#in the first few weeks of playing d2 a friend and i were called bad in a nightfall strike (very low level)

[warriorlid14]

So Gale and Delly. I had honestly never considered them at first, thinking they were far too different. Buuuuuuut.... I think it works? And is actually super cute when you think about for a second?

So here’s my take on how it would happen. It was supposed to be a series of short bullet points, but instead, you get a disorganized mini-fic. I’ll edit it later into an actual fic format, but for now, here ya go:

Delly goes to District 2. Gale is surprised to see her in one of their rebel/reconstruction/rebuilding/whatever their name was meetings two weeks after he had officially moved to D2. She had greeted him warmly and he supposed he had looked confused, because she suddenly had a sad smile and said, “There’s too many memories back in Twelve.” He didn’t have a response for that. He had too many ghosts back in Twelve, too.

He had never given Delly a second thought. She wasn’t in his grade level and he vaguely recognized her when he’d first seen her in D13. He supposed she was nice enough, what with the whole helping Peeta come back from... well, helping Peeta come back. But they didn’t interact, they didn’t cross paths, and he’d never had a reason to form much of an opinion of her.

But then after two days of her quietly listening in to the meetings, after Pike proposed simply demolishing the buildings near the square and rebuilding from scratch, Delly broke her silence and softly said, “Well, what do the citizens from District 2 want?”

There was silence, and then Pike said, “This will be the easier than attempting to repair every single building to its original standard.” And  Delly said “But this is their home,” her voice going up a decibal. After some debate within the team, Pike had told her that if she wanted to speak to all 60k (now 50k) residents of D2, to be his guest. 

Five days later, Delly showed up with 700 written testimonies with  requests to not tear down the buildings as well as grievances the team hadn’t even considered. Everybody was fed and had some sort of shelter- even if it was mostly camps. That had been the team’s main focus. But people wanted shoes, and shower facilities, and actual funerals for the dead.

They decided not to tear down the buildings. And Gale decided that he had underestimated Delly Cartwright.

Two weeks later Gale decided he detested Delly Cartwright. Okay, so detested was a strong word, but she absolutely aggravated him. How, just how, could a person be so cheery? At seven in the morning? It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to waking up at the crack of dawn, but that was to go to the forest. Their work place was a dimly lit, dampy building. Which also happened to house half of them, including the two of them. And if she chirpily asked him how his previous day was one more time on the elevator while he was busy trying to wake up, he would snap.

But she was from D12. The only other person from Twelve. And she meant nothing to him before, and in a way, still didn’t. It wasn’t like they were friends. But she was from home. And that counted for something. 

One day, a woman asked Delly if there was any way to retrieve her dead husband’s wedding band from the moratorium. Which led to dozens of similar requests. So Gale and Delly and five volunteers found themselves trying to ID bodies and gather belongings. The rebels had started doing this at first, but the bodies had piled up, and there were simply too many of them to continue.

For the first time, Gale saw Delly lose her smile and cheery demeanor. He told her she didn’t have to go in. He’d seen enough corpses. Some of them by his hand. A few more wouldn't make a difference. But Delly shook her head and headed to the first corpse. Gale decided that she was growing on him.

That night, Gale wondered if the corpses littered across D12 still had wedding bands on.

The first time Gale saw Delly angry was two months in when she demanded that workers from The Nut be given food and shelter instead of being left to fend for themselves. Pike yelled at her and called her naive, stepping closer towards her and Gale instinctively stepped in closer as well, protectively.

Delly’s face was flushed and she had tears in her eyes- she wasn’t one for confrontations- but she looked at Pike in the eyes and didn’t step back.

It was funny, really, how not so long ago, he would have agreed with Pike. Not so long ago, he would have looked at the workers from the Nut, Capitol supporters, and said “No. You don’t get to work for the enemy for years, you don’t get to kill for the enemy, and then demand the same rights as those who fought for freedom. That’s not fair.” Not so long ago, he had stood by that mountain and felt the ghost of the fire licking at his feet, burning his side, seen the fire flash in his mind and burn down his home, his neighbors, children, felt the fire wrap around his chest, his heart, his soul, and said, “Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. You killed my district. Now you deserve to die.” But now the fire he remembered the most was the one that had taken a blond-haired, blue-eyed, little girl that he loved like a sister. And for what? What had he fought for? Freedom. Protection. Justice. Revenge? But the war was over. And what had he fought for? All that loss could not have been in vain.

So he stepped behind Delly and loudly agreed with her. And when she smiled at him, it was almost contagious.

Delly left their department not long after they started looking for shelter for the workers at The Nut. She was now working on forming some sort of social program. Trying to build a community. Scrounging for resources outside of immediate survival. She was only two doors down from him, but Gale was surprised to find that he actually missed her constant humming in the office.

He supposed that this was why he accepted the invitation to attend the community dinner she organized a couple of weeks later. He kept his head down the entire time, focused on his meal. He had never been particularly quiet or reserved. He hadn’t been particularly outgoing, either, but he had never been shy. Now, though, he looked at his plate and didn’t offer any input to the conversation, weary of accusatory looks and swearing that he could hear people thinking murderer. 

So he was quiet, until Delly loudly announced “I’m sure Mr. Hawthorne would love to play with you,” and he looked up to see a group of five boys aged eight to twelve holding a ball and looking at him hopefully. He gave Delly a half-glare and was about to say that Mr. Hawthorne would most certainly not love to play, but she smiled brightly at him, ignoring him. And so he found himself being dragged off to a game that included kicking a ball into a makeshift net.

When he sat back down half an hour later, hair mussed and actually smiling, Pike said, “I didn’t know you were any good with kids, Hawthorne.” Delly piped up, “Oh, Gale’s great with kids. He has three younger siblings, and he was always making them laugh back in District 13.” Gale was surprised that she knew this, that she’d noticed. He gave her a questioning look, but she just smiled in return.

He kept stealing glances at her throughout the night, mostly quizzically. Maybe it was that he hadn’t been looking closely at her, but he noticed that she had gained some of her old weight back, cheeks fuller. Hair shinier. He didn’t know her before, but he did know what had happened to her parents, and knew what grief did to a person. But she looked healthier now. Good. She deserved good things in her life.

The next time they saw each other was two days later when Gale was cursing at his unit’s jammed door that was refusing to open. He was so desperate for some sleep, having just pulled a fourteen hour shift, that he was considering just ramming it down when Delly walked by, saw his predicament, and offered to let him sleep on her couch. He was so tired, he agreed without much hesitation.

The next day he woke up to the sound of loud singing, a little off-key, and mentally groaned, shifting on the couch to try to find a comfortable position again. But Delly took this as a sign that he had woken up and brightly said, "Good morning, Gale! I hope you had a great night's sleep! Was the couch comfortable?" Gale mentally cursed, but responded and got up. He found himself sitting down across from Delly and eating some toast she had made, while Delly happily chirped on about how it was going to rain that day and how she loved the smell of freshly-water grass. Gale couldn't stop himself from asking "How are you so happy all the time?" She looked surprised, and said, "I'm not happy all the time." He must have given her an incredulous look, because she shrugged and said, "I just like to focus on the small things. On the brighter things." She paused, then said softly, "It makes it easier, on the bad days, to pick myself up again."

Gale dismissed this at first, thinking that it was just a Delly thing. But then one day he woke up with the image of burning blond hair and pained blue eyes and clipped mockingjay wings. And his heart hurt so much that it was hard to breathe, that he was sure someone had reached into his chest and started to squeeze. But that day, when he visited one of the camps with his team he caught sight of two children laughing, kicking around a ball. Saw their parents smiling, with a genuineness and lightheartedness that was hard to find before the war. He held that image in his head the entire day, focused hard on it. It had been for something. The pain, the destruction, the deaths. Selling his soul to the fight. It had been for something. And the pain in his heart didn't disappear. But he did felt the pressure lessen, just a bit.

It started with an invite to dinner at her unit. And then he reciprocated because it was the polite thing to do. And then they were at each other's places once, twice, three times a week after work. And suddenly he found that he was friends with Delly Cartwright. It had been a while since he'd had a friend. He had plenty back in 12, and there was Katniss of course, and a few in 13. But now half of them were dead or hated him or were back in a district he couldn't force himself to visit. He hadn't realized how much he missed easy companionship, how much he needed actual human contact, until he found himself smiling at Delly's animated retelling of a family her team had reunified the day prior. She was a breath of fresh air in a place that was still wounded, that was still bleeding.(But somehow, it was still healing)

Delly tried to pick up new habits and hobbies often. She told him about how she failed at baking, and was decent at gardening, but could never keep track of which plants needed more or less water. A week after they had started actually hanging out, she had taken up knitting and had dragged Gale along to practice with her. To his surprise, he found that he was actually good at it. It made sense, though, considering his ability with snares. Delly smiled encouragingly at him, but still seemed a little annoyed that he had picked up her new hobby much quicker than she had. Gale grinned at this, glad to see that Delly wasn't actually superhuman and also had normal, petty, human emotions. When she held up her poor attempt at a glove that inexplicably seemed to have a thumb in the middle of the hand, he but burst out laughing. He stopped when he saw her giving him a strange look, and asked "What?" She shrugged, and said, "I don't think I've heard you laugh since we were at District 13." But then she smiled and said, "It's a nice laugh, though. It suits you. I wished you would do it more often." And to his horror, he felt himself actually blush. It wasn't like he wasn't used to compliments. Oh, he heard "gorgeous" and "hot" and the occasional "sexy" and felt eyes looking him up and down, sometimes enough to make him uncomfortable, especially when the person was significantly older. But he didn't think he'd ever heard someone compliment his laugh. It was... nice, actually. He muttered a quick "thanks" and went back to his attempt at making a hat. There was an awkward silence for a bit, but half an hour later, he was lightly teasing Delly on her skills.

It turned out that laughing was easier when Delly was around. Maybe it was having a friend once more. Maybe it was just Delly, her lightness contagious.

Delly was ranting about Pike. Except that, because she was Delly, she wasn't actually insulting him. And kept saying phrases like "while I understand where he's coming from" and "he's a good man, really, but". So Gale said, "You can call him a dick, you know. We all do it." Delly hesitated and said, "But he isn't. Not really. He just doesn't understand that we also need funding for community building and healing." Gale shook his head, amused. "Call him a dick, Delly. You know you want to." Delly sighed, and said, "I think you want me to. Would it make you feel better, to hear me call him that?" Gale grinned. "Yes, it would. I need to know that you can physically curse." Delly rolled her eyes and said, "Fine." Then softly, hesitant, she said, "he's a dick." Gale burst out laughing and Delly rolled her eyes once more, but she was laughing too. "This isn't about my ability to curse, you know. I was talking about funding for mental health professionals. The community needs it." Gale, still laughing, said, "Delly Cartwright, defender of human rights." Delly shook her head exasperatedly, but then said, "that term applies to you too, you know." That stopped his laughter. He thought about a time, not long ago, when he'd stood by a mountain full of weapons and suggested destroying them along with everyone inside. Thought about the weapons that had ended the war- and taken dozens of innocent children with them. Gale swallowed. "I wouldn't say that." Delly smiled softly at him. "You risked your life everyday fighting for freedom. Don't underestimate yourself, Gale."

Spending so much time with Delly made him become more attuned with her emotions. Which was why a couple of months later, he began to notice the strain in her smile, the way it didn't quite reach her eyes. So he took her out to the woods one weekend in an attempt to cheer her up. He didn't hunt, though. He didn't think she'd appreciate the sight of dead squirrels. But she did appreciate the freedom of the woods and the wind in her hair and the sound of the river cutting through a valley. She had sat down next to it, picking out flowers along the edge of the river and talking about how maybe he could teach her how to swim. When she looked up at him, a warm smile on her face, her blue eyes brighter in the sunlight and blond hair glowing almost gold, his answer caught in his throat. For a second, he couldn't think about anything else but how pretty she looked, but quickly buried the thought down at her expectant eyes. He told her that it was getting too cold to go swimming, now almost November. But he could teach her once it was warmer.

They stayed there for a few more hours, and she slowly became more quiet. Finally, she admitted that it was her parent's birthday that week- their birthdays fell three days apart. She said that they usually celebrated with pastries and board games then became silent once more, wistfully looking out to the horizon, eyes tearing up pulling knees to her chest. He awkwardly placed an arm around her in an attempt at comfort, but she seemed to think it was enough, burying her head in his shoulder.

Sometimes, when he felt unbearably homesick he spent hours out in the woods. They weren't the same as his woods, but they were close enough. And if he closed his eyes, he could pretend he was home. Delly didn't have something like the woods to comfort her, though. The only real connection she had to D12 in D2 was himself, and it wasn't like they knew each other before the war. He had an idea then, of someone who did know her before, someone who could help. And he hated that he suddenly felt afraid.

He and Peeta Mellark had never been friends. Not exactly. He had tried hating him once, long ago, but had quickly given up. He was too nice, too kind, too caring and never treated Gale with anything less than respect. Which led to Gale grudgingly respecting him on a bad day and actually liking the guy on a good day. In another world, maybe they could have been good friends. But in this world, he was the person closest to Katniss, at least according to Greasy Sae who he talked to once a month, and that thought filled him with dread. That Peeta could mention him to Katniss. That Peeta would know whether Katniss hated him outright or not. That he could ask Peeta to talk to Katniss on his behalf. That he could call Peeta and accidentally get Katniss on the line. And though sometimes he longed to at least hear her voice, to confirm that she was okay, he had left for a reason. And as much as he wanted to hear from her, he knew she didn't want to hear from him. But this wasn't for himself. This was for Delly. And Peeta was the one person who might be able to help. So a week later, he sucked up his fears and picked up the phone.

As soon as Peeta's voice came from the other line, Gale's mind went blank and all he could come up with as a greeting was "Um, hi." There was a pause, and then "Gale?" He swallowed. "Yeah, yeah it's me." There was another pause where Gale tried to sort through his thoughts, but before he could bring up Delly's name, Peeta awkwardly and reluctantly asked, "Do you want me to put Katniss on the line?" which caused Gale to practically shout "No!" into the receiver. "No," he said again, not shouting this time. "It's you I wanted to talk to, actually." Gale quickly explained his plan, and after a few seconds of silence, Peeta said, "That's a good idea. That's really kind of you, Gale." Gale said, "Well, she's my friend," almost defensively. "No, I know. I'm glad she's got you looking out for her," Peeta said. "Right." There was a silence, and Gale thought that maybe now would be the right time to hang up, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. "I really miss her," Peeta said finally. "She misses you, too," Gale said. Which was true, but he usually wouldn't be saying that. There was another silence, but Gale still didn't hang up. "Maybe I should go up there to visit her," Peeta said. Gale noticed how he said I instead of we. No Katniss then. Which Gale didn't know whether to be relieved it or not. Still, he said, "I'm sure she'd like that." Still, he didn't hang up. But he couldn't bring himself to ask either. And Peeta, ever perceptive, caught on to the reason for his hesitation and finally said, "Katniss is doing better, Gale."

Relief. That was the immediate feeling that overwhelmed him, followed closely by longing. There was once a time when he and Katniss lived in each other's pocket. When they depended on each other for survival, for their sanity. And no matter what had happened between them, romantic or not, Katniss was his best friend. He missed her. He missed her so much it physically hurt some days. And for a second he wanted nothing more than to hop on the next train to D12 to see his friend. But friends didn't kill each other's siblings. So he said, "Thanks, um, take care," and hung up. He desperately hoped Peeta hadn’t heard the lump that had formed in his throat.

His order arrived a few days later in some sort of container to preserve the baked books. Gale looked inside the box to find the invoice he had requested, but of course Peeta didn’t include it. He rolled his eyes and made a mental note to ask Greasy Sae how much she thought the food was worth. What he did find was a piece of paper with a phone number. Which wasn’t needed, really, because he had memorized that number months and months ago and every week got closer to dialing it. He knew he wouldn’t though. Peeta may have been closer to Katniss now, but that didn’t mean that Gale didn’t know her, too. And his presence would hurt her too much at the moment. But the fact that Peeta had given him her number meant that she probably didn’t despise the ground he walked on, then. And that was something.

When Delly opened the box to reveal an assortment of muffins, cupcakes, and cookies, all distinctly District Twelve, her eyes widened and she practically jumped at him, wrapping him up in a tight hug. He pulled her closer towards him, inhaling the scent of cinnamon that was always present in her unit and lingered on her at all times. He felt a sense of loss when she let go and was tempted to pull her back into his arms when she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and said, “Thank you.” She stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. The feel of her lips on his cheek lingered for the rest of the evening.

Gale lay awake that night in his bed, heart pounding hard in his chest. He wasn’t dense. He knew what his recent thoughts about  his cheerful, peppy friend meant. And the only coherent thought he could come up with about his predicament was Oh no.

It was his own little secret he carried around for months. He tried not to stare at her too hard  and tried to avoid thinking about her lips or about how her smile seemed to light up the entire world in the darkest of times. His world, at least. Sometimes it felt like the war, the bombs, had extinguished all the fire and passion inside of him. That the fire that had one day burned so strongly had died, taking with it his friend and his sister and his soul. Sometimes it felt like he was running on autopilot, doing what was expected of him, trying his best to amend his mistakes but feeling... not much, really. Empty But one look at Delly who shone so bright and he felt the warmth back in his chest. He wouldn’t tell her, of course. He couldn’t risk losing their friendship, going back to being bitter and miserable and oh so lonely all the time.

He really needed to stop falling in love with his friends.

