten up from his chair while Roman had been in the middle of speaking, poking about his lab for something.

“Just getting a pair of gloves. Please, don’t mind me. You can continue.”

“Oh, no, that’s alright. I was pretty much done. But may I ask why you’re looking for gloves?”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a quick nod. “I suppose I shouldn’t have assumed before going to get them, but… would you mind if I touched your wings? I’m curious as to how they feel.”

“Absolutely! Be my guest.”

“Thank you. Could I ask you a few more questions while I work?”

“Ask away, darling.”

“In that case—” Logan pulled the gloves over his hands with a snap, walking up behind Roman, “—I hope this isn’t too forward or uncouth, but what exactly does it mean to be an angel? On Earth, we have a multitude of myths and ideas about what they are, how they act, where they come from, what they do, and so on. What’s the truth?”

“Hm, I can’t really answer that. Since you’re a mortal, there are certain things I’m simply not allowed to tell you. But! I can say that every culture got at least a few aspects right. Every story holds a grain of truth, and the stories of angels are no different.” Roman paused, and Logan heard the first few hints of a frown enter his voice. “What are you doing back there, anyway? It tickles.”

“Me? Oh, I’m just looking for muscles or bones, I suppose, though anything interesting would do. I’m not sure. Do you happen to know what your wings are made of?”

“Um. Muscle, probably? And bone and feathers? I’m not sure, honestly. It’s not something that’s of particular importance, you know?”

“I see,” Logan said, still running his hands through Roman’s feathers. “They appear to be almost identical to bird wings, did you know that?”

“…No? Is that a good thing?”

“It means they were specifically designed for flight, likely longer flights as well. They’re more similar in structure to the wings of a bird of prey, though I suppose that would make sense, especially considering that the rest of you is humanoid and we too are a predatory species. So yes,” Logan concluded, clearing his throat awkwardly. “I’d say that is a good thing.”

Roman turned his head slightly, watching Logan pull off his gloves and put them carefully in a waste container with a curious look in his eyes. “Well, I’m glad.”

“Do you mind if I take a few of your feathers to study them?” Upon seeing Roman bristle a little at the thought, Logan added swiftly, “I was only referring to the ones that have fallen to the floor, I wouldn’t take them directly from your wings, not to worry.”

“I don’t see why not, then. You didn’t have to ask, you know.”

Logan shrugged. “It’s always better to ask about everything when working with human—or humanoid, in your case—test subjects.”

“Hm,” Roman replied, cocking his head to the side as Logan lifted a few feathers from the ground with a pair of tweezers before carefully sealing them in a plastic bag.

Once he’d done that though, Logan’s scientific curiosity immediately waned, leaving only a looming sense of panic because, as he’d somehow managed to forget, there was a fucking angel in his science lab and absolutely no protocol for handling such a situation. “I need to sit down,” he decided aloud.

“Good idea,” Roman hummed, getting out of his own chair and making his way around the lab. “This is where you work, huh?”

“Yes. Don’t touch a thing.” Logan’s words were purely instinctual, any rational thought he may have had vanishing rapidly.

“Noted,” Roman replied, making a show of folding his hands behind his back before peering into a microscope. “You’re a neuroscientist, right?”

“Shouldn’t you already know that? Being my ‘guardian angel’ and all,” Logan said, and he would have put finger quotes around the words “guardian angel” if his hands were not currently occupied with holding his head between them. Logically, Logan knew his sarcasm and disbelief stemmed from the fact that he was currently falling into denial but emotionally, Logan was very far from ready to acknowledge the fact that angels just might exist—no, scratch that—that they did exist.

“Oh, of course I knew that. I’m merely trying to make small talk. You seem a bit overwhelmed, that’s all.”

“This ‘small talk’ is only serving to make me more overwhelmed.”

“Ah. Would you prefer if I got straight to the core of your psychological issues and the reason you’ve been deemed worthy of being assigned a guardian angel?”

“…I’m going to have to say no to that. What would really help is you shutting the fuck up so I can think straight.”

“Jeez, I knew you weren’t good at making friends, but I didn’t—”

“So sorry, did you not hear when I asked for complete silence?”

“Right, right. Got it. Shutting up now.”

Logan let out a sigh at that, letting his head drop once more into his hands.

He had a guardian angel. Okay. He could sort of work with that.

Angels were real. He could work with that a bit less, though he supposed it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

The angel was very pretty and absolutely fascinating—from an objective and scientific standpoint, of course. He knew that those were just indisputable facts, so he didn’t have a problem with that, he could accept that.

The fact that he had a guardian angel meant that he needed help.

Oh, absolutely not. Logan couldn’t even pretend to work with that.

Having come to a decision, he lifted his head from his hands. “You need to get out. Now.”

Roman blinked at him from his place behind a different microscope than the one he’d been near before. “I— what? Why?”

“I don’t need—nor do I want a guardian angel, so I’m asking you to leave. That’s all, I can assure you it’s not personal.”

“Logan, darling, I’m frankly offended that you would imply that I would just abandon you like that! Besides, I’m tied to you until further notice. I couldn’t leave you behind even if I wanted to—which, for the record, I don’t now and won’t ever.”

“Yes, well— figure something out. I am not entertaining this any longer. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you are of no use to me. Thank whoever’s in charge for thinking of me, and goodbye, Roman. It was nice meeting you.”

“…So, what do you not understand about the fact that I cannot physically leave? Because I thought that was pretty clear, but if you need me to, I can explain again.”

“I understood you perfectly fine,” Logan said, standing up and taking an unintentionally menacing step towards Roman. “I simply don’t care. I’d thank you kindly for leaving me alone. I don’t need your help.”

“Was that an invitation for me to list all the ways you do, in fact, need my help?”

“No, it really wasn’t, it was actually a very explicit invitation to leave me alone and get the fu—”

“So! First of all, you’re lonely.”

“That’s just wrong, plain and simple. I have Patton and I have Virgil, not to mention my family and—”

“Very true, but if you try to tell me they truly understand you, you’d be lying, no?”

Logan had nothing to say to that.

“Exactly. Secondly, your ambition and curiosity are the only things you’re living for. You have no proper sense of self and no confidence in who you are as a person.”

“I—”

“No, no, I’m not done yet. Thirdly, you still haven’t moved past the fact that your aspirations and curiosities have always been mocked and still don’t feel that you can speak your mind freely because you fear you’ll be belittled for your interests.”

“I think that’s more than enough, I get the idea—”

“And finally,” Roman said a bit louder, talking over Logan’s objections, “in your drive to prove the people from your past wrong, you’ve lost all trust in those closest to you. Not only are you lonely now, you still insist on keeping everyone at a distance so you will forever be lonely.”

Logan was silent.

“So, how did I do? Was I right?”

“Perhaps a few things you said were somewhat accurate, but that in no way means I need your help. Because I don’t.”

“Mm, my boss begs to differ, and so do I. Besides, you really don’t have a say in this. You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.” Roman didn’t seem very troubled with this information, sending Logan a sparkling grin followed quickly by a wink.

“Well then. Let’s just say you do end up staying around. What exactly do you plan on doing that any good therapist couldn’t?”

“Well, for starters, I’m an angel, Logan. My angelic nature is a healing force all on its own. Secondly, a therapist couldn’t provide you with love now, could they? They wouldn’t be able to help you feel less lonely by being your friend, huh?”

“I don’t need—”

“You don’t need friends? Everyone needs friends, Logan. It’s human nature, I’m sure you know that.”

Logan sighed, running a hand absently through his hair. “Let’s say I ignore you. Would you eventually leave me alone?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Alright then, let’s just pretend I do accept your existence in my life. How am I supposed to explain who you are?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, darling. I can handle the explanations, that was all a part of my training.”

“How comforting. Now, what happens if I’m never deemed ‘fixed?’ Do you just have to live with me until I die? Does that mean you’ve failed?”

“Okay, so let’s get one thing straight—”

“I don’t think you can do that. I’m gay.”

“Oh, I know, it’s just a figure of speech, but anyway, that wasn’t even the point. What I was going to say is that you aren’t being ‘fixed.’ You don’t need to be fixed, you need love and support. So I’m not here to fix you, I’m here to help you, and I won’t fail in that, Logan.”

“That’s a sweet sentiment I suppose, but that doesn’t eliminate the possibility of failure by any means.”

“Well then, it seems we have an opportunity here, now don’t we?”

“Do I want to know what that entails?”

“Quite possibly not, but you also don’t have a choice. Either way though, you need to learn how to trust people, right? Here’s your first chance. Trust that I won’t fail you, because that’s all you can really do in this case.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hm, I don’t think that sounded much like you trusting me, somehow. Let’s try that again: I won’t fail you, Logan. Trust me.”

“I… will ignore the possibility that you might fail.”

Roman snorted. “That’s closer, at least. You’ll get there someday.”

“Well,” Logan said, clearing his throat. “Would you mind getting out of my lab while I work, at least? I’m afraid I won’t be able to concentrate with someone else in the room.”

“Even if that someone’s fabulously charming and winningly handsome?”

“I’m afraid so, and I’m so very sorry about that,” Logan said, not sounding very sorry at all.

“You don’t sound very sorry at all,” Roman pouted.

“Yes, well, I am and I’ve wasted enough time entertaining you. So if you don’t mind, I have work to do now.”

“Ooo, what are you doing toda—”

“No, nope, absolutely not, get out.” He herded Roman out the door, slamming it once he’d made it through. Leaning his head against it with a sigh, Logan made a futile attempt to collect his thoughts, knowing instinctively that no matter how hard he tried, he would be getting absolutely nothing of worth done today.

_________________________

For the next several weeks, Logan was constantly plagued by Roman’s continued existence.

The angel refused to leave him alone for more than fifteen minutes at a time, and Logan was certain he was going absolutely insane because of it. No matter how many locked doors he hid behind, Roman always managed to find a way through. Logan hypothesized that it was magic, but Roman vehemently denied that when asked.

“Me? Use magic? Why, of course not! It’s not allowed when I’m on Earth because I’m supposed to be ‘blending in,’ and I would never break a rule as important as that. I’m shocked and appalled that you’d accuse me of such a thing, my darling Logan.”

Logan didn’t believe that absolute bullshit for a second, but he could never prove anything to the contrary, even though he did spend nearly every waking moment with Roman. Even if he could never get Roman to stop talking. Even if he was overwhelmed with the constant onslaught of Roman Roman Roman—

At that point, Logan couldn’t remember what he had been trying to find out in the first place. As he spent more time around Roman’s constant chatter, he could feel himself physically losing brain cells; it was getting harder to think, harder to move, harder to calm his head, his heart, his breaths.

It was possible that he should have mentioned this to Roman, but Logan didn’t want to tell the angel any more than necessary, even though doing so would mean that he would leave him behind sooner. That wasn’t worth the vulnerability he would be showing, nothing was.

So he just had to… survive.

He could survive; he’d done so all his life, clearly. There was no reason at all for him to stop now.

Besides, he had a few hours of Roman-free time while he was at work, and that was enough to let him breathe properly. Though it was gradually becoming harder for him to concentrate long enough to find the correct train of thought to follow, his time spent at work as a neuroscientist was still far superior to any time spent around Roman.

At least, it had been before today. Because today, everything—everything—was going wrong.

First, it was his alarm being set to the wrong sound. Instead of waking him up with its usual serene tones that gradually increased in volume, it emitted a jarring series of beeps that physically hurt Logan when he heard them.

Then, it was his coffee being too cold, then too sweet, then being spilled over his counter. It hadn’t all been lost, but what was left in the thermos wasn’t enough to placate Logan as the right amount would have on any other day.

After the spilled coffee came the pout Roman gave him after he’d snapped at him for humming too loudly. After the pout came the imploring request to pretty please tell Roman what was wrong, after the request came another bout of waspish remarks, after the waspish remarks came another pout, and after the pout, Logan simply left.

Once he arrived at work, Logan was certain that his day was going to get better. It could only go up from the pit he’d fallen into, right?

Wrong. Logan’s day could—and would—get so much worse.

The first thing to go wrong at work was seeing his messy lab. He’d been tired when he’d left last night, leaving the clean up to his future self. This was proving to have been a terrible idea.

Cringing at the equipment strewn all over, Logan locked his bag away in a locker on the left wall and got to work cleaning.

That, at least, was calming.

What was decidedly not calming was having one of his coworkers burst through the door without so much as a knock. This was the second thing to go wrong after Logan had arrived at work, and the following conversation was the third.

“You aren’t busy, are you?”

“As a matter of fact, I—”

“Doesn’t matter. We need you to check out these scans right about… oh, now, but no pressure of course. I’ll be in room 312 whenever you’re done,” the man—whose name Logan couldn’t seem to remember for the life of him—interrupted with a tight smile. “Thanks,” he added as an afterthought, strolling out of the lab without even having the decency to close the door behind him.

The fourth thing to go wrong was the fact that Logan had to actually concentrate on doing something while there was still clutter all over the room, but he did manage to do so with only mild suffering.

Logan had just begun to grow hungry when the realization of the fifth thing to go wrong dawned on him. He’d forgotten to pack his lunch.

Fuck.

This wasn’t catastrophic, of course. He could always go somewhere to buy lunch, but it was while Logan was searching for his wallet that he remembered leaving it on the counter at home. While Logan would by no means starve without lunch, not having food to sustain him for the rest of the day would not bode well for anyone who needed to speak with him.

That was the sixth thing that went wrong.

The seventh thing to go wrong was Logan’s lightheadedness, a sudden reminder that he hadn’t had breakfast either, so consumed had he been with the spilled coffee and argument with Roman. This left him with two awful options. He could either wait until he got home to eat (which would have countless adverse effects on his physical health) or he could ask to borrow money from someone he worked with (which would have countless adverse effects on his mental health). There really was no winning for him.

But having to deal with the discomfort of asking for money seemed to Logan a lesser evil at that point than having to wait for several more hours before he’d be able to alleviate the gnawing pain in his stomach.

This was the eighth thing to go wrong, the ninth being the fact that the sandwich he’d been lent had been slathered with mayo and gone soggy because of it.

Logan’s day seemed to be looking up after lunch, though, as he had finally managed to finish cleaning up his lab by that point and was able to continue research into a different patient’s condition at a more leisurely pace than he’d had to think at that morning.

There was still so much that could go wrong, though, and it all did.

The tenth thing was a conversation with a coworker that stretched on for a small eternity, the eleventh a series of three brand new things he had to do at “his earliest convenience,” the twelfth a glass beaker that Logan had dropped shattering to pieces on the floor.

Logan left after he’d cleaned up that mess, not wanting to get to the thirteenth bad thing because although he was far from superstitious, the fact that he now knew angels existed was fucking with his mind in that regard.

Once he got home, he restarted the count of things that went wrong solely for his own sanity. Reaching a count of unfortunate incidents that was any higher than twenty things would make him want to scream, so when he saw Roman waiting for him on the couch as soon as he walked through the doorway, he considered that the first terrible thing to happen once he’d gotten home as opposed to the twenty-first terrible thing that had happened in total.

The second thing was the discovery that Roman had raided his refrigerator earlier that day and eaten the lunch he’d made for himself, the third that he found his house to be entirely void of Crofters jam. The fourth was the fact that peanut butter eaten alone made his mouth feel thick and dry, the fifth Roman’s proclamation that he’d told Logan so.

The sixth thing to go wrong once Logan got home was the fact that Roman would simply not stop singing, even after he’d mentioned that he was going to take a nap because it had been a long day so could he please be quiet for just thirty minutes? That was all he wanted, thirty blissful minutes of peace and quiet.

He didn’t even get five.

