#it seems you had some trouble with the keypad

[glamrockstarmaverick]

HandUnit

[superscourge]

Resurrected AU Ch. 1: Alliance

(read on AO3 here!) Warnings (for the fic in general, not necessarily this chapter): Graphic depictions of violence, strong language, general mature themes Chapter Summary: Scourge breaks into one of Eggman's bases in search of a secret weapon to defeat Sonic with, but what he ends up finding is much stranger and much scarier than he was expecting. Though…he finds a way to get some use out of it. Notes: it really took me like a thousand years to get this started huh. lol. well i wanted to at least get the first chapter out before the sonic au collision event fully started, so im happy to present the first chapter of resurrected au's fic!! god i hope yall like it LOLLL, this au means a whole lot to me.. it's become my favorite baby i wont lie. i will also admit that im a Little nervous to finally start posting my actual writing for sonic stuff; i'm pretty self-conscious abt it actually lmao. but hopefully yall end up enjoying how i write these guys. please be niceys idk how long it'll take me to dish out the rest of the chapters, but hopefully i can find the time and energy to get them out steadily!! thanks in advance for reading and thank u so much for ur support and enthusiasm <3

--

It’s not every day that you get a juicy piece of info that could very well put the odds in your favor. That’s why Scourge was not gonna waste this opportunity.

He’d gotten word thanks to his incredible sleuthing skills [read: eavesdropping on strangers] that Eggman had a new base in the area and had apparently acquired a very powerful “secret weapon” of some sort. That was all he needed to know before deciding it was time to raid a base. After all, if he found that secret weapon? Sonic was toast.

It took a minute to actually find the damn place, but soon enough, Scourge was skidding to a stop at the treeline before what looked to be a large, dome-shaped structure with the patented Eggman symbol on it (or something that looked like it; Scourge figured it was close enough). He smirked, flipping his shades down over his eyes and speeding off towards the entrance.

As expected, badniks littered the area around the main entrance to the base. They looked a little funny, Scourge noted; they seemed a little more…high-tech than he was used to seeing. But, whatever–he figured it wouldn’t be an issue once they were busted to scraps.

… He did have a little trouble with these bots. Just a little. But it was no biggie, since he ended up finding a way inside before he could be overwhelmed. All’s well that ends well, he supposed.

The inside of this place was…confusing. So many twists and turns, rooms that led into other rooms, platforms that moved in weird directions…

“Doesn’t this place have a map?” Scourge grumbled to himself as he ran through the absolute maze of hallways.

After what seemed like forever, he finally came to what was clearly the main, central chamber of the base. There was a very complicated-looking keypad attached to it. Luckily, Scourge was very good at lockpicking.

Stepping back a bit, he hopped up and curled into a spindash before launching himself at the keypad. It took a bit of work, but before long, the whole thing was smashed to bits with sparks flying everywhere. Just as he’d hoped, the door opened once the keypad was destroyed. With a triumphant snicker, he unfurled and landed back on the floor before confidently waltzing into the chamber.

Inside looked pretty much as he expected it to–tubes and gadgets everywhere, lots of high-tech machinery that did Gaia-knows-what, lots of papers littered about several desks that clearly showed the work of an evil mastermind…

Yeah. Deffo an Egg-base.

“Now, where’s that weapon…” Scourge questioned aloud as he strolled through the room. He pulled out some drawers and rummaged around here and there, but he didn’t really find anything interesting so far. Surely this thing wasn’t hidden that well, right?

Just as he was starting to get frustrated, he came across a huge capsule of some kind right in the middle of the room. Pretty obvious, actually. He wasn’t that observant, but whatever. He raised his shades to where they were resting back in their place on his head before he rubbed his hands together with a huge, toothy grin. “That looks promising.”

Making his way to the door of the capsule, he tried to peek inside through the little window on the front of it. He couldn’t make anything out… He decided to just open it to get a look at what was inside, so he searched around for a switch of some kind that would do that for him. It didn’t take long, thankfully, and he quickly pressed the button down that would activate the door.

Smoke spewed out from the door as it opened, making Scourge cough a bit. He waved his hand to clear some of it out of his way as he impatiently waited for it to dissipate enough for him to see what he was in for.

This had to be some sort of cool gun. He knew it was. Some kinda laser shooter or something. Or maybe a bazooka. Oh–a cannon, even! He dearly hoped it was a cannon, actually. The smoke was almost fully cleared, so he leaned in excitedly to see what was inside…!

… It was…a guy. There was a guy in there.

“What the–?” Scourge furrowed his brow once he got a good look at the contents of the capsule. It was obviously a person–a jackal, it looked like? Definitely not a cannon. Who the hell was this? He looked rough, like he’d really been put through the wringer. His drip was cool, Scourge supposed, and the big, gnarly scar on the guy’s chest was pretty intimidating…

Mine’s still cooler, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, alarms sounded throughout the base. Scourge cursed under his breath as he looked over his shoulder. He turned back to the man in the capsule, making a quick decision–he’d snag him and take him with him. He probably had some idea of where the weapon was, so once he woke up, he’d just beat the information out of him if he wouldn’t give it up willingly.

Grabbing the jackal out of the capsule and slinging him over his shoulder, Scourge finally sped out back through the way he came. He was able to dodge any bots that tried to come after him thanks to his speed, and soon enough, he was outside and running through the trees of Mobius once again.

He ran until forest turned to jungle, and before long he was slowing to a stop once again in a small clearing where bits of light showed through the canopy up above. He rested the other man’s body down on a bed of moss near a small pond, figuring that’d be…somewhat comfortable, and he then took a seat on a fallen tree a few feet away.

It was only a matter of seconds before he began to tap his foot. What was he supposed to do now? Just sit there waiting for this guy to wake up? That could take hours… He didn’t have that kind of patience.

Deciding to take the initiative, Scourge stood and started walking over to the jackal, intending to just…lightly kick him until he woke up, or something. However, he didn’t get the chance.

A low, threatening growl could be heard rumbling from the stranger’s throat. Scourge stopped in his tracks once he heard it, then took a few paces back. How long had he been–?

One yellow eye opened to a squint, scanning the area before landing on Scourge. For some reason, the look the man was giving him made his skin crawl… Not that he was going to let him know that, though.

Instead, Scourge popped the collar of his jacket to regain his composure and puffed out his chest. “Took ya long enough,” he teased right off the bat. “I was startin’ to think you were dead.”

The jackal’s gaze lingered on him coldly for a few moments. However, he looked elsewhere when he began to speak. “... I should have been.”

That…wasn’t the response Scourge was expecting. The way he sank a bit betrayed his confusion. “... Wait, what?”

The man sat up, sort of startling Scourge into taking another step back. As he did so, he fully opened both of his eyes so that he could properly take in his surroundings. He was clearly ignoring the hedgehog beside him as he turned his head away, which didn’t really sit right with Scourge.

“Hey!” he barked. “I’m talkin’ to you!”

Giving no indication that he was listening, the man proceeded to rise to his feet, standing at his full height. Scourge sort of…shrank a little once he saw how actually tall this guy was. He knew jackals were generally bigger than hedgehogs, but this guy…

No, no, it was fine. No need to be afraid. He was still in charge here–this guy just didn’t know it!

With an annoyed sneer, Scourge dared to stomp a little closer. “Listen here, pal. If it weren’t for me, you woulda still been stuck in that base. I went outta my way to rescue you, got it? That means you owe me one. So, I’m gonna tell you how this is gonna go down, and you’re gonna–hrk!”

A clawed hand suddenly gripping his neck caused Scourge’s words to get caught in his throat… At least, that was part of it.

The jackal had snapped his head around to glare murderously at him as he grabbed him, which gave Scourge a very clear view of his face. He could see his one piercing yellow eye staring back at him…and he quickly noticed that the other eye had some kind of rock lodged into its socket. It was an eerie sight, and it definitely sent an intense chill up Scourge’s spine.

“You,” spat the jackal, voice deep and commanding, “do not control me.”

Unable to respond, Scourge just kind of…dangled there, hands gripping the other’s wrist as he kicked his legs a little. The expression he wore was enough of a response, though, so he was released after a moment of struggle. Once he was able to breathe and stand on his own again, he gasped for air and rubbed at his throat with an indignant look.

“What the hell?” he managed to say between coughs. “Who do you think you are, grabbin’ me like that?”

Turning away, the taller man didn’t bother to look at him as he replied. “I am Infinite,” he answered simply.

There was a pause as Scourge seemed to wait for him to say something else. When he didn’t, he furrowed his brow a little. “... Like, that’s your name, or…?”

The man–Infinite, apparently–seemed to hesitate, as if he was surprised that Scourge didn’t recognize him. One of his ears flicked.

“... I suppose enough time has passed that my name is no longer common knowledge,” he mused, half to himself. “Pity. I would have liked to think I made a bigger impact than that.”

Scourge watched as Infinite turned to fully face him again, making him subconsciously take a couple steps back. Man, this guy was kinda scary… Not that he couldn’t take him! He was just giving him the creeps, was all… Cyan eyes flicked to Infinite’s hands as he flexed his fingers.

“I will simply have to remind the world what true fear feels like,” he growled lowly, “and I suppose that starts with you.”

The rock embedded in Infinite’s eye began to glow as he summoned its power, and, to Scourge’s bewilderment, he began to lift off the ground and hover there. It was kind of scary, actually. The guy was floating. What the hell?

Then it hit him. The weapon Eggman had been hoarding wasn’t a gun or a cannon or anything like that. It was Infinite. He obviously held some sort of power that Eggman wanted to weaponize, and that must have been why he’d been locked up in that base… Things started clicking.

Despite Scourge expecting him to do… anything, really…Infinite proceeded to seize up in pain and let out an agonized yell. He suddenly collapsed to the ground, falling to his knees as he held himself up with one hand and gripped his head with the other. “W… What…?!” 

Infinite’s hand moved from his head to his chest where the large scar marked him. When he felt nothing but the scar, he had a look of both anger and confusion on his face, which told Scourge that what just happened clearly wasn’t the plan.

… Interesting.

Scourge stood a little straighter once he was confident that this guy wasn’t about to explode or something, sticking his thumbs into his jacket pockets. “Aaaalright, Criss Angel. If you’re done with all that , I think it’s time we get down to business.”

While Infinite knelt there still trying to figure out what was going on, Scourge began to pace around him in a circle, smirking as he did so. “Look. Like I said before, I rescued you from that base, so you kinda owe me one. But–and hear me out on this one–I’m willin’ to come to a compromise.”

Infinite snapped out of his pained daze long enough to shoot another glare at Scourge as he came around to his front again. “Compromise?” he hissed.

Scourge nodded. “Yeah. So, listen–I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier.” He held up a thumb and pointed it at his own chest, teeth bared in some kind of nasty grin. “Name’s Scourge. If ya haven’t hearda me by now, then you’ve been livin’ under a rock.”

Infinite somehow doubted that this brat had left enough of a mark on the world that anybody off the street would know his name. Still, he let him continue.

“I wanna take out Sonic. I assume you know him, right? Well, I think you’re just the guy who can help me out with that. He’s gotten lucky so far, but I think with you backin’ me up, I’ll be able to finally give ‘em his just desserts.”

The name Sonic caused a spark of recognition to flash over Infinite’s good eye. His breathing began to steady. “... Sonic,” he repeated. “Yes, I am familiar with Sonic .”

The way Infinite said his name let Scourge know that there was some beef there, at least. This worked in his favor. “Good,” he said with a nod. “So we’re on the same page, then.”

He turned on his heel before stopping his walk, facing Infinite to speak to him directly. “Like I said, I want you to help me take him down. Easy, right? In exchange, though… I’ll help you out with whatever you want, too. I dunno if you knew this, but I’m basically just as strong and just as fast as that blue bastard. I could give anybody a run for their money if I felt like it.”

Narrowing his eye skeptically, Infinite mulled this over. He seemed to be recovering from the shock from before, and he stood back up onto his feet. It was evident from how long he took to respond that his mind was…elsewhere.

“... I see.” His tail swished behind him as he thought about his next words. “You are offering to aid me in whatever task I ask of you?”

“Cross my heart.”

Infinite gave a huff before crossing his arms. “... Fine. If you intend to uphold your end of this bargain, then I will do the same.”

Scourge smiled widely, his sharklike teeth almost glistening in what little sunlight was managing to poke through the canopy above them. This idiot. He had no idea that he had every intention of double-crossing him the first chance he got.

He held out his hand for a shake to seal the deal. “Glad to have ya aboard, Infinite.”

Infinite glanced down at the other’s hand before reaching forward and taking it, giving it a single shake. His grip was tight. “Let us make the most out of this partnership, shall we?”

… Infinite was not stupid. He instantly knew that Scourge was going to betray him. That overconfident fool was so transparent it almost made him sick.

But…he could also tell that he had some bite to his bark, even if it was just a little. He was seasoned enough as a soldier that he could see that. That meant he could get some use out of him before he pulled his own betrayal.

He no longer had the Phantom Ruby in his chest, and he was alive, and he had no idea why. If this green idiot could help him figure that out…then he’d play along for as long as he had to.

Either way, he was going to get answers. And once that was done? He was going to rip out Sonic’s miserable little throat.

☆

[yuesya]

“A shipment to Arkos, you said?”

“Yup! Logistics wants this delivered before the end of the week.” The young lady types rapidly into the keypad fixed to the wall, and the doors slide open –revealing the warehouse to be stacked high with giant boxes of various medical supplies. Bagpipe cranes her head back, surveying the contents of the storage room. 

“… All of these?” 

“Mhm. It would’ve been included as part of the regular shipment last month, but the guys over in the Medical Department changed something about the new formula that they’re developing, so these got delayed,” the girl explains. “Sorry for the trouble, Ms. Bagpipe.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Arkos… it’s a familiar name, although Bagpipe has yet to go and pay a visit there in person. It seems that she’ll finally be getting the opportunity now.

Arkos is not quite a city, exactly. It’s more of a collective –a gathering of various disparate individuals; a hub of mercenaries and traders alike, in addition to a small regular population that calls Arkos home. The small settlement is located in one of the more treacherous parts of the rugged terrain between Leithanien and Ursus, making it an excellent resting stop for any travelers.

But on the flipside: Arkos is located on dangerous terrain, and one must wonder how anyone had even thought to establish a settlement there in the first place. In a way, it’s genius, but it’s also insanity. Because Arkos is not a mobile city; if a Catastrophe ever came their way, then…

Well. Bagpipe assumes that there must be some manner of precautionary measures set in place. She’s never known Doctor Kal’tsit to invest in a sinking ship, after all, and the agreements signed between Rhodes Island and Arkos would not have been possible in the first place if the Director had not truly seen something in it.

According to the rumors, the first homes in Arkos had been built by their elusive founder and leader herself. Weary travelers had been allowed a place to rest, and none were turned away on basis of race or occupation, gradually leading to a motley collection of individuals who gathered together in the area as time passed.

… And at the same time, there were also rumors that those who dared to cause trouble in Arkos with any ill intentions were all met with violent, bloody ends, without exception. Also courtesy of their great and powerful leader.

Bagpipe is curious as to what the leader of Arkos is really like. Kal’tsit is the only one in Rhodes Island who’s ever met them in person before, and she’s very tight-lipped on the subject, which only adds to the mystery of it all.

[coupsie-daisies]

Kinktober '24: Pet Play | Joshua Hong

Pairing: Joshua Hong x GN!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Implied Smut (minors DO NOT interact)

Summary: Joshua loves taking care of his kitty, and you just love his attention

WC: 768

Warnings: pet play, Dom/sub dynamics, food and eating, reader eats from a bowl on the floor, reader is wearing a tail, ears, and collar, finger sucking, praise, petnames, use of 'master'

A/N: I know this is short, but I couldn't shake this scene and I thought you guys might like it. I may continue this at some point, but don't hold me to that

Tags: @dragonofthenorth0726 // @wooyussy // @burningupp-replies // @bunnypig18 // @decaffedthoughts // @brownieracha // @ferrethyun // @walkxthexmoon // @aesteraceae // @wonuqrtz // @mixling-blog // @wonwooz1-blog

Main Masterlist

Kinktober '23 Masterlist

Kinktober '24 Masterlist

This fanfiction is property of @/coupsie-daisies, reposting on any other platform is prohibited

You could hear Joshua getting home, the sound of the keypad rousing you from the half-sleep you were in. You'd been waiting for him to come home for hours, or at least it felt like it. You'd never been particularly patient, but Joshua never minded that. You didn't move from your spot on the bed, just lazily looking towards the door until it swung open.

