#if you want to personally avoid a certain company the fine

[heyftinally]

Honestly if you ever get a call from any important entity, it's in your best interests to hang up and call back. If they're legitimate (aka your actual bank), then they'll understand why you want to make 100% sure you're speaking with the legitimate entity and not a scammer, and it shouldn't be a problem.

For emails, ideally don't even click on anything suspicious, but if you do open it and realize it's suspicious, there are a few things to look for:

Any logos, fine print, or other special formatting may appear as an image. That's because formatting an email when you don't already have the business template takes too long, and scammers want to get this done as fast as possible. They also likely don't have access to certain pieces of company letterhead, so it's easier to just screenshot, crop, and paste an image of a legitimate email.

The body of the email may be an image if this is a mass scam email.

Hover over hyperlinks with your mouse (but do NOT click) and see if you can get a preview of where it leads. Just because it SAYS "legitimatecompanylink.com" doesn't mean anything. You can make a hyperlink say anything and still lead anywhere. Watch: http//.ebay.com/937277178818848/risk-astly-corn-chip

As prev said, speak with the coworker/friend in person or on the phone to verify the email's legitimacy.

Importantly: never click on anything provided to you in a sketchy email. Nothing. No links, not the sending email, not even the "mark as spam" button at the bottom of the email. I've seen everything you can imagine duped to make you THINK you're clicking a safe button when actually you're giving them all of your information. Instead use your browser's back button, and from there select the whole email and mark as spam directly from your inbox to avoid clicking any fraudulent links.

My mom got phished in an EXTREMELY refined scam that pretty much anyone could fall for-- basically her account was already pre-hacked and they spoofed the bank's number exactly, called her pretending there was fraud, and read back legitimate and fake transactions and personal info so she wouldn't suspect they weren't the bank. Then discouraged her from logging in claiming the account was locked so they could investigate the fraud-- all so she wouldnt catch them making massive purchases using her stolen info.

We have the same boss and when she told him what happened he recommended she call the bank directly, so she did and they managed to catch it in time before $20k of transactions went through. Very scary

I guess the lesson here is never ever answer your phone, I love that fraud is so rampant an entire form of mass communication is now useless

ANYONE can fall for phishing scams- my mom is extremely smart and we discuss common scams that target her age demographic and she still fell for this. If it happened to me I may have fallen for it too. Always be careful!

[shorelinnes]

BDS added this section to their boycott page and I think people really need to read it:

[source]

please remember, pushing unorganized boycotts without carefully fact-checking every company in the list can be actively HARMFUL to the boycott movement.

[evilminji]

I've seen references to it in other Prompts?

But unironically? Paulina should Heckle superheroes more.

Like? Look at her AS A CHARACTER. You think she respects Authority? In their Tacky suits and with their weak ass boundaries she's been stomping over her ENTIRE LIFE, largely unpunished? Because she's Pretty and gifted in the Social Grace's department?

Granted, rarely USES them on most of these needs. But she HAS them and CAN. Why do you thinks she THE popular girl? Looks? Please. There are plenty of pretty girls out there. SHE can make you feel like you're the most important person in the whole world. Her BEST friend.

SHE put in the work to have flawless skin and a complexe social network based on future networth and political significance. A cute butt. Socials beyond reproach.

And SHE? Is so, SO fuckin PISSED.

Her Boo (don't judge her, it's a cute pun) is being SHOT at! Is run in to the ground EXHAUSTED. Doing jobs that CERTAIN people should be getting off their asses to do. CERTAIN people keep making pretty little speechs and getting good PR, while out here HER BOO is getting LAZER HOLES punched through him!

He should be of DATES. Laughing and going for flights. Sitting in the bleachers of cheer practice, safe and silly and shouting tips even though he doesn't know the first thing about Cheer. Getting to be YOUNG. In love!

And Paulina? Always on her phone. Their socials are just... RIGHT THERE. Oooh, Mr. "We protect everybody, aren't we such GOOD GUYS~☆" Her favorite flats! And, maybe, yeah, it's the pain from getting THROWN from the top of the pyramid they were practicing by that fucking GIW explosion.

Maybe it's the fact that Phantom hand to shield her with his BODY and those bastards SHOT at them. Could be the squad egging her on, furious and phones out. But how the weather in Metropolis, Supes? Enjoying up in your little ivory tower? Guess only city kids matter, huh?

Fastest man alive to ignore a genocide, HUH, Flash?

Nice Speech, Wonder Hypocrite. Guess "all woman are Amazons" until they're DEAD. Then you can do what you want to them?

Just. These Pretty, Bland, Offend No One, We're Aiming For Good Sport Colleges And Know They Check These accounts? Going NUCLEAR. All pretty, made for TV faces too. The sort of thing that makes for GREAT news segments and terrible PR.

Because? If Paulina is doing it? Well, A Lister solidarity. Jocks gotta have their back. They've been holding back some Opinions(tm). Time to throw um to the web.

And the blockades? Doesn't do SHIT. Because the GIW forgot one simple factor(well, MANY factors).

Cheerleaders have Away Games.

Paulina and Company? If they can't text INSIDE Amity? Fine. They'll cue them up. Release them at Amity VS. Whatever loser they're crushing next. Rah, rah, go teeeeam! Guess who has internet nooooooow!

GIW may have access to high tech devices and authoritarian control... but they're IDIOTS prone to easily avoidable human errors.

Meanwhile? Most of the JLA is metaphorically ON FIRE.

[mya-valentine]

Can I have some headcanons for Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, and Tenya meeting a General Studies student, (1-C) and who’s personality is the embodiment of someone with their head in the clouds, just very relaxed and aloof and just in a permanent drunken sleep state.

(Also, Thank you for the spicy ramen scenario!.. It made me laugh so hard!.. With the League dying due to the spice, Kurogiri being a mom, and the ending with a young girl showing up a bunch of dangerous villains XD.)

Headcanon: Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, and Tenya Iida Meeting a Relaxed, Aloof General Studies Student

Izuku Midoriya

Izuku is instantly intrigued by your laid-back and dreamy nature. At first, he’s a bit confused by how relaxed and nonchalant you seem, especially when you don’t stress over the little things like he does.

He’s curious about how you function in school with such an aloof demeanor, so he starts observing you and jotting down notes on your behavior.

“How do they manage to stay so calm in stressful situations?!” he wonders, almost envious of your ability to not get flustered easily.

Izuku tries to strike up conversations with you, but he quickly realizes your responses are sometimes... delayed. You might trail off mid-sentence or get lost in your thoughts, and Izuku has to gently guide the conversation back.

Over time, he finds your presence calming and actually enjoys spending time with you because you remind him to take a step back and not overthink everything.

Katsuki Bakugo

Bakugo’s first reaction to your aloofness is pure annoyance. He can’t stand how you seem like you’re in a permanent daydream, and it drives him crazy.

“Oi! Wake the hell up and pay attention!” He probably yells at you more than necessary, thinking you’re just slacking off.

However, when he sees that your aloof nature doesn’t mean you’re incompetent, it throws him off. You're actually quite capable, just moving at your own pace. He grudgingly starts to respect you.

Bakugo tries to get a rise out of you with his usual brashness and insults, but when you just shrug or smile lazily, it leaves him speechless. “You’re not even gonna react?!?!”

Eventually, he learns to just let you be, realizing that nothing he says will get under your skin. He might even start finding your constant calmness a little admirable (not that he’d ever admit it).

Shoto Todoroki

Shoto doesn’t mind your aloof, relaxed attitude. In fact, he relates to it a bit. He’s not one to get overly emotional either, so your chill vibe doesn’t bother him.

He appreciates your company because you never pressure him to talk or react in a certain way. You both can sit in comfortable silence, and he likes that you’re not overly talkative or demanding.

Shoto finds your dreamy, “head in the clouds” personality oddly fascinating. He might ask you questions about how you stay so carefree, genuinely wanting to know your secret to avoiding stress.

Occasionally, he’ll catch you zoning out, and he’ll subtly snap you back to attention with a quiet, “You’re drifting again.”

He finds your aloofness refreshing. It’s a change from the more intense personalities around him, and he might even start adopting some of your relaxed mindset during calmer moments.

Tenya Iida

Tenya is baffled by your carefree attitude. As someone who thrives on structure and discipline, your constant relaxed state throws him off completely.

He’s initially worried that you’re slacking or not taking your studies seriously, and he feels the need to correct your behavior. “You should be more focused! This is an important time in your academic career!”

When he realizes that despite your aloofness, you’re still doing just fine in your classes, Tenya is confused but impressed. He tries to understand how you balance being so laid-back while staying competent.

Tenya becomes determined to make you “wake up” a bit and focus more on your surroundings, often lecturing you in his usual intense manner. You, of course, just smile and nod, which leaves him both exasperated and slightly amused.

Over time, he softens around you, realizing your personality is just different from his. He might still give you friendly reminders to focus, but he’ll start to appreciate how calm you are, especially when he’s feeling stressed.

.

.

.

Masterlist

[evilwizard]

I do want to say, my views on AI “art” have changed somewhat. It was wrong of me to claim that it’s not wrong to use it in shitposts… there definitely is some degree of something problematic there.

Personally I feel like it’s one of those problems that’s best solved via lawmaking—specifically, AI generations shouldn’t be copywrite-able, and AI companies should be fined for art theft and “plagiarism”… even though it’s not directly plagiarism in the current legal sense. We definitely need ethical philosophers and lawmakers to spend some time defining exactly what is going on here.

But for civilians, using AI art is bad in the same nebulous sense that buying clothes from H&M or ordering stuff on Amazon is bad… it’s a very spread out, far away kind of badness, which makes it hard to quantify. And there’s no denying that in certain contexts, when applied in certain ways (with actual editing and artistic skill), AI can be a really interesting tool for artists and writers. Which again runs into the copywrite-ability thing. How much distance must be placed between the artist and the AI-generated inspiration in order to allow the artist to say “this work is fully mine?”

I can’t claim to know the answers to these issues. But I will say two things:

Ignoring AI shit isn’t going to make it go away. Our tumblr philosophy is wildly unpopular in the real world and most other places on the internet, and those who do start using AI are unfortunately gonna have a big leg up on those who don’t, especially as it gets better and better at avoiding human detection.

Treating AI as a fundamental, ontological evil is going to prevent us from having these deep conversations which are necessary for us—as a part of society—to figure out the ways to censure AI that are actually helpful to artists. We need strong unions making permanent deals now, we need laws in place that regulate AI use and the replacement of humans, and we need to get this technology out of the hands of huge megacorporations who want nothing more than to profit off our suffering.

I’ve seen the research. I knew AI was going to big years ago, and right now I know that it’s just going to get bigger. Nearly every job is in danger. We need to interact with this issue—sooner rather than later—or we risk losing all of our futures. And unfortunately, just as with many other things under capitalism, for the time being I think we have to allow some concessions. The issue is not 100% black or white. Certainly a dark, stormy grey of some sort.

But please don’t attack middle-aged cat-owners playing around with AI filters. Start a dialogue about the spectrum of morality present in every use of AI—from the good (recognizing cancer cells years in advance, finding awesome new metamaterials) to the bad (megacorporations replacing workers and stealing from artists) to the kinda ambiguous (shitposts, app filter that makes your dog look like a 16th century British royal for some reason).

And if you disagree with me, please don’t be hateful about it. I fully recognize that my current views might be wrong. I’m not a paragon of moral philosophy or anything. I’m just doing my best to live my life in a way that improves the world instead of detracting from it. That’s all any of us can do, in my opinion.

[withlove-xixi]

HIII can i request a confession scenario for chilchuck… something where a normally bubbly flirty reader avoids him for a bit after leaving the dungeon - he finds out it’s because they love him, but don’t want to get between him and his wife (who he doesn’t actually want to remarry!)

- bard anon

— FROM THE START: chilchuck x reader

ᥫ cw: alcohol �� wc: 1983 ★ OH I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH! tysm for requesting bard anon hehehe this is my first ever request actually ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚ im sorry it took so long to finish! cross posted on ao3

— CHILCHUCK KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING FROM THE START.

[♡]: there was always something up with you, something he could always notice but couldn’t really tell what. was it your bubbly personality completely contrasted his stoic one? was it how easily you were able to befriend him despite his caution? was it the way you’d look at him by the firelight during sleepless nights in the dungeon? chilchuck really couldn’t tell, but there was something about you he noticed. like it was always on the corner of his eye. and tonight whatever it was had left his peripheral.

THEY SAY SILENCE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS, the same thousand Chilchuck sees running through your head as you sit across him at the bar. It was a small get together of old friends, a way of catching up after your time together in the dungeon, and really, at first things were normal. You were your usual sunshiny self, an easy smile on your face and a flirtatious quip ready to leave your lips. But things felt off — well, off for Chilchuck. There was some restraint when you spoke, when you smiled. He sensed it, picked it up immediately as soon as he entered the bar. From the doorway he saw it, just a glimpse of your smile, a fraction of your laugh amidst the noise of the pub. But then your eyes locked with his and shakily and subtly, there was tension on your face, a twitch in your muscles when you turned at him to give him a small wave before turning your attention back to Senshi. When the half-foot had taken his seat in front of you, he could tell you were completely avoiding him as much as you could, only ever giving passing remarks when he addressed you directly, other than that, you didn’t initiate anything. It was far from your usual, when you would’ve quickly attached yourself to Chilchuck’s side, never leaving it until the end of the night, not even when he had walked you all the way back to your home.

There was a certain caution around you, like there was fog that surrounded you and made you all misty to the eyes. It was like you were the setting sun, halfway dipped into the horizon, close and bright enough to see, but far too distant to touch. Above anything else, it pissed Chilchuck off.

It felt so foreign, so strange. He hated not knowing what was going on. On one hand, you seemed fine, chatting away with Marcille and giggling about some complaint she’s had about her workload. On the other, he’d catch these fleeting, stolen glances from you, and each time, he could see a spec of something that wasn’t usually there; sadness. It was evident with the way you toyed with your drink, swirling the content around the tankard whenever you found yourself out of the conversation, it was evident with the way you consistently ran your hand through your hair, pushing the tresses away from your forehead, it was evident in the way you simply wouldn’t look at Chilchuck.