That was alright though, he decided, because he could read and block out any noise that happened to drift his way, obnoxious singing included.

The seventh tragedy occurred when Logan finished his book and had to return once again to reality and the angel that came with it. It was getting dark, and Logan should have gone to the kitchen to get food at that point. He hadn’t eaten much at all today, but going to the kitchen also meant having to deal with Roman and his loud voice and prying questions and— nope. Logan didn’t have enough mental energy left to handle that.

So instead, he decided to do what he always did when his problems proved to be too much for him. He ran away from them.

Specifically, he ran away to a field of wildflowers in the middle of nowhere with the most perfect view of the stars he’d ever seen.

While that was still running away, Logan tended to ignore that in favor of admiring the night sky.

Now, all he had to do was get out of the house without running into Roman. He would want to know where Logan was going and then he’d have to explain and then Roman would want to come with him and that could only end with Logan becoming even more frustrated with the world, so he opted to leave through his window.

He’d never tried to do that before, so he was pleasantly surprised when he made it out with only a slight stumble. Without the walls of his house closing in on him, Logan noted that he felt more at ease than he had all day. The night air also helped to calm him, and his entire demeanor had relaxed by the time he reached his field of wildflowers.

Letting out a sigh, Logan felt any remaining tension melt away as he sat down beneath the leaves of a willow tree. He leaned his head back against its trunk and allowed himself to simply trace the constellations above him with his eyes.

When he’d been far younger, more naive, and less concerned with making enough money to live comfortably, Logan had seriously considered becoming an astronomer. He’d also toyed with the thought of being an astrophysicist, but the idea of having to work with concepts that weren’t concrete or truly proven made him feel slightly panicked and had turned him off from that completely. Still though, he’d always found anything to do with planets, galaxies, stars, and anything in between to be utterly fascinating. He could have spent hours in the library reading about astronomers and their discoveries from centuries past, and while Logan wouldn’t ever be one to work solely in theoreticals, learning about those theories was almost more fascinating than the facts themselves. No matter what else was going on in his life at the time, he had always been able to turn to the stars in some form or another as a calming presence. They were the one constant that hadn’t managed to fade from his life, and Logan was incredibly grateful for it. He didn’t even want to think about a life lived without the stars for company.

That’s why this field of wildflowers meant so much to him; it wasn’t the place itself as much as it was what it allowed him to see. His surroundings were undoubtedly beautiful, but they paled in comparison to the sky above. And, sitting beneath the willow tree and looking up, up, up, Logan was perfectly content.

He would have stayed that way too were it not for the arrival of one The Blessed Roman, guardian angel.

“Logan? What are you doing all the way out here?”

Sighing, Logan avoided the question. “Did you follow me?”

“No! Well, kind of. That depends on what you mean by following. No, I didn’t see you leave and then decide to leave then as well. But yes, I did notice that you were being awfully quiet and decide to check on you before discovering that you were gone before using the bond between us to guide me here.”

“Wonderful, so I can never escape you.”

“No, you really can’t, I’m afraid.” Roman walked the rest of the way to the trunk of the willow tree, sitting down beside Logan and pressing his back up against it as well. “Now, why are you here?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t want to talk to you. In fact, I would much prefer to be left alone.”

“Ah, you’re shutting down again. You don’t want to be vulnerable, so you’re pushing me away when I try to get you to open up. You definitely shouldn’t do that, especially considering that no matter how vulnerable you are, I am physically not able to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. I promise you can trust me.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Oh, that’s fine too! You can talk about anything, but please, Logan, just talk to me.”

“I— why?”

Roman shrugged. “Talking helps, sometimes. Just to have someone who’ll listen to you, you know?”

“I’ll try it, I suppose. But if I ask you to leave me alone again, please do so.”

“Of course, darling.”

“Alright. So.” Logan cleared his throat, not knowing how to continue. He looked up at the stars again, and his eyes lit up with the sudden brilliance of an idea. “Look at the sky, and see that star over there? The really bright one?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Its name is Rasalhague, which is derived from the Arabic phrase meaning ‘the head of the serpent collector.’ And since it’s the brightest star in the constellation Ophiuchus—a constellation depicting a man often believed to be the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, with a serpent in his hands—the name is rather fitting. And the bright star below it? That’s Sabik. Its name also comes from Arabic, meaning ‘the preceding one,’ though this time there’s no fitting explanation as to why. If you connect those two stars with twenty-five others, the brightest ones being there, there, there, here, there, and there—” Logan pointed at a new star in the constellation with each word he spoke, “—then you have the full Ophiuchus constellation. And if you look just to the left of Sabik, you can see Serpens Cauda, which is the tail of the serpent Asclepius is holding. Now, below and slightly to the right of Rasalhague is Serpens Caput, the other half of the full Serpens constellation. If you translate their names from Latin, they mean exactly what they are supposed to depict: ‘snake tail’ and ‘snake head,’ respectively.”

“Oh! I remember those! If I’m not mistaken, I helped to create them.”

At that, Logan’s gaze snapped back down to Earth. “You did what?” he asked, voice breathy with awe.

“I’m an angel, Logan, of course I helped with the creation of the universe! I made quite a few stars, actually. I think you humans call the constellations they make up Corona Borealis and Corona Australis? The northern and southern crowns? There are a few others that don’t remember the names of, but if you look over there—” at this, Roman took Logan’s hand in his and moved it in a circle around a spot in the sky a little bit to the left of Ophiuchus and Serpens, “—that’s where most of my stars are.”

Breathless, Logan went quiet for a few moments, trying to remember which constellation those stars made up, if any. Then, without warning, he gasped. “Oh! Oh, your stars are near Microscopium and Telescopium, two of the six constellations Lacaille discovered and named after scientific instruments and navigational tools, all first documented in 1756. Lacaille was a French astronomer who also christened a fair amount of other modern constellations the same year, but my favorites are those six: Microscopium and Telescopium, of course, and Fornax, which is the chemist’s distillation furnace, Octans, the octant, Pyxis, the compass, and Circinus, the dividing compasses. You can’t see all of them right now since they’re in different places throughout the sky and some of them aren’t as bright nor as recognizable as, say, Ursa Major and Minor or Orion’s Belt, so even then they would be more difficult to see, but—” Logan stopped, seeming to catch himself. “Sorry. You probably didn’t want to hear about all that.”

“No!” The intensity in Roman’s voice caused Logan to turn towards him in confusion, a slight frown on his face. “I mean, of course I want to continue to hear you talk about constellations, so no, please don’t stop talking, please never assume I won’t want to hear what you have to say. It’s interesting, and I like hearing the joy in your voice.”

“Ah,” Logan said, his face coloring lightly. He cleared his throat again before continuing in a softer voice, “Thank you.”

“Of course, Logan. When you talk about stars or space or science or honestly, anything that makes you smile, it’s—no, you—are beautiful.”

“I’m just… lecturing, really, and there’s nothing special about that.” Logan rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Besides, you were the one who created the stars I was telling you about. Compared to that, I didn’t do anything at all.”

“On the contrary, I think your knowledge is far more than a simple ‘anything.’ When I formed those stars out of light and space dust, I never could have imagined them inspiring a smile—or anything else, for that matter—so gorgeous.”

Logan wanted to ask how Roman could have possibly believed that stars, some of the most beautiful creations in existence, wouldn’t result in something just as pretty.

Logan also wanted to completely ignore the fact that Roman thought the resulting pretty thing was his smile, fearing how flustered he’d become if Roman so much as alluded to that statement again. Eventually though, he settled on a response that didn’t encapsulate even half as much as he was feeling. “Thank you for creating them,” he said.

“If they’ve brought you even a fraction of the amount of happiness as they seem to have, it all will have been worth it.”

Logan felt himself blushing again, but he chose to pretend that his face was not a brilliant shade of red. “Yes, well—” he trailed off, finding himself unable to think of the right words to say.

Roman laughed, lightly setting his hand over Logan’s to pat it in a show of fond affection. “You’re adorable.” He grinned once more, shifting his grip so he was holding Logan’s hand properly before moving on to an entirely new subject. “Anyhow, are you feeling any better?”

“Actually? I think I am,” Logan said, making a valiant attempt to convince himself that his improved mood had nothing to do with the fact that Roman was so casually holding his hand.

“Soo… are you saying that I was right?”

“Oh, absolutely not. I would never.” Roman laughed again, and Logan found himself smiling at the sound. “But thank you.”

“Of course, Logan. That’s why I’m here.”

“I know it is, but… it’s nice to have someone pretend to care anyway.”

“I’m not pretending.”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not. I promise you, Logan, I will never pretend with you.”

“Oh.” There was an odd sort of warmth in Logan’s chest, and he wanted to hold onto the memory of it for the rest of his life. As he drowned in that wonderful feeling, he felt the rest of his day fade into nothing, completely insignificant in this current moment of peace. “Thank you,” he repeated.

“You’re welcome,” Roman replied, but it sounded like he meant something else too, something hidden just beneath his spoken words that Logan couldn’t quite pick up on.

With a soft sigh, Logan leaned closer and rested his head on Roman’s shoulder. “You know,” he began, “I should apologize for the way I treated you earlier today. It was uncalled for, and you didn’t deserve it. I took out my feelings on you when you didn’t really do anything but sing too loudly—which, to be fair, can be incredibly annoying, but I digress—so I’m sorry.”

“Um,” Roman said in a way that was very nearly a squeak as he looked down at Logan. “Thanks.” He swallowed, and his voice returned to normal when he spoke again. “Now that you mention it though, I should probably do less of that when you’re around. I didn’t realize it bothered you as much as it did, so I too apologize.”

“Thank you,” Logan said, a relieved smile spreading across his face. “And I’ll do my best to remind you in a less snappish way whenever it gets on my nerves.”

“That would be nice, yes,” Roman agreed, returning Logan’s smile with a soft one of his own. “Now, I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I am truly glad I got to talk to you tonight. I know it may not seem like a lot, but it’s a better start than I would have ever hoped for you. Forgive me if this sounds odd, but I’m incredibly proud of you for that.”

“You’re very pushy, it was going to happen eventually.” Logan let out a small laugh at Roman’s answering noise of offense before clarifying, “And it’s nice to talk to you. I like having someone who’ll listen to me.”

“More people should listen to you. You’re fascinating, Logan.”

Logan felt his face heat up and his heart flutter yet again. “I— hngk.” he turned to bury his face in Roman’s shoulder. “You aren’t so bad yourself, I suppose,” he replied eventually, once his face had cooled down just a bit and his heart had slowed to a slightly more normal pace.

Roman hummed his agreement, placing a light kiss on the top of Logan’s head—which, for the record, completely nullified any progress Logan’s face and heart had made in calming themselves—before saying, “It’s getting rather late, and you’ve had a long day. We should go home.”

“Hm, we should,” Logan agreed, making no effort to move.

Roman sighed. “If you want, I could carry you.”

“What?!” Unlike Roman’s almost-squeak, Logan’s was far more obvious. “No, no, that’s alright, there’s no need for you to carry me. It’s fine, it’s all fine,” he said, standing suddenly and brushing nonexistent dirt off his clothes.

“Let us be off then!” Roman declared, kindly ignoring Logan’s flustered state and offering out his arm with a flourish.

Logan placed his hand in the crook of it, a smile that didn’t read at all as love-struck back on his face. “What a perfect gentleman.”

_________________________

After their conversation beneath the willow tree, Logan’s days passed much more peacefully. Roman wasn’t as loud and overbearing, and Logan found that talking to him about anything and everything was just as easy as it had been that night. Their days were full of laughter and happiness, and Logan finally grew comfortable with the idea of living with a—with his—guardian angel.

Logan had also grown painfully aware of the lulls in conversation whenever Roman complimented him and he found himself at a complete loss for words or when he shot Roman an unexpected smile and the angel’s face turned a shade of red almost as bright as the sash he’d had on the day Logan had met him. He was certain it couldn’t have meant much, but those lulls still blinked out at him like a neon sign on a deserted street.

…Alright, so it was possible that he wasn’t so naïve as to think that the constant state of being flustered and the constant blushing and the constant heated eye contact and everything else that had been happening meant nothing. And it was possible that he was aware that this likely meant he harbored feelings for Roman and Roman for him, but that in no way meant that he had to acknowledge these feelings.

He very much did not want to waste a month of perfectly good friendship, so he would also very much pretend these feelings did not exist.

At least, this is what he would have done had he not walked into his room one day while Roman was stretching his wings.

It was only then that Logan had realized that he hadn’t seen Roman’s wings at all since the first day they’d met and in all honesty, had nearly forgotten about him. There were times when Roman seemed so human that Logan couldn’t believe that was not the case. When he saw Roman’s wings though, he was reminded sharply of the fact that Roman was an angel, through and through.

Roman was an angel, and he was falling.

Logan assumed that this was why Roman’s wings were going black at the tips, but he still figured clarifying would be prudent. “Roman?” he asked, knocking lightly on the door frame to alert the angel to his presence.

“Logan!” Roman exclaimed, spinning around and hiding his wings behind him as best he could in one rapid movement. “What— what are you doing here, my darling?”

Giving a sigh that was altogether too fond, Logan said, “This is my room, Roman. I’m in here because I forgot my glasses on the nightstand.”

“Oh,” Roman nodded, still trying to make his wings disappear behind his body. “Yeah, that makes sense. Uh, go ahead and, um. Get your glasses so you can see. Not! That there’s anything interesting to see here.” Roman flashed him a sparkling grin, hiding the layer of panic beneath it.

“Telling me that there isn’t ‘anything interesting to see here’ is only going to convince me of the opposite. Besides, I already saw your wings. Why are they turning black?”

“That? Oh, that’s nothing!”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

“…By ‘nothing,’ I of course mean nothing of importance! I tried dyeing my feathers and was checking to see how they looked. It’s not good, I know,” Roman said with a laugh, that impressively enough, barely sounded forced.

“Are you falling?” Logan asked, ignoring Roman’s explanation entirely.

“Am I— am I falling?” Roman scoffed. “Why on Earth would I be falling? There’s no reason for me to fall, is there?”

“Well, I don’t think I should know. I’m not the one who knows the rules and hierarchy of the angels. So, you tell me. What reason would there be for you—or angels in general, I suppose—to fall?”

“Ah. Angels fall when they do… something bad. You know. Bad things. Evil things.”

Logan raised an eyebrow again. “Such as?”

“Oooh, you know. Pride, sometimes. Or jealousy, sloth, lust, greed, gluttony, wrath, too much disrespect or insubordination, not doing their job, uh, consorting with the enemy, and other such wickedness. Just. General bad things, as I said.”

“So, have you been prideful?”

“Not any more than what’s healthy.”

“Jealous? Lazy? Lustful? Greedy, gluttonous, wrathful?”

“Nope.”

“And I know you haven’t been disrespectful and that you have been doing your job.”

“Mhm. See, Logan? No reason at all for me to fall.”

“What would you define ‘the enemy’ as?”

“What?”

“ ‘The enemy,’ ” Logan repeated. “As in, ‘consorting with the enemy.’ ”

“Oh! Some define it as any non-angelic entity, but most would agree that ‘the enemy’ is more along the lines of a beast from Hell or another demon of sorts. And I clearly haven’t been consorting with any demons, so—”

“Define ‘consorting’ for me in this context, will you?”

“Well, normally it would mean to closely associate yourself with someone, but, seeing as I am a guardian angel, that is sort of my job. I’m not consorting with you if that’s what you’re worried about. The only way I’d be able to properly consort with you would be if I developed some sort of bond with you outside of a normal guardian angel-mortal relationship. Which! I haven’t! I’m just helping you work through your issues, and if I just so happen to become closer to you while doing so, no one could fault me for that!”