Joshua smiled at the sight before him, his sweet kitty curled up on the bed, half asleep. He stepped forward, dropping his bag at the end of the bed and leaned down to press a kiss to your head, right between the pretty white ears that you had on. You stretched leisurely, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Morning, kitten. Been good while I was gone?" He asked, stroking your head and smiling at the way you crawled halfway into his lap. You'd even put your tail on, he noted to himself, which meant you were pretty deep into your headspace. He frowned, poor thing had to wait all by themselves for him to come back from work.

You nodded, looking up at him. He leaned down, stroking your cheek before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips.

"Have you eaten yet?" He asked, looking at the time. You shook your head, making a tiny sound in your throat, something akin to a purr, and he melted.

"Alright, let's get you some food, okay?" He stood up, taking a moment to change into more comfortable clothes while you reacquainted yourself with being awake. Once you slid from the bed down to your hands and knees, he made his way towards the kitchen. You followed behind him slowly, the bell on your collar jingling sweetly with every step you crawled. The floor was cool under your palms, but it only eased you deeper into the fuzzy, comfortably warmth of your headspace.

Once in the kitchen, Joshua got to warming the soup left over from the night before, and you sat at his feet, nuzzling at his thigh. You knew better than to wind along his feet when he moved, but the urge to be close to him was too strong to resist, so you followed him as he turned to return to the microwave. He stumbled a little, turning to fix you with a stern gaze.

"Ah," He chastised, and you shrunk away from the sound, a pout on your lips. You were a spoiled little thing, and Joshua knew that, but he really did try his best to keep you well trained like any pet should be, but it was so hard when you looked at him like this. "Don't get yourself into trouble. You know I don't like punishing my kitty."

You responded with a quiet "meow" that seemed to be more than enough for him, because he moved to the microwave while you sat pretty on your little eating mat next to his chair at the table. He shuffled around for a while before splitting the warm soup between your dish and his. Once he was finished, he put your bowl down in front of you and sat in his chair.

You waited patiently for your permission to eat, which came as soon as he was settled with his own meal. You nuzzled his leg lightly before dipping your head down to lap at your meal. Joshua watched you quietly, a content smile on his lips while he ate his own dinner. There was always something about this that made him feel warm and satisfied, knowing that you felt safe enough with him to let go.

You looked up at him once you'd eaten as much as you wanted, eyes wide and almost empty, your mind melting into being nothing but his good little pet. He stroked your hair, then tipped your chin up to dab at your face with a napkin.

"Messy kitty," He hummed sweetly. "Good job eating, you're so well behaved for your master, aren't you?"

You nodded quickly, and he reached up to adjust the ears that had been jostled in the process.

"I know, thank you, pretty. And good kitties deserve treats. Is that what you want?" He asked, still cradling your chin, keeping you grounded in the moment and looking at him. You nodded again, a barely there 'mew' slipping out. He stroked your cheek.

"Words, kitten."

"Yes, master. Please wan' a treat." You mumbled. He smiled proudly, thumb brushing your bottom lip before pressing into your mouth for you to suck.

"My good pet. I think you've definitely earned your treat."

copyright 2024 coupsie-daisies, all rights reserved

[x-neurodivergent-reader]

Adoration Equation (Loki x Autistic!Reader w/ Dyscalculia)

Anon’s request: “Could you possibly do 'Loki with a S/O who has dyscalculia?' (And also autism, if you're comfortable with including more than one?) Perhaps they're on a mission and split up from the others, only for the reader to find themselves in a situation where math is involved (Idk, maybe a keypad equation to open something?), and Loki had no idea about their dyscalculia until right then?”

Summary: You and Loki started dating recently, but as seeing you struggle with a seemingly simple part of a mission will show him, there are still some things about you that he doesn’t know.

A/N: I don't have dyscalculia myself (I did research it, but that's not the same as experiencing it), so please let me know if any of my descriptions of it aren’t accurate, so I can revise them. Apart from that, enjoy!

The reader here is gender-neutral.

Content warnings: Slight insecurity from the reader.

The hallways of the facility you were infiltrating were silent, save for the distant sounds of gunfire and crashing as your teammates fought through anyone who attacked them, to allow you and Loki the chance to get to the main office. The USB stick that would be used to hack into one of the computers and download classified information about the organisation’s plans, along with the ID card you swiped from a higher-up earlier, felt heavy in your pocket, as you stayed alert to avoid anything that could compromise your mission.

You and Loki found that you worked together quite well in the field. Your respective skills matched up nicely, he made sure to communicate clearly with you, and you were often on the same wavelength. It was no wonder that the two of you would be grouped together for this mission – nor, perhaps, that you had become a couple about a month previously.

Just as you were about to turn down the next corridor, Loki stopped you, gently guiding you behind him as he checked around the corner for any guards. His eyebrows creased after a moment, as he slowly walked further down the hall, tentatively giving you the gesture you had both agreed on to follow him.

Surprisingly, despite the door to your destination being in sight, there were no soldiers near it.

“The coast looks clear.” You murmured, just audible enough for your partner to hear you.

“But why…?” He inquired, seemingly listening out for anyone trying to sneak up on you both. “Why would they not guard somewhere so important?”

You looked around for any hidden cameras, and sure enough, you saw a few – one at each end of the hall, and another that seemed to be embedded in the office door. You lightly tapped Loki’s arm, and silently pointed them out to him.

“They might be planning an ambush.” You whispered.

Loki nodded in response, before summoning a small pellet of green magic, and throwing it at one of the cameras at the end of the hall. Before you could process it, he turned, shooting another at the camera in the door and, finally, at the side of the corridor you had arrived from.

A thick silence fell over you both, knowing that someone was bound to come for you now that the cameras had been destroyed. Sure enough, you both heard footsteps, soon followed by a small group of soldiers rounding the corner in front of you, weapons ready to attack.

Being the seasoned warrior he is, Loki immediately had a plan.

“I’ll take care of them,” he murmured to you, “you open the door.”

“Right.” You agreed, turning back to the direction you were heading in, while Loki dove into battle behind you.

Approaching the door, you took out the stolen card, and looked around for a machine on the wall with a slot to slide it through. Your eyes stopped when you saw what appeared to be exactly that, except it had something extra alongside the card slot.

It was a keypad. You hoped that, perhaps, there would be a code on the card that you could enter without too much trouble – but when you used the card as required, the screen on the device lit up with an equation, an extra security protocol that had to be solved to enter the room.

‘Shit…’ You thought, a sense of dread starting to rise within you, as your mind blocked out the sounds of the fight happening nearby. You realised that this was going to be much harder for you than you had expected, if not outright impossible.

Regardless, you read the calculation, hoping it would be simple enough that you could at least make an attempt at it, perhaps by counting on your fingers. You just hoped that you could get it done before Loki finished fighting…

"8 x 2 x 5 + 750 =”

…and, not knowing where to even start in comprehending this, your mind immediately drew a blank.

‘Shit!’ You thought again, your panic increasing with the knowledge that you were absolutely not going to be able to do this part of the mission.

You weren’t sure of what to do now, the pressure from not being able to act on the job making you feel on edge. Should you help Loki finish his fight? Would he be mad at you for not opening the door? Would he think less of you for not being able to? Why did nobody check to see that this was how it needed to be opened-?!

Your train of thought was interrupted when a hand reached in front of you, catching you off-guard and almost causing you to attack on instinct, until you realised that it was Loki, having already finished his fight. You chanced a brief glance at his face – he wasn’t looking at you, focused on reading the equation, but his brows were downturned, like he was either confused or annoyed by your lack of action. You deeply hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Loki entered the answer into the keypad almost immediately, and the door slid open, revealing the dimly-lit office. The one window in the back wall seemed to pour daylight over the desk with the computer you needed to use, immediately drawing your attention to it like a spotlight on a stage.

Your partner stepped aside, silently gesturing for you to enter the room first, so you could use the USB and finish the job. Avoiding his gaze, you practically speed walked into the room, still feeling self-conscious about what had just happened – you hoped the download wouldn’t take long enough for the subject to be brought up sooner, rather than later.

You pressed the button on the monitor that lit up the screen, and plugged the USB into the tower next to it, the device releasing a virus that automatically broke into the computer’s security details, and collected the necessary information for you.

“We’re in.” you told Loki, as he approached the desk. The adrenaline from the mission up to that point caught up to you, and you cautiously decided to slouch in the chair until the download was complete. “Tony said it should take about five minutes, if no one interrupts us.”

Loki nodded, giving a small hum of acknowledgement. You still didn’t have the courage to look at him yet, but were at least grateful that he wasn’t admonishing you. You were dealing with enough mixed feelings about the situation as is, particularly with regards to whether you should have told him about your dyscalculia before all of this. Especially since you were now in a relationship with him, you were starting to feel guilty about not bringing it up.

“Do you have trouble with maths, by any chance?” Loki’s voice broke through the silence. His tone of voice was neutral, giving little indication as to what he was feeling.

Your leg started to bounce as you stared at the screen, internally cursing the fact that this conversation was, indeed, happening already. You still couldn’t tell whether he was mad at you – you never were the best at telling how people were feeling, especially when they were this subtle – and that fact, combined with the previous issue with the keypad, made you start to feel slightly frustrated. You felt like you couldn’t figure anything out today.

“Yeah, I…” You spoke under your breath, leaning forward to further avoid Loki’s gaze. You rested your forearms on your legs, one of which still jiggled as a nervous stim. Given that there was no other explanation, and you could never successfully lie to your partner about this, you supposed you might as well tell the truth. “…my autism isn’t the only, uh… neurodivergence I have. I also have a learning disability called dyscalculia. It basically makes it a lot more difficult for me to understand maths and numbers than it would be for most people. It doesn't matter if it's equations, telling the time, reading maps... I’ve just never been able to really comprehend it.”

Loki stepped forward, and placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. His voice was quiet as he spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

You knew that he most likely felt guilty for unknowingly making you do something you weren’t able to, but the gentle tone in his voice made your stomach churn. You couldn’t help worrying that he was looking down on you, whether he meant to or not.

“I didn’t want you to think less of me for it.” You admitted. “I mean, look at how quickly you solved that keypad. It barely took you any effort! You’re one of the smartest people I know, and…” You finally looked up at your partner, seeing how his face softened at the implication, and you moved your hand to cover his, giving the same reassurance he offered you. “…I don’t necessarily think that I’m stupid for it, but I’m not always sure that other people will feel the same, especially since I joined a team full of people who can do maths so easily. I didn’t want you to think that I’m stupid, just because my brain works like this.”

You glanced back at the computer screen, seeing that the USB was close to finishing its download. You sat up against the chair, and let Loki’s hand move to hold yours.

“Darling,” he squeezed your hand, grounding you, “your dyscalculia doesn’t change how I feel about you. It would be preposterous for anyone to judge your intelligence based on a learning disability – you don’t need to be able to do everything to be worthy of respect.”

Loki looked at the computer screen, and with his gaze away from you, you took a moment to watch the way the monitor’s light emphasised the blue in his eyes. You wondered if he ever noticed that when there was no risk of eye contact, you couldn’t help admiring them, no matter how briefly.

“I love every part of you,” he continued, and your breath caught in your chest at what was his first explicit confession of love towards you, “and this is no exception. I simply wish I had known not to put you in that situation before. I’m sorry for causing you stress by doing so.”

“It’s okay.” You grinned up at him, your body relaxing at the knowledge that there was nothing to worry about. “We’ll know to have me be the one to kick their asses next time.”

Loki chuckled under his breath, looking back at you with that sweet, lovestruck smile, reserved only for you.

In front of you, the download window on the computer screen disappeared, signifying that it was complete. You stood up from the desk chair, pushing it backwards on its wheels while you disconnected the USB and stuffed it back into your pocket, and zipped it to ensure it wouldn't get lost.

You then turned to Loki, and gave him a quick yet heartful kiss on the lips. When you pulled away, he gave you that cheeky smirk that you adored so much.

“I love you, too.” You confessed sincerely, before you both made your way to the office doors, ready to face any threats that may wait on the other side together. “Now let’s finish this.”

[songmingisthighs]

Genesis

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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ch. lxxv - CUFFING

fashion mogul!mingi × reader

buy me coffee ?

!! A T T E N T I O N !!

things aren't always what it seems but when even the truth is left unheard, what can people do? one musn't lie but what if the lie is more accepted than the truth? the scariest thing in this world isn't monsters or demons. it's people with no agenda and time to waste.

"Daddy's home!"

The front door shut gently after the beeps of the electronic keypad went off. You peeked your head from the kitchen, furrowing your eyebrows slightly, "Mingi, where are you?" Mingi soon popped into the hallway with three shopping bags, surprising you. "Wow, guess who went on a shopping spree," you teased as you stepped out of the kitchen while wiping your hands on a rag.

With a wide grin, Mingi shook his head excitedly, "Oh these aren't for me, these are for you and bean!" He said before rushing to drop the shopping bags on the couch. Your eyes widened and you speed-walked to him, hitting him on his shoulder that unfortunately did nothing as Mingi began pulling the items out one by one. "Look, this is a onesie bean can wear from six month to two years," he said, showing how the fabric of the onesie stretched. Intrigued, you started peering over the items that Mingi brought home, "Or so it said. I've seen your baby pictures, Mingi, you were a long baby," you pointed out.

As soon as you mentioned baby, Mingi turned and dropped to his knees, looking up at you with hopeful eyes, "May I?" He asked with his hands on the hem of your shirt. Seeing him so excited to greet his baby, you maneuvered yourself to sit on the couch and pulling him between your legs before nodding, "Go for it." Immediately, Mingi lifted your shirt to the top of your bump and his soft lips made contact with your skin, right where bean's head was, "Hi baby, did you miss daddy?" His voice was so gentle and the soft caress he gave on the other side of your stomach only increased the amount of affection he was showcasing. "I think bean missed you because when Wooyoung was here earlier, bean didn't move much. But then, Wooyoung played a video of you cussing whilst gaming and bean started moving around," you told him. Mingi's eyes lit up and he started pressing more kisses to your tummy, "That's my baby! That's my bean!" He proudly said.

After spending a fair amount of time on your tummy (bean), Mingi rested his cheek on it and looked up at you, "And how's the baby mama doing today?" He smiled. You exhaled sharply and pursed your lips, "Well if you must know, I spent most of the day on my legs because I felt productive and energized and I even convinced Wooyoung that I could do all the heavy lifting while we were putting some of bean's things in my room and then right after Wooyoung left, all the pain shot through my my back and legs and I had to like rest for a solid hour before trying to start dinner."

The initial smile on Mingi's face turned into a pout at your admission of situation when he was not there. Hearing you having trouble when no one was around to help brought a sinking feeling to Mingi's stomach and he absolutely hated it. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've-" "Leave work to help me cut onions?" You chuckled after cutting him off, not even realizing that you patted his head like a kid, "I only needed a tiny bit of rest and after that, I was good enough to even clean the apartment and even organize the shoe rack." The glare Mingi gave was a clear indication that he was not happy with your activities and it dropped to your stomach, poking it gently continuously, "Bean, daddy needs your help reminding your mom that she needs to take it slow or else I'll make sure to cuff her hand with me," he chastised, shooting you a look as if threatening you in the guise of talking to his child.

Though you wanted to roll your eyes and tell Mingi to stop acting silly, but you felt bean moving inside of you at the sound of his voice and you'd like to imagine that bean was moving closer, seeking Mingi. "I think rather than remindinh me to take it slow, bean should remind you to take a break. You've been coming home a lot later and frankly, tonight is the earliest you've returned in a while," you pointed out but Mingi only shrugged, "You're doing the best at home so I want to do my best at work especially now that we're going to open at the Gallerio and release a new line, I want you and bean to be proud of me."

It wasn't until he said it that Mingi realized two things.

One, how cringey and childlike he sounded.

Two, how genuinely he wanted your approval. Bean was just there to be his muse but you? He wanted to be able to be worthy. Or even just worthy-adjacent.

"Mingi, I'm already proud of you no matter what you do and frankly I'm more worried about you not taking care of yourself because you think you have to prove something," you took his face in your hands and it was then that you realized how touchy you were being, touchier in a sense that it felt rather... Intimate in a sense. So you squeezed his cheeks and shook his head gently, "And frankly I don't want this to be a thing because it'll set a bad example to bean when they're born, like bean will need to achieve something to gain our affection or approval or something which is so stereotypically Asian, it actually borders on cliché," you joked, making Mingi chuckle and nod. "Promise me you won't kill yourself just to get my respect? Because you don't have to do that with me. I'm here for you because as we promised, we'll be completely honest with each other, right?"

Other than his mom, he had never hear a woman being so genuine with him. Mingi lacked a lot of experience in certain areas and he lacked awareness from time to time and he was usually just expected to do better on his own without much support. So he really took your sincereity to heart and he realized how much it meant for him to have a partner in crime. He couldn't even stop the grin that kept growing on his face. He probably looked stupid but he didn't care.