On the anniversary of the end of the war, the anniversary of Prim’s death, Gale didn’t leave his unit. He had every intention to, even got dressed and brushed his teeth, he had a job to do after all. But then he heard the sound of some kids laughing outside his window and he fell back down on his couch. He didn’t get back up.

The pain was sudden and intense, suffocating him, and for a second he thought he was back in D12, choking under the fumes and screaming as his shirt caught on fire. He wondered if that was what Prim had felt, what all those kids had felt, those last few seconds, and he laid down and curled into himself. But he knew that no matter how horrible he felt, somewhere hundreds of miles away, Katniss was feeling worse. He had never wished for anything more than to be able to switch places with Prim at that moment. Little Prim who wanted to be a doctor. Little Prim who risked her life to save her cat. Little Prim who wanted nothing more than to heal others. Prim. Dead. At his hand.

He didn’t know how long he laid there, but eventually the door to his unit opened. Delly. He had given her a key for emergencies ages ago. And suddenly Delly was sitting on the couch and his head was in her lap and she was running her fingers through his hair and whispering something he couldn’t decipher. So he closed his eyes and tried to let her voice and smell and the feel of her fingers on his scalp ground him.

He wasn’t sure what Delly saw in him, why she stuck around. But Delly was good and kind saw the best in everyone. And had decided he was worth her friendship. And maybe if sweet and kind Delly saw something good in him, that meant there was something in him that was salvageable.

District 2 didn’t abide to the laws of science and weather because there was a huge snowstorm in the middle of March. Delly’s team and his team worked diligently for days to get the last 500 people or so moved out of camps and into the newly rebuilt compounds. Hours before the three-day storm was to hit, they were finally released and sent home. He and Delly had decided that they would weather out the storm at her place and spent the first night huddled in front of the fire, retelling old stories and playing board games and laughing into the night.

The next morning Gale woke up to the sound of Delly bustling in the kitchen, singing loudly and a little off-key. He smiled to himself, and thought that he really wouldn’t mind waking up to her voice more often.

He wasn’t sure how it happened. If he had leaned in first, if she had. But on that third night of the storm, one minute snuggling and laughing under the blanket and the next wrapped in each other’s arms, they broke apart, grinning at each other and lips tingling.

Gale decided in that moment, that he had never felt more at peace.

[bedlamsbard]

I got a couple of different asks about Luke and Ahsoka in other side AU 10, so I guess I will just make it a regular post after all so I can answer all of them at once.

@slecnaztemnot: 

Okay i just read your latest other side chapter and I wanted to ask about Ahsoka and Luke dynamics. I wonder what exactly where their heretics disagreemts about the jedi doctrine? while i can guess some of the stuff like attachements i guess i mostly see ahsoka as nonjedi and therefore someone who should not be attached to doctrine about attachements (haha) so i am wondering how you see her. i would actually love your take on how their first meetings went. continued in next ask, 1/2

1/2 continuation since most people write them as Ashoka immediately spilling the beans about the whole Vader situation to Luke and yours Ahsoka didn't. So I am curious what do you think Ahsoka feels about it. I got of course lot of it from the fic itself so i am mostly asking about how did you base your interpretation, if that makes sense and what led you to the narrative choices to portray their relationship in such way.

@comentter:

I'm most interested in what Luke and Ahsoka know about each other. Luke doesn't know much about Ahsoka obviously, but does he have any idea why she seems to hate him? He must be desperate lol. And how much does Ahsoka know about what happened on the DS2? And how much does Kanan know about these events? What was Hera able to tell him and what else did Luke and Ahsoka tell him? I always figure that everyone but Luke and a few people he told (like Leia) think the Emperor and Vader from the DS2 explosion.

I now have this image in my head of Ahsoka spending time with Rex and her laughing as Rex does something like tell a joke or a specific gesture. Then Luke walks by, does the exact same thing and Ahsoka is like "Of course, you'd do this stupid thing, you idiot!" :D

I think shortly before I started writing this sequence I had seen some cute art of Luke and Ahsoka hugging, which is a pretty common art trope and which has never sat quite right with me.  I also have the tendency to want to do the opposite of common fanon, which I can’t leave out either.  I also wanted to logic out what the hell was going on with Ahsoka’s charaterization in her Mando episode on a Watsonian level rather than a Doylist one (which I did a few weeks ago), even if other side takes place well before Mando and doesn’t intersect with it in any meaningful way.

When it came to the Luke and Ahsoka relationship (or lack thereof), it came down to three questions for me:

Who knows what?

What do they know?

When do they know it?

I made the decision early on in the chapter to leave Leia out of this relationship entirely, since the new canon seems to at this point in time (within a year of RotJ) be keeping it relatively quiet that she and Luke are siblings, and it’s not something that Hera would have a reason to know.  (Note also that this entire sequence is told from Hera’s POV, which plays into the “who knows what when” angle.)

As per Rebels S4 (not the epilogue, because Mando’s thrown that out the window), Ahsoka knows (or has good reason to believe) the following:

Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader, Sith Lord

Darth Vader was directly or indirectly responsible for the genocide of the Jedi Order and the deaths of any Jedi who survived the Purge (”you and your Inquisitors saw to that”)

Padme Amidala is dead

Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead (Obi-Wan was not dead, but she has no way to know this)

no Darksider can return to the Light side

At the end of RotJ (not taking into account anything that happened in the comics or ancillary novels, which I’m not up to date on), Luke knows (or has good reason to believe) the following:

Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker

everyone Anakin ever knew is dead, mostly because of him

Vader returned to being Anakin Skywalker at the end of his life

(Leia presumably also knows all of this, perhaps with a few more details based on things her parents might have told her, but her feelings about Darth Vader are: Bad, Do Not Want, to be glib about it.)

Now, there’s one other factor here, which is Rex.  Rex knew Anakin and knew Ahsoka and was in the Rebel Alliance -- we know that he was on Yavin IV prior to Luke’s arrival and we know that he fought in the Battle of Endor. (And turns up in a couple of scattered art panels from the comics.)  If we want to take his brief appearance in Galaxy of Adventures with Han Solo’s strike force as canon, then he may have also known Han and probably Luke -- certainly his ears would have pricked up at the name “Skywalker.”  (Okay, there’s one other factor, which is R2-D2, but Artoo never tells anyone anything despite knowing...everything. Or most things, anyway.)  Rex doesn’t seem to know that Anakin became Darth Vader (I believe there’s an interview somewhere where Dave or Pablo or someone says that a meeting between Rex and Vader would be “awkward,” but there’s no canonical reason to believe that he knew about the Anakin/Vader connection), but he probably found out at some point that the 501st was the battalion involved in the assault on the Jedi Temple.  He also, as of Rebels S3-4, assumes that Vader killed Ahsoka -- presumably Ezra would have told him as much as he could.  (And Ezra does know that Vader is Anakin, so he may have told Rex that as well.)  Rex also knows that Anakin Skywalker was having an affair with Padme Amidala, but presumably didn’t know about (a) the marriage or (b) the pregnancy, because how would he know?

Then we come to Ahsoka’s return and unfortunately the current canon gives us no time point for when it actually happened: presumably Ahsoka did not or could not return to the greater galaxy at the point she “left”, during the fight on Malachor (3 BBY), because as of Rebels S3-4 everyone still believes she’s dead.  Maybe she’s still stuck on Malachor without a way to get off, who knows; maybe after S4 Ezra grabbed her into the World Between Worlds she decided to stay on Malachor until she ~caught up with the main timeline, which...you then have to believe that Ahsoka is going to deliberately remove herself from the war, which I can get to, but is not something I’m totally comfortable with.  Or she pops out in the timeline at the same time that Ezra returns to the main timeline and is able to more or less immediately return to the main timeline narrative, plus or minus a few weeks.  (There are, after all, still a couple of Advanced TIE fighters parked in the Sith temple, even if they were potentially damaged in the temple collapse.  Ahsoka could have repaired them or used the comms systems to call for a pick-up -- this is, btw, what happens in Crown.)  We don’t know when the S2 finale scene/S4 WBW scene of Ahsoka walking back into the temple actually takes place in the timeline; it doesn’t have to be at the exact same time as the rest of the S2 finale sequence (since obvs Vader dragging himself out, Maul flying off, and the Rebels crew looking sad doesn’t all take place at the exact same time).

Other side AU is deliberately vague about when Ahsoka returns from the World Between Worlds/Malachor/to the Rebel Alliance; it’s not stated in the story, but I made the assumption that she came back shortly after the (non-epilogue) end of the Rebels finale, but was still deeply messed up from her Malachor revelations.  (Also, like, Sidious, I guess, but she was probably so messed up about Anakin/Vader that Sidious being around barely registered.)  Since she never seems to have held a formal position in the Rebel Alliance, I assumed that after she returned and let everyone know she was still alive, she then immediately took off to try and figure out what the hell happened with Anakin at the end of the Clone Wars, since she saw him like a week before he snapped and at the time he seemed fine.

The problem is that almost everyone involved is dead.

Now, at this point (shortly before Scarif and ANH), a few people are still alive who then die shortly, but whom Ahsoka may have no reason to believe were involved.  Bail Organa, for example, is still around, but aside from him being Padme’s friend Ahsoka doesn’t have a reason to know that Bail was there when Padme died -- and since they were in contact for the nineteen years preceding there’s no reason for her to assume now that he was keeping something for her.  Back in the comics (before I stopped reading them), Vader did some digging to figure out what was going on with Padme and his child; Ahsoka probably would have done the same digging (without having to torture anyone), but without necessarily knowing that Padme was pregnant.  Knowing the date of Padme’s death (same as the Republic, essentially), she may have had a previous assumption that Padme was assassinated on Palpatine’s orders, but knowing that Vader is Anakin probably moves that assumption closer to the truth, that Anakin was somehow involved in Padme’s death one way or another.  Sooner or later Ahsoka will turn up the fact that Padme was pregnant, come to the obvious conclusion that Anakin was the father, and possibly find out the same thing that Vader does in the comics -- that the child was born before Padme died.  (But also probably not that Padme was carrying twins, but even if she found that out, it wouldn’t make a difference.)

While Ahsoka is doing her digging (and there really isn’t much information out there to find), the events of Rogue One and ANH happen, and Ahsoka comes back to the Rebel Alliance to find out which of her friends are still alive.  (Maybe Rex is with her at this point, who knows.)

Everyone in the Rebel Alliance is talking about some young hotshot named Luke Skywalker.

Luke Skywalker who has a very familiar lightsaber, who claims his father was Anakin Skywalker, and who had some kind of relationship with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who turned up on the Death Star, fought Darth Vader, and died.

Ahsoka has just spent the past few months trying to figure out what happened with Anakin, and as best she can reassemble the facts it mostly comes down to “Anakin did something dumb for Padme, that something dumb was ‘turn to the Dark Side and kill literally everyone,’ and then Padme died, the Republic was overturned, and the Jedi Order was wiped out.”  Ahsoka presumably walks into a room, hears the name Luke Skywalker -- maybe sees him -- and is all at once face to face with the living evidence of just how badly Anakin fucked up.

This is just too much for Ahsoka to deal with at the moment, so she takes off again, and spends the next five years brushing in and out of the Rebel Alliance doing odd missions that can really only be done by a trained Force-user.  Rex, who seems to have a more stable position in the Alliance, is always going to side with Ahsoka over anyone else; if she tells him not to tell Luke that she knew Anakin, he won’t.  (And for that matter, he may have somewhat fraught feelings about Luke himself.)  She may have the odd interaction with Luke -- who has heard that there’s another Jedi in the Alliance and wants to be friends/get real training -- but Ahsoka just does not want any part of this. It’s irrational! She knows it’s irrational! But this is the living evidence of Anakin’s failure, Anakin who last she saw him TRIED TO KILL HER, who was at least partially responsible for the deaths of everyone she ever knew.  (And honestly, finding out that Vader topped it all off by killing Obi-Wan is not going to help.)

Ahsoka may also be feeling a certain amount of survivor’s guilt: if Ezra had not pulled her out of the Malachor temple at that exact moment, she came pretty close to bringing the temple down on both herself and Vader, and may have succeeded in killing him.  She did not do so, and who knows how many people died because of that in the years between Malachor and Yavin?  (Just because Tarkin was the one who gave the order doesn’t mean that Ahsoka may at least partially blame Alderaan’s destruction on Vader, if she knew he was on the Death Star then.) She knows he killed Obi-Wan.

The Yoda lineage is very good at going “yikes, I am going off to live alone and beat myself up over my failure for years” and Ahsoka is very much an example of that lineage.

She and Luke have a relationship of “Hi, I’m Luke Skywalker, do you want to talk?” and “I have to leave immediately,” maybe with the odd “please stop using that lightsaber grip it is physically painful for me to watch, do it like this instead, okay, bye.”  Luke probably told all of two other people about what happened with Vader on the Death Star, Leia and Han; he has no reason to tell anyone else about it because it won’t matter to them.  Why would he tell Ahsoka, whom he has no relationship with?  He doesn’t know that Ahsoka knew Anakin Skywalker and would only know if one of four people told him: Ahsoka herself (no), Rex (no), R2-D2 (maybe), or Admiral Ackbar (would never have occurred to Luke to ask, might have occurred to Ackbar to say).  (We also don’t know that Mon Mothma knew Ahsoka very well, or at all, for that matter; they never interacted in TCW.)

As for her swinging harder into overt Jedi-ness by Mando after her blatant “I am no Jedi” of Rebels, it reads to me as a response to the Anakin/Vader revelation (especially the attachment thing).  She had made certain assumptions in the TCW period (see her saving Rex in the TCW finale) and prior to Rebels; Kanan’s method of Jediness was something she could accept in the time period and in those circumstances; the Anakin/Vader revelation shattered all of that, followed immediately as it was by Kanan apparently going full Jedi self-sacrifice despite his attachments.  (Her reaction to Ezra being a trauma response about two very different circumstances.)  All of a sudden what she thought might have been mutable based on the circumstances became something that had to be adhered to in case of dangerous results, which she had just had brought home to her in extremely bad circumstances.

I made a crack somewhere about Mando’s central tension being between “being Mandalorian” and “being doing Mandalorianness”; I think in the post-OT period with Ahsoka and Luke we’re seeing something similar with “being Jedi” and “being doing Jediness.”  Even if Ahsoka isn’t actively claiming the title Jedi anymore (because what does that accomplish in most contexts?), she’s leaning far more into the tenets of the Jedi Order -- which Luke doesn’t know and doesn’t know he doesn’t know.

Thus the doctrinal dispute.

Ahsoka grew up in the Jedi Order.  That’s what she knows, that’s how she knows how to be a Jedi; for her being a Jedi is being part of the Jedi Order, whether or not the actions associated with performing Jediness are being actively practiced.  Luke doesn’t have that context.  For Luke, being a Jedi is...being doing Jediness.  (This is super awkward phrasing.)  Performing the actions of a Jedi.  Luke has a few holocrons, but I’m guessing that a lot of what is on those holocrons makes the assumption that whoever is opening with them has the context of being a part of the Jedi Order and doesn’t explain really basic stuff about the Order or what that means.  Luke’s Jedi Order is not going to be the Republic Jedi Order made anew; it’s going to be something that has a resemblance to it and is based on a similar view of the Force, even arguably its heir, but is just not going to be the same thing.  It can’t be.  Luke doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Kanan, of course, is coming into all of this from a similar context as Ahsoka: he grew up in the Jedi Order, it’s what he knows, it’s who he is.  Except Kanan never walked away from the Order, so while Ahsoka had been disconnected from her Jediness at the time of the Purge, he never lost his -- part of Ahsoka’s tension from TCW S7-Rebels was “I can’t be a Jedi because the Order is gone” and Kanan’s was “can I be a Jedi without the Jedi Order?”  (Ezra is a whole ‘nother thing but is somewhat outside the scope of this.)  The Jedi Order never factors in Luke’s Jediness at all.  (There’s some lineage doctrinal dispute here as well -- the Yoda lineage seems to be very closely connected to the Order as the font of Jediness, the Windu-Billaba lineage somewhat less so.  The Yoda lineage is like...the hardcore conservatives of the Jedi Order, though, and are probably not typical.)

Poor Kanan came back from the dead, after a week in another universe (which had its own problems; he’s been trying to very gently convince his counterpart that even after being an Inquisitor for months he can still be a Jedi), into Luke trying to build a new Jedi Order from scratch, Ahsoka firmly believing it couldn’t and shouldn’t be done and not wanting to be in the same room as Luke at all (not to mention that she really did not believe that they should have gone for “hey, let’s send Hera Syndulla to another universe” as even being an option), and both of them having essentially incompatible notions of being a Jedi at each other -- this is probably the most time Luke and Ahsoka ever spent in each other’s presence.  They’ve probably never articulated their problems at each other, just assumed that the other knew them.  And Kanan has his own “how to be a Jedi” approach, which is from a very different than either Ahsoka or Luke because despite originating from the same context as Ahsoka, he had a very different path to get to his present position.

As for what Kanan knows -- uh, pretty much only what Hera knew, and Hera knew very little?  She was friendly with Luke and Leia, but didn’t have much interaction with them -- she states that she had a tendency to avoid Luke because even if she would never say it to Luke’s face, she silently believes that if any Jedi should have been in the Rebel Alliance, it should have been Kanan and Ezra and not this relative newcomer.  If the Death Star 2 news about Vader and Palps was never common knowledge, then Hera wouldn’t have known it.  Kanan’s in a position of having to play catch-up, but also having a completely different priority (finding Ezra).  He sat through this meeting where after they’d finished grilling him on “you were in ANOTHER UNIVERSE and also you CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD?” they politely sniped at each other with a bunch of context he didn’t have and flat out decided that wow, he did not want to deal with this at all, whatsoever.