“Roman, I hate to break it to you, but that sounds exactly like consorting with the enemy. If you’ll excuse me for pointing this out, I feel we have a relationship that is just a little bit different than a strictly professional one.”

“Okay, so maybe you’re right. But almost all good guardian angels become friends with their humans! I’m hardly the first one, and none of them have fallen.”

“Mm, I suppose that is true. Can you think of any other reason that you could be falling?”

“Well… there is this one thing? That might possibly be happening? But I sincerely doubt it is,” Roman said through blithe laughter.

“Do you admit that you are falling, then?”

“I— uh, no…?”

“That convinced me of precisely nothing, thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Roman’s demeanor brightened immediately upon saying this, as though pretending that everything was fine would convince Logan that it was.

It didn’t work, clearly, as Logan asked not a moment later, “Now, what’s that thing that might possibly be happening?”

“That? Oh, nothing! Again, nothing at all of importance. I assure you I’m fine, Logan. I can take care of myself.”

“I have no doubt that you could. In theory, at least.” Logan couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face at Roman’s offended gasps, but he managed to continue through barely repressed laughter. “But right now, you are very much not taking care of yourself for whatever reason. Care to inform me what that’s about?”

“I mean, no. Is that an option?”

Logan sighed in fond exasperation. “I’m afraid not.”

“Well. It was worth a shot.”

“No, it really wasn’t.”

“You’re no fun. But! Nice talk, it was great to see you, Lo!”

“…What are you doing.”

“Uh, I’m going to finish getting ready for the day?”

“And are you just assuming that I forgot about the whole ’you’re falling’ thing?”

“…Yes.”

“That would be incorrect, then. Please Roman, just let me know what’s going on. It’s clear you’re hiding something, so what is it?”

Roman winced at the accusation, sitting down on the bed. “Is there anything I could say to convince you to stop prying?”

“No, nothing at all,” Logan replied, sitting down next to him.

“Then… it would be best to just say it, right? Not draw it out for too long?”

“Yes, that is what most people would prefer to do.”

“I fell in love with you, Logan.”

“You did.”

“I did.”

Logan wasn’t sure why he felt so shocked, in all honesty. He’d known that this was very likely to be true. He’d known that Roman was falling from the second he’d walked in the room, and he’d had his suspicions as to why he was a moment later. He was at a loss, then, as to why he would possibly be feeling tears on his cheeks.

“Are you… crying? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, I— no. You’re fine.” Logan turned away to wipe the wetness from his cheeks before looking back up at Roman. “I believe it’s just that you—essentially, you’re falling because of me, aren’t you?”

“Well, not exactly. This is still entirely my own doing, after all.”

“But it is because you fell in love with me that you’re falling, correct?”

“I mean kind of, but I promise you that this isn’t your fault, Logan.”

“Isn’t it?” he asked, wiping away the final traces of his sadness from beneath his eyes. “If I had—”

“What, been less easy to love? You aren’t easy to love, Logan, and that’s one of the infinite reasons I do love you. I had to do so much to be granted even a glimpse of who you are, and after I did… well, I can hardly fault you for being yourself.” Roman gave him a bittersweet smile. “It wasn’t any one thing that caused me to fall in love with you, it was everything that you are and were. I love you—not something that you said or did or anything else—and there’s nothing you could have done to change that. My fall isn’t your fault, Logan. I promise.”

Logan dutifully ignored the blush that began to cover his face. “Is there any way to stop an angel from falling?”

“I’m not sure. But frankly, Logan, I don’t mind falling one bit if it’s for you.”

“That’s incredibly sweet and all, but I am trying to figure out a way to save your soul here, so I’d appreciate any information you may have on hand.”

“Yes, right. I, uh, I’m sorry to say that there isn’t a way to save a fallen angel, darling. You can’t raise angels, so while I do appreciate the fact that you care for me, there’s nothing you can do.”

“You haven’t fallen though, have you?”

“No, the darkening wings just indicate that I’m going to, and I’m going to soon.”

“You haven’t fallen yet,” Logan repeated, giving Roman a pointed look.

“…Yes. That’s what I just said.”

Logan shook his head, deciding to fully explain what he was thinking himself. “So if you stop doing whatever is causing you to fall, halt the progression of black over the rest of your wings… you could still be saved. You are still an angel, so you can be saved. All you have to do is—”

“No. Absolutely not. Logan, I made you a promise, and I won’t break it. I won’t—”

“—leave me behind.”

“—leave you behind.”

“You have to. I want you to be able to remain an angel, to not fall, to be happy because I—”

“I can’t. I don’t care what happens to me as long as it means I still get to see you and spend time with you and as long as you’re happy because I—”

“—love you,” they finished in unison.

“And that’s why you have to leave.”

“And that’s why I can’t leave.”

“I love you,” they said again, perfectly in sync, the words meaning everything and not nearly enough all at once.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Logan whispered.

“So then you won’t,” Roman replied, voice just as quiet.

“But I— I know there’s no other choice.”

“There’s always another choice.”

“Not this time. No matter what you do, I lose you.”

“Logan—”

“You have to leave. You have to go back to— to heaven or whatever sort of paradise it is that you came from. At least this way, I’ll get to say goodbye.”

“Logan—”

“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me there’s another way, and I’ll stop.” It was a question, a challenge, but most of all, it was a plea.

“I—” Roman took a quivering breath. “You’re right. You’re always right,” he said with a slightly watery laugh. “There’s no other way. You’re right.”

There was a tragic sort of irony in that. The one time he wished more than anything that he was wrong, Logan knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t. “I’m sorry,” he said as he leaned forward, resting his head against Roman’s chest. “I’m sorry.”

“I am too.”

Logan looked up and placed a delicate kiss on Roman’s cheek. “Do you— are you alright with leaving now?”

“Now?”

“I know it’s sudden, but I— I don’t want to draw this out any longer than necessary, not while I know that you’ll be leaving soon enough anyway.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.”

Both Logan and Roman went silent for a moment, neither moving, neither wanting the world to continue hurtling towards the end of their time together. Finally though, Roman spoke.

“How about one more day?”

“One more day?”

“Mhm. Just… spend one more day together, and then I leave tonight. So we can part with a few more beautiful memories of each other to hold on to.”

“That sounds—” Logan had to pause, clearing his throat to banish the emotion from his voice. “That sounds nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Do you have a plan?”

“Oh, absolutely not.”

Logan laughed, happy to ignore the ticking countdown in the back of his head until later. “I figured I’d ask, but somehow, I didn’t think you would.”

“You know me too well, love.” Roman lightly kissed the top of Logan’s head before continuing, “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be ready. You’re good just wandering around town for a while, right?”

“With you?” Logan smiled. “How could I not be?”

_________________________

Time has a funny way of passing sometimes. When you’re looking forward to something, it seems to crawl. When you’re doing something you enjoy, it can become negligible and easily forgotten. When you have nothing to gauge it by, Mondays become Thursdays and Thursdays become Sundays.

And of course, when you’re dreading something, the time before it passes in a blur.

Roman and Logan’s day passed in a blur.

They’d gone to all three bookshops within walking distance of Logan’s house and the ice cream shop situated beside the final one. There was an odd little museum near the edge of town, and they’d dropped by there too. They had brunch at a charming cafe and made up stories about the people that walked past the window, perused the aisles of several stores just so Roman could try on increasingly eccentric outfits for Logan’s amusement and bought nothing. At the dog park just off of Main Street, they’d stopped to laugh with each other at the antics of the puppies that rushed to and fro before strolling along the road towards a park of their own, lined with the most beautiful flowering trees. They stopped in bakeries and candy stores, coffee shops and out-of-the-way boutiques filled to the brim with various antiques and trinkets. Logan and Roman did all that and still would have sworn they couldn’t have spent any more than four hours together.

It was, of course, closer to eight and a half hours since they’d walked into the first bookshop to the moment the sun had almost fully set and their day was over.

Time can do that to you sometimes.

Similarly to the way time had felt earlier in the day, time after the sun had set passed in flashes, quick as lightning and just as bright. The walk to their willow tree should have taken at least fifteen minutes, but it felt as short as one shallow breath.

When they did reach the willow tree, they stood there for what felt like an eternity, lost in each other’s eyes before Roman broke the silence. “Dance with me,” he said.

And though Logan had never once danced in his life, he replied, “Of course.”

Beneath the moonlight that filtered through the willow tree’s branches, Roman twirled Logan to the beat of the silence around them. Neither pointed out the lack of music, and neither mentioned that Roman had only asked to dance to put off the inevitable.

It was only when their feet grew too tired to keep moving that they stopped and stood still. Logan looked up at Roman and the stars above him, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky as to find someone like his angel, even if it was only for a fraction of his life. Roman looked down at Logan and the silver light that gleamed in his dark eyes, pondering what he had done to deserve having so little time with the love of his life before everything was ripped away.

The whole world paused as they held each other, Logan’s arms twined around Roman’s neck and Roman’s wrapped around Logan’s waist. The air felt fragile, like everything—not just their hearts—would shatter into trillions of pieces once they spoke again.

Still, time continued stubbornly forward on its path towards the end of Roman’s life on Earth—his life with Logan—so the angel spoke despite the fact that he could practically hear how the world shattered around them.

“Logan,” he started, moving his hands from Logan’s waist to brush a lock of hair behind his ear and brush the beginnings of a tear from beneath his left eye. “Logan, there are no words I can say that will truly encapsulate all that I feel for you. There is nothing in this world that could explain all that you mean to me, and there is no way for me to express the euphoria in my heart at having gotten to know and love you. Everything you are and every bit that you’ve grown causes me to fall more in love with you as the seconds tick past, and every moment I find I love you more sets a new precedent for the amount of love I’m able to give. Meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and no matter what happens, I will never, ever forget you. I love you, Logan, more than all the stars in the sky.”

“Roman,” Logan began, wracking his brain for a way for him to say everything he wanted to. “Did you know that if you were trapped in a black hole and you peeked out, you’d see everything that had ever happened and will ever happen in that tiny patch of sky?” he asked, settling on what he knew how to do best: teach.

“This is because black holes are so dense that they distort time itself. The universe slows down and speeds up on a whim, and the passage of time means nothing at all. You could enter a black hole today, and if by some miracle you managed to escape, you’d emerge thousands of years into the future though to you, it would have felt to be mere minutes. This ‘time dilation,’ as it were, would allow you to look ahead of you and see everything that had fallen into the black hole before you and if you managed to turn around, you’d see everything that would fall in after. So, if by some miracle you had enough presence of mind to observe the world around you as you neared the event horizon, you would be able to see the entirety of what had happened in your small corner of the universe when you did. Everything would be moving so much faster than light itself that you’d be able to watch the whole evolution of the universe happen—from the Big Bang to the end of life as we know it—all at once, over and over again.

“But you know, I think if it were me in that black hole, looking out at the creation and destruction of the universe, the rise and fall, again and again, all I’d be able to think about was being here with you in this moment. I don’t care one bit about seeing the rest of the universe when I have something more precious to me than all the stars in the sky—when I have you.”

Roman’s jaw had dropped at some point while Logan had been speaking, awed by the love and eloquence in his words. “Beautiful,” he whispered as he brushed a hand over Logan’s cheek, unable to say anything else and unwilling to shatter the silence any further.

Then a breeze blew through their hair, and Logan and Roman were reminded abruptly that the rest of the world existed.

“You have to leave,” Logan said, and it was at once an order and a lament. He took one step back, and it was the most painful thing he’d ever done.

“I do,” Roman agreed, and it was at once an acknowledgment and a form of mourning. He unfurled his wings, and it hurt more than anything else he’d done in his immortal life. They opened fully, glowing a brilliant white against the darkness as he flapped them once, lifting off the ground. He flapped them a second time, and he was well into the air, barely close enough to reach out a hand and brush it against Logan’s face. “Goodbye, my darling. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Roman’s hand began to pull away, and before he knew what he was doing, Logan’s own hand shot out and grasped his wrist as he said with sudden intensity, “Wait.”

“Yes?”

“May I kiss you? Just once, just to remember you by.”

“I wish I could give you thousands of kisses, Logan. Of course you may have this one.”

With that, Roman floated down slightly, feet still a few inches off the ground as though he knew that if he landed he’d never leave. Placing a gentle hand on Logan’s cheek, he leaned towards him, preparing for a soft, sweet kiss.

Logan seemed to have other plans though, for he laid his hands on Roman’s face and dragged him closer, standing on his tiptoes to reach Roman’s lips and meet them in a kiss so passionate the flame burning between them could have set the whole world aflame.

Logan didn’t pull back for a long while, refusing to come up for air because he knew—he knew—that when he did, it would mean Roman’s goodbye would be permanent. But he was human and had to breathe eventually, so pull back he did. Even then, though, he still wouldn’t remove his hands from Roman’s face.

“I love you,” Logan said once more, resting his forehead against Roman’s.

“I love you too. Goodb—”

“Don’t say goodbye. Please. I don’t want to think about the fact that I— I won’t— I won’t ever be able to see you again. Just say I love you. Those can be—” Logan swallowed hard, but he continued holding Roman’s face in his hands as though it were a lifeline. “Those can be your last words to me. Better than goodbye, I think.”

“Okay,” Roman whispered, fluttering his wings gently as he gradually lifted himself farther and farther away from Logan. “I love you, Logan. I always will.” Roman didn’t wait for a response, wiping the tears glistening in his eyes away as he fluttered into the sky and vanished in a bright flash of light.

He was gone.

Logan took a breath, willing it to stay calm. It hitched anyway, and his voice came out similarly unsteady as he said to empty air, “I love you too, Roman. Always. Always, and more than all the stars in the sky.” If he really listened, Logan could almost imagine he heard those final words echoing back at him, falling from the sky the same way Roman almost had.

_________________________

Roman was falling.

He was falling, and his wings hadn’t turned black. He was falling, and he wasn’t screaming in pain. He was falling, and he was smiling.

He was falling, and Logan was staring at the sky in disbelief as he did.

And that’s why, for the life of him, he could not figure out why Roman appeared to be falling from the sky.

Roman wasn’t supposed to be falling from the sky. Roman was supposed to be in heaven or whatever sort of paradise it was that he lived in because Logan’s heartbreak hadn’t been for nothing, because Roman leaving had meant something, because their dual sacrifice had ensured that he would be safe.

So why the fuck was he falling now?

And where were his wings? If he were falling, shouldn’t they be as dark and black as night?

Something was wrong. Logan didn’t know what, but something was wrong. He had to get to Roman.

Logan wasn’t normally one for running, but he did make sure to keep himself in shape. That, combined with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, caused him to arrive at the field of wildflowers in record time. As long as Logan’s sense of direction was sound, he was sure that Roman had, for whatever reason, appeared to be falling straight for their willow tree.

Panting, Logan slowed down as he scoured the ground for the place Roman had fallen.

“I’m up here, love.”

Logan looked up. “You’re on top of a willow tree.”

“Astute,” Roman agreed.

“Why are you on top of a willow tree?” Logan asked, refusing to ask the question he wanted the answer to most of all.

Roman shrugged. “It’s just where I fell. I didn’t have any control over that.”

“Right,” Logan said, only slightly distracted by the fact that Roman was currently leaping from branch to branch in an attempt to reach the ground. “So then,” he began, figuring that putting this off any longer didn’t make the least bit of sense, “why did you fall? And doesn’t falling usually entail becoming… you know.”

“A demon? Yeah, it normally does. But I’m a special case,” Roman grinned as he made one final jump and landed on solid ground.