"If we're being honest, I think I need to tell you that I'm like two minutes away from chewing on my leg because I'm so hungry," Mingi sheepishly said, making you laugh as you push his head slightly out of disbelief. "You go take a quick shower and change while I heat up our food. I almost forgot about dinner because Wooyoung made me eat so much snacks today."

Mingi nodded and pushed himself up to his feet, "I'll be quick, okay?" And before he could stop himself, he leaned down and pecked you on the forehead before turning around to go to his room and take a shower. It was only when he saw his laundry that you had done on the basket by the bed that he realized what he had done. Eyes wide, jaw agape, Mingi crouched down in an area hidden from his opened door to silently scold himself for treating you as if you two were in a relationship. You both had yet to set boundaries as co-parents in terms of treating each other but he was sure kissing or pecking each other randomly was not part of it.

Meanwhile, you were still on the couch, dumbfounded and trying to process what happened. You were trying to figure out whether the forehead kiss really happened or not because so far you both had been touchy when you both needed to like for photos or when you helped each other. Heck, he even give you foot rubs from time to time because they tend to get tired from the extra weight. So your head was swimming with thoughts questioning what just happened.

But to be frank, your head was trying to focus more on figuring out why you liked it so much.

Weird.

network :

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[duckiiieluv]

Hotel Nights & Elevator Rides ★ oneshot

javier escuella (rdr2)

modern!au

summary — Javier Escuella has been your long-term bodyguard while you travel on a fashion campaign. You’re coming back to your hotel room in New York City from a photoshoot after a rough day. He catches you crying.

warnings — angst, substances, weight mentioned, implied fighting, swearing (let me know if i missed any!)

You’ve had an incredibly terrible day. Nothing seems to be going right. You and your boyfriend have been arguing constantly. The pictures from your modeling shoot earlier in the day corrupted as soon as they were put on a hard drive. Oh, and not to mention, Javier has been up your ass about staying safe in the city all day. It’s not like you haven’t been here before. Sure, the streets of New York City can seem overwhelming to anybody who doesn’t know what they’re doing, but this is basically a second home to you.

Slamming through the hotel doors and tears streaming down your face, there’s nothing that sounds better than collapsing into bed and crying all your feelings out. You rush towards the elevator doors, making weak attempts to brush the tears out of your eyes. Your fingers jam into the down arrow on the elevator keypad. As the doors open, you rush inside, not caring about your surroundings.

“Woah, there.” A familiar voice reaches your ears, and as you look up your met with the sight of your bodyguard. Javier. He wears a bemused expression, his lips curled into a smirk. As he takes a moment to really look at you, this expression falls into one of concern. Immediately noticing your state, he reaches out and steadies you with a firm hand on your shoulder.

“Javier,” you whisper. “You really caught me at a bad time,” you offer a half smile while attempting to wipe the tears away from your face. Javier’s face contorts with worry as you brush right by him and into the elevator.

“You don’t say,” he chuckles softly, recognizing the signs of an emotional moment. Javier follows you into the elevator, his expression switching from joking back to concern. He is hot on your heels, stepping right beside you. The only reason he wasn’t by your side when you first entered the hotel is because he was promised that another protection detail would walk you back. “You all right?” he asks, studying your tear-streaked face.

Internally, you groan. You would rather talk about literally anything else than your feelings, but you know that if Javier is ignored, he will press the matter until he gets an answer. “I’m fine,” you reply curtly as you press the floor number ‘17.’ Javier is the only one in here with you and this elevator is excruciatingly slow. You can feel his eyes bore into you, studying and assessing.

“Sure seems like it,” Javier retorts in a dry, sarcastic manner, clearly not buying your response. He leans against the metal rail running the length of the elevator, crossing his arms. His hand tattoos and partially done sleeve are exposed as his sleeves roll up. A moment of silence passes as the elevator moves up slowly before he decides to speak up, his voice a bit softer this time. “What happened? Trouble with Keller?”

Noah Keller is your boyfriend. He runs with some bad people—people that Javier knows and has dealt with before. You can tell he’s just trying to get on your nerves, but you can’t help but notice a little anger and concern seeping through his voice. You roll your eyes, not wanting to talk about it. “When is it not?” you reply as you look down and begin to fumble through your purse. Your hands search pockets and run along the fabric as you finally find it. Your vape. You take a nice, long drag.

He watches as you fumble through your purse before taking out your vape. Javier lets out a small sigh, taking your response as a silent confirmation that you and Keller had indeed had yet another fight. These fights were no secret to him; he had witnessed plenty of them before. He can’t help but raise an eyebrow as you stare blankly at the wall and blow out a puff of smoke. “You know, vaping’s not going to solve anything,” he reminds, still leaning against the wall.

You shoot him a look out of the corner of your eyes as the smoke escapes your lips. “Yeah, but a weed pen might,” you quip. This sudden sharpness comes across as mean, but at the moment, you don’t care much for being nice. You take another drag, trying to use nicotine to escape this situation.

Javier lets out a weary chuckle in response to your sharpness. He can tell that your mood isn’t exactly pleasant, and he’s not surprised. But, hearing you mention a weed pen sets off alarm bells in his head. He was hired to keep you safe, not to let you run off the rails. Of course, he’s heard the rumors and seen the occasional tabloid headline, but he’s never witnessed you actually use one. “Weed now, is it?” he remarks, his tone a mix of surprise and gentle teasing.

“Or cocaine,” you joke. You look towards Javier to see he’s stood up straight now. His expression changes from surprise to downright disapproval. You clearly touched a nerve as Javier takes a step closer to you and snatches your vape from your hands.

“Cocaine?” he exclaims, his eyes widening. “Jesus, you can’t be serious right now. You’re not being serious right now.” He watches you closer, trying to gauge if this is some sort of emotional outburst or if you’re actually thinking of resorting to hard drugs. “Ay dios mío,” he mutters under his breath.

— let me know if you want any headshots with other characters or just some headcanons!! thank u for reading xx ★

[the-nosy-neighbor]

The Safe in Staff Only

In the framing, we talked about how The Playfellow Exhibition that is created has two sides:  the public facing side, and staff only.  The public facing side (which is impressive, given the work it took to create some of those items) shows us what the exhibit looks like, with a lot of art that we have seen before, but new items such as the toy phone, some records, and a Wally puppet. 

After some hints and a hunt for the password, we got to password-please, and then to staff-only, which had so much depth and information about what is happening behind the scenes at this exhibit.  Now, with the most recent update, things are making more sense.

In the Staff Only area, some of the art was moved from non-canon to canon with this update, including as above so below Wally, Wally in the late night talk show chair with massive legs, and the horror picture of Frank holding an envelope.

The Safe

This safe bothers me.  For one, we are given this safe, and emails detail how the exhibit staff are supposed to open this to get prizes that they should give out after the activity sheet is completed. The QA has asked for the password, but has not received it, so they direct the staff to take names and addresses and they will send them later. (That would have been a cool thing to do IRL, send out a few prizes randomly or chronicle an instance of the prize in another website.) So we find “crack-the-code” which leads to “password-please” which leads to “staff-only.”  However, we never got into the safe.  I don’t think the website is what is in the safe.  There are prizes in the safe and this could be my inner 80’s kid hankering after cereal prizes, but why would Clown go to the trouble to buy a safe 

and then to modify the safe, if we are only looking at it as a gateway to the staff-only website.  If we were opening the safe and finding the pictures inside, that would make sense, but it isn’t presented that way, in my opinion.  I need to know what is in the safe, and I don’t think it was solved to my satisfaction.

However, a few additional details:  There is a heart in blackish stuff on the safe.  Given where we have seen hearts, I would assume that this is Barnaby touching the safe, as he has a heart on his palm.  Wally’s is on the bottom of his shoe, so not impossible, but way less likely than a hand touch.  Otherwise, we have some typical black goo, but some that seems to have seeped out from the safe interior.

With seemingly some evidence that Barnaby has touched this item, it isn't too far fetched to believe that this safe came from wherever Barnaby is right now, or was, given we aren't sure if he is alive.

On the keypad, we have howdy, then barnaby, eddie, julie, wally, sally, frank, poppy, and home.  The “c” button is crossed out in red, the “0” is clumsily scribbled out and then there is a green arrow and circle to point to the “e” button.  So, all the neighbors are listed.  Who is crossed out?  (could it be Sunny? You guys know it's always going to be Sunny with me.)

So, there is no indication of what is in the safe. We can assume that it was sent on by W, as they are the contact.

Next, what we learn from Staff Only about the WHRP, and if the new information gives us more information about W or QA.

[pentupfortoolong]

Caught Red-Handed

The van slowed to a crawl as it approached the back lawn of the mansion.

"OK Felix, I'm going to take this door code the old broad's maid gave us and ensure our entry. I just need you to use one of the flashlights on the keypad to make it easier for me." "Sounds easy enough, Bruno." "Easy money, you mean!" "Provided the maid was telling you the truth." "If she wants her cut after we make the sale, she'd better be."

The two men put on face masks, lifted their hoods and made their way to the back door. With Felix's assistance, Bruno punched in the code and both made their way through the very spacious kitchen.

"Lucky for us that the library's just down the hall." "And if that luck holds, especially if the maid wasn't conning you." "Geez man, have some faith will ya?" "Look, I'm sorry, this whole thing has me nervous. I mean, Miss Cavendish never did wrong by us" "To YOU, maybe. She was sweet on you but a bitch to me." "Well maybe if you didn't antagonize her every chance you got! "Whatever. Look, do you want to afford a better life for you and your girl?" "Yes, but-" "Then shut up and let's go! I see the doorway to the library now." "Well pardon me, I've never done anything like this before!" "Oh, and you're implying I have?" "No, but you're extremely confident for something as big as this." "That's how I roll." "It's gonna get you into trouble one day." "Not today, my man." "Oh really now?"

The two men dropped their flashlights when they heard another voice call out from the darkness. Bruno fumbled for the light switch and he gulped. Sitting at a desk in the library was a middle-aged woman with brown hair- Penelope Cavendish, the owner of the mansion. She had a glass of brandy in her hand, and was as unperturbed with what was unfolding. "Gentlemen, how are we on this lovely night?" Felix spoke up first. "Uh, Miss Cavendish-" Bruno spoke over him. "OK, I'm guessing the maid ratted us out. Fine, you caught us red-handed." "It seems I have, though thank you for letting me know my maid broke my confidentiality. I'll have to have a talk with her once I've seen to you too." "M-miss Cavendish, whatever you want us to do to keep you from calling the cops, we'll do it and more." Bruno glared at Felix after that attempt at begging. "Dude, I've got this." Bruno produced a handgun from his hood pocket. "BRUNO, WHAT THE FUCK?! We're not shooting anyone!" "We don't HAVE to if moneybags here gives us what we came for!" "If you think I have a vault with enough money to start my own nation on these premises, you're sadly mistaken, young Bruno." "But I know what you DO have." "Well, it doesn't matter. Your associate's suggestion, however, I intend to take him up on that." "Fuck you mean?" "Language, young man." "I think you forget who's holding the gun." "I don't need a gun to deal with the likes of you." Penelope waved her hand and the gun flew out of Bruno's hand. Both he and Felix were frozen in place, not sure of what was happening." "H-how did you do that?!" "You wouldn't believe me if I said I'm a witch, but that's the truth of it." "Like an actual witch?" "Yes, young Felix. Sure I don't have the green skin and cackle like the stereotypes, but the entertainment industry tends to use shorthand." "Cut the crap, lady. If you're a witch, why don't you use magic to protect your place better?" "You think I want to always be using magic and energy when technology and basic expectation can do the job? Besides, this kills two birds with one stone." "What do you mean?" Penelope ignored Bruno's question, contemplating the two men in front of her. "OK, I've made my mind up. I will not call the police on you." "Oh, thank you Miss Cavendish, I'm so sor-" "I'm not finished. Now, although you both broke into my home with the intent to steal, I know that one of you doesn't have the heart of a criminal, a brute and…" She paused to glare at Bruno. "The other has a serious attitude problem." "Fuck you!" Penelope used her magic to slap Bruno, to remind him of who was in charge here. "So, one of you is going to get punished more severely than the other. And I think you both know who's getting the short end of the straw in that regard." "OK, I've had enough of-" Penelope snapped her fingers. Bruno shut up immediately as green energy surrounded him. His body contorting, his clothes changing. His hair changed to red, his muscles disappearing as he took on a more petite figure, gaining breasts at the same time. His work boots replaced with heels, his hood replaced with a maid's uniform and apron.

The gun that had been discarded had flown back into his hand and changed into a feather duster. "What- I'm a chick now?!" "Bruno, you look like a maid!" "Because he IS a maid, my dear. Young Gretchen here will take the place of my soon to be ex-maid, for a time of my choosing." "You fucking bitch, change me back right this-" "Or what, Gretchen? You'll dust me to death?" Penelope used her magic to have Bruno stand still again. He was capable of speaking, but he decided for the moment to keep his mouth shut. Penelope gently moved Gretchen to face Felix. "Now Felix, I like you, I really do. You were a nice young man when I had you here earlier this week, and I know your intent tonight was for someone other than you." "M-miss Cavendish, what do you mean 'were a nice young man'?" Penelope chuckled. "Well Felix, given what you just saw, I think you know what's about to happen. Like I said, you still need to be punished." Penelope snapped her fingers again. The green energy that had engulfed Bruno had returned to do a similar job to Felix. By the time they were done, Felix was now Whitney, a leggy blonde. Gretchen stood with her jaw agape. "No fair, why is HE a hot blonde?!" "Gretchen, as I have to keep reminding you, Whitney's punishment is less severe because she's not a cretin like you." Gretchen stared daggers at Penelope, who had returned her attention to Whitney. "How do you feel, Whitney?" Whitney just stared in shock at her new form. Gorgeous red dress, stunning blonde hair, smooth legs. She could hardly believe it.

"I-I look gorgeous!" "Felix, you liking this? I didn't think you wanted to be a girl!" "I-I mean, I never thought about it but…" Whitney paused to admire herself in a nearby mirror. "I'm NOT going to deny that I'm hot." Penelope smiled. "Now Whitney, come sit and join me. I have a lovely young man I'd like to fix you up with, he's the son of a businessman I've been trying to merge companies with." "Oh-oh Miss Cavendish, there must be some mistake. I'm not gay and I have a girlfriend." "You can be whatever you wish to be Whitney, but you don't have a girlfriend." "I-I don't?" "No, that's why you're here. I'm going to play matchmaker for you." "Oh, well that's very nice of you!" "Felix, she's messing with your mind!" "I'm Whitney now and I'm going to help Miss Cavendish, I owe her that much for trying to rob her. Maybe if you weren't always so arrogant, you'd be more amenable, and Miss Cavendish would be setting YOU up with someone too." "I don't believe what I'm hearing righ-' "Gretchen, the bottle's empty. Please go to the kitchen and bring another brandy, and a glass for my lovely companion here." "Fuck this, I'm out. Stay here if you want "Whitney", but I'm g-" Penelope waved her hand and changed Gretchen's feet to concrete. Gretchen fell to the floor in shock before her ability to walk was restored. "You've seen what I can do, Gretchen. So I think you know what the price for future disobedience is." "Y-y-yes." "Yes what?" "Yes, Miss Cavendish." "And what is your name?" "G-Gretchen, Miss Cavendish. And you're entertaining Whitney." "Good. And part of entertaining is refreshments, so…' "Right away, Miss Cavendish!" Gretchen meekly stumbled away to the kitchen. Penelope turned to Whitney. "Now, let me tell you about this young man…"

***

What neither of them knew was that Penelope never intended to turn them back, and the magic ensured that over time, their memories would be altered. Penelope really did like Felix, but she knew he'd be happier this way, which she confirmed one year to the day after the transformation, when she used her magic to let Felix come back out. Despite not fully knowing what was going on, Felix admitted he was much happier as he was, and only asked to keep full control with the new memories, which Penelope was more than happy to do. Whitney would go on to marry the young man Penelope set her up with, and had three daughters. She would look to Penelope like a mother figure and Penelope adored Whitney in return.

When it came to Gretchen, Penelope had her work cut out for her.

Even as the memories were pushed down and Gretchen took over completely, Penelope could still sense traces of Bruno. So, when it was Bruno's turn to come back to the surface, he exploded with rage. Penelope sighed and waved her hand. The changes were a little smaller this time. Her hair was a different shade of red, her body filled out more and she felt… older. Like she had been aged up 20 or so years. She had gone from a strapping young buck of 24 to a maid of 24 and now a maid of 45.

And for the next couple days, all Bruno could do was slowly wander around, doing his maid work until Gretchen resumed control, something he welcomed as he knew he was never going home a man again.