(This is also not stated in the story, but Luke and Ahsoka also disagreed about whether Jacen should be trained or not: Luke said, yeah, of course, when he’s a little older! and Ahsoka said nope, he’ll be fine, it will go away. Hera was just very “...I will deal with this later” about it since it wasn’t an urgent issue.)

[ninbinary]

DnD Character Backstory Datapoints - Example 1: Human Orphan Lives Dangerously

Hey, thank you to @kursed-curtain (who tumblr will not let me "@", good application u got here) for reblogging my DnD Character Backstory Datapoints suggestion :) (It goes without saying you could ideas like this for non-RPG character or story generation too, and could add more dice representing different things!)

In thanks, I decided to type up an example of me using it to create a (reallly overly-in-depth -- this is gonna be a long post!) character backstory idea from thin air.

(Let me know if you guys out there like this, and I'll do it again sometime! Also let me know if you use this datapoints-system to create a chararacter (or feel free to use this character backstory), and let me know how it goes!)

A) Human character, Younger (d2 + 1 periods)

(I'll refer to the character as "Character", and I'm not doing anything to bake Character Class in to the story (though I'll talk about that at the end), to try to make this as "generic" as possible!)

A0) number of time periods:

d6 roll of 4 = d2 roll of 2; +1 = 3 time periods.

A1) First Time Period:

d12 = 10 [10/12 Danger]

d10 = 6 [6/10 City]

d8 = 1 [1/10 Species Diversity]

That's an Extremely dangerous time, in a Relatively Urbanized area, with only 1 kind of species. Given that its the First time period for a started-adventuring-younger character, I think my overall summary would be:

"Abandoned Orphan in a Medium-Sized Exclusively-Human City"; they spend their early years with a few slightly-older orphans living in alleys and stealing food.

(Alternatively, other interesting ways you could interpret this: if your gameworld has "bad guy countries / city-states" near your "generally friendly demihuman species", you could do these dice as "orphan human in a [bad guy species] city")

A2) Second Time Period:

d12 = 11 [11/12 Danger]

d10 = 3 [3/10 City]

d8 = 3 [3/10 Species Diversity]

Wow, it's somehow gotten MORE dangerous for poor Human Character; but its also only half as Urban, and they're finally around a few more species of Demihuman. How would moving OUT of the city be MORE dangerous? Well, 'city invaded' is always an option, but because of the other two dice, here's how I'd turn these dice into a story point:

"Character's youth life of petty crime / cutpurse-ing for basic necessities finally ends in trouble so serious that they flee the city / their orphan-gang / the only home and family they've known, and join up with a travelling caravan." Depending on how "dark" you want the character to be, you could take it any number of ways; but let's say you want a Shit-Life-but-Charitable character and go with: one of their pickpocketting sorties goes bad, and as the pack scatters, Character and a close friend get caught in a blind alley by a city guardsman. Character is at the top of a ladder while Friend is scrambling up, but the guardsman is closing in, sword drawn, so Character throws a brick and kills the guardsman. Friend gets away, but before Character escapes, the next wave of guard sees their dead comrade and gets a good look at Character.

Character makes arrangements ASAP to sign on as a caravan guard, calling in favors to get semi-respectable looking leathers (and maybe the dead guards' sword) and a forged letter-of-reference from their gang's fence. Within a nervewracking 24 hours of lying low, Character's friends have managed to sign them on to a caravan, and one last sprint through the city's allies and undermaintained warehouses later, Character is all set. The next morning they're marching out the city gate with a 4-wagon, 15-individual caravan, run by a halfling merchant, taking fancier fabricks and fashionable metalworked jewelry to the more rural human/halfling backcountry outside of the city.

(So, here all the Danger is about the transition TO this period of Less-City, More-Species-Diversity time period). Let's see how it wraps up with Third Time Period:

A3) Third Time Period:

d12 = 10 [10/12 Danger]

d10 = 9 [9/10 City]

d8 = 2 [2/8 Species Diversity]

Oh dear; danger DOES seem to follow poor Character around! We're back to a Lot of danger, in an EVEN BIGGER CITY, around only a Few different species. How should this conclude Character's pre-Adventure story?

Well, since its so dramatic (STILL Danger, BIGGER City!), its going to end with such a bang, you'd probably want to think about where Campaign's going to begin.

(One way to read the Danger is by saying, "the caravan was raided and the survivors were taken prisoner", but how does that result in such a high City number (while the Species Diversity stays pretty low)? For example, if City stayed low, you could have Character be prisoner of a small bandit camp operating out of a wooded area.)

Well (and if this fits with the campaign setting), we could read it this way:

"the Caravan was raided by marauders from Underground-living [Species X], which hasn't been active in this area for decades..." The survivors were taken back through Species X's New Outpost in this region, and then a select few (including Character) were sent to the capital for one of the following unsavory ends (Ritual Sacrifice, or Gladitorial Combat, or Being Eaten at a Feast Celebrating the New Outpost, etc).

Fortunately for Character, one of the Species X jailors becomes sympathetic because.. they take pity on Characters' youth; or because of the Character's brazen tenacity defending a fellow prisoner from the head jailor's abuse [hey, tying back to their killed-a-guardsman moment], or something; and arranges for Character to be smuggled out of Species X City into the surrounding countryside.

(Another Alternative Idea, had One Dice Gone a Different Way: maybe if Species Diversity was higher, the Species X City could have enough different kinds of folks walking around that you could think about letting Sympathetic Jailor take on Character as a servant, apprentice or even adopted child -- albeit temporarily, or else they'd never be a player-character meeting up with the party. But it would definitely be interesting to see what a Human Orphan from the Mean Streets of [Medium-Sized Human City] would be like after spending their formative years as Adoptive Mindflayer Dad's protege).

Anyway, Wrapup:

Now a long way away from their 'home' city and probably home country (remember, they were captured by Species X nearby, but then moved days (or weeks) travel underground to Species X Huge City), Character finds their way to [wherever the Party starts], and will hopefully have a much less dangerous life just killing monsters and collecting treasure.

Character would definitely have a lot of street-smarts, might have a "I will survive no matter what" mentality, a healthy disrespect for law-and-order, probably standoffish about friendships but a deep loyalty to those they get close to (many of these being Great traits for an adventuring party!).

There's a lot of ways to tweak this outline to make them more "dark and moody" or give them different responses to their travails (if you wanted to make them more of a "mad dog", or utterly ruthless), and there's also room for plot hooks (who were their parents? What happened to their Orphan Gang back home? Does [their original city] have enough intra-city communication that their guardsman-killing will haunt them (for example, make the guardsman they killed someone with connections or seniority, so there's someone with a big axe to grind about eventually getting the guardsman's killer)? Did they grow close to some of their fellow Caravan people and did any of them survive the attack?)

Also if you have a specific character class in mind you can tweak bits of this -- Rogue or Warrior types fit perfectly, but a more Wizard-y character class could certainly fit too: you could play up their burgeoning powers, and have power flare-ups central to Character's 2 dramatic acts -- when they killed the Guardsman in Second Time Period, and have it be the reason that Sympathetic Jailor helped them in Third Time Period.

Thanks for reading all this, anyone who made it all the way through, and let me know what you think! (And no thanks to Tumblr, whose Text Popup stopped letting me type certain letters -- I wrote the actual Character Creation thing in a textfile cuz it was so long, but I then had to compose the incidental comments / intro in a textfile too then copy-paste-format it into this tumblr window >:P)

[toplinetommy]

Without Warning - Matthew Tkachuk

Synopsis: A college!AU where Matty is playing D1 hockey with people he’s actually played with at various levels (he’s in like his third year in this and is going to the NHL after)

Words: 2.9k

A/N: purely basing this off of my friend’s D2 college hockey experiences, stereotypical guy talk is mentioned (like pulling girls), gif credit to @matthewtkafuck

“Just come out with us Chucky!” His captain, Noah yells across the locker room to him. The boys were buzzing, coming off a two-game series sweep against their state rivals, propelling them to a first place spot in the division.

He began taking his chest pads off, contemplating the idea, “I don’t know man.” On one hand, he could go out and finally let loose after a long week of tough practices and study sessions, but on the other he could run into the one person he avoided on campus: you. 

“Bro, you never come out anymore, just let loose!” His center, Auston, advises. 

As Matthew pushes his pads into his bag, he looks around the room. The energy is high and he can tell everyone is deciding to go out and even talking about their post-bar plans. Besides, the weather was actually nice for this time of year. The snow from last week’s storm had finished melting away and the temperature was higher than it normally was for late February in Boston.

“Sure.”

--

The first hour or two of him being at the bar passed by like a blur. Him and Noah had decided to go drink for drink throughout the night and had even started stacking their cups in the corner of the booth their group occupied.

The loud house music beats into Matthew’s ears as he and Noah walk back up to the bar for their next round of drinks. Once they both shout their orders over the loud bass, Noah starts talking about this new girl he’s hooking up with. Matthew listens lightly, deciding he doesn’t really want to hear the specific details of Maya. Or was it Mia? Megan? He didn’t know, and he quite honestly was tired of hearing about it.

“And the other day she came over after practice and bud,” He starts, the bartender cutting them off as he returns with the drinks. Matthew tells him to keep it on his tab before Noah continues. “She did this thing when I was about to -” 

Matthew’s attention on Noah completely halts as he sees y/n’s small but mighty frame on the other side of the L-shaped bar. Her hair was down, framing her face just the way he liked. Noah noticed the stop in Matthew’s breathing and followed his gaze to where she stood.

“Oh, shit.” Noah remarks.

Noah claps his hand down onto Matthew’s shoulder as they both eye her from their spots. Matthew’s feet feel like cinder blocks as he fails to move so she doesn't catch a glimpse of him. As he starts to regain feeling in his body moments later, he brings his cup to his mouth ditching the straw to take a larger than necessary gulp of the alcohol.

He’s pulled away from his cup, however, when he hears her all too familiar laugh, he tenses back up and debates finishing it in one pull. Her head leans back, exposing the skin of her neck as she rests her free hand on the bicep of the man next to her. Of Matthew’s teammate. Of Matthew’s friend.

He turns heavily on his heels, planning to put as much space between the two of the two of them as he possibly could in the run-down college bar. Noah followed closely behind him, coming to a halt at the booth they were once sat at earlier in the night.

“I didn't know she’d be here, bud.” Noah claimed to Matthew, the rest of the guys turning their heads to their conversation.

“Why wouldn't she be here, Noah? It’s literally the place to be on a Saturday night.” Matthew reasoned, rubbing his forehead with his hand that wasn’t holding his drink.

“Why wouldn’t who be here?” one of the freshmen asked, confused as to the situation unfolding in front of them.

“Y/n,” Matthew groans, color draining from his face when he sees her walking in the general direction of the table he’s occupied himself at. He quickly plops down next to Tyler even though there wasn’t nearly enough space for him. “Don’t move, she’s coming over here.” 

Tyler, very nonchalantly, whips his head in the direction Matthew was just looking in to find her. Tyler catches her gaze, and he curses under his breath due to her visibly recognizing him.

Matthew slaps the bicep of his friend for doing next to nothing to avoid her from making her way over to him and his group.

“Hey, Matty,” she greets, causing Matthew’s head to snap up in her direction. He greets her back with his signature tight-lipped smile, hoping that this would cause her to walk away quicker.

“I heard you guys beat Harvard,” She states. Hearing her voice erupts all the past memories of her that Matthew tried so hard to erase over the course of the past few weeks. Her voice is sweet and smooth like honey, completely contradicting the way things ended between the two of you.

Matthew moves to his feet, standing up from the cramped bench he failed to hide himself on. “Hey, y/n.” He greets lowly, looking from your eyes down to your feet. He does it quickly, hesitating to keep his eyes trained on your features for longer than a few seconds. His actions go unnoticed, as she opens her mouth to begin talking again.

“How have you been?” She asks, bringing her glass of whiskey to her lips. He watches her lick the remaining droplets off her lips when she’s done.

“Good, first in the division.” He answers shortly. Matthew leans his body against the wood paneled wall, hand still clasping his drink. He pushes his hands through his curls that he let free for once. Which he soon remembered was something she liked about him, making him feel a little self-conscious in the moment.

“That’s good,” She hums, taking a step towards his stiff figure. This time it was her turn to run her eyes over his body, though she did it much more purposefully and made sure he noticed her actions. He did, and his stomach twisted wondering if she liked the way he looked tonight. He had opted for a pair of light-wash jeans and flannel over his hoodie combo instead of his usual dark grey sweats and t-shirt. 

In the moment he was battling internally with himself on whether or not he really wanted to continue to talk to you, but as soon as her hand softly handed on the muscles of his bicep, the battle was over. He visibly lightened on his feet, slouching a much more normal amount than he previously was and he crossed his ankles as he leant more weight on his one leg.

“I noticed you’ve been playing really well recently.” She compliments, speaking loudly over the thumps of the speakers. He reads her facial features, her eyes are much softer than he remembers and her cheeks are especially pink due to her love of blush and the alcohol in her system.

He smiles just wide enough to show his dimples at the compliment, always one to talk about his accomplishments, especially when it’s about how he plays on the ice. “Thanks, the boys have been rolling lately.” 

“It’s good seeing you all having fun, too.” She starts, gesturing to the group of players. “I know you don’t let yourself have too much fun too often.” The comment she makes is true, and even more so lately due to her. He holds back a scoff at the comment before speaking up.

“There’s a few people I don’t risk running into.” He says bluntly, leaning away from her so she can clearly see the lack of emotion on his face. “I kinda got roped into coming out tonight.” He watches her face falter a bit at the comment. 

Throughout the entirety of their relationship, y/n had only really seen the softer side of Matthew. The two of them had consistently spent time together over the course of the school year, but primarily behind closed doors. Hell, she barely even went to his games even after telling him about her love for the sport.

She still ignores his blatant call out towards her, choosing to not settle on that talking point. An awkward silence falls between the two of them, the loud music and chatter from the crowd filling their ears. 

“What have you been up to?” She asks, and God, all Matthew can think about is how awkward this all is. At one point a few weeks ago, conversation was carelessly easy between the two of them and they talked almost every minute of every day.

In the moment, he knows it’s not the best idea to open up to her again, but he doesn’t really think about all of the bad consequences a simple conversation between the two of them can have.

“Just the usual, hockey, workouts, going to classes, spending all my time at the hockey house.” He answers, voice much tamer than before. He takes another small sip from his cup as you offer him a reply.

Conversation continues to flow between the two of you as the two of you catch up on what the other has been doing since they stopped talking all those weeks ago. He starts to see the crowd thin out, indicating that the two of them have been talking for much longer than he realized.

She steps up on her toes, leaning in further and moving her hand up towards his shoulder, and whispers into his ear, “Hey, you wanna get outta here?”

His head pulls away from hers craning his neck so his eyes are looking into hers. He contemplates saying no for exactly one second before she licks her lips and his mind is made up. “Sure.”

She moves from Matthew’s eyes to his mouth, before she leans in and places her glossy lips on his. A fire lights inside him as he kisses her for the first time in what feels like forever and it’s a feeling he definitely knows he missed.

He pulls away, only enough to speak, “I can drive, I haven’t gotten a new drink in a while.”

She double checks that he’s good to drive before he takes her hand in his and begins to lead her outside. He quickly lets the boys know that he’s heading home and that he’ll see him tomorrow. He continues to walk towards the exit and opens the door for her.

As the two of them step outside, the weather has done a complete 180 from what it was earlier in the night. Where the ground was once clear, there was starting to be a light patch of white snow covering both the pavement and the grass. Y/n shivers in her tank top, and Matthew pulls her closer to his tall frame.

Heavy snowflakes continued to fall as he drove the two of them back to his house off-campus. He turned to look at her in the passenger seat, lightly laughing, “Ya know, I was supposed to celebrate the win tonight with the boys and here I am. Driving you home in the midst of a snow storm.”

She giggled at that, igniting a blush on Matthew’s cold cheeks. He reaches for the knob that controls the temperature in the car, and turns the heat up once more. As he pulls his hand away, y/n grabs it and laces their fingers together.

He gets them to his house, pulling into the crowded driveway before meeting her at the hood of his car. She leans up to him, signifying for a kiss. He meets her halfway, placing his hands on the small of her back. They stand there, kissing in the cold, snowy night for a few more minutes as his hands roam down to her ass. She pulls away from him, lightly tugging on his curls, as he feels his hands grab her ass in a not-so innocent way.

“We should probably go inside.”

“Good idea,” He chuckles, guiding her up the slippery sidewalk towards the front door. 

As they walk through the front door, one of his roommates, Micheal, is sitting on the couch. “Hey, y/n” He greets with a smirk, “Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

Matthew shoots him daggers as y/n says hi back to him. Michael looks like he’s about to start a conversation, but before he can Matthew yanks y/n up the stairs by their intertwined hands towards his room.

The minor comment his roommate makes sticks in his brain as y/n takes her shoes off and sets them by his desk. He watches her sit on the edge of his bed and he tugs a hand through his curls.

“You shouldn’t have come over.” He states bluntly, standing still a few feet in front of her sitting figure.

“You’re the one that drove me here.” She states pointedly.

“You’re the one that roped me into this bullshit! Like you always do!” He exclaims, pointing at her with flailing arms.

“I did not! I asked you if you wanted to leave and you said yes!” She argues, confusion laced in her tone.