“Yes, I’d say you very much are.” Ignoring Roman’s spluttering response as he continued to make his way towards the angel, Logan asked, “But in this particular scenario, how so?”

With an annoyed huff—presumably still directed at Logan’s previous comment—Roman replied, “I didn’t technically fall, not in the way you’d think of it, since I did nothing wrong. So I’m not a demon, but I’m also not an angel anymore.”

“So what are you, then?”

“Human.”

“Wh— How?”

“Easy,” Roman said, tucking a lock of Logan’s hair behind his ear the moment he drew near enough for Roman to do so. “You know how I fell in love with you? And you fell in love with me?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “You think I could forget? It’s not as though that’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past several weeks.”

“Yes, well, my point is that angels are creatures of love, of course, so once my boss figured out why I came back, She decided that tearing me away from the love of my life went entirely against everything angels stood for.”

“And that… caused you to fall?”

“Not exactly. That caused Her to give me a choice: stay an immortal angel until the end of time, helping people as I always had or fall to Earth and become a human so I could still be with you.”

“And you chose to come back. You chose to be human. You chose—”

“You.”

“Me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, my darling.”

“Roman—” Logan stopped, suddenly finding himself unable to speak.

“Yes, love?”

Still lacking the words he needed, Logan instead took another step forward at the same time Roman did, and their lips met in the space between them for their second-ever kiss.

“I love you,” Roman said, voicing what Logan could have only hoped to.

For once, Logan was more action than words as he kissed Roman again. It was a promise—a promise to them both that their kisses would be just as numerous as the very stars Roman had helped to create, their love just as beautiful.

“More than all the stars in the sky,” Logan replied finally, lips still a hairsbreadth from Roman’s, voice barely a whisper.

“More than all the stars in the sky.”

_________________________

find other stuff i’ve written under #writings from the stars

#sander sides #logince #roman sanders #logan sanders #guardian angel!roman #neuroscientist!logan #sander sides fanfiction #angst with a happy ending #not eating mention #swearing #fanfic #fic.txt

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fernwehbookworm · 4 years ago

Text

Haunted- Chapter 6

Lena feels giddy with her first bite of food. Solid food. Because she is solid again. The warm tomato sauce bursts across her tongue, mixing with the garlicky crust and earthy flavor of mushrooms. A tomato slice pulls off with the melted cheese and Lena moans into the bite. Kara laughs from across the table in the rundown pizza place tucked into a forgotten alleyway. It was the best pizza Lena had ever had, living up to Kara’s claims. The pizzeria sold by the slice or the pie, Lena getting the former, Kara ordering the later. Which didn’t surprise Lena at all, after practically being by her side for a week. The Pizzeria was also open twenty-four hours a day, which was great for the starving CEO at 5 am.

Lena wipes at her lip self consciously as she notices Kara staring. “What?” Lena asks.

“Nothing, just still can’t believe you are actually here.”

“You’re telling me.” Lena laughs, “I was very worried when you went to your sister’s. I didn’t think I would ever be able to reach you.”

“Hey, I was freaked out. But we are here now.”

“Yes, we are.” Lena smiles softly. “Does this count as our first date?”

“Only if that means we get a second. This isn’t what I was thinking when I asked you out. I planned on roses and candles and probably some cheap champagne.”

“I think this is perfect.” Lena takes another bite and chews quickly before continuing. “Everyone always wants to woo me. To give me fancy things and impress me with money. This,” Lena gestures with her slice around the dimly lit pizza parlor, “This is wonderful.”

“Good, because I am far from fancy.” Kara smiles, a blush coloring her cheeks as she and Lena lock eyes. Kara only looks away when her phone rings.

“It’s Alex. Hold on,” Kara says and Lena nods. “Hey, Al. Any news? Okay, great. Yes, I’m sure she will want to be there. Thanks. See you soon.”

“Well?” Lena asks as Kara hangs up.

“They will have the warrant within the hour. They have enough to seize records, thanks to you. The team is gearing up to arrest Max Lord. I figured you would want to see that.”

“See it? I want to be a part of it. Come on.” Lena stands and takes one last bite of her slice and drops a large bill on the table. Kara scrambles to follow after Lena with her pizza box.

“Where are we going?” Kara asks through a mouthful of triple meat pizza.

“Lord Tech, of course. I need to talk to Max himself, plus he’ll need to be distracted. Otherwise, once he catches a whiff of the feds, he will disappear.”

“So what's your plan?” Kara asks.

“To go rub it in his face that I am not actually dead and then keep him talking until your sister busts down his door and cuffs him.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a plan. How are you getting in?”

“Oh honey, I’m a Luthor. I can get in anywhere.”

Lena flags down a cab and Kara climbs in the back seat with Lena, continuing to eat her pizza. Kara offers Lena a slice but Lean declines. Kara just shrugs and hums happily as she finishes the last three before they get out in front of Lord Tech. Lena straightens to her full height, gathering an air about her that directly contradicts the sweats she had put on to replace the lab clothing she had been trapped in, collected and held for testing, of course. The MIT sweatshirt even covers most of her hands and Kara has tried very hard not to be distracted by that fact.

Lena strides into the building like she owns it, not even stopping as a confused security guard calls out for her to but then choking off their commands as they realize that a ghost has entered the building. Kara trails behind, unwilling to let Lena out of her sight now that she isn’t at risk of losing her.

The elevator is quite as Lena begins to set up the chess pieces in her mind. She is thinking through the moves Max and she had been playing for since taking over for Lex. She will play him like a fiddle until the FBI shows up. Lena smirks at the thought.

“So… this is my most interesting first date. Saving my date from completely disappearing, pizza, and now an arrest. I don’t think I can ever top this.” Kara breaks the silence and into Lena’s thoughts.

Lena laughs. “Yeah, it is pretty memorable. You are pretty memberal.” “And you are very pretty.” Kara grins, cheeks stretching with the width of it. Lena laughs again and that is all Kara wants to hear. It is a great laugh.

“I have a feeling that the two of us working together will be a great thing,” Lena says honestly.

“Me too, but we can still go on a second date right? This isn’t going to be one of those situations that you don’t date people you work with, right?”

“I just don’t date people who work for me. Not with me. The better the chemistry, the better the result.” Lena winks. Kara is saved from stuttering out a response when the elevator doors open and Lena strides out. The CEO is no doubt on a mission. Kara is just along for the ride as the powerful woman tears a warpath past upper-level executive offices and makes her way to the giant doors clearly installed to stroke Max’s ego, his initials inlaid in gold, taking up the entire floor to ceiling doors.

Ignoring the stuttering secretary, Lena pushes the doors open and sweeps into the room. Kara mumbles an apology to the woman before brushing past also. Max stands quickly at the intrusion from behind his desk. Lena suppresses a chuckle. Max gathers himself and straightens his tie.

“L-Lena Luthor. What are- How are you not—”

“Dead? Yes, it seems like it was quite a misunderstanding.” Lena makes her way to the wet bar and pours herself a drink. “Want anything Kara? Max here only stocks the best whisky. It’s really his only redeeming quality.”

“Oh, umm, no thank you. Whisky isn’t really my thing.” Kara decides to hang towards the door.

“And who is this?” Max asks, noticing Kara only after Lena drew attention to her.

“Oh, the reporter who saved my life after my lab accident. She really is quite brilliant. And her story on my death will be printed in the morning, and then her story on my resurrection will be printed the day after. But I am sure, her article on your arrest will earn her awards.”

“My arrest?” Max repeats, indignantly.

“Why yes. You see, Max, you slipped up. You got sloppy and greedy while I waited for the opportunity to strike. I—” Lena is interrupted by Max’s phone ringing.” Don’t you need to get that? Could be important.”

“No, I am much more interested in how I might be arrested. You and I both know that I am too careful.”

“Oh, you used to be. But I think you have grown careless in your own age. Also without Lex protecting you and holding your hand, you got in over your head. I mean, really, trying to kill me when you were literally the only one who knew my plans had changed. That was just idiotic. And then, your man didn’t even do it right. He left it up to chance. An experiment gone wrong. Granted, it was almost clean. You almost got away with it, you just didn’t count on such a connection between me and a stranger.”

“What are you even talking about?” Max seems to be reigning his composure after his initial surprise.

“Are we really going to play this game?” Lena sighs after taking a drink and sets her glass down, purposefully next to the coaster. “Fine. I know Max. You sent in a sloppy assassin to kill me after I told you I couldn’t make our meeting because I was stuck in the lab. He just changed the settings on my matter transporter and it didn’t kill me. Instead, I was stuck in a state in between being molecularly solid and being separated. Luckily, I was able to anchor myself to my favorite pen and then communicate with Miss Danvers here,” Lena pauses to point to Kara, who wiggles her fingers in an awkward wave, “And she was able to reverse the conditions to bring me back.”

“And what proof do you have of all this pseudoscience you claim to be happening?”

“Oh not much on the actual science yet, but the assassin and your shady dealings, plenty.”

Max smirks. “That seems unlikely. Why else would you be here? You are just trying to scare me into confessing something that is untrue.”

“Oh, no. I’m just here to watch.”

“Watch? Watch what?”

A commotion sounds in the hallway and heavy footsteps thunder towards them. Kara moves away from the door and urges Lena to the side of the room as Max’s eyes go wide and fix on the closed office doors.

“Watch you be dragged away kicking and screaming,” Lena smirks as the doors burst open jackbooted, FBI swat troops storm in. The women raise their hands but are completely ignored as the agents surround Max Lord.

Agent Danvers strides into the room and begins reading out the arrest warrant and Max’s rights. She pauses briefly to salute Lena silently before shoving Max out the door.

Kara is busy watching her sister and doesn’t notice Lena dialing her phone.

“Yes, Jess? Dump our stock in Lord Tech. I have a feeling it’s about to tank. And anything of L-Corp buy up. I'm about to rise from the dead."

A couple of agents stay back to escort Kara and Lena from the building. By the time the reporter and CEO make it to the lobby, a massive crowd has gathered out the doors and Max Lord is struggling as he is pushed through the crowd. He bites comments at the reporters, jerking his head side to side, much like a muzzled dog on a leash. Lights flash like fireworks and Lena holds back, slowing to a stop just short of the doors.

"You should probably wait. This will be a mess." Lena says softly, taking a moment to actually look Kara in the eye.

Kara smiles softly, "Hey, we've made it this far together. I'm seeing this through with you."

Lena seems to deflate with relief to not have to face the mob alone. Then she takes a deep breath to build herself back up. One of the agents opens the door for them, the other leading the way with the first following behind the two women. It takes a moment for the press to turn from where Max Lord was loaded into a government SUV and to turn to look upon the newcomers. Kara could have sworn she could hear a pin drop in that second. But it would have been lost in the next as the reporters scramble to get a good look.

More agents force themselves between the crowd and the CEO, forming a small circle to give her room. Lena ignores all questions and waits for the chaos to die down as she levels a glare over the crowd. Soon just the flashing of lights and shuffle of feet fill the air.

"Now, I realize you have many questions. I will not answer most of them, the exclusive will be going to Catco because, with their reporter's help, I was able to contact the FBI and help provide information for them to arrest Max Lord. As you can see, I, Lena Luthor, am not dead. Nor was I ever. I sincerely apologize for the multiple power outages and L-Corp will be working to help those affected. The rest of the story can be read tomorrow through Catco. Good day."

Lena strides towards The final government SUV without waiting for more questions, Kara right on her heels. The questions come anyway, some even thinking to throw some towards Kara. Kara follows Lena's lead and ignores them all. Once an agent closes the door, all the shouting is finally muffled and the flashing lights are barely visible through the darkly tinted windows.

Lena deflates once more and leans her head against the glass, closing her eyes. Kara watches her. That's all Kara feels like she is doing, too afraid of Lena suddenly disappearing again. Without looking, Lena holds out her hand and Kara just stares at it. Lena sighs and opens her eyes to look at Kara.

“I thought there was going to be handholding that came with our dating?”

“Dating?” Kara asks, still confused.

“Well, we had one date, and I would like to go on a second. Multiple dates usually means dating. Unless you didn’t enjoy our first date?” Lena raises an eyebrow at Kara.

“No! What? I mean, yes! I had a great time. How many people have a first date that ends in the arrest of a corrupt businessman?”

“I’ve had three. Granted, the man was the date for the other two, so this is far better.”

“This has been the best first date I have ever had.” Kara twines her fingers with Lena’s and relaxes against the seat of the car.

After a debriefing with Alex, Kara and Lena were free to go. Kara shuffles a bit on the sidewalk outside of the building, unsure what to do. She wasn’t really ready to go home just yet. “Would you like to come back to mine and watch a movie?” Lena asks as if reading Kara’s mind. “I need to shower first but we could order more food and just hang out. I don’t think I’m ready to be alone yet.”

“Me either. Is that weird? I mean it was only a couple of days, but it's like I am so used to your presence now, it will be weird to be without.”

Lena smiles softly, “Same. Come on.”

A short cab ride later, and the couple make it to Lena’s penthouse. Kara tries not to snoop too much as Lena showers but Lena did say for Kara to help herself to any drinks in the fridge and pick from the take out menus in the drawer. Kara orders from her favorite Chinese place and settles on Lena’s much too comfortable couch to look through her video streaming services.

Lena is out before the food arrives and she pays cash when it does. It’s a weird sort of domesticity that Kara feels settling over her as Lena pads towards the couch with a paper bag in her fuzzy socks. Kara smiles at her and Lena grins back.

“There are some sweats and a t-shirt I put in the bathroom if you want to change,” Lena says while unpacking the red and white cartons.

“Sounds perfect. I’ll be right back.”

A quiet evening in with a wonderful woman is just what Kara needed after all the chaos and panic of the week. The food dwindles to just enough for leftovers as Kara and Lena pick at it. Lena stands to put it away before settling on the couch, right next to Kara. Without thinking, Kara lifts her arm and places it around Lena’s shoulders, pulling her close. It felt like something she had been doing for years, not for the first time. Soon the two begin to slowly sink lower and lower into the couch, and by the time the credits roll, Kara is half asleep on her back with Lena snoring softly in her chest. Kara manages to reach the remote to turn off the TV and pull a blanket over them. There was no way she was waking Lena now, plus the couch was really comfortable.

#supergirl #supercorp #scbb2020 #scbb #fanfiction #au #Haunted

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freebooter4ever · 5 years ago

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oh god I cant believe I wrote this at eight am on a saturday, no editing, just pure fluff?/crack fic, I apologize profusely to this fandom.

Inspired by @persipneiwrites Apartment AU photos and my own college experiences. Warnings: nudity.

Eugene is lying in bed reading after a long gruelling day of grading papers for the freshman biology class he TA's, when he hears the signature squeak of his living room window being slid open. One of the many perks of living in a ground floor apartment along an alley. The guy who rented the place before Eugene - one of his frat brothers - had already installed bars over the windows after some thief snuck in and stole the dude's nintendo console one night.

Predictably though, even heavy duty metal bars can't keep out the force of nature known as Snafu.

Eugene doesn't know how Snafu gets the bars open, or how he closes them seamlessly again afterwards, and with a name like "situation normal all fucked up", Eugene kinda doesn't want to ask.

Eugene hears a loud clank outside his bedroom door as Snafu accidentally runs into the radiator. The boy may be good at breaking in, but he is not good at doing it undetected.

"Keep the heat off tonight, Snaf," Eugene calls through the door, not wanting to get out of his warm bed, "I've been too sick to pick up any extra shifts this week."

He hears Snafu huff loudly in response - a sound that might be a yes but also might be a no.