[gabriellerudessa]

Compass (Norm Maclean x OC) - Part XV

“What about just cutting the fabric?”

“Can’t go around destroying my clothes, Norm-boy. It’s hard to come by any that fit me.” Marigold shook her head, then grinned, the extra trouble one, even if somewhat forced. “But if you really want to and ask nicely, I’m pretty sure we can fix something up.”

AO3 | Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part XIV | Part XVI | Part XVII | Part XVIII | Part XIX | Part XX | Part XXI (Smut) | Part XXII | Part XXIII | Part XXIV | Part XXV | Part XXVI (Smut) | Part XXVII | Part XXVIII | Part XXIX | Part XXX | Part XXXI | Part XXXII | Part XXXIII | Part XXXIV (Smut) | Part XXXV | Part XXXVI (END)

PLAYLIST ON YOUTUBE

Words: 3.319

Warnings: Gunshot wounds being taken care of. Spicy thoughts lol

XV

Marigold went first, and he followed close behind. On the inside, beside the door, there was a light switch; he flipped it, and lights overhead lighted up, showing a narrow straight hall, a metal staircase at the end of it, another terminal close to the door, and an intercom. The only sounds were their breathings and the electricity buzzing through the lamps and terminal.

They explored cautiously, but it soon became obvious there wasn’t much to explore. The place was empty, no people or animals, most of the doors boarded off with metal or wood, windows blocked off with wood and metal. Only narrow slivers of space between the pieces let in some of the fading light of day.

In the ground floor, only three rooms were accessible: a kitchen, with a wood stove, an old counter with a functioning sink, a cabinet, and a wood table that should already be ancient when the bombs hit, solid and stable, with a group of mismatched chairs around it; a living room, with one sofa and armchair carefully positioned around a moth-eaten rug, and a bookshelf, some of the shelves containing pre-war books and an assortment of decorations; and what they a called “storage-room”, full of boxes and lockers and tool cabinets, carefully organized from their brief inspection.

The stairs led to a longer hallway, but similarly to the ground floor, only three weren’t blocked off: a bathroom, the shower head rusted off and broken on the ground, but overall in working condition; a bedroom, with a double bed with bedsheets and covers properly made, a drawer and a tall wooden wardrobe; and what Marigold had called a “chem-lab”, with a desk with another terminal and a chair, and another wood table, this one full of lab equipment. It seemed to have everything he would need to make Goose’s recipes, if he had the time.

All the lamps seemed to be in working order, no lack of electricity, from wherever it was coming from, and his Pip-Boy’s Geiger count accused only the barest radiation on the water when they opened the taps. It was at a level that, according to Goose’s notes, they should be able to solve through filtering and boiling, more related to radioactive sediments than to the water itself.

The place was empty and dusty, paint peeling from the walls, the linoleum floor warping at some spots… But besides those expected signs, otherwise the place was spotless, in the sense that everything had its proper place, and lived in, with things scattered around indicating that someone had, at some point, lived there.

Someone had arrived at that store, closed what they couldn’t use, modified the rooms as possible, turned it all into a home… And then never returned.

While Norm was grateful, because they needed a place for the night, he couldn’t help but feel a pinch of sadness, trying to imagine what had kept its inhabitant from returning.

They ended back at the metal door, slightly open like they had left.

“See if there’s a stimpak here, I’ll lock the outside terminal.” Norm threw the bag at Marigold, stepping into the cramped hall, keeping the metal door open.

His fingers flew through the keypads as he put a new password in it, making sure it was the same level of security he had broken – it had given him trouble and he was certain it would give anyone else even more. Hopefully it would keep them safe throughout the night.

Marigold showed him three stimpaks and one med-x as he came back inside and closed the door.

“There’s also some radaway, food and water.” There was clear relief in her voice, her shoulders relaxing a little.

“Good. Where’s the better place to take care of your leg?” Norm asked while making sure the door was properly fitted in the frame, then used the inside terminal to lock it.

Another grind and muffled bang; he tried to pull at the handle, but it didn’t budge. Good.

“The kitchen. It has a sink, space, and places to sit.”

Marigold started limping away, and Norm followed, eyes glued to the injured leg.

The flow of blood had diminished, but not stopped, and he was pretty sure it was worse after her stunt of going up and down the stairs – he had tried to convince her to stay on the ground floor, but the woman was damn stubborn and refused to let him go up alone. At least they had stimpaks now.

Marigold was leaning against the table when he entered the kitchen, backpack, bag and gun above it, stimpaks and med-x close by. She kept the injured leg extended, trying to unbuckle the bag-belt from around her thighs, fingers sliding because of the blood.

Norm sighed and approached.

“Could you please let me help, for God’s sake?” he pushed her hands away and she let him, instead holding the buckle around her hips.

He unbuckled the uninjured side with fast movements, but the buckle on the injured leg was slippery with blood, and he needed to go more carefully, hearing Marigold curse and hiss under her breath as it became loose around her leg. She unbuckled the last piece and left the bag-belt above the table.

“I’ll take off the tourniquet now.” Norm touched the leather, looking at Marigold’s mismatched eyes.

She breathed deeply and nodded.

The coat’s belt was off in an instant, and blood poured out. He raised his eyes at Marigold again, and she had her teeth gritted, hands gripping the edge of the table tight enough that her knuckles paled.

Norm looked at the torn fabric, and noticed Marigold doing the same. It covered the wound on the outside of her thigh, and at most he saw how the fabric bent inside into the wound, some spots of blood already starting to dry.

“Fuck. Taking the pants and the bullet off will hurt.” She slumped in place.

“Can’t we just jab a stimpak in the wound?”

“If it was some common shotgun ammo, sure, but I can feel there’s something inside, that’s not normal with shotguns. Since some people put teeth and other nasty things in their ammo, it’s better we take whatever the bullet is off before we use the stimpak. And Goose would burst from the ground if I did any of this while there’s fabric in the wound.” Marigold’s hands dropped to the button and zipper of her pants.

Teeth as bullets? Wastelanders were insane.

“What about just cutting the fabric?”

“Can’t go around destroying my clothes, Norm-boy. It’s hard to come by any that fit me.” Marigold shook her head, then grinned, the extra trouble one, even if somewhat forced. “But if you really want to and ask nicely, I’m pretty sure we can fix something up.”

Norm spluttered at that, feeling the heat rising through his neck as her words sunk in – was she really suggesting what he thought she was while bleeding and in pain? – and Marigold winked even while opening her pants and pushing it down her hips, faded black panties becoming visible.

He dry-swallowed, looking away and feeling like a moron – for God’s sake, he wasn’t a virgin, and he had been ogling her the whole day with permission, what was his problem?

Marigold hissed as the fabric reached her thighs and started pulling at the wound, and Norm jumped ahead to help pull it down past it, doing his best to focus only on helping her. The pants stopped at her boots, and Marigold pulled herself sitting over the table with a sigh of relief.

The wound was still bleeding, with a central bullet hole, deep and gaping, with smaller wounds scattered around it, more burns than perforations, becoming sparser the farther they became from the central one.

His eyes wandered a little; the exposed skin, what wasn’t covered in blood, was slightly lighter than her face, but not by much, still golden-brown; multiple scars covered her thighs, lines and circles crisscrossing the skin, and those helped sober him up.

How many of those were a result of having to be a Black Widow?

He didn’t know. He didn’t know if he wanted to know. Too much pain so close to such a sensitive place… It was wrong.

---------

“I’ll get the things from your backpack.” Norm said quietly, and Marigold helped him, doing her best to not move her leg too much.

The wound was better than she had feared, worse than she had hoped. Thank God there were stimpaks in the bag, there would be no need for stitches and be too careful. And with them taking care of the wound so soon, one stimpak should be enough to heal the insides to a point where she didn’t need to worry about wound reopening and her bleeding out, or having deep infection – sepsis, as Goose called.

She also had found paper bounties, including hers, but since they were as safe as they could be, it could wait. Besides, the Bounty Hunter was dead, so that problem had been taken care of, at least for the time.

Marigold found her old pair of tweezers in an internal side pocket as Norm spread and organized the supplies close to her leg. The tweezers were rolled in a piece of fabric, too long to fit in the medicine tin.

“Spritz the vodka here and in my hands, please.”

“You’re not thinking of-”

“Taking it off myself? Yes I’m.” His eyebrows frowned and Marigold kept going before he could protest. “Sorry, Norm-boy, but I have more experience with this. I’ll still definitely accept any other help.”

Norm pressed his lips in a line, still frowning, taking the perfume bottle from the medicine tin and doing as she had asked, the smell of vodka spreading around them.

“How much will this hurt?” He asked, shining his Pip-Boy’s flashlight into the wound without her asking.

“Thanks for the light and… Lots, Norm-boy, but it’ll be worse if I get an infection, so…”

She shrugged, and jabbed the closed tweezers inside.

---------

Marigold cursed the whole three minutes it took for her to find the bullet and pull it out; it was lodged deep, blood coming out with her prodding the wound. Only the fact that she was feeling it, added to the fear of it being something that would cause a worse reaction if not taken out, kept her going.

Her fingers trembled as she managed to pull the tweezers out, the bullet held at the tip, and both almost fell to the table. Norm’s hands were there to take them from her, carefully.

“Fuck.” She mumbled a last time through gritted teeth, hands splayed against the wood as she leaned back, breathing deeply, eyes tightly closed. The pain had dulled, now that there wasn’t something inside flaring it when she least expected.

“Damn.”

“What?” She opened one eye, and noticed Norm looking at the bullet, hands stained with blood.

“It’s a tooth.”

“Told you.”

Norm shook his head, a small smile even while frowning, and put the tooth down.

“Now we can use the stimpak, right?”

“Yes we can.” She extended her hand, but Norm caught the stimpak before her, and Marigold raised an eyebrow at him.

“This I know how to do.”

She shrugged with a grin, leaning back again, just watching him.

“Be my guest, Norm-boy.”

He turned off the flashlight and approached, color appearing along his neck as he put a hand close to the wound – she couldn’t help but notice how his skin felt against hers, in general soft, even while she felt some smaller callouses; it was a good feeling, after all the pain –, pressuring to keep her leg in place. Carefully, he aligned the needle’s stimpak close to the wound and pressed, the needle sinking into the skin with little resistance.

Marigold clenched her teeth at the sensation, of the needle and whatever drugs cocktail inside of it spreading throughout her flesh.

The wound started burning from inside out, and as they watched, it knit together, the flow of blood diminished to a small trickle. The smaller burns around remained and there was still a small hole, but she didn’t felt that burning, spread pain anymore. And if the tooth had left any bacteria or whatever inside, the stimpak should’ve taken care of it.

Norm put the empty stimpak down and started cleaning the blood and the wound, before spritzing the vodka and spreading some healing powder over it.

“Do you have bandages or whatever? I don’t think it will be good to walk around with it all exposed, it’s worse than the one on your arm.”

Marigold had to stop and think for a bit, then pulled her backpack over and breathed in relief at finding the squares of clean bandages in a small plastic Ziploc bag – Goose always cleaned some and kept any bandages she cleaned and sterilized in them – and a roll of duct tape.

“Here.” She handed him the duct tape and took one square of bandage out, laying it over the wound.

“Duct tape? Really? This will take your skin off too.” Norm complained, even while still using the scissors to cut it.

“It’s what we have, Norm-boy.” She grinned and shrugged as he taped the bandage in place.

“I think that’s it. How you’re feeling?”

He stepped back and Marigold bent and extended her leg in test; she only felt the skin pull a little, nothing from the muscles deep inside.

“Tired, but overall just feeling the skin. Internal damage totally taken care of.”

Norm’s shoulders relaxed and he leaned against the table besides her, letting out a relieved sigh of his own.

Marigold leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and pressed her shoulder against his.

“Thanks, Norm-boy.”

He pressed right back.

“You’re welcome.”

There was a loud thunder, followed by a dull sound outside that she easily recognized: the sharp, fast wind of a rad-storm against metal and wood, whistling through any space it could find, but Norm’s Geiger count remained in silence, so the place was well isolated, thankfully.

It was a sound she had heard a lot growing up, and not always with a Geiger count giving her reassurance things were safe.

Norm tensed beside her, head bolting upright towards the sound.

“What’s that?”

“The rad-storm. Let’s hope it move away soon.”

---------

Rad-storm. He had been so focused on Marigold’s wound he had forgot those clouds in the horizon. He also hadn’t been expecting that sound, so… All-encompassing. It was clear it would be a noisy night.

“How long until it does?” He looked back at her, and Marigold was loosening her boots. “What… Are you doing?”

“I need to clean and mend my pants, can’t do it while using them.” She shrugged, taking one pant out and putting on the boot again. “And it really depends. It’s the first rad-storm of the season, so they can last at least a few day, but sometimes we’re lucky and they move fast.”

Norm nodded, dry-swallowing as she finished taking off her pants and dropped from the table, and really he should stop looking, she had said he was welcome to look while she had pants on, Norm, for God’s sake…

Marigold got hold of his chin and turned his head towards her face. Before he processed it, he felt her lips on his cheek, close to the corner of his lips.

“What-?” his neck, his face, everything was burning, and his heart beat so fast inside his chest that he thought he was about to pass out.

“For pulling me, that shot would’ve hit some big artery otherwise.” She interrupted him, turning his face and kissing his other cheek. “And this one for getting the door open.”

Marigold let go of his chin and stepped back, giving him the extra trouble grin before winking. Norm opened and closed his mouth, no sound leaving him, and something in her face twisted in a way that he only could call “smug”.

“I’ll use the bathroom upstairs to take care of these.” She raised the hand holding the bloodied pants and got hold of the medicine tin with the other.

“… All right.” He managed to say, and with that Marigold left the kitchen, limping a little, not a drop of shyness or whatever as she did it.

Half of him couldn’t believe how better her legs and behind looked without pants, the shift of skin and muscle as she moved making his mouth dry. Norm heard her steps fading up the metal stairs, a door closing, and slumped against the table.

“Holy… Damn.”

---------

Norm forced himself to take everything bloodied to the kitchen sink, methodically taking his Pip-Boy off before cleaning it all under the running water, then carefully cleaning all traces of blood from under his nails. Occasionally a thunder echoed, making him jump and curse – the holomovies and such in the Vault really failed in showing how loud they could be. And… Was that really how normal storms sounded, or just the radioactive ones?

His brain had tried to convince him to go up the stairs, knock on the bathroom door and ask if she wanted to have sex, determined that having her legs around his head would solve half of his problems – especially the ones bellow his belt, damn it. And if he hadn’t heard the door closing, he probably would’ve heard those horny thoughts.

But he had heard, and she had just gotten shot, and the both of them hadn’t even eaten yet, so really those thoughts weren’t the best judges of timing – they never were that good for starters, but they clearly had devolved in the surface.

The time it took to get everything clean was enough to get himself under control, for his problem to go away, and make his stomach rumble, just giving strength to his argument of “they hadn’t even eaten yet”.

As he stored everything of hers into the backpack, he found two cans; both had tapes to the bottom with “ant” written, and a small, simplified drawing of an ant besides it. The forks were a little harder to find, but he managed, ascending the stairs while holding both items.

He stopped in front of the bathroom door. He could hear her inside, humming an old familiar song, and unconsciously he tapped a finger against the can to the same rhythm – “’cause babe it’s just you”, the words softly reached him, more humming following them, and he shook his head with a small smile.

Good to see that some pre-war music had survived.

“Marigold!” He called, and the humming immediately stopped.

“Yeah?!”

“I brought a can of food for you! Ant!”

“Righty!” The door opened, exposing Marigold, still pant-less and with leather bracers and fingerless gloves missing, the sleeves of her shirt folded to her elbows, pants in the sink. “Thanks, Norm-boy.” She smiled as he handed her a can and a fork, digging in with the same gusto he had come to expect.

He forced himself to keep his eyes on her face instead of sneaking a look – all his talk of “timing” would flee his mind the moment he did it, he was sure of it.

“Is the blood coming off?”

“Most of it, yeah, but it’ll probably be forever stained.” She shrugged, leaning against the doorway.

“Need any help with it?”

“Nah, I have it under control. But tell you what, I was remembering that other terminal we saw. Think you can take a look, see if there’s any chance of anyone else appearing or whatever? I know you said the door hadn’t been opened in years, but… Just to make sure.”

“I’ll get right into it.” Norm nodded at her, a step already in the direction of the so-called chem-lab, glad to have something to do and distract his head from her.

[somedaylazysomeday]

Misbehaving - Part Three

Commander Cody x fem!reader (no use of y/n)

Rating: Explicit, NC-17, lemon, etc. Minors DNI!