“Why did you even come up and talk to me?” Matthew asks, softly. “We haven't had a conversation in weeks and we ignore each other if we see the other in public.” He was honestly tired, tired of the situations she put him in and tired of how he’s felt lately.

“I don’t know, I just -” She stumbled over her words before Matthew interrupted her,

“You know damn well the games you wanted to play when you walked up to me and said good game.” He states matter of factly. He watches her think of a response as he paces in the small space of his bedroom. 

“I missed you!” She exclaims, raising her voice once again. Matthew actually laughs at her statement, throwing his head back as he hears those words come out of her mouth.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Matthew scolds. “You can’t say you missed me when you were the one stopping us from being anything more than what we were! I told you all the time how much I liked you and you just kept telling me you didn’t want a boyfriend and I thought I was fine with that.”

He pauses to take a breath and to collect his thoughts further, he keeps his eyes trained on the wall behind the bed that she’s sat on. The alcohol that was once in his system is completely gone due to the anger in his blood. 

“I let myself be okay with what we were and I let myself be okay with you manipulating me.”

“I did not manipulate you.”

“Yes, you fucking did!”

“I let you do whatever the hell you wanted to do and you chose to be with me, and don’t lie about how I was the only one. I know damn well you were sleeping with other people!” She exclaims. She’s standing now, right in front of Matthew’s towering figure.

“Yeah, because you never said anything about it just being us so you can’t be mad at that!” He yells. He takes half a step closer towards her, head leaned downwards to fully look at her. Both of their jaws are tense and their cheeks pink from the anger. Matthew’s eyes are starting to droop from the combination of the game he played earlier that night, the drinking and just the overall feeling of tiredness he had been feeling lately.

“I’m not mad!” She roared, raising her voice to match Matthew’s.

“Then why are you yelling?”

“Because I’m drunk!” She flails, bringing her hands in front of her face, flexing them in frustration.

“That’s fucking bullshit.” He challenged, moving the rest of the way towards her. He grabs her hands and moves them from where they were in front of his face.

“I let your friends chirp me about our relationship all the time. Every time I saw your roommate at the bar and you weren’t there she’d make jokes about me not being with my ‘girlfriend’ and every time one of them introduced who I was to someone else they’d call me your boyfriend. Literally everyone was calling me your boyfriend except for you!”

“If you didn’t want it all to blow up like it did you should've talked to me.”

“And say what? Hey, I can’t sleep with you anymore unless your friends stop talking to me? I liked talking to your friends, I liked the idea of being called your boyfriend.” He argued further, trying his hardest to get his point of view across.

“I told you a million times that I didn’t want that!” She exclaims, “I was constantly checking in with you to make sure you understood that and you always said you did.”

“Because I wanted to be with you however you wanted.” He reasoned back with her, lowering his voice to the calmest it’s been all night. She stood up as he finished speaking, bringing her face closer to his.

She looked into his tired eyes a moment longer before apologizing and leaning in to connect her lips with his. She found her hands tangled in the hair at the back of his neck as he moved his hands from her cheeks down to her waist, before pushing her back onto his bed.

All he could think of as she walked out of his room was that if he would've just set his drink down at the bar last night and left, he wouldn't be laying in his bed right now, thinking about how he would have to start from square one to get over her again. He quite honestly may have been in love with her, but he couldn’t admit that to himself in the moment and he probably never would.

Matthew was finally feeling like himself for the first time in a long time, until she came in and wrecked his world, much like a hurricane.

[sasarahsunshine]

Soak Up The Sun - Fun Things/Facts

My favorite thing about writing my fic so far is exploring the relationships between my OC and the team. For example, I LOVE writing Emily and Derek the most, because they definitely have brother/sister vibes, and they remind me of my relationship with my own brother. I also want that for Kassidy: to have them there as her older “siblings” in a way. I especially love how close Kassidy and Emily are becoming. 

(I’m going to be writing a lot about Kassidy’s relationships with the team so I’m gonna put a read more thing here now.)

Emily and Kassidy stay up too late talking on the phone, talking about boys (and girls) they used to like when they were younger, telling stories of embarrassing things they’ve done. They go on breakfast dates all the time, sometimes inviting the other BAU girls along, but sometimes it’s just the two of them. Emily convinces Kass to adopt a cat so her apartment won’t feel so lonely. The two of them like to go to pet stores and buy matching sweaters for their cats. They also constantly text each other dumb things that are on their minds. “I saw a fat squirrel today” “!!!no way!” Kassidy helps set up a private facebook for Emily so they can share pictures to each other (this is placed in 2010/2011 so they don’t get instagrams just yet). They love taking selfies with their cats, as well as taking pictures of the sunsets they see when on the jet. They start collecting postcards from the towns they visit and write them to each other, so when they get home they have fun mail to look at. Emily’s ringtone is the Kim Possible theme song.

And then there’s Rossi, who’s one of the team Dads(TM). I like to think Rossi sees Kassidy as the child he never had (SPOILER ALERT before Joy gets introduced to the story LMAO), so he’s extra sweet on her- and spoils her rotten. She never asks him for anything but eventually he starts buying stuff for her and paying for groceries to be delivered to her apartment and she’s like “???? what are you doing?” And he’s like “you’re my daughter now I am taking care of you.” LOL. Of course later on when Joy joins the BAU fam Rossi introduces her to Kassidy like “Joy this is my other daughter” and Joy is like “Cool I have a sister!” And Kass is like “I’m not actually his daughter tho-” “shush Kass you’re my kid, now smile for the camera.” She puts up with it and accidentally calls him “dad” once in front of everyone and it’s that whole scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and she’s like “no i didn’t why would I do that” lol. Rossi puts her in his phone as “Sunshine” since he’s the first one to ever call her that. She has him in as “Team Dad.” His ringtone is That’s Amore by Dean Martin. “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore~”

And then Hotch is like the other Dad(TM) who just wants to watch Kassidy and Spencer succeed at life and must protect them at all costs. Kassidy babysits for him a lot and freaking LOVES Jack. She becomes his unofficial “big sister” and lives for it. She loves taking Jack and Henry to the movies and park and is the best babysitter JJ and Hotch can find. Hotch has found her sleeping on his couch one to many times and just puts a blanket over her and lets her stay the night. He gets her coffee in the morning as a thank you for watching his son. At first she was embarrassed but eventually she gets a key to Hotch’s apartment, since he has a key to hers, and she just shows up sometimes just cause she can. She’s bad at buying groceries for herself but you bet your last dime she’s buying healthy foods for Hotch and Jack. She stocks their pantry FULL with foods, often showing Aunt Jessica where she hid the snacks so Jack (and Hotch) don’t try to get to them. She ends up with her own drawer in Hotch’s room that has some of her clothes and shower stuff in it cause of how often she’s over there. Her ringtone for Hotch is the COPS theme song LMAO.

Morgan is Kassidy’s certified Big Brother(TM) and he will hurt anyone who hurts his baby sister. He takes on the role so naturally around her and loves her for making him feel life can be normal sometimes. He has to tease her a lot about her crush on Reid, but that’s what big brothers do, ya know? The two of them like to go out for drinks and dancing when they get home from cases. Gotta remind themselves that life is beautiful and fun too. She buys Morgan a bunch of books and DVDs that she thinks he’ll like, and he always promises that he definitely read/watched them, but she knows he didn’t. Except when she buys him Tangled on DVD, telling him that it’s her FAVORITE Disney movie of ALL TIME. She knows he watched that one because she hears him humming some of the songs that got stuck in his head. They also hav the complete opposite taste in music, often fighting over what station to listen to when in the car. Usually Hotch or Emily has to tell them to knock it off or they’ll end up hitting each other (nicely). Kassidy HATES running, but she gets up at 6am on Saturdays to run with Morgan. She’s getting more stamina because of it, but she won’t admit it. Her ringtone for him is her favorite song, “Soak Up The Sun” by Sheryl Crow. 

Penelope and Kassidy are besties for sure. They have girls night once a week when they can, binging on ice cream and watching lame rom-coms (Kass can’t handle secondhand embarrassment movies but she’ll watch them if Penny asks- hiding her face in her hands when those scenes are on). They like to go shopping together, hyping each other up in dressing rooms and picking out cute/colorful clothes. They always do brunch when they go shopping. They spend a LOT of money when they’re together, and have no filter whatsoever. Kassidy tends to get drunk by the end of the night if she was with Penny, which is always odd considering at the beginning of the day she swore she wouldn’t drink anything. She ends up taking a whole small chest for herself at Penny’s apartment, keeping clothes and toiletries in there. Penelope joked once that Kassidy had her stuff scattered all around the state of Virginia. She wasn’t wrong. Kassidy’s ringtone for her is “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina & The Waves. They also text cute pictures of baby animals to each other a lot. 

JJ and Kassidy love getting mani-pedi’s together. And when they’re together it’s either a whole spa day, or they’re at the firing range- there is no in between. No matter what they do, a lot of money will be missing from their accounts at the end of the day, much to Will (and Rossi’s) dismay. Kassidy see’s JJ as a sister too, but more like a twin/super close best friend type of sister, not an older sister like she see’s Emily. She’s totally a Jemily shipper (as a joke, but like <w<). They like to lay in the grass in JJ’s backyard and stare at the clouds, talking about all the places they’ll visit someday. One time they planned a whole trip to Greece, pulling out their phones and looking up ticket prices for the plane ride, hotel, sight-seeing and more. They haven’t fulfilled that trip yet, but they sometimes mention it to one another, reminding themselves that they will go. Someday. JJ’s ringtone is the opening Disney theme to every movie ever.

And then there’s Spencer <3 From the beginning she felt kind of drawn to him, his mannerisms, his love of knowledge- all of it. They like to get coffee together on their days off and trade books (Kassidy had to buy a bunch of new books recently so she had more to trade with him). She’s been to his apartment quite a few times, watching French movies and Earth Documentaries. They just like being in each others company (uwu). Kassidy probably texts Spencer the most, even though he detests texting- but that doesn’t stop him from replying. Her text tone for him is R2-D2 beeping (even though he says he’s not really a fan of Star Wars). During cases they’re almost always paired up together to work on geo-profiling and victimology, sitting close at the table with their legs just barely touching, their feet lightly pushing into each other every once in a while to remind the other that they’re still there. They’re totally NOT playing footsie (they totally are). Her ringtone for Spencer is the Star Trek opening theme. “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship, Enterprise.”

Kassidy hasn’t met some of the other fun characters of the show yet, but eventually she’ll love all of them too <3 This fic takes place in season 6, after Hayley dies and right before Emily “dies,” ;) ANYWAYS I wanted to rant about this a little so um, thanks if you read it? LOL. Let me know what you guys think? <3

[geo-winchester]

DEAR BROTHER (13)

A/N: Hi! I know I said I’ll post it last week but I couldn’t and I’m so sorry for that! but here it is, the 14th part of this story and I hope you like it! I had a few ideas and I hope I can write them!enjoy the reading and if you want to be tag in this story or in any other let me know!

DEAR BROTHER MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST

Tag list: @chloe-skywalker @thescarletknight2014 @reading--mermaid

—————————————

Poe and Finn were looking at Chewie as he was thinking on his next move of Dejarik. They keep playing as they were on their way to Sinta Glaciar colony, but neither Poe or Finn knew how does he manage to beat them all the time, they start to ask him if he was going to move but chewie didn’t listen to them, he keep concentrate on the game.

-He can’t beat us every time- Finn said to Poe.

-Apparently he does- Poe said but he didn’t look at him, he keep his eyes on Chewie.

-How does he do it?- Finn ask.

-This guy right here- Poe start to say -it cause he cheats- Chewie roar to him in defense -I’m kidding.

But the protest of Finn and Poe were silence when an alarm suddenly start to sound, Chewie was the first one to stand up and go to the cockpit and he was follow by Poe while Finn went to the scape door with R2 to found their informant, Boolio.

-Boolio, good to see you, you got something for us?

-From a new ally, a spy from the first order.

-A spy?- Finn ask -Who?

-I don’t know- Boolio say -Transfer the message, give it to Leia.

Finn took the cables and connect them to R2, a few moments later Poe saw a few Ties from the first order coming to them, Poe try to hurry Finn for the file and after R2 beep when the transmission of the message end, he quickly take the cables and give it to Boolio. Finn head to the gunner cockpit as Poe fly as fast as he can, Chewie roar after Poe accidentally crash with a wall.

-Sorry, I’m sorry, I know -but he roar again -She won’t be mad at me for a little scratch... -he said- at least that’s what I hope... Finn, how are you doing with those Ties?

-I got one- he said.

-Great, how many they left?

-Too many- he scream as he keep shooting at them, Chewie roar at Poe and when he saw what he was saying

-Good thinking Chewie- Poe said -Finn there’s a chance we can crush does Ties.

-I was just thinking that.

Poe change the angle of the Falcon so Finn can had the change to shoot at the bar, when he did it, the bar fell over the Ties and crush them but when they thought they could finally went back to the base a wall of Ties appear in front of them and suddenly Poe had an idea.

-How thick do you think that ice wall is?- Poe ask before he fly through the wall and make a jump in to the hyperspace.

When they stop, Finn asked him about how he knew to do that, but he didn’t answer, he saw a few Ties follow them, Poe keep flying through the planet as he try to lose them, when he could he take another jump in to the hyperspace. Poe keep doing the jumps in to the hyperspace when chewie start to complain but Poe didn’t listen, he knew this was the best way to lose them. They get in to a planet where a big monster appear from the nowhere, he wait to the exact moment to take another jump, they were getting close to the monster when Poe took the jump. After Poe was sure that there weren’t any Ties following them, he stop for a moment so Chewie had a change to look at the damage on the ship, he took the opportunity to goa and check R2-D2, he knew didn’t want to Yn to get worried if he saw a scratch on him, but before she could kneel in front of him the droid beep.

-What do you mean she’s heading to the base?- he ask, the droid beep in response -She was in a mission?- he kick one of the boxes, Finn go to look what happen -We need to go now- he said as he go to the cockpit.

-Great, now he’s on a bad mood- Finn said.

When Yn landed on Ajan Kloss her mother was waiting for her at the hangar, she sigh at the moment she take off her helmet, she step out of her X-wing, she didn’t mention the fact that her brother was on Mustafar as they walk to the control room, she didn’t want to worried her mother. She was explaining her what she saw when she landed on Mustafar when one of the soldiers told them that the falcon was about to land, she look at her mother who give her a nod and she made her way to the hangar. In the middle of the way BB-8 bump in her leg.

-Hey buddy, you got a good time with Rey?- she ask, the Droid beeps and she saw the little bump on the droid -Hey, What happen to you?- she ask but before the droid can answer her they hear Rey and Poe arguing, BB-8 start to beep quickly -He know? How does he know- BB-8 beep -Of course my mother tell him- she sigh and made her way to her friends, but her smile disappear when she saw the back of the falcon was on fire she run -What the hell happen?!

-where were you?- he ask.

-I ask first, what’d you do to my ship?- she ask and chewie Roar -You try to run away with lightspeed skipeed? You know you can’t do that with the falcon...

-That’s What I told him- Rey said.

-Yeah this could went a lot better if you two where out there with us and no here playing with the force or lying to your boyfriend and went to another mission... what did you do to my droid?- he said as he kneel in front of BB-8, who beeps in response -You drop a tree on him?- he ask to Rey.

-It was an accident- she said,

-Great, this day can’t get any better- he said as he walk away to talk to Leia.

-So he’s on a bad mood, Uh?- Yn ask Finn who nod.

-You should talk to him.

-First I had a fire to turn off.

-And probably a droid to fix...- he said.

-What?- she said and she hear R2-D2 behind her and saw a few scratches and bumps on him, she sigh -Let’s go R2, let’s help uncle chewie and then we can go and fix you...

After she help chewie with the falcon, she stay with him as she try to fix R2 and Chewie told her what happen on Sinta Glaciar colony, a few couple of hours later C3-PO told them that there was an emergency meeting on the control room, when they get there she stand beside her mother as Poe start to talk about what they found.

-we decoded the intel from the first order spy- he said, everyone get quiet waiting for Poe to keep talking -And it confirms the worst... somehow Palpatine returned- everyone start to murmuring.

-Wait, do we believe this?- rose ask.

-It Can not be, the emperor is dead.

-Dark science, cloning- one of the generals said -secrets only the Siths knew

-he’s been planing his revenge- Poe said -his followers has been building something for years, the largest fleet the galaxy ever known, he calls it the final order, in sixteen hours, attacks in all free worlds begin, the emperor and his fleet are hiding in the unknown regions on a world call Exegol- Yn notice Rey’s reaction at the mention of the world’s name, C3-PO start to talk about the planet.

-Excuse me- a new recruit start to say -What if all this is a trap for us, what if Kylo Ren is planning all this to make us go to this world and kill us all, I mean he tried it before, and sorry commander but I heard you when you said that maybe they got a spy on the resistance- he said and then he look at Yn -Don’t you think is a little weird that commander Solo, who betrayed us before, got a mission on a planet where everyone die and she come back with just a scratch...

-What?- Yn said.

-She could be the spy, she try to end with the resistance before- everyone around her start to yell, she could hear that most of the members of the resistance were protecting her.

-Enough!- Poe yell -soldier you couldn’t been more wrong, commander solo is one of our best pilots and commanders, she’ll fight with us not against us and if you talk about her again that way and you’re going to regret it- all of the members of the resistances agreed with Poe.

-I bet she was the one who shot him- the soldier said.