Eugene sighs, sets his book down, turns his light off, and resigns himself to having to ask his parents for rent money again. He's not going to press the issue with Snafu though. He knows it must get cold on his couch, especially in the winter months. And as far as Eugene can tell, Snafu doesn't have any parents to even ask for help, so it's the least Eugene can do.

Plus he kind of sleeps better knowing his best friend is only a few feet away.

Or at least usually he does. Tonight, just as he is drifting off to sleep, his bedroom door opens and a skinny wrist pokes through, slaps a white sheet of paper onto the door, and then slams it shut again.

"What the fuck?" Eugene fumbles for the light, feeling groggy.

It takes him a minute but finally, with a click, he can read the sign: "Sleeping NAKED tonight!!! Open door at own risk!"

"What the fuck?" Eugene mumbles. He gets out of bed and pads over to the door to make sure the sign says what he thinks it says.

"What the fuck!" he repeats, a little louder this time, "Snafu, you can't trap me in my own room!"

He receives no answer but he also didn't expect any.

"Snafu, if I have to use the restroom in the night I'm doing it, clothes or no clothes!" Eugene protests. He still doesn't open the door though.

Again, no response.

"This isn't the kind of trick you can pull in a one bedroom apartment," Eugene continues. His glorified "living room" is little more than a square of carpet with a couch on one end and a 90's era TV shaped like Hello Kitty's head and roughly the size of a small dog on the other (a parting gift from Sid after he transferred to their home state college and left). The living room connects to the "kitchen" by a thin hallway that doubles as a "dining room" and behind the kitchen is the lone bathroom. So obviously, if Eugene needs to pee, he will be opening his door and crossing the living room to do it.

With a resigned sigh, Eugene goes back to bed and hopes the friday night beer he drank before settling down with his book will wait till morning.

It doesn't.

Eugene tries. He tries hard. The first time he wakes up with pressure against his bladder he rolls over and finds a sleeping position on his back comfortable enough that he can just ignore it. The second time he wakes up he gets out of bed, walks to the door, puts his hand on the knob, and then chickens out and retreats under his covers. He lies there, trying to think about anything other than rushing water.

See, the problem is he happens to like Snafu. A little more than is appropriate for a friendship. Or maybe a lot more, he hasn't had a chance to test his theory out. Walking through his living room and getting even a peripheral view of naked Snafu laying on his couch would qualify as way too much testing of this theory.

And Eugene only moved into the apartment three months ago so blindfolding himself and trying to find the bathroom by memory and feel is out of the question.

Eugene is reduced to knocking quietly on his own bedroom door.

"Snafu?" he stage whispers, "Snafu, are you awake? I need to pee."

No answer.

Eugene groans and bumps his forehead against the grainy wood door.

Maybe he could use blinders - like a horse.

He grabs one of the folders with the biology tests stuffed into it, and holds it at eye level. Carefully, he opens the door, and keeps the folder rotated so it's between him and the couch. He quietly creeps across the creaky floor, one step at a time, eyespointed determinedly straight ahead, and breathes a sigh of relief when he reaches the kitchen. Finally safe, he drops the hand with the folder to his side, and is about to squeeze through the narrow gap between the oven and the kitchen table to get to the bathroom, when he hears the toilet flush.

In Eugene's defense, after twelve hours straight of grading (he always procrastinates worse on this than he ever did in his own school work), his brain is dead enough that it's a minor miracle he can even stand upright. He has no mental capacity or fast reflexes left to bring his hand holding the folder back up to eye level in time.

But he knows, as if in slow motion, exactly what is coming for him when Snafu opens the bathroom door and rounds the corner.

Snafu seems equally surprised. He stands there, framed by the opening from the kitchen to the bathroom/closet that calls itself a doorway but in fact resembles a narrow nook. The doorway is the exact same width as Snafu's shoulders, Eugene notices, and makes him look skinny, and maybe a little taller. It also leaves Eugene's eyes with very little else to go except up and...down.

The sign on the door was apparently not an idle threat.

Snafu doesn't say anything. He just stares, wide eyed, like a deer, or a cat caught sitting in the sun.

Sitting naked in the sun.

Eugene drops his folder. It falls awkwardly and fans out all the pages into a jumble. If Eugene's brain was firing on all cylinders he might recall the annoyingly large number of students who neglected to staple their pages together. Pages shuffled into a mix that will take hours to sort with concentrated careful reading. But funny how that issue seems so minor now.

"You're staring, Gene," Snafu says in that slow drawl of his. Him being the first to recover from the shock.

Eugene snaps his eyes back to Snafu's face and is confronted by a mischievous smirk there.

Eugene does not return the smile.

"I still need to pee," he says, eloquently.

Snafu does not stand aside. Or at least he does, but he refuses to leave the doorway and standing aside in such a small space means there is very little room for Eugene to scoot past. So little room that they brush up against each other, chest to chest, when he does.

Snafu is still smirking.

Eugene thinks he is going to die, but not before he relieves the screaming pressure in his bladder, which he does, while desperately hoping Snafu goes back to bed and sleeps facing in towards the couch cushions.

The couch is empty when Eugene returns. But, mysteriously, the sign on his bedroom door has moved to the opposite side, loudly proclaiming its warning to anyone trying to enter the room this time, rather than leave it. His bedroom door, which is now closed, when he knows he deliberately left it open for a quick escape after using the restroom.

"Fuck," Eugene mutters, knocking his head against the door. Snafu is sleeping in his bed - naked - and enjoying his soft pillows, and, foam mattress topper, and down comforter, and the stuffed animal Eugene hides whenever Snafu comes over but Snafu always manages to find.

Meanwhile Eugene is left with a choice: lumpy couch, or painfully stiff carpeted floor.

Either way he has no blankets.

Though he does notice the radiator is turned on to max and it's almost pleasantly warm in the apartment.

He vaguely wonders if Snafu's behavior qualifies as stepping over the line of friendship, or if since Snafu is not the one afflicted with conflicted feelings, this is just something bros do. Eugene knows he's going to be awake the rest of the night trying to come up with a less awkward way of asking Roe if Snafu ever sleeps naked when he crashes at Roe's place, or if this is a special quirk reserved for Eugene's enjoyment alone.

#sledgefu #bad germs

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ironwoman18 · 5 years ago

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Double Dates part 6

Chapter 6: The Escape Room

After the amazing night with Luke, Penelope had to get up early to fix some codes her boss sent to her.

Sadly she had to leave because her laptop was at her apartment so she got dressed, left pancakes mix ready for Luke and go to her apartment really quick.

On her way she called JJ "hey blondie"

"Good morning P. How are you?" Answered her while cooking for her boys.

"I'm good" she made a dramatic pause "do you know why I'm calling you?"

JJ thought but her mind was blank "umm no..." Then she realized what her best friend meant "oh..."

"Yeah Jennifer Jareau" said Penelope walking to her apartment "it's time for... Our double date!"

The blonde agent signed "I should see this coming. I was hoping for Tara to be next"

"Oh yeah her moment will be there soon but now it's your turn" said

Penelope getting in the apartment and looked for her laptop "Luke and Ashley took us to was A New Hope with a live band!" said her almost screaming "it was the best experience ever!"

"I bet it was. We should plan something with the girls and talk about everything"

"OMG! this is one of the things I love about you JJ" JJ laughed and after talked some more about Michael and Henry they ended the call and returned to what they were doing.

Penelope sent a message to her girl friends saying "Avengers Assemble! See you at lunch girls"

Penelope took a shower, fed Sergio and returned to his apartment. Luke and her ate, she worked all morning then she met with her girls.

They talked about shoes, clothes, their boyfriends/ husband. Then the six women started to brainstormed some ideas about what they should do.

Until they come up with an idea "an escape room should be fun" commented Max drinking some wine "I want to take Spencer to one of them, I'm waiting for when he is totally fine after his accident" the women nodded "and I know he's on the field already but he promised to take things slowly"

"Oh and he is. He is out of the police station to see crime scenes" commented Tara.

"I bet Will and Luke will like it. Luke is the typical man who likes action. You can see him on the field" said JJ.

"Yes he is..." said Penelope dreaming about his body.

"Umm... Penelope" said JJ "please we don't need to know your dark secrets in bed"

"Y... yeah you are right" she said blushing and the other laughed.

After that they spent more time talking and later that day they left to their houses or apartments.

The rest of the week was bored and without something exciting. Penelope booked four tickets to the escape room. They only had tickets available for Friday night so she told JJ and they were agree to go that day.

Friday arrived and she informed Luke about their date with Will and JJ will that night.

She drove to the place and the other couple were there. Will was excited about this and so was Luke when he realized what they will do.

They waited for a couple of minutes until the were able to walk in with two more people. The room looked like a living room with some couches, a big TV screen, a save box, some pictures, a big iron door.

On the big TV screen, they saw the rules, they had to escape in sixty minutes, they had to find a way to turn the lights back on. They all looked at each others and the lights turns off.

"OMG!!" Said Penelope holding Luke's hand.

"Hey relax nena, i'm right here" she nodded and they started to look for a flashlight.

They had to find a combination to turn the lights on, they search for some minutes until JJ saw a painting on the wall were the buildings light where on in a certain order.

"Guys I found something" they all go there "see this painting?" They all nodded "ok look at the windows, there are some on and some off. Maybe this is the code we need"

"Ok JJ you tell me and I will put the code" Luke runs to the machine to introduce the code.

The first building has nine lights on so Luke marked that number, the second had three and he marked that one. The third one had seven so he pushed the button with a seven and the last one was eight so he pushed that one and the lights were back on but also the painting moved away and shows that behind it was a hole on the wall with a box inside and four candles.

Penelope held it and there was a note "you have four candles but only three holes. Each candle has a different length and width, pick the right one for each hole. You have three strikes and you will be out"

"Ok we have to fix each candle in the hole" said Luke more for himself than to his team. He thought for some minutes checking those candles and decided to start putting them in.

The skinny and longer first, it was correct, then the fat one but shorter one and last another long and fat. The box opened and inside that box there was a passport that had the code for the metal door.

Once they introduce the code they walked in a second room and there was a puzzle.

One of the guys with them opened an envelope with a letter "you had to get all the lights on, but if you press one button some others would turn off, find the right way to keep them all on and that will open your next clue"

"Jeez... I wish boy wonder was here" said Penelope. They all laughed.

"Yeah Spence would managed this in minutes" said JJ looking at the light planel and sighed.

After several minutes they found out the way thanks to the other guy that was with them.

There was a fridge and it opened when they walked in, they had to follow some clue to unlock some boxes that had guns with numbers on them.

"Ok how can we organized those code?" Said Will once they got all of them.

"Let's try by the order we found them" suggested Luke. He gave the code to Penelope who tapped quickly on the laptop they had in the room.

"No incorrect" said Penelope.

The team trying some combinations but non of them worked. Then Will said "what if we had to organize it by the caliber?"

"Could be" said JJ kissing her husband for the idea and started to work. After that they said the code to Penelope and it was correct.

The door opened and the game was over. The workers congratulated them and asked them to go drank some water and had a snack.

They chatted excited about the experience that was amazing and so much fun. Then both couples left, still happy for this game.

OOooOOooOO

Only two chapters left for this story. And this was so much fun to write. Thanks to @ssa_tara_lewis, on Tumblr for the help with the escape room. By the way... Next is Tara so I need to find her a man for this one. Haha.

Anyway thanks for reading and I will read you in the next one.

#criminal mind #garvez #luke alvez #Penelope Garcia #jennifer jareau #will lamontagne

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foreverevanescent · 5 years ago

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Treasure Hunt

“Nikki! I found Mia!” Max called from the other side of the town square. Max and Nikki were a couple of adventurers, and due to Nikki’s mother working for the healers and Max’s parents helping hunt for the village’s food storage, they were able to go off on plenty of adventures together. Some would believe that these adventures were dangerous for two children like Max and Nikki, but with their track record, many of the villagers were supportive of their adventures and even gave them small jobs around town.

However, this adventure would be different. Max’s friend, Mia, had heard about a treasure buried deep into the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest was a forest on the edge of the village that somehow blocked out the sun, keeping the forest dark and cold. There were also numerous witness reports that there were monsters living in the forest, tasked with defending the treasure. Needless to say, Max and Nikki were intrigued. Everyone in the village, especially their parents, tried to talk them out if it, but nobody could stop their love for adventure.

“About time! I was just about to leave without you guys,” Nikki joked as she gave a friendly hug to Mia.

“Awww…I’m sure you would,” Max said with feigned sadness, as he gave Nikki a kiss on the cheek. Mia cleared her throat, getting both of their attention before pulling a map out of her pocket.

“So, I have several ways to get into the Dark Forest,” Mia began, as she led Max and Nikki out of the town square to get some privacy. “See, I found that this way to the left of the giant rock is the best route to the treasure. Not only is it the fastest way to the treasure itself, but it also has the most light onto it, meaning that there are fewer chances that powerful monsters will be there. There may be some smaller monsters on the path, but it’s nothing that you two can’t take care of and will give you your daily dose of thrills,” Mia explained, before putting the map back in her pocket with a smile. Max and Nikki looked at each other in the eye before smiling, holding each other’s hands, and nodded.

“Alright, let’s go! We’ve been waiting for this for the past week,” Nikki said, as she, Max, and Mia made their way to the Dark Forest. When they got to the forest, flying shadow birds immediately shot themselves at our three heroes.

“Fireball!” Nikki yelled as a ball of green flames appeared in her hand, before she threw the fire at the birds, causing them to disintegrate.

“Good shot, Nikki,” Max complimented. Nikki blushed before giving him a kiss on the cheek before Mia cleared her throat.

“OK lovebirds, let’s get into the forest and find our treasure,” Mia said with a smirk on her face, running ahead of the two heroes, who started running after her as well. The deeper they got into the forest, the stronger the monsters seemed to be. Nikki and Max were able to take care of them with their magic, and after around an hour of foraging through the woods, they finally found a treasure chest, glowing with a golden aura. When Nikki, Max, and Mia attempted to walk towards the chest, a shadow dragon appeared from the small keyhole at the center of the chest. The dragon’s red eyes glared at the three adventurers and roared.

“HOLY SHIT!” Max exclaimed, before he pulled out his sword, and jumped at the dragon. The dragon smacked Max away with its claw, sending him crashing into the trees.

“MAX!” Nikki screamed as Max landed with a thud on the ground. Nikki glared at the dragon before she shot fire at the shadow dragon. The dragon was able to dodge the fire and breathe its own black fire at Nikki. Nikki was able to dodge, and while Mia was trying to heal Max, Nikki was trying to keep the dragon’s attention at her and away from Max. When Max was fully healed, Max touched the earth, causing the ground below him to glow.

“Rock Pillars!” Max exclaimed, causing giant pillars of rock to attack the dragon. This gave enough of a distraction for Nikki to load up a powerful attack for the dragon, with green fire swirling in her hands.

“Green Volcano!” Nikki yelled, causing a blast of fire that was the width of a tree to erupt from her hands and engulf the dragon in green light. The dragon disintegrated like the other shadow creatures before it, and once it did, Nikki’s attack canceled out, and she fell face-first into the dirt.

“NIKKI!” Max yelled out, running to her with Mia following close behind. Max knelt down and saw that Nikki was still breathing, though her face was red, and she was covered in sweat. Mia put a healing circle above of Nikki and lightly pushed Max away.

“Don’t worry about it, she’s just running low on magical energy. I can replenish enough for us to make the journey back home. Go check on the treasure and see what’s in there,” Mia ordered, with Max nodding and running towards the treasure chest.