Word Count: 3,800

Warnings: angst, slight dubcon in an established relationship, spanking, underprepared piv, rough sex, use of a safeword, hurt/comfort, slight AU

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Cody was an even-tempered man.

You supposed that was part of what made him such an excellent commander. A marshal commander, at that - one of the highest-ranked men in the entirety of the Grand Army of the Republic. Everyone trusted Cody to do his job, from his generals to the men who served under his command. He made the right choices, that was as indisputable as the position of the planets in the galaxy. You had never seen Cody less than professional.

Until you did.

You hadn’t expected him to come to you on Coruscant when he did. He couldn’t always tell you exactly when he was going to be on-planet for security reasons, but he tried to keep you reasonably in the loop. A vague idea of when to expect him was better than knowing nothing at all, and you loved that he did that for you.

You had been shocked to answer a firm knock on your apartment door and find your boyfriend standing on the other side. The circumstances surrounding his presence were strange, something about being called away on urgent business that ended up being less urgent than the communications had insinuated. In fact, Cody confided, he couldn’t understand why he had needed to accompany General Kenobi back to Coruscant at all. The Jedi was left running circles around the Senate with his old padawan while Cody waited to receive updates on the total planetary takeover the 212th and 501st were attempting.

In any case, you were happy to have him around. Without the presence of his men on-planet, Cody had taken to staying with you most of the time rather than sleeping in the barracks. For nearly a week, you had lived together, half-pretending that Cody was a normal military man stationed on Coruscant and that he wouldn’t be shipped out again with only hours of notice to fight in the galaxy-wide war.

You slept by Cody’s side, kissed him goodbye in the morning before you both left for work, then you came home to share a meal together. It was bliss, especially since his distraction at the odd mission hadn’t extended to the bedroom. No, Cody was hyper-focused when it came to your pleasure, no matter what else was going on. He was always attentive to your needs, no matter what they were.

Which was why you were surprised when he didn’t come home one night.

Part of you wondered if he had been called back to the front with no notice at all… but that didn’t make sense. Cody had always managed to get some kind of message to you, even if it was something small and subtle, or originating from an unfamiliar comlink, or passed through his men.

There had been nothing of the sort this time. He just… hadn’t come back.

You were a frazzled mess by the time the sky had darkened. Should you contact Cody’s general? Technically speaking, Cody wasn’t supposed to be in a relationship and could get in trouble for it, but General Kenobi hadn’t seemed like the type to care overly much about the particulars of GAR regulations. And at least you would know if Cody was okay. 

It seemed that you had reached for your comlink a dozen times and pulled your hand away a dozen more when you heard the noise of someone tapping at the keypad outside of your door. 

You had surged to your feet by the time the door slid open to reveal Cody. Your handsome commander stepped inside, his face blank and his motions sharp as he entered the apartment. He didn’t speak, and you caught the way he was clutching his helmet so hard that his knuckles were pale.

“Cody?” you asked gently. “I was worried when you didn’t come home. Are you- Is everything okay?”

Cody’s face turned toward you, his eyes lacking all of their familiar warmth. That was the least concerning part, though - you were stricken by the way he didn’t seem to react at the sight of you, like you were some stranger he had never met and never would.

“Cody?” you asked again, stepping a bit closer but stopping when you noticed the speed of his breathing.

His gaze caught on yours. That horrifying blankness faded slightly, but his eyes were bright - too bright. There was an edge of something in them, something that looked like desperation and the beginnings of hopelessness.

“Cody, talk to me,” you pled. “What happened?”

Cody shook his head slowly, but the motion didn’t stop. “I can’t- can’t talk about it. I need you. I need… to be in control.”

You nodded immediately. “Whatever you need, just tell me.”

“Strip,” he ordered. “Then get on your bed, hands and knees.”

“Yes, Commander,” you replied, more worried than ever when that failed to elicit a response from him. Still, you did as he said, retreating to your bedroom while you fumbled at the buttons of your shirt and pushed your comfortable lounge pants away. When you had made it to your room, a trail of clothing in your wake, you climbed onto the bed and balanced on your hands and knees before you glanced back.

Cody was standing just inside the door, watching you intently. He was still wearing his full, orange-painted armor, but his hands dropped to undo the piece of plastoid that covered his crotch. It was the only piece he removed before he stepped to the edge of the bed behind you. 

“Down to your elbows,” he told you, voice still strange.

You obeyed, widening your knees to grant him better access to your core. Unfortunately, you weren’t anywhere near ready for him. You hadn’t exactly been thinking sexy thoughts that evening and it was only worse with your lover there. This mood was something you had never seen from Cody and you were too worried to be aroused.

His hand cupped your mound, thumb stroking over the delicate lips of your sex. You shivered at the feeling of his warm hand surrounding such a sensitive area and made a small sound of pleasure when the pad of his thumb pushed closer to press against your clit.

Your body began to relax, blooming for the man you loved, but slower than you would have liked. Cody apparently felt the same way, because his other hand cracked solidly against your ass cheek. You gave a surprised grunt at the unexpected contact. Cody always liked to warn you when you were getting a spanking because he wanted to be thanked.

As soon as the thought crossed your mind, Cody sighed. “Forgetting to say ‘thank you’? You’ve already lost your manners. That’ll be five more and a pussy smack.”

That seemed like a steep punishment considering he had forgotten to warn you. “But-”

“We could make it ten and two if you’d rather,” Cody said sharply.

“No, sir, I’m sorry,” you apologized.

“Good girl. Count.”

And that was the only signal he gave you before his tensed palm rained down again and again on your cheeks. You kept up with the first two or three, but got lost in the ‘thank you, sir’s and fell behind. Your efforts cut off entirely when Cody’s palm connected between your spread legs with a wet smack, leaving you squealing and trying not to writhe.

There was a typical swell of sensation with a spanking. You had learned that much over the course of your relationship with Cody. The collision between hand and cheek left your skin, muscle, and fat rippling in the wake - a process that was mirrored by the way the sensations rippled over your skin. Spankings built heat slowly, spreading until it eventually gathered in your core. A properly delivered spanking left you trembling, wet, and begging for your commander.

A spank to your pussy was different. Instead of allowing the sensation to build, it was forced into your nerves, direct and immediate in a way that was overwhelming more often than not. It was meant to be overwhelming, the most pleasurable punishment Cody could deliver… and the most punishing pleasure.

The five spanks hadn’t been enough to build a slow heat in your core, but the feeling of his hand clapping against the lips of your sex pushed the intensity immediately to a level you weren’t quite ready for. Instead of scraping together your shuddering brain cells enough to thank Cody as he wanted, you were left gaping blankly at your pillows as you tried to process the sheer amount of sensation stemming from that single action.

“Ten and two it is,” Cody bit out.

Another five spanks hit your heated ass, the tenth connecting with a sharp noise so loud that your neighbors probably heard it. You got to nine, broke off to fight back a grunt at the hit, and made it halfway through counting the tenth when he spanked the rapidly swelling lips of your sex firmly and you cut off to catch your breath.

“Still not counting?”

You frowned, the expression going unseen since it was aimed at the mattress rather than at Cody. “Sorry, but-”

“But?” Cody repeated, voice filled with mocking. “But you’re not trying hard enough. No excuses, nothing to hide behind. You don’t have to count these last five, but you’ll feel them.”

“Wait-”

The first spank took your breath away. Cody was a strong man. He claimed it was because he had been engineered that way, but he also spent time in the gym, working to increase that strength even further. He had never used that strength against you, though, especially not in the bedroom.

This probably wasn’t his full strength, either, but it was enough to push more weight onto your elbows, rocking you forward and back until your cheek was planted against your bedspread. The last hit was hard enough that your knees briefly left the bed, your body suspended between your elbows and the force of his hand against your ass.

“Easy enough without the counting, huh?” Cody asked. “And that seems to have done the trick.” Two of his fingers pushed into your wet core with no warning, forcing your breath out in a surprised huff.

You were adventurous in the bedroom, especially with Cody there to encourage and support you. Even so, this was riding the line of what you considered acceptable, but that last set of spanks had filled your mind with a pleasantly buzzing numbness. You were wet, you could feel that much, and what he was doing felt good, if a little overwhelming.

As Cody’s fingers scissored in your heat, you struggled to ride the pleasure without letting it crash over you and destroy you in its wake. Those sensations grew tenfold as he began to pull his fingers out and plunge them steadily back into you. It didn’t feel bad, even if it was starting to not feel entirely good. You were certainly wet enough to allow him inside, but you were concerned about non-physical parts of this.

You lifted yourself back up onto your elbows, preparing to glance back at Cody and ask him to move a little slower, but the question died in your throat as Cody gripped your hips and sank his length inside of you. 

Over your strangled cry, you heard Cody give a hoarse grunt of his own. He didn’t give you a moment to breathe, moving immediately into a punishing rhythm that left you gasping and trying to move enough to make the angle something less sharp and stabbing.

“Cody-”

“Commander,” he reminded sharply, slamming his hips into yours.

Impossibly, his pace picked up from there, knocking you from your precarious perch on your elbows until your cheek was pressed against the bedspread once more. The fog from the spanking was starting to fade and you were growing steadily more aware that this session wasn’t working for you. You liked rough sex, but you had to build up to it and you just… hadn’t. It was too much, too sudden, and you needed him to slow things down.

“Cody,” you said, trying to sound more firm even through the way his pounding impacted the flow of your speech.

Cody snarled behind you. “Commander.”

He reached forward, gripping your wrists. For a moment, you relaxed, thinking he was going to drape himself over you, your fingers laced together while he breathed praises in your ear. That was one of his favorite things to do at the end of a rough session, and you always enjoyed it. Somehow, that made you feel just as treasured than you did when he used his mouth on you or spent hours teasing you to an overwhelming climax.

That beat of relaxation on your part was enough for him to lever your arms behind you, press them against your back with one hand, and pull your hips back toward him with the other hand. The pressure on the small of your back pushed your ass up further, letting Cody’s hard cock thrust even deeper and your mouth fell open into a shocked gasp.

“Cody - Red.”

The time it took Cody to process the safeword was long enough that he had driven himself back into you and your inner muscles spasmed around his length. It was not a pleasant feeling and you gave a small, pained grunt.

Cody froze there for an impossibly long moment and you could almost feel the way he was processing the best way to proceed from there. He released your arms and you immediately brought them back in front of yourself, trying to push up off the mattress.

One hand pressed against your ass and you flinched - something you were sure he noticed with how his touch lightened even further. “I’m going to pull out of you now, okay?”

You nodded.

The thick slide of Cody’s cock through your folds was one you had always enjoyed, but it was thoroughly unpleasant now. You shuddered when his swollen head finally slipped out of you, trying again to lever yourself up with shaking arms.

Cody’s hand pressed against your hip. “No, stay there.”

You were reluctant to follow any more orders, but your nerves were still buzzing with overwhelmed input, so you did. The only movement you made was to shift so you were lying on one side. You let your eyes close, mostly to disguise the tears that were welling in the aftermath of the adrenaline rush.

“Mesh’la,” Cody said from the doorway an instant after a tear had rolled down your cheek anyway. You opened your eyes to see him looking stricken, that haunted desperation almost solid in his eyes again. He was holding a glass of water, but didn’t make any move to get closer to you. “Are you-? I’m sorry. Kriff, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s-” You cut yourself off to fight back the pinched sound in your own voice. You wouldn’t do either of you any favors if you started crying in earnest. At the same time, you wouldn’t do either of you the injustice of lying and telling him it was fine.

“What can I do?” Cody asked, his voice low and soothing. Even his body language was soft and nonthreatening, his broad shoulders curling inward in a way that made him look smaller than you had ever seen him, even with the armor he was still wearing.

“Water,” you replied simply. 

He started for the bed eagerly, but checked his pace before he got too close. By the time he reached out to hand you the glass, he had been moving at a pace that was slow enough to be nonthreatening. You took the glass without any of your earlier hesitation. You had cooled down slightly and knew Cody wasn’t going to do anything to hurt you. Also, you were incredibly thirsty.

In only moments, you had drained the glass and set it gently on the bedside table. Cody was watching you, scarcely hidden fear in the depths of his eyes. 

“Cody,” you murmured, your voice hiccuping awkwardly between one syllable and the next.

“What is it, cyare?” he asked tenderly. “What can I do for you? Anything you need.”

“Take off your armor and hold me?” you requested. 

After such a short hesitation that you barely noticed it, Cody started to work at the plastoid plates, stripping them away and setting them gently but haphazardly on the floor of your room. He was clearly aiming for softness of sound rather than neatness - a rarity for the fastidious commander.

When he had finished and was dressed only in his black body glove, he hesitated again at the edge of the mattress, but when you held out a hand in his direction, he took it immediately. Cody had laced his fingers through yours by the time he settled on the bed beside you, reaching slowly with his free hand as he wrapped it around you. 

Cody wanted to talk. That much was clear as his breathing paused and caught occasionally, only to be released in a heavy sigh. He never spoke, but it didn’t take long for you to realize that he was carefully tracing every mark he had left on your skin:

The tender flesh of your forearms where he had anchored them behind your back.

The finger-shaped bruises rapidly forming on your hips from where he had held you.

The aching fullness of your cheeks from where he had delivered those brutal spanks.

“I’m so sorry, mesh’la,” he murmured over and over until your heart was aching at least as much as anything else.

“I won’t lie and say it’s okay, Cody,” you told him, feeling momentarily worse when his breath whooshed out like you had hit him. “But what matters more is that you stopped when I asked you to. That’s the most important thing.”

Cody relaxed slightly against you, but tensed again when you amended, “Well, the second most important thing.”

“What’s the most important?” he asked, voice careful. 

“Are you okay?” you returned, your suspicions confirmed when his gaze skated away immediately and decisively. “You never come on that strong, especially without building up to it first. You told me you needed control and I told you I could handle it. I couldn’t and I’m sorry about that.”

Cody was shaking his head before you even finished speaking. “I should never have given you the option, little one. I knew better and I did it anyway. There’s nothing you need to be sorry about.”

You hummed skeptically. “But can I ask why? I’ve never- never seen you like that.”

Cody’s warm body shuddered against you and your eyes whipped to scan his face. Sure enough, it had crumpled in a way you had never seen before as tears streamed down his face in pained catharsis. In a moment, he had gone from your stoic commander to a broken man aged beyond his years. Your heart shattered for him.

You sat up and wrapped yourself around him before you could even register that you were planning to move. Cody - strong, stubborn Cody - let you tuck his head against your chest while you rocked him back and forth, murmuring soothing nonsense until the hot tears stopped flowing and he was left shaking like a man freezing to death in your arms.

“My- my men,” he gasped eventually, rushing the words out between painful shudders. “I left them and- and they-” 

He broke off, making a sound of pain so profound that it sounded harsher than anything a human should be capable of producing. Your arms tightened around him just as his did the same around you.

“Shh, shhhh…” you told him. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to tell me anything.”

Cody shook his head. In choppy bits and strangled pieces, he told you what had happened, outlining a tragedy on a far-off planet called Umbara. Even as he offered the explanation, you got the picture of a Jedi doing the unthinkable, men forced into a horrible position, and a universe-shaking betrayal of trust and the chain of command, along with a disregard for lives so reckless that you were trembling just as hard as Cody.

“I understand now,” you assured the man you loved. “You needed to feel in-control of something. It’s okay, Cody.”

“It isn’t,” he disagreed. “I betrayed my men, abandoned them when they needed me. And then I came here, falling apart, and tried to use you to glue myself back together. I almost shattered you at the same time.”

“But you didn’t,” you reminded him firmly, silencing his budding protests with a kiss. “Even facing something no one should ever have to - and taking on guilt that was never yours to carry - you stopped when I needed you to. You recognized our safeword and then did what you could to make things right.”

Cody’s arms tightened another fraction before they loosened. You watched his eyelids flutter closed, his dark lashes only drawing attention to the circles beneath them.

“And you cannot blame yourself for this, Cody,” you insisted, loathe as you were to disturb this moment of peace. “You are just as much a victim of this situation as any of your men. Maybe you weren’t on Umbara when things went wrong, but you were following orders just like every one of the 212th.”

“If I had been there-”

“You weren’t there,” you interrupted. “You weren’t there because you were doing your duty and standing by your general. There’s no way of knowing whether anything would have gone differently if you were there. Stars, that Jedi may have killed you if you didn’t go along with his orders.”

Your grip tightened involuntarily as you thought over your own words. Yes, that was an extremely likely outcome. If your brave boyfriend had been on Umbara as the tide began to shift, he would have said something and - if it came down to it - why would the rogue Jedi have cared about one more clone’s life if he was ordering them to die by the thousands?

“When do you leave?” you asked instead of voicing any of those very unhelpful thoughts.