-Hey- Yn said -You’re maybe brave when you talk but I never saw you on the feel, I mean how long have you been here? A year maybe? And yet every time we got problems, you’re the first one to run, you can’t fly and I bet you don’t even known how to use a blaster and if you had a problem with me I don’t had a problem to kick your ass in front of everyone...

-Yn- her mother said, but she step in front of him, even if he was bigger than her, she could see the fear in his eyes.

-Next time you had a problem with me, you should had the balls to say it to me in my face- she said before she walk away from the meeting.

She start to fix the falcon with the help of chewie, they work in silence, the only sound they make was the sounds of the tools, after a few hours they decide to rest for a while and they sat on a couple of rocks and start to talk, in that moment they saw Poe coming to them, chewie roar before he get inside of the falcon, she stand up and face Poe.

-Are you ready to talk or you going to scream again?- she said.

-I’m sorry for freak out early... I don’t know what happen...

-I know what happened, you don’t trust me- she said.

-what? That’s not what’s going on...

-Of course it is! You’re afraid I’ll go dark again, even kylo felt it remember? That’s why you didn’t want me to get my memory back and that’s why you freak out when you realize I went on a mission alone... you know that deep down you had the same fear of that asshole- she said but he stay quiet for a moment before he start to walk to the Falcon -Where are you going?- but he didn’t answer it took him a few minutes to get back with the first aid.

-Sit down- he said, she was about to replay but the way he was looking she sit on the rock, he kneel in front of her and pour a little alcohol on a cotton, she groan when the cotton touch the wound on her hand, she hasn’t realize that she was bleeding, he apologize before he keep cleaning the wound -you’re wrong- he said as he start to bandage the wound -I do trust you... I’m not scare that you’ll go dark again because I know you...

-You said that before and yet I...

-Yeah and I know why you did it- he said -I know how much you miss your brother and you almost lost your mother that day, you only want to be with the last part of your family and that was your brother- he look at her eyes -but you were never alone, you had me- he said making her smile -I know you think I’m afraid that you fall to the dark again but that’s not what I’m afraid to, I’m afraid to lose you or that something happen to you and I wasn’t there to help you...

-You think I don’t feel the same way? How do you think I feel if one they someone told me that my brother kill the guy I love and I wasn’t there to protect him?

-You love me?

-Don’t be an ass Poe you know I love you- she said.

-Yeah I know but I like when you said it- he said with a smile -I got an idea, what if, from now on every time we had a mission we do it together?

-so we’re going to be that kind of couple?

-Well it work to our parents- she smile.

-You’re right- she said before she kiss him.

-Great, and by the way I think we got a new mission- he said.

-Wait... you didn’t come here to talk to me, right?

-I want to know if the falcon was ready- he said as he turn to the ship, she punch him in the arm -Ok I was kidding, I come to see you.

-That’s better- she said, he hug her and she rest her head on his shoulder.

-We should go, apparently Rey found a way to find Exegol.

[plotbunny-bundle]

A3 b2 c4 d2 e4(lol holo) f4 g5 h3 i4 j5 k3 l4 M5 n4 o1 p5 Q1 r1 S1 t5 u5 v4 w2 x4 y5 z3 Mordra! Feel free to only do some of them.

holy shit dude. This took all night. But I got them all. It’s 2:40am.  thanks for the ask.

A3 what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for?

It took Mordra a good deal of work to learn how to calm hisanger on command. Serenity was hard for him to reach at first. But he’s prettygood at shutting down his own anger now.

b2 what is their eye color?

Yellowish hazel. If Mordra was asked he’d say green but he’sfull of shit.

(Makeb’s lightening makes his eyes look gold. It’s so pretty.He’d hate it.)

c4 what is their major comfort food? why?

Imperial instant soups. They remind him of his old home andchildhood.

d2 how would they decorate their child’s room?

However his spouse told him to. Mordra would never have a kidsolo and he rarely decorates anything.

e4 are they up-to-date on the internet fads?

Are you asking if Mordra knows memes? He doesn’t. He had restrictedspace internet access for a few years after joining the Jedi and fell out ofthe habit of regularly using it. Mordra has never managed to grasp republic popculture well. Only memes he knows would be 10 year old imperial ones.

f4 can they have fun while conforming to rules?

I suppose. Mordra isn’t really good at having fun anymore.

g5 what parts of others do they envy?

Mordra envies the conviction of other Jedi. The ability todeclare you way the Will of the Force and follow through without faltering.Mordra can’t do that. He questions himself and follows orders.

h3 do they like the snow?

He’s neutral on snow. It’s pretty but he’s spent weeks onsnow covered planets. And it’s not fun anymore.

i4 would/was theirfamily be okay with them being LGBT?

Mord is bi. His family knew and didn’t think much of it whenhe was a teen. If he were still in the Empire there would be some push to havea serious partner he could have kids with. But gender of his partner wouldn’tmatter, only the chance of creating future Sith.

j5 what brings themthe most joy in the world?

It’s cheesy to say when everything works out ok. But one ofMordra’s favorite things is to see the survivors after the nasty battle. Itmakes him smile to see the people he saved and see them stand without fearagain. He likes to sense their hope or empowerment.

k3 if they could killanyone without punishment, would they? who?

Mordra actually kills a lot of people without punishment. Hegot away with a good number of murders and mercy kills.

But if he had to pick, the overseer who made him identify hisbest friend/sort of boyfriend’s body. Not out of revenge but out of making sureno one goes through what he did. Not that one guy dead would fix Sith education.

l4 do they have any food intolerances?

Not that I can think of.

M5 would they adopt?

Mordra would never willingly adopt children officially. Hedoesn’t want to risk attachment. But he would consider having a second padawan.He didn’t mess up Kira too much.

n4 . what is the mostembarrassing thing they’ve done?

I’ve been wanting to tell this story.

The first time Mordra went to the Jedi council room he wastold to be respectful. Master Phar didn’t tell Mordra what that means in therepublic. So Mordra gets to the council room and he kneels like you do withhigh ranking Sith Lord. And no one says anything for 40 seconds. Mordrakneeling waiting to be ordered to stand, feeling more nervous and awkward bythe moment. the council is awkwardly making eye contact with each other. ThenPhar says “Mordra we don’t do that here.” And helps him up. And someone goes “Atleast he’s seems sincere.”  

Most of the Jedi council still remembers that. Mordra knowsthis. Someone told Praven without naming him.

o1 are they optimistic or pessimistic?

Sort of an optimistic. Mordra like to believe somethings arethe Will of the Force and that the Sith Empire is destined to fall.

p5 do they hate anything about their personality/aboutother’s personalities?

Mordra is very ashamed of his sense of humor. Mostly becausehe failed to rid himself of it.

Q1 do they ask for help?

With doing something, rarely. He’ll often ask for instructions.

r1 do they followrules?

Yes. Or at least Mordra tries to. He’s doing his best tofollow the Jedi code. But if someone gives him orders that go against the law,he’ll follow the orders.

S1 are they street-smart?

Not anymore. I’m not sure if he ever was but he’s worse now.

t5 have they told truths that have been spread against theirwill?

Yes. In a rp his past got spread across the holonet and he hadto explain to someone who called him out about it. In my canon when he waspossessed by Vitiate he let slip the Jedi mistreated him as pow and Doc or/andKira wanted to talk about it.

u5 have they surprised people with being good at something?

He’s shocked a few people by being skilled with a blaster.Most people wouldn’t expect a Jedi to know how to shoot and disassemble a blaster.

v4 what do they like as far as comfort goes?

Mord isn’t good with people. He’d honestly be bettercomforting a dying person then a sick one.

He’d start out asking ‘what could he do?’ ‘what can he bringyou?’ ‘do you need medical attention?’ and try to do whatever he’s asked. He’dalso get Doc unless you tell him not to.

w2 have they learned to swim?

Yes. It is a necessary skill of growing up in Dromund Kaas.

x4 can they sing well?

Probably not.

y5 what’s your favorite thing about them?

I really like playing with brainwashed characters. What Ilove about him is he is aware he was mistreated and turn to the light againsthis will, yet he’s believes it was force the greater good and tries to be aJedi even if he never wanted to be. I like the conflict of being forced down apath and still trying to walk it.

z3 cats or dogs?

I’m assuming pets not wild animals. I suppose cats. Mordra isvery bad with animals. Dogs are harder. cats will leave you alone. Dog want attentionor will see you sizing them up as a threat and start barking.  Plus less cats have tried to kill him thendogs.

[galacticnewsnetwork]

How a worldwide Star Wars fan group grew out of Columbia, South Carolina

Albin Johnson (helmet off) of Columbia stands next to Star Wars creator George Lucas before the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade with members of Johnson's costuming group, the 501st Legion. Provided

COLUMBIA — During Albin Johnson’s darkest moments in life, Star Wars has been a source of light.

He lost a leg in a wreck. That led him to create a Star Wars stormtrooper costuming group that now has 12,000 members worldwide.

He lost a young daughter to cancer. That led to the construction of a pink droid that solidified his fan group’s mission in aiding children’s charities.

Johnson has turned his love for Star Wars into a powerful force.

Stormtroopers from his massive fan group created 20 years ago in Columbia have raised nearly $3 million over the past five years. They have marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade with Star Wars mastermind George Lucas, appeared at the MTV Movie Awards and, just last week, shared a red carpet with Britain’s Princes William and Harry at the London premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi."

They have a seal of approval from filmmakers as Lucasfilms' "preferred Imperial costuming group."

"It’s so liberating to get to play out all your bad-guy fantasies," Johnson said. “Stormtroopers are your average guy. He can be anyone."

'My own world'

Johnson’s route to becoming Stormtrooper TK 210 started in 1977 with his father, a former World War II pilot, being intrigued by a movie poster featuring battling spaceships. His father thought it was a war movie and took the family, then living in Charlotte, to see "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope."

Johnson liked the movie because of the white-clad soldiers from the Galactic Empire that served with the movie’s villain, Darth Vader. Stormtroopers are among the first characters seen in the film.

“What were they? Were they men? Were they robots?” Johnson, 48, recalled. “I was trying to work the morality of why they did the things they did."

Johnson’s parents were very religious — they worked for the PTL Club, a Christian television program — and would occasionally throw away his Star Wars toys. A youth minister once told Johnson that Lucas was trying to lure kids into a cult.

He hid some of his Star War memorabilia and tried to read everything he could about the movie.

“I was in my own world,” Johnson said.

Albin Johnson (left) and his wife Kathy pose with R2-D2 and C-3PO during a 2005 Star Wars convention in Indianapolis.

His life changed after losing his left leg following a 1994 auto accident. Johnson was depressed, so a co-worker (and fellow Star Wars fan) at a Columbia Circuit City store encouraged him to buy a $2,000 Stormtrooper costume to wear to a showing for the re-release of "Star Wars: Episode V —The Empire Strikes Back."

"His eyes came alive when we talked about the movie," said Tom Crews, who worked with Johnson at the electronics store.

Few people dressed up in movie costumes to go to a movie in the '90s, especially in Columbia. It was a hit. Johnson bought a Stormtrooper suit for Crews, and they started posting photos of themselves in costumes on online bulletin boards.

They began to make friends with other fans dressing as Stormtroopers. Some were in other states, but they were joined by fans from other countries.

In 1997, Johnson, with Crews' help, created a fictional unit for the Stormtroopers, calling it the 501st Legion because “it rolled off the tongue.”

“We wanted to find people who are really into the movie and people who were really into the costumes,” said Crews, who is known as TK 512 in the legion. “We wanted to create something people wanted to belong to and wanted to grow.”

Since members were so far apart, Johnson adopted military lingo for local groups, known as garrisons, squads and outposts, so members were invested in growing the 501st in their state or country.

He had rules to make sure members dressed — and acted — properly, but he didn’t charge dues or try to make money selling costumes like similar Star Wars fan groups.

“It was not about perfection,” Johnson said. “It was about the relationships.”

The big break

That’s not to say the 501st didn’t struggle. The group’s first attempt at a gathering during a comic convention in 1998 in Atlanta included members who were not interested in dressing up or who preferred partying over marching.

But four years later, the 501st had its breakthrough.

During a Star Wars event in Indianapolis, Johnson was able to assemble 200 troopers to march to the arena. It was impressive and drew applause from fans waiting in line to get in. One problem: they walked across a street where a marathon was taking place. Peripheral vision in the masks is almost nonexistent. They stopped runners during their march.

Inside the arena, the crowds overwhelmed security. Johnson said he assembled his troopers and asked they each stand behind a security person to help usher fans through the event. That got the attention of Lucasfilm, the maker of Star Wars, which thanked the 501st and began a relationship that has helped legitimize the South Carolina-created legion.

Film company officials also recognized how Johnson led his group.

“His order of the day was, ‘Let’s have some fun,’ ’’ said Steve Sansweet, a former fan relations head for Lucasfilm. “He’s a personable guy who had an idea and threw it out there.”

Crews said he and Johnson wondered if Lucasfilm would come after them over copyright issues. Sansweet said filmmakers were leery at first, fearing that one of these rabid fans would rob a convenience store dressed as a Star Wars character.

But Lucasfilm took the 501st and other costume fan groups as a compliment.

“These can be our best emissaries out there," Sansweet said. "People love seeing them in the wild.”

Legion members take pride in making their own costumes or tweaking ones they buy to make them more authentic.

"We're showcasing our art," said Dan Rodriguez, the current 501st leader who lives in Maryland. "We want to look like we came right off the screen."  

The pink droid

Just two years after the 501st’s big break, Johnson’s 6-year-old daughter Katie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Katie saw in “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones” how the droid R2-D2 watched over Padmé Amidala while she was sleeping and wanted her own nighttime protector.

Johnson worked with friends to have a full-size pink version of R2-D2 at her bedside until her death in 2005. The droid was named R2-KT in her honor and now tours the country for charity events, visits sick children in hospitals and participates in Make-A-Wish events.

“This became a defining aspect of the 501st: We will be as charitable as we can for children,” Crews said.

R2-KT has become the Columbia-created 501st Legion's mascot, joining parades and visiting sick children in hospitals. The pink droid is named after 501st founder Albin Johnson's daughter, Katie, who died from brain cancer in 2005.

Johnson’s strong religious beliefs carried him through his daughter’s illness, said Crews, who now works with Johnson at the state's information technology agency.

Johnson refers to himself as a father of five, which includes Katie.

“He knows death is not death. It’s part of our existence,” Crews said. “You take some heart from that. Al has always found a way to see the brighter side of things no matter the low.”

R2-KT now has its own backstory in the Star Wars legend and the pink droid has appeared in animated Star Wars shows. Filmmakers borrowed the droid for more than a year so R2-KT could appear in the background of some scenes in 2015's “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.” (The pink droid does not have a cameo in “The Last Jedi.”)

'Power of the internet'

Members of the 501st have become a staples at Star Wars events.

Lucas wanted a group of Stormtroopers when he was grand marshal of the 2007 Rose Parade. Sansweet knew where to find them and recruited the 501st, which got a pep talk from the Star Wars creator ahead of a four-hour march.

“You’re all cannon fodder, none of you will probably make it,” Lucas joked, seeing how Stormtroopers' main role in the films is getting shot and dying. “We will remember you.”

Actor John Boyega, who plays Finn, former Stormtrooper FN 2187, poses with members of the Columbia-created 501st Legion at the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi" in London on Dec. 12. Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP

In the past week, 501st members took part in the premieres of “The Last Jedi” in Los Angeles and London. Their reward: They got to see the movie — and some British royalty.

Johnson stayed home. He is not involved in the legion day-to-day so he can spend more time with his family.

But he still chats with filmmakers, dresses up as TK 210 a few times a year and sends messages to members, who have reached into China and Russia — far from the Columbia electronics store where it all began.

“Even I’m surprised that it started here,” Johnson said. “But that’s the power of the internet.”

By:  Andy Shain

Source: The Post & Courier

[mf-despair-queen]

True Romance - Dave Hodgman

Author: @mf-despair-queen​ & @ninja-stiles

Characters: Dave Hodgman/Reader

Word Count: 10,310

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Oral (both receiving), Slightly Rough Sex, Protected Sex, Mentions of Drug Use, Mentions of Death, Talk and Eating of Pie! 

Notes: Hey look at that, we finish finished! A nice new collab from two of your favorite people in honor of belated Dave Week! The title is a play off of the fact that the beginning of this is inspired by the opening scenes of the movie True Romance. This is my fault, I’m sorry. Let us know your thoughts!

Dave sighed to himself, collapsing into the seat in the empty movie theater. If was his birthday, yet here he was. All alone. In an empty movie theater, ready to watch the original Star Wars trilogy for the millionth time.

It bugged him slightly that no one wanted to join him for this. His family decided it was more important to take Stella on a roadtrip to Disneyland, leaving him alone for the week of his own birthday. Simon and Big Corporation were too busy at some party with some big A-List celebrities Simon knew somehow. Aubrey had broken up with him and refused to talk to him. Jane was with her boyfriend of three weeks. No one bothered to take their time to join Dave see his favorite movies.

He sipped at his drink, eyes glued to the screen, watching Luke listening to the message from Leia he accidentally triggered from R2-D2 when he heard the clicks of the theater doors behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing a dark figure standing there. His eyes tried to focus on it, making out the smallest details he could from his seat.

That figure happened to be me. The simple girl you overlook when walking down the street, calling her a nerd under your breath because they judge you for the Star Wars shirt you wear daily. That was just the beginning of course. Everyone turned me away completely, shutting me from existence, when they found out about the accident with my family, my heart just withering even more. I had hoped that things would be different when I moved to California, but things just got worse. No friends because I was too afraid to approach people, and going to a Star Wars marathon by myself.