It really did frustrate him. Here Chilchuck thought he was getting a nice evening surrounded by good friends and good ale, a nice simple get-together to distract him from the quickly piling work he found handed to him. And while he’d never admit it (perhaps not even to himself), he was looking forward to you, even in the dungeon, he had looked forward to you. Chilchuck probably didn’t even realize how close you two have gotten, and how much he began to miss your company. In the dungeon, you’d stay up with him during his watch, even just a bit, to give him some company or lend an ear to his endless complaints and worries. In the dungeon, you’d walk next to him, purposefully bumping your hip against him and acting as if nothing happened, pestering him with questions on his personal life (really, sometimes you were no better than Marcille!). In the dungeon, he always had the assurance of your company and friendship, after all, there were only so many people in the party, most of which he couldn’t really form strong bonds with. 

But you were different, you always were.

You had that air of ease to you, one that Chilchuck saw the moment you had joined Laios’ party. As much as you liked to prod at the limits of Chilchuck’s patience, you were never pushy too, you valued your privacy and respected his. You always backed off before things got out of hand, and when they did you were always first to come and apologize or make amends. You were dependable, smart and resourceful, above all, you were a good person. You had almost radiated your own brand of sunlight. It made all the passing flirty remarks all bearable. It happened too often, too much for someone Chilchuck’s age too. Though it wasn’t necessarily that you had solely targeted Chilchuck with your antics — you had come around to tease Marcille or to flirt with Laios from time to time, but Chilchuck had definitely become your favorite victim. Hell, if Chilchuck closes his eyes right now, his memory could perfectly replay that stupid wink you’d give him when you’d allow your touch to linger a bit longer or when you’d flash him a smirk after flirting with him.

Though now, it was as if Chilchuck was left with only those memories of a bubbly adventurer, because looking at you now, you seem miserable. And Chilchuck could tell he might’ve been the only person to pick up on it (well, mostly because he guesses it all might be directly only to him). He needs to talk to you because as frustrating as it is to be ignored and not know why, he’s more worried about you than anything. He was always worried about you, whether he himself realized it or not was a different story.

Throughout the night, Chilchuck tried his best to get your attention. He quickly learned small talk didn’t work, you were quick to give him a dismissive comment or a half-hearted response, whereas you’d normally tease him for taking the initiative to talk to you (something like “aw, Chilchuck, are you really that curious about me? Or are you looking for an excuse to hear my voice?” he’s sure).

Next he tried offering you something to drink, grabbing a new bottle of liquor and making a big show of opening it and kindly offering it to you. But again, you were quick to dismiss him, saying you preferred mead over wine, whereas you’d normally find a way to flirt with him before dramatically taking a sip (something like looking at him in the eye while you wiped away the sticky residue of alcohol from the corners of your lips with your thumb he supposed).

Then Chilchuck quickly realized he was out of ideas. When you’d go and reply to the others, he’d quickly try to chime in, hoping to catch you off guard and get a normal response from you. But really you didn’t pay him much attention at all. (Though normally you’d be giggling at his antics, commenting about he “seems so desperate for your attention” or something like that.)

Despite it all, Chilchuck refused to be dissuaded as much as he was getting more and more frustrated by your lack of interest and his failure at prying at your disinterest. If only he could be a bit more like you, a bit more easy going and bubbly, maybe he could have an easier time dealing with all this.

Chilchuck sighs and frowns before taking a swig of his ale. He's just about to look down dejectedly at his tankard, heavily considering that if he can't enjoy some good company tonight, he at least won't let the ale go to waste, when he feels a tug on his sleeve. With furrowed brows he turns behind him, but his face quickly relaxes when he realizes it's you.

He opens his mouth to speak, but you cut him off. "Can I tell you something?" Your voice is soft, maybe even a bit shaky. It was as if you were scared he might reject you.

But Chilchuck sets that thought aside because if anything, he's relieved. At least now you were talking to him, and really what's the worst you can say. He was your friend, whatever it was you had to tell him, he wasn't going to shame you for it.

So he nods, lets you lead him outside of the tavern into the cold, dark night. The wind instantly bites at his skin, causing the half-foot to shiver, but the sight of you before him makes him feel even colder. Your gaze is so solemn, almost melancholic the way your face feels so devoid of your usual energy. It makes Chilchuck's mouth dry.

"What'd you wanna tell me?" He asks, crossing his arms. He keeps his tone level, trying his best to mask how nervous he's beginning to feel.

You only stare at him for a bit more, then you look away, turning to the dimly lit town around you.

He hears you sigh, then he hears you open your mouth then shut it, then open and shut it again.

Cautiously, he takes a step forward. "You okay? You're…" he hesitates a bit. "You're quieter than usual…"

He watches the muscles of your back tense up at the mention of your silence. You pull your shoulders together, like you were trying to squeeze yourself smaller.

"It's… I-" You start, softly. "Chilchuck, I'm sorry."

The half-foot blinks. "For what—"

"I-I know you've got your own life— Like, personal life and all. I don't want to impose on that." You say, somewhat shakily. "You have daughters and… and a wife, and all. I- You know… I can't just—" your hands splay out in front of you "—ruin that."

"Ruin…? I'm sorry? I don't follow—"

"I like you, Chilchuck. I-I like you a lot…" You confess, turning to him with your eyes squeezed shut and your cheeks tinted red.

Chilchuck looks at you, stunned. Pieces of the puzzle slowly began falling into place. Before he could speak, you're rambling.

"A-and I know it's wrong to! You've got a wife and kids and all… And I know your relationship with them might not be the best right now— N-not to act as if I know so much! R-really, what do I know? —But the point still stands! I didn't want to tell you to make things awkward— I'm sure they're awkward now… —B-but Marcille said— Well, she said a lot of things, really. I-I… Well, honestly I didn't listen much—"

His hands grip your shoulders, pulling you out of your thoughts. "Hey, hey. Easy." Chilchuck says with a small smile and it instantly shuts you up. "You like me?"

Your mouth hangs slightly agape, the beginning of a stutter leaves your lips before you promptly shut it. You nod and avert your gaze from him, finding your face feel a bit hotter.

"You like me." Chilchuck repeats, the half end of it melting into a small laugh. "You like me!"

"Okay, you don't have to keep saying it."

Chilchuck laughs again, a bit louder now. He leans his head against you and a relieved sigh leaves his lips. "Thought you were mad at me." He admits.

"Mad at you…? A-Are you not mad at me?"

"Mad at you? Why would I be—"

"Your wife—"

"And I aren't getting back together." He looks up at you with an easy smile, smoothing his thumbs over your arms. "You've got nothing to worry about."

You pout when you finally meet his eyes. “But…”

He chuckles. Chilchuck is beyond relieved, if anything he’s fucking thrilled. He thought something terrible had happened to you, like maybe he had done something to upset you or something. That must’ve been it, that something he had sensed from you the moment you began trying to befriend him, that twinkle of curiosity and admiration, that tinge of love. 

“H-hey! Quit laughing, will you? It-It isn’t funny!” You scold as Chilchuck lifts his head to meet your reddened face. That loving glint in your eyes is back, come out from hiding behind the tearful mist of anxiety; it makes him laugh again, laugh louder. You yell out another complaint with a pout.

If Chilchuck had been your favorite, then you were certainly his.

[mimicmimikyuwrites]

Russia (Ivan Braginsky) x Male!Reader Dating Headcanons

Ask: "hiiii could i req russia smut headcanons but with a male!reader instead? i wonder if the dynamics would be as different or not lololol but it's ok if u dont!! ohhh or maybe, dating russia headcanons w male!reader? if it's not too much! <3"

Contents/Possible Warnings: This is kinda of short, Fluff, Russia is heavily implied to be Bisexual or Pansexual, Russia is kinda clueless about dating men, but he's still got the spirit, though

Other Notes: I went with dating headcanons since I'm not entirely sure how I'd go about writing more detailed smut for a male reader just yet, even with a bit of research on tips. This is my first time writing for a male reader, so I apologize in advance if the writing isn't the best. Constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm glad to try something new, though! I had fun writing this, so a thank you to the Anon who requested this. ❤️

It's important to understand that Ivan hasn't dated very many men before. He hasn't been avoiding doing so, it's just the men he's been around throughout his history tended to be people who worked for him in some way, making the possibility for potential romance difficult to come by. Not too many people want to date their scary, intimidating boss, after all.

When you come along and aren't afraid of him automatically it opens up the door for something more between you two. Ivan is very adamant about being good friends with his partner before you two start dating, so things may take some time before they turn romantic and loving.

When he's finally ready to change your relationship and have you as his boyfriend he's not sure how to go about it. Who confesses to who? Does it even really matter? Do you even like other guys? Do you like him? He's not trying to make things complicated, he's just inexperienced when it comes to other men. He'll get even more worried if you're bi/pan and have mentioned dating women before.

You're probably going to be the one who asks him out because of this. Reassure him that your relationship is like any other he's been in and that things will be fine. Russia's still concerned about his role in things once you're dating, though.

He grew up in a very patriarchal society with certain expectations that extended their way into the dating scene, so when it comes to things with specific gender norms he's not sure what to do. When it comes to who pays the check at the restaurants you two have dates at he has a moral dilemma. Who pays?? Does he pay? Do you pay? He was so used to paying for his female partners before you... Please let him know it does not matter who pays. He's a bit confused, but he's got the spirit.

When he's fully understanding of the dynamics of your relationship he relaxes, and things aren't too different than his past relationships. He's still very doting and caring with you.

Expect a lot of affection from him! He loves to cuddle you, especially. He values quality time with you, so he spends as much of his day with you as he can. He does worry about coming off as clingy, however. Reassure him that you're fine with his company and he's good to go.

You can also expect a lot of dates. He prefers ones at home, such as watching a movie and eating snacks. To him, dates are about that quality time I mentioned earlier. Having your dates inside gives him more time to spend with just you and him.

Ivan's always been a loving person to his past partners, and you're no exception. Although he can often be childishly cruel to those around him, Russia would never hurt you in any way. (Unless you asked him to, but that's going into a whole other type of headcanons)

[igotanidea]

Empty promises: Nikolai Lantsov x reader

A/N: first of all, sorry to everyone wainting for "Traitor", but I felt the need to write something sad and heart wrenching so here;s that. For now. Angst coming right next. Oh, and you have been warned, this is sad. And got spoilers for ep.4/5.

***

„Alina? Are you decent?” Y/n peeked through the door the very second the queen’s seamstress left the room.

“Y/n! Please, come in. It’s so good to see your face.” Alina struggled in the dress “I wish I could greet you properly but I can’t, quite, move in this.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard some rumors about certain Saint and the outfit trouble.” Y/N laughed wholeheartedly ”I don’t think it’s really your style, no matter what the queen mother may have to say about that. I may have an idea to save you from that torture though. If, you let me, that is.”

“Please. Anything.” Alina shook her head

“All right then. You know, a tailor would probably be better with the fitting, but as an Inferni I can surely give you something to boost your confidence” Y/N started turning around, picking another outfit for sol koroleva.

“Y/N.” Alina said and the timbre of her voice made the other Grisha stop in her track and look up “How… How are holding up? With me and Nikolai….?”

“I’m fine” Y/N assured quickly. Too quickly to make it believable. “I just ….” She sighed deeply, gathering all the strength she had to finish that sentence “I just wish he told me sooner, you know. Not just leave me like that. Given all we have… had….” she corrected and covered a little tremble by coughing “But he just left me as surprised as any other Grisha in the room when he announced your engagement and  it feels like betrayal, Alina. “ she went silent for a minute “but yes, apart from that I am perfectly fine. Now, let’s focus on the suit.”

“Y/N” Alina grabbed her hand gently “I am sorry for what you are going through right now.”

“Well, we all have our burdens to carry, right? I suppose this is mine.”

“I know it does not make anything better, but I know about heartbreak and making tough choices. Nikolai loves you in a way he would never feel about me. And I feel that for Mal. This is all just a political alliance, nothing more.” Alina assured.

“You know, sancta, when Nikolai left to be Sturmhond I spend two years searching for him, east to west and south to north. And when I did and we got together this was the best time of my life. And I shouldn’t have enjoyed the sea so much, but with him, I did.  And even then I always had this little tingling inside my head. A sneaky voice that was telling me, that we would not last. Turns out I was right. And truly, no one is to blame for that.” The Inferni smiled sadly “This should do the work” she raised the garments she prepared for Alina “I should better go before the seamstress came back. Just for now pretend you’ll wear the dress , all right? Can’t show all the cards at once.” And with such words, she left the chamber, unnoticed by anyone.

The next person to come to Alina was not even remotely as welcomed as Y/N. Vasily came for a little chat coated with veiled threat and perhaps a bit of a warning, but Alina was too strong to let him beguile her.

And then, when time came Nikolai appeared at the door for a little pep talk.

“Well, you look lovely” he smiled eyeing Alina already up and ready in her second army regimentals.

“Y/N came and helped me put this little thing together. So much better than….” Her gaze focused on the dress nearby and the girl rolled her eyes.

“She’s been avoiding me.” The prince said sadly “not that I blame her, but how can she not miss my company even a little? Am I so easily forgettable. She really acts like I’ve grown a pair of horns or started breathing fire…..” he tried to keep his cool and joke around but Alina knew him well enough to see through it.

“She’s an Inferni. A little fire could never discourage her.  But she’s hurt. Twice as much since you kept her in the dark about this whole arrangement.”

“I wanted to save her pain. And possibly myself.”

“’You failed at that.” Alina pouted

“Anyway, I got something to complete the look.” He took a step closer and reached inside his pocket retrieving a green gem “the Lantsov emerald….”

“Nikolai, we don’t have to do this, if it’s too hard. “

“Let’s just keep the pretenses up, shall we? Just remember, shall you decide to punch me, you will probably take my eyes out with this on, and I would not like that.”

***

 “Have you seen Mal?” Alina started spinning around, searching for the one face she so desperately needed to see “It’s not like him to be late.”

“Perhaps your little tracker is not such a fan of festivities as you.” Vasily approached the pair from behind, with some drink in his hand and Alina immediately excused herself, leaving two brothers alone.

“You know, my little brother” Vasily started “I always knew you would not end up with that little Inferni. Why settle for a commoner when there’s a living saint in the palace.” He laughed and took a sip on his drink. “now you will get fire from someone else! I’m sure the Sankta had a lot of it, judging by her actions. And Y/N. Waste of time. She was always a challenge, even when she was a kid.”

“Don’t you dare talking about her like this.” Nikolai hissed, but still kept straight face in a prince-like manner

“Why do you even care at this point, brother? From what I know, she’s been avoiding you, am I right? But look” he pointed out in the crowd, where Y/N was talking to Nadia and Tamar, laughing for the first time in a while “she’s right there. Don’t you wanna talk to her. If has any dignity, which I doubt, she would not cause a scene in public.”