“Mia, this chest is full of gold and diamonds!” Max exclaimed as he started taking the treasure out of the chest, and into various bags that he had tied to a string around his waist.

“As expected, all these shadow creatures wouldn’t be here if the chest didn’t have something valuable in it,” Mia responded, as she finished giving Nikki some magical energy and helped pick herself back up. Once Max filled a dozen or so bags of treasure, she went up to Nikki and gave her a hug.

“Are you OK?” Max asked as Mia started to pack some treasure.

“Yeah…I just need some rest when we get back, but I’ll live,” Nikki responded with a smile before she gave Max a reassuring kiss on the cheek. Max gave Nikki a kiss on the cheek back, before Mia came up with bags full of treasure.

“Glad you two lovebirds are OK. The rest of this treasure is going to go to the villagers, but I’ll have to call a couple of telekinetics, but you two can go back, and make sure Nikki gets a lot of rest,” Mia ordered, as Max and Nikki nodded before leaving with their hands interlocked. Max and Nikki conversed the entire way back home, talking about what they would do with their newly found treasures.

This is me making another fanfiction for Makki Week after I didn't realize that the last day of the week said “AU of Choice” instead of “All of Choice” like I thought it said. This is a Fantasy AU for the record. I hope you enjoy it.

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sebastianshaw · 5 years ago

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@gods-own-xman “...and that is the strategy we are sticking to. Failing that, several contingencies are in place. Briefing on these will follow, but first, I want to make sure you all understand this. Are there any questions, people?” Sebastian Shaw addressed the Krakoan crack team before him. “Yeah, I got one,” said one pink-haired little pustule, “How did YOU make a kid with ORORO MUNROE?” Shaw’s withering gaze passed over the pubescent cretin in dismissive disgust, “Didn’t Xavier’s old school ever teach BIOLOGY?” *** “I consider myself a patient woman, Ororo,” Emma was saying, her tone tight, “And I have worked with countless students since well before I joined the X-Men. But your daughter is.” Sebastian was getting out of his seat. But it was needless. The air in the room had already...altered. It had become dry, crackling with so much electricity that the hairs on the back of his neck had indeed literally stood up. And Ororo’s white mane was fanning behind her, as Emma’s blonde tresses frizzed. But the weather goddess’s face, posture, and voice were all unaltered. Calm. Polite. As she asked, in all innocuousness, “Is what, Emma?” *** “This is a jade lizard,” Shaw said, pointing to the computer screen. But there was no reptile on the monitor. Instead,a graph depicting loss and profit. “It’s classified as neutral, though it’s in fact just slightly on the side of bullish. It combines a short put and a short call spread, and it no upside risk, which is done by collecting a total credit greater than the width of the short call spread. Max profit is realized when the stock price is between the short strikes at expiration. The downside is the strike price of the short put. If the stock sells off and tests the short put, the short call spread can be rolled down to collect more credit without increasing the upside risk. In the worst case scenario you can close the entire position for a loss if the loss on the short put becomes too large. Now this...” His finger moved to another graph, “..is a butterfly spread. You use it when you think that the price of an underlying is going to stay within a relatively tight range. It’s neutral too. I tend to Call or Put Butterfly spreads to take advantage of the non-movement of an underlying stock. It’s a low probability trade, but I use this strategy when implied volatility is high, as the butterfly spread then trades cheaper. The reason it trades cheaper in this situation is because the price of the In-The-Money option consists primarily of intrinsic value. Therefore selling the ATM options covers a higher percentage of the cost of purchasing both of the long options. Understand?” “Uh huh,” said Isis, who had been sitting quietly behind him. The lesson continued for a few more hours, and she never strayed from her post. “It’s impressive,” Shaw was telling Ororo afterwards, “Her focus is ten times what Shinobi’s ever was at that age. Even if she can’t remember everything, the amount she absorbed still must be-- what?” Storm’s face was twitching. “Why are you making that face?” Storm burst out laughing. Shaw had not realized that, the entire time, Isis had been quietly braiding his hair into corn rows. *** “I’ll always love you and you’ll always be my friend, but...Ororo how could you?” “ Everyone is entitled to one mistake, Jean.” “ You’re LIVING with hi—-” Jean cut herself off in shock as she thought she saw something large and striped pass by in the nearest huge hallway. “Ororo...was that a tiger?” “ It better not have been,” Storm got out of her chair irritably to go investigate, “I TOLD Sebastian she isn’t responsible enough for more pets! The pony was far enough!” Down the hall, there was an extremely girlish SCREAM from Shinobi. *** “I worry about his influence on her,” Storm confessed on the balcony to her beloved blue friend, “She sometimes seems...too much like him.” “Not an undeserved concern,” Kurt comforted, “But keep in mind her age. Children are innocent, but being innocent entails a lack of knowledge of evil and of good. They do not yet have a moral compass---indeed, to be a child is to be quite selfish! Which, yes, merges naturally with her father’s priorities rather than your own. But as she gets older, she will develop her own outlook---and in the typical style of young people, it will probably conflict with the one her father has tried to instill!” “You think I should leave it be then?” Storm sounded very dubious. “Not at all. Intervene when you deem it necessary. I trust no one’s judgement on Earth more than yours, Ororo. But do not discount your blood in her veins---storms can never be contained by man for long!” That night, Kurt’s wisdom was proven correct. “Ororo, speak to your daughter, I’m at a loss.” “My daughter?” Ororo asked. Shaw was always calling Isis his daughter. “She used her powers to “liberate” a puppy mill”, he said, and he looked very confused, “I told her I would buy her a puppy and she told me that was not the issue. She said something about the sanctity of life and animal cruelty, can you explain any of this to me? It sounds like something you would say.” And Ororo felt herself smile in relief.

#fic #writing #isis

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tristanis-starweaver · 4 years ago

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Sacrifice

Our Guild Discord had a writing prompt and it was a story I wanted to tell for a long time.

The eternal summer sky of Quel'thalas has clouded over. A bone chilling wind sweeps through the cityscape, and on it comes the stomach churning stench of fetid death. There is a buzz about the walking dead moving North, and mention that even the famed Sylvanas Windrunner has fallen to the forces that make their way ever closer. The Scourge is attacking, with Arthas at the front of the Army of the Damned! What is your character doing during the siege?!

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The din glow stretched the entire western horizon. The first hints of dawn started to peak over the eastern treeline. "She is burning." His voice was shaking, driven by the breaking of his heart. How could she fall. The idea that Quel'thalas could be overtaken was not even a possibility in his thoughts.

"Every cart we have is hitched and ready to go. I have sent the first ones on already. If we can get to Sunsail before it falls, word is they are ferrying as many as they can to Sunstrider Isle. We have to go now." Kayndor reached up and put his hand on his brother's shoulder as he made no acknowledgement of what he was saying. "Lar, we have to go."

It had only been a handful of hours since the bloodied Farstrider had woken them all in the night. Humans? Undead creatures? The elf had been badly injured and refused any aid from the estate. He had orders to warn every enclave and outpost of the impending advance. The fear in the young Farstriders face wasn't anything born of confusion, and his warning was clear "Evacuate or be lost. They are leaving no survivors."

"Lar!" Kayndor shook his brother's shoulder harder to snap him out of whatever stupor had taken hold.

"I am here, Kay. Where are we." He quickly snapped back watching the family and staff frantically try and pack down one of the last wagons.

"I have released the most experienced to take what weapons and those willing to fight on to Silvermoon. I have ordered a few more to stay behind to guard the children and inexperienced as we move. Cellars have been locked down. The chamber is sealed and warded."

"A few more minutes and we will all be ready to move out. Will you be assisting in the defense, Kayndor." Lar'thenan, the elder House Starweaver lord, glanced back over his shoulder towards the brighter glow of the fires near Silvermoon City.

"Once all of you are safe. Yes. Not before." Lar'thenan nodded and took one last look at the estate and the vineyards. The fog during the predawn hour obscured the most distant details, It would make travel even more treacherous. At least the invading force was at their backs.

"Burn through them all with the wrath of Belore's radiance." Lar'thenan spat on the ground as his calm demeanor broke for an instant.

"As you ordered too I made sure three packs of seedlings and seeds were sent on ahead. One to my contacts in Dalaran. We will regrow if the worst…" Lar'thenan scoffed at that as he interrupted.

"Yes prudent, but that was a very old plan in case the sieges by the Horde had made their way here. Quel'Thalas will not fall." Kayndor nodded, but his entire posture spoke that he believed otherwise.

"We do need to get mov-" Kayndor's comment hung in the air as a piercing scream came from the eastern corner of the estate. Both elves moved without even a moment's hesitation towards the cry. Joined by a few others they found the source. The young attendant expression frozen in horror, no light left in their eyes as a hulking shambling mass of something once living tore again into their shoulder. The vineyards shook as more 'things' started to weave through the rows getting tangled in the grown vines and trellis.

A single arrow passed through the shocked group and was followed up by a hastily conjured mass of flames from Kayndor's hand. "Father, Uncle, We are ready." Lys'aria knocked another arrow into her bow and fired at the scourge beast. It was struck square between the eyes once again, sending its grotesque form wobbling back. It crumpled, as the burning remnants filled the air with a putrid scent. The creatures moving in the vineyards began to pick up pace, tearing through and destroying anything that stood in their way.

"Go now." He turned to look at some of the frozen elves that had tried to come help whoever was screaming. The sight of the scourge and death itself shaking them. "NOW!" There was no question in that last command as it broke through their panicked induced torpor.

The small group joined the rest at the wagons. "Headcounts on the way. We move." Lar'thenan joined his wife in the middle wagon as the nervous hawkstriders were pressed into moving forward. "Daughter, do we have everyone accounted for."

Lys'aria shook her head, "I believe we do, most moved with the first wagons out, it's just those helping with the last bit of securing the estate. I sent Kahynas and Tristanis along with the first carts out…"

"He wasn't with them." Linandri jerked back and looked at the estate. "Tristanis wasn't going with the first group. He was helping locking…" Lady Starweaver's face blanched as she stared at the estate and the shadow forms of more scourge starting to appear at the periphery. "Lar…"

"I'm on it." Lys'aria turned her lone hawkstrider back towards the estate. Whatever protests there were she wasn't going to leave her brother there alone. She closed the distance to the main estate in the matter of a few moments, "Brace girl." She said as she barrelled straight towards the front doors of the estate, the hawkstrider curling to the side at the last moment and using its momentum to smash into the front doors. The ancient wooden doors broke from their hinges and sent both the hawkstrider and her rider tumbling into the Starweaver estates main hall. "Tristanis! TRIST! Gods where are you." The dazed hawkstrider wobbled but seemed not to be much worse for wear, other than having a bit of wind knocked from it.

"SHIMMER. Answer me! Where are you!" A screech from the hawkstrider and she spun on her heel. Two quick arrows and the lesser scourge beast was pinned against the wall and silenced. They were already in their home. "Brother Please. Answer me." She screamed at the top of her lungs but no answer came.

She began to panic but was able to keep herself collected enough to remember some of her earlier lessons. The world may have been chaotic around her, but she focused. Listened. "Please answer." She whispered as he focused her hearing slowly. The creatures were growing in more numbers outside, getting closer. She would not be able to survive this alone. A voice. A cry. Fearful. It pierced through the other noises as a sharpened blade to her senses.

"Eveningstar...help me…I am to scared." Her brother's bedroom. He had to be there. Lys'aria gave a sharp whistle to her Hawkstrider that followed her down the hallway to the western end of the home. She slammed herself against the door. Forcing it open.

"Trist…" He was there, cowering and afraid. Pressed up against the dresser and wall and hugging his knees up tightly against his chest. "I am here We have to go." There were more sounds of breaking windows throughout the estate. Claws being raked against the exterior walls by near mindless things. She thrust her hand out to him to take. As he reached, Lys'aria was pulled backwards. A weapon struck hard against her leather armor and tore at her side. Blood started to flow. Trist recoiled back, as Lys'aria struck back She grabbed a pair of heavy arrows, using them as melee weapons. Screaming as she dug them into the chest of the mostly skeletal attacker. Her hawkstrider kicking and clawing at another scourge as she scrambled to get to her feet.

Lys'aria had incaptacated the scourge soldier just long enough to knock another arrow and let it fly into their skull. The blue glow of the soldier's eyes sputtered and eventually vanished. The second soldier was put down just as easily. She held her hand on her side trying to stem the bleeding. She pulled down her quiver and used the strap as a makeshift strap to hold pressure on the wound. "Shimmer please. We have to go." Her voice was not as confident as it was a moment before but this time Trist took her hand and grabbed onto his sister, trembling weakly against her. Her breathing was already ragged as she moved to get Trist onto the hawkstrider and her seated just behind him. "Hold on. Do not look back. Do not let go. No matter what. I will be with you all the way Shimmer." Lys'aria patted the side of the hawkstrider weakly. "Get us there, girl."

The halls of the lost estate echoed with the call of the single hawkstrider as it lurched forward. There were dozens in the main hall already but the hawkstrider lowered her head and ran through the scourge that were in the way. A burst of speed and it was free from the main hall and outside. Not a single one had laid a weapon or claw on them.

"It is going to be okay, Shimmer. We will get back to mother and father. They are already on their way." her voice was weak as she held herself tightly to keep either of them from slipping on the galloping hawkstrider.

"S-sorry! There was the scream and the thing. And and, I am sorry! I did not mean…" Trist started to ramble an apology as tears streamed down his face.

"Trist…Its…" She clung tighter using every bit of strength to hold them both on the hawkstrider as they made their way eventually catching up to the rest just before their arrival at the anchorage.

"Lys'aria! Tristanis!" Lar'thenan slowed the wagon as he leaped off to meet them. There was Chaos at the Anchorage, More than enough ships and space but panic had set in and others were demanding to get on first due to some perceived rank, station, or acquaintance. Trist finally opened his eyes as he felt Lys'aria being pulled off the saddle by his father. She felt so cold.

"Lys'aria! Answer me!" Her father was screaming at her as she lay still in his arms as he quickly put her down on the ground. "I need a healer! Please!" Trist's mother came and pulled Trist free from the Hawkstrider. Linandri pulled him up closer and turned him away from the scene as the body lay still. A priest, struggling to keep standing after the amount of power he had expended came and knelt by Lys'aria side. "I am so sorry, she has passed on. There is nothing I can do here." Trist had heard his father wail only once when his eldest brother had passed in the first war and he was given the news. It was a sound he'd never heard until this moment as he saw her lifeless body be pulled up by his father.

Trist just hugged onto his mother tightly as she held him even closer. Her own sobbing muffled a bit as Trist was held tightly against her.

There came the sound of wailing from one of the ships as it sailed to one of the evacuation points on Sunstrider Isle. The deck hands and evacuees had no idea what had happened as the started to move to look over the railing at one of their sister ships. Silvermoon was in flames. The news came as one of the magisters from the other ship teleported to theirs. "The King has fallen! They advance on the Sunwell. Quel'thalas is lost!" The silence on the ship was only punctuated by the wails and cries from other ships. The silence only lasted a moment before the elves on the ship, some falling to their knees in grief began to cry out in pain and loss.

"Sh-she's gone because of me. My Evening Star is gone because of me…" Trist clung onto his parents as the wails of the elves grew louder.

"She saved you. Never forget what she gave you to be here."