I saw one other person in the theater, sipping at his drink slowly. His eyes were focused on me, but he turned away quickly when he saw me looking at him. I clutched my popcorn tightly to my chest, making my way down the middle aisle, determining the perfect seat in this packed theater. Just know one thing, the sarcasm is strong with this one.

I glanced over at him the closer I got, noticing his chocolate brown hair, mole speckled cheeks, and honey brown eyes that glistened in the light from the movie. He wore a simple long sleeve red shirt and black jeans, his red and black Adidas kicked up on the seat in front of him. I couldn’t help but smile at him.

God, he’s cute.

I shimmied down the small aisle, trying to get to a seat behind him, slightly wanting to be in close proximity with the mysterious brown-eyed hunk that sat alone in the theater. My stomach churned, wanting to build up the courage to talk to him. He seemed nice enough, but the tiny, nagging voice in my mind held me back.

I glanced between him and the screen, trying to see what I had missed, when I tripped over a small bump in the old theater carpet, my popcorn spilling over the head of the handsome male in the row ahead of me. He jumped at the impact, shaking off the bundles of popcorn that littered his body. I blushed darkly, looking up at him when he turned to me.

“I-I’m sorry,” I mumbled, standing up and adjusting the skirt I was wearing. “That was a complete accident. I tripped and I guess the popcorn just kind of…” I trailed off, motioning with my hands for emphasis, the handsome male laughing slightly.

“No,no. I completely get it. This theater is in disarray,” he said, dipping down to pick up the empty popcorn bucket. “I’m sorry about your popcorn.”

“It’s fine,” I mutter, taking the empty bucket. “I will just go buy some more I guess and miss more of the movie.”

“W-well, if you want, I have barely touched time. We can share it maybe?” He offered, stuffing his hands in his pockets, a pink hue dusting his cheeks. I smiled at him, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Oh, I’m Dave, by the way. That way we can’t say I’m a stranger offering you popcorn,” he joked. I giggled at him, my own blush flooding over my cheeks.

“I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, Dave.”

He held out a hand, helping me crawl over the seats into the seat next to him, his popcorn settling in his lap. I settled into the seat, giving him a small smile as he tilted his popcorn towards me. I took some from the bag, mumbling a quiet thanks as both of our attention was brought back towards the movie.

“So, Dave, what brings you here to watch all three Star Wars movies alone?” I asked him, glancing over at him as the screen showed Luke meeting Obi Wan Kenobi for the first time, not realizing who he actually was.

“Um, well, it's my birthday and I wanted to watch my all time favorite franchise, but none of my friends wanted to come with me,” Dave sighed and my heart clenched in pain, feeling bad that he had spend his birthday alone. “What about you?” He asked, looking over at me and our eyes connected.

My stomach churned again with nervousness, feeling my hands get a little sweaty as I cleared my throat. “I-I don't actually have any friends…” I muttered, turning my attention back to the movie.

“What? That certainly can't be true,” He muttered, his eyes saddening and I shook my head, not wanting him to feel pity for me.

“It is and it’s fine, really,” I murmured, getting up to go to a different spot when his hand reached out to grab mine, latching his long, slender fingers around my wrist. I stopped in my tracks, looking back at him as he looked up at me.

“Don't leave, please. I'm sorry for whatever I did, but I-I would love to be your friend. Not many people are usually into this kind of stuff and it's nice to know a gorgeous girl like you is.” Dave smiled at me and my cheeks flushed, glad that it’s dark in the theater so he can't see them. “O-Oh god. I-I… me calling you gorgeous isn't weird, right?” He stuttered, scratching the back of his neck.

I blushed furiously once again, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, shaking my head. I sat back down next to him, not making eye contact with him. “N-No. I-it’s okay, Dave. N-No one’s actually called me that before…” I looked back up at the movie, the scene when Luke and Obi Wan meet Han Solo and Chewbacca playing on the screen. I kept my eyes on the screen, hoping the conversation will end there.

Dave tapped his foot anxiously, debating if he should say something or not. I saw him turn to me from the corner of my eye, his mouth opening and closing like a gasping fish a few times. He finally took one deep breath, muttering to himself to stay calm, turning in his seat to look at me fully. “Well, I absolutely mean it. It’s stupid for you not to have any friends because you are obviously super sweet and absolutely gorgeous. And, who doesn’t like a girl who loves Star Wars?”

I giggled, hearing him ramble. “You’d be surprised how many people back home didn’t like Star Wars and judge you for it.”

Dave sat back in his chair. “Well, I’m your friend now, so get used to friendship, sweetheart.” We both laughed, huge smiles on both of our faces. “So, you just moved here then?”

I looked over at him, quirking an eyebrow. “What makes you say that? I didn’t say I was new.”

Dave chuckled, taking a fistful of popcorn, popping a few in his mouth. “You just said no one back home liked Star Wars. Meaning you lived somewhere before here. Plus, I’ve never seen you around town and I know probably like ninety-two point six percent of this town because my friend Simon has all the connections. I’d say you are around my age, so you would be going to school, and I’ve never seen you while going through his school databases he gets from Stanwyck.”

I shake my head, taking a sip of my drink. “You know, that is a very impressive number, and highly precise, assuming you’re right. And, maybe I’m just that unnoticable. I have a tendency to blend in with the crowd if I’m not careful,” I joked, Dave smiling wider.

“I don’t believe that. I would have recognized your cute face anywhere,” Dave said casually, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as soon as the words left his mouth. “Um, what I meant was that you have a very distinguishable face? Oh god, that just sounds worse.”

I laughed at him, throwing a few pieces of popcorn at him. “Calm down, Dave. I accept your compliment,” I told him, watching him catch the next piece of popcorn I threw in his mouth. “And yes, you would be right. I just moved here two weeks ago with my dad because I will be starting college upstate at the end of summer. Just graduated.”

Dave grinned, slinging his arm across the back of my seat. “See, I knew I could read you like an open book. I just graduated too and will be starting college upstate. Maybe we are going to the same college?” He asked, scratching his cheek cutely.

I kicked my feet up on the seat in front of my, my feet oddly close to his. “Maybe. Who knows, Dave. I don’t share that kind of information until the second date,” I said cheekily, Dave laughing at my joke.

“Let’s get through the first one then I guess, right?”

We spent the rest of the time just sharing random facts about each other. Favorite color, favorite sports team (thank the lord he was a Mets fan like me), favorite villain of all time. Hell, we even talked about if we were Team Cap or Team Iron Man. I think we barely paid attention to the movies, though neither of us seemed to care since we had both seen them a million times.

We were slightly playing footsies on the backs of the seats in front of his, our feet poking playfully at each other, our laughter filling the empty theater. Dave still had his arm slung around the back of my seat, though it had landed more on my shoulders as we joked around,throwing bits of popcorn at each other and making witty remarks at things the other said. It had been a long time since I felt this happy with someone.

As the final movie ended, I walked outside onto the dark street with Dave, playfully shoving against his arm at a stupid riddle he was trying to say about Star Wars. Dave chuckled when I plugged my ears, pretending I wasn’t listening to him. We finally arrived at Dave’s car, Dave leaning against the hood with his hands in his pocket. I could only bite my lip at the way he looked, shuffling on my feet.

“Well, it’s getting late, Dave,” I told him, glancing at my phone. “It’s already almost midnight. I’m sure you have better things to do than to hang out with me now.”

Dave shook his head vigorously. “No, no. My family isn’t even in town, so I would just be going home to an empty house. If we can hang out some more, I would much rather do that,” he said quietly, looking away embarrassed. “What do you want to do?”

I put my finger to my chin, pretending like I was thinking. “Well, we could do my favorite tradition after a movie. It’s something I did with my parents every time we saw something.” Dave cocked his head to the side, giving me the most adorable look of confusion. “Tell me, Mr. Hodgman,” I started, Dave groaning at the use of his last name. “How do you feel about pie?”

Dave chuckled. “One, remind me never to tell you my last name again. Just stick to Dave. It’s cuter when you say my name. And two, I love pie. Get in, I know the perfect place.”

Dave parked his car outside a small building named Sally’s Diner. I looked at the cute little building as Dave opened his door, getting out and walking over to mine quickly before I get the chance to open my own door. I blushed a bit, quietly thanking him as the both of us walked inside, sitting in a booth near the window.

I looked out the window, admiring the city lights as I felt Dave’s eyes on me, waiting for the waitress to come over to the table. I glanced at him, giving him a small smile as he returned it, my heart fluttering slightly. Fuck. Why’s he so cute!?

“Hi guys, sorry for taking so long. I’m Nicole and I'll be your waitress for the evening. Can I start you out with any drinks?” She asked us and I shook my head no as Dave did the same.

“No, thank you. Can we get two of your old fashioned apple pie, please?” Dave asked Nicole and she smiled, writing it down on her little notepad before walking away.

“Apple pie, huh? How'd you know that was my favorite?” I asked him, grinning as he shrugged his shoulder, a small smirk on his pink lips.

“It was just a hunch and it turns out I was right,” Dave laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

“So, tell me about yourself, Dave.” I smiled as the waitress came back with our pie, both of us giving her a small smile before she left. We had dug into the delicious pie as Dave told me about his interests and whatnot, seeing that a lot of stuff he liked, I liked as well.

“You mentioned that it was just you and your dad that moved here… where's your mom? If you don't mind me asking,” He questioned and my body stiffened, feeling the sting behind my eyes, picking at the crust of my pie.

“U-Um, I-I don't really wanna talk about it…” I muttered sadly, placing my fork down, not having an appetite anymore.

“T-That’s fine. We don't have to talk about it.” Dave gave me a reassuring smile and I returned it, glad that we're moving on from the topic.

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you,” I half-smiled, picking at my chipped fingernail polish. He nodded his head, taking a bite of his pie before my phone started vibrating. I fished it out of my pocket, seeing my dad had texted me, telling me to come home and I sighed. “I-I gotta go. My dad needs me.” I muttered, quickly getting out of the booth, running off before Dave had a chance to say anything to me.

Dave gaped at my back as I bolted out the door, trying to find the right words. “Wait!” he tried to holler, watching the door close behind me before I could hear him. “I didn’t even get your number…” he trailed off after a second. Nicole walked back over, handing him the check, laughing at his facial expression.

“Ditched on a date, eh Dave?” She joked, Dave glaring at her.

“Oh hush, Nicole. It wasn’t even a date. I just met her,” he muttered, handing her the card. She walked away to run it, Dave glancing at the door once more. He sighed, taking the last few bites of his pie. “I just wish I could get to know her more.”

Dave sighed, climbing into the back of Big Corporation’s car. Simon, who had been on his phone, glanced at Dave through the rearview mirror. “What has you so depressed, David?” he asked, turning back to the dark haired male in the back seat. “Don’t tell me you’re still depressed that we didn’t join your little Star Wars movie marathon at the theater last night.”

Dave stuck his tongue out childishly, sinking into the leather seats. “No, it’s not about the damn movie,” he mumbled, feeling the car shift into drive as Big Corporation began down the road. “I… I met a girl at the movies last night, alright?”

“Oh, this can’t be good,” Simon grumbled, putting his phone away. “This is going to turn out like another Audrey, isn’t it?”

“It was Aubrey, Simon,” Dave pointed out, “And it’s not going to be like that. This girl was different, alright? She just graduated high school like us before she moved here a few weeks ago. All we did was talk during the movie because she was as much a fan of them as I was then we went out for pie at Sally’s.”

“Sounds a lot like Audrey to me,” Simon stated, ignoring Dave’s baffled look at the incorrect name once more. “Alright, humor me then, David. If this girl that you met last night is so special, then why are you so depressed? Just call her and ask her out. And don’t rush anything like you did with Audrey.”

“I’m not going to rush things with her. In fact, I can’t do anything with her,” Dave muttered, staring out the window. Simon glanced back at him with a questioning look.

“He didn’t get her number again,” Big Corp mumbled in his deep voice, Simon trying to keep from laughing. Dave sneered, glaring at his friends.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Because this time you can’t use Stanwyck to get her number since she didn’t go to school in town,” Dave said. “And I don’t have her last name, nor know where she lives. I have no way to find this girl again, so let’s just say this. I am royally fucked and will never find this beautiful, nerdy girl again.”

The car came to a halt abruptly, Dave lurching against his seatbelt. Simon looked at him one more time before climbing out of the car. Dave glanced out the window, seeing them parked outside of Sally’s Diner. Dave leaned his head against the seat, deciding to slide from the car after a minute. Simon and Big Corp were waiting for him, the trio making their way to the door.

“Well,” Simon began, Big Corp pushing the door open slowly, the bell jingling upon their entrance, “I think that you shouldn’t give up if you think this girl is that special. Sometimes, fate has a funny way of showing itself.”

The trio was seated in their normal corner, left alone with menus and the promise that a waitress would be with them shortly. They were scrolling through their phones, looking at social media as they waited, already knowing that they had wanted.

“Hi gentlemen. I’m Y/N and I’ll be your waitress for the time being,” I introduced, reaching into my pocket, grabbing my notepad as I haven’t looked at our paying customers yet, already breaking a rule. I sighed quietly, looking up as the three guys put their phones away to look at me and my breath hitched in my throat, instantly recognizing one of them.

“Y/N…” Dave breathed, his lips parted as his friends just smiled at him, knowing that fate would give him a chance. He stood up from the booth, placing both his hands on my arms as he looked me over. “Y-You’re working here now?” He asked me and I nodded my head, giving him a small smile.

“Yeah, I saw a sign about a week ago that they were hiring and I put in an application and here I am, my first day on the job.” I grinned and he smiled as well, his hands still touching my skin. Dave looked back at his friends as they gave him a knowing smirk before looking back at me, leaning in to whisper into my ear.

“Can I talk to you in private? For just a minute?” He asked me and I nodded my head, leading him towards the back door, heading outside. Dave and I stood in the alleyway behind the diner, his hand still in mine as my heartbeat sped up a bit.

“I'm sorry I ran off last night. M-My dad needed me and I realized that I didn't give you my number,” I rambled and he smiled, placing his finger to my lips. My eyes widened, glancing up at him as I stopped talking.

“It's okay. I-I was actually about to say something similar,” Dave chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I was punishing myself for not stopping you to get your number. I really, really wanna get to know you better,” He confessed and I smiled, looking to the floor for a second before glancing back at him.

“Same. You're really intriguing, Dave,” I grinned, punching his shoulder playfully. I took the pen out of my pocket, taking his hand as I write my number on it. “I'm not doing anything this weekend, call me. I gotta get back to work.” I pressed my lips to his cheek, giving him a quick kiss before walking back inside.

Dave walked back inside, the smile never leaving his lips as he sat back down in the booth with his friends.

“Did it go well, lover boy?” Simon asked, smirking as Dave nodded, showing his two friends the number on his hand. “Bout damn time you did something right. When are we going to call her?”

Dave’s mouth fell open, gawking at his friend. “Um,no. You guys are not going to be around when I call her. I screwed up one relationship because you guys always insisted on being around when I talked to Aubrey. I’m not going to compromise anything with this girl because you guys want to be involved in my sex life.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Audrey left you, David. You screwed nothing up. Don’t listen to what she said to you back then.”

Dave glanced over at me at another table, taking someone’s order. A small smile graced his lips, looking down at the table. “I just really like this girl, guys. I don’t want to rush anything with her.” He leaned forward on the table, his fingers drumming on the wood. “I know what happened with Aubrey wasn’t my fault. I just don’t want it to happen again.”

Big Corporation looked directly at Dave, speaking in his calm tone, “It’ll work only if you believe in it, Dave.”

Simon nodded in agreement. The rest of their lunch was silent, Dave occasionally glancing my way. Every time I caught him staring, he would look away, picking at his burger. I giggled to myself, a blush forming on my cheeks. As they were finishing their meal, I prepared their check, bringing it to them with a small surprise. I placed the bill on the table, placing a piece of apple pie in a box in front of Dave. Dave shot me a questioning look, being met with my smile.

“I-I didn’t order this,” he mumbled, Simon and Big Corporation placing cash in the folder, mouthing to Dave that they would wait outside. Dave swallowed thickly once his friends left, his throat suddenly more dry.

I laughed, shaking my head. “I know you didn’t. It’s on the house, Dave,” I told him. “I think of it as incentive to make sure you call me. At least to thank me. Have a great day, cutie,” I said, shooting him a wink before grabbing the check, spinning on my heel and walking away briskly. Dave’s gaze lingered on my backside, watching my ass sway slightly when I disappeared into the kitchen.

“Shit,” he mumbled, gathering his pie and rushing out the door of the diner. Simon and Big Corp were standing by the car. Simon held a knowing smirk, his eyebrow raising to ask what happened. “Guys, how soon is “too soon” to call her? I don’t know if I can wait till this weekend.” Simon just shook his head, motioning for Dave to get in the car.

Back inside, I placed a hand to my chest, feeling my heart pounding against my rib cage rapidly. My body was shaking slightly, a mixture of emotions flooding my body. Nervous, anxious, excited, happy. But most of all, I was hopeful, hoping to hear from him soon. “I am never like this. People think I’m weird. Why are you so different, Dave Hodgman? Why do I like you so much?”

Dave paced his room, the number you gave him typed into his phone already. His finger hovered over the green “call” button, though he hesitated on pressing it. Thoughts raced through his mind, the main one being if he was calling too soon. Simon suggested waiting 48 hours, but Dave couldn’t last more than eight without hearing your voice. So here he was, sitting in his room at midnight, trying to build up the courage to call you.