Even though Nikolai knew his brother was only goading him, his brain shut off when legs carried him towards the other side of the ballroom, straight to her.

“Y/N.” he spoke and all three girls turned around, each one of them showing different expression. Tamar was curious of what was going to happen, Nadia a bit stressed out about her friend, and Y/N…. Y/N was just in pain and nothing could have hid it.

“Moi tsarevich”  she bowed, avoiding his eyes

“Please, stop it. Can we… can we talk for a minute? Please.”

“We are  not going to interrupt you….”Nadia started, but Tamar was on the other side of the barricade in the matter.

“I will. I’m not leaving her with you in this state, Nikolai. You know, you are both my friends, but she’s the victim not the other way round. “

“Tamar” Y/N put a hand on her shoulder “it’s all right. It will be just a minute to clarify this little misunderstanding . I’ll be with you before you notice I was gone.”

“I still don’t like it…” Tamar muttered, but let Nadia drag her away to have a little chat with Adrik and watch Alina. When they both left Y/N took a deep breath and before Nikolai was able to say a thing she took the lead of the conversation.

“Nikolai. I don’t really think it’s appropriate to leave your fiancé alone. Especially with Vasiliy acting like a predator tonight.”

“Vasiliy is drunk.”

“He’s been drunk since the age of 18. Remember that time when we played a prank on him and had to run through the palace in the middle of the night?” she smiled

“And when we ended up squeezed in the cupboard to avoid his wrath? Yes, I remember that.” Now they were both laughing outloud “I also remember what happened later on….”

“Nik. Stop it” she warned, her cheeks getting a bit flushed. Of course he had to refer to the moment they shared their first kiss “this is not the time or the place.”

“My feelings for you did not change.”

‘And do you think mine did? But you are engaged now. And I get it, Nik, I really do. You did what you though was right, as always and I can’t blame me for that. We are all pawns in this crazy political game and the point is to minimalize the  damage. If that means you getting with Alina then I cannot interfere. I still be there for you both. Even if it is in the sideline.

“Y/N…. I….”

“It’s all right” she raised her hands almost embracing him, but stopped herself in the last minute. “You should probably go join your family, your mother has been eyeing us for a while now and she knows we have past. Can’t risk anyone getting suspicious, right? Moi tsarevich” she bowed and went back to join Tamar, Adrik and Nadia, who pulled her into a hug.

From then on, everything started happening extremely fast. Vasiliy came onto the podium to gave some mockery speech about his brother, the man of the hour, but in the middle of it, Darkling’s shadow monster decided to drop by and well, cause a little havoc, killing the speaker and some other gathered people. It was chaos. Alina, Tamar, Adrik, Nadia and Y/N were trapped on the one side of the room, while the Lantsov (or rather whatever was left of this family) where stuck on the other.

“They have no heart, no pulse, no nothing!” Tamar exclaimed trying to use her heartrender powers

“Every creature has a weakness” Adrik spit, observing the monsters carefully from behind the table they used as some sort of shield, Y/N following in his steps.

“Those are shadows” the girl said “Look, Adrik, you were right, they have to be in their full form to touch and hurt someone!”

Before another shadow could attack Nikolai and his mother, Adrik came from one side throwing a gust of wind his way, Nadia doing the same on the other. Y/N used this as an opportunity to grab a spark from the nearby candle and throw a fireball straight into the middle of it. For a second, when the monster was tearing apart her gaze met with Nikolai’s who was just frozen like a deer in the spotlight.

“GO!” she yelled at him “Take whoever you can and GO!”

“Everyone into the tunnels!” Nikolai ordered, but before he himself rushed off, he just threw one last glance at his one true love and moved his mouth silently.

“Come back to me.”

***

“You three go find Alina, I’ll go check if there’s anyone lost in the corridors to get them to safety” Y/N commanded her friends ready to run the other way

“Have you lost your mind!?” Tamar spit at her “You are not going anywhere alone.”

“I’ll be fine Tamar.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that from you hundreds times before.”

“And I am still alive. A little bruised and scared but alive. Not planning on dying today, I swear. Alina needs you three and there’s no time, so I’ll just see you downstairs. GO!”

***

 She was running one of the palace corridors, stating with the greatest relief that all the Grisha that were not killed were off the palace and probably on the way to the tunnel. She almost reached the entrance, but mere meters before, another shadow monster blocked her way.

“Oh, Saint!” she hissed annoyed and focused her energy to gather just a little bit of flame since sadly, there wasn’t any external source of it anywhere near. It was always harder to get fire from nothing, but it used to work for her. Most of the times.

Not this one.

The fire that came out of her hands were so weak it barely reached the shadows let alone cause them any harm.

“Oh, shit…” she mumbled when darkness enveloped her whole and tried once again, this time fueled by fury and worry about her friends. Maybe Tamar was right and she shouldn’t have left them. Nonetheless that was not the time to dwell on the past mistakes, since it was extremely hard to breath inside that fog the monster were created from. It was like all of a sudden she found herself in the fold again, broken and scared. “Hell no! I am not dying today” she put her hands up causing a flare and dissipated the shadows finally getting herself free.

If only it wasn’t for that cut with sharp, thorn-like edges on her  leg, which she did not notice or feel.

***

“Is everyone safe?” Nikolai came from one entrance to the tunnels, meeting with Alina and Tamar coming from the opposite.

“Adrik got hurt in the arm, Nadia is with him.” Alina explained “the healers are taking care of the injured. What about the ones you came with?”

“Saved as many as possible” Nikolai turned around “where is …..?”

“That idiotic girl left us and came for the rescue. I told her she should not….” Tamar’s voice broke a little

“Where is she, Tamar?!”

“We… We don’t know…..”

“I’m here!” all the emotions he felt upon hearing her voice where just too much to handle and not caring about anyone  or anything or whether he was acting like an engaged prince he took off running towards her, wrapping arms around her and pulling her close to his chest.

“You’re safe, love. You’re safe.” He whispered again and again caressing her back, tangling fingers In her soft, messy hair and just getting lost in her.

“Nik…” she gasped taking a sharp inhale “I… I don’t really feel so good….” She stumbled a bit and this made him worry.

“I know, darling, but you were so brave up there. You saved my life with that little trick of yours. And you always said you couldn’t do fireballs. Guess me being in danger enhanced your…..”

“Nik, I really do not feel good” she mumbled and all her strength suddenly left her when her legs gave up and she collapsed into his arms, the embrace being the only thing shielding her from falling straight to the ground.

“Y/n? Come on, tell me, what is it, where does it hurt?” he started panicking just in the slightest.

“My leg….”

“May I?” he hesitated before lifting the material of her pants.

“Saints! Stop being a gentleman now! ” Tamar hissed and started tearing the pant-leg “I wish you were this polite at all those night on the ship instead of giving the crew sleepless nights “Oh….”

“How… how bad is it?” Y/N asked, raising her head from where It laid on Nikolai’s chest and he quickly turned her head away.

“It’s gonna be fine” he assured, grabbing her righter and kissing her temple “I’ll get you to a healer, all right?”

“Mhmmm……” she mumbled, slowly losing consciousness.

“I’m gonna lift you now, ok?” one of his hands sneaked around her back, the other went below her legs when he moved her from the ground “you’re gonna be ok, just don’t close your eyes, love.”

Out of instinct Alina wanted to join them on their walk to healers, but Tamar stopped her.

“Don’t” she shook her head, eyes a bit glassy.

“No.” Alina just stated. “Please tell me it’s not….” bus since Tamar was a heartrender there was really no point in arguing.

***

“Nik…. You smell so good.” Y/N hid face in his chest, locking arms around his neck

“I am all sweaty from the fight and running, honey. As much as I love what you are saying I do not smell good.”

“You smell like the ocean.” She smiled lightly “Like the sunny day on volkvolny”

“We’re going to have a thousand more of such days so you could dwell on the smell.”

 “I…. I don’t really think so, Niki.” She hissed in pain when he reached one of the makeshift flop and called upon the healer

“Always a joker, aren’t you?”

“I wish” she started coughing, a little blood appearing on the hand she tried to cover her mouth with. “Tell me the truth, Nik. How bad is it. Cause it hurts like hell.”

“I don’t want to look. I;m not a healer, I don’t have any experience…..”

“You…” she gasped “are a trained soldier. You know about wounds. Tell me.”

“It’s not good” he closed his eyes almost like those words caused him unimaginable pain and grabbed her hands. “but the healers…..”

“The healers have too much work on their hands. And judging by your voice….” She coughed  a bit more

“Sh, don’t say anything more. Let me just… Grigori!” he called upon one of the corporalki “she needs help.”

“Immediately, moi tsar” Grisha answered and it was probably the first time Nikolai realized that he was the king now.

“Moi tsar” Y/N smiled faintly “it suits you so well, lapushka. Auch! It hurts….”

“I’m sorry Y/N, this wound is unusually deep and it seems like there’s some kind of venom in your veins, going straight to the heart and…..” Grigori started slurring

“There’s nothing you can do, right?” she asked simply

“I’m so deeply sorry, Y/N, moi tsar.”

“Not your fault.”

“Leave us.” Nikolai hissed through gritted teeth and Grigori practically run away trying to avoid king’s fury “Y/N….” he leaned toward her, cupping her pale cheek and caressing it gently “I don’t want you to go….”

“Selfish. As usual. You don’t want me to go, mhm. Do you think I…. auch, want to die like this?”

“I need you with me….” He kissed the top of her head

“Selfish. Again. You got the sun summoner now."

"You are my sun."

"Stop flirting with me on .... on my .... death.... deathbed" she squirmed trying to lift herself up but it was too painful “Help… me….” She panted and Nikolai grabbed her waist with one hand and supported her back with another “I don’t have much time left… I feel it almost in my heart….”

���I don’t want to go on without you.” he whispered

“I know.” tears started showing in her eyes and he wiped them away breathing heavily “I’m scared Nik” she admitted trembling “I feel so cold. Can you just hold me? I don’t….” she gulped “I don’t want to go alone….”

“I’m here with you. No matter where you go, afterlife, I will find you, I swear.”

“Not if…ekhem! Oh, saints, it hurts so much” she cried and his heart broke at that sobbing coming from her. The sounds he would never recover from. Reminded that he failed to protect the only person he ever truly loved. And to think she was dying in his arms, while he was about to marry another woman. This was like a punch in the guts “not if I hunt you first.”

“I love you” he just had to say it. Maybe it was selfish again, but he needed to know that were the last words he said to her “I love you and I will always love you.” he kissed her knuckles, looking straight into her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Nik. And I’m sure you will….” Her voice was becoming so small, so quiet, almost audible in all commotion “… have a long, happy and fulfilled life. You’ll be great king. And a father…. I….” she closed her eyes “I’ll see you later, Nik…..” and just like that there was silence.

And this was the exact moment Tamar clenched her fist and faced the wall, her back to other Grishas so no one would see single tear falling from her eye.  

She said she’ll be fine…….  Empty promises always hurt the receiving end  of those.

***

“Nikolai? We need someone to get everyone together and ….” Zoya was blissfully unaware of the tragedy that just fell upon the king and was her usual self when she entered the part of tunnels were healers were stationed “what… what happened?”  she stuttered at the view in front of her eyes.

Nikolai was not a king at the moment. He was just a broken man who just lost the love of his life. Not crying, just sitting next to her still figure, holding and caressing her cold hand, unable to stop. Almost like he was in a trance. For what he cared the world could stop spinning and it would not make any difference for him. But for her…. He was going to do anything to avenge her death. But he would do that in a second, for now, he just wanted and needed to stay with her a bit more, even if that meant just watching her face, surprisingly peaceful and running a hand through her hair.

If only he could indulge in that greedy need.

“Goodbye, my love….” He whispered planting one final kiss on her forehead and tugging at his hair stood up to protect and guide his people, his subjects.

[azrielslightintheshadows]

Hi there! I would like to make a request for cassian with a f!reader, where reader is a very shy and insecure person from the start, and maybe whilst her and cassian are strolling down, many girls that cassian used to date come up to him and reader becomes insecure of how much experience cassian has compared to her. and there is angst but lots of flufff❤️❤️

Live without you

Cassian x Reader

Warnings; angst, swearing, mentions of sex

Masterlist

Saturday has become your favourite day of the week and the reason behind that is a certain warlord with shoulder- length hair, golden skin and the most mesmerising hazel eyes, not to mention the body sculptured by all the gods new and forgotten. The lord of bastards -Cassian. Every Saturday he would put his duties on hold and take you on dates. You love Cass with all your heart, but sometimes going out with him could be a little overwhelming, not that you didn’t enjoy his company, but your personalities were the exact opposites. Cassian is loud, self-confident and entirely outgoing. You on the other hand are shy, self-conscious and entirely introverted.

After changing your outfit for the hundredth time you settled for a black skirt that reached mid-thigh, a red tight fit top and black boots, today was a nice and uncommon day for you, one of these days that you believed you looked good, thus the revealing outfit. You let your hair down, and with a last look in the mirror you headed to the balcony to meet Cassian praying to the Cauldron that the flight wouldn’t mess your hair -or Cassian…. seriously most times he acted like a toddler.

You found him there, his back on you as he watched the city bellow. You cleared your throat and he turned, his eyes moving slowly over your body and a grin appearing on his face. “You look amazing doll” he said and quickly covered the space between the two of you, pulling you in his arms and shooting to the sky making you yelp. “Cass, my hair you are ruining it, slow down” you shouted, and he chuckled but slowed down anyway. You face was red and you quickly hid it in his chest, he noticed the movement and smirked, thankfully he didn’t say anything -probably afraid that you would pass out from the embarrassment.

The moment your feet touched the ground you patted your hair hoping to make them look less crazy.

“Everything’s fine, you look beautiful” Cassian rolled his eyes and placed his hand on your waist guiding you in the big crowd. Couples, families and groups of friends filled the street, everyone enjoying the day and what the city had to offer. You bowed your head trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, and let Cassian guide you through the crowd. You reached your favorite bookstore and walked in, a beautiful female that you had never seen again was behind the counter, her eyes flashed with joy the moment she saw Cassian. “Cass, oh my god, it’s been a while” she squealed and almost ran to your mate, engulfing him in a big hug. You stared at your feet not sure about what to do.