“Oh-five-hundred,” he said. “It’s the earliest the general could get jump clearance. The men are holding the planet right now, but we need to get there as soon as possible. There’s too much chance that the locals will rise against them or that the trauma will be too much for the survivors… We need to get there. I need to get there.”

You kissed Cody’s furrowed forehead. You knew better than to tell him to sleep. There probably wouldn’t be any sleep tonight, not for either of you. But for the next few hours, Cody was safe in your arms and you were safe in his. 

It was enough for the night.

---

Author's Note - I know Cody and Obi-Wan were both on Umbara when things went wrong. This is a slight AU imagining that they were both pulled from the planet for fear of interference.

Thanks for reading and sorry about the angst! Feel free to let me know what you thought!

I don't offer a taglist for NSFW fics, but you can check out other works on my masterlist!

[noodyl-blasstal]

Detective Delivery

Joyus Candlenights @v-for-venusaur I hope you have a wonderful Candlenights and enjoy! 

And also thank you very much to @thecandlenightszone for organising the exchange!

Read Detective Delivery on A03 or below (but fair warning, it's over 7,000 words)

________

There isn’t much time. Angus knows he has to be quick, they always notice when he’s not where he’s supposed to be. He’d think it was because they were onto him, but they’re always so concerned - as if he’s lost, or hurt, or upset and not rifling through their stuff. He didn’t imagine that smugglers would worry so much about his welfare, or play chess with him, or teach him how to bake cookies, but that was probably all part of their thing. One of the hardest lessons he had learned was that bad people didn’t always seem like bad people. The Starblaster crew were bad, they were smugglers, they were stealing. They were bad people doing a good job of hiding it.

Angus finds the crates easily. The illusion cube isn’t subtle - the dimensions of the room are all wrong. He disables the alarm quickly, it’s barely disguised in the loose panel on the wall, finger marks showing exactly where to push. There aren't any other security measures as far as he can see, so Angus walks confidently through the wall and immediately sees the crates he has been looking for. Now he just needs to confirm the cargo is what he thinks it is. The door to the hold hasn’t opened yet, he should have time.

The crates are squat and rectangular, heavily riveted with clawed clamps holding them closed along the edges. Circling the central one, the glow of a keypad catches his eye. Angus examines it briefly, it’s too obvious. There’s no way they would illuminate this, everything about this box is designed to stop it being opened. He works it out just as the door to the hold slides open.

“Angles?” It’s Mr Taako’s voice. Oh no. He doesn’t want to be in trouble.

“Ango?” And Dr Lup too. Probably the worst people to find him here, they sometimes looked at him sideways if he said something which might contradict his story. Not that he did that often. Not that they noticed enough to make him try to jump ship, but they weren’t easy like Ms Lucretia, or Dr Barry.

Angus ducks down behind the crate, they have no reason to think he’s in here. How would he have even made it into the hold? There was a code! How would he have the code? He’s just a little boy.

“He’s not here, Ko. Maybe he’s in the kitchen? You have cooking lessons today, right?” Lup says. Angus cringes, investigating first was a mistake. Maybe he could still make it in time to learn how to make ‘the most baller pancakes you’ll ever eat’ once he cracks the case? Just because they were criminals doesn’t mean he can’t learn some valuable skills. No one has ever had time to teach him to cook before; he has to get the most out of it before Taako goes to jail.

Angus breathes a sigh of relief as he hears the door slide open again and the twins’ footsteps retreat. Time to get his evidence. He peers at the glowing pad again, and, careful to avoid pressing it, twists the entire thing to the left - a small groove in the metal allows the shape to turn slightly. As he does it, he hears movement from the other side of the crate.

“Lost again, Agnes?” Taako’s lilting voice is casual as ever, but Angus hears his hip holster release. It’s probably time to run, but this is the best lead Angus has. It took nearly a year to find the ship, he isn’t going to give up now. He has a blaster for emergencies, and this definitely counts as one. Angus grabs it and reaches for the pad to spin it further, the box opening will tell Taako exactly where he is, but also hopefully surprise him enough to allow Angus to take the upper hand.

The alarm was a surprise. The crate definitely opens, Angus was correct, but he should have considered that there might be other safety features. Something to add to the post-investigation review. His gasp of surprise gives Taako his exact location, and Angus finds himself hoisted into the air by the front of his shirt. He hopes Taako hasn’t creased it too badly, Angus doesn’t have many clothes and it’s important to look presentable when he’s working.

“What did you do, and how do I make it not be doing that any more?” Shouts Taako over the screeching of the alarm.

Angus stays silent. He’s read books about resistance to interrogation, he’s even practiced with his blanket over his head and staying up for an extra day here and there (sure, when he was caught up in investigations, but it still counts).

“Angus? What are you doing in here?” Lup skids through the illusory wall.

“He’s stealing from us, Goofus. What does it look like?” Taako rolls his eyes at Lup, then turns back to Angus.

“How do we make it stop, Angles?”

Agnus thinks about the case very hard. If you have something to focus on it’s harder for someone to manipulate your thinking and convince you to share information with them.

“He really is your protégé.” Lup laughs.

“Good work on getting past the wall, Ango.”

“Don’t praise him!” Taako hisses.

“He’s only a baby and he figured it out, it’s important to acknowledge good work.” Lup replies, side eyeing Taako and making a face at Angus.

“I’m not a baby!” Angus protests. They kept saying it, but he was 10, nearly 11. He ran his own business! He wasn’t a baby, he was practically an adult. Wait… was this psychological torture? He wasn’t supposed to let it get under his skin… aw beans!

“Oh look, he found his voice! It was lost, but magically recovered to refuse to acknowledge the fact he’s a tiny baby who has no business being here.” Taako sets him down on top of the crate.

“Make it stop, Ango.” He snaps.

“You know, we were stealing stuff when we were his age, well, 70, but if you do the conversion to human years, it shakes out about the same.” Lup leans her elbow on Taako’s shoulder and looks to Angus.

“What’s in it anyway Ango? Contract says we can’t look and Dav makes us promise not to, but if you’ve already cracked it then it’s nothing to do with me. Be a shame to waste it.” She peers towards the crate. Angus almost believes her, almost, but of course they know what’s in the crates. They know exactly what they’re doing, who they’re stealing from, and who they’re stealing for. He jams his mouth shut again and tries to make it as obvious as possible that he won’t be helping them, without actually saying anything. He’s not going to make the same mistake twice.

“Stop encouraging him, Lup!” Taako says, nudging her with his elbow.

“It’s good to have an inquiring mind.” Lup says, and elbows him back. Angus debates whether this will devolve into another fight. He kind of hopes so, it’ll give him enough time to crack the lid, record the evidence, and run. He scoped out the small research ship on his first day aboard, and then Dr Barry gave him an extensive tour because he was always excited to show off his lab and the equipment they had. It was almost enough to convince Angus he wasn’t a hardened criminal, but he wasn’t going to be fooled again. It had taken him a long time to rebuild his stock of credits, even longer to find another hat he liked as much as the one they took.

The alarm is still blaring, Angus wants to try and stop it. The noise is overwhelming, but he doesn’t want to take his eyes off the twins. Taako is apparently stronger than he looks and Angus doesn’t want to get grabbed again. The decision is taken from him when a second alarm joins the crate’s wailing, followed by a jarring scraping noise.

“What the…” Is all Lup manages, before the hull doors buckle.

“Angus?” Taako asks.

Angus isn’t sure why Taako thinks this is anything to do with him. As if he has the ability to summon another ship. If he could do that he wouldn’t need transport, would he? As far as they know, that’s why he’s here. He’s obviously going to contact the militia, absolutely and definitely, but not yet. He still has to finish his science lessons with Barry, and Lucretia has really helped him with his drawing but he can still improve. Anyway, he can’t go until Merle shows him the hydroponic tanks properly - Angus still doesn’t know the names of all the fish.

“Attention Starblaster. Prepare to be boarded. A security alarm has notified us of a contractual breech. An investigation will begin immediately.” The tinny announcement pipes from the ship’s speaker system, barely audible over the various alarms.

“Angus, fix it!” Lup hisses. She’s serious for the first time, face paling visibly.

Taako looks scared too. Maybe Angus went too far? He didn’t mean to call the militia down on them… yet. He was going to do that, in the future, probably, not right now.

“I don’t know how.” He breaks his silence. It seems worth it for this. Angus feels like crying. He doesn’t want to cause problems, he wants to solve them, and he’s so close, so so close. Why didn’t he consider internal security? It was a careless error. This might be just as bad for him as it was for them. If the militia ask who he is… if the crew tell them what Angus said… Oh no. He turns the pad back to the starting position.

“Maybe this will do it.” He says as nothing happens.

“Angus. Fix it.” Taako looks furious.

Angus wants to. He wants to so hard, and maybe if he just closes his eyes, summons up all of his resolve and hopes really hard he can do it. He wishes and wishes and the alarm screams and screams and he has to admit it was a bit of a long shot.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Sir. I want to, I do.”

Taako’s face softens slightly.

“We’ll figure it out, Pumpkin.” He says, moving to crouch next to Angus as the hull screams more and the doors shudder.

Angus felt better momentarily, then realises what Taako is doing, he won’t be lulled into a false sense of security again.

“We wouldn’t need to figure it out if you weren’t all criminals!” Angus doesn’t mean it to sound so aggressive, it’s a statement of fact after all, but his voice is full of the acid he feels when he thinks about how many children the money would help. There are alarms and noise and everything is horrible and it’s all because of their choices.

“Criminals? Oh, so that’s what you think of ol’ Taako and Lup? We’re good enough to teach you how to cook and make fires and do handstands, but you’re just judging us? If it weren’t for us being ‘criminals’ you wouldn’t be getting home to your Grandfather for Candlenights, would you? Why exactly would the Ambassador to the Astral Empire be using the Starblaster to take his precious Grandson home if we were criminals?” Taako asks, looking offended. Angus almost feels bad… almost. He had to lie to them, otherwise they wouldn’t have taken him. It was their own fault that they didn’t look into the letter any further. How often did someone show up with a letter and a stick of credits to ask them to do a job anyway? Surely it should have rang some kind of alarm bell. And the stuff they taught him to do? They chose that. It wasn’t Angus’ fault that they wanted to show him, he was always happy to learn. Plus, it isn’t fair to judge people either. Sometimes people do crimes and that doesn’t mean they aren’t people, they’re just people who also probably have to go to prison, so they may as well teach him some cool stuff first.

“Sir, I… He… that’s not important right now.” Angus can’t think of what to say. It’s probably time for him to explain that he knows their game, that he understands what they’ve been doing.

“I know what you’ve been doing.” Angus tries to glare, he’s not sure how convincing it is.

“Are you okay, little man?” Lup asks, concern in her voice.

“You’re squinting. Is there something in your eye?”

“Stop looking after me, you don’t care about orphans do you? You’re the ones taking the funds from us!” Angus says. He has to push back, he can’t get used to this; can’t adjust to having someone to watch his back and think about his feelings and wash out his eye if he gets something in it. He’s going to be alone again soon.

“We’re doing fucking what now, sorry?” Says Taako, outrage clear in his voice.

“Stealing from who?” Lup says at the same time.

Angus opens his mouth to answer, to tell them he doesn’t believe their surprise, how could they not know what they were doing? He’s interrupted by the hull doors buckling one last time and screeching open. Four heavily armoured militia stride into the ship, seemingly unaffected by the illusory wall, they level their blasters at Angus and the twins. The alarm from the box finally stops blaring.

“Drop your weapons and stand down.” The voice filters through the heavy black helmet, all traces of accent or personality lost. Angus peers curiously at the red tinted visor, but nothing is visible through it. He usually deals with the more palatably humanoid side of the militia.

“This is all a misunderstanding, the kid opened it by accident.” Lup says casually, jabbing a thumb at Angus.

“No nefarious intent. We’ll just seal it back up and be on our way.”

“The child opened the crate?” The same tinny voice comes from a different helmet.

“Yeah, just kids being kids, you know how it is.” Lup smiles. Angus feels something tighten in his stomach, he can’t read the emotions in their voices, but their body language isn’t indicating that they plan to stand down. If anything, they’re more focused on him.

“No.” They reply in sync.

“Hand over the criminal you have apprehended and we will reseal the crate so you may continue the delivery.” Says one stepping forwards, holstering their blaster and reaching for Angus.

“Absolutely not!” Says Lup at the same time Taako shrugs and grabs Angus again. Surely they weren’t actually going to hand him over? They’d been so kind to him, and Lup said no. If Lup said no then it definitely wouldn’t be happening.

“Okay, here you go.” Taako says evenly.

“Taako!” Lup kicks him.

“We’re not handing over the kid.”

“He was my apprentice Lup. I, Taako, the best chef this side of the Astral Empire was sharing my skills. I let him into my kitchen! He was my apprentice and he tried to steal from us. I was going to give him the good recipes.” Taako says.

“I can’t believe I fell for this again.” Taako sounds hurt. Angus didn’t mean for Taako to be hurt.

“Ko, it’s not the same.” Lup says gently and pulls him back.

“Now get down.” With that, she’s launching a ball of what Angus could swear is fire from her blaster. It slams into the foremost of the militia, shoves them backward, leaves a large hole punched in the front of their armour. Angus tries not to stare too long at the mix of blistered wires and charred flesh he sees there.

“Lulu, what the fuck?” Taako screeches as he dives behind the crate, pulling Angus with him and covering him. Angus isn’t thinking too hard about the fact Taako’s protecting him with his literal body right now despite apparently being willing to hand him over a few seconds ago.

“Are you trying to die? Taako did not sign up for a space rebellion today. Did you look at my calendar? Is “fight space police and die about it” in there for today? No. No it fucking isn’t.”

The ship alarm stops. The others must be doing something… or the militia ship has overtaken the systems, but Angus hopes that’s not the case. As much as he trusts the legal process, he technically did open the crate… and lie about his identity… Which is attempted theft, fraud, and transport under false pretences. He’s technically still registered to the orphanage. This could be bad. He starts trying to worm his way out, maybe he can make a break for it while they’re distracted? Although, now Lup’s going to be in trouble for trying to protect him… but she’s a criminal, he shouldn’t care! But, Angus is a criminal… no, he was doing what he did for good reasons, he had to do it to solve the real crime, her crime.

“Right Angus…” Lup fires twice and ducks behind the crate too.

“What’s this about orphans?”

“Lup, is this really the time?” Taako presses himself around Angus more firmly as the wall above them sparks and shudders from the militia returning fire.

“We’ll be done with this soon.” Lup replies, confidently.

“Backup will be here any second.” She winks at Angus whose head is barely visible under Taako’s armpit.

“Now Ango, you need to tell us what’s going on.”

“You know what’s going on, Dr Lup.” He says resolutely. He refuses to get caught up in mind games, in Lup pretending she doesn’t know.

“Angus, we’re specialist freight delivery. We don’t ask too many questions, yeah, but it’s to help people like you and your Grandfather. Why the fuck would we want to hurt kids?” Lup looks so earnest, so confused, but Angus knows the answer.

“Money.” He says, and tries not to feel guilty as hurt flashes across Lup’s face.

The militia are nearly on them now. Lup fires a few more shots, Taako springs up to cover her, then straight back over Angus as fire is returned.

“Agatha, apologise right now. We raised you better than this. She’s out here fighting space police for you and you’re going to thank her by accusing her of murdering orphans and eating their skin? She just shot a dude to save your accusation wielding butt.” Taako huffs.

Angus debates refusing, but he can’t really argue with the logic… well, some of it. The important bits.

“Sorry Dr Lup.” He mutters.

She winks and pops up to shoot again just as the opening bars of Thunderstruck blare out of the ship’s speakers at full volume.

“Cavalry’s here.” She says as she ducks back down, barely avoids the blast which grazes the top of the crate.

“Taako, your side.”

Angus feels himself shoved to Lup as Taako rolls sideways, fires, and rolls back, grabbing him again.

“Magnus!” Comes a yell from the doorway. Cavalry’s here indeed, Angus can’t help but smile. Statistically it’s highly unlikely that the crew will lose, the militia clearly weren’t expecting this level of resistance. Angus tries not to think about whether everyone on the crew is actually registered as being on board; that information isn’t relevant to his case. There’s a volley of shots, and several loud thuds. Angus tries to wriggle free and look, he wants to make sure it’s the militia falling, not his friends… wait, the suspects. Taako holds him firm.

“Taako’s not gonna let you get hurt, Pumpkin. They’ll be okay. We’ve had worse.” Taako’s voice is calm, well, as calm as it ever gets. Angus wants to ask about the ‘worse’, but it probably isn’t the time.

“I can’t believe he chose fucking AC/DC. He always forgets that it’s not as cool after the intro.”