I sat on my bed, glancing at my phone every few seconds, wishing I had gotten his number as I had paced my room for twenty minutes before sitting down. I sighed, picking my fingernails as my dad knocked on my door before walking into my room.

“Hey, kiddo. How'd your first day go?” He asked, sitting down next to me as I nodded my head.

“I-It was good,” I muttered, smiling softly at him. “That guy I talked to at the movies was there and I gave him my number,” I told him and he smiled, patting my back.

“Look at you, giving your number to a guy you like. Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?” My dad joked and I playfully glared at him, pushing him lightly.

“I don't know what it is about him. He-He’s just different. I find myself falling for him quickly,” I blushed, hiding my face in my hands.

“I'm glad you're happy though. Your mom… she would've been proud.” He half-smiled and my heart clenched in pain, my eyes stinging a bit.

“I know. I'd always complain that I couldn't talk to cute guys and here I am, talking to one as if we’re best friends already,” I chuckled softly, sniffing slightly.

“Have you told him about her?” My dad asked me and I shook my head, leaning my head against his shoulder.

“No, I-I don't think I want to just yet. I-I just want to be normal and not have people think we’re weird, ya know?” I asked him and he nodded. We sat in silence for a few minutes when my phone ranged, jumping slightly as I picked it up, seeing an unknown number. This has to be him. I glanced at my dad as he nodded, getting up to leave the room as I answered the phone. “Hello?”

Dave’s breath hitched as he heard my voice on the other line, glad that I had picked up. “H-Hey, Y/N. It's Dave,” He said, internally cursing at himself.

“Hey, Dave.” I smiled, biting my lip as I played with the comforter, feeling giddy to hear his voice again.

“T-This isn't too soon, is it?” He asked me and I chuckled a bit, shaking my head at how cute he is when he stutters. Dave internally freaks out as he waited for my answer to his question, scratching at his face.

“No, I don't think so. I-I was just punishing myself that I didn't get your number. I couldn't wait until the weekend to talk to you again.” I blushed, glad he couldn't see as he chuckled softly.

“Oh thank god. That's how I felt,” Dave muttered, letting out a sigh of relief. “D-Do you maybe wanna go out for lunch tomorrow?” He asked me and I couldn't contain myself from smiling, my heads pounding against my chest.

“I’d love that, Dave.” I got up, writing down that I had a lunch date with him on my calendar. “Pick me up at noon?” I asked him.

Dave nodded his head before realizing that I couldn't see him as he spoke up. “Y-Yeah, that’d be perfect.” He grinned, getting excited as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Great! It's a date!” I exclaimed, realizing I mentioned it was a date on accident. “I-I mean, like, um, a friend date… yeah,” I stuttered, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Well, I guess that means I am one step closer to that second date for you to tell me what college you’re going to,” Dave joked, a blush spreading across my cheeks. He remembered when I said that the prior night. “I will let last night slide as the first date, though, since I didn’t properly ask you out for that one.” He paused, nibbling on his lip, trying to find the right words. “U-um, yeah. Text me your address and I will see you tomorrow then. It’s a date, Y/N.”

I blushed darker, my words coming out in jumbled rambles. “I just. Um. Yeah. Tomorrow. Address. Texting lunch.” I ran a hand over my face, hearing my dad laugh from down the hall. “I didn’t mean to say that. I will text you my address right now and I will see you at noon tomorrow for lunch. It’s um… it’s a date, Dave.”

We bid quick goodbyes, trying not to sound awkward to each other in our embarrassment. I dropped my phone onto my blanket, falling back onto my bed with a loud groan. My dad poked his head back in my doorway, munching on an apple with a smirk on his face. “You have it bad for his boy. I like seeing this side of you. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you actually pining over someone.”

I sent him a short glare, rolling over onto my stomach. I poked at my phone for a sec, sighing. “Is it alright to tell him what happened? What if he judges me like everyone else?”

My dad frowned, walking over to sit next to me on the bed. He rubbed my back soothingly, taking another bite of his apple. “Well, look at it like this. Back home, everyone knew us and how hard things were. So, they were quick to judge what happened. Here, this boy, Dan?”

“Dave.”

“Dave, right. He doesn’t know what happened. But, if he really cares the way it sounds like he does, he will not judge anything too quickly. You just have to be willing to share these things with him.If you want things to develop, he deserves to know your story.” He paused, smiling down at me. “I think it will go swimmingly, baby. You really like this boy, and you barely met him yesterday. So, take the chance and tell him. I want to see you happy, and he makes you happy.”

“Thanks, dad,” I said, smiling into my blankets. He laughed quietly, making his way to door. He stopped short, gripping the doorknob tightly. “When he asks you out, I expect him over for dinner so I can properly meet this fellow. He sounds like an amazing lad. I need to know who’s going to be having sex with my daughter soon so I can have the safe sex talk with him.”

I rolled off my bed, bolting up from the floor flushed a dark red. “Dad! Shut up already! I won’t be having sex!” I grabbed a pillow from my bed, throwing it at him, though it ended in vain when he laughed and shut the door before he could get hit. I buried my head in my blankets, crying to myself. “Damn, man.”

I heard a honk outside, peeking through the glass on my front door to see Dave getting out of his car, rushing to the other side and preparing for me to walk out. I took a deep breath, looking down at the black pleated skirt, blue flowing tank top, and black booties I had decided to wear. I grabbed my keys and purse, locking my door on the way out.

Dave’s breath hitched when I walked out. Damn, she looks incredible like always, he thought to himself, tugging at the collar of his blue polo shirt. I slowly made my way over to him, Dave opening his arms for a quick hug. “Hey, Y/N. Missed you.”

I laughed, letting myself fall into his embrace. “It’s good to see you too, Dave, even if it’s been like twenty four hours.” He chuckled into my hair, pulling away to open the door for me. I thanked him kindly, sliding into the polyester seats. He jumped into the driver’s seat, heading off quickly.

He didn’t tell me where we were going, nor did I pry. We just made small talk while he drove. My eyes would glance at his hand sitting on the center console, my fingers itching to reach forward and grab it, feeling his soft skin in mine. But I fought the urge, telling myself it was too early. Dave would occasionally glance at me, quickly turning back to the road before I caught him looking, a smile plastered on his face.

He pulled up to a small restaurant, my eyes drifting over the large sign that read “Sergio’s Italian Bistro”. Dave rushed around to open the door for me, extending a hand to help me out. He saw my gaze fixed on the restaurant, smiling wider. “I’ve been here a shit ton with Simon and Big Corporation. They have great lunch specials. And it’s pretty quiet around this time.” He took my hand, lacing our fingers subconscious as he led me inside, the waiter bringing up to a table in the back, no one around us.

We talked happily after we ordered, waiting for our food and munching on our breadsticks. We joked about random things, our feet wrestling with each other playfully under the table like they did at the movies. Dave was rehashing a time when he was at this party with his friends and some kid knocked Simon into the pool. I was enjoying hearing him tell the story, a wide smile on his face as he did.

“So, let’s just say, that party didn’t have a happy ending when the guy hosting it kicked us out because Simon nearly tackled the boy across the lawn. That kid never showed up to school again too after that. I think he transferred to North after that, afraid Simon would do something,” he joked, biting down on his breadstick. I laughed, sipping my water.

“Sucks to be that guy. Sorry you had to be kicked out of that party though,” I giggled, Dave giving me a look to mock my laughter.

“It’s fine. Jane said it sucked the moment we left because everyone got bored. We were obviously the life of the party,” he said, throwing his hands up dramatically. I laughed, covering my mouth to muffle it slightly. “Well, it’s your turn to tell a story. Tell me anything. I just want to know something about Y/N that I don’t know yet.”

I smiled sadly, staring at the table. “I’m not that interesting, really,” I mumbled. I contemplated with myself, trying to determine if this was the right time. “I can tell you something super personal, I guess. But this stays between us, right?” I whispered. Dave nodded, reaching across to table to take my hands in his.

“Of course. You can literally tell me anything. It won’t change the way I feel about you. Err, I mean,” he blushed, biting his lip, “the way I see you. I won’t judge you. Pinky promise.”

I laughed, looking up at him. “You hang out with your sister too much.” I took a deep breath, squeezing his hands carefully. “Well, here we go I guess. Um, remember how you asked before about my mother and I told you I didn't want to talk about it?” I started and Dave frowned slightly, his hand squeezing mine lightly.

“You… you don't have to tell me if you don't want to,” Dave mentioned softly and I looked up at him, tears already brimming my eyes.

“N-No, if we’re going to be… something, you deserve to know the story.” I gave him a small smile before rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. “So, about ten years ago, she had to go to the hospital for some surgery and she became addicted to pills, which created a bigger mess when she started doing the hard stuff. Her brother, Riley, was the person who introduced her to the cocaine and heroin, shit like that, and they began buying drugs together,” I sighed, gripping his hand harder as I looked around, making sure no one was around us before continuing, “M-my dad had found out and desperately tried to get her out of the habit, otherwise he was going to leave her, and she did for a bit until she went through withdrawals. S-So, one night, after my dad and I had gone out to a movie that was just released, we came home to my mother lying on the couch with a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. There was a suicide note next to her body, but both of us knew that she didn't do it, because it wasn't her handwriting and I've watched enough Forensic Files to know that people don't shoot themselves in the middle of the forehead, it's commonly on the side of the temple.” Tears were trailing down my cheeks by now, wiping them away as Dave sat in the booth next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “W-When we told the police that she was murdered, they didn't believe us because they knew of her depression. T-They didn't even look into it… she never got her justice.”

Dave rested his forehead against the side of my head, our fingers entwined as we sat in the booth as our food had arrived, both of us thanking the waiter as he walked away, a concerned look on his face. “Why would I judge you for this?” He asked softly and I glanced over at him, leaning my head on his shoulder.

“People at home would treat us differently for some reason. Like we were trying to get sympathy and attention when really we were trying to solve my mom’s murder,” I sighed, looking down at our hands, my heart pounding against my rib cage as I felt Dave’s breath fan over my ear.

“Well, people in your town are absolutely fucking stupid. For them to treat you that way is ridiculous. I...I would never do that. I can tell that you're heartbroken about this and I'd be the same way if I were in your shoes.” Dave lifted my chin so I looked at him and he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, resting the palm of his hand on my cheek. “I'll be here for you whenever you need to talk. Don't bottle your feelings up, okay?” He asked and I nodded, my heart fluttering at his kindness.

“God… I have never met anyone like you before, Dave. I was surely thinking that you would want nothing to do with me,” I laughed lightly, resting my hands on his chest.

“I would never do that, wanna know why?” He asked and I nodded my head for him to finish. “Because I have also never met anyone like you and I don't want to lose you over something like that. Fuck those people who judged you. You know what actually happened and you tried so hard to prove it to everyone and if they can't see that, they don't deserve the likes of you.” He smiled, softly kissing my forehead as my cheeks flushed, feeling all warm inside, gripping his shirt slightly. “My family still isn't home. Maybe we can take this to go and eat there? So we’ll be alone?” Dave asked and I bit my lip, thinking for a moment before nodding my head in agreement.

Dave flagged down a waiter, briefly explaining the situation without going into detail. The waiter smiled at Dave, taking our food to pack up for us. Dave’s hand never left mine the entire time, his fingers laced with mine, his thumb running over the knuckle carefully. My head rested on his shoulder, enjoying his presence and the faint smell of the cologne he must have worn for me.

The waiter returned shortly after with a bag of food and the check, Dave slipping him money before I even saw it. I was tugged from the restaurant and placed into Dave’s car without a second though, Dave driving towards his house quietly. His hand reached over shortly into the drive, squeezing it for comfort. I spared a quick glance at him, seeing the smile on his face as he drove. I’m sure it was contagious seeing his grin, because my own smile spread the second I saw it.

He pulled up to a small brown house, parking in the driveway. He rushed around to open my door once again the second we parked, taking my hand in one of his hands and the food in the other. I giggled, watching him struggle to open the door without letting anything go. He almost dropped his keys a few times, but got the door open inevitably, leading me inside and kicking the door shut.

He lived in a quaint little home, pictures of him, his mom and his little sister (whom he had told me about quite a bit in our long talks over the past few days) lining the walls. Dave kicked off his shoes, glancing over at me. “I’m going to put our food on some plates and grab us some drinks. If you want, my room is upstairs, second door on the left. Not to be mistaken by the door with the giant princess crown on it that says “Stella” because you know, that’s obviously not my room. But I want to make sure you knew,” he rambled. I grinned, suppressing my giggles.

“Aw, are you sure, Dave? I thought any guy would love to have a giant princess crown on their bedroom door.” He stuck his tongue out at me, disappearing around the corner into kitchen. I slipped off my boots, making my way up the stairs, taking in the tiny details about his house. It was comfortable, that’s for sure.

I carefully opened the door to Dave’s room, glancing around at the things he had. Trophies lining the top of his messy computer desk, the dart board hanging above his dresser, the telescope stashed in the corner near the bed. My fingers ran over the soft gray comforter on his bed, blue pillows messily thrown around. He had dirty clothes covering his floor and hanging off the side of his bed, but I thought it solidified in my mind how real of a person Dave was.

He wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, he was really here with me.

Dave walked in with two plates of food, two cans of pepsi tucked into his arms. He looked around at his messy room, cursing silently. “Let me just straighten up for a sec,” he mumbled, placing the food on his desk and rushing around to grab the clothes covering the floor. I laughed when he stumbled picking up a pair of jeans that were under his foot, perching myself on the bed, adjusting the pillows against the wall.

Dave handed me my plate, grabbing his laptop off his table. I nibbled on the alfredo I had gotten, feeling the bed shift as he situated himself next to me, pulling up a movie. “What are we watching?” I asked, looking up at him seeing his cheeks stuffed with a breadstick. He swallowed with a blush, shifting on the bed.

“Have you ever seen The Fifth Element?” He asked. A wide smile formed on my face,nodding quickly.

“I love that movie! It’s so good! Old, but definitely good. My dad showed it to me when I was really young, but we watched it every year,” I told him. He smiled, taking a mouthful of his gnocchi, letting me snuggle into his side as we watched the movie.

The movie was nice, but by the time we finished eating, he barely focused on the laptop at our feet. His arm was around my shoulders, my head on his chest. Our hands rested intertwined on his stomach, our legs tangled together. It felt so natural to be close like this, and I couldn’t shake the butterflies in my stomach or the pull my body had towards him, the desire I felt to be with him in every way possible.

We had put in another movie, but neither of us were really paying attention to it as I focused on his heartbeat, my fingers playing absentmindedly with his. I sat up, my chest pressed against his shoulder as he glanced over at me, our faces inches from each other. I heard his breath hitch as I rested my forehead against his.

“How come I feel so comfortable with you? I literally just met you and it feels like we’ve known each other for years.” I whispered, Dave’s body turning toward the side as he faces me, rubbing his thumb against my cheekbone.

“I don't know, but I feel the same way. It's why I called you yesterday. I couldn't wait for the weekend to see you again. You've become addicting to me…” Dave husked, his fingertips trailed down my arm, goosebumps covering my arms as I fluttered my eyes shut.

“C-Can you… can you kiss me?” I asked, breathlessly, glancing up towards his eyes as they had become darker, licking his lips.

“Do you always kiss on the first date?” Dave smirked and I bit my lip, shaking my head no. He leaned closer to me, our noses brushing together as his breath had fanned onto my face.

“No, but I think you know that you're not like any other guy,” I whispered, resting my hands against his chest.

“Well, I'm glad you think that.” He smiled, moving some hair out of my face, tilting his head to the side.

My eyes flutter shut again as his lips began to brush against mine. I swallowed thickly, gripping his shirt lightly. Dave pressed his lips against mine and one of my hands had moved up towards his neck, wrapping one arm around it. My heartbeat sped up, the feeling of his soft lips against mine making my head spin as I begin to kiss back. I tugged at his hair a bit, his lips becoming addicting as his tongue licked my bottom lip, granting permission for entrance.

I decided to tease him a bit and keep my mouth closed, placing small kisses to his lips as I place both my hands on his cheeks. Dave groaned softly, his arms wrapping around my waist, squeezing my ass slightly. I gasped at his action and his tongue dived into my mouth, tangling with mine.

Our kisses sped up, our bodies pressing closer together. Occasionally he would pull back so we could take a breath, but he would delve back into another kiss in an instant, his lips wrapping around mine, our tongues twisting together wildly between our lips. He tugged at my bottom lip with his teeth when I wasn’t expecting it, my fingers tangling in his hair and tugging at the roots slightly.

His fingers pushed up the bottom of my shirt slightly, tracing circles on my waist. The movie played in the background, though the noise was drowned out by our kissing, my ears buzzing with arousal and desire whenever I felt his soft lips on mine. My leg wound over his waist, our bodies nearly atop one another as we made out laying on our sides.

Dave broke the kiss, resting his forehead against mine,licking at his lips. A smile graced his lips, his eyes fluttering closed. We were both slightly breathless, small pants escaping our lips. “God, you’re amazing. I couldn’t be happier right now, that was the best.”

I couldn’t help but smile with him, thinking how sweet, caring and adorable he was. But, I needed more. I didn’t know what had come over me, the words escaping my mouth before I could stop them. “Is that all you’ve got, Dave?”

His eyes snapped open, and I could see a hint of something darken in his honey brown orbs, tainting the once bright eyes I had grown accustomed to with an emotion I had not seen from him, or any other guy I’d attempted to be with. Was it desire? Arousal? Lust? But also bits of passion? Want? Love, maybe? I couldn’t discern the foreign emotions, but I enjoyed seeing it on him, filling my own body with the same want and desire I though, and knew, he felt.