“Hey Ivy” Cassian said and patted her back with one of his hands. You didn’t dare look at them, the female was stunning, she was everything you wished to be.

They continued chatting and you blocked the sound as you scanned the shelves for a new book. You couldn’t focus, the words written on the back of each book seemed like foreign symbols. With a sigh you walked back to the exit, Cassian looked at you and nodded his head in question.

“I’m not in the mood to buy a new book” you muttered and walked out of the store.

Cassian said goodbye to Ivy and followed you. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft and caring.

“Yes, just hungry” you smiled. He seemed to believe you as he placed his hand on your waist once again and started walking. Your patience was running out as five more females passed you and smiled at Cassian in greeting.

You saw the restaurant and sighed in relief. You really wanted this day to be over. Usually, you would go on dates in the nature, just the two of you and a picnic basket so you had never experienced this.

You entered the restaurant hurriedly and found a table in one of the corners, you took a seat and grabbed the menu, not one glance spent on Cassian, you couldn’t look at him. He noticed but said nothing, not wanting to pressure you until you had eaten.

The waitress came with a polite smile on her face that turned to a grin when she spotted your mate. “Cassian! It’s so nice to see you again” she gasped.

You’ve got to be kidding me. You thought and squeezed your lips shut to suppress a groan that threatened to leave you.

“Hello Aurelia, yeah I haven’t seen you in ages, you work here now?” Cassian asked offering her a bright smile. The menu in your hands was starting to wrinkle as you clenched it. Tears were forming in your eyes, and you shut them in order to calm yourself.

“Yes I started working here last week” she glanced at you, the smile never leaving her lips. “Hello… what can I get you?” her voice polite.

Of course she wouldn’t have an attitude towards you, she was stunning she would never feel threatened by you. You thought and forced a smile “I would like to have the green salad”. You craved the steak but seeing the females Cassian had been involved with, you decided that you needed to lose some weight.

Cassian frowned “But you love the steak”.

“I’m not in the mood” you whispered and stared at the table.

“Okay” he cleared his throat “I will have the steak” he said and you knew that he only ordered it in case you changed your mind.

Silence filled the table when the waitress -Aurelia left.  Cassian was staring at you, and you pretended to play with your napkin. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just tired” “Yes, just hungry – yes, just tired, come on what’s wrong?” he exclaimed earning a few glances from the people around you. His wings were tense and his face hard.

“I would like to go home now” you whispered blinking away the tears. “Fine” he rolled his eyes, he stood up and walked to the cashier “Cancel our order, if you can’t just put it in the house’s credit” he said and left the restaurant. You followed him quickly, he didn’t wait for you, he just walked in a fast pace until you reached the end of the street, the big clearing enough for him to stretch his wings. He waited for you and without a word he picked you up and flew to the house. When you landed you quickly removed yourself from his arms and ran to your shared bedroom. You needed to get those clothes off asap, not feeling pretty in them anymore.

After changing into one of Cassian’s tops and a pair of leggings you sat on the bed and let the tears flow. Your mate was probably on the roof taking his frustration on the training dummy. You cried and cried. Cassian used to date those stunning females and probably stopped when you appeared. But why? Was he dating you just because you are his mate? What if you were just a burden. That must be it. You thought. He is with me because I am his mate. If he could choose his own mate, he would never choose me. You got up and took the bag you kept beneath the bed, the one you used when you moved in.  You were glad that you kept your apartment in the city, with a sigh you started to gather your things, shoving two of Cassian’s tops in there too. You were shaking and crying, moving frantically around the room to gather all your stuff. You were so out of control that you didn’t notice you were shoving all your feelings through the bond. The door of your bedroom banged to the wall behind as Cassian burst in, his expression panicked and his eyes widening when he noticed the bag on the bed. He was sweaty, his wings stretched behind him and all his muscles tense. He looked so powerful and scary and if you weren’t so devastated you would probably drool from the sight.

 “What the hell are you doing” his voice boomed throughout the room.

“Leaving” your voice was shaky and barely above a whisper.

“Like hell you are” he pushed his hand through his hair. “Talk to me, what happened today?” he said softly. “Maybe we can fix it… I will try to fix it just please talk to me….”.

“Cass….” Your tears began flowing again.

“Don’t do this, just tell me what I did so I can fix it” his voice broke.

“I’m sorry” you whispered and grabbed the bag, you squeezed between him and the door and ran to the balcony praying that Rhysand heard you in his mind shouting. Your prayers were answered as you saw him waiting there, his hands in his pockets and a worried look.

“Please get me out of here” you cried and in an instant he had you in his arms winnowing to your apartment.

“What happened?” he asked as soon as you were in your living room.

“It’s over, me and Cass… we’re over” you replied between your sobs.

“Why?” he almost screamed.

“I saw some of the females he used to date today, they all are so beautiful and confident… It’s not fair for him to be with me…” you couldn’t talk anymore; your sobs were taking over you.

Rhysand hugged you “You are amazing please don’t you ever think like that again, Cassian is completely in love with you, he won’t shut up about you, if he could stay with you all day he would. Have you seen the way he looks at you? Because I have and I’ve never seen his eyes so shiny, not even when he sees Nyx and he adores him.”

“I just want him to be happy, he needs a beautiful and experienced female. I have never been with another male, only him. I didn’t know anything about relationships and sex, he taught me everything I know now. Maybe he needs someone who already knows these things….” You needed to lay down, so you didn’t let Rhys say anything “Thank you for the ride, I need to be alone now” He nodded and disappeared.

You spent the night crying and trying to convince yourself that this is the right thing.

The morning came and the loud noise of someone banging on your door made you flinch. “Y/n I swear to the Cauldron if you don’t open the door, I will break it down” Cassian’s voice echoed through your house. You knew he would. So you got up and walked to the door, the moment you turned the handle the door flew open and a broken Cassian came into view. His eyes were red, dark circles beneath them and his hair a tangled mess. You took a few steps back to let him in. He walked to your living room and stood in the middle.

“Rhysand told me everything” he said, his voice soft now.

“Of course he did” you scoffed. He ignored your annoyed expression and started talking again.

“Are you out of your mind? You are the sweetest creature I’ve ever met, you make me want to be a better male. Ever since I met you I feel like the happiest male in Prythian hell even in the entire world. How do you expect me to live without your beautiful face, your soft smile, your affection. How do you expect me to sleep without your small body on top of me and the steady beating of your heart? Can’t you see that I will be lost without you?” tears left his eyes. “I rather be dead than spend another night without you in my arms.”

You felt a lump forming in your throat, he looked so broken, so vulnerable right now. “Cass…” you whispered and walked into his arms, he engulfed you with his hands and wings, afraid that you might leave him again. “I’m so sorry, I let my insecurities take over. I just wanted the best for you” you cried out.

“You are the best for me” he whispered, his arms tightening around you. “I love you” you said, and a sigh of relief left his lips. “I love you” he replied.

He picked the bag you had left on the couch and guided you outside, he flew you home and the two of you spent the rest of the day in bed, making love and whispering sweet promises.

How could you ever think that you could live without him?

Hope you enjoy it.

Posting Chapter 1 of princess later today.

[penfz]

A Face to the Name

Sukuna x FemReader (Modern AU)

Summary: After a long a** break of settling in, getting Aika settled in, finding a babysitter, and overall just avoiding going into work physically… Y/N now has to physically go into work Lol

A/N: I’m currently making a Master List of this series. There, I will attempt to put it in an actual timeline. No promises though.

This story part does take place after The Beginning though.

Warning: mild swearing, mention of choking (in a non physical sense)

Sukuna x FemReader Master List

Welp. Y/N hated this. You were perfectly fine working from home. You enjoyed not having to actually pick an appropriate outfit for work. Cause if you could go to work in your track-pants, you most certainly would. You also enjoyed just casually sitting in on meetings through video call, making yourself a sandwich as you did. Now you guarantee during those meetings, you would be expected to at least say something, and you most definitely would not be allowed to make a sandwich during it.

With one more sigh, you left the house and drove to work. But not before grabbing your lunch bag, which Yuuji and Aika had left a sweet note about enjoying your first day at work. Such darlings.

On the other side of the street, Sukuna was already grumbling in annoyance. The sections manager was finally making an appearance at work, and he wasn’t sure what to make of them. Mostly cause they actually never said sh*t during the meeting. They muted their microphone and blocked their camera during meetings, stating that it gets extremely loud and distracting in her house.

Now Sukuna knew for sure it was a female because she often sent emails to him regarding certain deadlines and projects. And she always signed it off with her name and position. Now Sukuna should have probably done the same back, since it’s appropriate to sign off your name and position when writing emails within a company. But yeah… he never did that Lol So she always called him “Mr.Sukuna” since his email had his first name in it. That low key made him laugh, only cause he knew it probably annoyed her. She was a stickler for “proper” and “appropriate” when it came to work, Sukuna couldn’t help himself in wanting to annoy her just a little.

The house was already empty, with Yuuji leaving early to drop off Aika to school. The same Aika who had insisted on her and Yuuji leaving a sweet note in his lunch… addressed to “Suki”. Brats.

-

“I hate this.” You mumbled under your breath. And you weren’t lying. Physically being at work was weird. You were a section manager for a large project firm. You had moved cities with Aika after being promoted to a higher position, but it required you to move to a different city. No complaint on your part though, you were moving back to the city you called home, where family was. Being away from them was hard enough.

You were getting a tour of the office, being introduced to coworkers, putting faces to the names that you’ve read through your computer screen from time. In fact, you were looking for a certain person, a Mr. Sukuna. The guy, you assumed it’s a male anyways, just did little things to irk your soul. Why couldn’t he just send the documents to you if he was already done? Why wait till the deadline to do so? Why couldn’t he just answer you in a timely manner? Especially when the indicator says that the guy read your message. And why couldn’t he just sign off his name properly in emails?! So you wouldn’t have to use his first name, which you got from his work email address!

“Oh, this is Mr. Itadori.” Your colleague introduced. And instantly, your head shot up. Someone with the same last name as your child’s babysitter? Possibly a coincidence in last names.

It most certainly was not a coincidence. The man before you looked exactly like Yuuji, his pink fluffy hair a dead give away to that. But the tattoos, the large body structure, the intimidating look he gave you, this was probably Yuuji’s older brother. And he was right, he is scary looking. But scary good… cause for some reason you couldn’t take your eyes off him. Took everything in you not to laugh as youu remembered Yuuji’s words.

As if Sukuna thoughts differed from your own. He took one look at you, and he already had one word to describe you. Cute. Your body language gave off a timid vibe. Understandable, he is a pretty big guy. But this was his new manager? On screen you gave a very demanding and confident presence, but that’s probably because you were behind a screen. That was what he liked. As much as he could describe you as cute, you weren’t necessarily his type. He liked confident and bold women, not to much the shy type. There was something about a woman who could take the lead with no hesitation, that made Sukuna melt.

“Hi, Mr. Itadori. Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N L/N.” You introduced with a deep bow. Sukuna could only smirk, definitely a timid one.

“Nice to meet you. Look forward to working with you.” Sukuna replied, he definitely was going to enjoy teasing you in the future.

-

Now this time, Sukuna was baffled. Trying to keep the impressed smile off his face. He was definitely wrong in his original thoughts of you just being “cute”, and he was definitely wrong on you not being his type. Cause you most definitely were.

There was a meeting today, with your boss wanting to formally introduce you to everyone, as well as a meeting about the current projects and its timelines. There was some overlaps in the projects, resulting in slight disorganization among workers, all of them trying to figure out which part should be done first. Which resulted in missed deadlines, all of which you felt could have been avoided.

When you were called upon to address the matter with your own thoughts, Sukuna couldn’t wait to see how your timid self would respond. But in your own head, you could only sigh as you feared you’ll be looked at as a tyrant in the workplace. Oh well.

“I disagree.” You spoke up when it was your turn to speak. All eyes were on you now, with your answer defying all previous agreements. “This will certainly lead to sloppy results. The deadline is soon approaching, let’s fix the timeline of things. Have the bigger details handled by senior staff, and smaller ones handled by the interns. They’ll have to learn eventually anyways how things work in an actual work setting.”

“Giving those kind of tasks to the interns is what could result in sloppy results.” Someone else argued.

“No. Those interns worked hard to be exactly where they are now.” You explained. “Give them the chance to prove themselves and to succeed. They’re in this position cause this where they went to be, so give them that chance.”

“That’s still risky.” Another fought.

“What’s risky is this that you actually think that your current plan is working, when it's clearly not.”

Welp, you just dropped a truth bomb there, and Sukuna couldn’t help but smirk. He almost barked out a laugh. Almost.

“I agree with Y/N.” Sukuna declared. “This debate is honestly a waste of time. We either continue with what we're doing, or we follow the princess' lead and listen to her."

"Sukuna." The boss had lightly reprimanded him with using such an inappropriate to describe you. He always feared Sukuna would catch an HR complaint with the way he spoke. But it's not like you complained.

Nope, you definitely didn't complain. Instead you slightly blushed at the sound of the nickname coming from such a deep voice such as Sukuna's. You had to remind yourself that you were at work and to relax.

-

Once the meeting had ended, in your favour actually, you had either been applauded for your decision to change things. Or you were looked down upon for it, especially cause you were technically new to the your current position. But you had not let any of the whispers around you, stop you. And Sukuna noticed that. Just like a predator eyeing it's prey, Sukuna was now eyeing you.

Extra:

"Hi Suku- nii, how was work?" Yuji asked, seeing his brother already in the kitchen cooking dinner.

"It was fine brat. Where are you coming from anyways?" Sukuna asked, no pleasantries what so ever. But that never bothered Yuji.

"Oh, Aika's house. I was helping her with her homework before her mom came home." Yuji explained. "Aika said she wants to come here for dinner tomorrow. Is that ok?"

"Yeah it's fine." Sukuna answered back, not really paying much attention to things as he did the task at hand. No, his thoughts were still on you. The way you dominated your colleagues, the way you spoke to those higher then you with no remorse in your comments. That kind of personality had Sukuna in a choke hold, and his thoughts were strictly on you.

"Suku-nii."

"What?"

"Did... something good happen today?"

"What the fcuk?" Sukuna questioned as he turned to face his younger brother. "What are you on brat?"

"Cause you're burning dinner." Yuji answered innocently. He didn't want to admit that his brother got absent minded whenever his thoughts were on a girl, or he had a good date.

"FCUKKK!"