“Maybe he thought it’d be done by the time it got past that bit?” Angus suggests, muffled against Taako’s arm.

“He doesn’t plan, doesn’t think about the what ifs and the maybes and how long it might take to murder four highly trained space operatives. It’s all “Magnus!” and “Thunder!”” Taako shakes his head.

Another thud and the fire stops. Taako springs to his feet, still holding Angus.

“It’s okay, Ko. We’re good, you can put him down.” Lup nudges his shoulder and nods at the corpses.

“Although, maybe we should cover his eyes?” She adds, a frown crossing her face.

Angus rolls his eyes and wriggles free.

“Dr Lup, I’m a professional.” He pretends not to hear Taako’s loud snort as he strides over to the bodies, he should probably listen to what the crew are talking about, they could be getting their alibi straight, but honestly, Angus has bigger questions. As much as he’d boarded the ship convinced that the Starblaster was behind the thefts, it seemed less and less likely. Why would the militia come because of a crate alarm? Was the Starblaster being tracked?

The armour doesn’t appear to have pockets, Angus isn’t surprised, but was hoping for something. There had to be a clue. Any evidence was probably on their ship.... Their ship which was right there.

“Captain Davenport, was anyone left on their ship?” Angus shouts up, tearing himself away from the corpse.

The crew stops whispering and they turn to look at him. Merle gives an over exaggerated wave, but Lucretia pushes his hand down.

“Angus…” Begins the captain, gently.

“...do you think we’re stealing from the orphanage?”

“Yes.” Says Angus quickly. Then hesitates.

“Well, I did… because you are. Open the box, you’ll see it’s full of the latest donation to the fund. They never make it to the orphanage, because you take them somewhere else instead.”

Mr Magnus looks like he might cry.

It’s Dr Barry who strides over to the crate. The alarm is still wailing, but barely. He pulls the lid away, and stamps the siren until it falls silent, and then a few more times for good measure.

“He’s right.” Barry says.

The argument that breaks out is impossible to follow, and Angus doesn’t see the point in trying. They clearly don’t know what’s going on. Instead, he goes to investigate the hull doors where the militia boarded. He listens hard, no immediate sign of reinforcements. It would be pointless to get arrested now after everything, but he isn’t going to solve this without taking risks.

_________________________________

Taako is going to kill the kid, but he has to keep him alive long enough to do it, so when Angus slips away Taako has to follow. Not because he cares, obviously, just for practicality’s sake. They should be making pancakes right now, now starting Space War VI. They’d all promised to never be involved in another inciting incident after last time but apparently Lup just couldn’t help herself. It isn’t like he was actually going to hand the kid over, it just seemed like a good way to kill time until the others got there, but apparently Lup’s twin telepathy only applied to bullying him and not realising that he wasn’t about to indirectly throw a kid in prison.

It isn’t difficult to keep up but Taako hangs back, Angus is self sufficient most of the time. Anyway, he doesn’t really want to talk to the tiny backstabber right now. Taako showed him how to make the good cookies, and this was how he repaid him? Trying to get him thrown in jail? It’s the circle of life, the apprentice rises up to try and kill the master, but Taako isn’t so easy to usurp, Angus won’t take him out so easily. He’s been preparing for years baby, fool him once, shame on Taako, fool him twice? It simply isn’t going to happen. False accusations are nothing new, that’s why they definitely don’t hurt any more. Taako doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Angus is thorough, stopping into each room he comes across. Taako tries not to feel too smug about how badly the kid would have struggled with his room - keeping things messy is a security measure. No one can tell him different. It’s definitely nothing to do with how hard it is to put things away. Nope nope nope.

Lup and Magnus appear either side of him without warning. Taako tries very hard not to shriek as loudly as he would like to when Magnus whispers “Magnus!” in his ear.

“Sssh.” Taako hisses, as quietly as possible.

“Are you having a feeling again, Koko? Compelled to look after your baby boy?” Lup whispers and wiggles her eyebrows. Taako debates whether Angus will notice if he shoots her with his blaster, just on the zappy setting, he isn’t feeling that murdery. Honest.

“Shhh.” He repeats.

“In fact,” she continues, “this is the opposite of “out here” which I believe I may have heard you mention is the place you prefer to be.” She gives a shit eating grin.

Taako’s hand drifts to his blaster, just a small zap, a teeny tiny one.

As Lup opens her mouth to continue making ridiculous accusations Taako shoves her and Magnus back round the corner. Angus is on the move again.

They track him quietly down the corridor, engaging in the second quietest slappy fight of their career. Magnus occasionally intercedes to avoid alerting Angus.

“Taako.” Magnus hisses.

“Sssh,” says Taako, poking Lup in the ribs.

“Taako!” Magnus whispers again, sounding more urgent.

“Lup.” He adds, tugging her back as she steps on Taako’s boot.

“Sssh!” Taako repeats.

“Agnes will…”

“Hear you, Sir?” Says Angus.

Taako tenses and barely muffles a cry of surprise.

“Jeezy creezy Agnes! You try to get me arrested and now you just straight up try to kill me?” Taako shouldn’t have come. He should have left the baby to go do his big brain bullshit with the militia ship alone and unguarded because apparently he hates Taako and wants to make sure he’s dead - be it from prison food, getting fucking shot, or shock.

“I knew you were following me the whole time, Sir.” The kid has the audacity to roll his eyes. Taako wonders how difficult it would be to uncouple the ship with Lup and Agnes on it. They’d be fine, probably.

“But I thought you should all know at least two more of the militia are still on board.” Angus smiles at them as if he expects a pat on the head. As if anyone’s gonna congratulate him for…

“Well done, Ango!” Says Magnus enthusiastically.

“How did you work that out?”

“It was simple, Sir!” Angus glows with pride and Taako glares at Magnus, then takes a quick mental holiday during the explanation. Wah wah wah, amount of rooms, mih mih mih, clock in sheet.

“So we have to kill two more super soldiers who are probably on high alert and ready to murder us super hard?” Taako asks, interrupting the end of Angus’ unreasonably detailed explanation.

“Bet I can kill mine faster than you.” Says Lup to Magnus.

“Nuh uh!” He protests, about to take off running. Taako grabs him.

“Woah woah woah. Chaboy has a notion, just a little idea, something off the wall, but how about we come up with some kind of plan? I know. I know. Ridiculous. But what if, and hear me out, what if we knew which direction we were going and whether we knew about any specific weaknesses, or… or… we regrouped and got the others to help us too? Barold has that gnarly death ray.” Taako watches Magnus’ face fall as he speaks. Oh, the crushing weight of not rushing in, poor Magnus, how he suffers.

“That’s a really great idea Sir. There’s two of them, and you’re going that way.” Angus points towards the corridor ahead from which clanking steps echo.

“I’m afraid it might be a bit late for the other bits, but I think their weakness was being shot a lot with your blasters. Anyway, I’m going to hide in here, good luck!” Angus ducks into the room nearby. Well shit.

Magnus glances into the room and dives in too, Taako knows he's not running away and abandoning them to the fight, but he can't help the brief flicker of panic. But even if Magnus did run, he and Lup would be fine, they've got this.

The twins level their weapons at the corner as the approaching steps speed up. Maybe mildly hysterical yelling wasn't the best stealth decision. Taako ignores the impulse to grab Lup and run, he knows she'll fight him every step of the way and never forgive him even if he could win that strength contest. Anyway, the nerd needs to stay alive long enough to get taught Taako’s second best pancake recipe (two can play at betrayal, Angus!)

Taako fires too soon, he knows it the second before the shot hits empty air and the footsteps stop. Fuck. Taako shoves Lup through the open doorway as the Militia return fire. He feels the tell-tale sting on his thigh, not quite fast enough; but Lup’s okay, Angus is safe, Magnus is here. It’s not worth mentioning, probably cauterised itself anyway, he can still walk… kind of, if he just shuffles his jacket they won’t know.

“So what’s the plan?” Magnus asks, keeping his voice low, and shooting blind down the corridor.

“Not getting fucking shot.” Taako replies, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him back. His leg twinges, but holds.

“We lost the element of surprise, but there’s still three of us.” Lup says. Taako isn’t sure whether to admire her, or try to tackle her. If she gets herself shot over this kid he’s going to do something about it, definitely something, yelling probably. Fuck his thigh hurts.

“Four of us, Dr Lup.” Says Angus, peering out from below the bunk in the corner.

“I brought my blaster.”

Magnus shakes free of Taako’s grasp and offers Angus a hand to help him slide out.

“Ready?”

“Absolutely not.” Says Taako, firing his own blaster down the corridor, careful to angle his leg away from the others, retreating before the answering fire can catch him again.

“The baby isn’t allowed a gun.”

“I’m not a baby!” Says Angus.

“We need everyone we can get right now.” Magnus adds.

“You can stay at the back.” Says Lup. Only Taako picks up on the slight wobble in her voice.

“Lup?” He asks quietly, he’s not sure why she’s letting this happen.

“We’ll keep him safe, he won’t have to shoot, but if we leave him out he’ll make his own plans.” She mutters to Taako, and yeah. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Angles won’t be told no, that’s for fucking sure.

“Fine, baby in the back.” Taako says loudly.

“I’m not a b…” Begins Angus, a shot glances off the side of the door. Those bastards, are they trying to do trick shots? It’s not a game of fucking pool.

This time, Taako doesn’t grab Magnus as he runs to the door.

“Still just the two, one’s hanging back as cover, the other’s advancing.” A shot hits the side of the door where Magnus had peered out.

“Looks like they’ve figured out the angles.”

“How about heights? Can we do anything with that?” Lup asks.

“I’m tall.” Magnus says, helpfully. Taako glares up at him.

“Mr Magnus, Sir. Why don’t we use the desk as a shield, it’s extremely sturdy. It’s bolted to the floor, but I think you should be able to…” Angus stops talking as Magnus rips the desk out of the floor.

“...loosen the bolts.” Angus finishes.

“Everyone behind me?” Magnus asks. Taako hopes the desk will actually fit through the door. At least Magnus is holding it upright and not sideways. Taako sweeps Angus behind him and gets into position behind Lup.

“You’re sure the desk is gonna be sturdy enoug…” Lup starts to ask as Magnus advances.

“I certainly hope so.” Mutters Angus behind him.

The desk takes the first volley easily, after the third it begins buckling. Well fuck.

“Go time.” Yells Magnus over the fire and starts fucking sprinting. Taako hopes that no one hears his pained whimpers over the protesting metal and sparking explosions. He can’t do too much of this.

The first impact is satisfying. Taako isn’t sure how you miss a fucking table barrelling towards you at speed, but maybe they didn’t anticipate that it was just gonna keep rolling straight for them? Did they think the Starblaster crew were just going to stop and duel? They deserved it. Magnus lifts the table slightly.

“One down, watch out underfoot and keep him down, Lup.”

Magnus kicks out as the armoured figure tries to right themselves, fells them again, and Lup drops back briefly. Two short blasts denote that it’s done. Taako glances at Angus, he didn’t see phased by the bodies in the hull, but it was different seeing the aftermath.

“They were trying to kill us, Sir.” Angus says without looking up. Rude. Taako didn’t give him permission to read his mind.

“Table isn’t gonna hold, I have another plan.” Says Magnus as Lup slots back into formation.

“What are you…” Lup doesn’t finish her sentence before Magnus launches the table down the corridor. A second thunk implying it found its mark.

“...thinking.” Lup finishes.

The table falls short, trapping only their legs. Taako and Lup pull up their blasters to fire, but Angus is quicker than both of them, firing a stun into the gap between the helmet and neck armour.

“I thought you might want to ask one of them what is going on, but feel free to finish the job if you don’t need to. The stun isn’t very effective on cyborgs, so you’ll need to grab them quickly.”

“On it.” Magnus lunges forward.

“They won’t need these.” He says, and grabs an arm. Taako feels sick, there’s definitely a robot/people line for these things and Magnus has apparently smashed right through it. Lup looks back at him with wide eyes and side eyes Angus a few times.

“Right Pumpkin, let's go find the rest of the super secret documents.” Taako shoves Angus forwards, past the horror show Magnus is creating.

“It’s okay, Sir, I’ve seen worse you know.” Angus shouldn’t sound so calm right now.

“Oh so you’ve got time to spend watching Mangus rip someone’s arms off, but you didn’t have a few moments to get back up before you came onto an enemy ship?” Taako keeps walking, hopefully Angus will follow, he isn’t in the mood to watch what Magnus is doing right now… Maybe Lup can talk him down.

“Yes Sir, you’re right Mr Taako. We should go and find evidence. I think we might be able to clear your names.” Angus skips forwards as a horrifying ripping sound comes from behind them, followed by a firm “Magnus no! That’s people!” from Lup. Taako focuses really hard on singing the jingle for HoloPans! in his head, just in case.

In the cockpit he leaves Angus to his own devices. It’s like releasing a bucket of spiders into a room but the kid’s every spider and he’s in one place and is also all of the spiders at the same time, just without the extra legs, probably, or does he have more than two? Taako is fine, is the thing. He’s fine and he doesn’t need to look at his leg, but he is going to have a little sit down because it has been a big day and he deserves it.

“You didn’t do it, Sir.” Angus is tugging Taako’s jacket. Taako doesn’t know why, he isn’t asleep.

“I know I didn’t do it, Agnes. Which is what I’ve been telling you since you accused me. If I recall correctly, Lup told you too, and Magnus, and Barry, and everyone fucking else. Mostly, because we didn’t do it.” Taako isn’t defensive about this. Definitely not. He just likes to be thorough when explaining things.

“Suspects don’t usually confess immediately, Sir. I had to check. But now I know, and I can show the militia that too.” Angus says brightly.

“Uh huh.” Says Taako, giving Angus a moment to catch up.

“I can’t tell the militia can I, Sir?” He says, quietly.

“Nope!” Taako pops the P.

“Probably not best to let them know that: Good news! The Starblaster crew didn’t do it, we just killed five…ish of your scary tech soldiers to prove it, also you did it so arrest yourselves!”

“How did you…?” Angus looks slightly offended.

“Work out it was them?” Taako asks. Angus nods.

“Who else was it gonna be? Big scary Astral Empire with its big scary space force. Never trust authority, kid.” Taako throws up a peace sign and definitely doesn’t list sideways, Taako’s good.

“They were switching out the donations before they even got to the orphanage. Then they put trackers in the boxes and tail you to make sure you don’t open them and don't ask any questions. They keep tabs on your trips, but don’t do the job themselves so they can pin it on you if they ever need to.” Angus pauses and focuses on Taako with a frown.

“Is the wound worse than you thought, Mr Taako?” Angus asks, looking directly into his fucking soul.

“What’re you talking about, Agnes?” Taako’s cool as a cucumber, a really cold one, straight from the freezer, terrible texture, great for black eyes.

“You got hit, Sir.” Says Angus softly.

“Nuh uh.” Replies Taako, got him. Can’t refute that. Now it’s time for a nap! Winners get to sleep.

____________________________________

Awareness comes back slowly, but he can see brown skin and a white topknot bobbing about beside him.

“Merle?” Taako croaks.

“Decided to re-join us have you?” Merle grouses.

“It’s Candlenights, and here I am, busting my ass, trying to make sure you don’t shuffle off the mortal coil.”

“Tell Lup to put more salt in the mashed potatoes, she never uses enough.” Taako says as his eyelids grow heavy again.

______________________________________

This time, the noise wakes him. He grumbles and tosses his head, but nothing’s blocking out what sounds like fucking Margharetiaville being stop-start jabbed out on the piano and then echoed on a violin. Are they seriously trying to figure this arrangement out right now? Why isn’t he in the med bay? Who the fuck is thumping on his brain? No wait, that’s Angus, Angus is thumping on his good Tupperware with his olive wood spoons.

“Those aren’t drums!” Taako tries to get up, realises it’s a losing battle and flops back onto the chair.

“Told you that’d do it.” Says Angus smugly and smiles up at Lup and Barry.

Barry pats him on the back and slips him some chocolate.

“Good one bud, you win.”

“Guh?” Says Taako, wisely.

“Thought we’d Weekend at Bernies you so you didn’t miss out on the entirety of Candlenights, brother mine. It wasn’t the same without you” Lup flops down on the sofa beside him.

“Wanna see the photos? We really thought you’d wake up during the doughnut sandwiches, but you can catch it next year. Lup grabs a stack of photos from the table and flicks through to one with Taako slumped in a chair wearing a pair of doughnut deely boppers while everyone else cheers together doughnut sandwiches dripping peanut butter.

“Glad you’re back with us.”

“I… you? Urgh.” Everything hurts and Taako’s brain feels like it’s brimming with soup, the kind that you could stand a spoon up in. Good for bread, terrible for thinking.