#ashes of al'ar #IC #Sin'dorei #Scourge #World of Warcraft #blood elf

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therainroguefanfiction · 4 years ago

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🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 021 [Dragonlings]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 2,464

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“We’ll win, we’re sure. We will endure. And though our goal is far, We’ll be the ones to touch the sun. The triumph will be ours!” Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Willaims, “The Triumph”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“Shit!” I stumbled backward, barely dodging the metal club that nearly slammed into my skull. Bakugo was a few feet in front of me, surrounded by enemies. He was doing just fine, but the sheer amount of orcs around us made crowd control impossible and because of my low level, the enemies auto-targeted me. He was doing his best to keep aggro, but there were just far too many enemies. We were in a stone hallway, about the width of two cars and the length of a river. The hallway was underground, beneath a stone castle.

I grunted when the metal club collided with my sword, making me slide backward.

With every enemy that Bakugo destroyed, my experienced jumped and my level increased, but I’m still a long way off from being a hundred and these bastards are still red for me. My boots slid against the stone floor, kicking up dust. I could smell the foul breath of the ogre as it breathed through its mouth, thick saliva dripping from its pointed teeth. He pushed again and my arms gave out. I quickly fell to my knees, avoiding the club as it slammed into the wall above my head, sending chunks of stone flying.

“Goddamn it! Get the fuck outta my way, losers!!” Bakugo roared angrily, slicing and dicing his way through the crowd.

My experience kept going up, refilling my stamina and raising my max health. It became easier to dodge and parry, but I still couldn’t kill the damn thing. I guess I just have to keep chipping away at its health until it finally dies.

I huffed, dodging another swing of the club as it slammed against the ground where I had been standing. I moved my foot backward and heard a loud hissing coming from behind me, followed by a sharp pain in my ankle. “Fuck!” My leg gave out underneath me and I fell onto my ass, noticing a black snake scurrying away. A small screen popped up in the corner of my vision: ‘You have been poisoned!’

As if my numb leg wasn’t enough of a clue, thanks game!

The orc grunted, its long arms swaying back and forth as it shambled toward me. I scooted back, wincing in pain. Shit, my health is draining pretty fast from the poison. “Uhh, Bakuhoe, I could use a hand, bro!”

“Shut up, I’m fucking trying! Die!!”

The orc raised the club and I squeezed my eyes shut. Aw, shit, this is gonna hurt like a mother fucker.

A whoosh of wind rushed past me, followed by the sound of metal clashing. I peeked my eyes open to see… Red?! He was kneeling in front of me, two daggers crossed as they held the club between them. He wore a tan vest similar to Bakugo’s, with matching tan pants. A red and black scarf was wrapped around his neck, with a matching one around his hips. Two black rings pierced the outer shell of both ears.

“It’s not very manly to attack someone so many levels beneath you!” He grinned, pushing the orc backward before slashing at him with both daggers. The ogre roared in pain before exploding into pixels and vanishing. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “You okay, Winchester?”

“Poison,” I groaned, feeling the snake’s venom slowly creeping through my veins.

“Ah, crap! Hang on!” He panicked, opening up his inventory and pulling out a purple liquid in a glass bottle that was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. He kneeled beside me, pulling the cork from the bottle. “Quick, drink this!”

I took the bottle, the smell of elderberries invading my nostrils. With a gulp, I quickly downed the contents, nearly gagging at how thick the consistency was. Shit tastes like fucking grapefruit that’s been sitting in the desert for six decades. Fuck. It worked, though. The feeling started to return my leg and my health slowly started to regenerate.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

He gave me a bright smile. “Happy to help!”

“Oi, shitty hair! Make yourself useful!”

“Leave it to us, okay?” He winked before standing up and rushing at the group that surrounded Bakugo. Seeing the two of them fighting back to back is honestly majestic as fuck. They’re perfectly in sync, even without even verbalization. Within just a few minutes, the horde had been defeated.

Bakugo stomped over, scowling down at me. “How the fuck are you still so damn low?!”

“Because it takes time to go from level one to eighty, you impatient twat!”

“The fuck did you just call me?!”

“You should get your ears checked, grandpa!” I scoffed, pulling myself to my feet. “‘Just stay behind me and you’ll be fine’, my fucking ass! Jeez,”

“You shouldn’t be so damn weak!”

“I just started this fucking game!”

“And?!”

Red sweatdropped, putting himself between the two of us. “Come on, guys, calm down!”

Bakugo humphed, turning around and stalking down the hall while muttering under his breath.

I ruffled my hair in frustration, picking up my sword off the ground. He’s like an annoying ass younger brother that you wanna stab but also love at the same time. I followed down the hall, making sure to keep plenty of distance between us.

Red walked at my side. “So, you just started, huh?”

I glanced at him. Does he ever not grin? “Yeah, couple hours ago.”

“And you’re already level forty-nine, that’s awesome!”

“Not really. Bakuhoe has done all the work. I’ve just kinda… been here.”

“Bakuhoe,” He covered his mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter. “The two of you seem really close!”

My brow furrowed at the comment. “Not particularly. We just kinda… tolerate one another cause we got no one else.”

His grin morphed into a smile, his hand finding my shoulder. “I consider both of you to be friends, so don’t hesitate to come to me, okay?”

I stared at him for a moment. “What’s your name?”

He sweatdropped. “You don’t know my name, Winchester, how cruel~!”

I shrugged. “Red it is,”

“No, wait! Eijirou Kirishima!”

“Look alive, losers!” Bakugo screamed from the end of the hall, his vermillion eyes glaring through the low light of the dungeon. “We’re about to enter the boss room! Don’t fucking die or I’ll kill you!”

“There’s no PVP in this game, though.” Kirishima tilted his head, a dumb look on his face.

Oh boy…

“I meant in real life, shitty hair!” He scoffed, pulling up the game menu. A screen popped up in front of Kirishima before I got the notification that ‘RedRiotx’ had joined the party. Bakugo pulled the chain hanging above the door and the hallway started to shake, dust falling from the ceiling. The metal door creaked and groaned as it slowly slid up, leading into a large throne room. Four pillars stood on opposite sides of the room, strange symbols and pictures carved into the stone. The ceiling towered above us and I got the distinct impression it was like that to accommodate the size of the boss.

Speaking of which, this room is eerily quiet…

The metal door in which we entered through slammed shut, the metal slamming against the floor. Kirishima lifted his head, nose twitching as he sniffed the air. His eyes grew wide, “Bakugo, move!”

A howl filled the room, rivaling Present Mic when he uses his quirk. The entire room shook from the soundwaves and I covered my ears, gritting my teeth. No, this sound doesn’t rival him, it’s worse!

Bakugo jumped back just as something large fell from the ceiling, landing in the center of the room.

Holy. Fucking. Tacopool. That is, by far, the ugliest motherfucker I have ever fucking seen in my life. His feet were the hooves of a horse, connecting to hairy legs bent at an odd angle. His beer belly jiggled at the slightest of movements, covered in coarse hair the color of salt and pepper. His arms were thick and full of muscle, leading to huge hands with three thick fingers. Ripped leathery wings sprouted from his back, the spikes dripping with green goo that sizzled when it hit the ground. His head was a mixture of a minotaur and a pig, with gnarled teeth that shot up toward his snout. Red, beady eyes were watching Bakugo hungrily.

“Ugh, I remember this guy.” Kirishima stuck out his tongue, face screwed up as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “He’s a real pain in the ass to beat, even as a group! Maybe we should -”

“Shut the fuck up! He’s not stronger than me!”

“Bakugo, wait!”

But it was too late. The blonde charged at the boss with his cutlass raised. With a grunt, the boss swatted at him like he was a mere fly, sending him skidding back across the room. This continued on with Bakugo unable to get close enough to strike.

“Hey Winchester, do you trust me?”

I glanced at Kirishima. His red eyes were trained on the two, his expression dead serious. “Not really, no.”

He nearly fell to the ground, turning his body to face me. “W-Well, at least you’re honest…”

“You got a plan or somethin’?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “But I have to form a contract with someone in order to use it.”

“I’m sorry, the fuck?”

Bakugo was thrown against a pillar, his health taking a significant hit.

“There’s no time to explain! Please just trust me, Winchester!” His eyes bore into my own as a screen popped up beside me: ‘Dragonling RedRiotx has requested to form a contract with you!’

I glanced at Bakugo, who was breathing heavily but not relenting in his assault. Fuck it, what’s the worst that could happen? I pressed accept and Kirishima took both of my hands in his, eyes closed as his body started to glow a bright red. The light expanded to cover my own and my stamina drained rapidly.

His body started to grow, morphing and changing as he increased in size until a red dragon took his place, large body barely able to move in the room. He flexed his wings as best as he could in the tight space, his loud roar shaking the room and paralyzing the boss for ten seconds.

“You’re a fucking Dragonling?!” Bakugo yelled in disbelief, striking at the frozen boss.

What the fuck is a Dragonling? I didn’t see that race on the character creation screen… is it one of those pay to win races?

Kirishima tilted his head back, filling his lungs with air before exhaling a burst of fire that flew straight at the boss, taking a large chunk of health from it as it flew across the room from the force. He huffed, black smoke coming from his nostrils. “That barely did any damage!” His voice was deeper and came out as more of a growl than anything.

What is he talking about? He just took like three inches off his health bar. I squinted across the room, glancing above the boss’ head so the health bar would come into view. A second later, the numbers popped up over it. “T-Ten million health?!”

“He’s a raid boss, one of the toughest in the game.” Kirishima turned his huge body to the side, his tail whipping over my head and slamming into the boss as he rushed toward him. The boss went sliding backward. “He was designed to be taken out by a group of at least twenty level one hundred players!”

My eye twitched as I stared at Bakugo. That fucking idiot sure knows how to aim big, don’t he… Damn, this sucks ass. I can’t do shit to help out here and even if I tried, I’d just get in their way. With a sigh, I pulled up my skill tree to get rid of that annoying notification in the top right of my vision. Damn, that’s a lot of points to spend. Wait… what’s this?

‘Warriors Shout: Release a loud battle cry, inspiring your party members and buffing them for five minutes. This ability can only be used once every fifteen minutes.’

Well, that could be fucking useful. With all of the points I had accumulated, I was easily able to max out the skill with points left over. Now to confirm it… okay! I spread my feet shoulder-width apart, lifting my arms a bit and clenching my fists like Goku does when he’s about to fuck some shit up. I sucked in a deep breath, activating the power as I exhaled. My voice came booming from my mouth, sending red shockwaves toward both Kirishima and Bakugo. Their bodies flashed red as their stats jumped up.

Bakugo grinned wickedly, dodging one of the wings as he sliced at the boss’ shoulder. “Why the fuck didn’t you do that sooner, tiger?!”

“‘Cause I didn’t know I fucking could, obviously,” I muttered under my breath.

The boss’ health was steadily decreasing now and it was getting more desperate in its attacks. It spread its wings wide and jumped into the air, disappearing from sight. I heard a crackling behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, jumping out the way just as a large green ball whizzed past me. There were dozens of them moving about the room and Kirishima’s large body made it impossible for him to dodge them. I saw his health bar appear every time he took a hit, but his health barely moved. Fuck, he has hella high defense and health.

“Brace yourselves!” Kirishima growled. “He’s coming!”

The balls disappeared and the boss reappeared, folding his wings around his body as he fell through the air like a ten-ton truck. The impact against the ground sent a shock wave of air through the room, throwing me back against the door. Everything started to flash red as I coughed, clutching my shoulder. I glanced at my stats, a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek.

One. Fucking. HP.

Bitch, how am I alive right now? All of the durability on my armor is gone, too. That’s probably the only thing that saved me. Sheesh.

I coughed up blood, breathing heavy as I leaned back against the metal door. This is so damn annoying! Why did I let that blonde idiot talk me into this?

The boss zoned in on me, snorting and stomping his foot like a bull before rushing at my with incredible speed. I willed my body to move, but it was no longer in my control.

“Winchester!”

“Dodge, you dumbass!”

Farewell, cruel world. I closed my eyes and awaited my fate, thinking about the glory that belongs only to the taco.

“Slice!”

A flash of green.

A huge burst of wind.

A cloud of smoke.

What the fuck just happened?

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

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vegetacide · 5 years ago

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Cloak and Dagger

Chapter 2: Nothing Ventured

Vegetable Notes: I spewed out another chapter. Thanks for @gumnut-logic for letting me chew on her ear some- she rocks!

Soundtrack for this chapter - Thornley, Tea Party, Jeff Martin and Never Ending White Lights.

Previous chapter can be found here

Enjoy!

8-8-8

Pulling the door closed, Kayo turned and ran smack into a familiar blue, twill weave. Scott grunted at the sudden impact, his hands coming to brace her at the near miss with the floor “Kay, whoa!”

Righting herself, Kayo took a step back. “Sorry, about that. I…”

“No, it was my fault.”

“Let’s agree to disagree then.”

Putting some distance between them Kayo watched as Scott forced himself into a casual posture, hands into his pant pockets, shoulders down and seemingly relaxed. To anyone else the pose would look just what it was expected to look like. To her, it screamed the opposite. The fine lines of tension around his eyes and the muscles working along his strong jaw as he clenched and unclenched his jaw told her another story completely.

Rocking back on his heels, his eyes strayed from her to the door and back again as if he was expecting someone else to come through the thing.

“He’s already up and about.” She took mercy on him, knowing he was struggling with his need to mother-hen. Pulling her loose hair up and off her neck she quickly twirled it into a bun and fasten it into place with the a black hair band that was every present at her wrist.

Scott watched her well practiced movements a moment and she registered exactly when her words sunk in. Virgil was by no means a morning person. It was barely past 7 am and the man was renowned for his love of sleep.

“Oh…” Kayo blinked, not the reaction she had expected. Scott was off his game this morning but by the looks of him, he hadn’t faired much better than Virgil had last night. She’d seen the same look on Virgil’s face this morning as he had stumbled about in the pre-dawn light - as graceless as ever before his coffee fix.

She could read the brothers like a book and Scott was no different. For all his military training and commanding attitude the worry for his sibling was obvious. “He mumbled something about running diagnostics, post flight checks and cataloguing inventory losses but you know what he is like before caffeine.”

“Damn…” An expletive from Scott this early in the day didn’t bode well. “The call out was a bad one and the mission debrief didn’t go so well.”

“I assumed it hadn’t,” She’d observed quite a bit since she’d returned, “Considering everyone has either run for the mainland, ghosted the island like it might explode, turned into uber professionals or has just up and disappeared.

“Disappeared…?”

“When did you see Brain’s last?” She countered, not expecting a reply and carried on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. Brow raised, her green stare scanning with little remorse over Scott. “Oh, and you and Virgil look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks” Kayo shrugged with nonchalance.

“I call it like I see it”

“Love you too” There, an uptick close to a smile flashing into existence. It was the reaction she was looking for from the straight backed, slightly too contained shell he was putting on. She could work with this now.

Stepping away from the entry to Virgil’s sanctum sanctorum, Kayo put a hand on Scott’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze in support. “Go talk to him. I’ll be in the coms room when your ready.”

8-8-8

Scott stepped out of the elevator onto the catwalk overlooking Two and sighed at the music that greeted his ears. Rock blasted with the heavy beat of drums through the massive space. Ricocheting down off the ceiling and reverberating in the grating beneath his feet.

Dropping his head, he rubbed at his stiff neck. Audible proof that things were in the shitter with Virgil via Thornley, circa 2002. His brother’s music choice was usually a good barometer to his mood and Scott was about to walk in on it.

“Have fun with that.” Scott, looked over at Gordon as he limped up the stairs..

“Thanks.”

“He’s in a real mood today if he’s broken out the oldies. You may be taking your life in your own hands if you go in there. “

“Noted, “ Scott looked down to the open blast door some 200 ft down that separated the main hanger from the module storage bay and subsequently where Virgil could be found in his workshop.