[lenixsocial]

Watcher (and why nothing matters anymore):

So, in case you've been locked away under a proverbial bridge for a few days, Internet personalities Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara, and Shane Madej (known as Watcher) have elected to begin their own streaming service and ditch YouTube.

On the surface, that mightn't even seem like news at all.

After all, this sort of thing seems to happen all the time: The Try Guys left Buzzfeed to create their own company, Rhett and Link took the dive and diversified into paywalled entertainment a few years back with Mythical Society. Both of which however still rely on YouTube itself to generate views on the main channels, which funnel viewers into a FOMO type situation where "you can't miss" a special airing on the app (Mythical Society) or Patreon (Try Guys).

Watcher, in its infinite wisdom (stupidity, carelessness, unparalleled greed - take your pick) has decided that YouTube is pointless, and has moved ALL their content behind a paywall, claiming that the service was amping up to provide "TV quality programming", leaving only old content and the first episodes of the new shows up on their YouTube page as a subtle tease as to what you could get for $6/month.

It's now quite apparent from reading the comments section of their (now infamous) YouTube video, their official subreddit, and the tag on X that the fans were...not thrilled. The fingers began to be pointed within minutes. Name calling soon after. Then this blossomed into dissertations on why this was a horrible idea.

Then we found out that there was no app. Just a website. So you're paying for website access. Not a full blown streaming service to rival Netflix. Oh, and they don't even have their own servers, the videos are hosted by Vimeo. The deeper the comments section dug, the nastier the attacks got. Steven soon became the whipping boy. His past, his interviews, scanned and mercurially dug up for juicy tidbits (although all anyone gleaned from these was he's rich, was born rich, drives a Tesla in LA, likes fancy food, and has friends whom he values who are racist and possibly sexist and will not sever ties with them).

Then came the cries of incongruity. Shane Madej repeatedly said to "Eat the Rich", and here he was schilling for a platform that cost $6 a month. The cries began to pirate all of the new Watcher content because maybe he was under duress and was secretly telling them to do so. Fact is, I don't know if he was or what, but I'm certain he's under contract and wants his job.

Then came the videos from other internet users analyzing the video, and comparing this to the Try Guys situation with Ned a few months back. Both are disasters, each in unique ways with different players, and such like but here's the vast difference: none of this will even matter in a month.

Let me explain: We are in the total free fall stage of Watcher's Internet Streamer Service. What they do in the next 24-48 hours is crucial. If they revert back to their YouTube channel and apologize, they'll be fine. People will probably poke fun at them, but they'll be forgiven, eventually. But if they don't and they keep on, ignoring the fans, dousing the haters, and make it a month, I doubt we will see any resistance outside of a terse article or two.

Why? The collective memory span in this day and age is extremely short, many have likely already made judgment in their head and have passed said judgment. Therefore, they'll avoid the channel, and the streamer and will be blissfully unaware of any changes. Those who have joined up and paid will remain members, and those who have elected to remain subscribed will likely remain so and will watch the free content until they can afford the $6/month.

The thing is like it or hate it, if they decide to do nothing and ignore the public at large, they most likely will be fine. Maybe they will not have the hugest subscriber base, but people will forget about this. Something else major that is more salacious will spring up in the months ahead. Will there be lingering anger? Sure, but like I said before, these people have already passed judgment so they're already gone.

In an era of "nothing fucking matters" when your choices are sometimes entirely out of your direct control and are (at best) two sides of the same coin, it should be of absolutely no surprise to anyone that there is a fairly good possibility even after all that has transpired that nothing bad will happen. Lest we forget that old adage: "there is no such thing as bad PR".

Personally, I feel $6 is a tad much for a non-app based web streamer with little to no content. It was disingenuous to announce its launch internationally where even more people can't afford it, and some can't even view it. Steven wasn't upfront with who was in charge and now it really does seem like he's using the subscriptions to fund his international gallivanting. It's clear nobody wanted TV-show quality Ghost Files to take place in another country, nor did they want an old show revived with votes when you pay the first month's dues. They say it's a case of Watcher "not reading the room".

[indigosunsetao3]

Midnight Maintenance

Third expansion of Older CIA Alex list.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

MDNI | 18+ | Please check AO3 for tags

"How is this not an emergency?" You ask your landlord as you stare at the thermostat on the wall. The temperature is reading almost eighty seven degrees. You fruitlessly turn the dial down to its lowest setting and hear the unit attempt to fire up before a loud rattling bang erupts from the utility closet and silence.

The landlord on the other end of the line, who is obviously annoyed with your third call that evening, rattles off something about state code ordinances. That an AC unit being out when it's below a certain temperature outside isn't considered an emergency. That he wasn't going to come out there at twelve in the morning and he certainly wasn't going to pay for an after hours service call from a company.

You open your mouth to protest even more, but he abruptly hangs up, and you snarl in frustration. The only other person you could call is your father, but he's out of town for work. This feels like its own brand of torture; you aren't made for heat. Sweating is your least favorite activity, and it is usually why you avoid any and all outdoor activities when it is above seventy degrees. A friend had tried to drag you to hot yoga once, and you had told them the only way you wanted to be sweating while being contorted into different positions was in bed.

Sweat is trickling down your spine and you can feel it on your hairline as you look pathetically around your apartment. Even with all the windows thrown open and the two fans you have blowing right on you it's not nearly enough. The air outside is a stagnant, muggy heat, not a breeze to be had, and as you debate just taking another icy shower, your phone buzzes.

Any luck? No. He's useless. Pretty sure he's thinking of excuses to evict me after all the calls. Can you go stay at your dad's place? I know he's traveling. I have work tomorrow, can't catch the train from there...it's fine I'll just sleep on the kitchen floor or something.

After no more responses, you tuck your phone back into your tank top, carefully slipping it under the strap. You skipped pulling on shorts and opted for just underwear for the time being. You had been joking about sleeping in the kitchen, but the tiles were looking more and more welcoming. You stare at the floor for a bit, arms held out as you let the breeze from the fan wash over you when your phone buzzes again.

Let me take a shot at it. No! It's okay, honestly. I shouldn't have kept you up with this. I'll survive, there are worse things that could happen...not sure what at the moment, but I'll be fine. I won't melt. Sleeping on your kitchen floor is not a solution. I'll be there in a few. Worst thing I can do is break it more. You really don't have too. I'm already in the truck.

Tossing your phone onto your couch, you quickly dart to your bedroom to put on something a little more presentable. It's too hot for anything too formal, so a pair of well-worn gym shorts it is. Your tank has a built-in bra, and while it's laughable for any type of proper support, it's good enough. You fix your askew hair in the mirror and attempt to wipe away the sweat shining on your skin with a cool washcloth when he pulls up.

You hear the truck pull in through the open windows and patio door, and poke your head out to wave at him. Even at one in the morning, the heat was oppressive outside. Because why wouldn't it be a heatwave when your AC died? You get to your door first and unlock and open it, waiting for Alex, and as he rounds the last flight of stairs, you grin at him.

"You really didn't have to do this," you state as he gets closer and you step aside to let him walk in. "I would have been perfectly fine with my pillow on the tile and my two fans."

"I wasn't going to sleep knowing you were stuck in this," Alex answers with a grin. He has the same toolkit in his hand that he had when he helped you move in. "Shit, it's worse than you said," he tacks on as the wave of heat hits him as he looks around your apartment, eyes settling on the thermostat. Eighty-nine degrees.

"What I wouldn't give for the frozen art gallery right about now," you tease, letting your eyes rake over him. He's not in a cut-off tank like last time. Unfortunate. But the t-shirt he's donned is maybe a size too small, hugging his arms and chest in all the right places, and you grin to yourself as you bypass him to the hallway.

"Good luck," you mutter as you open the closet door and point toward the unit that is squeezed into the space. "Hitting it hasn't been the solution so far," you tack on as you slip aside, letting him set his bag on the ground and flash a light into the dark closet.

"Slapping usually doesn't do the trick to start something up," Alex answers, glancing over his shoulder, a small raise on his lips. "Well, mechanical anyway." His gaze doesn't linger long enough to see your eyes widen before you abruptly twist on your feet to go occupy yourself with something else. Anything else.

You find yourself in the kitchen, hands keeping busy picking up the mess of your dinner...s from the past few days. Living alone had its advantages, such as not having to do the dishes right away or needing to put away that jar of peanut butter that you liked to snack on. But the same advantage was a disadvantage later when you had unplanned company.

Alex keeps working on the unit, the whine of a drill meeting your ears as you peer around at him. He's half in the closet now and a metal panel is leaned up against your hallway wall. Drying your hands on a towel, you wander over and stand near his legs, where he's on his back on the ground, soundly wedged in the tight space.

"Any idea what it is?" You ask as he cranes his head up to look at you, the flashlight in between his teeth. Even in that position, you see the feline smirk that quirks his face that much more. Notice how his eyes trace up your body over all the exposed skin before getting to your face.

"Few burnt-out wires and an overloaded circuit," Alex answers as he pries the flashlight from his lips. "Just putting a band aid fix on it until someone can come out and replace the parts," he explains before he leans back to get back to work. "Should be done here shortly."

And sure enough, when he sits up and flips the power back to it on the breaker, the unit starts. It grinds and whines but as you pass by a kitchen vent you feel cool air. It's not nearly cold enough, but at least not warm. You pause and bend over to put your hand over the vent before twisting to grin at Alex who's looking at you for a verdict.

"Cold," you say with a wide smile and stand up.

"Perfect," Alex answers, though you aren't sure if it's a compliment on his own work or the view you had just given him. "I'm going to hang around a bit, make sure it stays running," he states, "it's going to try and catch up, and I don't want it to burn itself out again."

"Oh, yeah, sure," you say, nodding a bit. "You don't have to, you've done more than enough."

"I'm already here, it's not a big deal," he answers as he steps around you to the kitchen sink to wash his hands off.

"Well, can I get you anything? I've got some," you pause and open the fridge to take a peek inside. "Pizza, beer, a very questionable container of chicken marsala from last week...and three eggs." You grin standing up to look at him as he dries his hands off with a kitchen towel he found.

"I'll take the pizza," he replies, tucking the towel back on the hook behind the cabinet door. "And a beer."

"Deal, go sit," you say with a shooing motion. “Find something to watch. I was watching Dateline, but you can pick whatever you want. I already missed the end of the last episode."

Juggling the plate with a few slices of warmed up pizza and two beers, you find Alex lounged on the right side of the couch. His legs are extended out in front of him and he's watching the murder mystery with intrigue. When he spots you though, he sits up and helps you set everything on the coffee table before you both settle in.

"It's always the husband," you state about halfway through as you toss your half eaten crust of your last piece onto the plate. "He even looks like a creep."

"Not always," Alex answers as he sips his beer, fingers twiddling the bottle a bit. "And it's not him this time."

You hesitate, then slide your eyes over to him as it cuts to a commercial. "I watch these all the time to go to sleep. They have focused on him enough to tell me it's him. I know how the show works."

"You may know the show, but it's definitely not him," Alex replies smirking.

"Are you challenging my True Crime savvy?" you ask, quirking an eyebrow. "Just because you do," you gesture vaguely, "whatever it is you do...doesn't mean you know everything." You pause, "unless you know this case already, which isn't fair."

"I promise I do not know it," Alex answers. "But I do know who the killer is."

"Fine. Who is it then?" You ask, shifting to face him better and stretching your legs out on the couch between the two of you. Your knees have begun to ache, having them curled under you, and the sweat behind them has grown uncomfortable.

"The neighbor," Alex states simply as his eyes dart to your feet, which are less than an inch from his leg. "This was definitely a woman who did it." He then proceeds to explain everything that led him to that conclusion. From the way the woman acted on the 911 call after 'finding' the dead wife in the garage to how she inserted herself into the investigation and constantly lingered around the home to help the husband.

You huff, not wanting to believe him even though it all makes sense and turn your attention back to the television. And sure enough, the story has a twist, and the neighbor and husband were having an affair, and she took it too far in her obsession.

Alex is gracious with his win, not rubbing it in your face, but at the small pout you give him he sighs.

"Beginners luck?" He offers before laughing at your eye roll. He gently grabs one of your feet and gives it a little shake as you continue to playfully puff out your bottom lip and pointedly not look at him. "See if you can beat me on round two," he states as the opening jingle starts.

His hand doesn't leave your foot as you both lock into the opening sequence. Unconsciously you shift toward him a bit as his thumb gently traces up the arch of your foot before you twitch. You're ticklish, but his hand keeps you immobile as he traces his thumb back down with a bit more pressure that makes you bite the inside of your cheek. It feels nice. Your job kept you on your feet almost all day, in heels, and there were days when you got home and barely made it to the couch, limping the whole way.

"First commercial break guess?" Alex asks as he rubs his thumb into the ball of your foot, pointedly not acknowledging what he is doing.

"You'll steal my answer if I tell you," you reply, to which he lightly pinches the soft spot in your arch making you jolt. "Fine," you laugh a bit, "a client of his."

"Not bad," Alex answers as he grabs for your other foot and pulls you a bit toward him. You scoot without question and lightly set your feet on the side his leg. "But I think it's the coworker."

As the show wears on, you find you aren't paying as much attention to it as you feign. Your focus is on his hands, on how they expertly rub out the aches in your feet, that one broad palm is enough to engulf your foot in his grip, and how his fingertips skirt up past your ankle to trace your calf a bit.

But you aren't able to hide your distraction for long as he switches to using both hands on one foot, a small groan escaping your lips. You can feel the heat rush up your chest and face at the noise, and you snap your eyes to Alex, who has given you his full attention.

"That sore?" He inquires, his tone perfectly casual though you can feel him shift a bit.

"I need to go get a pedicure just so they'll massage my feet," you confess as he works on the heel of one foot, causing you to shut your eyes. It hurts but then the relaxation after the pressure is heavenly. "Or just go get a massage in general."

"Lean back," Alex says as the show returns from break. "See if I can work some of it out for you," he smirks as you shift.

Is it crossing a line? Sure. Maybe. No? You don't know. He's a friend, right? Friends help friends. Maybe not at one in the morning, and probably not massaging out soreness unless that was their job. But...there could be worse things. You could be thanking him in a much different way that makes you squirm a bit at just the thought. This was innocent. Friendly.

However, this whole interaction would never be brought up around your father, who was already weird about you and Alex talking.