“I think you might need to explain what happened, Dr Lup.” Angus wriggles his way onto the sofa too, and Barry slides on beside Lup.

“Once upon a time…” Says Barry.

“There was a beautiful elf,” Adds Lup.

“And her brother Taako, who was just fine.”

Taako groans.

“I need you to know that I would be storming out right now if my leg worked.” He prods Lup in the ribs and is pleased to get a gigglesnort in reply.

“So I got shot.”

“You got shot, bud.” Says Barry.

“And then?”

“You went into shock, then you got an infection, because you can’t do anything and not be dramatic about it.” Lup says, grinning at him. Taako resists the impulse to huff and prove her right. It’s fine to be expressive.

“Then you decided to drag me to meals while I was passed out?” He asks.

“Not just meals, we also just used you to scare Magnus a lot.” Barry says.

Taako snorts, to be fair, Magnus had it coming after the last 3 years of trying to ‘prepare them for anything’.

“Ms Lucretia read to you.” Angus says soothingly.

“And Merle…”

“Please don’t finish that sentence if it involves plants.” Taako cuts him off, not wanting to hear about what level of flirting and or heavy petting may have gone on next to him while he couldn’t make it stop.

“Captain Davenport ordered you not to die!” Angus’ change of direction tells Taako everything he needs to know about Merle’s conduct.

“That’s good of him.” Taako says, trying very hard to pretend he’s not crying. He isn’t, obviously, his eyes are just watering because they’re not used to being open apparently.

“Magnus reworked some of his robot arm collection into a spare leg in case you needed it.” Lup grins at him.

“It’s as horrifying as you imagine.”

“Speaking of his collection…?” Taako doesn’t want to say more, he’s not sure if he actually wants to know the answer.

“I didn’t let him.” Lup says quickly.

“He understood… eventually.”

“And why are you still here, kid?” Taako asks.

“I thought we needed to get you home for Candlenights.”

“I still have a pancake recipe to learn, Sir.” Angus says, smiling brightly.

Taako stares very hard at the ceiling.

“Okay cool.” He flops back onto the chair and closes his eyes. If he passes out again no one can ask him any questions about how he may or may not feel.

New voices approach and Taako stays resolutely still.

“Oh no, you just missed Taako. He’s definitely absolutely passed out again. I suppose we can at least try and get the perspective picture that looks like he’s on top of the candlenights bush. Do you want to hold him up, Magnus? Unless of course, he is awake and wants to talk about his feelings?” Lup directs the last bit of the sentence into Taako’s ear. Taako plays dead. There’s no way he’s giving up that easily.

_____________________________________________

Taako frames the picture of the 8 of them gathered round the bush. Magnus stood to the side, dangling Taako by his collar in the general direction of the bush, nowhere near the top. Lup and Barry are throwing up peace signs, Dav salutes formally, Lucretia looks vaguely worried, and Merle is uncomfortably close to the greenery. Angus sits happily in the middle of the frame, his smile bright enough to distract from the chaos around him.

[mirastark]

Overcoming Fears

Darth Vader x Reader

Chapter Five

————————————

Casually, the two of you trotted along the empty hallways chatting. “So how’s Vader?“ you asked quietly after turning a corner.

“What do you mean?” she replied turning her head to you.

“Well your the one whose got to deal with him, and of what I’ve heard over the years besides his power he is incredibly stubborn.”

“He hasn’t been as bad these few days, I just can never finish what I need to, and only get to minor things. I am really hoping Lord Mira wont be as bad, because what you said about her injuries sounds like she’ll need more care than he will normally.” The two of you rounded the corner to Vaders medical bay. Going through the first Door past the troopers you were meet with a secondary door with a keypad. She reached up to it when the door slid open. The botanist jumped almost into the wall as she wasn’t expecting it to open on its own. The large Sith Lord stepped through the door, peering down at the two of you through the lenses of his dark mask. Hastily you stepped to the wall out of his way, somehow afraid of being drug down another hallway.

“General.” He nodded to you as in respect. As this was very confusing you returned the favor, promptly bowing, letting out a low “My Lord.” Paying no attention to the girl he continued, “I apologise if my apprentice is not in the best mood… In some circumstances the one guilty for a certain action will not be the only one punished for it…”

‘What did he mean by that?’ You thought ‘Was that really where the saber marks came from? Sure she had crashed her ship and lost half of her assigned fleet because of me… but that was my fault, not hers-‘

“The Sith are not as merciful as you believe we are General… You should be grateful your alive.” Vader stated, as if answering your question. His masked then turned the large room, through the open door he had just left, before looking back to you. “If you do have any problems with Lord Mira, whether it be her stubbornness, or her anger overtaking her, the Emperor and I will be willing to fix any problems she may cause to you two…”

“I assure you My Lord we won’t have any problems-“ the botanist insisted. His head tilted to her.

“We will see about that, Botanist.” Swiftly Vader strutted out the first door and down the hallway, leaving the two in the small room in between the two doors. The Botanist sighed, walking into the large room. As you followed her inside you looked around, a platform stood in the center surrounded with mechanical arms, some table on the left wall, a small closet like room filled with plants on the right wall, and lastly a chair with carts and equipment around it. That was where Mira sat, her arms rested along the sides of the chair, she sat straight up, yet her head was bowed. None of her wounds from the previous day had been covered nor bandaged, this made it worse.

The girl moved swiftly around the chair, pushing carts and random pieces of equipment out of the way. Placing her hand on the back of the chair, going around it for what seemed the hundredth time, the botanist looked up to you, “Grab the light thing of that table over there.” She directed. Spinning around, you snatched the torch of the table behind you walking over to the two, handing it to B. You stood next to her, seeing if you needed to help in any way. She walked to the front of the chair Mira sat in. As slowly as she wished B placed her hand on the troubled Sith’s chin. She held it there for a moment before gently pulling her head up to reveal a nasty scar, directly across her right eye.

“We’re going to look at your eye first if that’s alright.” B asked, taking her hand away from her. She nodded. She was exhausted, worn out, hurt, and tired, yet at the same time it looked like she could spring from the chair with full energy, ready to kill someone. ‘guess that was the anger part Vader mentioned’ you thought. B held a black cloth over her unharmed eye, while shinning the torch into her other eye. “Can you see anything?” She question.

“no” Lord Mira mumbled.

“Not even if I move it around, can you at least see the light moving away?” B asked moving through torch towards the wall and then her eye.

“no” she repeated. B pulled the cloth and torch away from her face, tossing them onto a nearby cart.

“Great- do you know what caused it at least?” B asked glancing up at her. The Sith sat quietly for a moment, thinking.

“An- electric shock…” Mira answered. B rolled over a cart which held the blood pressure materials. She nodded, taking Mira’s arm, B begun to hook her up to the machine.

‘What electric shock?’ You thought to yourself, ‘Her ship couldn’t have done that. Maybe the sith really did blame her for what happened to the fleet. But what electricity do we have in this castle that could do as much damage as that did.’

“Your much more cooperative than Lord Vader.” The botanist laughed. Coming back to reality, Lord Mira had already been hooked up to the machine.

“Nu meo forced kia.” The sith mumbled under her breath. Unless someone besides her in that room had learned the Ancient Sith Language, they would have known what she had said. But of course, no one but her, Darth Vader, and The Emperor new the language by heart, and would speak to each other in it very often.

“Pardon?” B asked turning, from one of her carts.

“Nothing medic…” she scoffed, straightening herself in the chair.

“Well we aren’t going to have a problem… Are we?” B dared. She knew Mira had heard Vader before. Besides her wounds, B had found a weak spot in the sith.

Lord Mira flinched hearing this. “SHE FLINCHED!” you yelled in your head. It was unusual of you to react to her like this, but even as the morning before was unusual, so was this small action. Mira’s head suddenly lifted up to meet your gaze. She was starring at you know with a puzzled look on her face. B was glancing back and forth from the two of you.

“Well?” B asked once again. Turning her head back to Lord Mira.

The sith turned her head from your gaze, looking back down to the floor in front of her “Of course not, salîŋ.” She replied. The last bit being a soft whisper you could hardly hear.

“Good.” B replied going back to one of the carts near the chair. You assumed she did not hear what you did. “I’ll check your leg next, I think it needs a bit more atten-“ she stoped mid sentence, her head quickly turning back to the sith. ‘What did she see?’ You thought, looking between the two. You were just the same puzzled look as Mira did. B quickly snatched the torch of of the cart, pacing to the chair. Terra knelt beside it, grabbing the side of the siths face, pushing it up to shine the light on her neck. Mira was confused at what she had seen, it took her a moment to remember, yet when she did her eyes widened and she pulled away from her hand, bringing her head back down. Finally you saw what she did.

Her neck was blood red, covered in scratches. Your mind reminded you of the gasps of air you heard this morning before you opened the door. ‘Was Vader really that mad.’ You thought to yourself. ‘I mean he has been known for choking people but never that bad- although his grip is tight, i would know that, but i still couldn’t imagine that around my neck.’ Suddenly a wave of remorse came over you. You felt bad for the sith. She had been through hell for your mistake, and it was all your fault.

You came back to reality, Terra was practically wrestling with Mira to help her with her neck.

“Let me help, please.” Terra begged. She placed her hand back to her chin, lifting her head up. Terra then moved her hand down to the redness of her neck. The Sith flinched, slightly pulling away from her touch, yet keeping her head up. “We can’t do anything about that now, I’ll go ahead and move on to your leg.” Terra stated after examining her neck a bit more.

By the time Terra had finished bandaging Mira’s leg, Vader strutted into the med bay as the familiar sound of his breathing filled the room. He stood a few paces in front of the chair as you and Terra, both lifted your heads to him. “Lord Mira, the Emperor wishes to speak to you before he departs.” He announced. Terra quickly stood up from where she knelt by Mira’s leg, stepping away from Vaders gaze.

“Very well…” Mira sighed as she pushed herself up from the chair. Hesitantly she took a step towards him, as he glanced to her leg, the white bandages over her robes stuck out more than anything. She cautiously limped past him and towards the door without another word. Lord Vader nodded to the two of you before turning to his apprentice, placing a hand on her shoulder and walking out.

You and Terra looked at each other with worried faces. You both saw how tense she has become when he entered. Terra was not afraid of Vader, and had no reason to be, but to him you were just someone who could be replaced very easily, yet Mira, his apprentice, she was not to be killed, yet he knew he could hurt her as much as he pleased.

[kermitdafroggy]

"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict"

I made hand unit out of cardboard :P

[casspurrjoybell-24]

The Alpha's Beta - Chapter 22 - Part 2

BOOK ONE: The Alpha's Trilogy

*Warning Adult Content*

Three Black Cadillacs - Part 2

Alpha Silas Claymore

We walked side by side until we got to the little coffee shop that we had stopped at yesterday.

The lights were off leaving the street in front of it dark, instead of it's normal orange glow.

Darren pulled out a set of keys before unlocking the door.

We stepped inside and made our way towards the back, using my cellphone as a flash light.

Once in the back we went to the large metal door that held the walk-in freezer.

Darren opened the door and walked inside.

The cold air bit my skin as I walked behind him.

Inside the freezer was dark and the smell of dough and coffee was all over.

Darren hit a keypad, where he entered a four digit code, then he pushed a small button that made the wall in the back swing open slowly, shelf and all.   

We were then in front of a lit stairway, about fifteen stairs going down.

Once at the bottom we were then in front of another door, Darren then put in another code, then turned the small handle.

The door opened to reveal the large cement room, It was well lit, even with the lack of windows.

Lights were in the ceiling and lamps were on desks and beside sofas.

There was a T.V. on the wall, four sofa's that sat around it.

A small kitchen behind the sofas, with a mini fridge and sink.

Quinton and Darcy has set up camp at a desk on the other side of the room.

Computer monitors showed every bit of land that was above our heads.

Sitting on a blanket on the floor was Star.

He, Ivan and two other boys had Gameboys in hand and where knocking one another's shoulders with wide smiles on their faces.

Around the boys were pieces of paper, that I could only assume were used so Star could talk to everyone around him.

The bunker was filled with about twenty-five people.

Most of the kids.

Though there were more kids in the pack, some parents had decided to send their kids off to families in another pack just in case.  

A few of the pack members looked over to Darren and I as we walked in.

They nodded there heads to us respectfully.

They had all already known about the mating, since Quinton was able to show the meeting on the cameras.   

I made my way to Quinton and hovered over his shoulder for a minute, while Darren went over to Star.

The boys didn't seem to notice either of us walk in but as soon as Darren was within a few feet of them Star jumped to his feet and started waving his hands around.   

I could see Darren trying to process everything Star was saying.

He was new to the whole sign language thing and still had trouble learning all the words but soon he was able to get everything in a laughed and replied.  

"Sir," Quinton said, getting my attention.

"Everyone seems to be in place. Is there anything you'd like me to do?"

"No Quinton, you can relax. Just keep an eye on everything."

He nodded his head and went back to watching the cameras.   

*********

Far too soon Darren and I had to leave the bunker and make our way to the front gates where we brought lunch to Ellis.

Nothing had been seen or out of place for the last few hours and I was starting to think... no one would show up.  

"I think if he picks blue, you could accent it with grey," Ellis said to Darren, as I rolled my eyes.   

"Or..." Darren started but was cut off by the ringing from my cell-phone.   

Quinton's name flashed across my screen.

"Hello?" I answered.   

"Alpha Silas. There are three black cars coming towards the territory. A few miles away. Terence and Gwen say first car looks like three people, one front two back, car two is two people, one front one back and car three are three people, two front, one back. All windows are tinted but they said they could see outlines."

"Thanks Quinton," I said as I hung up my cell-phone.

Once I concentrated I could feel the cars about a ten minute drive way.

"They're coming," I said turning to Darren who sent a quick text off his phone for everyone to get on guard.   

Though we hadn't been told a fight would be breaking out.

I needed everyone to be ready.

I couldn't let my pack be caught off guard and attacked.

I couldn't let children be left at the park with no way of being helped.

I needed to make sure all bases were covered before this happened.

Darren, Ellis and I stepped before the front gates once the cars got closer.

Three shiny black modern Cadillacs stopped just before us.

I watched as the front door to the first car opened and a medium build, petite woman stepped out.

She had her brown hair tied in a bun and had on a black pant suit.

She nodded her head towards us before she opened the back door to the car.

Then, a tall man who had to be at least Darren's height stepped from the car.

His dark brown hair was gelled away from his face and he also wore a black suit but you could tell his was more money and taken better care of.

He straightened his jacket before his eyes met mine.

I sucked in a breath when I saw them, I knew I'd seen them before.   

Simons, eyes, he had Simons dark brown eyes but his lacked the special shine that Simon's eyes had.  

I knew his face though, I knew I'd met him before but I couldn't put my finger on where.   

"Alpha Silas," he said in a deep, booming voice.

It wasn't a welcoming happy tone, it was a cold dark tone, with an underline I couldn't quite touch.

"It's nice to see you again," he smirked, his eyes going from mine to Darren's, then to Ellis.   

"I'm sorry but I can't say I can I say the same," I replied.

I stood tall, with Darren and Ellis doing the same beside me.

I knew we were both giving off an aura.

We wouldn't let him think he could walk over us.

I wasn't part of this war and he needed to have that known.  

"Ah, I guess. It has been many years. Simon was only an infant when I last saw you, it wasn't a fast meeting, just a check up," he said casually, as he leaned himself of the car.

"Speaking of Simon, where is he?"   

"He's not here and to be totally honest with you, I have no idea where he is. Why do you want to know where he is?"      

"Can't a man check up on his nephew?" he asked.

I saw Ellis tense at my side.    

"It's Charles then, I assume."   

"Ah, yes. How rude of me. Charles Maverick. Nice to, re-meet you."

He held his hand out of me but after a few seconds of me not going to grab it, he put it down and just shrugged.   

"Why are you here?" Darren asked stepping up a bit away from my side.   

"I'm here to get what's mine. Which includes the golden wolf you're harboring and his brother."   

"We can't give you his brother because if he's not here," Darren replied, crossing his arms over his chest.   

A smile grew on Charles Maverick's face, almost as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, of course, my mistake," he said before moving from his car and standing up straight.

"Now enough of this, my daughter and I have a few things to discus with you. Would you let us in. We promise to be good."   

I almost didn't let him in but I thought about it for a moment.

I wasn't going to get the answers I was looking for without letting him in.

He wasn't going to talk.

Star was safe underground, along with the rest of the children and the pack was trained in everything we needed.   

So I nodded my head and opened the front gates, letting the three cars and the eight people inside them in.

[forgotten-plotline]

It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. One moment. Welcome, Eggs Benedict!

Man my head is so empty I am not noticing typos in my art