“I’m off,” Gordon turned, looking with appreciation and longing at his craft floating in its aquatic launch. “I promised Alan I would call him and distract him from the boredom of shopping with Grandma.”

“No physio this morning?” Scott asked with a look of concern as his brother rolled and re-rolled his left shoulder

“Nah, taking a break today.” Gordon looked abashed at this and failed to meet Scott’s eyes. “I may or may not have over done it yesterday...a bit…”

Scott look skyward and prayed for strength, this family was going to make him fully grey in no time. “And you’re worried about me going down there?” He pointed down below and snorted. “If Virgil or for that matter, Lady P finds out you know what will happen, right?”

The shudder that went through Gordon said he was well aware of it. “Please don’t. The images I have in my head about what Kayo is going to do to me is disturbing enough. Don’t add to it.”

“Kayo knows?”

“Busted me last night.”

“Sucks to be you.” Scott winced in sympathy

“No shit”

Shaking his head, Scott ruffled the fish’s hair as he passed by. The scowl that was returned for his efforts ignored as he set off down the stairs.

“If you don’t make it back, I’ll make sure to ask John to erase your browser history. Can’t have Grandma finding out about your disturbing extracurriculars and your hamster fetish…” Scott stopped in his tracks at that but Gordon was already safely stowed away in the lift on his way back up to the main house.

“Brat..”

Hands tucked in his pockets, Scott strolled across the hanger and made his way around the massive supports of Two. The great, hulking beast was up on her struts. One of her nesting modules parked below on the heavy tracks built specifically for trundling the huge cargo crates across the expanse of chemical resistant substrate topped flooring.

Stepping across the embedded components of the pod conveyor system and through the reinforced bay door into the orderly storage area beyond, Scott marveled at the deceptiveness of the place their home was built around. To say the hanger was big was one thing but add in the hidden 1300 foot length of the storage area and the place was massive.

The area, though only the width of about 500 ft at its widest, housed all of the modules, pods, grappling lines, fire suppression gear and spare parts needed for the large, green ‘bird. All of it stored away in specific, tidy, very well maintained numbered bays and lockers.

It was a running gag between the Brothers that if you moved anything a millimeter in any one direction that Virgil would know instantly and without thought; like some OCD zombie, move said item back into its rightful space. Gordon had even tried it a few times for shits and giggles with varying degrees of success.

The aquanaut had learned quickly not to do this though when he found himself locked in his owner bathroom, covered in biodegradable glitter and spray cheese… how and when Virgil had rigged the shower, was anyone’s guess.. Gordon though hadn’t tried to ‘adjusted’ the placement of anything down in storage since. Never mess with an engineer.

To this day, Scott knew that Gordon was still finding flecks of glitter stuck to his person or in random other places. Scott was pretty sure though that Virgil was the culprit there with those instances, placing little, glimmering pieces here and there around the island where he knew his younger sibling would find it. A little subconscious reminder for good measure.

Mentally slapping himself with a silent curse Scott closed his eyes. He was procrastinating. Letting his mind wonder about as his body did so he didn’t have to confront the disagreement from the night before. This was the epitome of going against the grain of his character.

Sucking it up, he peered around module 2. The door to the crate was down, the light from within casting shadows on the alcove that clever mechanic had claimed as his space.

Virgil was sitting at one of the work stations. The chair was tipped back on its hind legs, his steel toed clad feet up on the utility bench, teetering the wooden chair back and forth. In his lap, Scott could make out the pale blue glow of a computer interface his brother was flicking through. Adjusting levels and tweaking air intake ratios with the expertise of a conducted with an orchestra. The music, though not something Scott considered enjoyable, played through the large concussion fire suppression system and from this distance the interference caused by the echo of the hanger was negligible. The module padding and design itself helping to insulate the reverb caused by the massive speakers.

Max was wheeling about in the limited confines of the module, seeming to dance along with the music. Mechanized arms pin wheeling around as if he was directing the course of the notes.

“Max, switch tracks please.” Polite as ever, even to an automaton. The song quickly flipped over to another tune and the melody shifted to something with a bit more pep. “Ugh.. next”

“I think this would be classified as a misappropriation of resources.” His brother barely glanced up at that, dark brows dropping down as some readings flashed across the interface that he didn’t like.

“The sound system I originally installed in here is distorting the lower octaves at higher volume. The sub woofer needs to be upgraded.” An off hand remark, “So I improvised.. Dual purpose, I can check the frequency output at the same time."

Scott plucked the display from his brother’s lap, looking over the present data on thrust to air intake ratios. “Multitasking I see”

“Passes the time. ”

They sat in relative silence for a while, neither one willing to break the stalemate they seemed to have found themselves in. As one song ended and another started up, Scott bit the bullet.

“How are the ribs?”

“Sore”

Scott looked his brother over, he’d pulled his overall down and looped the arms around his waist, the thin muscle shirt underneath dampened with sweat in a few places but relatively clean. “Adhesive bindings?” Scott questioned as he noticed the medical tape under the thin material up his left side.

Virgil shrugged, “The discomfort is more manageable this way.” At Scott’s sigh he quickly added, “Not tight enough to restrict respiration. I know what I’m doing, so leave it alone, Scott”

“OK, OK,” Scott put his hands up in surrender. His brother did not want to be coddled. Scott resisted the urge to say more on it. Last thing they needed with Gordon being out of action still was Virgil being bed ridden with a chest infection.

Virgil dropped his feet to the floor, the heavy soles thunking on the raised metal sheeting that covered this section of the work space. Grimacing he got up and straightened his spine by sheer will power alone against the obvious physical ache. Once accomplished he stalked over to a tool chest “What do you want, Scott?”

“Nothing, just checking in.”

A roughly opened drawer was equally thrust closed again. Small blister pack of pills in hand, Vigil broke the seal on two of the tablets and dry swallowed the lot. “Bullshit.”

Anger simmering, Scott resisted raising to the bait and took a calming breath. Maybe coming down here wasn’t such a wise idea.

‘Fine, I came to apologize for yesterday. I was out of line and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you or the useless forestry service supervisors.”

“Apology accepted, now if you will excuse me..”

“Come on, V. You were almost killed yesterday. I was and still am worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Scott.” Virgil tossed the blister pack on the bench and grabbed a socket wrench. “Ribs will heal, this is nothing. I have had worse.”

“I’m not talking about your ribs and you know it.” Facing off with his brother when he was in this sort of head space was never a good plan.

Virgil was known as the calm and collected one in the house and due to such was usually the sounding board the others went to when needed. But under the calm surface and rock steady nature was a man that felt deeply, more so than any of them could ascertain. And Scott as close as he was to his stalwart sibling, could see that the impact of yesterday was sending ripples out ever widening circles of self doubt and blame.

Scott counted on his brother and he wanted to provide that same support back. Their almost preternatural bond forged by a tragic, shared history had solidified them into what they were today and Scott would do whatever he could to protect it.

“I said ‘I’m fine.’ ” The slight hitch said otherside as the wrench was slammed down on the work surface.” Head down between tight shoulder, arms braced. “Just leave it, Scott.”

The pleading in Virgil’s voice had Scott backing off. “It wasn’t your fault, Virgil.”

“Scott, please..”

Coming up behind the second eldest Scott placed a hand on the back of his neck, “OK, I hear you 5 by 5, little brother.” And gave the tight muscles a reassuring squeeze, instincts screaming at him. He knew though that pushing would get him nowhere. ��

“When your ready to talk, come find me.”

8-8-8

Kayo hit the volume controls on the holo-vid and crossed her arms as the Kat Cavanaugh's sat up primly with the introduction to her segment.

"Thank you, Albany." Kat nodded in gratitude, her voice confident. Cavanaugh had upped her game since her rescue out by the Gran Roca Ranch. Her show having gained much popularity with her first hand account. The world at large was crazed for any information on the clandestine organization and she had quickly shot up in the reporting ranks.

So much so that the international community at large was now listening. With an added co-anchor, Albany Crenshaw the sphere of her world had changed from basic rag gossip to world wide events. Set changes, advertising, content and even personal appearance had been buffed to a high sheen. Success in every angle.

Her once, rather laid back appearance giving way to a well groomed, professionalism. A slick bob set off the features of her face adding a maturity that the barrettes of the past had lacked. Dressed up in a wool jacket and a fine print, split-neck blouse she radiated respectability all topped off with a dusting of make-up in neutral tones. Nothing out of place, everything poised and polished. A far cry from her previous casualness.

Angling herself just right in the studio lighting, her lips turned up in a competent smile. “Good evening, I'm Kat Cavanaugh. Tensions in Kazakhstan are on the rise tonight amidst continued civil unrest as protests and riots break out across the country."

Since October’s Military back coup by Socialist party leader, Mikhalev Lukyan Grigorievich there has been an outcry to the world nations for his removal.

Grigorievich, who took control from interim leaders after the sudden death of President Alexandra Danilovna, seized power in an overnight raid in the country’s capital of Nur-Sultan.”

In recent years the country has fallen on civil and economic hardships with the depletion of its hydrocarbon production and the forced closure of the counties mineral mines due to civil rights violations. International amnesty groups have reported that this along with the abysmal work conditions and the country’s strict policies against assembly are major contributors to the continued upheaval.

Additionally, unsubstantiated reports of clashes between the Kazakh Renewal and Reformation Coalition and military personnel has lead to a media blackout in Almaty. Rumours supplied by asylum seekers at the Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders speak of an increased Military presence within the city limits and a steep escalation of violence.

The GDF and the World Union has been surprisingly quiet on the topic. Issuing only that the area has been declared a ‘No Fly’ zone and that all non-Kazakhstan citizens should avoid the area or head to the nearest embassy for evacuation.”

Several notes of interest followed relating to food shortages and power interruptions but the gist of the news coverage was that the region was in complete chaos and it was not likely to end amicably any time soon. The big question, Kayo pondered as she adjusted the volume to a near whisper with Scotts arrival, was the GDF going to do anything about the situation? Could they even do anything about it without crossing into territory that could divide the world at large. And if so, did they even have a right to? She found the lack of an easy and clean cut response disturbing.

International incidents were avoided these days with great effort but something told her in this case something was going to have to give to bring this conflict to a head. It was either that or watch a country with a population of some 23 million people either starve to death or completely self destruct. The stability in that part of the world would be shattered in the power vacuum.

Nodding her head towards the moving 3D holographic image above the table, Kayo uncrossed her arms and walked over to the desk where Scott had just parked with a grunt. “This is going to get messy before it gets any better.”

He made a vocal note of assent and took a sip of the coffee he’d brought in. Smelt like Virgil’s Sumatran blend she noticed offhandedly. “Looks like it, been playing on repeat all morning. With the GDF evacuation in effect more and more information is leaking out across the borders. I am expecting the GDF will make a formal request of us eventually but as of yet, they have been quiet on that front”

“Formal request?” Kayo cocked a brow, “You think they are going to bar us access to the area if there is a call?”

Scott shrugged, setting his cup down on the report ridden desk. “I have no idea, Aunt Val hasn’t said anything yet but she’s been a bit tied up.” He waved his hand towards the holo cast, encompassing everything going on in that area of the world.

“For the time being we will just have to play it by ear.” Rubbing at his eyes, he changed his focus and glanced at the time. “Lady P is supposed to be calling in shortly, if you don’t mind the wait.”

Kayo shook her head and leaned against the end of the desk. The morning sun was starting to heat things up again outside, and it was threatening to be a record setting high.

“How is he?” Came the inevitable question.

Kayo glanced back over her shoulder, assessing. It was unsettling for the brothers to be at odds. “You went and saw him, what do you think?”

“Fuck.”

“That sounds accurate.” Last night had been rough and Kayo wasn’t known for sugar coating. One of the reasons her and Scott worked well together for the most part. He appreciated her blunt and direct nature. Softening as she saw the matched set to the bags under Virgil’s eyes on Scotts face she tact on, “Give him time. He need to process things on his own. You know as well as I do that forcing things with him before he is ready isn’t a viable options. He’ll be fine given enough space and when he is ready he will come to you.”

“Ya, I guess you’re right. I’m just …” His words were cut off as a signal from their London agent come through. Mouthing an apology to Kayo, Scott opened the channel. “Lady Penelope, right on time.”

“Scott, darling. You look dreadful.”

Lips drawing into his trademark Scott Tracy one-sided smirk, he tilted his head to the side. “Good to see you too.”

8-8-8

Head still down, Virgil stayed silent at his brother’s parting words. The gently supportive squeeze a physical reminder that no matter what there was someone there for him if and when he wanted it.

After a moment he gave his head a shake. Enough of this crap. Time to get back to work. He had system analyses running on Two that needed to be monitored and an intake manifold for the rear, right VTOL had to be tweaked as the mixture ratio was off somehow - he suspected carbon deposits from back washing exhaust through a main intake to be the cause but he couldn’t be sure without removing the cowling and several other components. Hours of work ahead.

This could of course all be done automatically but Virgil like to be hands on with maintenance, tweaking and adjusting where needed to get the most of of his craft. He knew his ‘bird intimately,having crawling over and under every part of it. He enjoyed losing himself in the work, seeing what he accomplished at the end of the day like rebuilding an engine, overhauling a control panel or relay. It was good, honest work that left him feeling satisfied.

Yes, there were some days that things didn’t work out as planned. Some frustration caused by an answer eluding him, the challenge presented keeping him up sometime well into the early hours. But when the solution finally presented itself, the sense of achievement was phenomenal.

And finally, there was the pod drive sprockets.

He needed to know how he’d missed the damage. Their procedures dictated that visual scans be conducted after every mission so that any broken or damaged parts could either be repaired or outright replaced. In addition to that, during the decontamination and cleansing process, scanners in the washer bays would look for possible stress points. Virgil had looked over all of those scans personally as he did every time and he hadn’t seen anything.

He’d looked over the scans again this morning and still there was nothing there. So what had he missed? He’d thought that maybe complacency had come to the fore. Having done the process so many times, human errors could easily account for it but one thing Virgil prided himself on was his attention to detail. It’s what made him a good engineer.

Looking at the interface, he let his brain zone out with the hopes that the answer would jump out at him. If the procedure wasn’t the issue, maybe there was another angle he wasn’t seeing.

They could micro-scan the metallurgy, test for stress points and density but they had too much equipment for that. It would take weeks of fine tooth comb’ing it to go over all of it, There had to be another option available to them.

Turning, he took in all that was parked, stored and at the ready for whenever they got a call out again. Clean, orderly and poised for use at the drop of a hat. Geared up to be shunted into modules with a couple flicks of a finger and off into the air in a matter of minutes but what the hell was he missing..

A thought came to mind that had Virgil toggling his coms. “Hey, Brains?”

“Virgil, w-what can I do for you?” The genus’s 3D holographic image suspended above the receiver built into work desk flared to life. Brains was the other side of the hanger by One but it was just easier to call then haul his ass all the way over there and back.

“The wash-bay scanners been calibrated lately?”

Framed glasses slipped down a narrow nose as the relevant information was pulled up. “Uh, three w-weeks ago. Why? Is th-there something wrong with them?”

“Just a hunch. Can you run it again and do a system analysis?”

“That will t-take some time. I have the bulk of the island servers dedicated t-to the zero-x build.”

Virgil dragged a hand down his face. He didn’t have any other options right now. “Do what you have to and let me know if anything comes up.”

Brains’ image nodded. “R.A.D”

Virgil only rolled his eyes a little as he closed down the connection.

TBC

NEXT CHAPTER

#thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds are go #Virgil Tracy #kayo kyrano #virgil/kayo #scott tracy #Gordon Tracy #international rescue

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