"Goddamn it," you mutter as you roll your head to stare at the ceiling when the show reveals the killer was the coworker. Alex had finished massaging your feet a bit ago, though they still rested in his lap, heels sitting right atop the center of his legs. His palms rest on your shins, thumb brushing back and forth idly every few seconds. "It's not fun when you lose."

"It's my job to be observent," Alex reminds you with a grin as he shifts in his seat. It's subtle, but because you are laser focused on just where your feet sit, you feel it. Feel him. Fuck, if that's him soft...You swallow and force yourself to focus and not give away what you just felt, and continue to feel, under your heel.

"Care for one more?" You ask though you don't really care about the show now. Too busy letting your mind wander to not so innocent things.

"You have work in the morning, trouble," Alex answers as you cut your eyes to the television as the credits roll. He doesn't let go of you though, fingertips wandering high enough to tickle the back of your knee before following the indent of your calf muscle back to your ankle. "I think you'll be able to sleep in your bed tonight instead of on the kitchen floor as well."

He was right. While the apartment wasn't the cold you preferred, it was at least comfortable with a fan so you could get some sleep. And you were tired, the massaging of your feet and legs relaxing you as you lay on the couch. But you also didn't want him to leave yet, either. It was nice having company, having someone around to talk to and spend time with. And also look at...and perhaps flirt with here and there.

Then a yawn betrays you and he gives you a pointed look, eyes darting to the clock reflecting it was almost three.

"Fine, Dad," you taunt with an eye roll, dragging your legs off his lap, feeling him one more time before sitting up. "I'll go to bed."

"Good girl," he mocks back.

Those words from his lips send a shiver down your spine that certainly has nothing to do with the temperature in the room. It was still seventy eight degrees in the apartment. He notices, eyes flaring a bit and lips curving up in the corners for a fraction of a second.

Definitely crossing into not friendly territory.

"Thanks again for coming," you reply as you walk him to the door, turning your head to yawn again. "I'll text you if I have any more issues," you tack on, heading him off before he tries to insist again that you call him anytime if you need him.

Leaning against the window to see him to his truck, you give him one more wave before dragging your fans to your bedroom for bed.

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

"Fuck, fuck," Alex groans as he sits in his bed in the dark, the glow of the phone the only thing illuminating his room.

He had barely made it home. By the time he got to his truck he had been painfully fucking hard. Mind consumed with everything about you.

About the barely there gym shorts that gave him flashes of your dark blue undergarments when you bent over or shifted your legs on the couch. The thin tank top that did nothing to keep your chest restrained, allowing your breasts to shift with each step you took and to slide up as you laid back on the couch so he could see the curved tops by your collarbone.

Then all that skin of your feet and legs on display for him to look at. To freely touch.

"Fuck," he groans again. One hand works over his hard and leaking cock as he zooms in on a video clip of you with your feet in his lap with the other. The way you squirm as you watch him makes him laugh a bit under his increasingly strained panting.

Alex had known exactly what he was doing and how it was affecting you. Had purposely pushed the envelope to let you rest your feet over him, though it had taken all his willpower to not rut his hips against your feet.

The show had been the furthest thing from his mind, only watching long enough to get his answer before all of his focus was on you. How you bit your lip when you thought he didn't see and squeezed your thighs together as you pushed your heels down a bit to feel him more, thinking you were being coy.

He doesn't need the visual anymore.

He slides the video to the live feed of your dark living room, sets his phone down, and closes his eyes. He has enough in his mind's eye that just a few more strokes and he'd be able to finish.

As he arches his hips up and moans loudly with a slew of curses, not caring about the mess he makes all over his stomach, Alex swears he hears a soft little moan come from his phone.

From you in your bedroom easing your own tension.

[chuluoyi]

tw vent — a personal life problem. i just have to leave it here bc i’ve been crying for two days. it’s long… so feel free to scroll past it :’)

i’m… about to break up with my bf of 2 years

he’s a really kind person. and i don’t exaggerate it. he always makes sure to show me that he loves me through little actions like forehead kisses whenever we meet up, getting me a customized keychain with my name on it, getting me meaningful gifts and flowers on important dates unprompted… and every simple and little gift he gave me i have stored inside a box and there are so many i’m bawling whenever i look at them bc i’m so touched that a man who loves me really exists :’) he’s my prayers coming true. i used to pray for a boy who will accept me as i am and he comes at the perfect time near the end of my college year when i thought everything in this world was jaded

not only that he also spoils me, goes along with anything i say… he is serious regarding our relationship, introduces me to his parents and siblings. i thought i no longer have any worries about the future. and i can say i’m 90% content with my life now— a great job, a nice boyfriend, financially independent… my life is too good sometimes it feels scary

but there’s no such thing as a perfect life and i’ve dreaded it quite some time… because i know that both of us have been avoiding a certain issue just so we don’t burst our happy bubble… and now that issue has come to bite us

we’ve been in a LDR for two years and i’m honestly okay with it, but whenever questions about the future comes up—like “where should we live in the future?” i always clamp up bc for certain i want to live in my hometown, where my job, parents and social life are. but the thing is… he has his own thing in his city, where his parents reside and he’s the first son so he’ll inherit the family business there

i eventually voiced my worries about this to him, and do you know what his first reaction was? i was so sure he’d immediately get worked up and convince me to leave my job

but no. it never happened

he was so shaken. and yet… he never denied me. he said he’d talk to his parents about it… he said he’d be fine with this arrangement even if he has to be the one going back and forth. he said anything that would make me happy… he’d do it

and i believe him. until the end, i believe him. because he really means it even until the end

i’ve predicted it already. no way are his parents going to agree with this. i know bc just put yourself in their position—your bright first son has everything in order, set to inherit the family business, but he’s going to live a hard life of LDR only for some girl… that’s simply unacceptable

now you might wonder why i’m so dead set with living in my hometown. in chinese culture, when a girl marries, she usually lets go of everything and goes with the husband. but i really, really love my job here. i love the work i’ve been doing, community and friends i’ve made here, the salary and whatnot. not everyone gets a chance to work in my company bc it’s considered prestigious. working here gives me a purpose— i feel enabled here and i can be a part of something greater. i’ve won awards and i’m considered for a promotion too in just 2 years in this company, so it’s really hard for me to let go of it when i know i can be more than just a housewife. and so, whenever i imagine that i have to leave this company one day… i’m crushed

and not only that, my parents only have me. i’m an only child, and my father’s health condition isn’t the best either. i can only shudder whenever i think of them being alone if left them here

sometimes i think i’m too selfish for wanting this. for wanting to keep my job. for wanting to be with my parents. for keeping my social life. my bf is the one sacrificing energy and money twice a month to meet me in my city, and even then i still want to ask for more

but… i really can’t lie to myself and say it’s fine when it’s not. and what makes me cry even harder is the fact that when he finally tells me what his parents’ opinions are… he cries too and said all of these:

“i want us to be together. i feel so, so lucky to have met you. there are some days in which i thought that if you weren’t there… then it’d be much harder.”

“i’m always so happy seeing you all happy and energetic, doing things you love. i don’t want to take that from you.”

“if i make you go with me, i’m afraid that one day… you’ll regret leaving. i’m afraid you’ll be unhappy and tell me ‘if i’ve known this earlier… i wouldn’t have left at all.’”

it’s the depth in which he thought of all of these. i cried on the spot in front of him because… what have i done? what should i do? i love him, i really do but in the end, i can’t let go of everything for him either

and the cherry on top? he doesn’t even want to instigate the break up. he said everything is in my hands now. he wants nothing more than keeping our relationship, but he doesn’t have the heart to make me unhappy. even until the end, he says whatever my decision is… he’ll accept it even if it hurts

i’ve been crying since yesterday. it’s so hard to let him go when memories of the past two years pop up one by one. he’ll pick me up, hug me on hard days, tell me that i’ll do just well, adore me and make me feel confident in myself… he’s been a really great emotional support for me and i’m so, so grateful to have met him too

now we’re still in a limbo. i’m too shaken so i obviously am not able to tell him what my answer is. we agreed to think of this further and talk about our decision in 2 weeks, when he’ll come to meet me again

i don’t know what my answer is even until now. i know the best course is probably breaking up bc we can’t agree on this particular point… but it’s not easy, not when we still love each other this much

. . .

for any of you who have taken the time to read this until the end… thank you :’) this blog is the safest corner i have and i really don’t want to bring any sort of negativity here… but this time i’m just too sad with everything and i think i need a space to confide in💔

[planet-crait]

After repeatedly seeing posts about A New Wish and some angsty content from the original show making me super nostalgic, I decided to cave and watch the Fairly Odd-parents A New Wish.

I think for sanity’s sake I’ll be breaking things down episode by episode to give my thoughts as sort of a live reaction? We’ll see how that goes but for now, I’ll start off with a broad, so far I’m liking what I’m seeing. The show is fun and silly and does really capture the spirit of the original which these days certain companies *cough*Disney*cough* can’t seem to manage.

I do have some questions and gripes which I’ll mention later but they haven’t made me enjoy the show less because I know things may get explained later on and it is the first season so I get maybe not wanting to show their hands on this stuff yet. If you want to see my spoiler thoughts they’re below the cut to avoid spoiling people who haven’t seen it yet.

I feel like I should start off by admitting I have seen spoilers so I know about certain things throughout the season but not how we get their and the spoilers I saw actually have me excited to see what happens. But I wanted to be fair and be upfront about that as we get into this.

Right off the bat two things simultaneously occurred, I was immediately in love with the intro song, but for some reason was very confused about it playing at the begining of the episode. I don’t know why I was certain the original the song didn’t play before the episode but for the official first episode it does so I think I may have either A. Been confusing it with the pilot which never plays the theme song or B. Mixing it up with RW/BY who for the first episode of a new season plays the intro at the end of the episode (or some combination of both).

This is not a negative just a funny thing that threw me off. I was hoping for more of this new style and it feels way too short and I was kind of sad it ended. I love the new singers for the intro and like the style it uses I don’t know how to better word it but I really enjoyed it and was sad because it felt shorter then the original and uh spoiler alert it is by a solid ten seconds with the original clocking at about 45 seconds and the new clocking in at only 30 seconds. I don’t know why they cut out 15 seconds because overall the new version follows the flow of the original. I may go through the songs more closely side by side to see if their is a verse missing or it’s just sung quicker for no other reason then I’m curious and I want a longer version of this new one (or at least the singer for the new one to do more songs because I love their voice). I enjoy Hazels section being her own thing and making different rapid fire wishes than Timmy to potentially be giving us a glimpse of her personality. I know there is a dry themed episode and she wishes for fries so maybe it’s a stretch I’ll find out but regardless I enjoyed it. (If someone knows who sings the intro please let me know lolz).

I was worried I wouldn’t like the animation style for the show, with reboots or sequels the animation is either hit or miss for me but it was fine nothing like mind blowing but it was fine nothing really stuck out to me either way so I call that a win, especially after hearing rumors about the really tight animation budget for this first season.

Hazel herself is a solid character, she feels like a little kid trying to navigate a lot of sudden changes and is struggling to figure out her way through. I empathize with Hazel strongly actually as someone who loved suddenly before the second grade to a new school where I was not liked at all by my peers so I really relate to Hazel here in that respect. Hazel has a lot of personality shining through here in the first episode which I admit she really needs that to stand up against the legacy Timmy holds for the original series.

On a side note, I had heard a lot of people discussing how Timmy seems to be haunting the narrative and I honestly didn’t expect to notice that exact thing right in episode one. Maybe because I was told about it I was really looking out to see it showing, but I quickly noticed little things like the picture of Timmy’s room in Cosmo and Wanda’s house and the brief mention of their previous godkid and retiring after them.

Again this really could just be nostalgia talking here (seeing a lot of Nicktoons Unite content on other socials lately lolz) but it stuck out to me and so far I think it works? I feel like him not showing up for a while but still feeling his presence is a really smart choice. Maybe my opinion will change but for now it works because so far there isn’t a need for Hazel to know about the Godkid before her. I’m intrigued to see if and how he might naturally come up but for now it works for me. I admit I may cry if he shows up ever but again. Nostalgia lolz.

One quick question, I heard this guy was confirmed to not be Timmy on twitter?

If anyone has that tweet confirming that I would love to see it because as everyone notes he looks exactly like the older Timmy from season one of the original so I was confused when I originally saw the screenshot floating around and would love some clarification because I don’t really use the bird app much anymore.

Now onto the gripes I briefly mentioned earlier. The first big question that kind of hung in my mind was, how come Cosmo and Wanda get to just…decide to be Hazels Godparents? I know it would bog down the story they wanted to go with to try and work around this but the original show repeatedly established fairy godparents are assigned to kids who need them, so…why do they get to pick their next godkid especially since they’re retired currently? This is the stuff I know technically isn’t needed because sometimes story just has to story but it’s bugging me. Again it doesn’t hurt the show necessarily at this point of writing this but it’s something that threw me off that I expected to have something for. Maybe it’ll be explained later maybe not it’s not a deal breaker but just bugs me as someone who loves seeing world building stuff in stories.

I also have to wonder how the heck have Cosmo and Wanda not been caught with how blatantly they use magic. Hazel repeatedly notices them using magic before she knows they’re fairies. In the original show we see them function as “humans” with using magic significantly less than they do. Why aren’t they concerned about Hazel seeing them do Magic? This could have been a story decision to firmly establish for anyone new to the series that they’re Magic and such but it was an odd choice to me.

The other main question I have is how they’ve gone 10,00 years without ever hearing someone say “I wish” before Hazel said that in front of them. Do they not run into people annoyed at a bus stop wishing for their late bus to show up? I assume they’re only compelled to grant wishes of kids but have they not been around a kid wishing for something ridiculous around them? Or do they need to feel like the kid needs them? Again this is one of these “this is a kids show so it’s probably being yadda yadda’d past so the story can story but I don’t think it would be a fair review if I didn’t mention these things I noticed.

However, I do really like how the show establishes how whole her parents clearly care about her but her mom specifically falls into being g a therapist for her vs a mom for her which causes her to put pressure on Hazel to not talk to them. I think it works well to show us how and why Hazel needs Cosmo and Wanda. And Wanda questioning Hazel when they catch her running away and getting her to admit what’s going on felt very in character for both of them. As I said earlier I feel like the creators really did maintain the spirit of the original show and that’s really nice to see.