Dave didn’t say anything, just attached our lips in a short kiss. He didn’t even give me a chance to kiss back when I felt his lips trailing down my cheek to my neck, placing light kisses to the sensitive juncture of my neck and shoulder, sucking and nibble a red mark at my skin. A straggled moan slipped from my lips, Dave grinning into my neck. “You like that, huh? You like me kissing at your neck?”

I moaned again at his words, his lips attaching to my neck again. His hands were pushing up at my shirt, though my mind was blank, unaware of how high he was pushing it until it was over my head and discarded onto his floor. My fingers tangled in his spiked, chocolate brown hair, his lips trailing down between my breasts. I barely could register his fingers playing with the straps of my blue bra, tugging them down my arms and unhooking it with one hand.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he mumbled, practically ripping my bra off my chest and throwing it across the room, the material landing on his lamp. I blushed when I came to my senses, attempting to cover my exposed chest. His hands latched around my wrist, shaking his head. “Don’t cover up, baby. I want to see you for who you are. I want to see every bit of you. You have nothing to hide from me.”

My blush darkened, letting my arm rest at my side. Dave grinned, pushing me onto my back, his lips latching to my erect nipple. I mewled softly, eyes clenching shut, relishing in the feeling of his mouth placing rough, but soft, kisses on my hardened peak and his hand massaging my other breast. His lips would tug at the bud whenever he pulled away, blowing cool air on it and flicking his tongue over it. His fingers tweaked the other nipple, my moans growing louder by the second.

He swapped breasts, his hand sliding down my chest and waist, pushing the skirt I was wearing up.His fingers swiped over my matching blue panties, groaning against me when he felt the wet spot that had formed in them. “Fuck, baby. You’re so wet,” he grumbled, kissing at my breast again. I couldn’t respond properly, my words a jumbled mess.

His fingers pushed passed the hem of my panties, rubbing light circles on my clit a few times before drifting lower. They flicked at my entrance, two fingers sliding into my core. My back arched into him, my body quivering at the feelings coursing through my veins. His fingers pumped lucidly into my pussy, curling into my sensitive walls and rubbing my sweet spot repeatedly.

He broke from my chest with a small pop, leaning up to messily kiss my lips, my body shaking violently the faster he thrust his fingers, his thumb pressing to my clit. My walls were clenching around his digits, warm liquid releasing in waves around them without me knowing. I felt the coil unwind when it happened, my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions as I came. Dave groaned against my lips, my fluids coating his fingers and leaking down his hand, soaking my panties.

He pulled his fingers from inside me, backing away to lick them clean. I watched his tongue swirl around them, licking my own lips as a result. He saw the small action, groaning for the upteenth time. “Fuck, I really want to fuck you,” he mumbled, blushing when he realized he said that out loud. “I-I didn’t mean…”

“Alright,” I told him, pushing him away with my foot. “You need to be gentle with me. I’ve only done it once and it was the worst thing in the world.” I wasn’t sure where this newfound confidence came from. It seemed to be something I gained naturally around him. A part of my mind yelled at me, saying that I would regret this later, but the other part said this was right. Some would say it’s too soon, but it felt right with him.

Dave’s eyes widened at my words. “You’re serious? I mean, I’m not the greatest at sex either. My first time was a train wreck if you’ve ever seen one.” I gave him a look, Dave practically falling off the bed in an attempt to get up. “Right, let me just… grab a condom them.” He tugged his shirt over his head, leaving it on his computer chair as he struggled with his jeans, kicking them and his boxers off as he waddled to his dresser. I carefully removed my ruined panties, my eyes locked on his bare ass as he rummaged through his drawers, cursing while trying to find a condom.

I bit my lip, sliding off the bed onto the floor, crawling across his carpet quietly. I heard his faint cheer of delight when he pulled a small, square package from the drawer, turning to see me perched in front of him. I looked up at him with a sweet smile, my hand wrapping around his surprisingly large cock. His mouth fell open, watching me stroke his length, his precum leaking from the tip.

He attempted to say something, but was silenced quickly when my lips wrapped around the head of his cock, tasting the salty sweet precum, rubbing my tongue along his slit and sensitive underside. Dave moaned quietly, leaning back against his dresser, still holding the condom in his hand. His eyes were trained on me, gently bobbing my head on his cock, tracing the pulsing vein on the underside of his shaft. My hand pumped what wouldn’t fit in my mouth, Dave’s noises becoming noticeably louder.

Dave reacted without thinking, his hips thrusts forward unconsciously. The tip hit the back of my throat, causing me to gag slightly, but I bit the bullet. My nose buried in the dark hairs at the base of his cock, my hands reaching around to grip his ass tightly. He continued to thrust into my mouth, the length twitching against my cheeks. His hand threaded through my hair, gripping at it tightly, letting loads of hot cum spill from his tip with a grunt, the liquid sliding down my throat with ease.

I swallowed every drop he hand, wiping my lips when I pulled away. Dave looked down at me, the same glint from earlier evident in his eyes. “Baby, that was hot. But fuck it, I can’t wait any longer.” He pulled me up, ripping the condom open with his teeth and sliding it on. He gripped my thighs, motioning for me to jump. And when someone like Dave Hodgman tells you to jump, you jump.

My legs wound around his waist as I jumped, my lips instantly meeting his in a rough, messy kiss. He carefully used one hand to align himself with my entrance, sliding in slowly with a grunt. My eyes squeezed shut, adjusting to his size as we kissed hastily. He slowly walked to the bed, dropping me to his bed, cock still buried deep inside me. My legs were still around his waist. His fingers dug into my legs, light bruises bound to form from the pressure.

He grinned down at me, his hips snapping into mine quickly. I moaned at the impact, his cock already finding its way to my g-spot, bottoming out every time he thrust forward. “You like that, baby?” he taunted, his voice deep and husky, filled with lust. I nodded quickly, my eyes clenching shut. “Good. I’m going to rock your world, baby.”

My legs tightened around him, his thrusts growing faster and more powerful by the second. He bordered on an godlike speed, the sound of slapping skin echoing around the room. I knew I would have bruises from his hands on my legs holding me taut against him as he thrust wildly, pounding my pussy into oblivion. The knot inside me was building slowly, moans of ecstasy mixing with the sweaty slaps. Dave watched me closely, licking his lips at the sight of my breasts bouncing, arousal building inside him.

He pushed me back onto his bed more, crawling on as we moved. With hands on either side of me, he hovered over me, my arms swinging around his shoulders. My nails raked down his back, Dave groaning the faster he pushed. Long, red scratches were left in their wake, my mind beginning to blank and more scratches appearing on his skin. His head buried into my neck, biting at my skin to muffle his grunting moans, the pulsing in his cock traveling through his body.

My vision began to blur, his thrusts getting sloppy. My walls were closing around his cock, hugging around the shaft tightly. Dave was panting heavily against my skin, his arms shaking as he held himself up. When he pulled away to look at me, he smiled slightly. I cracked my own smiling, tugging him down by the neck. Our lips were close to touching, barely brushing as I spoke. “Kiss me, Dave. Please.”

He complied without words, pressing his lips to mine in a sweet, passionate kiss. My hands fell from his neck, our fingers intertwining as we neared the end. He squeezed my hands gently, his cock sputtered the second our lips touched, my walls clenching him tightly. Something snapped, and my juices were splattering my walls around him a second later. My toes curled into his back, my back arching to press against him. My body racked with spasms, transferring into Dave is seemed. His body shook, his seed spilling into the small opening of the condom. His thrusts slowed to gentle motions, careful thrusts to ride out our highs. Our lips stayed attached, the feeling of becoming one with Dave a true reality.

He pulled from me slowly, fixing my skirt to cover my core with a light chuckle. He discarded the rubber into his trash can, cleaning his cock of any remaining cum with a tissue. He tossed me my bra, jumping onto the bed as I put it on, Dave hugging my waist and peppering my cheek with kisses.

I stared off into the distance, feeling Dave’s fingers softly rub my side and my heartbeat begins to speed up, wondering if he just wanted to go out so he could fuck me. I slip out of his arms, slipping my shirt on as my whole expression changed.

“Hey, you alright?” Dave asked, sitting on the edge of his bed as I nodded my head, placing my shoes on.

“Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I should get going though,” I muttered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, heading towards the door when Dave stood in front of me, his arms resting on my arms.

“Wait, wait. I know you're lying. What's really wrong?” He asked and I sighed, looking to the floor.

“Is the only reason you asked me out was to get into my pants?” I asked, glancing up at him as his lips parted, looking a little hurt, immediately regretting asking him.

“What? No, of course not. I-I truly believe that I'm falling for you, really fucking quickly, might I add. I’m not ready to lose you. I want to have something with you, even if we take our time with it,” He confessed, intertwining our fingers, my heart swelling.

“You promise?” I whispered, Dave pulling me closer to him as he nodded his head, smiling.

“I promise you.” Dave muttered, brushing his lips against mine softly, giving me a small kiss before leading me back towards his bed. “Stay the night?” He asked and I pressed my lips together, nodding my head.

“Yeah, let me just tell my dad where I am.” I told him, pulling my phone out of my bra, texting my dad that I’m at Dave’s house.

“Your dad won't care that you're staying here?” He asked and I shook my head, smiling, placing my phone on his bedside table. Dave got up quickly, pulling out one of his shirts out of his dresser, tossing it to me as I change into it, laying on the bed next to him.

“No. My dad will most likely be happy that I found someone.” I smiled, resting my arms on his chest while my chin lays on my wrists, looking up at him. Dave smiled widely, rubbing my back he leaned down, pressing his lips to my forehead.

“Your dad seems pretty cool. C’mon, let's get some sleep.” Dave muttered and I nodded, moving up, resting my head in his neck as his arms wrapped around my waist, both of us falling asleep, smiles present on our lips.

[hardcheapknock-blog]

We did it! We passed the time for 50 days by providing memorable Star Wars related content for you the humble and gorgeous viewer(s). Holy craps what a ride. Well, we are on day zero and probably have seen or are seeing The Last Jedi as we speak. So for now here is some bonus goodness from some of our beloved authors before we go on a much needed holiday hiatus and Last Jedi binge. See you in 2018!

Gundy

The Audacity of A New Hope

Our 50-Day Countdown was really tough. What really surprised me about my performance during the countdown is I never really ran into a creative block. My biggest challenge was finding the time to do what I wanted in the time allotted. If it became clear that I would not have enough time to create the post I wanted, I somehow found a way to post something faster to buy myself extra time.

Each of us had to publish every four days, and with each other as our own best critics, the posts had to be solid. JERMAINE SOLID.

Sometimes an idea hit me and I had it turned around in 24 hours: “Rey Mind Trick“, “Midichlorox“, and “Chalmun’s Cantina Sippy Cups” are good examples of this. One post, “‘Made To Suffer’ by Guest Artist Edvard Munch“, actually happened by accident and I just followed it to the new conclusion which was really fun!

The Red Arm Diaries

C-3PO’s red arm was a source of hilariousness for me. It’s absurd how it is introduced, made to be an object of mystery and speculated upon, and then by the end of The Force Awakens, replaced with the normal, gold arm.

I’d planned to focus almost entirely on the Red Arm in a series called “The Red Arm Diaries”. This would include equally-absurd theories of how the red arm came to be. Yes, I am aware that the real story behind the red arm is out there to be discovered, but the average movie-goer isn’t going to do that. I had planned to create one-page vignettes around what transpired between Episode 6 and 7 that could account for the red arm.

In the end, I only did one comic, “Reunite Us, Interruptus“. I’m not sure if I got tired of drawing old Goldenrod or just lost faith in the idea. The other ideas that I did make a priority are still things I’m very happy with. In general, I just wish I’d done more comics.

The Reject Pile

Here are some ideas I decided NOT to do…

“The Red Missile”

I had the idea for a short comic where “Holiday Special” Boba Fett’s backpack missile kept getting him in trouble whenever he wanted to rent a creature to ride – by accidentally firing and choking them. So he’d have a reputation for just being a lousy customer and not the bounty hunter everyone fears him as.

In starting the research, it made me really sad to hear about all of the incidents in the 70s that led to toys no longer being able to fire missiles on which children can choke. So I scrapped that idea. I really wanted to make that pop culture reference work, but not on the backs of dead children. Well, this time.

“The Shortest Fan Cut of ANH”

I thought it would be funny to show how simple things would be if R2-D2 had simply started flying as he did in Attack of the Clones but in A New Hope.

So, the droids land of Tatooine… C-3PO mounts up on R2, they bypass the jawas and the Lars farm and simply fly to Obi Wan’s hermit hut. They fly to Mos Eisley and hire Han and Chewie AND they are able to arrive on Alderaan before it blows up! Later, they simply mount a bomb on him and send him into the exhaust port, flying, kamikaze-style. The end.

“A Christmas Falcon”

I have a lot of great photos from my childhood, opening Star Wars toys on Christmas morning, wearing Star Wars pajamas. I just couldn’t think of a way to make that slice of nostalgia into a post.

Yeah! The Imperial Troop Transport!

Christmas Falcon! PJs!

Whoa, how did this get in there!

Thanks for reading!

Samson

It really doesn’t surprise me anymore about how much back story can be created pertaining to the most random stuff in A New Hope. Case in point, the large skeleton of some beast that roamed the Dune Sea of Tatooine, which 3PO just happened to walk by, in search of rescue. I don’t know when they first started calling it a Krayt Dragon. It must have be a while back ago, cause when I was looking up images of the skeleton, I knew to look up “Krayt Dragon.” Apparently they are the apex predators of Tatooine. Too bad we didn’t see a living one in the film take down a Bantha or some Jawas.

My problem isn’t so much with all the back story stuff, be it official or fan fiction. My problem is with all the art being created hypothesizing what the creature actually looked like in the flesh. All the renderings pretty much show a traditional, elongated dragon head complete with horns around the back of the head. Even Terryl Whitlatch, who designed a lot of the creatures for Episode I, drew her dragon with fairly long snout. I really love the illustration, but that skull just doesn’t match the source material. If you look at the skull in the film, it’s a stubby head with no horns. It almost looks like a Camarasaurus (sauropod dinosaur) head, but with pointy, needle teeth. The only illustration that comes close to the skeleton on film is a painting by Ralph McQuarrie depicting two sand people hunting a Krayt Dragon. I think it was part of the original pitch art he created for Uncle George, but I’m not entirely sure about that. It may have been done much later for some book, regardless the head on this dragon looks rather stubby. Either way, there sure is a crap load of stuff for a background skeleton that only appears for a few seconds on screen. But that’s the appeal of Star Wars. All these little details, bringing the world to life, that people will obsess over and latch onto… even 40 years later.

FlippyCrap™®

Counting down origin

Well a quick tale of truth is 2 years ago I decided to countdown the days till The Force Awakens by myself despite Phil Collin’s song Against All Odds. Well take a look at me now Phil! I started at 100. That’s one more bottle of beer on the wall per the song and I don’t even drink! And without any preparation or knowledge of Star Wars(lie). Yeah in retrospect it was a crazy venture seeing how there is life. But I went with it. Using facebook as my vehicle of display, each day I posted something new. In the beginning it was just me googling the hell out of SW related items and trying to find the funniest or most interesting ones. But then I started to actually create my own. It seemed more ownable and frankly the kids (7-12 friends) loved it.

Some of those “classic” ones were inserted into this countdown because dammit I could do what I want. Those were The Star Wars Halloween Special (day 45) and Thanksgiving message from the bounty hunters (Day 22). But the rest were new, fresh and stupid! Just don’t forget to tell Kanjiklub!

So short, long story brief, my colleagues at HardCheapKnock decided to do one together for The Last Jedi. This way it was not as daunting with multi folks on it. In truth it still was tough but we frickin’ did it!

Writers notes

Some of the inspiration behind my posts:

Yoda’s Suffering (day 35) – this was intended to be a message about the struggles of children in Uganda. You should read about it on the web if you have time.

Not again Threepio NSFE (day 35) – again about Uganda

Walrus Man Discount Replacement Limb or Other Club (day 2) – This one took about a month to do. Mainly the drawings of every body and part. Actually I had this mostly done before we even started the countdown. Just tweaking it along the way.

Utini Speeder Wreckers (day 15) – This was a homage to a local CHICAGO TV commercial from the early 90’s. Took about 2 weeks to do. And if you think the quality looks shitty that was the intention so wah! Here are some clean behind the scenes photos then jerks.

Anyways God bless you if you sneezed within the hour (otherwise this is void). And God bless Star Wars.

As a reminder although the countdown is over you have 11 more days to enter the: LAST JEDI COUNTDOWN CONTEST! We are giving away a $100 Dollar Fandango Gift Card!!! We know you are going to see The Last Jedi…so we want to buy your second, third or fourth viewings! So it’s quite easy to play. You can do one or all of the following for a chance to win:

Visit Hard Cheap Knock on Facebook

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow @hardcheapknock on Twitter

Post a tweet

List the hidden numbers you found throughout the countdown – HINT there are 7 of them!

All of the above options must be activated through the fancy little entry form below:

Entry-Form

  The more options you do the more your chance of winning increases! Enter today through December 25, 2017. Must be 18 years old to play and be a resident of the USA. For full official rules click here. 

0 Days to The Last Jedi! We did it! We passed the time for 50 days by providing memorable Star Wars related content for you the humble and gorgeous viewer(s).