Hazels wish and the result both also work overall well. Making her a fly so she could fly and also match the specific verbiage of her wish was fun. However the reveal about how weird their body parts are was uh…a choice. Not a huge fan but again this is a children’s show so I know some things just aren’t necessarily going to click with me. On an unrelated note, ATLA set me up to spend the entire section of Hazel flying through town for someone to exclaim “My cabbages!” And given both are Nicktoon shows, I feel like it had to be intentional.

Now why Cosmo and Wanda didn’t change Hazel back in the hallway or something is another strange choice but I suppose they couldn’t have had the fun hijinxs if they didn’t and Hazel wouldn’t have been able to talk to Tony if they didn’t but still. Confused on the why they did that. It is a kids show but I feel like even kids shows can still tie the lose ends a little better. At least the hijinks were enjoyable and seeing Wanda failing so spectacularly at small talk was pretty amusing. And yea you could argue they hammed up Hazel and Tony’s talk a little but I can forgive it because they’re trying to make the message clear for kids and that’s just a thing that tends to happen in kids shows. I’ve seen it done far worse in the past so credit where credit is due here.

Upon rewatching I also had to question why Cosmo was so traumatized by living in a fishbowl for 7 years since their castle was huge and they could go their whenever they wanted so it being small being the issue was…a choice? I don’t think it’s meant to imply they have negative feelings towards Timmy specifically but again, just a note that threw me off a little.

Still in the end I do really enjoy Hazels excitement and interest in Cosmo and Wanda’s apartment. Again world building me is wondering are they paying rent? How? Can they poof money into existence to pay rent? Is that allowed? The stupid things most people don’t care about that I do because well brains. But in the end Hazel is a fun character with a lot of personality, Cosmo and Wanda are fun and cute which was a huge draw in for the original and it’s great to see carry over. I wonder if someone on the team is a fan of Undertale given Hazels shirt matches like perfectly with Frisks.

I just hope no one tries to tell me I’m Cosplaying Hazel wrong when I go out as Frisk. Either way I’m excited to go onto episode two.

[hungriesttable]

if the Sinners got a dog

(below the cut because I actually have a decent amount of thoughts on this)

Outis: one of the only (and possibly THE only) sinners committed to disciplining the dog. She’s a bit perturbed that the dog won’t reliably sit/stay on command because it tends to jump at random intervals instead (Don Quixote’s influence).

Has some belief that if she speaks in a voice that’s authoritative enough, the dog will understand what she’s saying. Is displeased when that doesn’t happen. “Why are you trying to sit on me? No.” “It’s because the dog likes you” “If she likes me she will sit politely on the ground as she is supposed to”

Rodya: She was the one who named the dog, and probably rescued it off of the street, insisting that they should keep the dog at least for a little while. Feeds the dog a bit of whatever the Sinners are having. “That’s not good for dogs!” “A little won’t do her any harm~”

Sinclair: He wasn’t sure what to make of the dog at first (it’s probably not vaccinated, and he only became sure it didn’t have rabies after a couple of days), but he’s pretty fond of it. Whenever he’s in need of company, the dog appears without him needing to say anything. It’s warm, soft, and close, and he definitely thinks of it as a family member. That being said he personally has a steep learning curve of “how to take care of a dog” (if he had one in his previous years then there was probably a butler to take care of it)

Heathcliff: I recently read Wuthering Heights. This gives me reason to suspect that Heathcliff would not be a big fan of the dog, at least at first. He’s fine with it from a distance, but protests to having to touch it (and to having it touch him). I’d imagine that it gets on his good side eventually, though, and he’d probably be one of those people who wants the dog to love him the most out of everyone.

Ryōshū: They weren’t really sure how she would react to the dog at first. She’s currently trying to teach it how to sic. Given the opportunity, she’ll examine the dog’s body. Her efforts of questionable motivation led to the discovery that the dog is missing a tooth.

Gregor: After 5.5, I think it’s safe to say that he’s the “dad with the dog he didn’t want”. He notices that the dog is repulsed by the smell of cigarettes and doesn’t smoke as actively when he’s around it.

Don Quixote: She wants the dog to be her sidekick. She’s taught the dog how to hug (ie how to jump and put its paws on her chest/shoulder), and is hoping to teach the dog how to do some advanced stunts. “Move forth, my companion, and fetch mine lance!” (Dog does nothing)

Yi Sang: The dog is his buddy. He’s a bit concerned about the idea that the dog could be involved in Limbus Company’s business, but has no problem with the idea of teaching the dog some more simple stuff (eg how to track scents and find lost people/things).

Faust: If there’s a City equivalent to a Wikipedia page on dogs, she probably read it. Several times. She wouldn’t say it, but the dog’s capriciousness often confounds her. In lieu of a microchip, she made a tracking collar for the dog.

Meursault: He and the dog share a certain special bond due to his willingness to walk, clean up after, and generally take care of the dog when others don’t feel like it. He’s not necessarily a fan of the whole “spontaneous tackling” thing, but he’s big enough to avoid being pushed over and has few other complaints about the dog. With the lack of interest in training the dog on the bus, he doesn’t see the use of disclosing what he knows about training dogs.

Ishmael: She likes the dog. Walking the dog often brings her mixed feelings, since it reminds her of the other experiences she’s had with being on the end of a guiding rope. She’s figured out that she can derail Heathcliff’s train of thought by invoking the dog, either physically or in name, and she’s greatly enjoying this ability.

Vergilius: He was dubious about the whole “dog on the bus” thing. Since Charon seems to enjoy the dog’s presence, however, he sees no point in objecting to it. He doesn’t dislike dogs, but the fact that anything bad happening to the dog could have catastrophic consequences means he’s always a little on edge around it. If the Sinners weren’t planning on doing their best to take care of it before, they certainly are after receiving some Red Gaze-brand reminders to be responsible pet owners.

Dante: Rewinding dog scratches is a small burden, but please, can SOMEONE cut the dog’s nails? They like the dog, but their clock head doesn’t seem to win them any canine popularity points. They’re both disappointed and relieved that the dog doesn’t count as a thirteenth Sinner.

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Sorry, Wrong Comms! : Hunter x Medic!Reader [Chapter 1]

Much more recently written fanfic I started to distract myself from the "mild" trauma of Season 2 finale based on ideas that wouldn't work for "Rough Stuff". This fic is absolutely RIFE with my personal headcanons. Clones deserved so much better, and I will be a giant mess when I get to Pong Krell in TWC as I have since started rewatching it.

Warnings & Information: Intended audience is 13+, 18 if you squint. Hurt+comfort material primarily; there is still a fair amount of angst, fluff, and all the good stuff. Reader has she/her pronouns. We really like italics in this house. Peep this for funsies for why I decide to use Mando'a. By no means comprehensive, in no particular order there will be: Mild injury description + care, blood, vague medical terminology (read as: pretending to understand medical stuff), use of restraints, needles (autoinjectors), near-death(s), nausea and non-descriptive mentions of vomit, Star Wars swearing, drugs (both medical and recreational references), minor adult themes + implications, avoidant behaviors, trickery and light mean teasing in the forms of siblings and crushes. 

Series-inaccurate allusions to Crosshair never leaving Bad Batch post Order 66 execution [because while this is an AU fic, I am also very much an Avoidant Mess™], Batchers never meet Cid, fair chance of misremembering any referenced events from TCW series. Series accurate allusions and references to canon violence (AKA: literal war crimes, weapon injuries, etcetera).  

Word-count: 4,637

She couldn't remember the last time she had a really, really bad day outside of her medical clinic. There was a tip-off that an abandoned medical center on a neighboring mining planet within the system had supplies too tantalizing to ignore. Valuable paraphernalia that was being phased out by this emerging Empire, ripe for the taking. Did the mining company really have to build this settlement on the steepest face of the mountain? No, they probably didn't realize how unstable, unsafe and ultimately unsuitable this location was while they riddled the inside of the mountain with tunnels as they harvested precious ore and minerals. This was a boomtown and it had completed two of the three strikes typical of such: strike it rich, strike it fast, strike it down. The people living and working here had to abandon it in a hurry before they demoed the place. This mining company hadn't done their proper research and now the shells of their temporary structures were all that remained. 

But a scrappy little scavenger had found the medical center was still fairly flush with supplies and let the first medic who was willing to help them with their injuries know about the score. 'It'll be dangerous. If you're going, tell a friend so they know to come looking for you if you don't get back after a certain time. But these items are pre-Empire, they aren't making them like that anymore, so you'll want these. Trust me. I think you'll find them worth the risk of a rock slide or two.' 

It. Was. Not. Not really, anyways.

She was just glad to be home now. Put the day behind her. No more rock slides. No more rusted shells of buildings that made for excellent deathtraps. No more falling halfway down the mountain she climbed up in the descent to her ship in the foothills and losing almost every last med supply she came with after slipping on a patch of loose, fine-grain sand just after navigating the maze of the medical center. She had to hobble down the rest of the mountain with nothing to clean out the open wounds and prayed to everything and anything that she didn't contract something that had leached into the rock as the by-products of mining and refinery. She had to stumble into her ship and send a message to her back-up at home that she was 'hurt pretty kriffing bad' but alive and would be back planet-side after dinner; don't wait up for me, I'm too damn tired to swing by after all. Tell the others I'm sorry.

Her instructors in med school would be having a conniption if they saw the way she had tended her wounds so lazily and would never let her hear the end of it for the juvenile, sloppy attempt to bandage the laceration on her dominant arm, but she was too tired to care. (But if she ever saw that scavenger again, she'd kill them for failing to mention several things. The collapsing roof in the west stock room, for starters.) She'd deal with it all properly in the morning. She just wanted to sleep after sucking down two tubes of nutrient paste and a mixed handful of painkillers and antibiotics to ward away pain and infection.

She picked up her datapad one last time and hissed a deliberate dictation into the mic after tugging the knot to the wrapping one last time for good measure. "I'll deal with that bantha fodder in the morning… Home safe. Going to bed. Goodnight." 

She'd accidentally sent it to the wider group beyond the singular contact when five messages popped up in short succession. 

Glad you're home safe. Sleep well, kid. 

likewise

GOODNIGHT!:)

Yes, goodnight. 

We'll see you in the morning, burc'ya. 

Hopefully she'd feel well-rested with the sunrise. Crawling into her bed, she dropped heavily on her side and clutched a well worn Tooka doll in her favorite colors named after her very first childhood pet to her chest as she drew the covers up over her shoulders. Maker, she was so tired. It wouldn't take long before sleep came for her, feeling the first beckoning pulls on her eyelids after just a few moments. 

Her comms gave a harsh screech, jolting her awake in her bed. Just when she had drifted off… This better be important. An actual karking emergency. Someone who had her personal frequency had better be dying if they were contacting her. "What."

There was a lot of shuffling and keypad beeping on the other end of the comms channel, but no one spoke right away. Just when she was about to either call out a hello? or simply disconnect her comlink, she heard someone speak up. Clone Sergeant Hunter. "Tech is this really necessary to keep the-"

"If we want an accurate oral temperature, yes." 

There was a groan over the channel, then the sharp rustle as the comms got bumped or adjusted in Hunter's hand. "Well the longer I have it in my mouth the closer I feel to gaggin-"

She shot upright in her bunk, slightly grossed out and confused all at once. "What the kriff are you-!?"

The two Clones on the other end of the comlink gave their own startled shouts, realizing they had a disembodied voice suddenly joining their company. "[____]! How-?" 

She was quick to cut Tech off, pulling the comlink closer to her face to amplify her furious tone of voice. "Did one of you seriously call me - in the middle of a medical check - when I'm trying to sleep!" 

"Sorry, [____]." Hunter mumbled shamefully. "Must have switched on my comlink by mistake… Didn't mean to disturb you when I know you've had a hard day." What an understatement, Hunter. The impulsive venom in her mouth was hard to hold back, encouraged by her frustrations and discomforts bubbling over. "Hard day made harder thanks to you." She regretted it in a heartbeat. Thank the Maker the enhanced Clone wasn't in the room with her; he'd probably have been able to hear the way it skipped a beat if he was able to sense the beginnings of seismic activity, smell the way she felt her body begin to shiver in a forming, cold stress-sweat as the shame of her anger washed over her. 

"You're right: let me make it up to you." 

She was told to come over to the Batch's housing. Crosshair opened the blastdoor for her before she even had a chance to knock to avoid waking anyone sleeping if she used the buzzer. "He'll be in the main area."

"What, no "Hello, taking care of yourself like I told you to?" tonight, Cross? Even as a joke, after the day I've been having, to lighten the mood?" 

There was a half-hearted scoff (or maybe that was a soft laugh) from the Clone at this."That's more Wrecker's thing," Cross drawled in a casual voice around a toothpick, sidestepping to let her squeeze inside, "and I'm not really interested in pretending I can't see that you are not taking care of yourself."

"No, of course not Mr. Sharp-eyed, Snarky Sniper. 'Cause I fall down the mountains of abandoned mining settlements for kriffing fun." 

If Cross was phased by the uncharacteristic anger of the medic tonight, he didn't really show it. Just a little twitching pull of his upper lip on one side and half-lidded eyes that betrayed a bit of amusement and disappointment. "Mmp. C'mon, kid. I'll see if I can't find a half-decent ration bar somewhere around here for you." 

"Not hungry, Cr-"

"Don't care." He interrupted in a brusque tone, not giving her the opportunity for excuses. Crosshair was the kinda guy who didn't like excuses, either in giving or getting, and could be quick to shut that kriff down. It was refreshing sometimes, but tonight it was just another mild annoyance of [____]'s day. 

Whatever. She was going to go find Hunter where Cross said he'd be rather than waiting around in the entryway forever. "Skipping meals again, are we burc'ya?" As a medic, she often missed out on a meal or two while she was aiding the galaxy's sick and injured, and the unintentional habit carried over when she wasn't at the clinic. Something that made her friends fret over her like this. "For once I had all three meals. Only thing I swear went right today…" There was a pause as the medic heard a comment from the small kitchen on the left from the common room and she added with a gentle sigh, "aside from not breaking any bones during that nasty fall, too I guess." 

Hunter looked relieved and genuinely proud of her, sincerely surprised she wasn't tired and hungry like many nights in the past. Crosshair just turned on his heel back into the kitchen unit without breaking his stride, after a little shuffling around in the cabinets [____] could hear the sink running. "Well that's… good! Proud of you, kid." 

"...Than-"

Cross set the glass of water he'd filled for her in lieu of the ration bar down on a low table in the common room in the middle of the light conversation she was having with Hunter. "Here. I'll leave you two to it. Goodnight."

"U-um, thanks, Cross. Goodnight…" Cross nodded nonchalantly at her, next turning to his brother, who was quick to avoid his eyes before Crosshair just turned and left the two of them. Leave you two to it, what did he mean by that that had Hunter looking so nervous with a wave of color creeping up his neck from under the collar of a fresh nightshirt? "What's going on, Hunter? Do I need to be worried about something? Something show up on the health check? Do you need some nysillin tea or- s-something?" 

Hunter shook his head, a tender, reassuring (and touched) smile slowly building. You could take the doctor out of the clinic, but you couldn't stop her from thinking about her job. "Nothing's wrong, k'uur... Just thought I was feeling a little under the weather, but I'm perfectly fine. It's nothing more than just making it up to you after waking you. Plus, for once, you won't have to patch your own wounds. Why not have someone take care of you the same way you take care of others?" It was the same thing he'd said to her at the end of their first of many interactions in this seedy little travel-hub. The time she'd undoubtedly saved Crosshair's life after he'd picked up a nasty little parasite while slogging through the swamps of some distant planet. Kashyyyk? It was probably Kashyyyk. 

[____] was in a sour arrangement then with some smugglers with hair-trigger tempers to come and go as they pleased with her small clinic, and these Clones had been kind to remove the problem clientele "with discretion" as a way of paying her back. She'd saved their "stubborn vod". They saved her and now trusted her to treat their injuries no matter the cause, turning up at odd hours for the oddest of injury or malady. Complete faith in her in a hostile galaxy who now wanted… whatever it is they wanted with these Clones. She didn't ask. She didn't want to know. 

She'd heard the stories from those who fled the war encroaching nearly every part of the galaxy. She'd heard of the war crimes, seen the horror and gore and bloodshed step into at least two of the medical centers she once worked in… known of an Order 66 and what became of much, if not all, of the Jedi… She didn't want to know. They often didn't want to tell, beyond giving vague recollections when they were making arrangements for short-term prescriptions for sleeping supplements with the medic when the nightmares were overwhelming. 

Much like scouting the abandoned medical facility in an old mining boomtown for various 'sillin supplies, life seldom goes the way you wish. 

"C'mere, ad'ika. Let's get you patched up." He patted the space beside him on the couch in invitation, pulling a medkit closer with the other hand all while looking at her with the same softness he often reserved for his sister. When [____] first met him, she could have sworn Omega was his daughter. "Unless you're not okay with that." Hunter added, addressing her hesitation he could hear in the rhythm of her pulse, her heart. 

"I'm fine with it… just really tired and brain's kinda closing shop for the night. Sorry." Taking the seat indicated, [____] sunk back into the furniture, sighing. She didn't want to bring up why she was hesitating on him. He carried enough guilt as a participant in the old GAR… Hunter broke the seal on the new packet of medical tools, prepping everything he thought he'd need. "Don't be, ad'ika. Now, have you taken something for the pain already?" 

"Rhetorical question for a medic, don't you think?" The tired, teasing question was met with a single chuckle. He knew she would have, he was just making small talk. "Anything else? Ask me if I'm taking any other kind of stim packs, or maybe I should lie about eating all my recommended fruits and vegetables?" It was a laugh from Hunter this time, deep and hearty and genuine from his chest. 

"Are you?" Picking up a pre-moistened cleaning wipe from the little packet within the medkit, Hunter removed the sloppy wrappings around her dominant arm that [____] had applied before trying to call it a day and properly deal with everything in the morning. Dried smears of red lay underneath the gauze, something that made Hunter's gut drop slightly. Either she had done an uncharacteristically poor job cleaning her injuries, or these were more intensive than believed and they were slow-bleeders that hadn't scabbed over completely. 

"Tck…Can't say I'm any better than most of my patients, if I'm honest." Hunter hummed slightly, gingerly blotting along the length of the mild laceration. It had to have been an unpleasant injury after losing all her emergency supplies and nothing to ease it right away until she stumbled back to her ship. It looked fairly deep to him, but couldn't be certain. "Mmh! That stings." 

"'It's supposed to, little guy. Means it's working.' I swear Cross could have killed you with a look if the parasite wasn't actively killing him over being called a little guy like he was a kid." 

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Tech." [____] half-heartedly mocked Hunter's sharp recollection of their first encounter, trying to stifle a coming yawn. That time felt so long ago now; longer than it actually was. "I was only trying to keep him calm and comfortable. I see a lot of children at my clinic so it's a habit I've de-developed… excuse me, sorry about that. People… don't exactly love doctors." 

Hunter paused mid-blot, giving her a firm look to show her he was serious. Something in Hunter didn't like the way she'd said it, it didn't sit right with him. "Nonsense, cyar'ika. People love doctors; they just don't love going to them. Big difference. Trust me." Trust me like I trust you he wanted to say. He wouldn't. He believed it was mutually understood, no need for explicitly stating so (partly an old habit in thanks to how he communicated with many a vod during the war). "People…" Hunter tried further explaining, leaving out the "like us" he again believed didn't need to be said "...might be embarrassed, or fearful, or worried about going to the medic, but they understand they need to go because the medics will be able to make them better. They don't hate the doctor; they hate the doctor's office…" Hunter paused, digesting his own words with a questioning expression as he set aside the pre-moistened wipe, now soiled. "Now of course I think I just sound like I'm condescendingly explaining your own job to you." 

"Heh. Don't worry about it. Too tired to care," the weary medic offered with a reassuring smile, leaning into the backrest of the couch with a slowing blink-rate. "I'm just more concerned about staying awake, while I'm the patient for once, for you." 

For you. Something about it was unintentionally sweet to Hunter and made something within him flutter for a moment. That was happening a lot lately, every time he thought of her. He kept chalking it up to his enhancements and memories of the Kaminoans testing him and the others that remained of the experimental unit, the sharp sterility of antiseptic that lingered in her clinic and her clothing and her hair that sometimes turned his stomach, or simply a disconnected unfamiliarity with those who were not Clones… though, while perhaps he never felt truly connected with them and the way some called them the 'Sad Batch' (or called Omega a lab scabber) when they thought they could get away with it, they had still been his brothers in arms in the war.

A war they were still running from. One they nearly lost Crosshair to after 'things went screwy on Kaller' as Wrecker put it once. What an understatement… if Hunter hadn't been so insistent with the Shock Troopers down in the brig that the Batch stayed together to the point that they tased Hunter to shut him up instead of extracting Cross, then Crosshair likely would have been siphoned off to some corner of Tipoca City and had the activation of his inhibitor chip nudged along into unpleasant possibilities Hunter had nightmares about in addition to so many things he'd seen… done, during the Clone Wars. It'd been difficult, and he'd hated part of himself for it, but as they made their initial escape from Kamino, he threatened to stun Crosshair if he didn't kriffing shut up about following orders they didn't even understand for five minutes! so hard he wouldn't wake up until they reached the next star system. 

There had been so much bickering. They still bickered even after Captain Rex got in touch with them, somehow, after they left Saleucami visiting the Lawquane family (which had been tricky and Tech worked the loophole that Crosshair could not report Cut for desertion because it had been the GAR when he went AWOL and now it no longer existed, it was the Empire now, right? half to death before Crosshair reluctantly let it be), and they got their chips removed in the rusted out shell of a Venator on Bracca and had been lured into a trap set by Tarkin back on Kamino. Because if Tarkin could not have this SpecOps force, nobody in the galaxy could; he'd aimed to wipe them out and they'd narrowly avoided being swallowed in the eternal seas of the closest thing they had to a homeworld. 

It took a long time for the bickering to stop. They were at their throats for a while still until… Crosshair had gotten really, really sick. 

That's what led to this friendship with a medic who had been willing to help them nearly a year ago. Though lately, it was feeling… different.

"Hey…" [____] broke the building silence while Hunter had been searching for a bacta patch, and Hunter initially worried he'd done something to tip her off to the personal burdens, the memories, he shouldered. "...weird question for ya, if that's okay." 

"How weird?" Hunter tried, careful not to let the hesitancy and budding anxieties show in his voice. There's the karking things. He'd probably need a couple of them to make sure he had it covered so it would heal up nicely, quickly.

"Oh, not very. I just wanna pick your brain a bit." 

Ah. Just curiosity. He affixed the first patch over the first half of the laceration, careful not to prod the bruised flesh with unnecessary pressure. "Alright, pick away." 

"What is… your favorite memory? When you're having a bad day… what's the thing you think about that always cheers you up?"

"Heh… your day was really that bad that you're looking for advice from a soldier, doc?" Hunter teased, applying a second patch over the laceration. He wasn't sure what he could truthfully answer with while he was carefully measuring out a length of sterile gauze to hold the patches in place on her dominant arm, there being too many little, fleeting happy moments rather than significant memories to spin some story from. But he'd try. "I guess for me… it's less what I think of and more of what I do after a bad mission. Clean my gear. Tidy up my rack. Buff out my helmet-" 

The medic smirked, a solitary, quiet laugh interrupting Hunter's train of thought. 

Oh, Maker… he'd forgotten the suggestive context behind the phrase she often heard in the infancy of her profession in the midst of the Clone Wars. He'd heard she'd get the stray Clone on occasion at the large health center she was employed at once on a different planet but didn't know how much truth there was to it. "K'uur: that was not a euphemism." 

That was met with a nervous giggle that made his stomach flutter. "S-sorry; old habits, and a non-professional setting where I can actually laugh." [____] offered meekly, face flushing with color while he wound the wrapping around her forearm. "C-continue, Hunter, please. 'Buff out your helmet' and...?" The unspoken what else on her tongue was permission enough to show she was serious about him continuing. 

"And… check in with the others, I suppose. Make sure that everyone is okay. Spend time with them. Strengthen personal bonds."

A lot like what the two of them were doing now, he supposed. The unintentional check in. Taking care of her injuries while they sat side by side in the common room as the rest of the Batch were sleeping. Except maybe for Tech who often tinkered away on his datapad or the desk he'd squeezed into the room he shared with Wrecker (who wasn't bothered by a roommate with a propensity to dink around with some little gadget or piece of equipment when he was sleeping or resting) at these hours. Or Crosshair, who was often awake and asleep around the same times Hunter was, since they'd have muffled "conversations" through the walls when neither could sleep on occasion. But all was relatively still and quiet in each of his brother's rooms, and the steady rumble of the noise machine in Omega's room meant his sister was asleep. 

Drumming rain and swirling waves. The perpetual ambiance of Kamino. He hoped the little machine replicating the soundscape engrained in her memories wouldn't cause her to dream of the Venator class ships bombing the cloning facilities tonight… 

While Hunter had been lost in his senses, his worries, the medic had been busy mulling over his words. There was a ghost of a smile taking the place of the pained frown she previously bore. "That all sounds… really nice."

The last injury tended to, Hunter set everything aside and gave [____]'s shoulder a tender double-pat, feeling the tense muscles under his hand as he held his hand there after the friendly gesture. "There you go, ad'ika. All patched up." 

"Thanks, appreciate the help Hunter. Could I… trouble you a little further by crashing here for the night? I don't think I'm in a fit state to get back home around now. Far, far too tired." It was definitely not a safe time for a woman to be walking by herself without a blaster, nevermind a tired, injured woman who'd been an invaluable friend to Clone Force 99. He'd never have sent her home to begin with, giving how deeply her chin dipped into her chest with fatigue. "No trouble at all; you're welcome to take my bed, if you want." Hunter offered, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze. He'd sleep out here in the common room so none of his brothers would get any funny ideas if both he and the medic emerged from the smallest of all the bedrooms in the housing together. 

Why the Sith's hells did he just think that?

[____] winced in mild complaint, laugh laced with pain. "Ow, that's quite a grip there, soldier!" 

"Sorry," he apologized, "didn't realize how hard it'd be. You carry a lot of stress and tension in your shoulders, ad'ika… I can feel how stiff your muscles are. I… have some experience with providing some relief for that, thanks to all the practice I've had with Wrecker and Tech. Tech's posture is a mess-" He rolled the palm of his hand against her shoulder experimentally, gauging the pliability of the tensest muscle, and she leaned into it eagerly with a whimpering 'oh, Maker…!' surprising even herself. Hunter decided he'd stubbornly pretend not to imagine how not-so-innocent the sound was, to keep talking about his brothers and ignore the heat in his lower belly, another flutter of his heart. "Tech spends hours hunched over his datapad, or some little gadget, or spends hours in those rigid crash seats in the Marauder with his muscles wound so tight he's practically locked in place. Wrecker takes such a beating each mission it's just… uh,"

"A w-way of taking care of him afterwards?" She helped him where he faultured. 

"Yeah. That's one part of it. Here, turn so I can get both shoulders." He had her melting under his touch quickly, the practically unhurried worship in this massage he was working into the medic's shoulders, neck, and the dominant arm. The muscles were so stiff and taut under her skin, under his ungloved hands. They were afraid to speak and break the reverence of this moment, the silent work of friend helping friend between each little involuntary sound of great relief or wince of brief pain as each tight, brow-bunching knot slowly surrendered. Her breathing pattern slowed as every minute elapsed between them beyond the gentle moans of relief as Hunter methodically kneaded the muscle free of tension with dexterous fingers. He wouldn't need to dig in so deeply like taking care of Wrecker's messes of well-defined muscle, for which he was grateful, to make any kind of progress, or go so tenderly to start with like he has to for Tech (on occasion) that the goggled Clone sometimes became a little impatient because he wasn't feeling any external relief. He could dip his fingers just a little deeper and just a little shallower, like those perpetual waves of Kamino replicated on Omega's sound machine, as he worked one muscle at a time for the unlikely friend who sat with him on the couch. 

It felt roughly the same to strengthening the bonds of the squad to Hunter, but again there was that fluttering in his heart that suggested this was so very different when he realized that when he moved back to [____]'s neck one last time, at her asking, and planted one of his palms on the opposite side of her face to keep her steadied as he dug little circles around the tight muscles under the base of her skull with his thumb that she took one last deep breath and was soon asleep in half a heart's beat between them. 

Hunter froze as he was, face hot in panic with the reality that he was now entirely supporting, for the moment, a female friend who was upright and asleep in his hands. Not knowing what to do just as the medic became more limp, he effectively locked himself in place when, on reflex, he caught her upper body against his before lowering it into his lap. A move he'd done a hundred times when one of the squad was this close to fainting out in the field.

Oh, you're kidding me… why the kriff did I do that?

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